Start your story with an unexpected knock on a window.

Posted in Dark on Oct 25, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 138 stories

“Knock Three Times” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #97

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe Many’s the time I’ve recited these lines to myself, for good reason or not. Probably it’s the w...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Windows to The Soul” by Robert Ryder

Submitted to Contest #97

WINDOWS TO THE SOUL By Robert Alan Ryder It was Monday the fifteenth of the year nineteen ninety three… I had gotten accustomed to the savage sounds of the blizzard’s- howling winds, and the frigid cold temperatures just enough to sleep. Food, it was rather light for me- all that was necessary, I shared it- with family: my wife Mary and our son and daughter James and Ruth… I had been abruptly awakened on this day by the continual sounds of someone- knocking. Knocking and unexpected rapping on my bedroom window, and I could see vaguel...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Unexpected Homecoming” by B.W. Harold

Submitted to Contest #97

Sadie flipped through her fashion magazine while Blake Shelton thumped out of her earbuds. She let the chorus kick her into her practice. She needed to learn the backup part if she was going to sing it with her brother Saturday night at Good Hour Ale House. It was their standard set at the closest thing there was to a country-western bar in their small town. She fussed with her hair, trying to follow the tutorial in the magazine. Her pitch was a little off, but she had a couple of days to work on it. Blake sang the last few lyrics, t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Fix the Latch” by A.K. Anderson

Submitted to Contest #97

I heard a sound. A knock, but not a knock on the door. Just the soft clinking noise of someone tapping on glass. I knew what that meant. I quickly ran to the window over the sink, grinning when I saw Connor. He ran a hand through his curly black hair that matched mine. We always joked that we would never have to guess what our children looked like. At least, when it came to their hair color. He was 16, just a year older than me, and even though we were young we knew we would get married someday. It was written in the stars.He gave me a goofy...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Pink Light” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #97

There was this sound. The kind of sound you hear when asleep. Your mind takes that sound and turn it into a dream. I don’t normally remember my dreams. Most people I’m told, don’t remember their dreams either. That is why I guess this dream must have some significance. It must have a meaning, but I can’t figure out what it is. The sound I remember, and most of the dream, some of the dream. It was a tapping sound, as if coming from under water. Or that thumping sound when you are testing a melon, by ta...

0 comments 0

Read story

“BE THERE FOR ME” by Chandrika R Krishnan

Submitted to Contest #97

When the feeble knock came on the window, Rupesh thought that it was just something he heard in his head. He couldn’t be blamed for the mistake, for it was almost a decade since it was shut. The tales of most windows are intriguing. They are often the only connect to the outside world, besides bringing some light and air to the house and its people. But closer home in Bangalore, this window was like none another. It connected….. But then, I am getting a little ahead of myself. A little explanation would help readers be in t...

15 comments 15

Read story

“A Red World” by Elia Christensen

Submitted to Contest #97

I look up at the sound of a knock. What the heck? A blood-stained figure clutches my windowsill. Her lips form a single word. Please. Tears slip down her face, following the trail of blood down her face. I open the window mostly out of shock. Kyla pulls herself through the window and collapses into a heap. Fear lurks behind her, pinching her neck with his three, long claws. I can see his shadow against the wall -- a body of black oil, dripping off its lanky body and onto the floor. I drag Kyla to the couch, hoping the trail of blood isn't pe...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Enigmatic Disappearance of Mr and Mrs Gombwe” by Simon Tayengwa

Submitted to Contest #97

An unexpected knock on a window mesmerised Mr Gombwe as it is unusual in any African rural setting, in two shakes of a lambs tail, a parliament of owls alighted on roof tops and trees with a variety of muffled sounds and then there was a successive intermittent dying down of flapping wings, instilling a macabre aura in Mr Gombwe’s homestead because superstition had labelled owls to be associated with witchcraft in his society. Then in an instant, as if some director of music had signaled an eerie beat for a horror movie, the wide-eyed noc...

0 comments 0

Read story

“A Friend of the Glass” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #97

One night a friend pretended to be my stranger. They appeared at my window on August 7th right around 7pm, when I would have been cutting up the pork to feed to the dogs. I had several dogs, each smaller than the next, with the idea being that I might need a different-sized dog for different moods and depressions. A large depression required my Saint Bernard, SCOTUS, whereas a bad day would simply call for my terrier, Boxcutter. None of the dogs barked when a friend came to the window. She knocked once and the first knock was an introduc...

0 comments 0

Read story

“A Story From The Eighties” by John Walsh

Submitted to Contest #97

Janice was startled when she heard the rap on the window. She wasn’t supposed to sleep while working as a watch person at the poultry barn but she may have dozed off. She was sitting in the employee lounge of Sunup Poultry, Inc. Old man Petrie, the owner, threatened to dock the pay of anyone who called the place a “chicken factory” but that was what it was. It supplied the maximum amount of meat and eggs at the cheapest possible cost. ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“THE WINDOW'S EYE” by Sudeep RANA

Submitted to Contest #97

THE WINDOW’S EYE “What is that interminable blue line called”- told by an undisclosed rough voice with stupendous astonishment being immersed in it of a 24 years old boy with a shake- stubborn mitt pointing towards the infinity. A staggering tone surpassed the bumpy voice in a fraction of seconds and uttered gleefully- “it is the sky”. Then again ruthlessly that unwanted voice is saying –“how big it is!” It is covering an exaggeratedly large number of houses.” Again that happy voice whispered –“Yes it is so”. But that dulcet conversati...

0 comments 0

Read story

“317” by Winston Smith

Submitted to Contest #97

Three knocks hit the cell window. Officer Young jumped to his feet, sending his folding chair clattering to the floor behind him. He scrambled to retrieve his rifle and gripped the barrel in two, white-knuckled fists. “The hell?” he whispered to himself. For the first time in six years, Officer Young stood at attention. He stared down the length of the hallway, refusing to believe that the knock came from his prisoner. Inmate 317 had been in solitary longer than Young had been an officer. And 317 never made a noise. There it came again. ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Lucid Dreaming” by Amy Jayne Conley

Submitted to Contest #97

The sun was so nice on my skin. I could feel the hot rays beating down on my eyelids, the warmth relaxing and just right. In the background, the sounds of the waves crashing against the sand soothed me even more. Belinda Carlisle said Heaven is a place on earth, but I was yet to find a place quite like that which I could dream. Admittedly, it was a somewhat lucid dream, and I always came back to this beach. It was where I’d met him, all those years ago, before he’d decided he’d had enough of his current path and had decided to go abroad for ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“KNOCKS ON A WINDOW” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #97

There was a knock on my window and I checked the time. It was well past midnight. I ignored the knock assuming it was due to some nocturnal beast colliding with the window while going after prey. I had been seated absorbed in a desi thriller and I went back to it. I read: ‘It was past midnight when John was walking towards the metro station. He had decided to catch the last train of the day. He now saw an ambulance speeding past, and knowing he still had 20 minutes walked along slowly. John saw the ambulance park near the metro station for a...

0 comments 0

Read story

“A grateful knock.” by Jharna Katara

Submitted to Contest #97

Everything was silent, no movement nothing, until there was a knock! The woman's eyebrows raised, her heartbeats increased and her eyebrows showed an evident change in their alignment. Her gaze shifted towards the door and she was left with an extreme disbelief! Her hands shivered as her fingers slowly rearranged her hair and tried to tuck it behind her ears. She rose slowly. Why has he come now? I won't leave him! I will make sure he pays for what he's done! I will make sure......her words resonated through the beautifully kept ancient wall...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character looking out of a window in the middle of the night.

Horror – 340 stories

Write a story in which a window is broken or found broken.

Dark – 142 stories

Write a story that involves a magic window — or a window like no other.

Fantasy – 154 stories

Set your story within a window of opportunity, when a character finally has the chance to do something.

Middle School – 144 stories

Contest #97

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Window of Opportunity

$50

Prize money

921

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 11, 2021 EST

Won by Claire Lindsey 🏆

Title: In situ

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Start your story with an unexpected knock on a window.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 138 stories

“Knock Three Times” by Kathleen March

“Windows to The Soul” by Robert Ryder

“Unexpected Homecoming” by B.W. Harold

“Fix the Latch” by A.K. Anderson

“Pink Light” by Joe Swanson

“BE THERE FOR ME” by Chandrika R Krishnan

“A Red World” by Elia Christensen

“The Enigmatic Disappearance of Mr and Mrs Gombwe” by Simon Tayengwa

“A Friend of the Glass” by Story Time

“A Story From The Eighties” by John Walsh

“THE WINDOW'S EYE” by Sudeep RANA

“317” by Winston Smith

“Lucid Dreaming” by Amy Jayne Conley

“KNOCKS ON A WINDOW” by Sivaram Govindaraj

“A grateful knock.” by Jharna Katara

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character looking out of a window in the middle of the night.

Write a story in which a window is broken or found broken.

Write a story that involves a magic window — or a window like no other.

Set your story within a window of opportunity, when a character finally has the chance to do something.

Contest #97

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

921

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: