Write a story about a pathological liar.

Posted in Dark on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 38 stories

“I am the Diamond Glints in Snow” by Henry Azure

Submitted to Contest #156

It started young, as most things do. A sign here or there that in hindsight should have yielded a stronger reaction from those close to him. Charisma holds a dangerous role in a polite society. They start white and pale and innocent, and then contort and spin and weave until a rotting putrid misguided thought is all that remains. They start innocent and seemingly harmless, but what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.Going into his teens there was more pain and risk involved, but never enough for true repercussions. A sl...

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“Pseudologia Fantastica” by Alexander Brotherton

Submitted to Contest #156

The city market is a great place for me. I thrive around people that have time to talk. Funny thing about areas with dense populations is that most people don’t have time to talk. At a city market though, on a Sunday, you’ve got time to talk. Know what I mean? Place is my sanctuary. Convinced some baristas at City Market Coffee that I’m related to Eminem and a secret millionaire who got his money while crypto was hot. Got some lady at the Bloom Baking Company to believe I was my high school quarterback and that I went to school with Patrick...

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“Spackle ” by Vivian Pollak

Submitted to Contest #156

(explicit sexual content. There is a bug in this submission page as I know for a fact I have over 1000 words but it keeps coming back telling me I do not have enough words... therefore, I am adding this lovely little bit of verbiage to put me over the top) Spackle “My former fiancé tried to shoot me.” They were naked and knackered wondering what to do after their introductory inaugural marathon sex. She was curled on her side, he was lying on his stomach across the width of the bed, his penis tucked under his left thigh. After, w...

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“Liar, Liar” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #156

What can I say? The guy’s my best friend—but he’s a pathological liar. This morning, for instance. We are at the indie coffee shop, in a line-up moving as slow as Saturday on a long weekend. Norman places his order, saying, “It’s a lovely day for a latte,” and the barista gives him a second look before she touches her order screen. She takes a cup and asks for his name. “Sam,” he says. His eyes flicker to her name badge as she marks the cup. Then he says, “Juliet, I forgot… could you make it almond milk instead of cow’s?” “Oh.” She glances a...

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“What Now” by Fergus Roche

Submitted to Contest #156

(Mature content: graphic language used)We all got to eat, but some wanna make more than a meal out of it. I’m not talking about those special occasion meals, like your birthday or at your sister’s wedding. Mine threw a great bash. Shame she didn’t see what a waste of fucking space her fiancé was till too late. Could of told her if she listened to me, but that’s another story.No, I mean the posh, gotta-be-seen, gotta-get-dolled-up kind where the food is on smaller and smaller plates. That’s a thing now, small plate restaurants. And tables aro...

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“Trust Me” by Jacob Chudnovsky

Submitted to Contest #156

When I walk into Rainbow Records tomorrow, with a fully loaded AR-15 in my bag, know this: I am not doing it out of hate. I am doing it out of love. I love America. America is the land of George Washington and Henry Ford, Ernest Hemingway and John D. Rockefeller, John Wayne and Babe Ruth. Rugged white men who loved hard work, hard drink, and soft women. America is not the land of brown people, and it’s not the land of homosexuals. To be clear, I don’t hate brown people or homosexuals. I never use slurs or other hateful words to descr...

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“I lied I meant to kill myself” by Sambulo Kunene

Submitted to Contest #156

It was a cold winter that season. One of the coldest yet. My family and I had just moved from the city to the ends of the world because my father had been jailed for trying to embezzle millions of dollars of retirement investments. A small unassuming man with good manners who always looked down and had no scrupples was infact working day and night to put bread on the table for his family. Me, myself and I in my mind. I was an only child. My mom had no time for me only for her good looks. My dad worked day and night and we rarely saw him. My ...

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“Liar” by Danielle Jumper

Submitted to Contest #156

“I used to work at Sander’s Grocery too,” Ian said. I had grown used to Ian’s constant lying about everything. They weren’t even big lies, like insisting his dad is the Duke of York. Ian lied about dumb stuff, like he forgot to do his chemistry assignment for Professor Mandelwood because his dog wanted to go for a walk, and his dog hadn’t been outside all day, so Ian felt sad and wanted to take Pepper for a walk, and also, Ian didn’t have a dog. “My roommate’s dog,” Ian clarified. “That’s what I meant.” “George doesn’t have a dog eith...

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“The Greatest Dog in the World” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #156

Sometimes it takes meeting someone in need, before I can appreciate what I have. I learned one day that you can meet someone with more than enough, and that can work too. It was back when I got my first dog. Now I wouldn't call myself a cat person, but I did not think of myself as a dog person either. However, after my sister moved in with her asthmatic boyfriend, I got her dog, Connor, a beagle mainly, with some terrier mixed in. Connor was a poor excuse for a dog, scared of its own shadow, and had a weird habit of twisting around...

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“Very thoughtful of you” by Bat Shit Lazy

Submitted to Contest #156

He looked at her and knew she was a kind soul. He pretended to have dropped his glasses next to her. While he bent down to pick them up, the flurry of commotion got her attention and their eyes met. Jason smiled and introduced himself, "Hey, I'm Fred, short for Friedrich actually. Nice to meet you". A sudden wave of disappointment washed over his head, "this will not get me anything? Hmm, but let's see if she suspects that I made the name up when she sees I'm reading Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Beyond Good and Evil'" and the dismay turned into an...

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“Pins” by Madison Scruggs

Submitted to Contest #156

She collected friends in the summertime like butterflies pinned to a sheet. They were locked under her glass frame, and her claw-like fingernails drove each one into the white canvas behind them so that they spread their wings but only to look pretty, never to fly away. She told them things she thought they’d want to hear. Pretended to be interested in their everyday affairs. Asked about their parents, but looked down when they started to explain their father’s visit to the hospital or their mother’s stint in rehab.&nb...

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“The Adventures of Discernment” by Jenna Irving

Submitted to Contest #156

“We were flying just past the island of Upolu with efforts to land in Pago Pago when our turbine engine suddenly burst into flames. We had one chute—there were three of us. We glanced at each other. As the pilot, they all knew what I’d do. I threw the chute at T, put two fingers to my heart—our code—and jumped out the copter at 15,000 feet. I knew how to summersault in the air and maneuver in a way that would allow me to slow the velocity. I landed just past mi...

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“The Serpent's Favor” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #156

“Plant the snake eggs, slave” Molly demands. She makes a whipping motion at me, along with the sound effect with her mouth. “This fucking kid, I swear to God,” I murmur to myself as I bury my tennis balls in the backyard. Now I can’t play tennis because my crazy little niece thinks they’re eggs that will hatch into snakes to do her bidding. As I smooth out the dirt over my tennis balls with my shovel, she rubs her hands together like a maniacal villain. I take out my phone to text my sister, Nicole, who’s in the middle of her two-week romant...

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“Mental Arithmetic Error ” by River Horn

Submitted to Contest #156

Dr. Sheng is a world-renowned expert in grain planting. Once I was with her to the south for an academic conference, and I had a casual chat with her on the way. She confided to me a little secret from her childhood. She said that she had been troubled by one thing she did when she was a child, and the more she achieved in her career, the more she felt that she was a big liar, and she couldn’t forgive herself. That was in the 1960s when her pet name was Ayee. Ayee’s parents were far away from home. They gave birth to five children in a row. ...

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“Hannibal's Barn” by Gloria Bartone

Submitted to Contest #156

My Uncle John was a pathological storyteller. He loved to tell tales, sing, entertain people, and just have fun. He played banjo and guitar, called for square dances, and in general did all he could to make people happy. He had a terrific sense of humor,too. The nameplate on his office door read "John Brown and body," which should give some clue as to his humor. His most severe critics would call him a pathological liar, which might be partially true. But he never told tales for monetary or political gain, to scare people or make them do any...

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Write a story about a pathological liar.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 38 stories

“I am the Diamond Glints in Snow” by Henry Azure

“Pseudologia Fantastica” by Alexander Brotherton

“Spackle ” by Vivian Pollak

“Liar, Liar” by VJ Hamilton

“What Now” by Fergus Roche

“Trust Me” by Jacob Chudnovsky

“I lied I meant to kill myself” by Sambulo Kunene

“Liar” by Danielle Jumper

“The Greatest Dog in the World” by Marty B

“Very thoughtful of you” by Bat Shit Lazy

“Pins” by Madison Scruggs

“The Adventures of Discernment” by Jenna Irving

“The Serpent's Favor” by Jarrel Jefferson

“Mental Arithmetic Error ” by River Horn

“Hannibal's Barn” by Gloria Bartone

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about two characters arguing over how a past event happened.

Write a story where a character is experiencing parallel realities.

Write about false news coverage of an important event.

Start your story with a character or a narrator saying, “Don’t you remember?”

Contest #156

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

213

Contest entries

93

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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