Write a story about someone trying to resist their darker impulses. Whether they succeed or fail is up to you.

Posted in Dark on Sep 8, 2023

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✍️ 100 stories

“AN ANGELIC MONSTER: MISTY/SEVEN” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #215

Oh My God! Blood is everywhere. Blood is on the walls. Blood is on the floor. Blood is on my hands, on my clothes. A knife is in my hands. Misty, what have you done? Oh My God! I did this. But who did I do it too? Who's house is this? Oh No! There's a body. No please no. I can't look at it. I close my eyes hoping this is a dream. I open my eyes and see it's not a dream but my reality. One body on the floor. I touch him, he's dead. So much blood. I look next to the man. Oh no! another body. No, please not another one. I touch her. She's dea...

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“China Doll” by Emma Winnicutt

Submitted to Contest #215

Emmelyn, a young woman of twenty, has lived many lifetimes before. An old soul trapped in a young, nubile body…she is often viewed as a trinket rather than a woman. Alabaster skin and piercing blue eyes complement flowing locks of chestnut hair. She is truly a vision to behold. She holds herself with a demure composure only seen in those thrice her years. Yet, this petite woman conceals a twisted side…she delights in torture and aims to burn the world down. However, she has not yet been compelled to act. Biding her time and fighting t...

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“To indulge one's nature” by Eddie McKenzie

Submitted to Contest #215

The knife felt heavy in the young man’s pocket, the sound of his heartbeat thundered tremendously in his ears, obscuring his already muffled footfalls with each racing thump that sent adrenaline stars to dot the corners of his vision. His hands twitched, each finger joint stiffly moving with anticipation. It was all that he could to do keep his breathing quiet, even with the help of the old, dusty scarf that he looped about his neck and drew up to partially obscure his features. It was an ugly old thing and one that he knew nobody would asso...

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“Monster ” by Debra Demars

Submitted to Contest #215

'Diane, I want you to take a look at this. It's really important. " Elizabeth Murphy, was 89 yrs old. and the mother of Diane Clark, her 57 yr old widowed daughter. Her oldest child. Her first born. Her handicapped child. Diane walked over to look at the picture and it was a picture of herself, Diane . She had to be about 4 yrs old in that picture. Elizabeth Murphy pointed to the picture and said, "See how your right leg looks much shorter than the l...

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“The Dark Urge” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #215

I call it the Dark Urge. It seems like I’ve always called it the Dark Urge, but that cannot be the case. There was a time before those words, there was also a time before the Dark Urge came a-calling. Now time, a dimension I became so accustomed to, that I mistakenly and vainly believed was of no consequence, has caught up with me. Time will always catch up with a person, even if they have been cursed with something that approximates immortality. Immortality is a broken joke. In truth, we don’t even possess immortality. Once ag...

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“Deliver Us From Evil” by Zena Rachelle

Submitted to Contest #215

“Pauline, baby. Come on so we can pray. It’s almost time to eat.” Like most people in the south, Pauline’s mother was a devout religious woman and was raising Pauline to be the same. “Yes, ma’am!” Pauline dropped her dolls and looked in the mirror. She caught her gaze and instantly felt hypnotized. The aura of light that surrounded her slowly started to dim. An entity in the mirror gently pulled her mind into the deep sea of malevolence that awaited her on the other side.“Pauline! Now!” Her mother’s shriek broke the spell of the shadows...

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“The Battle Within” by Yeisha Lee

Submitted to Contest #215

The small, quiet town of Willowbrook, nestled within the gentle embrace of rolling hills, appeared to be plucked from the pages of a storybook. It stood as an embodiment of serenity, an oasis of tranquility where time moved at its own unhurried pace. The streets, lined with charming cottages adorned with white picket fences, seemed as if they had emerged from a bygone era. Each house bore the unique mark of its occupants, with perfectly manicured gardens and welcoming front porches. Willowbrook was more than a community; it was a family. N...

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“Chelsea” by Michael Knight

Submitted to Contest #215

Chelsea By Michael Knight (WARNING: Contains elements that may trigger some readers such as violence and mental health) Chelsea Wright was an average seventeen-year-old girl. She was a cheerleader for her high school and captain of the lacrosse team. Her boyfriend, Tyler Banks, was the love of her life and the star pitcher for the high school baseball team. Everyone loved her, and everything in her life seemed to be perfect. At least, it was before the dreams started. One night, Chelsea had the strangest dream. She was in an old a...

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“The Right Choice” by Maya Rose

Submitted to Contest #215

Trigger warnings: Sensitive content with mentions of Mental health, Physical violence, gore and abuse That look on an adult’s face when I do something unpredictable, never gets old. Or less entertaining, or more heady. First, it’s this knee-jerk expression that’s a blend of morbid fascination and terror they’re helpless to hide. Then it’s followed right after by a braver veneer after they’ve reminded themselves that I’m just a kid and there’s no reason to be truly afraid of me because there’s no way a kid is truly messed up. Mischievous and...

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“To Become a Man” by Julia Hoffner

Submitted to Contest #215

To Become a Man I can vividly remember the sight of his crimson face, engorged with rage in front of my own, meek, and pale. ‘Be a man!’ he screamed, as my mother tried to pull him off me, struggling against his heavy frame. As a child of only eight years old, these are the moments that last. The ones that fundamentally shape you into who you become. Sometimes I try to convince myself that I had a normal upbringing and I even let myself begin to feel a touch of sentimentality – there had been good times, hadn’t there? I had felt loved, h...

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“Speak of the Bruja” by Chalice Davis

Submitted to Contest #215

“It isn’t likely that she will recover,” said the doctor. Her dark brown hair was tied back tightly so that she could appear to be smiling, even when the corners of her mouth turned with doubt. The bags under her eyes and vacant stare indicated her detached reality and fake sympathy. Isabella sat in the cheaply made chair. The fabric chafed against her elbows. She looked blankly at the doctor. A single word whispered the notion of negligence. She blinked the thought away and stared blankly at the clouds collecting in large mounds of vapor. H...

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“Make A Plan, Darling” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #215

Just like that the power went off. The TV, the lights, the microwave heating up his crappy TV dinner all down for the count. He glanced at the air conditioner in the window as if somehow he would find it working. Nope. His heart rate quickened thinking of the extreme heat outside that would be seeping in and taking over. “Dammit.” All those past due notices piled up and then in a moment of frustration thrown into the garbage. How was he supposed to take care of his bills and HER bills with one paycheck?&nbs...

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“A Tale of Two Dicks who Make some Life Changes with Differing Results” by J.J. Erwin

Submitted to Contest #215

Dick hadn’t killed a Great White for 18 days, 11 hours, and 39 minutes. He’d counted. His whole body ached with the need to kill. He could feel his teeth going dull, his heart and lungs shriveling without those juicy fats. Oh god, he’d been so close to that Great White the other day. Just a couple of flaps of his flukes and he’d had him. He could sense the fear swimming inside of the Great White. God, he loved when they were scar–Ok, stop, stop, stop. Dick, just stop! Get a hold of yourself! Dick shook his head. What had the therapist s...

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“The Nude Delicious People Of Quarryville” by J Tucker

Submitted to Contest #215

Content warning: drug references, descriptions of nudity.Until this last February, I'd lived for a couple years in a small, mountain town called Lake Wakonoma, Oregon. Population 2,356. Smaller than my high school in Los Angeles. I was working on a game created by two visionary founders who believed they could more quickly achieve their goals by avoiding the myriad of distractions pervasive in chaotic San Francisco. According to the investor pitches, the project was "groundbreaking", revolutionary", and "artificial intelligence challenging t...

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“Her Darkness” by Bailey Bourgeois

Submitted to Contest #215

The pills rattle against the old wooden floorboards. The monotonous sound of the train on its tracks making the whole building shake. Outside, a dim streetlight illuminated the room just barely. Broken frames and lamps lay on the floor, where they had been for days. Where they had been since this all started. It had been almost a week since you came home in a frenzy. When you began throwing anything you could get your hands on, letting it crash against the wall. The sound of your screaming amongst the shattering glass filled the apartment. T...

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Write a story about someone trying to resist their darker impulses. Whether they succeed or fail is up to you.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 100 stories

“AN ANGELIC MONSTER: MISTY/SEVEN” by Melinda Madrigal

“China Doll” by Emma Winnicutt

“To indulge one's nature” by Eddie McKenzie

“Monster ” by Debra Demars

“The Dark Urge” by Jed Cope

“Deliver Us From Evil” by Zena Rachelle

“The Battle Within” by Yeisha Lee

“Chelsea” by Michael Knight

“The Right Choice” by Maya Rose

“To Become a Man” by Julia Hoffner

“Speak of the Bruja” by Chalice Davis

“Make A Plan, Darling” by Hannah Lynn

“A Tale of Two Dicks who Make some Life Changes with Differing Results” by J.J. Erwin

“The Nude Delicious People Of Quarryville” by J Tucker

“Her Darkness” by Bailey Bourgeois

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a haunted house.

Write a story about a monster trying to become more human. Or about a human trying to become more monstrous.

You confront the monster you’ve spent many long years hunting. Except they’re not exactly what you thought they’d be…

Write a story about someone making a deal with the devil.

Contest #215

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

388

Contest entries

135

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: