Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 16, 2024

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✍️ 130 stories

“To Wake Up At 52” by Nia Videnova

Submitted to Contest #252

It felt like the zestful waters of a powerful outpouring flowing into my blood when I took the proposed toast of wine at Christmas Eve 2004. A general feeling absorbed me on that evening when I had so many occasions to relish upon. It was the best time of the year – snowy fairy-tale, presents and people together - and I was the luckiest man alive. If we put my job promotion at the television, my sport achievements and the Christmas excitement on the side, my daughter and I were the stars of that gathering. It was her first and my thirty-seco...

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“The Beauty Shop” by Reagan Ellis

Submitted to Contest #252

It could be said that she spent more time than most seven-year-olds thinking of biblically accurate angels. She was pleased by her name for the first six years of living, especially when spoken from the lips of her mother, “Angel, my love.” She thought the name rang to a similar tune of angelic concepts such as beauty, elegance, femininity, and light. Until that bright Sunday morning. “Angels,” Pastor Dave preached, “are God's warriors. The way we depict them is an injustice.” Angel, who usually took church as an opportunity to doz...

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“Gimmick” by D'Spencer Luyao

Submitted to Contest #252

Garrett Barron Jr.—headed northbound on Oak Way. The street was thin enough to almost be a back road if not for the spattering of houses on either side. The man was just about the same sort of deal—thin enough to be almost nothing, and only quite something on a technicality. His loose handful of friends called him “Gimmick,” and he supposed that was just about right. His first trick, which had earned him the nickname and a target on his back, had been to pick a fight with the dickbag who stole ...

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“A CHANCE ENCOUNTER” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #252

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER. Cora was impulsive, thinking ahead occasionally her plans worked to her advantage. There had been times when she had been left disappointed. Today was going to be different, with no job and time on her hands. She had met the man of her dreams by chance in the new revamped coffee bar in town with the sparkling neon lights and so...

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“Siren Song” by Amanda Segler

Submitted to Contest #252

As soon as we saw the sails, we lifted our voices in song. There were no words comprehensible by men, but it pulled at them anyway. The ship turned almost immediately in our direction, full sail. Our voices rose ever higher and we could hear the men shouting, trying to get more speed out of the ship. It wasn't long before they were close enough to see us without the help of their spyglass. They began to dive into the water in a vain attempt to get to us even quicker. We slid into the surf to meet them. One by one our voices went quiet. The s...

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“Suddenly Something” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #252

Carl looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and an old man stared back at him. The face had changed, the mirror too, but he could trace a straight line from the old man to the boy he had once been.“Bullshit!” said the editor, “every face tells a story, but it never follows a straight line. There’s always ups and downs, arcs, setbacks and deviations. You are lying to me and to yourself.” The editor jabbed a finger at Carl.Carl dodged the finger. “It is just as much effort writing my own story as it is any other,” he sai...

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“Echoes of Obsession” by J.T. Monroe

Submitted to Contest #252

My name is Ethan, and this is the story of how a single photograph dragged me into a nightmare of obsession, madness, and utter ruin.It started innocently enough, as these things often do. I was at an art exhibition, my camera slung over my shoulder, as always. The room was filled with the usual crowd—critics, enthusiasts, and the occasional curious onlooker. But one piece caught my eye, pulsating with a sinister energy. It was a provocative installation, raw and unsettling. And there she was, standing next to it, the artist herself—Emma.She...

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“Happy” by Rachel Coughenour

Submitted to Contest #252

She could tell by the way they stood close to one another, sharing uncertain glances, that they didn’t understand what she was saying. They didn’t, maybe couldn’t, understand her perspective. They couldn’t feel the grasp it had on her, reaching up through her insides holding on tight with fingers made not of flesh but barbed wire. To pull away from it would tear her apart. The only other woman in the group was shaking her head slowly, a mask of disbelief stretched across her face in response to what she was hearing. Her thin arms were ...

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“Functional Alcoholic” by Sofia Fleming

Submitted to Contest #252

It starts to rain properly. Eventually, I get back to the house. Every inch of me feels dead. I’m not even angry at everything that’s happened. I’m just tired and sad. I put my Yamaha YZF-R6 back in the smithy with my helmet, lock the doors, and get inside. I almost don’t bother to take off my shoes or hang up my jacket. I switch the lights on and stumble into the kitchen over to the fully stocked bar. I call myself a glophead. Greyson says I’m a “functional alcoholic”, meaning I can “maintain daily obligations and routines” but still “misus...

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“Bird bones” by Stephanie Lye

Submitted to Contest #252

My sister was like a wildfire. She burned bright, hot, and all-consuming. She engulfed with her energy – the loud laugh reminiscent of wind chimes that you could hear from two rooms away, her restless body that was always moving – the leg shivering against the table, and the fingers that fidgeted with objects, loose threads, her own fingernails. On her sixteenth birthday my parents bought her a fidget ring with a big opal that spun. After that you didn’t see her without it, the barely audible hum as the stone rotated for the millionth time, ...

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“The Schmidt Just Hit the Fan ” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #252

“It’s that time of year again,” Dr. Killi Knapp, the Gross family’s psychiatrist says. Dr. Knapp adjusts his designer frame glasses as Paul and Celeste bow their heads. “She was getting better,” Paul says, nervously brushing back what’s left of his hair. Celeste reaches for Paul’s hand. “She finished third three years ago. They sent her a doll…” “A Moogli doll. It’s a character on the show,” Paul explains. “Kind of a Yehti.” “That’s kept her going,” Celeste adds. “She’s sure the essay she wrote for this year’s contest will win.” Dr. Knapp’s...

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“The Fool and the Donkey Overture” by Emily Grace

Submitted to Contest #252

Note - excessive cursing, eldritch abomination The red curtain lifted. The stage was set, and the props were all in their correct places. A full-sized bed next to an open window, a spinning fan behind the window emulating a breeze, and, of course, a khaki-colored desk. A large, coffee-stained desk with disorganized stacks of music sheet paper that practically fell to the floor. It was about a year before the Modern Plague. Everything was different then. The conductor looked to the orchestra and lifted his baton. Each section of the orchestr...

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“The Auditory Absence of Hope” by Eddie Collins

Submitted to Contest #252

Rachel paced the hundred square-foot room; the soles of her feet blistered as the weeping floor boards sent her neighbors into a frenzy.With every bang on the wall, Rachel would shield her head. She removed the sweat weighed shirt and sat on the edge of the creaking bunk bed. Rachel gripped the sheets until her nails pierced her palms. Deep breaths.What is she doing?She’s practicing.Practicing? For what?It’s what she learned in the meeting you idiots.Ah, is it working?Of course not! She craves it! We crave it! WE NEED IT!Rachel stood back to...

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“FILTH” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #252

***Contains some profanity***Roland had sat at his window all morning. The view wasn’t anywhere near as clear as he would have liked, but then what could he do three flights up with that grimy, ill-fitting pane having long since morphed into its homophonous twin? Thrice he’d complained to the council. The last time he’d been more emphatic with regard to the damp and the mould, but would they listen? As for the state of the communal stairs – well, that’s the residents’ responsibility, sir, please refer to page four, section ten of your tenant...

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“The Compromise” by Jeremy Stevens

Submitted to Contest #252

He called on me in class today. “Audrey, have you a verse to contribute?” he asked. He does this, calls on students whose hands aren’t raised, his (admittedly effective) way of keeping us tame. He calls it “voluntolding.” There’d been a lull, a long, uncomfortable pause after he nominated Lance to contribute a verse: Lance, the one who sits in the corner closest to the back door, the one who gets picked up by the Boys’ and Girls’ Club bus. The one whose refrigerator displays the school lunch menu with a smiley-face magnet; the one whose grea...

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Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 130 stories

“To Wake Up At 52” by Nia Videnova

“The Beauty Shop” by Reagan Ellis

“Gimmick” by D'Spencer Luyao

“A CHANCE ENCOUNTER” by Christine LW

“Siren Song” by Amanda Segler

“Suddenly Something” by Luca King Greek

“Echoes of Obsession” by J.T. Monroe

“Happy” by Rachel Coughenour

“Functional Alcoholic” by Sofia Fleming

“Bird bones” by Stephanie Lye

“The Schmidt Just Hit the Fan ” by Michael Jefferson

“The Fool and the Donkey Overture” by Emily Grace

“The Auditory Absence of Hope” by Eddie Collins

“FILTH” by Carol Stewart

“The Compromise” by Jeremy Stevens

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character being followed.

Write about a character who struggles to do the right thing.

Write a story in which one of the characters is a narcissist.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Contest #252

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

360

Contest entries

143

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: