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

“I'm Well Enough to Know - Or am I?” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #252

We had Janine and Bill round yesterday, not that I wanted them in the house. I couldn’t tell John no, but what was he thinking? The last time we were on the verge of separating, he told me it was as though he and Janine had known each other all their lives. It’s not that I’m in love or anything, he’d said, not that I’d asked.John’s at work and so I’m writing in the kitchen. I don’t really want to sit at my desk in the bedroom – it throbs with last night, with the echo of John’s voice, and despite the tall windows, the sun on the floorboards,...

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“Amelia” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #252

“You’re the cream in my coffee,” said Amelia, her brown curls wistfully falling. Ever deeper, down, down. “And I thought we would be together in what might be forever!”Vincent, who couldn’t be anywhere else, did his best.“It's always you!” Amelia's voice rose, her face contorted in a pout. “Which can be construed as maybe or never! I despise you!”Vincent tried to pout. It was an exploration that neither interested him nor could be ignored. “Oh, to be me!” he said.The vast ocean, its waves ceaseless, decided it was not in anyone's interest to...

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“Did I Win or lose? ” by Robert Rawson

Submitted to Contest #252

No this isn’t real?! It can’t be! I must be having a nightmare, thought Chris, they were two nil up with ten minutes left, they are the best team in europe!! Manchester City hadn’t lost in over twenty games that season, however, after conceding a scrappy goal against Burnley with little time left in the game and losing a player to a red card for the protests towards the officials, which Manchester City regarded as a handball in the build up to the Burnley goal, Chris’s bet hanged in the balance. His other three betting selections had all tri...

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“The Coffee Date” by Diana Blackstone-Helt

Submitted to Contest #252

Sensitive content: Miscarriage Annie drummed her fingers on the heavy oak table and squinted at an ornate iron wall clock. The hands were barely visible in the dim morning light filtering through the Starbucks-green curtains. Janet was ten minutes late for their coffee date. What if something happened to her? A knot of fear twisted in Annie’s chest. Janet Kemper was one of Annie’s oldest friends. In fact, Janet was the first friend she’d made in Seattle after her husband, Travis, became the newest associate at Kemper and Dunn, Attorney...

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“Miss Perfect” by Rho Ryan

Submitted to Contest #252

“I swear Amelia,” Spencer exclaims for what must be the eighth time this morning. “Aria is just... amazing! She’s gorgeous, smart, and – God help me! – her laugh! Have you heard her laugh, Amelia?” “Can’t say I have.” I lie. Of course I’ve heard her laugh. The school goes deathly quiet every time she does, everyone mutually agreeing to let the sound ring through the hallways. Its echo never ends even as the sound technically fades. It dances around in your mind, driving you insane. “Captain of the swim team,” Oh, he’s still going. I wish I w...

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“The Disappearance of Lacey Mae” by Angie Lucas

Submitted to Contest #252

Five years ago, her daughter Lacey Mae Jenkins disappeared. It was something that could have happened to anyone, but it happened to her. It was the middle of summer, an oppressively hot day, at a church festival. One minute Lacey was there, and the next, she was gone. At first, everyone had been hopeful. They lived in a good neighborhood, in the kind of suburb where nothing bad ever happens, and the police were confident that it had been some kind of mistake or misunderstanding. Someone had ushered the wrong kid into the minivan, think...

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“The Love of Fighting” by Joseph Keener

Submitted to Contest #252

Trigger Warnings: (Substance Abuse, Bad Language, Physical Violence) She was pretty sure her ribs had cracked. Her head buzzed, her eyes felt like they were set to pop out of her skull. Blood leaked out her lip as she gnashed down on the mouth guard. She felt fevered; as if at any moment, her body would burst open in a grenade blast of ruptured vessels and shattered bone. Still, none of that mattered. None of the pain, or sweat, or blood. She caught her opponent on the left side of her jaw, and felt the bone snap out of place. His head snap...

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“Genie out the Bottle” by Vanya Gupta

Submitted to Contest #252

There was a dark splotch on one of the ceiling tiles in the basement. Claire supposed Mom hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared enough to fix it in her last few years. She adjusted the black dress she was wearing and tried to swallow down the feeling rising in her throat. Mom had always said that funerals were for the benefit of the living, not the dead, but Claire felt no benefit from milling around with strangers that pretended to love Mom when none of them ever helped her. Claire itched with the need to do something other than ruminate ho...

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“Reading is dangerous” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #252

Marcy strolls the aisles of Grumbles, a bookstore in a strip mall in her hometown of Rumson outside Newark, New Jersey. The owner rushes to visit with her when he finishes at the cash register, excited to see his favorite customer. They talk about the weather, children gone off to college and most importantly what new crime novels have come in. The owner Bob turns, rushes behind the counter, and pulls out a stack of books he has held back for her. Excited she fauns over the books looking at each cover and weeding out those she already owns. ...

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“The Psychoplay” by Sadaf Zulfikar

Submitted to Contest #252

Why do you want to kill me?” I shrieked.Expecting the answer to boom at me, I waited for a frightening second. Nothing.I clutched the script tighter to my chest as I recalled the next line ‘Because it’s what I do.’“Are you ok, Claire?” Mom came in without a knock.“Keep out,” I said through gritted teeth.“Practicing again?” She cocked an eyebrow. “You have stepped down from the role. Yes?”“Yes,” I lied. “An understudy now, thanks to you.”“Now, now, you know it’s for your own good sweetie,” she came closer and tucked a lock of hair behind my e...

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“Whopper” by Evonne Lee

Submitted to Contest #252

It was a cold and rainy Wednesday evening, and the McDonald's just down the road was packed with people who thought fast food was an acceptable last meal before we were all forced into our homes. I had ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a coke from the touchscreens on their self-service kiosks. Yet there it was, plain as day, on the tray with my order slip on it. A Burger King box. A Burger King box containing what was indisputably a Whopper. In a McDonald's. Why? The question haunted me. I looked around and above, and was greeted with th...

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“The Coal Biter” by Patricia Moffett

Submitted to Contest #252

In a small market town in The West Riding of England, Fitzwilliam Hall, a smart Palladian house, stands proudly in its own grounds. It’s present occupier, a Mr John Gateshead, had inherited it. And, he felt, it was no less than he deserved. He relishes, in particular, the oculus in the pediment of the house. To him, it resembled a Cyclops eye embedded in a regal forehead, its gaze dripping contempt over the hunched roofs of the surrounding cottages. These cottage dwellings appeared to have huddled and shrunk beneath the weight of its h...

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“SALOME” by Jennifer Claire Pulling

Submitted to Contest #252

Kimberley told him she could pinpoint exactly when their relationship changed. It was that week in September when he bought Salome. Life had been free and easy before then, bumbling around in the old Austin, even though they’d broken down on an ambitious trip to Cornwall. But with the delivery of the...

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“The Parking Lot Prophet” by Joseph Hawke

Submitted to Contest #252

On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon in August, Churchill surveys the scene from his driver's seat perch. Families amble to and from their cars and IHOP. He takes care to park in the same space, hidden from Walgreens’ cameras, and always backs in, so no one can approach him from behind. He turns off the car and removes the key. Can't have a dead battery like the time before. Anticipation climbs his spine like a lizard up a wall. When he deems it safe, he removes the Whip-It canister from a cloth shopping bag and puts on a pair of gloves. Don'...

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“To do: find title ” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #252

Like with most obsessions, I can’t easily tell how it all started. Nor can I point out the moment it turned from something I’d just do to help myself into something that compelled me so much it ruined everything. My workplace was a high-pressure, fast-paced, innovation-driven environment, the “stakes” were high etcetera. I’d go in every day, and most of the year I’d only see the sun through the tall immaculate windows of our 27th-floor office. This was a running joke in my team; that the sun is prettier through those windows than from ...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 130 stories

“I'm Well Enough to Know - Or am I?” by Carina Caccia

“Amelia” by Joe Smallwood

“Did I Win or lose? ” by Robert Rawson

“The Coffee Date” by Diana Blackstone-Helt

“Miss Perfect” by Rho Ryan

“The Disappearance of Lacey Mae” by Angie Lucas

“The Love of Fighting” by Joseph Keener

“Genie out the Bottle” by Vanya Gupta

“Reading is dangerous” by Jeffrey McDonald

“The Psychoplay” by Sadaf Zulfikar

“Whopper” by Evonne Lee

“The Coal Biter” by Patricia Moffett

“SALOME” by Jennifer Claire Pulling

“The Parking Lot Prophet” by Joseph Hawke

“To do: find title ” by Maria Alexandra

🌟 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: