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

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 16, 2024

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?

✍️ 130 stories

“A Dear Ron Letter” by Karen Derenbecker

Submitted to Contest #252

A Dear Ron Letterby Karen Davis Dear Ron, Bear with me as I have chosen to write a letter to say all that needs to be said. This way there is no possibility of being interrupted or persuaded. I write strictly from the truth that is mine to own. I remember the first night we formally met. I had seen you at gatherings thrown by my parents and parents of various friends and relatives. You even visited my neighborhood from time to time invited by some boys I grew up with including my older brot...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Little Whispers” by Kaotic Quinn

Submitted to Contest #252

Head lolls and bobs in a trance, possessed. Glazed eyes remain fixed on a small shining object in a cheap neon case. Like a train it hits, sending me straight into the shadow realm. Violent urges consume a typically well adjusted mind, taking a death grip. Shatter the plastic prison and set your precious free. You can’t just leave it trapped in there can you? When was the last time you enjoyed some quality time together? Don’t you miss it? Wasn’t it the thing that dreams were made of?Shivers radiate through a sticky body beginning to drip wi...

0 comments 0

Read story

“'Love' Letters” by Rozmarin Ideas

Submitted to Contest #252

Oh, dearest,I saw your face for the first time today. You are so beautiful. I walked in your footprints, and my feet fit so, so well in your path. I was made for you, made to be yours, made to uplift you. I will see you again. Please don’t hide from me. You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t. I am the only one who sees you, the only one who needs you, the only one you need. Please show me again, show me your face. …WHY won’t you show me? Why? Don’t hide from me. At last! A glimpse, a glitter, I saw you again. Oh, how you make my ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Romantic Flowers” by S.E. Tomlinson

Submitted to Contest #252

My ex-wife Blythe says I became more affectionate after our divorce. Romantic was the term she used. Too romantic, she said—and not romantic about the two of us, but rather about her and her boyfriend. I started sending gifts to them on occasion. “Get Well Soon” cards when they were sick, holiday cards, flowers for their first anniversary as a couple. They thought it was weird. One day, Blythe’s boyfriend Trey confronted me about it. He said, “Look, we appreciate what you’re doing, but you don’t need to send us anything. Really.” And that Re...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Three” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #252

Content warning: Mentions of death“Oh, that someone would give me a drink from the cistern that is by the gate of Bethlehem!”Shammah’s eyes darted up at the words. David was looking disconsolately at the contents of his water jug. The ruddy-haired young man had spoken before about how good the water from the cistern at the gate of his hometown tasted. He went back to eating his meal, but an idea had been planted in Shammah’s mind. By the time he got up, a plan had sprouted like a bean blossom. He kept an eye on where two particular men ...

9 comments 9

Read story

“Angel of the House” by Amanda Greystone

Submitted to Contest #252

Dr. Endicott would’ve had a restful evening if it hadn’t been for a bloodcurdling scream coming from the main corridor. The noise had startled him and he had spilled his tea as a result. “Blast! Now what?” He was frantically sponging himself as he ran down the hallway. When he reached the source of the commotion, he found two orderlies struggling with a new arrival. “Please!” the disheveled man said as he pulled away from the attendants. “I’m not mad! I don’t belong here!” Dr. Endicott went over to the orderlies...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Boy Who Loved Flies” by Zeeshan Mahmud

Submitted to Contest #252

Peter was fidgeting. He was seated in Kaiser lobby for a while, accompanied by his mother. There was a blue-haired, white girl across him with lot of small, circular badges on her purse that spoke as much as her perky catty glasses. It was quiet. The TV kept on playing Aladdin from circa 9,000 BC. Apart from them, there was a blond kid, of six or seven, with pale skin - almost like albinoism- who was also restlessly moving around.Peter was overweight, had curly hair and was dressed in a half-sleeve checked shirt. He was reading a monograph o...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Intergenerational” by Victoria MacDonald

Submitted to Contest #252

In 1974, I am in my twenties, and in denial of the fact that I am in the early stages of alcohol addiction. To my way of thinking, there is nothing better than a few pre-party drinks to calm the nerves before setting off for a gathering of people you haven’t seen since your boyfriend broke up with you. Especially if you are hoping the ex will be there, realize he has missed you, and beg for another chance. I knock back a one-liter bottle of vino before taking to the road for th...

0 comments 0

Read story

“An Offal Business” by Gerald Cole

Submitted to Contest #252

How shall I kill you? Let me count the ways. I’ve thought of baking you alive, rather like my signature pig’s head en croute, but my oven couldn’t really manage all of you. Not all at once, anyway. Perhaps a bomb would be better. Faster, cleaner. But I don’t want fast. Or clean. I want slow and dirty so you get just an inkling of the pain you’ve caused me. No, agony. Pure, lacerating, mental...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Definition of Insanity 3” by Antoine Bargel

Submitted to Contest #252

The Definition of Insanity 3 “Victory belongs to the most tenacious.” Roland Garros A few weeks ago, I submitted the short story below to a digital publication that provides feedback on submissions. Though stylized, it is entirely autobiographical. The Definition of Insanity 2 A few months ago, I submitted the short story below to a digital publication that provides feedback on submissions. Though stylized, it is entirely autobiographical. One might even say therapeutic, as in the wake of a major sentimental disappointment, I was t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Orbison's Memories” by Kay Davies

Submitted to Contest #252

The name is Orbison. It's weird I know, but the old man was a big fan of the Big O and that's what he lumbered me with. Why he couldn't have called me Roy, I'll never know. I wouldn't call any children of mine something so daft.I wasn't always like this. Scruffy and – quite frankly – unwashed. The old lady always used to say; “don't do anything I'd be ashamed of.” Well she'd be ashamed of me now and I'll tell you why. Women.To be specific, a particular woman. Joan. She is the prettiest little thing. Long black plait that hung to her waist, w...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Magnum Opus” by Moshe Davidovici

Submitted to Contest #252

“Robert, please go to sleep!” his wife pleaded with him. She pulled on his arm. It was no use; nothing she could say or do would budge him. “The doctor said it’s what you need!” “Shut up!” he fumed. He pulled his arm forcefully out of her grasp and resettled himself in his writing chair, in front of his typewriter. Those he knew had wondered why he wrote with a typewriter, but he maintained that it created the “perfect atmosphere”. For writing, he was a method actor. He paused a small while before speaking again. ‘What’s it to yo...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Within The Cane's Reach” by Reginald Paige

Submitted to Contest #252

1 Out in the midst of Bayou Andorra, the hooded man named Adonis beholds the shack. Shouting loons in the misty weather; echos uplift above the swampy tracks. Adonis stands still pondering if he should go back. Back to his town to heed to the warnings he heard as a child that his heart may turn to black. But what has that profited him, to himself he asks. Adonis had dreams. Dreams upon dreams that his dreams would manifest themselves. But without schemes, he was left to lean to himself for answers of how to make the dark sayings of his dream...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Message in a Bottle” by C.J. Carlin

Submitted to Contest #252

My prospective client, Regina St. John, was in her late forties, maybe early fifties. Her salt-and-pepper hair was drawn back into a severe bun, but there were laugh lines around her eyes and mouth. She smiled at me, but her smile was tinged with a certain sadness. “I want you to try to find my brother Mike. We had a horrible fight a couple years ago, over money, and I haven’t spoken to him since. Now both of us have inherited quite a bit from our Aunt Maude, and I want him to get his share. If we can’t find him, I get all of it, but I don’t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“All Hearts are Green” by Lee Youngblood

Submitted to Contest #252

“No don’t worry, we’ve got this, just get home; Missy is worried, she's called twice. I can’t cover for you anymore, Bruh. Anyway, she’s a good girl. I feel bad. She deserves better.” He didn’t mean to sound self righteous, but being sanctimonious had been assigned to him in eighth grade when he lost his sight in one eye and his baseball prospects, breaking-up a bullying session after the school’s Sadie Hawkins dance, but righteous sanctimony and pity only got him to bar manager in the towniest bar in town. No one outside cared, but the insi...

1 comment 1

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character being followed.

Dramatic – 100 stories

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

Character – 35 stories

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

Character – 40 stories

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

Character – 55 stories

Contest #252

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Obsession

$250

Prize money

360

Contest entries

143

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 31, 2024 EST

Won by Danielle LeBlanc 🏆

Title: Seven Hundred and Thirty Days

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

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 130 stories

“A Dear Ron Letter” by Karen Derenbecker

“Little Whispers” by Kaotic Quinn

“'Love' Letters” by Rozmarin Ideas

“Romantic Flowers” by S.E. Tomlinson

“The Three” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

“Angel of the House” by Amanda Greystone

“The Boy Who Loved Flies” by Zeeshan Mahmud

“Intergenerational” by Victoria MacDonald

“An Offal Business” by Gerald Cole

“The Definition of Insanity 3” by Antoine Bargel

“Orbison's Memories” by Kay Davies

“The Magnum Opus” by Moshe Davidovici

“Within The Cane's Reach” by Reginald Paige

“Message in a Bottle” by C.J. Carlin

“All Hearts are Green” by Lee Youngblood

🌟 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: