Set your story during — or just before — a storm.

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 31, 2025

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✍️ 144 stories

“My Alluring Nightmare ” by Madison Drain

Submitted to Contest #288

Warning: Contains themes of sudden death and griefI closed the door of my bedroom and sank into my mattress, curling up with the pile of clean laundry I had no energy to put away. My body ached and my type A brain was still overanalyzing trying to make sense of the day. So much had happened in such little time. I finally got the overworked nut to slow itself and had to force myself to sleep. My eyes were heavy and when they closed it was if my day had started all over again. There were quick flashes of things that had happened throughout the...

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“Louise ” by Eric E

Submitted to Contest #288

Stepping on to the dock, Darryl is faced with the sheer weight of his dilemma: it was only four days ago that on the way back from placing traps, Louise had blown her engine and had to be tugged back to port. It had been in Captain Ted’s family for generations, a boat that Darryl’s own father had worked on, a boat that had survived countless harsh winters. Somehow, it must have acquired the properties of a talisman, capable of providing eternal safety in a world where safety is never certain. For whatever reason, Captain Ted wouldn’t give up...

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“Indiscreet Flirtation” by Ronald Laurent

Submitted to Contest #288

Indiscreet Flirtation Savannah Georgia is legendary; it was one of the only towns left standing after Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea.” The chamber of Commerce romantically describes it as a charming Southern escape where art, period architecture, trendy boutiques and haunted stories are all set under a veil of Spanish moss.It was there that my younger sister Melanie had purchased a restored plantation home with sixty acres on the east side of the Flint River...

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“(It's Hard to See) Beyond the Rain” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #288

tw: violent and graphic imageryHe thinks I’m asleep as he sneaks about the house. He forgets I can’t sleep through storms. I imagine the sky yelling at me over something I didn’t know I did. I never learned the sky’s language no matter how much weather channel I watch, but if I did I’d apologize to it for whatever I’ve done to make it rage.I stopped apologizing to him, however. A long time ago. He doesn’t care. I can hear the thumps from his footsteps and the snickers overflowing from his throat. I imagine his wide eyes and Cheshire smi...

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“Vivian's Blizzard” by Olive Wachter

Submitted to Contest #288

Vivian stumbled through the icy mounds of snow covering the ground, almost in a daze. The dark grey clouds covered the sky, ensuring not even the slightest pinpricks of light peeked through; the only source of light coming from the old, rickety flashlight in her hands. She had been using her phone as a light source prior to the flashlight, but her phone had long since died. The beacon shook as she gripped it tight in her palm, a combination of the adrenaline rushing through her and the cold surrounding her. She wasn’t aware of how long she h...

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“To Make A Storm Worse” by Mono Liso

Submitted to Contest #288

The rain was exciting at first. The forecast had been the talk of the town for days leading up, and a nervous anxiousness descended upon the people like the clouds that would soon come in. At first, it may not have sounded like anything far out of the ordinary – heavy rains with the potential for storms. But this desert town hasn’t seen a drop of water from the sky in years, let alone a storm, and for many of the hundreds of thousands of people here, this would be their first. They prepared for it like a blizzard. In the days before, t...

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“Sunshine and Butterflies” by Michaela Howard

Submitted to Contest #288

The day a stranger came to town, the sky turned black. It was an omen I thought. Lydia said I was being foolish. Mulgrove normally sat nestled on the coast, characterized by sunny blue skies. Butterflies fluttered around, and Ol’ Miss Wilson’s petunia pots swayed in the cool breeze. It was only ten in the morning on May 12, 2000. At this time, everyone would walk down Mulgrove Lane, checking out the boutiques that opened their doors to let the wind rustle through hanging dresses. Java Coffee shop bustled as usual. Neighbors called a hearty h...

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“I AM A BLASTED TREE” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

Submitted to Contest #288

Three times in my life, something has kept me from dying. The first time, I'd been left on a steel table in a bloody basin. The abortion hadn't worked. Now they were just waiting for me to stop breathing. This I heard from the woman who snuck me out, endangering her own job. The second time was in Germany, the Black Forest. I was lost for days. Something, which I am still not fully aware what it was, found me and eventually led me to safety. A ghost? A spirit. Some ancient Teutonic God? Whatever it was kept me alive for that fortnight. It fe...

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“Oil Drop” by David Veroff

Submitted to Contest #288

“Thirty-love.” Ryan grinned. He was truly kicking ass today. Sam was winded and sweating profusely. He did not look like the defending club champ. Ryan wound up and served, an ace, just inside the center line, rocketed off the web of his racket. Sam did not even move. He looked at his hands on his racket. “Forty-love”. Ryan skipped back to the service line. This time it was a hard-charging return at the net that won the game. That was the match. Ryan reached over the net but Sam ignored him and walk...

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“That Saturday” by Ashlee Hull

Submitted to Contest #288

That Saturday A calm, crisp breeze squandered through my window, which, of course, awakened me from my much-needed sleep, FOUR MINUTES before my alarm was set to go off. “Great…” was my first word on Saturday, March 29th. I had been working the night shift at the hospital all week because my delusional colleague was “ spending time” with her “soul stars”. Whatever… Sure, I was tired, but the extra hours didn’t hurt in my financial department. I called for my dog Rifton, knowing he is probably p...

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“Always the Same” by Livvy C.

Submitted to Contest #288

Content Warning:This story contains themes of mental struggles and substance abuse. Reader discretion is advised. "You let me go or I swear--" "You swear what?" His voice was calm and unbothered by the pounding of rain against the siding and the clash of thunder far above us. "LET ME GO!" I screamed, trying with pathetic effort to break free of his grip. "I can't, and if I could, I wouldn't." "You're helping nothing," I panted, resorting to pulling at his locked fingers around my wrist. "Andrea, look at me." He grabbed my other hand, to my ...

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“I Can't Wait to Leave Florida” by Janel Trevino

Submitted to Contest #288

The anticipation and fear was growing. I’ve never been through a hurricane before and it’s finally here. I hate it. Everything about it and everything leading up to it. Over the last few days, hell, even weeks, the media and local meteorologists have been non-stop reporting on the potential outcome and damages. It’s supposed to be the worst ever recorded, or so they say. That certainly did NOT make me feel great. A cat 4 already just miles away in the Gulf? How the hell can Floridians live like this for four or five consecutive mon...

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“Til the Next Time” by Susan Wood

Submitted to Contest #288

“Well, are we going to chance it and go, or what? It’s your birthday so you decide. We can always re-book you know. Your call. If you don’t want to drive, I get it. OK?” Stacey stopped talking for a moment giving me a chance to jump in. “I don’t know what to say. There is a weather statement issued for tonight and we have no idea what the roads are going to be like tomorrow.” “So…..?” Up came the eyebrows with the hands close behind. “It’s time you got over this fear of yours.” I shrugged, closed my eyes ...

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“Faceless” by Ben W

Submitted to Contest #288

A torrent of rain poured through the hole in the ruined cathedral’s once proud and unblemished ceiling. The icy waterfall glittered softly like crystals in the campfire’s light before it splashed on the broken stone floor where its chilling tendrils then spread amongst the pews. A flash of lightning made the man look up from his meal of holy rat just as a boom of thunder echoed through the sanctified ruins. "Seems the storm is picking up strength. Best finish my oh so appetizing meal and get some rest.” He bent down to take a bite, on...

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“Sunrise” by Anne Barber

Submitted to Contest #288

Bob was coming. “What kind of name is that for a hurricane,” Maggie had asked her sister yesterday. There had been a pause, enough so that the silence was real. “Be careful with this one, Maggie,” Jillian had said. “It’s supposed to hit us.” Hit us, Maggie thought, as though Jillian were standing beside her and not safely in Manhattan. Maggie was on Nantucket, facing the Atlantic, and Bob was coming. Now Maggie sat on the porch steps and stared, her eyes wide open with awe, as dark red stretched out acro...

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Set your story during — or just before — a storm.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 144 stories

“My Alluring Nightmare ” by Madison Drain

“Louise ” by Eric E

“Indiscreet Flirtation” by Ronald Laurent

“(It's Hard to See) Beyond the Rain” by Jarrel Jefferson

“Vivian's Blizzard” by Olive Wachter

“To Make A Storm Worse” by Mono Liso

“Sunshine and Butterflies” by Michaela Howard

“I AM A BLASTED TREE” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

“Oil Drop” by David Veroff

“That Saturday” by Ashlee Hull

“Always the Same” by Livvy C.

“I Can't Wait to Leave Florida” by Janel Trevino

“Til the Next Time” by Susan Wood

“Faceless” by Ben W

“Sunrise” by Anne Barber

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a breeze brushing against someone’s skin.

Write a story where the weather mirrors a character’s emotions.

Start or end your story with someone standing in the rain.

Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.

Contest #288

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

416

Contest entries

164

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: