Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 11, 2024

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✍️ 85 stories

“Bloodbath at the Beach” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #272

Ready for another typical Monday after a normal resort town weekend, Ocean City, Maryland chambermaid Rosa Gonzalez slowly unlocked the door of the luxury condominium unit and wheeled her equipment cart into the room. She had expected to make quick work of it–a minor dusting, picking up a few dozen discarded paper cups and booze bottles and a once-over with a vacuum. To her horror, she found pools of red bl...

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“Moonlit Malady” by Arthur Yates

Submitted to Contest #272

*This story features elements of dread, horror, mild gore, and adult language*“The damn dog got out,” Bill muttered to himself, noticing the back door ajar, allowing the frigid night air to invade his kitchen. Fall nights were merciless in the northern mountains of Utah, and Bill wasn’t about to let the sonabitch Winston inflate his heating bill just to chase another squirrel and get those prickleys—Bill's term for burrs—tangled in his fur. Snatching his coat from the arm of the couch, he shot his wife a terse explanation and stormed out, sl...

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“The Nudging” by Tamara Lieberman

Submitted to Contest #272

Mythical beasts have been the awe of school-aged children for centuries. Marina had her own dreams as most little girls do, but they were not of princesses and princes. Rather, she dreamt of dragons. She longed to fly with freedom through the unconfined winds of her town, a small fishing village in rural Italy. She would perch on the stout back of a lime green beast as its Leviathan sized wings manipulated the air with ease. This is what passed her thoughts as she scrubbed the steps beneath her grandparents’ fish mar...

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“The First Night ” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #272

Witnessing the type of sadism I had witnessed causes a man to panic and lose composure, his only instinct to flee. It was from the frying pan and into the fire as my muggers were attacked by blood hungry beings that tore them limb-from-limb, drinking their blood as it spilled from their severed limbs. I seized my opportunity to escape and ran into the forest. In my haste, I ran into pine branches, blinded by the darkness beneath the canopy over the forest where the moonlight didn’t shine. My path was uneven and my footing unsure, but time th...

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“Porch Light” by Bernadette Stott

Submitted to Contest #272

The porch light clicks on as Callie sets her foot on the bottom step. She freezes. On either side of the screen door is a hanging basket, thick with petunias, the colour hard to discern in the glare of the security light. Liam whimpers in her aching arms. The taxi driver couldn’t, wouldn’t take them beyond the driveway gate. She left the car in the little town five miles away, at the end of a cul-de-sac, in case there’s a tracker in it, which is ludicrous for a nine-year-old Honda Civic, but she doesn’t put anything past Dale. She dropped he...

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“Ezmira” by James Crofts

Submitted to Contest #272

Angie walked into the greenhouse and found her boss, Lisa, working at a large table where they sorted the seeds they grew. She was a curious type of character with tattoos on her face and she claimed she studied alternative beliefs, like witchcraft. But Angie had accepted it as some who was simply different and she had no place to judge. Angie's body ached and complained from unloading bags of fertilizer and compost from the box truck. She needed to go home and sit in a nice hot bath and do nothing all weekend. But it was almost quitting ti...

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“A Residual Haunting” by Jade Lawson

Submitted to Contest #272

The couch groaned in commiseration as I flopped down. With a sigh, I rubbed my eyes, then began to take off my jewelry. It took minutes to carelessly unmake what had taken an hour and half to assemble, but it was sort of cathartic. Almost like I was cleaning myself of yet another disastrous date. “Bad night?” Slumped low in my green velvet chair was the reason why I wouldn’t go on a third date. Tristan raised his brows, his eyes alight with eager anticipation of a good story. “It was fine,” I finally answered and got up to go was...

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“Keira and the White-Robed Fairy” by Kathryn Minicozzi

Submitted to Contest #272

Keira removed her shoes and stockings and stood to feel the leaves between her toes. She smiled as she squished a few of the leaves with her two big toes, leaving big green spots on her feet. Her mother would scold her for slipping out the house and down to the woods, but Keira wasn’t afraid. She was on an adventure, away from home and her mother’s subjection. She began to walk toward a stream a short distance ahead. The day was warm and clear, with bits of sun escaping between the leaves of the overhanging tree...

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“The Walk to Adilvun” by Joshua Mottor

Submitted to Contest #272

"What do you do if you see Mahaha?" Violent gusts snatched at the taut caribou hide, the reverberations lending wordless echoes to Hanta's deep bass. Stitched wolves hunted elk across the rippling membrane, running rings through the twitching shadows."Ask for a last drink, then push it into the water," Nukak replied absently. His eyes followed the sharpening stone as it sprang from his fingers again, and he sighed. The spear clacked against the sled as Nukak bent to retrieve the tool once more."How about Keelut?" Hanta plucked the stone from...

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“IT WILL REMAIN THE SAME” by Mystery Guest

Submitted to Contest #272

IT WILL REMAIN THE SAME.Sunday, 1500 PM, August 15th 2030.The man slowed down his pace until he finally stopped running. He just passed farmers lands with corn still growing, ready to be harvested. In the distance was a small industrial area and an old wildlife observation post which was built when it was all undeveloped land. Still it was very peaceful, except for a few cars and bicyclists. He slowly turned around catching his breath. He looked directly into the sun. This was the third heatwave but yet he enjoyed the exhausting 10...

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“Forgiveness Woods” by Mary Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #272

The sun has gone down. The air is becoming cold. It is dusk and the colors of the trees and the ragged shrubs underneath the trees have begun to dissolve into gray. The afternoon’s palette of lime and mossy greens and the once warm and grounding browns of the barks of things has cooled to my touch as I steady myself against this tree and then the next. The air is clammy. I turn my hot, damp face to the right and then to the left and each way I feel a coolness, like an anxious hand resting on my cheek. I left the lake too late. But the smell ...

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“It'll Be Fine” by Nate Tesar

Submitted to Contest #272

Should have seen that coming, I thought to myself as I dodged between two oak trees, narrowly avoiding a burst of purple fire thrown by an angry witch. This is why you never trust a gremlin. “Hey, I heard that!” shouted the psychic little cloaca. “I heard that, too! There's no need to be so vulgar.” I spared a glance at the hairy little green wannabe pixie dodging through the forest beside me while dragging a jagged knife with the heart of whatever poor sap had agreed to be the witches' sacrifice still impaled on it. How's this for vu...

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“Fox Hunt” by Benjamin Khoury

Submitted to Contest #272

It's a bad decision I know, but never was the sharpest tool in the shed. There's a less than 20% survival rate for runners and yet people like me keep applying. I spent the last two years accumulating credit card debt and jamming needles into my forearm. Now I'm here three months sober in a blue school bus with a handful of soon to be dead strangers. We all chose to run. I looked around at the silent companions around me. None of them met my gaze. There was an unspoken understanding between all of us. We were not good people. We were all cow...

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“Just Run” by Lynne Boyd

Submitted to Contest #272

They were on to her. Jack was acting weird, and there was no way she would get away with it forever. She turned on her computer and opened his email. He had set it up on her computer over a year ago so she could check it when he was out of town with no service. She felt sure he had forgotten she even had access. She was shaking as she scrolled down each line, stopping at the one to Jane in HR. The subject line was empty. She moved the cursor and double-clicked to open it.‘You will never believe who has been buying prepaid…’ She didn’t h...

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“Londolozi” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #272

Londolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. I scramble to my feet and hurl myself at the tree. My legs are clumsy. My heart beats in my mouth. The tree is old and dead; the trunk grey and knobbly. I reach, fumbling for handholds. And look back. The leopard's head emerges from the bank above the river. She shakes herself. And sees me. I jump, grab onto a stub of branch and haul myself up. My boots and knees scrape on the bark. The leopard bursts up from the bank and runs after me. She leaps at the tree trunk. Reaches up a pa...

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Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 85 stories

“Bloodbath at the Beach” by Bob Faszczewski

“Moonlit Malady” by Arthur Yates

“The Nudging” by Tamara Lieberman

“The First Night ” by Ty Warmbrodt

“Porch Light” by Bernadette Stott

“Ezmira” by James Crofts

“A Residual Haunting” by Jade Lawson

“Keira and the White-Robed Fairy” by Kathryn Minicozzi

“The Walk to Adilvun” by Joshua Mottor

“IT WILL REMAIN THE SAME” by Mystery Guest

“Forgiveness Woods” by Mary Gilbert

“It'll Be Fine” by Nate Tesar

“Fox Hunt” by Benjamin Khoury

“Just Run” by Lynne Boyd

“Londolozi” by Chris Pye

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Contest #272

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

488

Contest entries

176

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: