Start your story with someone admitting a secret and end it with someone telling a lie.

Posted in Dramatic on May 1, 2021

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✍️ 180 stories

“The Ringleader” by Joe D

Submitted to Contest #68

“Hey, sonny,” the old carnival worker called to Hunter, who had asked his mother to bring him to the carnival the day after his ninth birthday — “come over here and I’ll let you in on a little secret. If I tell you, you have to promise ... you won’t tell anyone. If you do and they find out” — he motioned towards the ticket booth with a nod of his head — “they’ll fire me. Here’s what you do,” he said, cocking a bent finger at the empty milk bottles of his display, fifteen feet away — “Don’t aim for the rims, aim for the space b...

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“The Green Fairy” by Andrew Carter

Submitted to Contest #68

“Two stiff drinkers fertilize the olive grove,” Sallow says, dropping his guard after a night-long bender. Sallow knew it was foolish to imbibe in his own product. “What?” Cash exclaims. “We don’t need dead bodies. Could be risky.”“Easy pal,” Sallow chides. “The first threatened to put us in for bootlegging five years back. Sniffing for the free product. The second tried it on for a share in the business. Both got a taste of the “The Xtra Green Fairy." I boiled and dried their body parts, put them in a bone crusher, and dried the mixture int...

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“Paul's plan” by Sundaran .

Submitted to Contest #68

“Janice,” Paul’s voice had taken on that extra degree of sharpness that he presented only before his wife, only during his most vulnerable moments. “Do you remember that time we went camping, sometime soon after our marriage?” Janice looked up from her book, her merry face masking her annoyance at the interruption. She waited for him to go on, widening her pretty doe eyes to encourage him. “You remember surely, that old camping site where I used to go with dad… “Willow Creek” it was called, right?” She gifted him a pleasant smile before repl...

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“The Secret” by Jenne Gentry

Submitted to Contest #68

“Can I tell you a secret?” She whispered, leaning towards me so the guard on the other side of the bars wouldn't hear. “Um...” Secrets were risky, especially in here, so I knew this could go either way. Considering the petite young woman was brought in by no less than three of the high-security prison's guards, intuition told me this secret was going to be particularly dangerous. But I was bored and had nothing else to pay attention to at the moment, so...“Sure.” I replied. “I have multiple personalities.” She said, quietly. Humph, not w...

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“White Lie” by Susannah Webster

Submitted to Contest #68

A long blink. A steadying breath. Sweaty palms. “Can I tell you a secret?” “‘Course. What’s up?” Diana doesn’t take her eyes off the movie. “D’you remember Dylan Jameson?” Diana looks startled. Lucy knows that saying his name is like flicking a switch in her brain from light blue to thick grey. Diana turns to face her, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Yeah. Why?” “You remember when you told me you and him cancelled your date because of some family thing you had?” “Yeah.” If Lucy didn’t know her friend had lied, she wouldn’t catch the ...

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“Witness” by Ray Van Der Veer

Submitted to Contest #68

“He wasn’t your real father.” We were sitting at the kitchen table, two days after we had buried Dad in the cold February earth, the early thaw lending itself to quick work for the grave diggers, the sun shining down on the Father, new to the parish and one I’d never met, intoning debts of gratitude and hopes of eternity for the beloved, the twisted logic of the trinity slipping and sliding through his homily, a wind gust whirling as I threw my handful of dirt on top of the coffin as if to spit it back out at me. And now Mother sat there, st...

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“A Tragedy Just Waiting To Happen” by Zea Rose

Submitted to Contest #68

"You are right," the friendly smile seemed to off melt off his face, " it's nothing but a show. My entire personality is just a mask. A little too good to be true wasn't it." I knew it. I felt the satisfaction of finally gaining the upper hand. I guess anyone who spent too much time with him was bound to notice. Or just anyone as obsessed as finding a fault with him as I was. I gazed up at his towering form all smug like but the look was quickly wiped off my face. His incredibly beautiful face was....different. It was like ...

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“Change” by John Laird

Submitted to Contest #68

CHANGE The bartender finished tending to the customer at the end of the bar and ambled back, a dish towel draped over his left shoulder. “So, Andy, you out slumming tonight, or what? No hot date?” Andrew winced. He didn’t like the name Andy but gave Sam a pass since the bar was his frequent refuge. He looked down, concentrating on standing a quarter on its edge. Fortunately, the bar’s surface was somewhat level and the quarter new. It joined its two upright companions. “Yeah, Sam, taking a break. Recharging the ol’ batteries, so to spea...

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“Mother of ...three” by Doina Toma

Submitted to Contest #68

(Hi guys. This is my first time here so I could use some comments and critiques. Thanks!). I woke up in a mood that immediately felt wrong for that day. The air smelled the same way I remembered it from all the mornings I was all packed up and ready to go to summer camp. I would always feel excited but terrified at the same time, ready to be away from home on my own but also apprehensive and sad. That day, thirty-some years later, I felt the same mixed excitement. It was bitter-sweet and made me feel like a child again. But all I am trying t...

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“The disaster at the dance” by Isabela Campos E Silva

Submitted to Contest #68

"Okay, I admit it, I was the one who called the police," said Carla. They were gathered around an investigation table, and no one could leave until the killer was found. You are probably asking yourself "Who are they, and why are they being investigated?" and you are asking the right questions. Let's travel back in time a little. Two hours ago, Carla and her sister Margo were getting ready to go to their high school winter dance. It was a mess of makeup, hot tools, discarded clothes, and questions like "Has anyone seen my lipstick?" "Does my...

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“Stupor” by Samira Davis

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been thirty-five years. Thirty-five years since Daphne had made her fatal commitment to her high-school sweetheart, Charles. How could this have gone so wrong? She loved him, didn't she? Gambles, gambles..... Daphne Adair.....No. No. Daphne Miller. Daphne hated Charles for what he had become, the sweet-voiced liar who had twisted and turned her life using his lovely eyes and gentle voice, to ride her through the biggest rollercoaster she had ever been on. Well, the drop was near. Beginning of Act I "Daffy!" called Laurel Parker, her b...

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“Was it possible for someone to hate their own mother?” by Marcus Éloi Gideon

Submitted to Contest #68

“I hated my mother” whispered Frank, trying to keep his voice low. There were people around him, and the last thing he’d want was to be heard by the crowd gathered to honour his mother’s death. It was a funeral. His aunt was talking, saying some untruthful things about how virtuous and good his mother was; “All of these are lies!” whispered again. Indeed, nobody in that room was aware of his mother’s torments and hate against his own son. “I...

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“2050-Mother” by E.M Green

Submitted to Contest #68

Mumbai-A Friday of 2050 'Jai I have to tell you something, can you come here?' Mio has finally messaged him. She is standing in front of his room. An android, with short hairs, she is dressed in white maid attire. I'm not good at these things, I want to make it easy for him. Small speakers creeks alive in the house. Jai "What happened Mio? It's not Sunday, you know I can't come offline." Mio "It's your mother..." Jai "What?" little background noise disappears from the speakers. Mio "She has.....committed suicide." she s...

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“An Unescapable Fate” by Megan Patterson

Submitted to Contest #68

“I have cancer.” The weight of the words sent a painful shiver through his body. Saying it out loud somehow made it real. He had spent months bargaining with himself, telling himself that if he kept quiet that the cancer would go away. But it didn’t. His mother wore her broken heart on her face. With a low voice, she croaked, “How long have you known?”&nbsp...

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“A long and happy life” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #68

"Is the rumour true, then? We're all going to die?"“Unfortunately, yes. The meteorite is due to hit in five hours. All the media know so far is that it's going to come close. That’s all we are going to tell them. The last thing we want to do is set off a panic about something that cannot be changed. We don’t want to make humanity’s last few hours worse than they have to be."“True. At least everything here will die instantly. Those on the far side of the Earth will not end so well.”James scrambled up from the flower bed underneath the window,...

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Start your story with someone admitting a secret and end it with someone telling a lie.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 180 stories

“The Ringleader” by Joe D

“The Green Fairy” by Andrew Carter

“Paul's plan” by Sundaran .

“The Secret” by Jenne Gentry

“White Lie” by Susannah Webster

“Witness” by Ray Van Der Veer

“A Tragedy Just Waiting To Happen” by Zea Rose

“Change” by John Laird

“Mother of ...three” by Doina Toma

“The disaster at the dance” by Isabela Campos E Silva

“Stupor” by Samira Davis

“Was it possible for someone to hate their own mother?” by Marcus Éloi Gideon

“2050-Mother” by E.M Green

“An Unescapable Fate” by Megan Patterson

“A long and happy life” by Merinda Forwood

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with two characters watching a sunrise and end it with one of them seeing the moon reflecting off a lake.

Start your story with someone robbing a bank and end it with two people driving on an interstate.

Start your story with the line, “This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives,” and end it with, “By then it was too late.”

Start your story with the line, “It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same,” and end it with, “[…] and that was all that mattered.”

Contest #68

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

877

Contest entries

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Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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