Write a story about an object that changed everything for a character.

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 23, 2024

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✍️ 84 stories

“Gleaming like a Drop of Blood” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #269

“I make the decisions for the business,” Nathaniel Benedict growled. “Remember that.”No expression on that poker face, of course. Nate didn’t give Tom any time to reply, but stormed out of Maggie’s kitchen and through the garden that surrounded the House of the Setting Sun under another blue sky over San Francisco. Driving north and inland since then had cooled his blood, though he preferred to sit in the back and let Tom drive as that is what a wealthy man would do. Nathan liked the look of Sonoma and besides, their argument derailed breakf...

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“Cookies” by David Foster

Submitted to Contest #269

It Started With Cookies When it started for me, I didn’t even know the Fair Folk were real, and certainly didn’t know anything about Magic. The first plate full of cookies was just there when I got home from work at Twilight Treasures, the bookstore I manage. I could smell them from the front hall because they were still warm. I didn’t make them … and I hadn’t even met my neighbours yet. I’d just moved into my new apartment three days before. I’d been living in what the ad for it called a ‘studio apartment’ (Ha-ha! It was more of a la...

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“milk of the siren” by Feline Kögel

Submitted to Contest #269

Sirens really do exist. But they are not beautiful like in the stories.They are creatures of the deep sea that look bizarre and frightening and ugly. They have greenish, slimy scaly bodies that are very thin and about twice as long as a human body. Their eyes are big like turtle eggs and all black with a malicious sparkle in them. Sometimes they have hair, which is very long, black and covered with slime, but most of the sirens I have seen are bald. Their mouths are full of sharp pointed teeth. They eat human flesh. Men's flesh. Women don't ...

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“Sinclair’s Balloons” by Cathy Pagliara

Submitted to Contest #269

The worn saloon door slammed open with a speed and force that threatened its forged iron hinges. The Whiskey Tavern had been open for twenty years, and Tad Taples had made countless repairs since opening day in 1830. What in the hell did I do to deserve this today, he thought as he dried a glass with his apron. Tad’s main job was to serve the most affordable whiskey and beer at the only tavern in town, while attempting...

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“The Handkerchief ” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #269

“We have all the time in the world,” Zelda said, reaching across the space betwixt herself and her fiancé. She lovingly caressed his forearm in an attempt to assure that his despondency was due to nothing more than the gloomy weather that filled the streets of Paris that rainy day. “We have all the time in the world to go all the places and see all the things your heart desires, Jacques. In a month we’ll be married and living together right here in this lovely Parisian apartment. Life is young. We are on the precipice of so many possibilitie...

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“The Legend Me” by D.C. Reed

Submitted to Contest #269

The things of legends don’t feel mystical. Legends and myths are the jobs of bards and poets. To take the horrors of battle and romanticize them into stories for the masses. They make the putrid copper scent of death and the rotten taste of festering meat palatable as one drinks ale at an inn. Legends are stories crafted by the bard about actions from hands like mine. Calloused covered hands chose years of toil and work instead of chasing an impossible dream. My friends tested their metal, became pages or joined armies. They chased d...

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“Mirror, Mirror” by Erin Bunker

Submitted to Contest #269

Mia sat on the edge of her grandmother's bed, absently picking at the loose threads on the quilt that covered the mattress. Her mother and Aunt Janie stood by the dresser, where Aunt Janie held a copy of Gran's will in her hands. It had been only a week since Gran had passed and it felt wrong, somehow, to be here going through her stuff. Still, her mother and Aunt Janie had insisted that she be here. After all, Gran had left things for all the grandchildren. Mia tried not to cry as she thought about all the sleepovers she'd never get to have...

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“The Warrior's Hope” by Chris R

Submitted to Contest #269

"Get down now!"The ground shook as meteors hit from above, great balls of fire bringing destruction in their wake. All along the plains of Terradon, the warrior's huddled in small holes for cover, cradling their swords and shields for what little comfort they could grasp."Be ready men, on my word, we push!" The voice rang out clear across the battlefield from one of these holes, and all who heard it felt their courage grow. It was their leader and saviour, Lord Braide, a man who stared death in the face and came back to tell about it.The vib...

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“The Box” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #269

My father was nothing if not predictable. He got up at four am every weekday to start getting ready for work at the office. The night before he had laid out his clothes, packed a brown bag lunch, and set up the coffee maker. He would shower for ten minutes, no more, no less. He brushed his teeth from left to right on the top and right to left on the bottom in perfect one-inch circles. He shaved using a quarter-sized dollop of shaving cream and always went with the grain of his beard. His routine was as fine-tune...

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“Where Silence Ends ” by Simona Musa

Submitted to Contest #269

As the Chinese proverb says, “The tongue can paint what the eyes can’t see.” However, in a world full of vibrant paintings, I can’t even grasp my own brush.For most, voice is an essential tool that breathes life into the unseen and unsaid. The ability to express oneself through words is central to human connection.But for me, Elliot, this proverb doesn’t hold the truth.Everything I perceive is a vibration—tingly and emotionless. It’s never sharp or warm, never caring or sarcastic. The subtleties of tone, pitch, and rhythm that bring speech t...

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“Grandpa's Pocket Watch” by Jack Cottrell

Submitted to Contest #269

I stared at the school assignment I had just completed. It hit close to home, but regardless of how hard I tried, my teacher wouldn’t give me a pass on it. I had to describe in great detail one moment that changed my life forever. The problem is I only ever had one thing in my life that truly changed me, like, as a person. That would be the death of my sister. Last year on November 1st, it was a rainy day. My sister, Megan, was inside watching tv. It was some stupid show, or I found it stupid at the time, but what I would give to come home f...

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“The Stethoscope” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #269

Dr. Pablo Tonel had always found solace in the routine of his practice. In the heart of Buenos Aires, his days as a casualty doctor were marked by a familiar routine of rounds, diagnoses, and consultations. It was in the ebb and flow of his out-patient hours that he felt most at home in the world, performing the science of healing. Every patient, each ailment, carried with it a story, a link with the overwhelming effect of illness on human life. For Pablo, these stories were not outside his own experience. His father’s battle with migraine a...

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“The Violin ” by Laurie Jordan

Submitted to Contest #269

New York TimesNEW YORK SUNDAY AUGUST 21, 2011A violin valued at over 3 million dollars was turned in to the authorities this week. The instrument, the Davidov-Stradivarius, was stolen 16 years ago from the home of Erica Morini. The authorities have never had any leads. 1926The music from her violin flittered from the stage like twinkling pink sunset light off a rippling pond. Tiny glossy notes followed each other from instrument to ear. I hadn’t planned to go to the symphony t...

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“The Last Pinch” by Alex Marmalade

Submitted to Contest #269

Jebediah Swann didn’t look like much of a hero. If you saw him walking down the street, you might think he was on his way to bingo or maybe about to feed pigeons in the park. But Jebediah wasn’t interested in retirement home card games or birds. He was interested in one thing: The Pinch. And today, he was going to get it back. It had taken him decades to track down the last traces of Adrian Velasco’s final performance—the one where the magician had vanished not just a ring, but his own career, and possibly, his life. Jebediah had been there....

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“Tower of Change” by R.H. Magdalena

Submitted to Contest #269

The ballroom was filled with enough blue blood to create a small ocean. Drinks flowed as it paired with the laughter of bejeweled people from all areas of the world. Any cares the guests had were tossed away with each new song played by musicians with more fame than talent. A woman leaned against one of the columns, her sapphire gown pairing well with golden-bronze skin, dark ebony ringlets falling down her back, piercing amber eyes watching the dancefloor with the concentration of a trained falcon. This ball was meant to create connections,...

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Write a story about an object that changed everything for a character.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 84 stories

“Gleaming like a Drop of Blood” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

“Cookies” by David Foster

“milk of the siren” by Feline Kögel

“Sinclair’s Balloons” by Cathy Pagliara

“The Handkerchief ” by Cindy Calder

“The Legend Me” by D.C. Reed

“Mirror, Mirror” by Erin Bunker

“The Warrior's Hope” by Chris R

“The Box” by Bruce Callahan

“Where Silence Ends ” by Simona Musa

“Grandpa's Pocket Watch” by Jack Cottrell

“The Stethoscope” by David Dean

“The Violin ” by Laurie Jordan

“The Last Pinch” by Alex Marmalade

“Tower of Change” by R.H. Magdalena

🌟 Similar prompts

Send your characters on an unforgettable quest to find an essential object.

Center your story around a character who is obsessed with an object.

Write a story about an ordinary object that becomes magical (either literally or figuratively).

Show how an object’s meaning can change as a character changes.

Contest #269

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

312

Contest entries

122

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: