Write about a character who sees a photo they shouldn’t have seen.

Posted in Dramatic on Mar 29, 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?

✍️ 66 stories

“Turn a blind eye!” by Moira King

Submitted to Contest #244

Leah’s long white dress gently billowed as the wind blew in from the seafront. She stood near the cliff, staring out at the spectacular blue sea. Leah had never seen such clear water before. She marvelled at it. Is this really to be the view I can so easily enjoy every day of my new life? Of our new life? She smiled to herself and threw her hands up. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the sea and the sweet fresh air. Her body came alive. She felt born again. Footsteps approached. She could hear the sand shifting beneath each st...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Brave, Bold, and Fearless ” by AJ Diaz

Submitted to Contest #244

“She’s brave, bold and fearless.” “And so are we.” “But she is different. She must become brave, bold and fearless like us.” “But how?” “Don’t you know? We corrupt her mind.” “How?” “It’s very easy, actually. You’ve forgotten about the vault.” That was what they were saying, but those weren’t the words they were saying ^^^ those were the words that they thought they were saying. Here is the *actual* conversation word for word: “She’s a natural beauty.” “And so are we,” but she’d said it like a question. “For the most pa...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Thank God I Got My Boating License” by Hannah Deegan

Submitted to Contest #244

Blood is thicker than water, they say. Meaning that the bond of family is stronger than any other relationship you have in your life. Whether that be a marriage, or a 20-year friendship is irrelevant. Still, a pretty intense phrase. As if the moment you pop out of the womb, every person you’re related to takes this oath to solemnly and truthfully swear to protect you until their dying breath. In all honesty, when each of my siblings was born, I made that very vow. That no person would hurt them. Till death do us part, if you will. With only ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Secret In the Attic” by Annabella Obasi

Submitted to Contest #244

The rain was falling heavily on the foggy window, and the wind was blowing dangerously. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute. Meanwhile, a little girl named Amelia was in her cottage with her grandfather. Her grandfather appeared to be sweet and innocent, but Amelia soon discovered that things were not as they seemed. Amelia’s parents died when she was two years old. She vividly remembers it. Her parents left her with her babysitter and told her they would be at her grandparents’ house. Thirty minutes later, she found out that...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Tommy” by Anna Popnikolova

Submitted to Contest #244

The house hadn’t been warm in all the years I’d been there. We went once a month, every month, since I was young enough to remember, and it was always the same.It wasn’t that the heat was broken — Mom had sent electricians, a heating-and-cooling-expert to the house, taught her how to use the thermostat, and tried anything else under the sun. One month, Mom was so inspired as to load up the back of the minivan with grocery store firewood and hand deliver it once a week. She gave up when she realized Grandma was just carrying it and stacking i...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Modern American Home” by Kevin O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #244

Trigger warning: Violent images. They had just installed the new fridge. The boy’s father grunted and cussed as he jammed it into place, sweat soaking his collar. The Philco V Handle, the finest refrigerator money can buy. Silver chrome, knock ‘em dead. The boy was excited about it, he made a big fuss over the whole affair. He liked the way it could open on either side, depending on how the handle was pressed. “It’s dually-hinged,” the father explained, wearing his classic grin. The boy’s mother said it didn’t have enough room. She stood in...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Reflective” by Maximilian Gunnarsson

Submitted to Contest #244

When I moved into the wreck called a charming cabin which only needed a few renovations by the realtor I was met by the stale air and the intensive odour of the ageing furniture and flaking wallpaper. The realtor who had shown me the cabin had made few efforts to bear a positive perspective of the decaying wood and the moss which grew over the croft, since he considered me a hermit and a loner who only wanted an escape from the suffocating air of community with no regard for quality of living. He considered me a deal already made and gave me...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Negative feelings” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #244

It was a photo that I was never supposed to see. I think it was a photo that nobody was supposed to see. It was the photo that solved the mystery that started with the letter which I found in a book completely by accident. Finding the photo was a bit harder!I looked closely at this letter and realised that it was actually a love letter. Did people write love letters anymore? Surely everyone communicated by email or by what’s app message. Maybe it was older than it looked and had been stuck between the pages of the book for many years.I shoul...

0 comments 0

Read story

“A Clean Slate” by Johnathan Nelson

Submitted to Contest #244

A flame swaying atop a stub of melted, beige candle wax illuminates a round, dark walnut kitchen table. A picture of a toddler, creased and faded from decades spent trapped in the depths of a brown, leather billfold lays next to a plate of cold grouper and withered vegetable medley. Howard, a man in his early fifties, dressed in a white button down shirt and charcoal slacks holds a cell phone with the contact ‘Son’ at the top of the screen with four identical texts left unanswered, Danny, where are you? Howard’s urgency growing with eac...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Memory in a photograph” by Raquel Mora

Submitted to Contest #244

How can you know a place you have never been? How can you feel the wind, taste the air, and even know what you felt while you were there? Onyx Redwood stared at the well-worn photograph. Its edges were marred by age and the contents faded with too much exposure to the elements. But what exposure? She looked about the musty basement, her eyes falling on her footsteps in the dust. The darkness of this place was shrouded by the heavy rugs held over the few windows that would have allowed some warmth, if not at leas...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Faceless” by Emily Pollan

Submitted to Contest #244

My whole life, there has been this figure always looming behind me, only visible to me. No noticeable features, no noticeable clothing, just this dark humanoid figure. It’s never really done anything. It is just…there. Sometimes it is simply standing there, sometimes it’s messing with something in the background like a ball or phone, sometimes it’s even crawling on the ceiling. It stopped bothering me when I was six or seven. The only thing about it that has always bothered me is the chill I feel when I see it. The feeling isn’t the same kin...

3 comments 3

Read story

“ A Red Dress and An Easter Egg Hunt” by Joyce Schook

Submitted to Contest #244

You never know that one moment will alter your perspective on the life you had before. Once it happens, your in a state of limbo. Unable to move forward and not ready to revisit the past. A past that was merely an illusion in which you were nothing more than a naïve participant.On the Thursday before Easter, Emily had the entire house to herself. This was the weekend her family gathered together for a family reunion and holiday that she hosted each spring. It had turned into a tradition that she always looks forward to. Today Emily woke at s...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Mythos” by Alex Alaimo

Submitted to Contest #244

Miriam was eleven when they pulled her mother’s body from the Wismar Reserve. It was six in the morning and the maids at the Estate had forgotten to take the newspaper from the kitchen table where a photo of a water-logged body was printed on the front page. Orphans, Miriam realized. That’s what she and her twin siblings were now. Tears welled in Miriam’s dark eyes, and she stepped away from the kitchen table where the newspaper laid out the devasting truth about her mother’s disappearance. Miriam’s mother, Selena Adamos, had van...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Homo Cryptococci” by Levi Vela

Submitted to Contest #244

Odilon found himself walking through a side tunnel by a heavenly green glow. He made his way into the Great North Vein and continued on towards his chapter’s hall. Upon entry, Odilon scanned the hall looking for a place to sit. He finally found a space amidst the crowded floor, so he sat down, crossed his legs, drew his head back, and opened his mouth. To accept the other’s spores, he first had to offer his. With an exhale, Odilon felt his host fungus release emotion. With an inhale, he received the communal feeling: euphoria. As Odilon sat ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Guilt” by Mary Reid

Submitted to Contest #244

“The Guilt” by Mary M Reid “Knock, knock.” Caught off guard, Mrs. Forde quickly turned around, causing the dish she was washing to slip through her fingers. “Brianna! I wasn’t expecting you today.” “Didn’t mean to startle you,” said Brianna as she planted a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “Elie’s rehearsing for a play so I have some time and thought I’d drop by. Where’s dad?” “We’re having BBQ so he’s heating up the grill. Why don’t you join us,” said Mrs. Forde who was always pleased when her daughter was able to drop by.“Sounds good, tha...

1 comment 1

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a photo that goes viral.

Funny – 29 stories

Start your story with a character staring at a picture they don’t remember taking.

Mystery – 73 stories

Write a story about a character who risks their life to take a photo.

Adventure – 39 stories

Begin or end your story with a character taking a selfie.

Fluff – 33 stories

Contest #244

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Oh Snap!

$250

Prize money

239

Contest entries

91

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 05, 2024 EST

Won by K.A. Murray 🏆

Title: The Party

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

Write about a character who sees a photo they shouldn’t have seen.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 66 stories

“Turn a blind eye!” by Moira King

“Brave, Bold, and Fearless ” by AJ Diaz

“Thank God I Got My Boating License” by Hannah Deegan

“The Secret In the Attic” by Annabella Obasi

“Tommy” by Anna Popnikolova

“The Modern American Home” by Kevin O'Connor

“Reflective” by Maximilian Gunnarsson

“Negative feelings” by Paul Simpkin

“A Clean Slate” by Johnathan Nelson

“Memory in a photograph” by Raquel Mora

“Faceless” by Emily Pollan

“ A Red Dress and An Easter Egg Hunt” by Joyce Schook

“Mythos” by Alex Alaimo

“Homo Cryptococci” by Levi Vela

“The Guilt” by Mary Reid

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a photo that goes viral.

Start your story with a character staring at a picture they don’t remember taking.

Write a story about a character who risks their life to take a photo.

Begin or end your story with a character taking a selfie.

Contest #244

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

239

Contest entries

91

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: