Write a story in which the lines between awake and dreaming are blurred.

Posted in Fantasy on Jun 11, 2021

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✍️ 125 stories

“A Dream Heist” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #30

The jewellers lay dark and quiet, as sound asleep as the people in the buildings all around. Gone midnight in the middle of the week; hardly the time for party animals to be abroad. It was however the perfect time for Lisa to be about. In her all black outfit with her oversized hood pulled low she was little more than a deeper shadow moving in the darkness. This was always the bit that gave her the biggest thrill. The start, when anything was possible. Maybe, just maybe, this time she’d be caught, but that wasn’t likely. It certainly wasn’t ...

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“The Sea Between Us by Sue Monkress ” by Sue Monkress

Submitted to Contest #30

1417 Ain’e gazed at the ship, far down below the rocky cliffs, swaying on the Irish Sea. Before today, she would take such pleasure in this breath-taking view from her precarious perch; she’d always longed to take a voyage – a long one, somewhere to the other side of the world. Today, she grieved. O Keegan! The British flags on the tall mast fluttered, she imagined, in a personal farewell to her. Though the fierce north win...

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“Haunting Purple Eyes” by Tiffany Tullos

Submitted to Contest #30

The sky was blackened with ash as the fires raged around her. Trees and foliage alike were blazing with flames of blue that flickered into shapes of unknown creatures. She gazed at the scene and felt as though nothing was out of the ordinary in the forest. Walking closer to one of the flames, she raised her hand and felt the warmth that emitted off it. Her mind going blank as she reached her arm towards the fire, not even caring if she was to be burnt by the heat. As her fingers were just a few centimeters away from touching the fiery blaze—...

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“Behind the hedge” by Baiba Liepina

Submitted to Contest #30

“Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” he said to himself and took a watch out of his waistcoat pocket. He looked at it and then hurried on.# After another long day at work, Felicity was on her way home. She was walking down the street when she suddenly had a feeling someone was following her. She turned around but there was no one there, so she kept walking. And then she heard a timid voice just behind her. “Wait . . .” It was a young girl with shoulder...

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“Cursing at Murals” by Chantel Chamonix

Submitted to Contest #30

Yvette ran her hands through her hair. It was dark around her. And cold. And she was pretty sure the man in the mural across the street just winked at her. She had not needed that last shot of tequila. Screw Milo for messing up her night out. How was it fair that she got kicked out of the nightclub when Milo was the one accidentally falling and groping every woman he passed. He really shouldn’t have been surprised when she accidentally dented his face in after he accidentally pulled down her top. Fuck little boys with big connections. She kn...

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“Blurred” by Sydney Mason

Submitted to Contest #30

Dean sat up in a cold sweat, breathing hard. He clutched his chest with one hand and his head with the other. A dream, it had been a dream. He dropped back onto his pillow. It had felt so real. Dean waited for his breathing to subside. He reached over to his nightstand to check his phone; he needed to calm his mind. He flipped through his news feed, it was exactly what he needed, a bunch of nonsense. A few memes about politics, a few more about heartbreak, and a few people who were commenting about this or that of their lives. That’s w...

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“The Song in Her Blood” by Tay Wilding

Submitted to Contest #30

Women work slowly in a hunched line, harvesting a crop they will never taste; laboring on the land they used to own. The wind holds a whispered conversation with the barley, even as the scythes cut it down. My sister’s hair streams in the air, a thin red cloud, as her head slowly rises. She watches like the trees. She watches the three soldiers. They are clothed in red, gold and brown as if they mean to outshine the autumn. As my sister watches them turn and leave, I know she has the same thought as I do: thank the Fae that the Ro...

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“One After Another” by Meera Bhatia

Submitted to Contest #30

You’re in math class at school. Gripping your pencil, you furiously work through the last problem on your math test, factoring polynomials and getting rid of radicals in the denominator of a fraction. Eraser shavings are scattered all over your desk in gummy pink slivers.Mrs. Davis walks slowly through the rows of desks, monitoring all the students and keeping an eye out for cheating. She breathes loudly with each step, possibly from the exertion. She has a sharply hunched back and always wears thick cardigans, even in the summer.Her smell p...

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“Sequence” by Lexi T

Submitted to Contest #30

Celia coughed and gasped as the world turned black around her. She heard her name, called over and over, a tin whistle howling, shooting through the darkness. She was here again. It was night. She sat down, the ground smooth and hard. Wooden boards. Celia glanced up, waiting. A window appeared, then three more in a line, each with gauzy white curtains, blowing in some faraway wind. The tin whistle spat one last time, then faded, replaced by the thunking of piano keys. She couldn’t hear the notes, only the pearly sound of keys being pressed, ...

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“COTTON CANDY” by Temnit Meshesha

Submitted to Contest #30

Her one and only true friend have always been her phone. Sticks by her when everyone else leaves. It has everything she could ever need; Films, tv shows and books. She pours her whole soul into her phone. Fully reliant on it to remember when she can’t. Passwords for really important things memorized in the system. She gave her fingerprint away and now it wants to know her face. What more did it need? It even held her friends. She’d never had much luck at keeping friends. She’d ask them “remember when we did this and that” and they always rep...

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“Strange Days” by Cara H

Submitted to Contest #30

Strange DaysNovice reporter Larisa Saito couldn’t believe the day she’d had. To be offered an exclusive interview by one of her lifelong music idols was an opportunity beyond the twenty-year-old communications major’s wildest dreams, and things had only gotten more amazing as the afternoon progressed.Paul Clifford might have been rock and roll royalty, but he was like a sweet, overprotective uncle. He had taken Larisa under his wing from the moment they met. There was an innocence and hopefulness in his manner despite the sadness in his unus...

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“Magical Evening with Haruki Murakami ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #30

I’m never sure which book by Haruki Murakami is my favorite, Wind Up Bird Chronicles or Kafka on the Shore when it starts to rain slugs. Both books have an appeal for me since I like fiction that contains a magical component to it. Like Stephen King, I read every Murakami book I can get my hands on. The Japanese literary tradition is filled with magical and mythological images that are vibrant and memorable when God communed with man and beasts, giving each of them a distinct identity and character. While Occidental thought trie...

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“Lucky Numbers” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #30

I think of myself as a night owl, but that night I was glad to go to bed, though my weariness was more emotional than physical. Everything seemed to be going wrong! I wasn’t exactly broke, but my financial situation wasn’t great either, and after some very promising signs my notion that I might be able to earn a living as a writer had taken several rejection-letter shaped dents (and I had waited long enough to no longer be able to convince myself that in other instances no news was good news). Perhaps my old English teacher, M...

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“The Night Sky” by Adam Wan

Submitted to Contest #30

Class was over— and so the class stood and bowed as the warm orange of the evening sun poured and showered in from the windows lining the room’s side. Chairs screeched and sounded against the wood, thanks were giving to the teacher as he left, and chatter began to boil up from the students around. Some spoke of club activities and sports, while others spoke of going out to a cafe or going here or there or simply going home together. There, too, were those who spoke of nothing; of sweet words and teases and compliments; but she found no inter...

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“A Life Dreaming” by Forest Swisher

Submitted to Contest #30

You find yourself in a bright room, surrounded by giants. You are wet, and it is cold. You miss the warmth you’ve always known. You don’t know what it is to be cold or warm, only that this is cold and before the thundering sounds and celestial lights, you were warm. You squirm in discomfort, vocalizing your displeasure. “It’s a girl!” You don’t know what these words mean. You feel hands on your body, the chill of the air. You can’t tell what sounds you are making and what sounds the giants are making. You are frightened. Your fear dissipates...

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Write a story in which the lines between awake and dreaming are blurred.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 125 stories

“A Dream Heist” by Iona Cottle

“The Sea Between Us by Sue Monkress ” by Sue Monkress

“Haunting Purple Eyes” by Tiffany Tullos

“Behind the hedge” by Baiba Liepina

“Cursing at Murals” by Chantel Chamonix

“Blurred” by Sydney Mason

“The Song in Her Blood” by Tay Wilding

“One After Another” by Meera Bhatia

“Sequence” by Lexi T

“COTTON CANDY” by Temnit Meshesha

“Strange Days” by Cara H

“Magical Evening with Haruki Murakami ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Lucky Numbers” by Deborah Mercer

“The Night Sky” by Adam Wan

“A Life Dreaming” by Forest Swisher

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in which someone finds a secret passageway.

Write a story about someone who loses their cat.

Write a story about someone who receives an unexpected phone call.

Write a story about a character experiencing déjà vu.

Contest #30

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

357

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: