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

“The Lines Between Awake And Dreaming” by Deborah Durkin

Submitted to Contest #30

THE LINES BETWEEN AWAKE AND DREAMING BY DEBORAH DURKIN I’m afraid to open my eyes. Where am I? It feels cold and strange. It’s hard to describe. Wherever I am it is assuredly dark. There’s no faint light gleaming through my closed lids. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is feeling uncomfortable and scared. Surrounded by metal and astringent smells. I have to open my eyes. It’s the only way to escape this feeling of...

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“Stuck In The Middle” by Barbara Eustace

Submitted to Contest #30

I wake, but I do not open my eyes. I cannot. I hear, but all noise comes from eons away, except for the hiss of my breath. I wonder where I am but cannot tell. I think about my arms, my legs, my body, but I feel none of them. All I know is my mind.I wake and I am in a hospital room. A white, white room in a white, white bed. All is quiet. I get out of bed in my white, white hospital gown and go to the door. I am at the end of an empty corridor. And as I watch, someone, a man with long black h...

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“The bull was in the morning” by Alexandra Enciu

Submitted to Contest #30

Cold. Wet. Cold and wet. That’s all I feel. And a sudden urge to breathe. Air, I need air. My lungs are burning. They are screaming for air. I open my eyes. They sting. I try to scream but I can’t. Water fills my mouth and I feel like choking. I am underwater. I start waving my arms around trying to get my head above. I can’t. My heart is pounding and my lungs are endlessly screaming. I hear drums. The kind of rhythm, African tribes perform in rituals. And they get louder. Louder and louder soon my entire skull is vibrating. I try to scream ...

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“In the Way of Dreams” by Amanda Harr

Submitted to Contest #30

I throw the dream catcher that had once hung above my bed across the room like a Frisbee. The web of sinew catches on the corner of my desk, and a few strands of the intricate netting snap off the leather hoop. My new dorm room is small, and there would be no place for such childish trinkets. That night, as I drift off to sleep, a distant part of me realizes that this will be the last night I’ll spend in my childhood bedroom, surrounded by those things that have defined my youth. In the dream, terror gushes thro...

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“The writing on the wall” by Jennifer Denning

Submitted to Contest #30

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.”“You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting." The writing on the wall. "Weighed and found wanting…You..." The words echoed round and round in his head. Why had he gone to that service? Why break the habit of a lifetime? Why invite torment? But perhaps he'd thought it might bring comfort, or maybe some insight. Of course it was because of yesterday. He had heard the bells ringing as he'd sat in his office gazing out of his window at the fading light and the black silhouettes sharpening against ...

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“The Tower” by Nick Dalrymple

Submitted to Contest #30

The Tower by Nick DalrympleIt starts somewhere deep. I can feel it grow, a soft oooh, oOoH, followed by a full scream by a stranger inside me. My wife startles and is terribly frightened. She shakes me and I laugh. I am no longer afraid of it, once I am awake. There are circular mounds in the rice paddies of Vietnam. This one was just big enough for an antenna field circled by bunkers, circled by wire, circled by claymores, circled by a clear field of crossfire from the mounted M60’s.In the center of all this was a tower. Most nights I ...

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“The Devil’s Greatest Trick” by Abby Weber

Submitted to Contest #30

Have you ever woken up from a deep slumber? Do you know the foggy feeling that hangs over you when you first open your eyes? When your eyes flick open you may feel the urge to close them once more. Sleep’s warm embrace still lingers, begging you to return back into the depths of unconsciousness. You may give in for a few minutes, but eventually you must get up to face the day and so sleep begrudgingly releases you. However, as you leave the warmth of your bed behind the feeling that you're forgetting something flares in your mind. Like an al...

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“The Girl with the Fox Mask” by Timothy Griggs

Submitted to Contest #30

Collin dropped his sword and turned his back on the beast. The monster wasn’t a monster and he wasn’t a knight. His imagination had run away with him again. He was an errand boy for a woman too lazy to retrieve her own eggs, and the beast was just a disgruntled hen. He avoided the woman as he left. He avoided everyone. He just wanted to be alone, and he knew the perfect place. His secret fort. It may have been an old abandoned shack on the verge of collapse, but that didn’t matter to him. It kept him out of the cold and away from people. “Y...

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“Through the Darkened Sea” by Chelsea Auld

Submitted to Contest #30

Lane took a deep breath to ground herself. The air smelled heavily of ash and engine oil, but she had become accustomed to it over the many months she’d spent fighting this war. The beach she stood on was bleak, the sky overcast, though whether that was a feature of the weather or the accumulation of smoke was hard to say. It almost always looked like this. She surveyed the ruins of the tanks, the scattered guns and the debris of combat with a heavy heart. The bodies had been cleared away by the clunky B units half an hour prior, but she cou...

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“Please Wake Up” by Leila Wise

Submitted to Contest #30

"You can go home now, Miss Bryans. Just come back in a few weeks so we can check on you." The doctor said, nodding towards Olivia's mother. The twelve-year-old smiled brightly at the news as she barely had her feet on the cold floor.The doctor soon left and Olivia's mother went to gather her daughter's clothing. Olivia had gone through surgery to help fix her scoliosis. Soon she would never have to visit the hospital every few months. Olivia was ecstatic about this fact and couldn't wait to be home.Olivia was helped into the wheelchair and g...

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“i am not insane.” by Grace Parrott

Submitted to Contest #30

I am not insane. I tell myself so often that I think I've started to almost believe it. Those words are a chant in my head, every day, every hour, every minute every second. I am not insane. I don't think that I'd be very aware of it if I was, but that's beside the point. I took my medicine this morning. Four green pills for clarity, three red ones to combat my own mind, and two blue antidepressants. I protested the last two at first but after a while, Dr. Menelis wore down my resistance. He said it would help. He always says that it will he...

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“Lucid dreams ” by Kelly Pierce

Submitted to Contest #30

My life has changed dramatically since the accident. I never thought that a simple drive to work could end up having me in the er. I never saw the 18 wheeler and to be honest due to the head injury i dont remember too much before it either. One of the things i do remember is my name. To be honest it was kinda hard to forget with everyone coming in calling me by it. What i don't understand is why this one lady keeps coming in crying over me. She definitely has me confused with someone else and i have tried telling her but she just wont liste...

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“Into the night by Ihotu Obande” by Ihotukowoicho Obande

Submitted to Contest #30

Elana looked up at the sky and frowned as a raindrop splattered across her cheeks. Beside her, two of her teammates Alistair and Rumi watched impatiently as she tried to wake up. Davin their leader had gone to the nearest village to get some supplies and whatever was chasing them had certainly not stopped. “Well? No luck at all?” Elana blanched at Alistair’s comments and increased her death glare at the sky. “I’m trying my hardest.” She said through gritted teeth. “It used to work faster than this I swear. Something must have h...

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“The Deal I Can Never Take Back” by Avery Vaughn

Submitted to Contest #30

I snap awake, claustrophobia choking the air from my lungs. The blackness fades from my eyes, and I see the outline of my room. Cold, damp, but comfortable. I’m home, I’m not trapped in a coffin, six feet under, like in my last dream. I’m safe. The dreams have been getting much stranger lately. Visions of death and pain rattle my mind through every sleeping second. The meditation my therapist offered isn’t doing anything for the bags under my eyes or the feeling in my chest that I may die at any second. I feel like I’m falling. Falling...

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“"You're Awake."” by Adrian Wing

Submitted to Contest #30

I opened my eyes, though the realm of my dream hadn’t closed quite yet. The rims of my vision were blurred, and the air around me seemed to hum in my ears, the vibrancy of the noise almost glowing in my view. The buzzing was the only sound I could hear, not even my breathing was audible in the pitch-black room. I could see the very outline of my door, the edges of my toes underneath my blankets reflected on by the light of the small bulb in the hallway. It was always on, a nightlight, my sister called it. I remember her saying it was t...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 125 stories

“The Lines Between Awake And Dreaming” by Deborah Durkin

“Stuck In The Middle” by Barbara Eustace

“The bull was in the morning” by Alexandra Enciu

“In the Way of Dreams” by Amanda Harr

“The writing on the wall” by Jennifer Denning

“The Tower” by Nick Dalrymple

“The Devil’s Greatest Trick” by Abby Weber

“The Girl with the Fox Mask” by Timothy Griggs

“Through the Darkened Sea” by Chelsea Auld

“Please Wake Up” by Leila Wise

“i am not insane.” by Grace Parrott

“Lucid dreams ” by Kelly Pierce

“Into the night by Ihotu Obande” by Ihotukowoicho Obande

“The Deal I Can Never Take Back” by Avery Vaughn

“"You're Awake."” by Adrian Wing

🌟 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: