Write a story where your character is traveling a road that has no end.

Posted in Fantasy on Sep 16, 2024

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✍️ 98 stories

“Sky Mackerel” by Ian Patterson

Submitted to Contest #239

If Haruki only looked close to his feet, the road seemed straight and flat. But with a raised chin, the slight rise and subtle curvature to the left is evident. And with eyes shielded against the brightening sky, he can see the sloping spiral that builds into that glowing horizon, until it becomes faint and disappears from sight. The feel of it was never what he expected, so he left his shoes behind long ago. Even though it all looked like pristine concrete, some of it was as soft as fresh grass, and some of i...

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“The Traveller ” by Melissa King

Submitted to Contest #239

The Traveller My bones ache. My eyes sting. But the track is clear in front of me, a pale gold ribboning into the endless distance, a contrast to the redder desert sands around me. I see dunes rippling in the haze, and rocky outcrops leaning into my path. The sun is harsh, the heat unbearable. I put one foot in front of the other, mindlessly. I hear sighs and whisperings from the clumps of dry grass, from the sand slithering down the dunes, but cannot make out the words. Pop! Out of the shimmer appears a large cane rat. He looks confuse...

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“Boxcar” by Vincent Tolve

Submitted to Contest #239

BOXCAR I was born in a boxcar, an Illinois Central 40-footer, number 32576, as it rolled down the IC’s mainline somewhere between Memphis, Tennessee and Greenville, Mississippi on the fourth day of August in the year 1963. My momma told me all about that trip and was very specific about the car number explaining to me, “I wrote it down because a person needs to know the place of his beginning and that number was as close as I could get to it.” My daddy was with her but not for long. He jumped out of the ca...

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“The Train Ride” by Staves Allure

Submitted to Contest #239

“Careful, dear, it’s hot.” Harper watched as a gray-haired woman placed a small, porcelain cup and saucer on the tray in front of him with a soft clank. The little teacup rattled back and forth with the movements of the train, threatening to spill the cup’s hot contents all over his pull-down tray—if the cup had any contents to spill, of course, which it didn’t. The cup was empty. Harper rubbed his hands together as he watched the short woman in the blue and gray uniform push her cart up the narrow aisle, placing another empty cup on the...

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“A Man Out of Time” by John Kieffer

Submitted to Contest #239

He lay on the frozen ground, staring at the dark sky. A single star twinkled amidst the infinite shadow of the abyss. No clouds impeded the view, it was merely the only star that remained. He let loose a long sigh as he watch the last remaining shred of light. He was unwavering, unblinking, waiting for the end. Long, long ago, he came into existence. It was so long ago that it was barely a moment in the entirety of his existence, and he had long since forgotten nearly all of those experiences. He remembered feelings and concepts from his ea...

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“Where the Wild Skunks Roam” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #239

The headlights cut through the shower of fall leaves, illuminating a path on the thick forest floor. The perfect camouflage provided by the leaves made it difficult to locate the dirt road. The wind carried a noticeable fragrance that persisted in the air. The odor of a skunk has a remarkable capacity to promptly stimulate the recall of memories. In this remote area, as my aunt used to say, the pungent smell never seemed to go away, always lingering at this stage of the trip. Was the creation of it possibly linked to an animal, o...

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“A Row of Lights ” by Randal Mars

Submitted to Contest #239

"Don't step on the marigolds!" Sondra's warning was to Fina. The little girl was straddling the bright path of petals that led from the altar to the screen door. The colorful offerings of cakes, toys, and flowers had filled the ofrenda's shelves, and the votive candles were ready to be lit. Fina's older sister, Ari, pulled her away from trouble. In the dining room, their father Eddie was staring at the perfect vela. The bright orange candle sat on top of a spread of flattened newspaper. It was the perfect color: orange red like his mother's ...

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“The Traveler” by Rose K.

Submitted to Contest #239

The Traveler wasn’t always known by that name. They once had a life beyond the road. Their feet were once still, their shoulders unburdened. They had lived in a house built of bricks with a white wooden door that slammed shut the second one released its knob. They came from a family full of love and laughter and arguments and resolutions. They had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. They knew the world for what it was, for they once were a part of it. They could’ve gone through with that normal life, lived it to the fullest and done ...

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“Endless Road to Preserve the Land” by Anika Aze

Submitted to Contest #239

I am putting myself back in the selfie that I took on the last turbulent day I was at Serenity lodge in Guyanese wilderness. it used to be my refuge in the later months of 2014. In the selfie, I am lying in a striated hammock with my feet crossed in front of me on the porch of a thatched hut. I can almost hear the chirping of birds all around me, and a rustle in the thatched roof from little lizards chasing each other. An occasional breeze gives me a slight shiver down my spine. A whiff of sauteing onions in the kitchen makes me hungry. ...

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“All That Glitters” by Judy Fraher

Submitted to Contest #239

Kate stood at the kitchen sink, arms deep in dirty dishwater. Mindlessly scrubbing a pan with burnt on spaghetti sauce, she stared out through the window Clothes hung haphazardly on a tilted clothesline post, rusty lawn mower parts were strewn around the yard, trash littered around the full trash can. She drew in a breath and slowly released it. Her shoulders ached so she shifted her body.A bottle on the counter caught her attention. Golden liquid glistened in the bottle, sparkling like diamonds the more she stared at it. She withdrew a ha...

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“Mobius' Freeway” by M Price

Submitted to Contest #239

Mobius’ Freeway written by, M PriceWhenever someone insists on a name for me, I use Dennis, my brother's. So yeah, call me that, if you want. I hear it and want to turn my head to look for the impossible. Used to, anyway. Now I simply compress the conscious moment as hard as I can into the fleeting nostalgia, then hold on to it for however many dwindling milliseconds still possible.Tessa disapproves. But everyone left in this world is disturbed somehow.Get by your way and leave me to mine.We’re well into our second loop along this coast-to-c...

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“The knotted tree” by Jasper Shaw

Submitted to Contest #239

The car’s tires thrummed and sang as they pressed against the road and traced against the rough edge. The music, sparking into the air from an old, dusty speaker set, caused the hands gripping a steering ball and the wheel to tap and flex with the rhythm. The scenery flashed by as the speedometer on the dash reflected his confidence. The needle hung on the edge of the limit, the limit that the disappearing sign in the rear mirror had announced. Then the needle crested and broke into the red, the tires and car thrumming and vibrating louder. ...

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“Cafe Haven” by A.M. Douglas

Submitted to Contest #239

The bell above the door tinkled as I pushed into the convenience store. I needed a few snacks and to pay for the gas. I couldn’t get over how here in the West people still had to go into the store to pay for gas. So much of this trip had felt like a step back in time. I grabbed the healthiest things I could and was surprised that there was fresh fruit in a basket. The price was nice, too. There was also a little stand of “freshly pressed” juices. How fresh could it be? But it did have a local farm sign next to it, so I grabbed a bottle. ...

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“Eduardo & The Movies” by Simon Seline

Submitted to Contest #239

EDUARDO AND THE MOVIES A squat grey building of only 34 stories. That’s where this one was going to be. Walking up, it was exactly that: a non-descript office building downtown. Saw the usual suspects. The faces that make the job worthwhile. Still possessed that joyful, excited sheen of doing it; seeing it live; experiencing it, but with not as much “new-puppy” excitement as the newbies all and always have. Still, couldn’t be denied: We were in the mov...

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“Indecisive. No, Zoo Trip. No, The Corridor. ” by Rancid Blough

Submitted to Contest #239

Two hours in and no sign of an animal, not a caged one anyhow. A group of mocking birds (not to be confused with mockingbirds) had been following him for a while. Hopping from cage to cage, laughing at his misfortune. Kieran stared through the gaps in the fence at yet more plant life. He could have stayed home. Should have stayed home. But as usual he could not make his mind up, so just went with the crowd. The crowd in this case was his mum and grandparents. He did not see his grandparents much, so this swayed his decision slightly....

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Write a story where your character is traveling a road that has no end.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 98 stories

“Sky Mackerel” by Ian Patterson

“The Traveller ” by Melissa King

“Boxcar” by Vincent Tolve

“The Train Ride” by Staves Allure

“A Man Out of Time” by John Kieffer

“Where the Wild Skunks Roam” by Scott Taylor

“A Row of Lights ” by Randal Mars

“The Traveler” by Rose K.

“Endless Road to Preserve the Land” by Anika Aze

“All That Glitters” by Judy Fraher

“Mobius' Freeway” by M Price

“The knotted tree” by Jasper Shaw

“Cafe Haven” by A.M. Douglas

“Eduardo & The Movies” by Simon Seline

“Indecisive. No, Zoo Trip. No, The Corridor. ” by Rancid Blough

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story where a regular household item becomes sentient.

Start your story with it raining… anything but rain (e.g. flowers, cutlery, seashells, running shoes).

Write a story where the laws of time and space begin to dissolve.

Write a story about an artist whose work has magical properties.

Contest #239

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

510

Contest entries

132

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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