Your protagonist is a voracious reader. Lately, they’ve been noticing odd synchronicities in the books he or she is reading. What does the protagonist discover is happening?

Posted in Fantasy on May 17, 2024

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✍️ 31 stories

“Unread Books” by Harland Chambers

Submitted to Contest #251

Judi didn’t see herself the way the others saw her. The lens from which she looked solely captured the broad brushstrokes. The paint was matted and clumpy on the canvas. Her rare friends, and even her myriad acquaintances, perceived the fine details, the labored nuances. There was an understanding that she was worldly, educated, a beauty who had livened up dance halls, the decks of cruise ships, dive bars, and many quiet libraries. In these waning years, filled with less human interaction, she would be found tucked in a corner, hidden by row...

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“The Bookkeepers” by Niamh O'Dea

Submitted to Contest #251

Lying down lazily on her green velvet sofa, Jane placed her tepid coffee on the enormous rug beside her and returned to her ebook. Wind chimes tinkled in her blissfully overgrown garden outside, the lightest misting of rain tickled the windows. For the last 20 years, Jane had planned her retirement to a tee. Some of her friends had planned round the world e-tours, others were e-touring planets Jane had never even heard of. Her plans were simpler. Late nights, late mornings, and books. The rest of her days would be the same, save some obligat...

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“Chapter One: The Book Worm.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #251

His name—was Manchester. Norman Manchester. A normal guy: Tall and lanky, not too graceful, just your average twenty-something sluicing through his final semester of college and concerned about his prospects.He was supposed to be compiling a list of potential job opportunities, water treatment plants and testing facilities within driving distance. It was either that, or accept the teaching position he’d applied for in a large congested city hundreds of miles from home.Instead, he had gotten side-tracked into ‘Great-Books’, a site devoted to ...

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“GUARDIANS OF FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #251

Unsettling Synchronicities Milo had always been a voracious reader, devouring books with a fervor that bordered on obsession. His apartment, a small haven crammed with overstuffed bookshelves and precarious stacks of novels, was a testament to his passion. The rich, earthy scent of aged paper filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of coffee that seemed perpetually present. He found solace and adventure in the pages, escaping into worlds crafted by the minds of authors both celebrated and obscure. The tactile sensation of smooth paper ...

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“The Storyteller” by Lindsay Flo

Submitted to Contest #251

The soft thumping as Ramona ran her fingers over the book spines sparked an oddly satisfying feeling. She turned slowly, her eyes climbing the never-ending shelves. They seemed to reach the sky and beyond, as if there were no ceiling in this library. Or was it a bookstore? Try as she might, she couldn’t quite focus her eyes well enough to tell. “Am I dreaming?” Ramona asked out loud, to no one in particular. She’d heard about this phenomenon…realizing you were in a dream, and thus being able to control it. What fun! She took in the space aro...

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“Between the Lines” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #251

Dogeared paperbacks were her preferred companions. These rascally mongrels could suffer the rough and tumble of her daily life, and come back with tail wagging and looking for more. There was love here. Not the polished art of a chocolatier, instead this was roughhewn and had a substantial heft to it. She relished breaking their spines and scarring their faces. Releasing them from the dog pound cage of their conformity so that they were free to become the characters they were always meant to be. This was the conspicuous aspect of her reading...

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“A Message From the Past” by Beverly Goldberg

Submitted to Contest #251

While meandering through her favorite secondhand bookstore, she suddenly felt a chill. It stopped her in her tracks. Looking around she spotted a woman leaning against some shelves, staring at her. The woman was old, with wrinkled leathery skin. Her eyes were a cloudy faded blue, and her clothes, equally faded, were a strange shade somewhere between rust and black. She averted her eyes, but the woman mumbled something, and she turned back to see her holding out her trembling hand, clearly beckoning her. She hesitated but felt her legs ...

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“The Enchanted Quill” by Emilia Tarah Roberts

Submitted to Contest #251

Books were Nellie Forest’s passion. They were her sanctum, her thrill, and her distraction. She was known to read novels, biographies, histories, or any other publication with the same gusto, often becoming lost in the maze of plots and lives. But now it was different. It began innocently. Nellie was reading a Sandra Woods detective “The Whispering Shadows” when the protagonist, Amelia, while cleaning an old dusty attic, stumbled upon an ancient locket. The next morning, Nellie went into her own attic and found a locket – it, to be sure, was...

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“ Treasure or Threat.” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #251

Treasure or Threat Lorrie had seen the book during her lunch hour from school, with the smart leather cover so shiny with the gold scrawls and serpents entwined in its leather-bound cover. Why would anyone want to abandon such a beautiful treasure in a charity shop. Lorrie became so engrossed in the boo...

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“Until Yesterday is Tomorrow” by L. D.

Submitted to Contest #251

“Raymond Hayes, I realize the chariot race is enthralling, but kindly postpone Ben Hur until we have given due course to Hamlet.” Mr. Stevens stood by the high schooler's desk. Ray sighed and tucked the errant book away. Would it matter if he countered that he’d already read Hamlet three times? That he didn’t think Ophelia really went mad, or died? That her story, her grief and eventually, her restoration, was more significant than anyone claimed, because her story showed the undying power of love? Mr. Stevens droned on, already back at the ...

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“Non-Story” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #251

In my elsewhere does it also rain blood?Is this my freedom or my confinement?This is not a story, not really, just the writer’s attempt to make sense of the three dead birds she’s seen this past week, amongst other signs (or trivialities). I’ve Googled it, of course. What does it mean to see dead birds everywhere?The first bird was a chick, shrivelled up on the sunny pavement by the bus station; the second squished in the middle of the road, guts like minced meat; and the third splattered across a zebra crossing.This gullible writer, yours t...

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“Margin Notes” by Paige Leppanen

Submitted to Contest #251

I don’t belong here. I can’t finish my notes; I have no access to my book. I’m running out of time and nobody seems to care except me. Heartless bunch of cowards. The first time I noticed it was in a biography of an Ecuadoran politician. I could sense I was missing something; the author was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t see it. I read it thoroughly, not missing a word. If I couldn’t focus, I’d reread sentences, paragraphs, pages. The feeling was unsettling. I needed to cleanse my mind, so I turned to one of my library’s staples...

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“On the Discovery of Birbour, Alaska, September 1st of 1948” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #251

Taken from the journal of one David Birbour, expeditionist and American explorer, from the Birbour town archives that are housed by Iris Henness, post-woman, doctor, and archivist.Sheriff Boris Osipov, the only law this side of the Plyset Mountains, commandeered the Post Office’s solitary lounge chair to read. He was on duty, yes, but the morning had been blessedly slow. The property disputes, hunting mishaps, and drunken brawls that so plagued Birbour typically dipped between the hours of eleven AM and two o’clock and then peaked in the eve...

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“Chapter 30: The day after dad's funeral” by Dominique Muniz

Submitted to Contest #251

Grayson sits on his red oak leather chair, its familiar musky scent lifting into the air as he settles onto it. He was in his favorite place in the entire world. A place where time stood still, where nothing external could affect him; not people, not his job as a cop, not his countless meaningless flings, not even a stormy day. His reading room. When he had saved just enough for a down payment for an apartment, he bought the furniture for that room before even buying himself a bed. He spent months carefully choosing the cedar wood that...

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“Amaranth, Lapis, and Luck” by Caleb Horton

Submitted to Contest #251

“The strings look lovely, Simon,” Mary said as she perused Simon’s white board, placed squarely in the middle of his office wall. “But if this is some conspiracy about a secret society of the wealthy elite, I am going to have to send you to the funny farm.” Simon sat behind his desk holding a piece of paper, barely visible behind the stacks of books. The floor was strewn about with notebook paper covered in diagrams and drawings, with lines connecting the word...

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Your protagonist is a voracious reader. Lately, they’ve been noticing odd synchronicities in the books he or she is reading. What does the protagonist discover is happening?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 31 stories

“Unread Books” by Harland Chambers

“The Bookkeepers” by Niamh O'Dea

“Chapter One: The Book Worm.” by Ken Cartisano

“GUARDIANS OF FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE” by Darvico Ulmeli

“The Storyteller” by Lindsay Flo

“Between the Lines” by Jed Cope

“A Message From the Past” by Beverly Goldberg

“The Enchanted Quill” by Emilia Tarah Roberts

“ Treasure or Threat.” by Christine LW

“Until Yesterday is Tomorrow” by L. D.

“Non-Story” by Carina Caccia

“Margin Notes” by Paige Leppanen

“On the Discovery of Birbour, Alaska, September 1st of 1948” by Jeffery Young

“Chapter 30: The day after dad's funeral” by Dominique Muniz

“Amaranth, Lapis, and Luck” by Caleb Horton

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about discovering a lost manuscript. It can be from a famous (or infamous) author, or an unknown one.

Your protagonist is a writer who discovers a new favorite author. How does their writing, or even their own personality, change as the protagonist falls under the writer’s influence?

Write a story about a future academic (or another influential person) “rediscovering” a book that, in its time, was dismissed. The book can be fictitious or real.

Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?

Contest #251

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

238

Contest entries

76

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: