Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there.

Posted in Fiction on Sep 29, 2023

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✍️ 174 stories

“From Wild to Serene ” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #218

Ella felt like she was going to explode from all of the energy inside her. She pushed on the big blue preschool door, and straining against the weight, grunted and groaned. She was bent at the knee, and using all her might, but it wasn’t until she leaned into the door with her shoulder that it finally opened. Ella leaped outside and let out a mighty, “ROOOOAR!” She was quickly silenced by autumn’s chill, and vaguely aware of the slam, and then click, of the door as it closed again. Ella shivered. The crisp air felt like a slap...

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“Best Served Cold” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #218

Midnight at the Old Opera House, all lights off. Medea feels her way, the soles of her bare feet on the cool wooden floors, fingertips brushing the smooth round edge of the intimate dining table, holding on to the table-top until she feels the next table, making her way from table to table in the pitch black, inward from the periphery, counting silently, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, until she reaches the table at the center of the dining space. As she pulls out the chair, its legs scrape on the floor, and she imagines for a ...

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“The Mockingbird” by M.A. Grace

Submitted to Contest #218

The scuffing, thudding boots echo up the corridor, then stop at my cell door. That sound is the only sense of time I have in solitary. 15 days down, 350 more to go. With a creaking clank, the rusty serving hatch is forced open, and the breakfast tray is slapped down with even more gusto and disdain than usual.Patting rough hemp blankets and the cold metal bed frame, I feel my way into position before the cell door, then reach out with my good arm and find the little shelf. I whip the tray away as best I can one-handed. Then the hatch is shut...

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“The Pit” by Dan Ward

Submitted to Contest #218

Thick sulphur coiled into Tucker's nostrils as he struck the match, overpowering the heavy damp of the earth around him. The sounds of the pit workers down below echoed and struck hard against the still of the night air, and in the darkness his hands cupped tightly around the flame to shield it from the clawing drizzle. He inhaled longingly on the roll up cigarette and thought once more about giving up smoking. “Those things’ll kill you Tuck.” His wife's voice hanging in his mind, the noise of the tree branches skittering against themselves ...

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“The Back Of The Mirror” by Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #218

⚠️ Murder ⚠️ 1938 I feel my hands on her throat, choking her. I stare into her eyes as she draws her last breath, searching her face for something to recognize, something to set her apart from the women I pass in the streets. My hands let go of her throat and she stiffens before crumpling sideways to the floor, palms pressed together as if praying for the life she has just lost. I move to stand in front of her. If she prays, she will pray to me only.I wake up, the dream-image printed in my head, as it had been last night and the night...

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“The Oliver Act” by Humble Sparrow

Submitted to Contest #218

The fizz of beer, bubbles tickling ice cubes. The spiciness of ginger, lime prickling under my tongue. The chill of a copper mug, fingertips hydroplaning over condensation. In other words, a Moscow Mule. Cold, on the back of my neck. “Because Gingers are going extinct,” I answered. “You’re the geneticist; you should know that.” Dr. Kim smiled but waited for more. “I’m 37,” I sighed, making a tick-tick gesture. “No guy and no itch to find one. A sperm donor is blecchh and adoption too ch...

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“The Fragrance Phantom” by Liv Valen

Submitted to Contest #218

Every day, like clockwork, the tantalizing aroma would visit him, linger for a fleeting moment, and then vanish. Each day, Jonathan would briefly pause in his research, his equations temporarily forgotten as he inhaled the unearthly scent and wondered who its bearer might be. It was a fragrance unlike any other, a pirouette of tropical flowers and fruits that stirred emotions he had long kept buried beneath the layers of his analytical mind. The whiff was subtle yet alluring, much like the intricate equations of his mathematical models, eac...

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“Fireflies” by Nathan Quinci Kurr

Submitted to Contest #218

The wind whistled wearily and the air was filled with the clacking rattle of icicle chimes that hung from the pines. "Papa!" Sophie shouted. Her voice cracked the air like a whip, scattering a ripple of echoes that did nothing else but mock her. Needle-sharp wind pricked then a wince and a staccato of chattering teeth followed. Like an unsupervised jackhammer, her jittering jaw clicked madly, blurring the line between panic and hypothermic fidgets. “Papa!” She frantically called, and nothing but a chili whisper of wind replied. 6:23pm–f...

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“To catch a catbird” by Mike Ramsey

Submitted to Contest #218

"It's poop," Serene thought to herself as she smelled her palm. Wonderful. The black smear of what she had thought was dirt, gave off the familiar ammonia mixed with earthy, rotten and sweet stench known universally as poop. It hadn't smelled at all before she had put her hand down on that spot and smashed into her skin. The aroma now was quite strong and the black and brown substance covered her palm and even went between her fingers. She resisted the urge to wipe it on her pants and looked around helplessly for a place to get it off. ...

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“The Half-Life of Susan Marie Rabbitt” by Clara Dodge

Submitted to Contest #218

Frozen sand crunched under my yellow rain boots, gnawing like teeth on stale bread. The neon rubber bickered with snow slumbering in heaps, heavy on my eyes, aching. The sky burned in my lungs, crisp winter afternoon mingling with pine. It blinded me as it blended into the lake. Geese bent into letters across the coastline, mournful honks rippling. Stragglers. Today is the same as every Alice and Whitt Birthday. Alice stomped, splintering the frozen reservoirs pinned into pockets of sand. Snap, SNAP, snapped bones. I shuddered at the reverb,...

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“FRIGORI MORTIS” by Veronique Racine

Submitted to Contest #218

FRIGORI MORTIS My eyes opened, or did they? I could not see anything. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to see, or was expecting to see.But when I lift my eyelids, I expect some kind of image to appear in front of me. Nothing. I felt my breath shot back at me, I realized that there was something very wrong with me. My mind was slow and numb and I had trouble pinpointing what was off, except that I could not-see-a-single-thing. When I tried to move, I understood. There was no movement possible. I was surround...

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“Silence, Please” by Daniel Feagin

Submitted to Contest #218

Professor Arondel felt the train gently rock beneath him, the twittering of birdsong drifting faintly through the windows, only to be lost amongst the roar of passing wind. The locomotive had just come around a bend in the mountain path, giving view to a gorgeous vista. It was sunset over the mountains on the horizon, and in the valley that spread out beneath the rails of the train car there were lush autumnal forests with a wide river cutting a swathe through them. The scent of oak, pine, and clean air tumbled through the windows, playfully...

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“Silent Voices” by Spencer Hales

Submitted to Contest #218

Words. Voices. Yelling at him. Constantly pushing at his thoughts with their hubbub of noise. Telling him, advising him with their hushed tones, as if whispering so only he could hear. Lucian opened the door to his apartment, immediately wrinkling his nose at the smell. He didn't bother hiding his disgust from controlling his face as his eyes speedily shifted from the cramped space, the new stain on the couch, grease on the previously white walls, the growing pile of dirty dishes that sprouted from the sink like some irremovab...

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“The Viper” by Sue Schroeder

Submitted to Contest #218

Standing near the crest of the hill, Janelle basked in the day's warmth as sunlight flushed her cheeks. She could hear seabirds wheeling overhead, screaming as they looked for food. A raven, her favorite bird, called in the distance.A breeze, fresh from the sea, cold and acrid, brisk and salted, swept the hair from her shoulders and stung her cheeks. The tendrils whipped in the air like a hundred black vipers striking at their prey. She reveled in it, knowing she looked like a Medusa.Her leather jerkin creaked as Janelle turned toward her fa...

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“The Echoes of Rain” by Yeisha Lee

Submitted to Contest #218

The first thing Clara noticed as she stepped out of the cab and onto the cobblestone streets of Paris was the sound of rain. Growing up in Seattle, she had gotten used to the constant rain day in and day out, but this rain was different. It was not just any rain but a gentle, persistent drizzle that seemed to caress the city's centuries-old buildings. The pattering of droplets on the cobblestones created a soothing, rhythmic melody, a symphony of nature's own composition. She inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of rain-soaked earth, mingli...

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Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 174 stories

“From Wild to Serene ” by Chelsey B

“Best Served Cold” by Geir Westrul

“The Mockingbird” by M.A. Grace

“The Pit” by Dan Ward

“The Back Of The Mirror” by Khadija S. Mohammad

“The Oliver Act” by Humble Sparrow

“The Fragrance Phantom” by Liv Valen

“Fireflies” by Nathan Quinci Kurr

“To catch a catbird” by Mike Ramsey

“The Half-Life of Susan Marie Rabbitt” by Clara Dodge

“FRIGORI MORTIS” by Veronique Racine

“Silence, Please” by Daniel Feagin

“Silent Voices” by Spencer Hales

“The Viper” by Sue Schroeder

“The Echoes of Rain” by Yeisha Lee

🌟 Similar prompts

Start the story with the absence of a sensory detail (eg. silence when there should be noise).

‘Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once.’ Use the senses to transport a character back to the past.

Write a story that begins, ends, or changes with a song played by a busker.

‘The worst meal I’ve ever tasted.’ Imagine a zero-star TripAdvisor restaurant review: capture the customer’s evening out that compelled them to complain.

Contest #218

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

334

Contest entries

97

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: