Set or begin your story in a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace.

Posted in Fiction on Aug 11, 2023

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✍️ 70 stories

“The anatomy of my fire” by Matt Allen

Submitted to Contest #211

As I stared into the fireplace of my humble home, the embers of the roaring fire and the flickering flames that disappeared into the chimney told the tale of life. Once young and glowing red, burning bright, now old, gliding into the chimney never to be seen again. The fuel burned out, the ash black and used. As I sit pontificating the symbolism of my fire, I take a drag of my last cigarette blowing out fumes. Like the ashes of a fire I survey, I am burned out. I’m out of fuel. I’m an old man read...

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“velvet nights” by Benedetta Caprino

Submitted to Contest #211

excitement curdles in her blood,goes down into her veins and nerves, and pricks her skin until she can feel alive,until the pale hair of her arms stand tall.She nearly welcomes it. After so much defeat and numbness,after all, she has passed. The feeling of knowing she can still feel happiness and serenity reassures her in ways she doesn’t know.Her father has smiled at her—that abundant, irritating, and full of wine smile—and asked (it was not just demanding; of course he was commanding her)."Will you watch over him, Diana?"and there was no p...

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“A Book, A Movie, and Snacks” by Amanda Cedeno

Submitted to Contest #211

I, Mrs. F., was getting ready to read one of my new books titled The Fox’s Adventure. There was a fire in the fireplace, my favorite rocking chair with a blue quilted throw blanket, an end table with a lamp, a cup of hot cocoa and two chocolate chip cookies on a plate, a blue, flowery throw rug, and Mr. F.’s recliner chair was to the right of mine. Mr. F. was at the newest zombie movie with Mr. E. Once there was a fox named Ember. She lived a nice quiet life, but on...

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“Unexpected Guest” by Fiachra Reilly

Submitted to Contest #211

Bill had drifted off to sleep by the fire. His chin rested on his chest and his arms were hanging by the sides of the recliner. It was late at night and the warmth of the flames and the sound of heavy rain hitting his roof functioned as a sweet lullaby. Suddenly, he sat up in his seat. Awoken by loud banging on his door. It was a cold November night and with the heavy downpour nobody would be venturing this far into the woods. Bill lived alone. The only time he would interact with anyone was when he would go into town for supplies or meet s...

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“Flames Secrets” by Christina SOule

Submitted to Contest #211

The experience that I was having wasn't like any other. You read these fantasies in the books or watch them on tv but never in real life especially when he is your next-door neighbor. This all started with him out in the yard when I had moved in two months ago. Watching him from a far was like watching something from tv. The way that Michael could lift up the wood on his broad shoulders and throw it. Oh, that made my heartbeat even faster. I was sitting on the porch, reading the other day when Michael had come up to introduce himself. Farmer...

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“farewell” by Mirta Haramina

Submitted to Contest #211

Is this a small fragment in time, or a whole infinity in just one tiny fragment of time, or are these moments insubordinate to time?I need time to be aggressively deprived of its freedom to be anything it wishes or lasting as much as. I need it in heavy chains. Whome can I punish, and how, for this slimy feeling - but time?Those wood crackling sounds coming from the ugliest fireplace, hanging from a ceiling, in the middle of this huge, empty space, made a dissonant wind in my mind. As if the whole composition of this whole image was spiced b...

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“This Isn't a Ghost Story” by Jennings Brian

Submitted to Contest #211

Terry didn't really believe in ghosts. He never had. He couldn't understand why anyone dead would want to come back to this place. If there was life after death, it had to be better than this. He sat in the small common room of the inn he was staying at. The night was dark and cloudy, and rain pelted the roof of the inn, creating a soothing pattering. Although nature seemed to be decidedly miserable, the inn was rather pleasant. A warm fire danced in the sizable stone hearth, and all of the road weary travelers were talking and la...

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“The Bill of Sale” by Ed Wooten

Submitted to Contest #211

The Bill of Sale Ed Wooten The flickering flames of the fireplace created dancing shadows around the room. Sarah placed another log on the grate and watched as the small flames struggled to ignite it. She returned to the table, sipped her coffee, and prepared to reread the letter from her sons, Ned and Tom. Sheriff Bart Johnson had delivered the letter to her earlier today. Since her husband’s death, Sher...

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“A Picture's Worth a Thousand Feelings” by Audrey Lewis

Submitted to Contest #211

I ran my fingers over the worn leather of the photo album laying at my bare feet. In my parent’s dark living room, the fire gave the auburn cover’s edges a vignetted glow that mirrored the burning feeling in my chest. Moments passed and I still sat there fumbling the corner of it as the flames widely crackled and popped beside me. I wanted to open it but I knew if I did, I would be releasing the truth and confirming the weight of its reality. It felt surreal to feel this way now after seemingly so much time had passed. Six months ago, I ...

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“A Nighttime Story ” by Hannah S

Submitted to Contest #211

The days grew colder quickly in a small town called Little River. It snugly fits right next to beautiful flower fields and hills and Boston, Massachusetts. Sometimes during the winter, the snow would fall in the meadows, and a beautiful orange-pink sunset would cast its warmth all over the town. It is truly a sight to see. But this story does not take place in the meadows, but rather in a house all decorated for Christmas in the middle of a friendly suburban neighborhood. In this house lives a little brunette girl named Stella, her p...

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“Destiny Delayed” by Marc Wilks

Submitted to Contest #211

This work contains mentions of slavery and violence associated with the practice. Two men jogged into the manor house to escape the raging storm. They had ridden their horses to near exhaustion, and both the men and their mounts were looking forward to being warm and dry. “Ronald, I have not seen a storm like this since we were on Jamacia.” “I can agree with that, Adam. We never had so cold a rain there either.” Ronald Price slipped out of his soaked jacket and draped it over his arm. A butler took the jacket before Ronald was even...

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“From Red to Violet” by Jenna Itson

Submitted to Contest #211

Sultry ash collected beneath the burning firewood too quickly for Violet’s taste. The stoker she held was not yet familiar with the pressure of her calloused hand, the imprint of her mother’s fingerprints lingering on the metal. Almost as if she were there after all these years, tending to the hearth. Violet poked at the wood, and the flames burst into flickering violence. Light pooled in obscure shapes amongst the ancient stone walls, shining on the thick wool curtains tied up to display the dark wooded forest upholding residence out...

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“In the Heart of Darkness” by Treva Sabin-White

Submitted to Contest #211

Against the creaking beams of this little wooden hovel, the snows of the mountains raged in their unconquerable might. It was the time when the sun had been blown by the winter winds and only an eternal night remained in its place. It proved a cruel place to live in, unrelenting to even the most adapted denizens. The rivers and lakes would freeze, it was nearly impossible to see for the darkness, and the cold bit through a body with greater force than the most ferocious predator. Klaus had to fish though, so he fished. He knew the short tra...

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“A Matter of Honour” by Brian Macfarland

Submitted to Contest #211

He threw the cup into the fireplace and before it hit the coals he had turned again to continue his pacing, unmindful of the sudden flare of brandy in the flickering flames. “Damn the man,” he repeated. “You say he was not at the meeting place as arranged. How long did you wait?” he snapped at the figure standing petrified before him in the gloomy study, looking to all the world as if he would rather be seated before his trembling knees gave way beneath him. “A very long time, Your Grace. I could wait no longer as the fog was getting thi...

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“Guardians” by Stella Kaye

Submitted to Contest #211

They danced along the walls. Ballerinas pirouetting and dogs chasing their tails. They would get big then small, and never stopped dancing and chasing. Molly had a wild imagination as a child- and it didn’t stop just because she turned 16. She put another log on the fire. Sparks rose up and added spots on the shadows of the flames. Molly picked at her nails. She was stressed. Why wasn’t Billy home yet? He left at 6 o’clock for a dinner date and it was nearing midnight. Molly was embarrassed that she was worried, but he was her only sibling. ...

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Set or begin your story in a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 70 stories

“The anatomy of my fire” by Matt Allen

“velvet nights” by Benedetta Caprino

“A Book, A Movie, and Snacks” by Amanda Cedeno

“Unexpected Guest” by Fiachra Reilly

“Flames Secrets” by Christina SOule

“farewell” by Mirta Haramina

“This Isn't a Ghost Story” by Jennings Brian

“The Bill of Sale” by Ed Wooten

“A Picture's Worth a Thousand Feelings” by Audrey Lewis

“A Nighttime Story ” by Hannah S

“Destiny Delayed” by Marc Wilks

“From Red to Violet” by Jenna Itson

“In the Heart of Darkness” by Treva Sabin-White

“A Matter of Honour” by Brian Macfarland

“Guardians” by Stella Kaye

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story starring an octogenarian who’s more than meets the eye.

Begin your story with a librarian searching for something.

Write a story involving a friendship with an adorable animal.

End your story with two characters reconciling.

Contest #211

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

304

Contest entries

107

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: