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

Posted in Fiction on Sep 29, 2023

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✍️ 52 stories

“The Mission ” by Justicelee Auman

Submitted to Contest #218

My eyes slammed open. My vision was blurry; I couldn’t see anything. I coughed, but didn’t hear anything. In fact, I heard nothing. Not even the sound your boots should make when you stand up in heavy leaves. No. No no no. I rubbed my eyes. They opened to a dark gray smoke flowing everywhere around me. I sat up, looking at the destroyed rubble of my unit's ATV. I looked for them, but couldn’t find any of them. “ALAN!” I screamed, but nothing came out. I could feel it in my throat. My vocal chords were working. Diaphragm too, I could fe...

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“A Life of Silence” by Philip Levy

Submitted to Contest #218

The streets were always noisy, but I never noticed. It was 1:03 PM. The bus was already thirteen minutes late. I looked at my watch again, just to make certain that it still worked. It did. The city was busy as usual; angry taxi drivers stuck in the lunch-hour traffic, men and women hurrying to their next business appointments with their coat-tails flying behind them, and Sam Hedgerson selling his warm, steaming hot dogs on the corner. They never quite smelled fresh, and the color was always slightly more dull than they should have be...

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“All Quiet on the West Ham Front” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #218

You could see it from a glorious, sunlit mile off. Poetry was set in motion and destiny manifested, or something of that ilk, nature and reckoning happened on that sunny Summer afternoon anyway. Ade crossed an inch perfect ball to Toyoh. The intelligence and insight that Ade displayed in that moment was a true delight to behold. He put the ball right where Toyoh was going to be. It was in the exact spot it needed to be. There was telepathy between the two players and magic as well. The ball was in space, and that space gave...

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“Blinded Colors” by Sharika Mandyam

Submitted to Contest #218

Everyone thinks my vision is always dark. That I can’t see anything. As if a flashlight had been switched off. People think I just stumble through the world, eyes closed and blind. Rather, a film is placed over the flashlight. I see a multitude of colors, ones I can’t name: blurry shapes, faded shadows, and bright dots. I don’t pay attention to any of it. Instead, I listen to her voice. How it flows and dips, pausing to take breaths and quickens when she’s excited. We’re on our daily walk, and she’s describing everything to me. How ...

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“Human Asteroid ” by Willie OB

Submitted to Contest #218

The quiet void erupted, sucking me in. I turned over and over in the weightless vacuum, my eyes catching distant sunlight in one instant and then the cold expanse of stars swimming in the dark seas of space. My eyes darted hither and thither in the hopes of catching sight of rescue, for some impossible last minute lasso that would come out of nowhere to save me from my imminent fate. The dual grind of dryness and compression overtook my eyes and flattened them. I could neither breathe nor see, nor hear. My pain throbbed within me and I was n...

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“Mrs. Esposito Says Hello” by Jill K

Submitted to Contest #218

Mrs. Esposito Says Hello Could I please, the realtor’s voicemail urged, have the house presentable and smelling good by Saturday? The Esposito children want it sold lickety-split. No need to knock; the home is unoccupied – just push the front door open and start clearing up the junk. The children don’t want any of it. The realtor’s message made me sad, but I am a cleaning professional, and arrived at the house double masked with a trunkful of cleaning supplies. I’d cleaned enough hoarders’ homes to understand how the job a...

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“I Am Kemmie” by Keitha Patton

Submitted to Contest #218

The whole of Kemmie Martin’s childhood was big. Not so much the physical or geographical size of things or because it was full of great events or the greatness of people but in the oversupply of danger and cautionary warnings held within the many spaces and places she was trapped, bounced around or shoved into. It was in the early enclosures of home that Kemmie, now in her sixties, recalls the tacit need to avoid the shiftiness of her home space by being as small or as close to invisible as possible. Cloaked among the beckoning aroma of ho...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 52 stories

“The Mission ” by Justicelee Auman

“A Life of Silence” by Philip Levy

“All Quiet on the West Ham Front” by Jed Cope

“Blinded Colors” by Sharika Mandyam

“Human Asteroid ” by Willie OB

“Mrs. Esposito Says Hello” by Jill K

“I Am Kemmie” by Keitha Patton

🌟 Similar prompts

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.

‘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: