Start your story with someone trying to read a map.

Posted in Fiction on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 36 stories

“Relic Hunter” by Alex Sultan

Submitted to Contest #124

A fool steps into the unknown. An explorer finds their way back. Vali considered herself the better of the two. She raised her map against the buffeting sands, grains rapping against the paper. Relics and scrolls shifted in her pack as she stumbled, the wind picking up. Vali covered her face with her arm, squinting at the dunes ahead, the piles of sand as tall as mountains. An endless desert. An orange sun set on the horizon.Savour the sand that stings your face, Valianne, Xqoaix spoke. She would never escape his voice—as subtle as her ...

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“Latitude” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #124

She unfolded the map as her husband drove down the highway. “Y’know, it is a good thing that we left so early. I told you that there would be no traffic on a holiday weekend if we left on Friday and made it out of town before the sun was up.” She kept looking at the map. “Do you think that the others know what we are up to? I think that I should have called ahead before we decided to do this, but since we always head out there for the holidays, I didn’t see any point to telling anyone. “I mean, it was a different holiday last time. Not in th...

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“Smooth Sailing” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #124

…And in regards to the sea monster, I would like to congratulate Erasmus on losing but one leg rather than both as he battled the mighty foe. Many a man has lost several appendages fighting such creatures, but Erasmus managed to keep nearly all of us, and for that, we are most proud of him. My, doesn’t his new peg look sharp! Whittled to perfection by Antonio, to whom we are most grateful. Applause all around. Well, that about covers the old business of the day. Dinner tonight will be a light grog with a side of sea monster stew. Perhaps s...

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“Endling” by Emerald Lace

Submitted to Contest #124

Frayed around the edges, crinkled through the middle, and faded with time, dirt, and blood, the map sat next to her on the edge of the rooftop as she looked through her binoculars and kicked her feet in the hot summer wind. There had been a time when the city below bustled with life, but now there were only rotting cars, rolling fields of trash, and tornados of smog as far as the eye could see. When the land was alive, there had been smells of cooking meat, car exhaust, body o...

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“Directions” by James Wesikittel

Submitted to Contest #124

Julia glared at the frozen map on her phone; the words ‘No Service’ stubbornly clung to the corner of the screen. “Dammit,” she shouted. “Where the hell is this place?” Moments later, she pulled into an old, rundown gas station. Reluctantly eyeing the peeling paint and cracked windows framing the flickering ‘open’ sign—she could almost hear her mother’s voice lecturing her about judging books by their covers—Julia took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and made her way inside. “Mornin’,” said the grizzled old man standing behind th...

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“Gretchen's Unfair Advantage” by Pako Dunwhile

Submitted to Contest #124

Gretchen peered down at the crisp parchment paper. The title read Hector Martinez Francisco Guerrero Personality Map. Her heart swooned at the name. The rest of the document listed in color-coded sections from gray to gold. Her eyes shuffled past the colored font and underlining. Gray, blue, yellow, and gold. The Notary saw the expected glow of her eyes. “Don’t you be reading too fast like all the others. Stay away from the gold until you know you’re ready to see who he truly is. Anything less, stop. You and the subject will become bo...

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“Bear” by AnneMarie Miles

Submitted to Contest #124

The map was impossible to read. Even if a snow storm hadn’t covered the entire valley last night, I wasn’t sure navigating our way through it would be enough to save Bear. “What do you think, Bear? We keep heading down the mountain?” I shifted my head towards my shoulders so I could see his tired eyes. His only reply a slow blink and a wheezing exhale. I had been carrying Bear, slung across my shoulders, each pair of his legs bound in my hands on either side, for the better part of the morning, at least since the first light reached...

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“Seeking Solace” by Erica Hampton

Submitted to Contest #124

"Holly, hurry up." I scrunched up my nose at the tall birch tree next to me. It wasn't that what the tree had said was untruthful; it was just unfair. I had been staring at the same map on my phone for almost twenty minutes. But every time it looked like something new might load and finally free me from this prison, the screen would crash. That didn't make it my fault I'd be stuck wandering the woods around Lake Superior's northern shore forever. Some leaves above my head laughed at my plight, and I stopped messing with the phone screen lo...

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“Adept of ADNI” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #124

The detailed map burst into life in the centre of my mind's eye. Narrowing my focus, I zoomed in to the lowest sphere, at the base of the schematic. After all, it was where I was, blindfolded by the dark, in a room, thick and loamy, smelling of fresh tilled earth. The sphere gave off a dull sheen. A dusty citrine quarter shone at the top. To its left, my right, gleamed an olive region. Balancing that, was a deep russet. Capping the bottom of the sphere, was pure darkness, darker than the night my soul stood in. Gazing hard into the sphere r...

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“Expectations of Growth” by Michelle Nieweg

Submitted to Contest #124

Distant big brakes squealed, slowing tons of metal to a safe stop. The subway was not quite second nature, not quite new. Celeste puzzled at the map on the wall at the airport, a straight line representing each stop, but did the train actually move like that? One big straight line? This map was more of a symbol, she decided. She only needed to count the stops and who cares what direction it goes. She swiped her metro card and tugged her old rolling suitcase behind her. This suitcase was in ok shape, the zippers still held all the contents s...

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“I Can't Abide By The Google” by Bobbie Candas

Submitted to Contest #124

I was kind of dreading this trip. But it was a comment I’d suggested in a casual conversation, and then my grandma seized on it, remembered me saying it, and here we were now, doing it. Sitting in my Honda in her driveway listening to a podcast, I waited for Grandma. Finally, the door to her house swung open and my five-foot-tall granny and her three large bags emerged. She marched over to my open window and swung a large, heavy book at me. “Here, Jenny. Got you something we ...

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“The Difference of Love” by Racheal Pelter

Submitted to Contest #124

“Jesus Jess just what does it fucking say?” Jessica inhaled and let a sigh slip. She wanted him to feel the air. “I’m not sure, hold on,” she said. “I just don't understand what is hard about it, Never Eat Soggy Wheaties–they still taught you that right?” How inspired. “Yes, Will” this was annoying. In her head, she thought, actually, no. I’m not 60 years old. I have never had Wheaties and I have never used anything but my phone to direct me somewhere. And also don’t fucking swear at me, but she didn’t say that. She’s not sure when she ...

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“Blackwater” by Lexie Russon

Submitted to Contest #124

“You’re holding it upside down.” “I am no…” Bree halted, realizing he was right. She glared at him and turned the map around, so it was rightside up- earning a snicker from Ryan. She shook the map out like she shook off her bruised ego and scanned the mass of colored lines and tiny names for the one they were looking for. “How is anyone supposed to read these, the words are too small,” She squi...

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“Not Since the 1890s” by Kathryn Mofley

Submitted to Contest #124

Maybe it was the approaching darkness, a low flashlight battery, deafening thunder, or sheer terror that blurred my vision, but the park map was unreadable. Yes, it’s December, but mine is no Christmas story.Although I’d been on this trail many times, in my panicked state of mind, a fork in the path confused me. I was being stalked, preyed upon, and hoped I’d chosen the best way forward.Only a few hours earlier, I’d been happily setting up my campsite. My husband was away on one of his frequent fishing trips with his buddies; a no-girls...

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“Faces” by Rita Squalli

Submitted to Contest #124

I opened my eyes to the sound of strong gusts of wind hammering rain against my window and my stare met my window as I saw a map drawn on the steamed up glass or so I thought. Squinting, I made out uneven lines and squares - some looking familiar while others not. I rummaged around my night stand before finding my rectangular glasses. Lifting them to my face, outlines grew clear and I examined the scrawly writing of estranged street names. My eyes moved to the left of the map before hearing the air conditioning switch on and the ...

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Start your story with someone trying to read a map.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 36 stories

“Relic Hunter” by Alex Sultan

“Latitude” by Kendall Defoe

“Smooth Sailing” by Story Time

“Endling” by Emerald Lace

“Directions” by James Wesikittel

“Gretchen's Unfair Advantage” by Pako Dunwhile

“Bear” by AnneMarie Miles

“Seeking Solace” by Erica Hampton

“Adept of ADNI” by Minerva Noiropp

“Expectations of Growth” by Michelle Nieweg

“I Can't Abide By The Google” by Bobbie Candas

“The Difference of Love” by Racheal Pelter

“Blackwater” by Lexie Russon

“Not Since the 1890s” by Kathryn Mofley

“Faces” by Rita Squalli

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character in search of something or someone.

Write a story where two characters are playing hide and seek, literally or metaphorically.

End your story with someone finding themselves.

Set your story in a labyrinth that holds a secret.

Contest #124

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

227

Contest entries

147

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: