Write a story in which each paragraph begins or ends (or both!) with the same sentence.

Posted in Fiction on Feb 17, 2023

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✍️ 77 stories

“A Knock at The Door” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #186

Margaret had left me some time ago. That very day I closed all the curtains and kept the lights out. I stopped going out. I ate mostly from the pantry, when I did eat. I raided the wine cellar with regularity, yet seemed to make no dent in it. The notices in the mail had no effect on me. I let them pile and overfill and the rain wash them out and make a carpet of them on the first stoop. And I waited. I waited for her to return for her things. Then I heard a knock at the door. It was tough breaking up the basemen...

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“Explain” by Forrest Williams

Submitted to Contest #186

“Explain.” The word I now dread most. Before this I was a teacher; explaining things was my job. This is how a cell works. Here is our evolutionary tree. The three types of rock are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Explaining things to children takes time and patience, but they learn, grow, and eventually become full-fledged members of society, ready to consume content, post asinine opinions online, and forget everything I’ve taught them. The circle of life. “Explain.” I shudder. The inquiring alien is a hulking mass of tentacles and e...

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“The Roundtable” by Pres T

Submitted to Contest #186

*Reference to abuse I came from a generation I am not sure is completely understood. I feel deep mistrust in the system and world ahead of me. All I hear are these sayings that have lost the power to motivate and I feel are just effective attempts at dismissing my concerns. The elders tell me that they should be respected. And I have serious problems with that idea. Just last week on the news, I heard about a story of a young man who burned down a church. Turns out, that individual was assaulted by the pastor for years running close to a...

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“Rachel” by Christina Patterson

Submitted to Contest #186

"I love my husband. I trust my husband." She kept repeating this constantly in her head, yet she found it harder to believe with each saying. They had been married for over ten years. She always thought they had a great marriage, and she had always assumed her husband felt the same. He had never given her any indication to think otherwise. They kissed, rarely had disagreements with each other, and cuddled each night while they slept. So, why were there pictures of another woman on his laptop? N...

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“You left me” by Tori Bryce

Submitted to Contest #186

You left me. You left me with love. The kind of love that they write about in romance novels. The kind of love that most people search for their entire lives. The kind of love that burns right through your heart and ignites your soul. The kind of love that cannot be quenched even if it were surrounded by water.You left me. You left me with anger. The kind of anger that smothers any joy with a stare. The kind of anger that kills any smile with a knife. The kind of anger that wakes the dead. The kind of anger that needs to be locked in a cage....

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“Unraveled” by Shawn Forno

Submitted to Contest #186

Greg saw it begin to unravel. A loose green thread tickles his palm as it dangles from the chunky oversized sleeve. He’d worn this same ugly sweater every Christmas for ... what ... twelve years now? Thirteen? He counts back from his visit home senior year, just before Dad– just before his brother Pete got married. Yup. Thirteen years. He only wears the sweater for a few days each year, the rest of the time it’s stuffed in a box in Mom’s garage with the other holiday swag awaiting his annual return. But even a few days of drinking eggnog and...

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“It was a rainy day in town.” by Megan Lee

Submitted to Contest #186

It was a rainy day in town. He looked outside and groaned. The commute was going to be awful today. Better to leave the house at least ten minutes early to avoid being late; another tardy and he’d get an official warning. Thankfully, the coffee was ready, he always prepped it the night before, but his wallet wasn’t where it should be. He overturned the couch cushions, looked in the desk drawers, sent papers scattering across the floor. He broke out into a sweat as those ten minutes dwindled into seven, then five, then zero. He threw up his h...

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“Lunar Eclipse ” by Anusha Vyas

Submitted to Contest #186

Is she the sun? Her eyes are bright and her skin is golden, saturated to a warm coffee brown. She lies flat beside me on the sand, her smile sweet and dimples indenting her cheeks. A constellation of freckles shift and shimmer and undulate along the crinkles in her skin. Perhaps it is the slow fluttering of her lashes, or the sheen of ocean water glistening along her exposed clavicles that pull the question to the forefront of my mind. Or perhaps it is the warmth she tugs to life beneath my skin, in my veins. She must be the sun. Is she the...

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“Time to start living” by Liz Mooney

Submitted to Contest #186

I wasn’t even supposed to be there that day. I was just coming off a fourteen day stretch of twelve hour days, and had been looking forward to drawing my curtains and turning my house into a cave to shut out the world. The thought of hiding, of not having to interact with a single human being was all I could think about as I made the drive home. The rest of the world was on lockdown, and all I could think about was how nice it would be to be sheltered away from this mess. Working as a store manager was a thankless job at any time, but adding...

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“Family Secret” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #186

Trigger warning: sexual abuse, self harm, suicide As darkness settles into every corner of the bedroom, fear begins its nightly assault. She lies immobile, watching, waiting. Soon, the nightmare will be at her door; the heaviness inside her grows as she thinks about it. His hands holding her down. His knee forcing her legs apart. Tears staining her face afterwards. Dread builds as her ears strain to listen for the thud of footsteps, the gentle sound of the door being opened. Strange that a monster can be so quiet, that a frame so large c...

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“I just cannot believe it” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #186

I Just Cannot Believe It I just cannot believe it. It is a relatively warm and sunny day for February, so I decided to take an extended walk around the small town in which I have lived all my life. It had been a long time since I had done that, but I had been diagnosed with diabetes type 2. My doctor, as well as Doctor Google both have recommended that I engage in daily exercise. So, after some thought and initially a lot of excuse making and delaying, I de...

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“Play Is Enough ” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #186

trigger warning- death Miriam sat in her car and waited for the shock to wear off. She’d always known it was a possibility that the family she worked, for would decide to send their youngest child to that awful academic preschool down the street, but to be told it was a certainty felt like a slap in the face. Why couldn’t parents understand the harm that occurred in those types of school environments? Nothing about formal learning in preschool is necessary for later success. Play is enough. Miriam thought of sweet little Brody, and tried...

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“Our Playground” by S.C. May

Submitted to Contest #186

This was our playground. Now, snow covers the swings, slides, and sidewalks equally - all around. Memories of past days drift like snowflakes mingling with the frigid air. My failures of the past are distant echoes of today’s hopeless problems. They whisper playfully in my ear, “nothing is in your favor.” Their shivering hands pull at my hair and tug at my knitted scarf. This was our playground. When I look around, there is no one. Only a line of grey clouds looms. Slowly, it approaches - ready to swallow everything whole. Should I give up,...

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“Garden of Lies” by Grace Boone

Submitted to Contest #186

*TW: Child Neglect, Light Gore* The evening chill touched his sensitive skin. Atlas watched as his mother performed her ablutions on her new gardening tool. He thought— as he washed his cloak— that it was utterly unnecessary. He continued scrubbing at the mucky vestment in a bucket of soapy water; Atlas couldn’t help but scowl at the deluge of sheets waiting to the side. Each spot of blood or dirt from his weekly fights made his skin itch with rage. Two Valley Elves domiciled i...

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“Love Numbers ” by Brianna Allen

Submitted to Contest #186

Have you ever noticed repeating numbers in your life and wondered if they had a deeper meaning? If so, you’re not alone. Lately, I have been noticing 444 at the most random moments. It’s like the universe is sending me a message. As someone who believes in signs from the universe, I must tell you that this number has me thinking. Could it be something special? Is there something more to this number than meets the eye? Well read on because I have a few things to tell you regarding this number - but before you read on, what do you think? Could...

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Write a story in which each paragraph begins or ends (or both!) with the same sentence.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 77 stories

“A Knock at The Door” by David B Fraser

“Explain” by Forrest Williams

“The Roundtable” by Pres T

“Rachel” by Christina Patterson

“You left me” by Tori Bryce

“Unraveled” by Shawn Forno

“It was a rainy day in town.” by Megan Lee

“Lunar Eclipse ” by Anusha Vyas

“Time to start living” by Liz Mooney

“Family Secret” by Jane Andrews

“I just cannot believe it” by John Steckley

“Play Is Enough ” by Chelsey B

“Our Playground” by S.C. May

“Garden of Lies” by Grace Boone

“Love Numbers ” by Brianna Allen

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story of fragments. Many options here: no verbs, sentence fragments, short sections, nothing but objects, etc. The fragments should relate to one another obliquely, hesitantly, subtly, ambiguously, preposterously, marvelously.

Write a story within a story within a story within a ...

Write a story that formally utilizes a mathematical sequence; e.g., the Fibonacci sequence could determine the number of words in each paragraph, or start with a number and work backwards. Make sure the formula is made clear, either within the story, or before or after it.

Write a story entirely of dialogue. Nothing but dialogue. No attributives (he said, she said, etc.). No descriptions of scenes or gestures or movements (unless these things are presented in the dialogue). Just words between quotation marks. Pure, beautiful, untainted dialogue.

Contest #186

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

481

Contest entries

142

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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