Write about someone who is stuck between two opposing sides and can’t decide which one to choose.

Posted in Fiction on Mar 8, 2024

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✍️ 49 stories

“Kate and Me” by Linda Kenah

Submitted to Contest #241

I screamed. With every ounce of my soul. It was the scream of someone being murdered. It was spine tingling and shook me to the core. But the scream was captured and hung in my throat. No one else heard a sound. But I swear. I was screaming. “Now, Catherine, dear, are you cold?” she asked. “My goodness, you are shaking. Here’s a little shawl. Put this around your shoulders.” She can’t fool me. Pretending to care. They are all alike. Well, I know how to play the game. I fake a shy smile as a way to...

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“Hello mother. Hi dad.” by Laura Camacho Frias

Submitted to Contest #241

I grew up with a single mother. On Christmas Eve, when I was one year old, my mum packed a little suitcase, held me in her arms, and we left the house where we lived with my father, never to return. As expected, I don't remember it, but I've listened to that story so many times that I can even feel the snow falling that day whenever I think about it. I don't remember either many of my father's visits when I was a child, the time he tried to gift me a puppy, or the occasion when he tried to take me out of the country and my mother had to call...

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“Vile and Vicious ” by Cici Jang

Submitted to Contest #241

To normal people, going down the darkest alley in the city of Morzova was probably not the best idea. I felt the eyes of pickpockets in the shadows. One thing I learned as a smuggler and a bounty hunter was that the night was perfect for making illegal deals and steal a little cash from people walking to pubs. The dim hanging lights flickered as I passed by. The wind carried fallen newspapers through the alley. I stepped on one to see what it said. “Swarvas governments attack Morvindas brutally. Swarvas hired a minor last week. They refuse t...

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“RAJ” by MIke JOHNSON

Submitted to Contest #241

Ruth knew there would be little sleep. It was too hot, and many unanswered questions clamoured for her attention on this breathless, Southern summer evening. She lay in the half-light as muted city background noise and subtle scents reached for her through the half-open window. It was not the whispered intrusive sounds that kept her from sleep, though. The heat pressing softly all around seemed to encourage an endless internal dialogue recirculating in her consciousness. She t...

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“Skins and Shirts” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #241

“Oh dear.” “Not again.” Ben and Thom exchanged a look that asked a rhetorical question. That question was really existential in nature, but mostly it was a contrary bugger intent on making their life as interesting as it possibly could. “You know,” said Ben, “this reminds me a of City game I went to. Or rather the end of the game, when I was leaving the ground with my ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend.” Thom utilised another look in his repertoire. This look edged towards a rolling of his eyes, but that rolling never actually transpired, instead it ...

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“Our Hill of Stars” by Amber Ystrevi

Submitted to Contest #241

“Maid,” Queen Victoria called from her side of the court, “We need a tiebreaker.” Aurelia glanced up from her tray of pastries, her green eyes glowing in the moonlight from the window as she subtly rubbed her hands on her white apron. The Queen and King sat on a raised platform, the royal advisors fanned around them in a semi-circle, split evenly in half. Aurelia scanned the room before her gaze landed on the Queen’s large brown eyes. Her long blond hair framed her beautiful face, and her dark brown eyes brought Aurelia back to simpler times...

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“choosing sides.” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #241

“That’s what you are bringing?” I was staring dumbfounded at my severely misguided, newlywedded husband who was standing in our kitchen showing me what he had decided to cook for Thursday’s festivities. “To my best friend’s first attempt at Friendsgiving? The meal she has been texting me about for weeks?” I looked at his phone one more time and shook my head. “The one event she insists is going to be “by-the-book” traditional? And by the book, I mean her mom’s cover-falling-off copy of the Joy of Cooking, that she left her in her will, trad...

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“Choice Cut” by Andrew Fruchtman

Submitted to Contest #241

”So you’re leaving it to me to decide?” “Yes, yes we are,” both Pro and Con said, turning towards each to affirm the others acceptance. “We believe that when you weigh the data presented you will arrive at the proper decision. It’s never been tried before but given your sometimes exemplary and sometimes, lets be honest,non exemplary behavior it’s a toss up anyway, and with our labor shortages and diminishing assets, a fast track from limbo needed to be introduced,”Pro said. “Aha,” Saul exhaled quietly. “And just when exactly did you guy...

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“By The Third Rooster's Crow” by Ricky Madden

Submitted to Contest #241

Blank was small once, although she always felt so big. Pulsing at the beginning of the world, expecting the end of it. Infinity was never an option for her, as it seemed to be for some people, so she sang and screamed until the windows shook and she took every shush as an act of war. Blank was committed to understanding the world, something no one else seemed all too bothered with. Her parents were content to let her wander, answering every question from her as vaguely as possible. She learned soon that her answers would not come from them. ...

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“Mommy and Daddy” by Natalie Meador

Submitted to Contest #241

They sat across from one another on the carpet of Talia’s bedroom. Talia eyed her mother with scrutiny. She looked different now. Still beautiful, still lovely and graceful…but different. She didn’t look like a mom anymore. She looked like a person. A lying, gross, scrupulous…person. Talia wanted to yell, but no words would come, they were all scrambled up in her brain. “Please, say something. Do you hate me?” Christy asked with tears running down her face. “Why… How could you?” Talia finally spoke. “I—I—You gotta let me try to explain. C...

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“It's Not Funny Anymore” by Misty Dearing

Submitted to Contest #241

It started as a joke that everyone laughed at. Those laughing never thought such a silly thing would come to this. As everyone gathered outside the church, dressed in black, there was no more laughter, only tears and sadness. Two years earlier Jonathon met Anna and they instantly fell in love. She was attracted to him for so many reasons. One of those reasons was the fact that he had no ex-wife and no children. To her this meant he had no baggage. Anna had two children, a boy and a girl, in their teens.&nb...

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“Which Job Should I Choose?” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #241

Now I have to choose. I applied for two different jobs, and both potential employers said that they were interested in interviewing me. Both jobs looked to be essentially the same. I mean, I am an accountant. How different can the two jobs be? I had both interviews today, and both companies expressed an interest in hiring me. You’d think I would be able to see which one is best suited for me. But it wasn’t going to be easy. It had been a long time since I had applied for a job. The small company that...

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“Poppy and Johnny” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #241

Two lifelong friends just trying to get by in life get the opportunity to make a big score and move up in the drug ring they work in. Johnny the older of the two and more aggressive plays front man for the two of them with the heavy hitters of the drug ring and sets up a money drop for some product they had received recently. The next day Johnny shows up at Poppy’s house to give him the good news, but he doesn’t seem to be happy for the opportunity to make some money and make Bull The Animal happy. Bull has run the ring for a year now since ...

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“The Last Family Trip” by Joseph Ellis

Submitted to Contest #241

I draw a line down the middle of the notebook page. I aim for precision, but the line swerves in my unsteady hand. On the top left I write “Dad”, cross it out, write “Father.” At the top right I put “Mother.” Soon enough I’ll place my own name under one of the columns, take my position on one side of that crooked barrier. Because last week mom called the four of us into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, a table older than me with dark stains so deep in the white plastic they’re part of it now. Dad was there too, pacing around, looki...

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“At The Crossroads” by Leonard Jeffrey

Submitted to Contest #241

AT THE CROSSROADS Seventeen-year-old Mathew Todd, a typical carefree young man, was known as a loner by his peers. Like a lot of them, he hadn't made any plans for his future. He simply lived his life from day to day enjoying the good times while shrugging off the bad. Asfar as he was concerned he came first. Other people's feelings didn't matter to Mathew. He had no time to listen to their problems and refused to help them with their adolescent concerns. Even his few close friends knew better than to ask him for any help. Second in his lif...

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Write about someone who is stuck between two opposing sides and can’t decide which one to choose.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 49 stories

“Kate and Me” by Linda Kenah

“Hello mother. Hi dad.” by Laura Camacho Frias

“Vile and Vicious ” by Cici Jang

“RAJ” by MIke JOHNSON

“Skins and Shirts” by Jed Cope

“Our Hill of Stars” by Amber Ystrevi

“choosing sides.” by Lara Deppe

“Choice Cut” by Andrew Fruchtman

“By The Third Rooster's Crow” by Ricky Madden

“Mommy and Daddy” by Natalie Meador

“It's Not Funny Anymore” by Misty Dearing

“Which Job Should I Choose?” by John Steckley

“Poppy and Johnny” by Jeffrey McDonald

“The Last Family Trip” by Joseph Ellis

“At The Crossroads” by Leonard Jeffrey

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who is convinced they’re going to be betrayed.

Set your story at a tense event where everyone is unsure whose side they’re on.

Start your story with an unexpected betrayal.

Write about a backstabbing (literal or metaphorical) gone wrong.

Contest #241

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

255

Contest entries

116

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: