Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Posted in Fluff on Jan 12, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 61 stories

“Toxin Time” by Dan Campbell

Submitted to Contest #233

I typically don’t drink, however, tonight felt different. I wanted to let my wild side out. I went to the bar for the first time in years… This is where the adventure starts. Let's rewind to January 2021. I was somewhat of a hermit if you want to call it that. Covid was in its prime, and I certainly did not want to catch a case if you know what I mean. There wasn’t much I felt I could do at the time other than stay inside and catch up on household chores, but that got boring fast. I quickly started picking up hobbies such as puzzles, ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Refreshing” by Liela Brown

Submitted to Contest #233

When I banged open the doors to Lucky’s Tavern, patrons side eyed me like I was carrying a scythe and a black hooded robe. It got dead quiet. I let their gazes slide off me like rain off windowpanes. “Someone run off on their tab?” I asked. Cataloging the clientele, it seemed like the tooth fairy had visited this lot as often as her own children, but each time they’d given her lip that she’d repaid in kind with the ugly stick. I’d never seen so many missing teeth and broken noses scattered across the tables. A sign I was probably in the righ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Simon's Decision” by Elizabeth Sloughter

Submitted to Contest #233

In the midst of a seemingly endless recession, Simon Brown quit his job as a mid-level banker at a dubiously wealthy international bank and drove down South in a beat-up 20th century pick-up truck to move in with his kid sister who was quite naturally feeling the effects of the downturn, most especially since she was an artist in her mid-twenties as well as a chain smoker. It all started in January, although the causes for such a move had likely been stirring for s...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Clarity” by Allegra Clare

Submitted to Contest #233

Sirena stood in front of the dark wooden door with no sign. She could feel her breath hitch in her throat and her heart begin racing despite her body being at a complete standstill. It’s just nerves, she told herself. You got this. You can do this. Anxiety was something Sirena had tread through her life, in which she could sometimes gracefully glide through bouts of perpetual fear, while other episodes felt like she was choking on a whirlpool of quicksand that continuously dragged her down the more she fought against it. The door stood in fr...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Dry” by Teagan Townsend

Submitted to Contest #233

I stumble over the entrance, one foot almost in front of the other. The absence of noise shocks me, as always, and I look around in stunned awe despite my familiarity with The Dry. I both yearn to be at and despise this bar. With its multitude of mostly empty seats, large tanks with enough tubes dangling off them to appear like the mythical Octopus, and of course it’s pure, crisp, delicious air. I gulp it in recklessly, declining the warnings pasted on the front door – “short, sharp breaths”. Could one really be expected not to indulge in th...

0 comments 0

Read story

“No Booze Here” by A.C. Ammon

Submitted to Contest #233

It's been six years into the war on booze. I live in Brooklyn, New York, where most folks haven't had a drop to sip in nearly three months. Mr. Capone has been in hiding all this time due to some trivial gun-down matter of a fellow bootlegger. Ever since Mr. Capone hid himself, his shipments have been scarce, and the price, when the local blind pig did receive some, would soar out of my price range.I can feel the shaking beginning to take my hands and lips. This commonly happens when I've been away from the bottle for a spell. The only thing...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Creating a haven for sobriety.” by Charles Frederick

Submitted to Contest #233

Jacklyn O’Neil had always been a woman who knew exactly what she wanted in life. From an early age, she set her sights on achieving success and nothing could stop her. She worked tirelessly to get into Oxford, where she graduated with top honours. After that, she landed a job at a prestigious law firm and quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the youngest partners in the firm's history. However, little did anyone know that behind the facade of her perfect life, Jacklyn was struggling with a secret addiction - alcoholism. It started inno...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Less The Bitters” by Amanda Song

Submitted to Contest #233

She’d lasted ten days. Daisy plodded slowly against the packed throng. She wasn’t going to drink — she really wasn’t. After seeing what a “liquid dinner” did to her colleagues—Carmella always had a bottle in her desk and Jeff couldn’t hold a conversation without holding a glass—she had brazenly declared her New Year’s resolution was to go sober. But there was a certain hopefulness that she only felt staring into the velvety depths of a glass of cabernet. The only way she could escape the hell of their nine-to-five that usually extended well...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Lost Hope” by A.M. Douglas

Submitted to Contest #233

Asher leaned into the brutal north wind as he made his way slowly up the street. Slow was the only pace the cold wind allowed. Cold, like my soul, he thought. Asher desperately wanted a drink, but every establishment he passed just wouldn’t do. Too rich for me, he thought as he passed the windowfront of the lounge in a five-star hotel. Too hip at another. Too young. Too crowded, he thought as he watched a group of friends celebrate a birthday. “Bah,” he grumbled as he watched another group celebrate someone’s promotion....

0 comments 0

Read story

“Whiskey Sundae” by Katherine Marley

Submitted to Contest #233

Getting fired was the last thing I’d expected to come out of a casual Wednesday. The sun was shining when I left the house this morning to bring the kids to school, though, looking back, I recall the large storm clouds that suddenly concealed the bright blue of the sky in a blanket of ominous gray as I made my way into the office. As any person would, I accepted the abrupt weather change as an oddity rather than an omen. Perhaps I would’ve been a bit more prepared for the catastrophe that awaited me if I had taken the coming storm as a warni...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Artist” by Louise W

Submitted to Contest #233

Muted candlelight glinted off rows of freshly-rinsed martini, coupe and wineglasses. Blocks of ice slowly melted in the bustling warmth of the candlelit lounge, pooling at the bottom of the wide metal tub behind the bar. Above the hum of conversation, live jazz music thickened the air, courtesy of a pianist hammering away at the 1948 vintage baby grand in the back corner. This late into the evening, patrons had begun to peel off and head home - or wherever their next destination was that night - but plenty of hand-carved mahogany tables we...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Simple Serenity ” by Aaron S

Submitted to Contest #233

“Simple Serenity” The Allure of an Oasis in the Chaos In the heart of a bustling city that never sleeps, there's this little gem named 'Serenity'. Tucked away in an alley less traveled, it's like a beacon of warmth in the cool night. Swing open its door, and you're wrapped in a cocoon of soft tunes and hushed, comforting chatter. It's like stepping into a bubble where the world outside just pauses for a bit. Take Evelyn, for example. One evening, she just kind of stumbled into Serenity. Her mind was doing somersaults with all the deadl...

0 comments 0

Read story

“0%” by Ellie Rendel

Submitted to Contest #233

"Hello, hello, is anyone there?" Grace screeched at the top of her lungs. She desperately needed her vice, so when she spotted the Little Hollow, a new "bar" opened a little over a week ago, her heart jumped slightly. It was an ungodly morning hour, far too early for bars in her area to be open. She was initially perplexed, but her need for something over 20% was burning in her heart. Her skin started to crawl at the thought of not being slightly drunk as she crawled into her 9 till 5. Though that was in little over 3 hours...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Fairytale” by Emily M. Reiser

Submitted to Contest #233

The frigid wind whipped through Halle’s hair as she wrapped her arms around her chest. She was still three blocks away from her apartment. It was getting late so there were not a lot of places for her to duck in and warm up for a few minutes. A few buildings ahead Halle watched as three girls strolled out onto the sidewalk, hugging each other and giggling so loud it echoed off the concrete. Halle looked above them. FAIRYTALE it read in a loopy font on the sign that hung above the door. As Halle got closer one of the girls with...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Sober Revolutionaries ” by Ashley Anon

Submitted to Contest #233

The first day I waltzed into this new, alcohol-free place on the outside of town (The Lion's Paw), the first thing I noticed on swinging open the stain glassed doors, was the absence of the familiar nostril assault of old, spilt alcohol soaked into the cheap paper, thin carpets and upholstery. I can't begin to think of all that booze I spilt and wasted over the years during outbursts of jovial cheers and toasts, and drunken stumbles, pint in hand, bumping into walls, slot machines, and half-caked patrons like myself. In place of the reek, th...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Character – 33 stories

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Character – 49 stories

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Narrative – 49 stories

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Dramatic – 38 stories

Contest #233

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Dry January

$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

78

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 19, 2024 EST

Won by Ariana Tibi 🏆

Title: Vegan Hamburgers

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 61 stories

“Toxin Time” by Dan Campbell

“Refreshing” by Liela Brown

“Simon's Decision” by Elizabeth Sloughter

“Clarity” by Allegra Clare

“The Dry” by Teagan Townsend

“No Booze Here” by A.C. Ammon

“Creating a haven for sobriety.” by Charles Frederick

“Less The Bitters” by Amanda Song

“Lost Hope” by A.M. Douglas

“Whiskey Sundae” by Katherine Marley

“The Artist” by Louise W

“Simple Serenity ” by Aaron S

“0%” by Ellie Rendel

“Fairytale” by Emily M. Reiser

“The Sober Revolutionaries ” by Ashley Anon

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Contest #233

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

78

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: