Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.

Posted in Funny on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 154 stories

“A Reel Fish Out of Water” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #54

Warning: the following short story contains a carp ton of fish puns. Bass yourself. “Gilroy, please don’t do this,” Bubbles pleaded. “Don’t go making waves.” We bobbed together in large, black waves as the storm raged overhead. Lightning cracked down in the distance. Birds screeched at each other within the dark shadows of the forest bordering the shore. “I can’t, Bubbles,” I said, pausing for dramatic affect. “It must be done.” “No, it doesn’t,” Finley interjected. “You could stay in the ocean. Swimming forever. It’s what you were born ...

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“Far Far Away” by The-Burrowing-Owl- Author

Submitted to Contest #54

Flint sat with his back pressed to the marble walls of the school. They were cold in the early morning air, but they were dry. Dew littered the grass of the garden in front of him like diamonds dropped onto emerald ribbons, but the roof above the walkway had blocked the rain from last night. A steadily approaching metronome of heeled boots made his skin prickle, but he refused to turn his head. He figured that staring at the newcomer would be awkward. Flint rose to his feet when she was nearly on top of him. “Good morning.” He offe...

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“IN MY BLOOD” by Jo S.

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #54

“Five,” Pops says, holding out his dirty palm to the customer. She looks up from her phone momentarily before dropping some coins into his hand. She was expecting a few more words from him. The corner shop bell dings as Phone Lady leaves. “Five dollars,” I correct him. “Of course dollar. What else? Koruna? Everyone know dollar,” he huffs at me. “It sounds a bit rude if you only say ‘five’,” I scold. Gently, though, I don’t want him to start yelling. Pops ignores me and turns back to his book. I sigh audibly to show my...

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“Learning to Light The Match ” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #54

The house was dark. The sky outside was dark with flickers of flashing light. A storm had decided to blast Jonesboro, Texas, and in the process slammed some trees to the ground, and knocked out several power lines, including the one in front of Zola and Chris Akins’ front gate.It was a summer day, and storms like these in Texas were typical, and normally, Zola, age 43, was prepared. She would have the flashlights charged up and set up in the kitchen, lanterns with batteries would light up the whole house and that would be it.But not today. T...

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“Month by Month” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #54

Month One Ronan looked at the slip of paper in his hand, then up at the cafe, then back to the bit of paper. The letters all matched up, so there was no avoiding it. This was the place, and the time. All he had to do was walk in. Or he could walk away. No-one knew he was here, so no-one would know if he just left. He didn’t have to do this. That was what shops were for, as he always said. With a sigh Ronan headed inside, the clipping clutched in his hand like a safety blanket. It was old-fashioned he knew, checking out groups in the lo...

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“Dummies for Dummies” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #54

It was nine o’clock on a Saturday night, but Larry was already on his way home. The date had ended so quickly that he decided not to bother with ordering a meal and ignored all of the other happy couples in the restaurant. He went straight home and threw Leon onto a chair. They needed to have a serious talk. -That’s it. I’m done with this. I cannot figure out women. -You are being a bit too hard on yourself. -Six dates! Six dates in the last month and all of them done before a cheque hits the table. -You have h...

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“Steel in Our Hand” by Ranya Navarez

Submitted to Contest #54

“Annie!” Fawn cried out to me in fear. Sparkling, aching blurs of clouds and night cut her face from my sight in swirling darkness. “Do not worry,” Kemper’s rough and hated Russian voice whispered. “She is not dead. Just trapped.” His whisper stung like a viper’s bite as he’d forgotten I could still hear in the overwhelming blackness. “Trapped?” Fawn questioned angrily, shooting lightning and thunder down on Kemper’s head in the one word. “She’...

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“The Case of the Giggles ” by Saron Mengistu

Submitted to Contest #54

“Why do we tell actors to break a leg?”“Because every play has a cast,”Nada.“Why do bees have sticky hair?”“Because they use honeycombs,”Zip.“Knock knock?“Cargo,”“Cargo vroom vroom,”Nothing.Even though everyone else was giggling their heads off, I couldn’t let out a single ‘ha’.I am not a laugher. I have never been a laugher, since childhood. I said my first words before my first smile, and my first steps before my first laugh. It’s not like I’m a cold solemn, melancholic robot. I just see the world through statistics, facts, and figures, an...

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“When the Dark Things Come” by Jessica C

Submitted to Contest #54

The sun isn’t even awake yet, but she’s already a failure. It’s the formula this time. She mixes the powder and water and realizes too late that she has grabbed a bottle from the dirty side of the sink. She has to start again. As she dumps it, she does the quick math in her head; 29.5 ounces in the can. The can was $34.99. 2 ounces in the bottle. How much money per ounce? It doesn’t matter. It’s liquid money oozing down the drain. Money that they hadn’t planned for and definitely didn’t have to spare.&nbs...

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“Prodigy” by LeighAnne Ferreol

Submitted to Contest #54

A shriek like that of a tortured cat echoed around the room. Mrs. Lane covered her ears and scrunched up her face. “Stop!” She shouted over the screeching notes. “Sweetie, you don’t have to press the bow against the strings like that. Light pressure will do.” I looked down at the violin in my hands. I thought I was using light pressure. Would it even make a sound if I played any lighter? She sighed at the obvious confusion on my face. “Sweetie, are you sure you want to do this?” She asked cautiously. “Learning the violin isn’t easy, and I...

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“Missing Your Brown Eyes” by Victoria Haneveer

Submitted to Contest #54

Martha woke early from a fitful sleep, dressed herself and made her way downstairs. She carefully drew back the edge of the flower-printed curtain and peered out of the window at another sunless English day. She saw James, one of her young neighbours, kiss his pretty wife goodbye as he set off to work. James spotted Martha and waved, grinning heartily. Martha returned the wave with a half-hearted smile which turned into a despondent sigh as soon as the curtain was back in place.Unfair as it seemed, life seemed to be just ...

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“Emma” by Anna Maria

Submitted to Contest #54

She looked down at her fingertips sticky with lemon juice. It was a feeble attempt at getting rid of her old habit of chewing them off whenever a problem arose, but she had to deal with it now, and conveniently many were staring at her head-on. She padded to the couch clutching her old Samsung as if it were a lifeline. A couple of candles flickered on the coffee table, spread a good distance away from the fake plastic flowers. She had learned her mistake from last time and it had taken a priceless hour to scrub the plastic off the pai...

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“Disconnected” by Lizzy Burt

Submitted to Contest #54

Isabelle’s shoes quickly thumped against the sidewalk, harmonizing with her heavy breathing. She held onto the straps of her grey backpack to prevent too much bouncing. Almost to the bus stop, she saw the city bus turn the corner, giving a loud screech as it jolted to a halt at the edge of the neighborhood. She joined the end of the line, where someone from behind rammed into her backpack. She looked over her shoulder, but he hadn’t noticed. Straightening her jean jacket, she stepped onto the bus. Seeing an open seat next to a middle aged wo...

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“No Understanding” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #54

As a child and being born jet black most of the uneducated black people on an everyday basis told me that I never had a chance to amount to nothing. Especially when it came to logical reasoning, the two kinds of logical reasoning that they didn’t have a clue that were often times distinguished in addition to formal deduction: induction and abduction. That they swore on after smoking a blunt of skunk weed and drinking a 40 ounce of cheap beer. Then said that it was given a precondition or premise, a conclusion or logical conseque...

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“Speech Anxiety” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #54

“Dammit!” Jerome shouted to himself in the mirror. A crumbled stack of three typed pages sat in his hand, resting on the bathroom counter talk. Jerome had been standing at this position since nine o'clock in the morning and it seemed that he wasn’t going to be leaving the bathroom any time soon. Taking a deep breath and a swig straight from the bottle of bourbon he had taken into the room with him, Jerome lifted the pages to his chest. He read the words out loud, attempting to...

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Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 154 stories

“A Reel Fish Out of Water” by Lily Kingston

“Far Far Away” by The-Burrowing-Owl- Author

“IN MY BLOOD” by Jo S.

“Learning to Light The Match ” by Rebecca Lee

“Month by Month” by Iona Cottle

“Dummies for Dummies” by Kendall Defoe

“Steel in Our Hand” by Ranya Navarez

“The Case of the Giggles ” by Saron Mengistu

“When the Dark Things Come” by Jessica C

“Prodigy” by LeighAnne Ferreol

“Missing Your Brown Eyes” by Victoria Haneveer

“Emma” by Anna Maria

“Disconnected” by Lizzy Burt

“No Understanding” by Blane Britt

“Speech Anxiety” by Chris Buono

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.

Write a story about someone going back to school as a mature student.

Write a story about someone looking to make amends for a mistake.

Write a story about a TV show called "Second Chances."

Contest #54

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

856

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 154 stories

“A *Reel* Fish Out of Water” by Lily Kingston

“Far Far Away” by The-Burrowing-Owl- Author

“IN MY BLOOD” by Jo S.

“Learning to Light The Match ” by Rebecca Lee

“Month by Month” by Iona Cottle

“Dummies for Dummies” by Kendall Defoe

“Steel in Our Hand” by Ranya Navarez

“The Case of the Giggles ” by Saron Mengistu

“When the Dark Things Come” by Jessica C

“Prodigy” by LeighAnne Ferreol

“Missing Your Brown Eyes” by Victoria Haneveer

“Emma” by Anna Maria

“Disconnected” by Lizzy Burt

“No Understanding” by Blane Britt

“Speech Anxiety” by Chris Buono

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.

Write a story about someone going back to school as a mature student.

Write a story about someone looking to make amends for a mistake.

Write a story about a TV show called "Second Chances."

Contest #54

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

856

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

“A Reel Fish Out of Water” by Lily Kingston