Write a story inspired by the concept of arigata-meiwaku — a favor that turns out to be a nuisance for its recipient.

Posted in Funny on Apr 7, 2023

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✍️ 53 stories

“To Plant a Garden. ” by SCOTT GEORGE

🏆 Winner of Contest #193

Thornton Gombar lifted his gaze to the sky as a hovercraft zoomed over his home. Based on the rosy pink tints that adorned its exterior, Thornton surmised that the vehicle was a pleasure craft, likely filled with a small group of men and women engaging in gross debauchery as the self-driving vehicle propelled itself across the sky. The craft jerked and jolted in an arrhythmic manner as it flew to the heart of Homasoro City, where even more such activities awaited them. Thornton shook his head and turned his attention again to th...

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“A Plum Tree's Neighbors” by Russell Mickler

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #193

The Curmudgeon. The Sunflower. Feeling, Yet Saying Nothing. Between here and there - somewhere over yonder but more than a stone’s throw, and nowhere Man cared to be - in a quiet hamlet called Hollowgarde, lived an old halfling named Harlan Springbrook. Harlan lived in a cozy burrow set into a grassy hillside, surrounded by untrimmed boxwood bushes. His weathered, round wooden door was painted purple and adorned with a brass doorknob fixed directly in its center. Next to it was a large front-facing window, also circular in shape, bordered by...

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“Please Hold While I Kill a Bad Man” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #193

“Hi, dear! Are you busy?” “Yes, mom. I’m in a meeting.” “Ok. Call you back later?” “Sure.” ************** I love my mom, but she is absolutely driving me crazy. ************** The back room of the brothel was a study in unhygienic habits. A thick coating of dust rested on top of sticky-looking grime. Beth counted no less than twenty used glasses and empty beer cans. The table where she sat was littered with the detritus of take-out food and full ashtrays. The smell of stale tobacco and unwashed bodies permeated the air, causing Beth to wrink...

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“Beragrub and the Beast” by Laurel Hanson

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #193

Caution: story contains a little bit of inappropriate languageBy the third day, Adam was pretty much covered in thick, lustrous fur. You cannot ask for better results than that. And how did he thank me? Completely ghosted me. Not just me, everyone. No online presence at all. You would think he would be showing off the glossy pelt my elixir made possible, but no. Some people are never satisfied.Admittedly, I was not supposed to get involved. That is the first rule of our interstellar conglomerate. You call it the prime directive I believe: Do...

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“Well Enough Alone” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #193

Frieda Frasier stirred her tea as her little sister tried solving her murder. “But we know that she went to the convenience store after stopping to get money out of the ATM. If there’s one thing I can tell you about Frieda, it’s that she NEVER went to convenience stores.” Frieda went to convenience stores all the time. Who didn’t? What person was able to avoid going to convenience stores? Where else would somebody buy gum or a scratch ticket or those shareable size bags of Peanut M&M’s? The cat jumped up on her lap and she tenderly...

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“Best Basset” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #193

Moral: Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. “I wish I didn't have a basset hound.” “Hello, Sis. So nice of you to call. What's that about your basset hound?” “I wish I didn't have one. He is nothing but a barf-bag!” “A barf-bag? Are you talking about that adorable little floppy-eared puppy you paid a king's ransom for at a pet shop a few years back because your lonely youngest daughter looked at you with equally sad puppy-dog eyes begging you to let her take him home?” “The one and only. She was left home alone so much when her brot...

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“Early Release” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #193

“Sorry, mate. I thought I was doin’ you a favour.” “By sending me a photo of the outside of this prison?” “An innocent mistake.” “With the window to my cell circled in red and words saying, This is the one, it’s not that high up?” “Just wanted you to know where you were – in the scheme of things.” “In the scheme of each floor in the photo, labelled one, two, three.” “Yeah, well. It was a feature addition. Cost extra. I got it printed by a local photographer who turned it into a postcard for me – like those cheeky ones at the seaside – you kn...

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“The Totem Pole” by Chris Miller

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #193

Eleanor took a tight-lipped sip from one of the gilt-rimmed cups I reserved for company. She closed her eyes and inhaled heavily through her nose. The tea was specially bought loose-leaf, brewed in a pot that had been at the back of my cupboard since her last visit. She opened her eyes and smiled approvingly over an untouched plate of biscuits. Having exhausted all of the ecstasy she seemed to be able to extract from a sip of overpriced tea, she opened her eyes and spoiled my day. “I nearly forgot. I brought that book you liked the sound of,...

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“The Favor” by Everly Lockhart

Submitted to Contest #193

As Lewis finished dragging the couch to the curb, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He pulled it out, swiped the screen and a blue hologram appeared of a man with shaggy hair wearing a beanie. “Bart, what’s the holdup? You said one-thirty.” Lewis said, rubbing his back. "It's ten past." “Dude, okay, you’ll never believe this. Cyber security shut down the galacticway just outside of Mars. Something about a skimmer chase.” After a few taps on the touch screen, a news article overlayed the hologram. The suspect was one Mac Anderson, las...

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“The Witch's Assistant” by Philippa Hibberd

Submitted to Contest #193

(CW: Mention of a manipulative parent)On the morning of her twenty-first birthday, Rosemary woke to find herself staring into a pair of purple eyes.She bit back a sigh. She’d expected this – after all, she’d reached the age that every witch received their familiar – yet she couldn’t say she’d been looking forward to it. During the span of just over two decades, she’d learned to be wary of helpers. In her experience, they were unwittingly counterproductive at best, self-serving at worst.A paw batted at her nose. Just her luck that a cat had c...

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“White roses ” by Jennifer Cameron

Submitted to Contest #193

White roses lay twisted together on a blanket of dark mahogany, their thorns protruding and plucking dust mites from the air that gently circulated. Her face smiled at us from a gilded photo frame, all dark brown hair and sharp jawline and green eyes the colour of bell peppers. ‘Erin had loved a little too hard, a little too much and been just a bit too beautiful for this world.’ Callie’s voice broke over the shards of glass lodged in her throat. She swallowed, continued, ‘My Rin had to go somewhere that could match that beauty, that intens...

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“Thank You For Not Helping Me” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #193

"Integrity is when our words and deeds are consistent with our intentions." Simon Sine " It surprised me when my neighbor and friend Marie entered my hospital room. "We'll help, Maddy," My dear neighbor took my hand. "All of us will, Mrs. Martin, Lisa, all the neighbors, because we know how important your gardens are to you, and the doc says you'll cannot lift anything over five pounds for quite a while, just to be on the safe side." "You talked to my doctor?" My mouth was dry, and my mind felt blurry. I knew how strict the privacy laws had ...

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“The Extrazirconial” by Josephine Harris

Submitted to Contest #193

Henry Morrison was out doing whatever it is that farmers do in their fields when he heard a loud buzzing noise above his head coming closer. The sound increased in intensity until his hair was flailing and he could feel the barley flattening in a circle around him. He could have sworn there was a helicopter or some other large flying machine directly above him, but the sky was empty.But then it wasn’t. A large bullet shaped metal vessel shucked off its cloaking and gradually shimmered into view. Two representatives of the planet Zircon ...

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“I Saved Your Life” by Ryan Bohannon

Submitted to Contest #193

"What do you mean a spaceship is headed for us?" he said, trembling with fear. "It's all over the news," she told him, "Where have you been David?" "I drank last night, I just woke up," he explained, she always did this, she judged him, it was in her eyes, disgust. "I hate that you do that," she scowled, but she was holding back, "you drink until you pass out and then you wake up and you do it again." "Yes and I will keep doing it until the day I die," he explained. "Just like dad," she said, and this was a deep cut, she knew ...

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“Good Yards Make Good Neighbors” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #193

It was the the hottest day of the year when the old man came over to mow my lawn. It was not the first time. Bing was our neighbor, a small elderly man with dark gray hair and a ready smile. He would not say his age, but his heavily wrinkled face and stooped back gave credence to the rumor he was in his 80’s. He walked the neighborhood every day with his fat chihuahua, Bijou. He knew everyone’s business, and regularly checked-in on the home- bound seniors, many of whom were younger than him. Bing had lived on the street f...

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Contest #193

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Ended on 23:59 - Apr 14, 2023 EST

Won by SCOTT GEORGE 🏆

Title: To Plant a Garden.

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Write a story inspired by the concept of arigata-meiwaku — a favor that turns out to be a nuisance for its recipient.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 53 stories

“To Plant a Garden. ” by SCOTT GEORGE

“A Plum Tree's Neighbors” by Russell Mickler

“Please Hold While I Kill a Bad Man” by Delbert Griffith

“Beragrub and the Beast” by Laurel Hanson

“Well Enough Alone” by Story Time

“Best Basset” by Mary Bendickson

“Early Release” by Chris Campbell

“The Totem Pole” by Chris Miller

“The Favor” by Everly Lockhart

“The Witch's Assistant” by Philippa Hibberd

“White roses ” by Jennifer Cameron

“Thank You For Not Helping Me” by Patricia Merewether

“The Extrazirconial” by Josephine Harris

“I Saved Your Life” by Ryan Bohannon

“Good Yards Make Good Neighbors” by Marty B

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about somebody whose intentions are pure, but somehow always manages to do the wrong thing.

Write a story where someone insists on giving your main character a ride to the airport, only for their car to break down.

Write a fable inspired by a relatable life experience (explaining the moral before or after the story, if you’d like).

Write a story containing the words “it’s the thought that counts.”

Contest #193

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

186

Contest entries

115

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: