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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✍️ 54 stories

“To Plant a Garden. ” by SCOTT GEORGE

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 C...

57 comments 57 WINNER 🏆

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“A Plum Tree's Neighbors” by Russell Mickler

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 fron...

58 comments 58 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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

“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 n...

61 comments 61

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“Beragrub and the Beast” by Laurel Hanson

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 conglomerat...

61 comments 61 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Well Enough Alone” by Kevin B

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 co...

21 comments 21

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“The Totem Pole” by Chris Miller

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. ...

40 comments 40 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Early Release” by Chris Campbell

“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 ...

40 comments 40

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“Best Basset” by Mary Bendickson

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 daughte...

35 comments 35

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“The Favor” by Everly Lockhart

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...

8 comments 8

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“The Witch's Assistant” by Philippa Hibberd

(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.

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“White roses ” by Jennifer Cameron

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 sha...

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“Thank You For Not Helping Me” by Patricia Merewether

"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 ...

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“The Extrazirconial” by Josephine Harris

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 shimmer...

7 comments 7

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“I Saved Your Life” by Ryan Bohannon

"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 y...

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“Good Yards Make Good Neighbors” by Marty B

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 stree...

16 comments 16

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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

✍️ 54 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 Kevin B

“The Totem Pole” by Chris Miller

“Early Release” by Chris Campbell

“Best Basset” by Mary Bendickson

“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

191

Contest entries

118

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Tired of MS Word?

Explore more writing prompt ideas: