Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Posted in General on Jul 31, 2021

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✍️ 270 stories

“Kindergarten” by Scout Tahoe

I’ll be on the train. It’ll be an underground train, like the subway, but in an airport. One door is both the exit and entrance with a few people trickling in and out. The train’s name will be Bart and my father will have warned me about it. The train will have pastel colors of gum, crafted into inappropriate pictures of body parts and messages in another language. I’ll know that if I was in another wo...

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“Game Over” by Writer Maniac

Trigger warning: Death They took off my ventilator. Ten seconds left. Before I lose. Ten. I stayed at home. I washed my hands. I wore a mask the rare times I went outside. I adapted to the online classes, the Zoom birthday parties and the occasional awkward family group call. I texted till my thumbs were sore and watched television till my eyes were red. Nine.I did it all. I tried. But it wasn’t enough. Cl...

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“Where Our Wishes Landed” by Aaron Caicedo

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. I mean, I know what I’m supposed to say, what my “line” is: “I do.” A couple vowels and a click of the tongue; two little words, that’s it. Pretty simple, really. But despite their tiny appearances, the words must be much larger than they seem on paper; they’re currently wedged in my throat, and I can’t quite get them past my tongue.I’d ask you what’s wrong with me, why I’m suddenly so incapable of uttering such a minuscule phrase, but that would also involve the use of my vocal cords...

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“The Coldness of Sand” by Deidra Lovegren

3.1688739 x 10^-10 MilleniaIn ten seconds you will break my heart. In a thousand years, I will never recover from the words that will come out of your mouth, from this serious conversation you want so desperately to have, from your dead shark eyes that fail to hold my gaze. I will get up from this moderately priced seafood restaurant’s table, fully understanding that our relationship is, indeed, over. Like preparing a fish for a feast, your words will cleanly gut me. And at this point, I seriously doubt my le...

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“Bombs Away” by Nainika Gupta

I stare in horror at the smirking face of Albert Grindstaff, the purveyor of death and horror, not the sanitized version of television screens, but the real genocides, the killing of entire families, smirked at me, scarlet blood blossoming over his heart from the bullet I just shot into his chest. There is a dead quality to his eyes as if the soul had long departed and left this zombie-man in his stead, a monster ...

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“Ten Seconds 'Till Death” by Kate Reynolds

I’ve heard about someone’s life flashing in front of their eyes before they die. But mine was more of a movie. An old-fashioned movie. The scenes of my life slowly unfolded, shifting from one to the other on a tape. I could almost hear the clicking sound of the transitions. And somehow, I knew that I had ten seconds before the car would hit me, therefore killing me. And then the movie started.10 secondsI was the stereotypical “nerd” in middle school: I always had my nose in a book. I loved reading, it gave me an excuse t...

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“Heart to Beat” by Rayhan Hidayat

As soon as her eyes snap open to a dark ceiling and her body registers the sense of unease, she knows the Dream has begun.She climbs off the mattress and slides the bedroom door open to reveal a short stretch of hallway, dimly-lit; at the end of it is a staircase descending into the light. Any time now, the seconds will start to tick down.And I’ll only have ten.It’s a small house, and from her vantage point she ...

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“Countdown!” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Title: Countdown! Author: Haripriya Author's Note: Hello everyone! I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! 10: I carefully bite the humongous popcorn kernel I accidentally got, as I foraged through the entire jar. I look down at my buttery popcorn and look at mom, who looks at dad, who looks at my littl...

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“New Year, New beginnings” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

“10!” We screamed at the top of our lungs, I almost gagged at the noise pollution we’d created. Sythe winked, smiling as she showed her perfect set of teeth she’d take care of every day. I was so glad that she decided to join my family for our annual New years party. I rolled my eyes at her. She was such a show-off. We met as rivals actually. Sythe had hated my guts since she laid eyes on me, she was...

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“Static Line” by Beth Connor

Inhale. My hands clench on the cold metal, and I glance over my shoulder at the middle-aged instructor. A lined face set in a permanent scowl, gray hair balding.The memory of his voice droned on in the back of my mind, “you could die doing this, pay attention.” Comforting. Why was that the morsel of information I recall, and not the eight hours of practical instruction? The training class had been full of tips and pointers, continually reminding us we were not doing something safe. I kept ...

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“Together Again” by Lyvia Fei

Lauren didn’t believe in true love and fairy dust and happily ever after’s. At least not anymore. She was older now, wiser, and she knew that everything didn’t magically fall into place, that miracles were mere coincidences raised to fame. That's when a ghost from her past walked back into her life. “Lor?” That one word glued Lauren to her seat, effectively rendering her frozen in place. Her breath caught in her throat. Maybe it was terror that kept her in place, maybe surprise, maybe excitement. Or perhaps a combinat...

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“Ten Seconds of Jessamine” by Maya W.

***Trigger warning for death***“This winter sky - how can anyone sleep? There was never such a night before! I feel like putting my arms around my knees and squeezing tight as possible, and flying away. Oh the moon! Oh the snow in the moonlight! And your childlike eyes and your distant smile, I will never be this happy again. You and I, you and I, you and I, and no one else. Maybe he came today - maybe he came already. Maybe he’s sitting in the drawing room, and I simply forgot.”It takes just ten se...

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“10 seconds.” by 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝💙

10 seconds that’s all we had to get out. The call came from nowhere telling everyone that there had been a bomb planted inside of the school.It was a normal day. I woke up around 8 in the morning. I had two classes in the morning one began at 9 and the other at 10:45. My roommate made the small apartment we had lived in smell like a 5-star cafe once again. This morning she made waffles with blueberries, powdered sugar, and some syrup. Everything looked so perfect as it always did. I washed down the meal with some orange ju...

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“The People in the Windows” by A.R. Eakle

He’s only about fifteen yards away from us, this madman with a gun and two children standing in front of him like pawns on a chess board. The pavement is new beneath his feet and the painted lines, the pavement markers, they’re crisp and bright. There’s ten of us and only one of him and only two children. I can feel my heart beat in my throat, each pulse gagging me, punching on my uvula. I can barely hear my sergeant yel...

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“A Princess” by Julie Ward

Laura stood on one end of the park, a tiny speck in a sea of people. She kicked the lock on her stroller and held tightly to her daughter's hand. Brightly colored banners fluttered in the breeze. Tables manned by an army of moms offered carnival games, cotton candy and a tantalizing array of prizes. The annual school fair was the biggest fundraiser of the year and Cameron had begged to go all morning. “Please mom, please!" He’d pulled out all the four-year old stops. “All my friends will be there. Spider Man too! And princesses ...

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Title: Kindergarten

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Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 270 stories

“Kindergarten” by Scout Tahoe

“Game Over” by Writer Maniac

“Where Our Wishes Landed” by Aaron Caicedo

“The Coldness of Sand” by Deidra Lovegren

“Bombs Away” by Nainika Gupta

“Ten Seconds 'Till Death” by Kate Reynolds

“Heart to Beat” by Rayhan Hidayat

“Countdown!” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

“New Year, New beginnings” by 🕊 🎀 𝒱𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝒱𝒾𝓂𝒶𝓁 🎀 🕊

“Static Line” by Beth Connor

“Together Again” by Lyvia Fei

“Ten Seconds of Jessamine” by Maya W.

“10 seconds.” by 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝💙

“The People in the Windows” by A.R. Eakle

“A Princess” by Julie Ward

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone scrambling to finish a goal in the last few hours of the year.

Write about someone keeping track of time with tally marks on a wall — until one day they discover that all the marks are gone.

Write a story that takes place across ten days.

Write a story in the form of a top-ten list.

Contest #74

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

755

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Tired of MS Word?

Explore more writing prompt ideas: