Menu

Prompts
DirectoryContestsMagazineFAQ
Stories
Studio
Apps

Hire professionals for your project

Advice, insights and news

Online publishing courses

Free publishing webinars

Launch your book in style

Bestseller PodcastBook Cover ArtSuccess Stories
Tools
Book Promotion SitesBook Review BlogsBooktube Channel GuideBook Title GeneratorCharacter Name GeneratorIndependent PublishersLiterary AgentsLiterary MagazinesPen Name GeneratorPlot GeneratorPublishers DirectoryShort Story IdeasWriting ContestsWriting ExercisesWriting Scholarships
Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

A character stands in front of two doors. Write a story about what happens after they choose one to enter.

Posted in High School on Nov 1, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 235 stories

The Third Wife

Submitted to Contest #95

Using a drug-dusted straw to snort the last line of an 8-ball of coke, drinking the last drop of vodka from the bottle, I tossed both in the trash. When my second marriage ended, I was heartbroken and half crazy. The months following, I excessively self-medicated, which rarely works well for anyone. Yet, for me it almost did.It’s said you must hit rock bottom to find the road to recovery, and that was true for me. I had to pass through one of two doors. Through one, I was dying in a room due to my current lifestyle. Let’s call that Door Numb...

109 likes 56 comments 56
Read story

Regret and Repent

Submitted to Contest #95

****** “The fall is going to hurt more if there is no one to catch you. So, find someone, find the person who will always be there at the bottom of the dark starless abyss waiting with their arms open, ready to hold you and take you back home. For that is when you will know that they are your home.” ****** Two doors. Both of equal build, similar coloured, a small viewing window on each. The view was what mattered. Always. Everyone favours the safe view, the view with the escape route, the stripes of popping colours with a po...

93 likes 60 comments 60
Read story

The Door on the Left

Shortlisted for Contest #95 ⭐️

Micah remembers what happened the first time he picked the door on the left.He tried not to go during school usually, but this had been an emergency. As he approached, he saw there was a line, and panicked. He decided to do another loop of the hallway instead. When he made it back, there was no one around. He walked towards the door on the right out of habit, then paused. He was already late to class; another minute to think wouldn’t hurt. His eyes flipped from door to door. Maybe he could just hold it. No, he needed to go now. Trying not to...

78 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

an ocean of choices

Submitted to Contest #95

The hotel corridor smells musty, like that wet towel you just can’t get the mildewed smell out of, no matter how many times you throw it in the wash. The pictures on the wall, hung evenly at eye level with absolutely zero artistic distinctiveness, are banal and unoriginal. One of the overhead bulbs is flashing that classic garish yellow at irregular beats, almost matching the cadence of my rattled heart. I can hear the ice machine relentlessly whirring a few doors back. How ironic that this simple, trite backdrop may ulti...

68 likes 34 comments 34
Read story

The Doors Not to Open

Submitted to Contest #95

Hannah stood in front of two wooden doors. One was a deep, dark cobalt blue and another was a vibrant, bright, swirly orange. Both of the doors had little notes taped to them that matched the colors of the door. Both the doors intrigued Hannah to go in, but she only had one choice. Hannah walked up to the blue door, pushing her blonde hair out of her emerald green eyes, and peeled the note off the door. It read: Roses are red, violets are blue, if you like the ocean then this door’s for you. But beware of the secret lair, and the mermaid th...

66 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Destiny

Submitted to Contest #95

Patrolling In a dimly lit room, gazing as far he could, it really was a massive room; he just couldn't see any end. Gerik was feeling warm and contended (it was winter) still the lights seemed to be providing him a relaxing atmosphere.He was walking at a normal pace; his each footstep was making a heart thumping sound, desperately waiting what's coming up next. His choices or his decisions are going to decide his destiny. He was ready. He told himself or maybe to the others(he was alone). And to his surprise,someone seemed to have heard it. ...

65 likes 34 comments 34
Read story

Twisted in Hatred

Submitted to Contest #95

Fog curls around you. You need to choose, the voice tells you. You feel its presence around you like a malevolent ball of living energy. Two doors stand in front of you. Your future stands in front of you. Except it is only behind one of the doors. That is the challenge of the Trial. The last task before you are allowed to become free from your prison sentence.  Free.  You shift on the small platform. The rest of the room is pitch black, and even though there are no lights, the two doors are illuminate...

57 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

The unlived life

Submitted to Contest #95

Six years back (eighteen-year-old me) I took a sip of water and put the glass at the counter next to me. My mom and dad sat exactly forty-five degrees from my couch and gazing at me for the past half an hour. It almost beats the symmetry of a random frame from a Wes movie. I had a pen in my hand and two papers stretched out in front of me. Nothing complicated, it was simple, all that I had to do was to sign in one of those. One paper which my parents brought from the highly-rated business management college and another one which I ...

57 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Shadow Monster

Submitted to Contest #95

One is cherry, one is mahogany. One has silver, one has gold. Both are embellished with beautiful carvings and intricate details. Both doors beckoning me.  From the cherry spreads a moonlight blanket, and from the mahogany, the gold envelops me in a comforting hug. Each door is extraordinary; is there a right or a wrong choice? I should not have to make this decision, yet here it is. Begging me to choose, but no one ever told me I had to. As with most things, time has changed me. Not only physically, but mentally. My perspective has cha...

55 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

Who Did This?

Submitted to Contest #95

(Author's note: Depictions of abuse that may not be suitable for all readers.)I see two doors. Same two I'm faced with every morning hours before sunrise. I wish the green and gold uniform reflected how I really feel about my job. But I realized a long time ago there is no job that's free from interaction with the other gender.My gloved hand curls into a fist. One which I often daydream of using for something besides knocking. I have to control myself. I have to look golden, like these ridiculous stripes, eight hours a day, five days a week....

50 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

The Treasure of Adarlan

Submitted to Contest #95

Storm clouds danced in Dimitri's steely grey eyes as he studied the tall, silver tower that stood before him; he could feel the power that it radiated. It shone gracefully under the setting sun's rays, with breathtaking beauty. Its ruggedness and austere simplicity drew him in. His ears perked at the sound of ice crunching, " Your excellency, we must enter before nightfall. Wild wolves roam these parts. " Malakai said, bringing Dimitri's stormy eyes on him.  Malakai cowered under his gaze. Dimitri sighed, " Kai, we are like brothers. Ho...

42 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

The Waiting Room

Shortlisted for Contest #95 ⭐️

Nathan never saw the black taxi as he stepped out into the road on the day he died. By the time he was conscious of the beam of headlights and steel grille bumper hurtling towards him it was far too late. Tyres screeched as 1500 kilograms of black metal travelling at 50mph smacked into Nathan’s soft, fragile body. He experienced the peculiar sensation of flying and viewing the world from upside down, just before his jaw shattered on the pavement. A sharp pain lanced through his skull, mingled with the taste of grit and iron.The last thing he...

41 likes 32 comments 32
Read story

A Set Of Doors

Submitted to Contest #95

Cassidy looked at the two doors in front of her. One had Future written on it in a gold loopy script. The door on the left had past written on it in a black script with edges and lines. Cass gulped as she placed her hand on the door that said past. Her past. Her memories. Everything she had been through. Which should she take? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If she chose the wrong one everything would fall apart. She was a magnetcus being. Someone who drifted between periods and eras of time. Someone who could choose. Her parents Lu...

33 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Choose or loose

Submitted to Contest #95

There was I, in front of those two oak wooden doors, about to discover what was hidden inside. I knew I would find her in one of them, I just did not know with whom or... if she was still alive. I had hoped so, but I was never the type to cling to hope. However, it was all I had left at this point.The message had been quite explicit: 'Come alone. If you put the police in this, she dies.' I knew how these guys used to act, I had already been one of them, and I could not put her life at risk. Not hers. She was too important for me, a...

30 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Bad Timing

Submitted to Contest #95

1094 wordsRated PG; violence, fear, painPrompt: A character stands in front of two doors. Write a story about what happens after they choose to enter one.I hold out my arms in front of me to protect myself from the light. This lasts for a minute, as I free-fall through a space that exists outside of time. Finally, I feel myself stop. Cautiously, I take my arms away from my face.There are two doors in front of me. One is black, with shadows reaching out from it like tentacles. There are illustrations of trees--bent, twisted, and being pu...

28 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Character – 216 stories

Write a story about someone who’s extremely impulsive — or extremely indecisive.

Character – 104 stories

Write about someone making a seemingly inconsequential decision, which goes on to have important consequences.

Narrative – 152 stories

Write about someone finally making their own choices.

Middle School – 202 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel