Begin your story with somebody getting (or taking) the blame for something they didn’t do.

Posted in High School on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 41 stories

“Karmic Weather” by Marie White

Submitted to Contest #165

“It was me,” he said, shifting from foot to foot in attempt to look guilty. Karen sent him a glare fit for one who had caused several deaths, which made sense, since that was exactly what he’d claimed to have done. He had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this—that Karen would never know that the twister had resulted from the sins of someone under her own roof. He’d thought that likely; after all, he and Tristin weren’t ...

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“When The Smoke Clears” by Kayla Rivera

Submitted to Contest #165

“Was it you?” She remained silent “Hey! I asked you a question, did you do it or not?” Malia’s body stiffened, staring off into the distance, more silence followed. “It had to have been you. No one else had access to the house except for you. Why? Why’d you, do it?” Her gaze remained unbothered, like for that split second, she was deaf, and the words spoken around her were not registering in her mind. But with each second of silence that passed, only made Emily’s anger grow. With a quick scoff and look of disgust Emily took a long stri...

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“Jacky Smith” by Fintan Mcloone

Submitted to Contest #165

There wasn’t much room for anything else other than beer bottles and glasses. It was raining outside and Jacky’s head was killing her, it was as if a vice was clenched down hard on the outside of her skull, it was bad. She got up slowly from the ground, she was dazed, soar and sick. She got up and walked over to the sink where she drank some water. She was shaking. Her mind casted back to last night, everything was foggy and the only clear thing that she could remember was that she had a couple of friends over for a few drinks, then, that wa...

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“Fairy Games” by Damon Wieler

Submitted to Contest #165

"Marvin! What have ye done, lad?!" Marvin's eyes widened as he was called out by his pa. He looked down at the rope in his hands, than back up to his father storming towards him. "No pa, wait a minute! It wasn't me!" "Not you?! Than why's there a bloody rope in yer hands, and my 'stock run amuck!" Lidden, Marvin's father, gestured with his rough, dwarven hands to the open field where a group of short-head rams bleated and jogged away. Lidden had taken his family away from the dwarven city of Tallstone in order to raise livestock in the c...

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“Maverick Murdered” by Zoë Page

Submitted to Contest #165

“Guilty.”A strangled gasp escaped my lips – Lilia! My own sister – a murderer? The idea made no sense to me, no sense to me at all. None of the evidence had seemed to fit… Lilia had always been sweet, a kind and considerate older sibling I would have never changed for the world. And to kill Maverick, so unexpectedly? They’d been married four years, had dated since sophomore year of high school and were inseparable. Or at least they had been. If Lilia had been a murderer, and had wanted rid of her beloved, she’d had many opportunities before....

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“I didn't do it..” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #165

On her morning nursing rounds, June passed by Room 215, where Mrs. Edwina Smith, a middle-aged woman in the hospital for an inflamed pancreas, appeared to be slumbering, her enormous chest and abdomen rising and falling. Then the woman grunted and her eyes flickered open. Cleo, the new nurse, was drawing up insulin, her black nail polish shining in the florescent light. By some instinct, June noticed the loaded syringe… it was too much… she was sure.. but no, she didn’t want to confront the new nurse, with her choppy jet black hair and her l...

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“Saving Each Other” by Kimberly McFetridge

Submitted to Contest #165

“My husband didn’t commit suicide. I poisoned him,” said Mary Farber to Detective Ruth Barnes a week after her husband Bruce died. Mary knew she had to protect Bruce beyond the grave in whatever way she could. Her beloved husband was a proud man; reputation was everything to him. He built a successful career as a financial advisor and served on the board of the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce and the Chester County Board of Commissions for years. People in his community knew, respected, and genuinely liked him. When she arriv...

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“Reminiscing ” by Katie Edie

Submitted to Contest #165

Reminiscing “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” My cheek still stung and my sister’s shit-eating smirk didn’t help. The close circle around me dissipated. Dad took his seat back on his chair, turning the TV up louder and my mother sat by her laptop, I can hear the bells of her game chirping from the speaker. My sister sits next to my mom, laying her head and my mom’s leg, my mother’s hand instantly stroking her hair gently. I’m jealous. I can admit it. My mother and I never really got along, I had been a daddy’s girl my whole childhood, until his ye...

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“The Human Chandelier” by Christie Posnak

Submitted to Contest #165

A girl you know is dead. You are typing on her computer right now. Your fingers move over the keys she once tapped, finishing the manuscript you have been working tirelessly on over the past eleven months to try to make sense of what happened to her; a way to make peace with your role in why it did. But while the title bears her name, it’s yours that continues to carry the burden of your guilt, for it was your daisy chain that was pulled taut around her neck. A girl you know is dead. After 11 months you’d think you might be able to forget, ...

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“The Why of Things” by Anna Frayer

Submitted to Contest #165

Ben shivered as the spider crept dangerously close to his nose. He could see its spindly legs pluck at each filament as it made its way across the web. Ben's mother always told him he shouldn't be afraid of spiders; that they were more afraid of him than he was of them. But this spider didn't seem afraid of him at all. He hated to admit it, but considering how frightened Ben was, and how not frightened the spider seemed, he could only assume his mother had been wrong. And if she was wrong about the spiders, what else might she be wrong about...

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“Homes” by Heather Williams

Submitted to Contest #165

Homes I’m trying to understand, even though I hated being blamed. Things went south so fast. Now that it’s over, I can see that maybe she didn’t know. About the dog. I didn’t get that for a while. I didn’t get it, I think now, because there’s something that happens between women. There’s ...

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Begin your story with somebody getting (or taking) the blame for something they didn’t do.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 41 stories

“Karmic Weather” by Marie White

“When The Smoke Clears” by Kayla Rivera

“Jacky Smith” by Fintan Mcloone

“Fairy Games” by Damon Wieler

“Maverick Murdered” by Zoë Page

“I didn't do it..” by Hope Linter

“Saving Each Other” by Kimberly McFetridge

“Reminiscing ” by Katie Edie

“The Human Chandelier” by Christie Posnak

“The Why of Things” by Anna Frayer

“Homes” by Heather Williams

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that includes the phrase “This is all my fault.”

Write a story where a murder occurs — and the suspects are all pointing the finger at one another.

Write a story about a corrupt politician trying to avoid blame at all costs.

Start your story with a character telling their best friend that their spouse is having an affair, only for their friend to “shoot the messenger”.

Contest #165

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

203

Contest entries

106

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: