Write about a character who doesn’t want to go to sleep.

Posted in Horror on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 53 stories

“Homewrecker” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #138

“No, she isn’t my daughter,” he corrects a colleague. “She’s my wife.”On cue, I beam at my husband, innocent and doe-eyed—like I did in my 20’s when he was in his 40’s. His friend invariably elbows him, making comments about cradle robbing and spring chickens. We laugh. I say something clever in reply. His companion looks surprised. And she’s witty, too?My cheeks hurt in an attempt to hold a smile. They continue to talk like I’m not there, but my husband reaches out for my hand. Above all, we are the dearest of friends. But in publ...

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“Just Right 🚪🗝” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #138

“Come on Bea calm down for me!”“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, DADDY! I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN BUT NOBODY LISTENS!”“Of course we do!”“NOOOO YOU DON’T!”“The noise you’re making, I’d be surprised if the whole world wasn’t listening in to your tantrum podcast.”“OH VERY FUNNY, DADDY. MR COMEDIAN NOW ARE WE?”“Well you have to admit you’re being a bit silly.”“SILLY! ME, SILLY?!? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO LEFT THE FRONT DOOR UNLOCKED!”“…”“WHAT’S WRONG? NOT GOT ANYTHING FUNNY TO SAY?”“Bea, it has been a long day and we all need a rest.”“WELL I’D LOVE TO DO THAT...

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“The Warrior” by Marcus N

Submitted to Contest #138

NOTE: This story and the characters in it are fictional. As are their thoughts, and their findings. HOWEVER, the threats to indigenous land by the Brazilian government are very much real. As is the suffering of the Awá people and the suffering of other indigenous peoples of the Amazon at the hands of illegal loggers.Night had fallen on the Amazon Rainforest.In a small clearing two days away from the nearest city, a seventeen-year old boy lay awake, staring up at the starry sky above. The other inhabitants of the clearing - sixty of them, the...

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“THE GOODBYE” by Carolina Flores Acevedo

Submitted to Contest #138

I found her in the rocking chair outside her room. Her eyes were vacant, red-rimmed, and tired. She seemed thinner every day, her cheekbones sharper and her collarbones more protruding. Today she was babbling a lullaby. I recognized the tune but not the words. She used to sing it to me as a child. I think somehow she was still connected to reality. Like her mind was barely hanging, clinging to the most random memories of her past. As I stepped closer, she stopped singing and focused those paled blue eyes on mine. She knew why...

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“Waiting on a Miracle” by Isabela Maher

Submitted to Contest #138

Although the sun had tucked itself below the horizon nearly four hours ago, Aurelie refused to let her mind escape into its dreamy abyss. She had gone through the motions of her bedtime routine merely because her parents had expected her to, but she had no intention of shutting her eyes - not for a second. “The day’s not over. It cant be,” the small girl whispered to her favorite stuffed rabbit. Her mother had told her that today, March 20th, was the day the doctors said she would meet her new baby sister. She had then gone on ...

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“Illusory correlation” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #138

Tonight, the moon is full and lustrous. The final full moon of the winter season. A change is coming. The earth loosens her soil. Spring is just around the corner. I stood on the balcony wrapped in the gaze of the moon, inviting brighter and longer days, when I heard: -“Nana!” a very persistent calling from my grandson, probably trying to manipulate me into giving him some extra time, before turning off the lights. -“Have you seen the moon, Nana?” Raphael asked, with his nose stuck to his bedroom window. -“Yes, isn´t it beautiful? It is call...

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“To Olek with Love” by Frank Lester

Submitted to Contest #138

The painful warble of air raid sirens pierced the chilling night. Anna threw the covers off and stumbled toward Oleksander’s bedroom. She dared not turn on the lights.“Olek! Olek!”“Mama?”“Gather your backpack. They’re coming.”The fourth attack this week, their routine memorized, they reached the shelter, an abandoned subway station, within minutes.Two weeks before, her husband, Faddei, had urged and pleaded with her to go with Olek to her sister in Krakow, but Anna would have nothing of it.“This is our home! I will not let them force us from...

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“To Stay Awake” by Austin Baker

Submitted to Contest #138

There are some things you can only see when you sleep. Memories that serve as a glimpse into the past, back when the days had the color of roses and the food didn’t taste like ash. Dreams that are bitter only in the fact that you know they must end, but oh so sweet while they last. To be reunited with lost loves and dear friends is the most precious thing sleep offers us. But for a few others, dreaming instead serves as a portal into new worlds. The past can provide them no comfort, so the Sandman ferries them elsewhere. To these far-away s...

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“Only In My Dreams” by Carol Styron

Submitted to Contest #138

Only In My Dreams "I have been up for three days now; I am exhausted. I spent endless nights drinking black coffee, manically flipping cable channels like I was off my meds, all in an effort to stay awake. I had to stay awake, I couldn’t fall asleep or I would die!" My dilemma began one summer evening about 7:00 p.m. After watching a horror movie on an odd cable channel, my life was changed forever. The seven hours of sleep I manag...

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“Jamison's 2nd Chance” by Seandecy Hatter

Submitted to Contest #138

TRIGGER WARNING: mental illness, substance abuse, gore/physical violence, suicide, and self-harm. "To sleep is to give in." That's what my grandmother always said. She'd hear voices that would tell her if she went to bed, they'd eat her alive, from the inside out. 3 years, 2 months, and 4 days ago my grandma took her life. Poetically, she overdosed on her sleep medications. I never saw how she could not want to sleep. Sleep is like a peaceful moment where you can stop thinking about the stress of life and dream of endless possibilities. Bu...

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“The Last Moment” by Brendan Prince

Submitted to Contest #138

I put toothpaste on my toothbrush, ran cool water over it, and started brushing my teeth. It's times like this when my mind starts to wander.She's always on my mind, but I feel like we're growing apart. I have some apprehension about the future. I was so ready for that future that I've always seen with her, but now I'm not so sure. This feeling makes me physically sick.Do I need to take a nausea pill?I try to think back to when we first met. She was wearing a pink sweater, and she was very obviously nervous about meeting me, and I found it v...

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“The Forest Unknown” by Sim K

Submitted to Contest #138

The Forest UnknownI walk through the forest, I'm supposed to be asleep. There’s a scent in the air, and its covering me like a heavy moist blanket (the nice kind) and the biting brisk wind is awakening. I walk on the forest floor, hues of green and brown surrounding me in layers.The twigs snap under my boots and my candle lights the way, for heaven forbid I use a torch and modernise myself on this walk I am taking.But I cannot remember what made me get up, or why I even started this journey impromptu. But I do know that the least I cant to i...

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“Gee Einstein, Stay Awake” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #138

Gilbert Einstein awoke to the smell of breakfast simmering in the kitchen. His stomach growled with hunger, but he didn’t go downstairs immediately. I’m forgetting something, he thought. But as much as he tried, Gilbert couldn’t recall what it was, so he jumped out of bed, got dressed and made a mad dash downstairs. “Good morning, Mom,” he cried out. “What’s cooking?” “Eggs and bacon, Gilbert, or should I call you Gee?” Since the first day of school, Gilbert had been called Gee Einstein by everyone in his class, including his teacher, and no...

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“Sleep is When I'm Most Vulnerable” by Duha Khan

Submitted to Contest #138

I didn’t want to talk to this stranger. By much evidence in the past, I could clearly state that anyone I met ended up becoming my enemy. By now, I was starting to believe I was a curse. All I ever did was try to help people. Why did they turn on me in the end? “I should probably be leaving,” I hesitantly said to the albino sitting in front of me. She looked up and adjusted her glasses. “Why? You came here for some purpose, I’m sure. You can wait here with me until the library opens. It won’t be much longer.” She looked almost like she ...

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“The Sun Will Rise” by Wrenley Ashford

Submitted to Contest #138

I pull back the cool bed sheets and climb out of bed. My feet sink into the carpet and the floor creaks under every step but the fear of waking my parents is drowned out by the relaxed and calm atmosphere. The light breeze whispers through my window and my curtains flutter to a song only they used to know. Now, my mind recognizes the song too and it dances along, never stopping to take a breath. It took me a long time to find the right definition for the word peace. Only now, after years of unconscious searching, have I found it. Sit...

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Write about a character who doesn’t want to go to sleep.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 53 stories

“Homewrecker” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“Just Right 🚪🗝” by PJ Aitken

“The Warrior” by Marcus N

“THE GOODBYE” by Carolina Flores Acevedo

“Waiting on a Miracle” by Isabela Maher

“Illusory correlation” by F.O. Morier

“To Olek with Love” by Frank Lester

“To Stay Awake” by Austin Baker

“Only In My Dreams” by Carol Styron

“Jamison's 2nd Chance” by Seandecy Hatter

“The Last Moment” by Brendan Prince

“The Forest Unknown” by Sim K

“Gee Einstein, Stay Awake” by Howard Seeley

“Sleep is When I'm Most Vulnerable” by Duha Khan

“The Sun Will Rise” by Wrenley Ashford

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story on a day when the sun never sets.

Write a story about an afternoon picnic gone wrong.

End your story with someone saying: “What a day.”

Write about light returning to a place that has been deprived of it for a long time, literally or figuratively.

Contest #138

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

245

Contest entries

154

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: