Set your story in a kids’ playground, or at a roundabout.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 44 stories

“Sky PlayGround” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #155

Look up into the sky and you will see the most amazing sight, a place so wondrous, so imaginative you won't believe with your own eyes until you see it in real time. So come with me and have the most magical time. Bring your kids, friends, bring everybody you know on this once in a lifetime adventure. Come and join me at Sky Playground. Emma looks at the flyer many times to see if her eyes are not playing any tricks. She sees people around her also reading the flyer. They look up into the sky as does Emma and see what looks like a UFO. The...

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“Albert Capone” by Isaac Jeon

Submitted to Contest #155

Albert Capone, the son of the famous Al Capone, had always wondered how he was left penniless especially because his father had been a successful businessman. Everyone that knew his father also knew about him which ended up causing Albert to be looked at differently than all the other kids. He was always alone, but according to his father if you ever felt lonely the one place you would eventually find a friend is at the playground. Day after day he would go to the playground in look of a friend; as he lay on the roundabout spinning it using ...

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“Playground Mommies” by Danielle Jumper

Submitted to Contest #155

“Mommy! Bayleigh’s here!” My daughter, Hannah, squealed with delight. “Great,” I muttered under my breath. I had hoped for a quiet morning at the park playground, not a morning of small talk with the yoga moms. “Hey, Tina, good to see you,” Bayleigh’s mother, Steffie, flipped her hand in the air, dismissively and halfheartedly waving at me. Steffie was tall, skinny, and blonde. One hand was always glued to one of those mega chai venti pumpkin latte things, and the other hand gripped a new, designer purse each week. Steffie always fish...

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“Peyton” by Zoë Page

Submitted to Contest #155

“Ugh, my mom says I have to be back by six.”The swing groans underneath my weight, although I don’t believe myself to be heavy. Perhaps it's that thirteen is too old for a kid’s playpark, and the four of us should be somewhere else. Perhaps we should be swearing, blasting rap music dripping with slurs, scribbling inappropriate graffiti onto the zipline and the picnic table in an array of colors. I feel as if my age label – thirteen – does not resemble who I am, who I want to be.“Same,” I mumble in reply. My friends don’t seem to take any not...

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“Playground ” by Dana Hammer

Submitted to Contest #155

Adam is playing with his cat and ignoring Braden. Adam is always playing with his stupid cat, but it’s even stupider today, because they’re at the park for a play date, and nobody brings a cat to the park. Nobody except Adam, who is weird. Adam is older than Braden. Adam is ten years old, and Braden is only eight. But their moms are friends, so the older boy has to play with Braden, whether he wants to or not. And Adam really does NOT want to play with Braden. This doesn’t hurt Braden’s feelings though, because Adam doesn’t like to play wi...

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“The Lady with the Clipboard ” by Sean Sorce

Submitted to Contest #155

'Okay Stuart, easy on the breaks,' I said to myself as I lightly hold down the breaks as my mother's car slowly went in front of a roundabout. As I pulled up, my driver instructor was on her clipboard taking notes on my driver's test.This is my second attempt and I was more nervous than the first time. The last instructor was a middle aged man who never once hinted a smile and had a cold demeanor. Meanwhile this lady with the clipboard seem genuine nice for she smiled here and there yet she was too wasn't much talkative as the last one. Both...

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“Taking Flight” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #155

-suggestion of domestic violence-Her last, fervent wish was to land on the bed of roses and crush them all. As she soared in the air, her hat floating above the seat next to her, she looked down and saw the gorgeous roses next to the roundabout, reds and yellows, blues, purples and whites, no dead heads, no weeds and she loathed them with all her heart.A memory was launched as well, of a similar roundabout, 10 years ago and a choice to be made: take the third exit and turn off into a chance for adventure, or the fourth exit t...

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“When The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” by Randy Murrell

Submitted to Contest #155

It was about midnight and it had been for several hours. I came here to walk and reminisce about my rights and wrongs and thoughts from the past both happy and sad. There is something ghostly about how it looks ya’ know. A playground devoid of the sounds of excited children, anxious parents and angry teachers. I brought my ghosts with me. I have no shortage of regrets and many of mine rest here, fester here and should I see the dawn of another they will be left here. As I walked I happened upon a set of swings. ...

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“Kidnapper’s Playground ” by Kale Gordon

Submitted to Contest #155

Section 1: Voices “But mom I don’t want to go outside it’s so hot,” ten-year-old Gordon whined. “It’s the summertime, in my day all we did was play outside,” Gordon’s mom Patricia said. “Agh, fine,” Gordon said enthusiastically. Gordon walked into the garage that was stale with hot humidity. He grabbed both grips of his dark purple GT Mountain bike and walked his back to the end of the driveway. Gordon looked back, and saw he forgot to close the garage door, he rushed back to close it. It was so hot outside just that act ...

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“The Woman in the Roundabout” by Kasey Kirchner

Submitted to Contest #155

Only one person knew about the antlered woman living in the roundabout. But they didn’t know quite yet, and she didn’t quite live there, exactly. She just visited every night, sitting with her back against the circle of sad pine trees, watching the people of earth revolve around her like self-absorbed planets or silly little yo-yos on invisible strings. The woman wasn’t from here. She could have been, I suppose, but she probably wasn’t. A month ago (according to some), the woman was wandering her maze of glacial caves with her ...

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“Wishing I was on the swings” by Evelyn Duke

Submitted to Contest #155

*This story contains gory images and physical violence therefore it may be sensitive to some readers.* Wishing I was on the swings I know that I’m a little old for playgrounds. However, something about swinging on the swings excites me. Going up so far almost like you’re going to touch the clouds with your feet, then falling as if you’re going backwards off of a cliff. When I think of a playground, I think of kids happily yelling whilst chasing each other around in a game of tag. I think of parents sitting and watching while their k...

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“Roundabout” by Italia Gionti

Submitted to Contest #155

Every sunrise and every sunset, I was met with the cracking road accompanied by the gasoline of thousands of vehicles stained on its path. I had one of those vehicles. I wouldn’t be surprised if some drool from man’s best companion was there, too. I brought Blue back home with me on that roundabout. My first adult decision after renting an apartment was to satisfy my childhood dream of owning a dog. She was a rottweiler I found at a nearby shelter and was only a few years old with her ribs poking out of her sides. Despite the breed be...

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“Playground Memories” by Judi Wallower

Submitted to Contest #155

Playground Memories “Hi. My name is Kyle. What’s your name?” “Hi. It’s Cari. I just moved here.” “Is that your mom over there?” “Yeah.” “She’s talking to my mom.” “Oh.” “Do you like it here?” “It’s ok. My mom said we had to move on account of my mom and dad split up.” “Oh. That’s too bad. Hey but it’s nice here in Hightown. What grade will you be going in when the summer is over? “Fourth grade.” “Hey me too. Maybe we will be in the same class. That way you won’t feel alone, you’ll have me.” “That would be fun.” “Do you have a pool at your ...

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“Imaginary Struggle” by Aleksandre Khundzakishvili

Submitted to Contest #155

“If I were held at gunpoint at the end of a thousand different lives, I would not change my mind. The truth sits on the tip of my tongue, but I would take another nine hundred and ninety-nine bullets in my forehead to not admit the truth.” Deep down, he knew his mother never loved him. But he would not let himself admit the truth, not even in the depths of his heart. He scribbled these words below a sharp sketch of a beautiful woman on the endpaper of his yellow-covered notebook. With his eyes closed, he then leaned against the b...

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“Swings” by Mimi F

Submitted to Contest #155

I struggle up the hill to the playground, snow crunching under my boots. The streetlights are on, and everything is glowy and orange, almost dreamlike. The swing creaks as I relax my weight onto the stiff seat. It's not because I'm much bigger since I last came, though I am. These swings have creaked and groaned since I was young. The familiar sound brings me back to that time, hearing the repetitive squeaking as one swung forward and the other backward. I remember my small hand interlocked with another, giggles and footsteps tracing up ...

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Set your story in a kids’ playground, or at a roundabout.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“Sky PlayGround” by Melinda Madrigal

“Albert Capone” by Isaac Jeon

“Playground Mommies” by Danielle Jumper

“Peyton” by Zoë Page

“Playground ” by Dana Hammer

“The Lady with the Clipboard ” by Sean Sorce

“Taking Flight” by Marty B

“When The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” by Randy Murrell

“Kidnapper’s Playground ” by Kale Gordon

“The Woman in the Roundabout” by Kasey Kirchner

“Wishing I was on the swings” by Evelyn Duke

“Roundabout” by Italia Gionti

“Playground Memories” by Judi Wallower

“Imaginary Struggle” by Aleksandre Khundzakishvili

“Swings” by Mimi F

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character facing a situation that isn't awful, but isn't great.

Write a story that includes a character using the phrase “swings and roundabouts.”

Write about a character who gets good and bad news in quick succession — not necessarily in that order.

Write about a character who is pathologically ambivalent, until something shakes them up.

Contest #155

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

194

Contest entries

78

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: