Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Posted in Kids on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 256 stories

“THE GUARD” by Arvind Kashyap

Submitted to Contest #74

THE GUARD The bank was on the main street thirty feet wide that joined the main road of the city at fifty meters. The street was busy mostly used by bikes and cycles. Four wheeler had tough time passing through and public made a point to walk up to the bank after parking their vehicles on the sides of main road. Though the parking on roadside was against law but it was rarely followed and never enforced. It was no secret that the bank was doing a lot of business. The guard that always stood on the entrance of bank was conspicuously absent ...

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“Traction” by Christine Johnson

Submitted to Contest #74

I stare at the hardened molded plastic and metal glad I cannot see the wires inside that make the treadmill smarter than me. Its lights recognize me and encourage me to step onto the deck and take the belt for a spin. It can’t talk, but if it could it would want to know what the hell happened to my visits. “Thought the couch kidnapped you.” “You look thicker and sad.” The treadmill would be right on all accounts and more. I haven’t been to the gym since my daughter was born. She is three. I haven’t been to t...

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“First Day of University” by India Smith

Submitted to Contest #74

Here it is. Room 204.Just breathe.As I step through the corridor and into my future, I clutch the straps of my backpack for dear life. This knapsack has piggybacked since, high school. Sophomore year to be exact. My grasp on it, a hiraeth. It seems to return my embrace. Its tattered arms have been stitched to its body, after detaching, more than once. More than twice. Yet, it hangs on to me. Steady. Its hug, intense. I can't tell whether its nostalgia is comforting or hindering. Is this what love feels like?-It brings my mind to wander, if t...

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“The Plunge” by Brendan Burton

Submitted to Contest #74

Private Alexander Huxley sat in the hull of the C-47, jaw clenched and lips twisted into a savage grimace. The weight of his parachute kept him hunched in his seat, and the straps of his harness and weapon case chafed raw swathes into his skin. The flying tin can he was trapped in dipped, dived, shook, and rattled with the capricious whims of the turbulent weather outside. Sudden bursts of sound heralded the missed shells of unseen Anti-Aircraft guns below. Shrapnel splattered the metal plates of the plane's exterior, a thousand, thousand ...

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“10 Seconds Or Less” by William Webster

Submitted to Contest #74

In less than ten seconds a dream builds and takes shape and grows within our mind. But the result of a dream can last a lifetime. Bruce Barrington, in his air-conditioned travel trailer reflected on his dream. He reclined in his captain chair, eyes closed he stroked his beard, and remembered. His three year old beard resembled Dusty Hill’s of ZZ Top. And after the year he had, Bruce was surprised that there wasn’t a speck of gray in it. He started growing the beard when he was twenty three, the day he reached t...

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“The Ride” by Don Hill

Submitted to Contest #74

After the morning chores were done, I met Coon for a brief dip in shallow Clear Creek to cool off from the oppressive summer swamp like heat. We got to talking about this, that and the other. We speculated and wondered a lot. Coon claimed I couldn’t last more than two, maybe three seconds at most sitting on top of Triste Noche. Shoot, the way I figure it, Coon knew me better than anyone else but often sold me short on the account of my red-haired temper and smallish stature as I barely weighed over a 90 pounds on a good day. But I figured...

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“Vein” by Alek Mitroudis

Submitted to Contest #74

Window frames broken and curtains torn and tangled. The heart of the building crushed, the corridors and floors, destruction beyond repair echoed through the empty halls. And yet a soul, between the rubble, still standing tall. A young woman truly surprised by her own self. A woman who could walk. Although, to speak the truth, waking wasn't the unexpected. Being alive had already defied the rules on its own. And nobody was there to explain why or how. Not even she could figure that detail out. And so she did all that she did best. She just w...

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“Ten seconds, a lifetime.” by Harm Jager

Submitted to Contest #74

You know that feeling. Everyone does. The feeling when you make a mistake but its to late to fix it. That moment when you feel the despair sink in. When all you can do is watch the consequences of your actions play out. Those ten seconds, between you making your mistake and the world taking notice. The shortest of timespans, which suddenly feels like an eternity. All that is left for you to do is contemplate everything that brought you to this moment. The dozens of huge choices, the hundreds of tiny decisions and the one that sealed you in t...

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“Holiday suicide” by Stephen Choinsky

Submitted to Contest #74

As I sit with this gun in my mouth, many things go through my mind other then the bullet itself. Childhood memories , past relationships, and total hatred for this world. Everyone has a line and one can only hope that it's never crossed to this point. You realise that all these people you called friends and family just acted like you exist because they were in the process of trying to get something that you have and that something is money. You realise that you live in a world that is run by it and other things that have no meaning once your...

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“The Longest Walk” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #74

As Jessica left her classroom and began to walk down the breezeway, she held her books close and tried not to think of all the things she had to do. Tried not to think of how Ethan looked when he sat in front of her in class, or how he never seemed to speak to or even look at her. Tried not to rehearse how she would ask him out, if she ever found the courage.At the end of the breezeway, Jessica turned to walk along the covered walkway that ran around the student courtyard. She never hung out there, but Ethan often did. Pausing next to one of...

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“Where to Point” by Gracie G.

Submitted to Contest #74

ONE The door has opened. The opponent is someone Maria has seen before on many accounts, but has never said a single word to. That would make it easier to kill him. And the scary thing is, the same goes for him. Either way, Maria is happy it's no one she knows. For instance, her father was killed by the man who practically raised him. And soon, that mentor was killed too. By his own hand. Maria knows that this test can single handedly ruin one's mental capacity. She knows that, to some, survival is worse than dying. That they regret ever t...

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“Pulling the trigger” by My Linh Pham

Submitted to Contest #74

If you want the doors to open someone has to kill someone first were the words class V3 heard. All the students’ eyes were pointed at Leila. She had the gun. She looked into the terrified eyes and saw all the students slowly backing further and further away. Leila was isolated from the whole class, she had no friends. Every day she went to class, eyes filled with hostility and disgust would stare at her. The source of the hatred to Leila, the source of her torment was Jessica. She never said anything to her face, rather she treated Le...

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“The Words Died On Their Tongues” by Reese White

Submitted to Contest #74

“TEN!” In that exact second as the countdown clock struck 10, James glanced over at Ghost. Striking white eyes met deep brown eyes. In that moment, James realized he was in love. He was in love with his best friend. James realized he has probably been in love with him for years actually, now that he pieces it all together. Every butterfly in his stomach, every red faced reflection in the mirror after talking to him. It all makes sense now. In that exact second, everything comes together like a puzzle. One big, confusing, ...

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“Transformation” by Elsa Zhou

Submitted to Contest #74

I doubled over with laughter, wheezing. The crowded tavern's music, by the form of a spindly bard enchanting several different mandolins to strum by themselves, could hardly be heard over the howling and guffawing coming from our table. Bjorn clapped my back, thumping it to the rhythm of his bobbing beard as he shook with glee. The entire table cackled, hands beating the sturdy wooden table and tankards sloshing with ale. Unsteadily, I nearly fell down in a fit of giggles, my wand nearly clattering onto the floor. We'd all been done in by a ...

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“Names” by Helena Hirt

Submitted to Contest #74

A girl lived in a simple neighborhood. It was a typical, suburban neighborhood. Children would play every day after school and adults would watch their children from their porches warmly, coffee and beers in their hands. It was an average neighborhood. Like the girl. She was completely average. Average grades, average clothes, average looks. In fact, she was so average that no one ever talked to her. She wanted a name. She wanted to have people call her by her name. And every day the girl would walk home from school, or well, trudge home fro...

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Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 256 stories

“THE GUARD” by Arvind Kashyap

“Traction” by Christine Johnson

“First Day of University” by India Smith

“The Plunge” by Brendan Burton

“10 Seconds Or Less” by William Webster

“The Ride” by Don Hill

“Vein” by Alek Mitroudis

“Ten seconds, a lifetime.” by Harm Jager

“Holiday suicide” by Stephen Choinsky

“The Longest Walk” by Merinda Forwood

“Where to Point” by Gracie G.

“Pulling the trigger” by My Linh Pham

“The Words Died On Their Tongues” by Reese White

“Transformation” by Elsa Zhou

“Names” by Helena Hirt

🌟 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

727

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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