Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Posted in Kids on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 256 stories

“In Just Ten Seconds” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #74

Backgrounder Three Friday Nights Sam met Sue at a party. It was on a Friday night. They were both reaching for the same butter tart on the treat table, the last one. Their hands met unintentionally. They both laughed and then divided up the tart into two equal pieces. Thus began a conversation that lasted until the end of the party. They discovered that they had so much in common – love of hiking, canoeing, dogs, and beer. It seemed to Sam that he just might have finally met the woman he could spend the rest ...

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“Ufe.” by Spencer Steeves

Submitted to Contest #74

Ufemilion Jakling was falling. Now, this wasn't meant in the figurative sense. It wasn't like he was falling in love, or into despair, or anything quite so dramatic or profound. No, not that. Mere moments before, Ufe had been hanging off the eaves of the tallest tower on the most prominent building in the City of Bronze. He'd been holding a squirming halfling criminal in one hand and gripping tightly to the ledge with the other. But then the pint-sized crook had pulled a device from his jacket that he'd purchased from Ufe's dearest frie...

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“Ten Seconds” by LuAnn Williamson

Submitted to Contest #74

Ten Seconds By LuAnn Williamson Ten Mother At last, I get a few minutes to relax by the pool. It’s one of the first beautiful, warm days of spring and I intend to take full advantage of it while my son is still asleep. We’ve come over to my parent’s house and I’ve put him down for his nap in the middle of their big, King sized bed. I’ve got my ear buds in, music playing, the sun is shining and life is good. Nine Son I’m awake. G-ma and G-pa’s room fun! I see the window is open to the deck. I’m going out the...

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“Ten Years” by Katrina C

Submitted to Contest #74

Trigger Warning: mentions of death and car accidentLoey knows how time works, at least she thought she did. It was ten seconds, however, it felt like ten years. The frigid air around her was a tell-tell sign that she was still alive. The bright blue sky above was bluer than ever and she knew that she would live another day to see it again. The car was going incredibly too fast and she was walking too fast. How could she have possibly seen it with her face buried in her English Literature notes?A blaring horn had brought her attention from t...

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“Take The Fish” by Chelsea Peseller

Submitted to Contest #74

“Grey Cloud... Milton!” Sergeant Oreo turns around in his leather seat and jumps up onto his table. His fancy room with his unforgettable scent of rose and fish fill the air as we take a seat at the two chairs across from his desk. “Sergeant!” We bow our heads to him. “The one leader of the gang we are following has been planning a terrible heist on the small pet store that recently opened on Rainbow Street. I’m sure you two know the place.” He looks at each of us. “Of course! The owner is a swell cat. Very proper and kind. His daughter is C...

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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,...

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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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“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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“Seconds to Discourse” by Lydi B

Submitted to Contest #74

“I saw her. Getting in your car!”My eyes and blue-inked pen formed a frantic partnership to solidify every nuance of the situation into my worn notebook. Snowboarder’s posture as he leaned over the bar with palms flat on the surface. The tips of Employee’s fingers working around the rim of a glass. This was exactly the sort of scenario that often drew me to local spots before dawn. While most sane individuals snoozed through the subzero temperatures blowing through the valley, insomnia and my passion for writing compelled me to hunker d...

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“Heroes” by Caleb Jensen

Submitted to Contest #74

Gunshots. Screams. That is what I hear, and I start running. I know I do not belong here. I stick out from the crowd, and everyone knows my name. I feel like I have the world’s largest target on my back. And my front. Except instead of concentric circles of red and white, It is a serial number reminding me that no matter what I do, I am still always going to just be one out of hundreds, thousands, millions. I am nothing. Yet today, right here, right now, I am expected to step up for myself, step up for my community, step up for the world.I’v...

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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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“The Porcelain Goblet” by Alice Dranger

Submitted to Contest #74

One The Porcelain Goblet hits the floor with a resounding CRACK. The coffee grinds contained within it rain down in rivulets, spackling the stone with a splat. The delicately hand painted violets explode into one-thousand pieces. The authentic gold trim turns to naught but glitter on the ground. Twenty generations, five hundred years, and countless fortunes become dust in an instant. The prophesying shapes formed from the coffee grinds splatter all over the floor, transforming from a divine mystic tool to an ugly brown stain. Silence fills ...

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“Nova” by V W

Submitted to Contest #74

The torrential rain hit him instantly as Leonard stood in front of his parent’s house. He had no recollection of how he got there, no idea of what he was doing a second before that moment. It was like his mind was wiped clean except for that one goal: to prevent the worst mistake of his life, and the awareness that the special golden watch in his hand had given him limited time to do it.A calm voice came from the watch. “Time Dilation commencing. “ Before his eyes the rain droplets froze in place. He gulped and told himself to breath. H...

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“A Jog” by Vaishnavi Venu

Submitted to Contest #74

First, I feel the blade move through skin in the most satisfying way possible, and the familiar trickle of warm blood down my hands. Then the steely stench of blood takes over as I move out of the room in calculated, practiced steps. Step over the body, through the window, and out into the darkness. I hear the sirens behind me, and smile to myself. Nothing like a good chase. Can’t help but love the occasional thrill. Most of the time, I get away even before they sense there’s something wrong going on. “Hey, you there! Stop!” I roll my eyes. ...

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“Ten seconds to New Year” by Laura Les

Submitted to Contest #74

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Time was ticking and the new year was coming. Time was ticking and it was nearly the end of my life. I just did not know it yet. Ten seconds left. Only ten seconds. The new year meant new opportunities, new pages to write and new dreams to fulfil. That’s what it meant for most people. Not for me. At least not for the year that was coming. I did not know it yet but there was only ten seconds left for me. Tick, tock. I did not know it yet but I made a wrong choice. A wrong choice because I did not invite the right peopl...

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Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 256 stories

“In Just Ten Seconds” by John Steckley

“Ufe.” by Spencer Steeves

“Ten Seconds” by LuAnn Williamson

“Ten Years” by Katrina C

“Take The Fish” by Chelsea Peseller

“First Day of University” by India Smith

“Pulling the trigger” by My Linh Pham

“Transformation” by Elsa Zhou

“Seconds to Discourse” by Lydi B

“Heroes” by Caleb Jensen

“Names” by Helena Hirt

“The Porcelain Goblet” by Alice Dranger

“Nova” by V W

“A Jog” by Vaishnavi Venu

“Ten seconds to New Year” by Laura Les

🌟 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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