Write about a character who is trying to convince others to play a game.

Posted in Kids on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 20 stories

“Them Indiana Boys, On Them Indiana Nights” by Shea West

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #149

(TW/CW: Mentions of active drug use, drug activity, STD's, infidelity, foul language)➾➾Your loved ones stopped by your apartment last night. Their faces twisted in disgust as they scanned your space looking for a clear spot to sit. Their faces–solemn and united– and you thought, well, this can’t be good. When did you last see Aunt June? Or your old best friend Hank? He hadn’t returned a single one of your calls in ages. Dad lingered in the doorway in his oiled up coveralls looking like he’d prefer to be anywhere but here. Mom’s tears ha...

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“Finish What You Started” by Katharine Widdows

Submitted to Contest #149

I find myself on a cliff edge, it will only take a little more to push me over.I push.The razor is sharp enough to slice with little effort, and the pain reminds me of both what I deserve, and what I am leaving behind. I have enough strength to cut, just. If I still have that power then I’m not over the cliff quite yet.I need to try again.. . .I come round in a sitting position. Muted colours, beige, and greying-yellow swirl around me. Taken aback that there is anything here at all, I put my hands on solid ground to get my bearings. Dusty, d...

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“Nuts and Bolts” by Tyler Kitchenman

Submitted to Contest #149

The screaming was so loud that the sound pushed through the summer symphony of lawnmowers and barking dogs like a tyrant set on ruining the day. A few children squealed nearby as they burst through a sprinkler stream. But there was no mistaking it. Claire was screaming in pain. Claire was screaming because she was dying. Summer was reaching a peak and would now plateau steadily with a consistent dole of eighty-degree temperatures. Pools were open, front yards were cut weekly, and the ice cream man was in full swing. Tyler was makin...

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“Dark Fair” by Nicole Krämer

Submitted to Contest #149

(Trigger warning: This story contains mentions of violence and suicide)The Game began on a Saturday in the spring of 1932. The blue sky arched like the tents of the fair that had arrived the night before, unnoticed by the inhabitants of the small harbour town. It was the fishermen who first noticed the lights behind the hilltops and already an hour later the message was on everyone's lips.Now you have to know that pleasure rarely reached the southernmost tip of Cornwall. People lived on what they fished out of the rough waters in their cutte...

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“The Truth Will Set You Free (But First it Will Kill You) ” by Kristen Nazzaro Keller

Submitted to Contest #149

I told the cops that I didn’t see Danica that night. That was a lie. I told my parents that I had no idea why my roommate had been on the bell tower in the middle of the night. That was a lie. I cried with her parents when I told them she had been depressed for months. That was a lie. ~ The Thursday that Danica died we had spent the evening watching trashy reality TV, just like we had every Thursday for the last two years. Around midnight I turned off the television and handed her a small white card. The front of the card read, 'C...

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“Quill and Scroll” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #149

“Thank you all for being here tonight,” I say, smiling over the tips of my steepled fingers. “You are in for a special treat.”Outside of our table, nestled in a dark corner, the tavern is doing a brisk business, crowded with an eclectic collection of beings, all of them intent on making as merry as they can. Coin and drink flow freely, laughter and curses ring out in equal measure, and the smell of strong ale and roasting meat permeates the air.“What are we doing here, Maziroth?” asks Arakon, the heavily built human warrior shifting his weig...

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“Play With Me” by Lydia Lim

Submitted to Contest #149

“Play with me?” I ask hopefully, an expression of expectation on my face. “Play with me?” I ask hopefully, an expression of longing on my face, eyes wide. “Play with me?” I ask, an expression of resignation on my face, eyes wide and lips trembling. No. No. No. I’m busy, ask your father. I’m busy, ask your brother. Don’t disturb me, ask your mother. I sit by myself. I sit alone. I empty out the blocks onto the floor. Red rectangle. Blue circle. Green triangle. I move them around for a while. A house. A to...

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“Fun with Colors” by Brady Taylor

Submitted to Contest #149

"Fun with Colors" by Brady M Tayor *Trigger Warning- This story does contain themes of child abuse The Shoes loved her. Red ones, black ones, striped ones, ones with high heels, and some with no heels at all…they all adored her, and the little girl loved them back with her whole heart. They were all she saw; they were her world. Oh, she had looked up once or twice when she was younger, but those blobs of flesh with the harsh, unfocused eyes and vulture lips had torn her apart each time. Much better to look down at the Shoes; the Shoes al...

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“Falling Dice” by Robin Davidson

Submitted to Contest #149

Blake formed his plan almost immediately after hearing the sound. He didn’t expect such a simple noise to affect him so much, but that layered, striking sound—that clacking of dice falling against a wooden table sent his mind spiraling backward to a year ago, to the last day his friends were all together. “Next week, same time?” Christian had asked. Blake closed his notebook &...

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“The Hollow” by Zoë Page

Submitted to Contest #149

“Down in the damp where the trees clear, deep into the forest the treasure will appear,” I read aloud into the strong silence, my fingers clasping the note feebly. I could feel Aelin staring at me; I twisted to glare at her, “What on earth is this about?” Her dull grey eyes bored into me. She shrugged. “It’s just a treasure hunt. Figure out what the note means, like you’ve done for the last eight clues. It’s not that hard.” I sighed, defeated, turning to gaze despondently at the clue again. We had been sweating out in the blistering sunl...

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“Family Stranger Things” by Parshalla Wood

Submitted to Contest #149

“Deck the Halls with boughs of holly, FaLaLaLaLaaLaLaLaLa, Tis the season to be jolly, FaLaLaLaLaaLaLaLaLa.” This is the sound I heard as I got off the school bus and started for the front door of my house. Oh my, it’s already started this Christmas season. I wonder how the season will end, and who will get hurt because someone always gets hurt before New Year’s Day. As I entered the living room, the smell of turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and so many other tantalizing aromas let me know we will have a great feast tonight....

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“Mysterium” by Maizie Bymers

Submitted to Contest #149

"Come on guys please can we play the Mysterium," I pleaded to my 3 best friends Robert (Rob) Johnson, Ivy Ruth, and Rebecca Garden. "Sure," Rebecca said, twirling in the seats in my basement meeting room which my dad usually uses for work but not today because it was a Saturday. "We always play this game," Rob groaned, which was true but still it's an awesome game. "Plus I'm always stuck as a ghost." "Well not today my dad promised me that he would be a ghost." "Sure, Rubs," Ivy said, sitting down next to Rebecca. "Fine. But you promise me I...

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“War Redo ” by Jimmy Burke

Submitted to Contest #149

I started waking up, and the first thing I remembered was that my head hurt. At lot. Everything was black except for the dim lights that were overhead. I wouldn't call them lights, in the same sense as fluoresant lights. It was more a glow, like the glow that you would get from a glow stick that one would use in the wilderness at night. They were very high up - 30 feet or more. And there was a slight vibration in the floor. I could tell that I was inside some sort of vehicle. It was massive. I tried to get up, but as I rose to ...

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“Paul's game” by Tony Coppo

Submitted to Contest #149

Hidden behind a lamppost I spy Paul accosting two young women. I have been following him since dawn and this is already the tenth time. The pattern is always the same: he puts his hand on their shoulder, at first they look at him dismissively, some swat his hand away. Then he opens his notebook and reads aloud for five minutes. Gradually the women's faces light up, most of them have big smiles, the first one approached this morning even chuckled. When he closes his book, they give him an air kiss, some of them put a real smack on his cheek.&...

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“Play With Me” by Annette C

Submitted to Contest #149

“Why are you insisting we play a game when our friend has been missing for days? Not to mention that your little sister is missing as well,” said Jona frustrated that Jinórilie didn’t seem fazed by the current events. “I just want to play, is all. It’s…um, my coping mechanism. I know my sister is missing, but what can I do? There are police searching for her everywhere. As for Derihia, he’s probably at his girlfriend’s,” Jinorilie stood with the controller in his hand, extending it over to Jona. Jona slapped the controller out of his hand, s...

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Write about a character who is trying to convince others to play a game.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 20 stories

“Them Indiana Boys, On Them Indiana Nights” by Shea West

“Finish What You Started” by Katharine Widdows

“Nuts and Bolts” by Tyler Kitchenman

“Dark Fair” by Nicole Krämer

“The Truth Will Set You Free (But First it Will Kill You) ” by Kristen Nazzaro Keller

“Quill and Scroll” by Ian Gonzales

“Play With Me” by Lydia Lim

“Fun with Colors” by Brady Taylor

“Falling Dice” by Robin Davidson

“The Hollow” by Zoë Page

“Family Stranger Things” by Parshalla Wood

“Mysterium” by Maizie Bymers

“War Redo ” by Jimmy Burke

“Paul's game” by Tony Coppo

“Play With Me” by Annette C

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Write about two people who form a bond with each other through music.

Set your story in a town that’s teetering on the edge of something dark, literally or metaphorically.

Write a story about an unlikely group (or pair) of friends.

Contest #149

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

256

Contest entries

123

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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