Write about a character who discovers the grass isn't actually greener on the other side.

Posted in Middle School on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 44 stories

“A Good Night's Sleep” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #157

Harvey was snoring louder than normal, so Gloria kicked his hairy leg aggressively under the covers. Without waking, he rolled from his back to his side, his big belly flopping on the mattress as if he were a seal basking in the sun. She noticed that his belly looked bigger than her sister’s had been when she was nine months pregnant. Feeling impish, Gloria poked her newly manicured finger into the flesh next to Harvey’s belly button, half-expecting a baby to kick back, but instead, the skin jiggled back down to its original position on the ...

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“Bob Bought a Farm” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #157

Bob Oaker braced himself against the shed door and grunted when the goat rammed it. He might have shrieked too but he chose to dis-remember that, as it was unbecoming of a man in the prime of his mid-sixties.But then everything grew silent. All he could hear was the wheeze of his own sweaty breath in the sweltering shed, the dzee-dzee-dzeeing of the cicadas – or grasshoppers, or whatever – and the caw! of distant northern cardinals.Well, he didn’t know they if they were cardinals. They might have been bluebirds or, well, turkeys for all he k...

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“Love, Guilt, and Meteor Showers” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #157

Content Warning: loss of pregnancy.She holds my gaze a heartbeat too long, and though we both recall the past, it’s the future we see clearest. I shouldn’t, but I’m powerless as my legs carry me across the atrium towards her. I can’t stop myself from admiring those lips, reposed against her wineglass. I can’t stop my eyes from tracing down her slender fingers, pale skin, gleaming fabric, and the shape of her body underneath. It doesn’t matter what I tell her, or what she says back. This love affair has only one ending.When I’m driving home, ...

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“Ace With Spades” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #157

Mr Roy was sure of one thing the day he retired. He would bury the trophies won in his 30 years of corporate battles in the backyard of his home. And grow brinjals on them. He had observed; how the gardener tended to the lawn, grew seasonal flowers in the meticulously prepared beds, and harvested bountiful vegetables from the backyard of his company-given accommodation. He had envied the meditativeness he exuded as he tilled the soil, sowed the seeds and pruned the shrubs. A life full of beauty and harmony surrounded by nature, not sniping i...

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“The Job Search” by Marie White

Submitted to Contest #157

Nannette answered the door with a smile Kathie wanted to slap off her face. She probably had good news, but not for Kathie; it never was. Rather, Nannette would tell her that she’d gotten a raise, that she’d planned another vacation at a posh resort in the Bahamas or Hawaii, that she’d managed to snag one of the now-sold-out new iPhones, or any of the other infinite number of perks of her unearned station. Kathie would have to sit there as she gushed, simmering with a heat all too familiar, and that became more caustic each time it struck. &...

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“Lackadaisical Monk” by Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #157

Pandi struggled to fall asleep. The mosquito net his parents had given him when they packed him off to the monastery was riddled with holes. A mosquito landed on his arm; he lifted the net and shooed the insect away. After surviving a month in the monastery, he felt other things calling him. It was time to leave. Pandi left his quarters quietly and walked down the trail to where he had hidden his lay clothes. After changing out of his saffron kasaya robes into jeans and a t-shirt, he began winding his way down the mountain trail. It was...

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“Am I Dreaming?” by Prince Vang

Submitted to Contest #157

Am I dreaming? I’m sitting up in my bed with my constellation-themed blanket wrapped tightly around my body. The sunlight streams in through the cracks of the window blinds, and expose the messiness of my room. There is a small stack of library books, that I need to return, in the corner of my room, right next to a pile of clothes that won’t fit in my overflowing laundry basket. The content of my backpack lays strewn across my desk and last night’s spaghetti is still on the floor next to me. What draws my attention is my large wall mirror r...

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“Thoughts and Prayers, it's a Travesty Ain't It?” by Amelie R.

Submitted to Contest #157

The marquee of the Georgia Theater in Athens was slightly dimmed in contrast to the glaring sun during the swelling summer of 1962. The weather had been unkind towards Georgia’s inhabitants. Blades of grass stood unmoving in the gradually condensing air, the ends slowly altering their colors until the fields looked tan. No longer was the dust carried by wind after being kicked by unbeknownst children, for when they played, it was almost as if it perched near their mouths before settling to the ground. Moira thought it was imperti...

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“I Want What You've Got” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #157

She was grateful that someone had stopped to see if she was alright. It was a dark and lonely road. If Anthony hadn’t said what he did at the cocktail party then she wouldn’t have stormed off, taking the car and not knowing how to get home from the country club. Whenever they went out together at night time he always drove. She never thought to look around and take in the surroundings. “I think it’s your battery” the other woman said to her “It’s happened to me before”. “Oh dear” she said anxiously “What should I do?” “Do you want t...

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“Tchau, Tchau Beena” by Gayathri Sampath

Submitted to Contest #157

Tchau, tchau Beena “Sheela, what is going on? Why did you sell all your investments without consulting me? Is it about that fucking citizenship again? You have gone insane, Sheela, completely mad!”“Ajay, mind your language. Beena was right. I am nothing but a doormat to you. The moment I stand for myself, you resort to swearing and calling me names.”“Sheela, come to your senses. Beena is a worthless witch who has cast a spell on you. Are you really going to leave me and take the kids and leave? Drop this madness and let's go back to how thin...

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“Still Beating” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #157

A sudden gust of wind tears through the empty bowels of the schoolhouse, whisking leaves and loose papers from their resting place along the bespeckled tiles, scattering them throughout the desolate halls. All that noise, that horrible rustling, it would’ve stirred me from my slumber if I’d been able to sleep. Nowadays, it appears sleep is a luxury only afforded to the dead. How long had I been hiding here? A few days? Weeks? It might as well have been years. The idea of time itself seems...

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“Tea Parties and Cockroach Cults” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #157

Marcel crawled on his little elbows deeper into the crawlspace of the mayor’s house. “Do you see anything yet?” The mayor called down. Marcel grumbled. “Just a moment, please,” Marcel called back. There were very few jobs for possums and even fewer for possums who happened to be mages. He closed his eyes and sniffed. Ah, there you are. He turned down an alternate tunnel - one dug by the cockroaches themselves. Got you now you little... The little vermin had dug under the mayor’s house - starting in the basement, they had du...

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“The grass was always greener on this side - Doomsday Diary” by Chacha Jaramillo

Submitted to Contest #157

The warm breeze brushes the tall California Grass and a flock of seagulls gracefully fly by, guided by the sudden change of weather. The last solar eclipse made the seagulls hesitate about starting their migration south at the beginning of fall. They pretty much predicted the absence of food by calling the others in their flock with their screeching chilling calling while challenging the others for territory. Their heads lowering crouched up and down, like yelling at someone-their ‘mewing’ was not as often as before. Maybe the neighbours cat...

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“A Leap To The Otherside ” by Ruby Pix

Submitted to Contest #157

Our story begins with Kagashi who is known for being the target of the school's known bully: Max. Max is a straight A student who does what he wants when he wants. His family is rich as well so it only boosts his ego. However, that all changes one day. They both change in an event that causes them to see each other's cons and pros. And why one side of the grass ain't greener than the next. Kagashi wakes to his morning alarm that tells him yet again another day of seeing Max was scheduled. He groans as he had thought many times about dro...

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“Pink Tips” by Lisa Hanlon

Submitted to Contest #157

If you knew where to look, you could see the curtain slightly move as Cleo jogged by the house. Anxiously sitting by the window with her morning coffee, notepad ready to take down any observations, Madison leaned forward to catch her first glimpse of Cleo that day. Mornings were only a fraction of the daily routine that Madison had built around her neighbor. There was just something about Cleo that had her enthralled. Two months ago, the movers had just closed the moving van’s door when Cleo had bounded over to greet her new neighbor. What ...

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Write about a character who discovers the grass isn't actually greener on the other side.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“A Good Night's Sleep” by Kathleen Fine

“Bob Bought a Farm” by Michał Przywara

“Love, Guilt, and Meteor Showers” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“Ace With Spades” by Suma Jayachandar

“The Job Search” by Marie White

“Lackadaisical Monk” by Jim Firth

“Am I Dreaming?” by Prince Vang

“Thoughts and Prayers, it's a Travesty Ain't It?” by Amelie R.

“I Want What You've Got” by Valerie Preston

“Tchau, Tchau Beena” by Gayathri Sampath

“Still Beating” by S. Closson

“Tea Parties and Cockroach Cults” by Cajek Veilwinter

“The grass was always greener on this side - Doomsday Diary” by Chacha Jaramillo

“A Leap To The Otherside ” by Ruby Pix

“Pink Tips” by Lisa Hanlon

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a relationship, either romantic or platonic, that is being affected by jealousy.

Write about someone deliberately trying to make somebody else envious.

Write about two characters who both want what the other has, without knowing the feeling is mutual.

Write about somebody looking for love on a reality TV show.

Contest #157

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

185

Contest entries

88

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: