Write about a character who meticulously catalogs everything in their life, until something disrupts their system.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 59 stories

“THE SUNSHINE” by Kiran Gaikwad

Submitted to Contest #91

There I was waiting for my 8:00 clock coffee and she was late again. who you ask, my always late assistant and I hated people who are not on time, who don’t value time, my time!. And I am very punctual type of person.my every move is measured; every word is revised that is why I am where I am today. Let’s say I am very disciplined person. I am always like this I was raised this way my father was the same. My mother is still a mystery to me! she died soon after I was born my father says she was like a ray of light in his life. She always brou...

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“The Appropriate Category” by Lyle Given

Submitted to Contest #91

I read a story once imagining the world like a giant machine with people assigned parts like cog or nut or bolt. My teacher said the theme was that everyone’s essential to society’s function no matter what category they belong in. I’ve never been good at English, never understood the symbolism of blue curtains versus yellow, but categories I like. Those follow a formula, create organization out of chaos. I don’t like chaos. Or mess. &...

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“The Librarian” by V C

Submitted to Contest #91

Tw: implied/mentioned suicide, child abuseThe library was full of records of every single person that has lived in the world. They were organized alphabetically by name, as every person wrote their own story with the ink of their flowing blood and the pen of instinct in their heart. The library was endless—you could say—infinite, limitless. After all, it was built off of humans, which were the most complicated out of them all. But it was always well-organized. Guide made sure of that.Guide read and memorized every single perso...

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“Dementia Catalogue” by Zvikomborero Mukamba

Submitted to Contest #91

“File B294, met a snobbish girl.” I put the cue card into my red cabinet. I shut one drawer and then it shuddered. The knobs twisted up to show it was locked. I ran my fingers over the spines of my older cards with small mementos of my past, like the time I pulled that guy from fifth grade’s hair, for bullying me. ..my first kiss…my first taste of a sour lemon meringue pie. All of these memories were under A1- 20. I had some issues deciding where to catalogue today’s experiences. “Dex!” a shrill voice shouted. It jeered the senses. I ne...

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“Spring Cleaning” by Juan Carrillo Gonzalez

Submitted to Contest #91

They call it “Spring Cleaning,” but I’ve been at this for the better part of a decade. I had so much clutter built up from my entire life and my parent’s that I did not know what to do with it. I am almost finished now, though. Just half the basement, and I will be done with this. I threw out so much garbage: picture books, year books, text books, cd’s, tapes and what-have-you. So much clutter I kept for idiotic sentimentality. I don’t read those picture books anymore; I haven’t read them since I was 12. I don’t plan to get in touch with any...

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“A Fire in Georgia” by Felicia Fontaine

Submitted to Contest #91

“What do you do for work?” asked Georgia - the petite Latin teacher who would this time next year be my mother-in-law.She gets right to the chase like I do, I thought. I was dating her eldest - a doctor, after all. It felt like I was on an interview.I chuckled to myself, She totally thinks she is in control here. Then, mental images started showing me she was a Virgo. Oh, Lord, is all I could think. She’s got a lot of work to do. Becoming an ex-perfectionist is no easy feat. I’m still working in it…I took a deep breath and prayed to say the ...

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“Home Library” by A Bui

Submitted to Contest #91

Harold sips his coffee and flips the light switch as he makes his way down the old wooden steps. The fluorescent lights struggle for a few seconds before finally illuminating the chilly basement of his Lawrence, KS home. Harold pauses at the bottom and breathes a deep, calming breath, basking in the stale air of the basement. Drinking his morning coffee in his home library is his favorite part of his morning routine before starting his shift as librarian at the University of Kansas’s Watson Library. He stares at the bookshelf and takes a mom...

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“Why would I ?” by Isabella Melendez

Submitted to Contest #91

How? Every day for years I have been categorizing things in their right places. Even categorizing my friends' personalities, behavior, and such. But, how? How can I place Him in a category? With his icy blue hoodie and his periwinkle eyes, I cannot fathom how he decides to look my way. Should I say I'm lucky, or will I turn away from him in the slightest moment? Would I give him the cold shoulder, even when I am so hot in the face? My cheeks are on fire, or it seems to be ragi...

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“Don't Count Your Coins Before They're Stacked” by Kathryn Grunewald

Submitted to Contest #91

Walter placed the last gold coin from his pile onto the stack, carefully lined up against the cavern wall. “One million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty-five.” His tail twitched. The number of gold coins was so, so close to a nice, round number. The other nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine stacks of one hundred coins each mocked him from their nearby columns. The silver was at three billion, which was delightful, and the copper was at four trillion and eight hundred billion, which wasn’t great. Bu...

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“The Planner” by Kieran Aire

Submitted to Contest #91

“Ellie, Mrs. Madonna would kill me if she saw you here after hours on a friday.” Leo, My best friend moaned again from the checkout isle of the library. The meticulous beeping of the register had become like a pattern to me. Leo looked around worriedly to check if his supervisor had seen him like he was committing a crime. “Sorry, the high school reunion took longer than anticipated. My schedule did not consider that Ivy Lillis would corner me at the buffet and make fun of my planner like she did in grade school. It also did not conside...

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“Ranboo” by ISABELLA PUSHMAN

Submitted to Contest #91

Ranboo was going for a walk with Tubbo and his son Michael (their adopted son). It was late afternoon and all just finished lunch. They were walking right by the shores of snowchester when something happened. Ranboo starts hearing all these voices all around him not knowing what was happening. Tubbo was concerned because he didn't hear anything, nor did michael. Ranboo stops right where he was and starts saying, “leave me and my family alone, go now, leave,” he says crying and his family not knowing what was going on. Tubbo says, “Ran...

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“Marietta’s pages ” by Phoebe Nortey

Submitted to Contest #91

Marietta’s pages. 4 days to my 20th birthday I woke up at 6:30 today because my pillow felt uncomfortable, didn’t go back to sleep again. Lay on my bed staring at the ceiling for 15 minutes. Grandma had Alzheimer’s and I didn’t tell my sister. Didn’t have breakfast today. Wore a black shirt and blue jeans , made sure I had all that I had packed all I needed to go for my one hour daily walk. I hated leaving something behind, it disturbed me in ways I couldn’t explain . Watered the plants, locked all the doors then checked again and again ...

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“Control” by Jake DeBolt

Submitted to Contest #91

I’ve never truly had control over my life. Illusion of control? Sure. Rarely. But someone else has always been in charge. The master holding my leash. My parents. My friends. My teachers. My supervisors. Anyone but me. I know this. Feel this. Yet, I buy into the illusion just as thoroughly as anyone. I take notes every day. Others have called it journaling, but it’s not that in the slightest. It’s not feelings or memories caught on paper to be revisited. Not a release of the page. It’s... just control. The illusion of control. My...

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“A thousand deaths in one” by Wilson Diana

Submitted to Contest #91

It makes exactly two months today since the drastic overturn began. The phase where life changes its course and death is undeniably inevitable to the larger-than-life. It is a glaring truth, a sporadic downturn that oars the later tides of my path through the earth. Forever. Today makes it two months exactly since I woke up to the alarm ringing on the sit of my juniper bed table. The snoozing little asset had been gifted to me by Tena, my only sibling, on my seventeenth birthday weeks ago. It is a valid asset and I cherish it to t...

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Write about a character who meticulously catalogs everything in their life, until something disrupts their system.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 59 stories

“THE SUNSHINE” by Kiran Gaikwad

“The Appropriate Category” by Lyle Given

“The Librarian” by V C

“Dementia Catalogue” by Zvikomborero Mukamba

“Spring Cleaning” by Juan Carrillo Gonzalez

“A Fire in Georgia” by Felicia Fontaine

“Home Library” by A Bui

“Why would I ?” by Isabella Melendez

“Don't Count Your Coins Before They're Stacked” by Kathryn Grunewald

“The Planner” by Kieran Aire

“Ranboo” by ISABELLA PUSHMAN

“Marietta’s pages ” by Phoebe Nortey

“Control” by Jake DeBolt

“A thousand deaths in one” by Wilson Diana

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone going to extreme lengths to return an overdue library book.

Start your story with a stern librarian scolding two characters for making noise in the library.

Set your story in a library, after hours.

Write about a character stumbling upon a library book that changes the course of their life, for better or worse.

Contest #91

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

769

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: