A crumpled piece of paper holding an unexpected message is carried by the wind. Where did it come from, and where is it going?

Posted in Mystery on Mar 1, 2024

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✍️ 63 stories

“Bagong Taon (New Year)” by Zephýr B

Submitted to Contest #240

December 27th, 1:09 PMWind PaperThe spirit of the windguides a piece ofpaper softly to awindow sill,where I am sitting.I feel the smoothlines in the paper,as though it hadbeen crumpledup several times,and then finallyreopened.On the paper wasa story, not with words,or sound, or atelevision screen,but a story of pictures.The first picture is of araven, soaringthrough the sky.It has a slick, blackbeak, and featheredwings. It lands on apapaya tree andsteals one of theseeds. The seedsare black andslippery, likea snake eye.In its beak,it takes it...

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“Winds of Change” by K. Audrey Leto

Submitted to Contest #240

winds of change: winds/əv/CHānj/plural noun.forces that have the power to change things, used generally to mean change is going to happen.*** She sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the water as it crashed against the rocky shoreline. She had been here before, both metaphorically and physically. All of the other times that led her here- not necessarily at this exact location, but in this frame of mind- she didn’t follow through. There were different reasons each time, such as the first time she had been really hungry and her stomac...

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“Just the way the baseball crumbles!” by B. D.415

Submitted to Contest #240

It had only a been a few hours when my husband and two small children left for the weekend to visit his family up west to Middleboro, Maine. This will be the first time in nearly a year since I was left to my own devices. I could not wait to get outside and get my hands into some dirt. We had only been in our new home in Provincetown for less than three months so I was ready to explore my surroundings and make this old Cape house our own. It really was a steal having getting it at auction. Apparently, the home suffe...

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“SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDER” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #240

"Hey, Anne. H-e-l-l-o, H-e-l-l-o!" Holly yodeled down from the attic with her famous sing-song voice everyone knew from every corner of the library. Walking over to the open door, Anne's face peeked up to witness the black space above and said, "Uh, Holly? Why are you upstairs in the dark. We do have a light switch you know.""I'm just trying to see the light, Ha, ha. If you know what I mean." Holly was always one for making a dull and quiet, rainy day somewhat better. We all thought, more than once, that she should try out for the upcoming m...

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“INRI” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #240

A single iron nail holds a fluttering piece of thick, stiff parchment to an upright wooden beam. The parchment shows pale in the darkness of oncoming evening.Cold wind blows suddenly, and the parchment is torn from its anchor like a desiccated autumn leaf from its tree. The parchment drifts to the ground, but is whisked along over earth and stones dark with drying blood. Some of the substance stains the parchment. This place is empty of the living. Few living persons want to linger in this place of death. Skidding down an incl...

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“The Saltwater Note” by Yvonne Lohman

Submitted to Contest #240

Kayliegh was jogging down the beach, her long strawberry blonde ponytail was dancing in the wind, somehow glowing, even more beautiful than usual in the sunrise’s bright orange and red hues. Her tan skin, dotted with brown freckles, not too many, but just the perfect ratio of tan to brown was warm to the touch. She slowed to a stroll and smiled, looking down at her arm remembering how her gram would always trace her freckles and connect them with an imaginary line, drawing hearts, animals or writing words. She would belly laugh from the tick...

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“My Mission” by Amanda Stogsdill

Submitted to Contest #240

My Mission By Amanda Stogsdill First Morning, Beautiful Drawing It is a cloudless, sunny day. I'm at the beach lying on a blanket, which is resting on the gritty sand. The soft breeze is in a playful mood, causing the girl working on me to complain, "My paper won't stop flapping." Eventually, a rock is placed on one of my sides, holding me in place. After finishing their picture, the girl and the other children run off to play. The rock is kicked away, leaving me unprotected on the sand. Wait! Why is the wind picking up? Where is it tak...

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“Gone With the Wind” by Laurie Bodin

Submitted to Contest #240

Gone with the Wind “C’mon, boys, let’s go out for our walk,” Maggie called to her two large yellow labs as she grabbed the leashes hanging from hooks on the wall of the garage. Libby and Tucker came bounding at her eagerly, grunting and snorting, anticipating the freedom of exploring beyond the confines of their yard; glorious new smells, snow drifts to conquer, dead grass mounds and shrubbery on which to lift a leg or squat, thereby marking the territory as their own. The articulation of the simple four-letter word, ...

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“Paper Trail” by N,A,F .

Submitted to Contest #240

Chapter one A piece of paper danced on the wind like a ballerina on the stage. It went down the sidewalk, its movement swaying and flowing narrowly missing pedestrians. One man shooed it away as if it was a bug; however, this only changed its trajectory towards the new cul-de-sac being constructed. A man named Robert Evans is on top of one of the forms pouring concrete down between them from the pump truck; all his concentration on his current task as the sweet musky smell of wet concrete fills his nose. The wind changes, And the piece of p...

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“Whispers of the Wind's Regret” by Athene Elliott

Submitted to Contest #240

The wind carried the soft melody, devoid of any song, down the corridor. On the windowsill, behind an intricate family painting, was a vase of sunflowers. Looking out the window, one could see the same flowers in the meadows behind a tiny cottage. The scene was serene, calm, and peaceful, as was the elderly woman in a cosy chair gazing out of the window. A cat lay curled up in her lap, purring softly at every stroke of her hand. The clouds hadn’t blocked out the sun since the early hours of the morning, and the woman enjoyed the soft strokes...

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“Hope on the Wind” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #240

A piece of paper, crumpled and tattered, blew past her feet, fetching up against a leg of the park bench where she sat. She looked down, pulling her attention away from her laptop screen. The bit of paper rattled against the rusty metal, making her think of some poor, forlorn thing, desperately seeking any shelter it could find. Then she spotted the writing on it.“What’s this?” she murmured to herself, bending over to pick up the scrap.She smoothed it out, to find that it looked like a letter someone had started, just a greeting and a single...

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“Mystery in the Wind” by Dave Barnard

Submitted to Contest #240

Jack Thompson was cleaning up his future father-in-law’s backyard and looked out over the wide-open space beyond. It was mid-morning in mid-June and the air above the distant airport runway was beginning to shimmer in the Nevada sun. There was no breeze and yet dust devils often appeared unannounced except for the swirling dust and debris they carried along. One of them appeared across the road and seemed to whimsically waver back and forth until it spun across the road and headed straight toward Jack. It stopped only when it ...

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“Picture Perfect” by RoopKaur Khalsa

Submitted to Contest #240

Although there had been a nice, cool breeze the whole day, the crumpled paper that smacked her in the face with that sudden gust of wind was totally unexpected. It caught her so off guard in fact, as she stood posing for the picture with her family, that she didn’t even ask for a retake, despite her face being half covered by the scrap. Not that she would have asked in any other circumstances. She framed that photo, choosing to hang it by the front door. She made sure to at least glance at it when leaving for work, or going to pick up her k...

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“My Gemini ” by Marcos Argueta

Submitted to Contest #240

Hello, Alexis. I guess I'll just start this by telling you, I love you. It's crazy. We've talked a handful of times but I think there's something right here. I think you know this too. I mean why else would you kiss me. To drive me crazy? When you told me that you liked my vibes I thought you were just being kind. I like that you're nice is natural. When you laughed at my jokes, I wished I could be funny forever. It's hard being hilarious. When your fingers played with my lips and you bit the bottom one, I lost it. I'm not normal anymore. ...

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“Remembrance Road” by Jason Beech

Submitted to Contest #240

A warm cuppa, a chair with the right amount of bounce, and working from home never dissipated the knife wound in my lower abdomen. The pain had long gone, but the cold steel ghost haunted my muscles each time a car drove by my isolated house in the country.The last motor, a half-hour ago, caught me by surprise. Lost in my job, it whizzed by my attention as if it popped out of a patch of mist from another world. Shook my momentum. The wind bending every tree in the back garden and the woods beyond obscured its engine. Today, I planned on step...

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A crumpled piece of paper holding an unexpected message is carried by the wind. Where did it come from, and where is it going?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“Bagong Taon (New Year)” by Zephýr B

“Winds of Change” by K. Audrey Leto

“Just the way the baseball crumbles!” by B. D.415

“SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDER” by Debbie Curtin

“INRI” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

“The Saltwater Note” by Yvonne Lohman

“My Mission” by Amanda Stogsdill

“Gone With the Wind” by Laurie Bodin

“Paper Trail” by N,A,F .

“Whispers of the Wind's Regret” by Athene Elliott

“Hope on the Wind” by Ian Gonzales

“Mystery in the Wind” by Dave Barnard

“Picture Perfect” by RoopKaur Khalsa

“My Gemini ” by Marcos Argueta

“Remembrance Road” by Jason Beech

🌟 Similar prompts

Begin your story with the sensation of a breeze brushing against a character's skin.

Set your story on a sailboat, large or small, and entirely at the mercy of the winds.

Craft a story where a character finds themselves swept away by the wind, either physically or metaphorically.

Set your story in a lighthouse surrounded by powerful gale-force winds.

Contest #240

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

331

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: