Start your story with a student discovering a hidden room in a university library.

Posted in Mystery on Nov 3, 2023

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✍️ 77 stories

“Truth” by Aureliano Giano

Submitted to Contest #223

Julian blinked awake to the hum of silence, surrounded by the monolithic shelves of the university library. The familiar musty scent of books lingered, yet the absence of the fluorescent lighting cast an unfamiliar pall over the room. Confusion gripped him; it wasn't like the librarians to a forget a student during their nightly rounds.Rising from his scattered notes, Julian's gaze landed on a sliver of amber light seeping from a gap in the wall - an anomaly in the architecture he'd memorized over countless study sessions. Drawn to the light...

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“Behind Closed Doors” by Hayden Gabrilska

Submitted to Contest #223

It was my first year at Mason University, known for its horror stories and urban legends. I did not come here for that reason; in fact, I did not wish to entertain the idea of the truth behind those stories. But the superstition found me, anyway. It seemed as if once every class, a student would bring up an unnatural account from the night before. And the teachers always bared the same response: nerves, and then, denial. Words may have been enough to fool other students, but body language told me more. The teachers were hiding something, and...

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“346a” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #223

Like a true nerd, Rue was caught up in her pysch textbook and had lost all track of time. #easily distractible. She cursed as she looked at her watch. And cursed again for good measure. She crammed the volume in her backpack and threw it over her right shoulder where it thumped heavily against her back and sprinted for the library doors. #lateforworkagain. She had found a grassy spot in the sunshine and was soaking up some Vitamin D while exploring the vast expanse of the human brain. Rue had been promised that her general ed classes at...

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“Professor Hawthorne's Hidden Chamber” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #223

"I have A Ouija Board." Meghan pulled it out from under her bed. We were both undergraduates at Hopkins University in Barton, Indiana, sharing A room in the dormitories. "My parents would have A fit if they could see this." She shook my head as she closed my biology textbook. Studying seemed suddenly out of the question. Once Meghan got an idea in her head, it was hard to talk her out of it and to be honest, I needed A distraction. Biology made my mind foggy. "I got something from my boyfriend Clint after class." S...

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“The Cost of Magic” by Amanda Stone

Submitted to Contest #223

One. The library sat in eerie silence as if the hands of time had coiled around the ancient shelves, and the air was thick with the scent of parchment and the forgotten wisdom of the ages. Aria's footsteps barely made a sound as she ventured deeper into the corridors, her heart driven by an inexplicable force. It was like an invisible thread, woven with ancient secrets, had entwined itself around her heart, urging her forward. In the dim light of the flickering candle, she discovered an unassuming door, its wood weathered by countless years....

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“The Celestial Odyssey” by Zachary Marsh

Submitted to Contest #223

Samuel Hawthorne, a lanky figure with unruly curls and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, had always felt an invisible pull towards the arcane and the unknown. His roots in the small town of Hawthorne Hollow, steeped in familial traditions of stargazing, had laid the foundation for a cosmic journey that would intersect with the venerable halls of Harvard in ways he could never have anticipated. It was during Samuel's sophomore year, a seemingly ordinary evening in the labyrinthine corridors of Widener Library, that the course of his aca...

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“Burning the Midnight Oil” by Jorge Soto

Submitted to Contest #223

“Smack” The book was folded closed without marking the page. Another was grabbed and opened. The volumes on the table were stacked like a pile of fresh pancakes. People always picture scholars sitting there in a dim library with a stack of books, and although it’s almost exactly what the reality looks like for those pursuing law, the method of how these books became stacked differs entirely from what one might expect. The 25 year old graduate stufent named Anthony, couldn’t seem to find the exact case and year of a certain trial he was meani...

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“Room with a View” by Terri Tryp

Submitted to Contest #223

A Room With a View by Tryp Vaughntain Studying hard can have its downfalls. They never tell you that all that studying, working late into the night on assignments for class and barely sleeping or eating can take a toll on a young person’s mind and body. They only tell you that you must study and work hard of you want to succeed in life. There are some of us that don’t make it that far. One person is Sarah. She had worked so hard to get into Harvard all her life. High school seemed like a breeze for her, but she had no social life cause all ...

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“In Hell” by Stefan Gonzalevski

Submitted to Contest #223

In Hell "I have a hard time believing this. That sounds insane." Adrian stroked his thin, utmost fashionable moustache and sat deeper in the armchair. In front of him, on a chair, Damian leaned forward. "I don't make this up." He looked at Chris, seated on the arm of the armchair, then at Caroline, on the sofa, and back to Adrian. Around them, the wooden walls of the student common room seemed to listen. The fire was hesitantly cracking, not to miss a word. "And you could go inside?" Damian straightened up. "It was impossible at...

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“The Lost Manuscript of Edinburgh” by Danielle Lesin

Submitted to Contest #223

I ventured along the cobblestone pathways of Edinburgh, where fresh ivy cascaded down the walls of these centuries-old fortresses. I marveled at all that I could see and smell as I trod closer to the University of Edinburgh, each step awakening a deeper sensation of awe. I expected to enter with some trepidation, overwhelmed by the vast storehouse of knowledge that had been beyond me; instead, I found solace in this place, an oasis from our busy contemporary world. As a student of Celtic Studies, I was invited into those historic chambers an...

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“Room 376” by Debra Demars

Submitted to Contest #223

Lisa juggled the armload of books she was holding, praying if the weight were more evenly distributed the books would be easier to carry. I hate Wednesdays she thought-- as she continued down the stairs to the Library and Archives department. --Room 376 here I come- she muttered to no one in particular. Three more weeks of this. Three more chances to break my neck on these stairs. Her college transcript was high on academics and low on service, the Dean of Academics had informed her with his usual sour&...

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“The Lost Chamber of Knowledge: Unveiling Secrets in the University Library” by Ryan Middleton

Submitted to Contest #223

In the heart of the sprawling university campus, the library stood as a monument to knowledge, its massive stone walls exuding an air of wisdom accumulated over centuries. For Andrew, a diligent history major with a hunger for adventure, this place was not just a center of learning but an uncharted territory brimming with the potential for discovery. Over the years, Andrew had spent countless hours within the library's grand halls, poring over dusty tomes, crumbling manuscripts, and hidden treasures. He felt an inexplicable connection to t...

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“Bright room, Dark room” by CD H

Submitted to Contest #223

A 17-year-old girl randomly twisted the handle of a faucet in the public toilet. She did it several times but the water did not come out. Instead, the wall next to her split open, and a dim, hidden staircase leading to an unknown room showed up. She was too annoyed to notice the split wall and put her hands on the waist. She then twisted the handle harder until it popped out. Finally noticing the wall, her jaws fell open. Her body paused, and she stared at it until the water rushed out from the faucet. She thought:'Lucy Ruth, my dear se...

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“Quivira” by Elijah Rose

Submitted to Contest #223

Often the information is out there, finding it simply means asking the right questions and taking the time to look. ` The question James was asking was about pre-Indian settlement of his hometown of Quivira. Indeed, what he had previously found was this region appears to have been completely blank before 1850 when the Indians came from the west. Popular records available on the internet put American settlement at 1857 but they were wrong as James saw graves dating as early as 1840. All children, a James assumed these were the kids of early s...

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“The Tome” by Edd Baker

Submitted to Contest #223

CW: Some drug related humor, sprinkled swearing and brief disturbing imagery. Between an old, tattered hardcover of Dostoevsky‘s Crime and Punishment, and a paperback of Captain Underpants. That's where Steven said he had stashed the shroom chocolate bar. When Jeremiah had asked Steven earlier that day why he hid it in the university library of all possible places, he responded that it just made sense at the time. Jeremiah was forced to go retrieve the goods himself, Steven currently under house arrest after he came home a few...

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Start your story with a student discovering a hidden room in a university library.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 77 stories

“Truth” by Aureliano Giano

“Behind Closed Doors” by Hayden Gabrilska

“346a” by Lara Deppe

“Professor Hawthorne's Hidden Chamber” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“The Cost of Magic” by Amanda Stone

“The Celestial Odyssey” by Zachary Marsh

“Burning the Midnight Oil” by Jorge Soto

“Room with a View” by Terri Tryp

“In Hell” by Stefan Gonzalevski

“The Lost Manuscript of Edinburgh” by Danielle Lesin

“Room 376” by Debra Demars

“The Lost Chamber of Knowledge: Unveiling Secrets in the University Library” by Ryan Middleton

“Bright room, Dark room” by CD H

“Quivira” by Elijah Rose

“The Tome” by Edd Baker

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about two rival academics pursuing the same grant.

Write a story in which a jaded academic makes an unexpected, rash decision.

Write about a student reporter uncovering a university scandal.

Set your story during exam season, when tensions run high and a minor incident sends your protagonist into a panic spiral.

Contest #223

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

184

Contest entries

84

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: