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

“Ethics Class” by Jennifer Stowell

Submitted to Contest #223

Why am I the only one here? I never see any of my classmates studying anywhere, yet they all seem to be doing so well in their classes. This thought is how Juliet starts most of her library visits lately. Although not every person needs to study as intensely as she does, Juliet has been noticing more and more that the university library is usually empty. She can be there early in the morning, midday or late in the evening, yet no one is visibly there with her except a librarian busy doing whatever librarians do. The first time she realized...

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“The Creeping Under Dunsmuir” by Benjamin Hall

Submitted to Contest #223

I am writing this in a state of fear, the kind that comes with the express knowledge that something is coming for you, and the only thing standing between you and the end was your own obsessive curiosity. My phone was lost in the abyss of unknown horrors that could've been avoided had I just shown up during office hours. Professor Liam Lasky was an English Professor at Dunsmuir University. He was perfect. I know that this will initially come off as a school girl with a crush, and maybe there is some truth to that, but my mind races with wha...

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“A Voyage With The Greeks” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #223

It shouldn’t have been there. Jed had taken books from that section before and he’d never seen a door. But there it was, at the end of the aisle, between Greek Philosophy on the left, and History of Europe on the right. A dusty old door, with peeling black paint – totally out of place in the modern library.He was thinking of going to the desk to ask old Mrs Porter about it, but then he remembered what she was like. She’d take ages to come and check, and she’d insist that Jed stick around while she did. He really couldn’t spare the time: it w...

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“Battling Metaphysicians” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #223

Reggie was in a hidden room, the tower room, then he suddenly wasn't.“I swear it’s the truth; he gave us the assignment in the tutorial last week, while you were at the doctors” said Delia, a bit too enthusiastically, “Fitz wants a two-page essay at the end of the today”, she couldn’t quite suppress a smug smile when she saw Reggie’s alarm. She flipped open her ring-binder to a neatly typed document and read the prompt out loud,” Why is the world, as a whole, as it is actually, and not otherwise?” and she managed to sound arrogant,...

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“The Joy of Reading” by DH Irving

Submitted to Contest #223

Libraries are boring. I know, simply saying something that willfully ignorant is enough to make every boomer in the world clutch their pearls in shock and disgust; but it doesn’t make it any less true. No one my age actually or willingly reads books anymore. Sure, they’re foisted upon us in the classroom, and when we’re being monitored, we thumb through the weird smelling pages as we attempt to glean whatever information we can in the most archaic and painstakingly boring way possible, but it’s not like we’re thrilled to do it. On our ow...

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“Jasm” by Candice Toney

Submitted to Contest #223

Lola sighed as she dropped her pencil onto the table. What she really wanted to do was break it in half or slam it down, but the noise to her frustration would not have been appreciated in the IUPUI campus library. Finals was just one week away before winter break and, between working a full time job and attending all her classes, that did not leave her with much time to study for the twelve credit hours she assigned herself this semester. Note to self: check for online courses next semester, she thought to herself as she grabbed her water b...

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“The Ghost of the Carolina Rediviva” by Edward Roberts

Submitted to Contest #223

** This story contains mature language. ** Prologue I stood ten feet from a skeleton, laying face down with its bony fingers against the wall. My foggy brain could not recall their anatomical designation. The skeleton was covered in dust and stone debris so it must have been here a long time. I took small measured steps, then knelt down next to it. Putting down my badge, I used two hands to clear away some cobwebs and studied the bones. Had this person died a tragic death inside this wall? It was a haunting and tormenting scene. ...

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“Ishan And The Trusted Secret Circle Of Knowledge” by M.R. Simon

Submitted to Contest #223

Meet Ishan, a twenty-three-year-old alf Italian alf Indian Oxford student. He found by accident, that's what he thought, a secret room under the institution's library. The room is completely white, Floor to ceiling, wall to wall. A round white table has been carefully placed in the middle of this white, but not blinding, space with a book on it, a fairly old brown leather-covered book. There is no apparent light in the room, but it's lit. In this round room, there are two doors, one to come in and one to get out. The door that Ishan came fro...

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“Behind the Gold Door” by Alexandria Samuelson

Submitted to Contest #223

She hated attending this. She hated attending this school, honestly. Taking her place in her seat at the back of the room, she laid her notebook on the table before her and pulled the exceptionally large book from her bag. Physics 301: Quantum Physics. This class is probably the worst she has ever taken, and hopefully never will again. Once she informed her mother and father, she had no interest in being a physicist like them. Instead, she preferred the arts. Her dream was to be an English teacher. That just so happened to be the comple...

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“Touching Time” by Kristin Satterfield

Submitted to Contest #223

In the shadow of towering bookshelves and the silent watch of ancient texts, Rowan discovered the impossible—a room untouched by time in the heart of the university library. Hidden behind a row of forgotten dissertations on metaphysical anomalies, a thin crack revealed a sliver of darkness that beckoned with the allure of forbidden knowledge. Each day, Rowan traversed the library’s labyrinthine halls, the scent of aged paper and the soft shuffle of diligent research his only companions. The Sterling University Library was a fortress of lea...

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“Keep Reading” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #223

What am I doing here? Sherry thought to herself, slotting yet another large, old book into its place on the scuffed metal shelf. With the squeak of rusty wheels, she pushed the cart a few feet farther down the aisle, paused to check her list, then hefted another heavy tome up onto the shelf. As she slid it into place, a puff of dust arose, billowing into her face. She backed away, coughing. This was awful, and totally not worth the extra credit toward her journalism major. Sherry paused in her work, catching her breath again, and looked aro...

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“Who ate Carl?” by Aditya Narain

Submitted to Contest #223

Carl's mother used to say, "Curiosity doesn't kill the cat. Instead, it becomes a superposition of various phases." No doubt she was a theoretical physicist, well versed in the quantum realms and the Holy Book of Principia Mathematica, but Carl only understood its meaning now.Or did he? Because till the end of the horizon, there was utter, complete darkness. Even the grim reaper would hesitate to merge with this opalescent void of nothingness. Maybe she was highlighting the probabilities of all possible outcomes he would take to navigate out...

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“The Onyx Mind” by Danielle Thompson

Submitted to Contest #223

Jessie had entered the university library under the pretense of work, but if she was being honest with herself, she had come to find a place to cry. The campus buzzed with the stress of year end exams, papers and projects, and on this particular evening it had boiled over and her eyes brimmed at the thought of her own incompetence. The old librarian glanced over her spectacles as Jessie hurried past the front desk, her backpack nearly knocking over a stack of fliers. She cast her eyes down, afraid to look at anyone, afraid her tears might be...

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“Dropouts of Mr. Lakeland’s Class” by Megan Bacher

Submitted to Contest #223

“Shhhhhhh.” The librarian whispers loudly, bringing her crooked finger up to her mouth, as she passes our table in long uneven strides. Her black robe is draped too far over her head making her look like a lost ghost. Kaylin giggles silently as I gag, wiping away the spit droplets that now lay on my stack of papers. It’s disgusting, I mouth with a smile slipping through my lips. Kaylin and I had spent the past four hours in old rustic wooden chairs that were in desperate need of some cushions. We both have three finals this week...

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“Magic Unleashed - A Tale of Blackgate University” by Rebecca Kohles

Submitted to Contest #223

Chapter 1 “What do you think about the Black Masque Ball next week? Want to go as friends?” I was silent for a moment, holding my breath while waiting for an answer, then added while shrugging and inwardly wincing, “It could be fun.” It was my feeble attempt to take our friendship a step deeper by inviting my one and only friend to the school's morbid effort at a social gathering. Each of us had been thrust into the rigors of academia at Blackgate University, and I thought the event might be a nice break from our studies. Neither of us w...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 77 stories

“Ethics Class” by Jennifer Stowell

“The Creeping Under Dunsmuir” by Benjamin Hall

“A Voyage With The Greeks” by PJ Town

“Battling Metaphysicians” by Luca King Greek

“The Joy of Reading” by DH Irving

“Jasm” by Candice Toney

“The Ghost of the Carolina Rediviva” by Edward Roberts

“Ishan And The Trusted Secret Circle Of Knowledge” by M.R. Simon

“Behind the Gold Door” by Alexandria Samuelson

“Touching Time” by Kristin Satterfield

“Keep Reading” by Ian Gonzales

“Who ate Carl?” by Aditya Narain

“The Onyx Mind” by Danielle Thompson

“Dropouts of Mr. Lakeland’s Class” by Megan Bacher

“Magic Unleashed - A Tale of Blackgate University” by Rebecca Kohles

🌟 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: