Write a story that involves a mystery — it doesn't need to be crime-related, it should just include something that remains unexplained until the end.

Posted in Mystery on Jun 26, 2021

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✍️ 206 stories

“The Empty Town ” by Eunmi Kim

Submitted to Contest #51

When I woke up, my head was spinning. I was on my bed, but when I sat up, I realized how messy my room was. Everything was scattered on the floor. The picture frames I hung on my wall were shattered and all over the floor as well. I slowly got up from the bed, careful not to step on any shards of glass. I remembered nothing. I couldn't find any reasons for my room to be THAT messy. I wouldn't do those to my room, even when I'm mad. Did a robber break into my home? I frantically searched for my purse under the clutter and found it u...

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“Bloody Orange” by Alysha Santos

Submitted to Contest #51

“So, what were the rules again?” The children were sitting knee to knee on the floor of the drawing room whilst the adults gathered in the room next door to talk of more ‘important’ things. Sandy repeated her question, nudging at her young cousins to answer her. “We all close our eyes, one of us has to be chosen as the killer.” “Killer?” Whined Charles. At eight, he was the youngest of the lot and in turn, the most likely to be ignored. “And then,” James continued with little regard to his younger brother. “We all walk around the room a...

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“Within The Walls” by Michelle Williams

Submitted to Contest #51

Mallory drove by her old house slowly. The new owners had painted the house a light coffee color it reminded her of a cup of coffee with too much creamer not quite brown but darker than beige the trim reminded her of dark chocolate and the front yard was full of overgrown shrubs. The house looked sad like it knew about the sadness that had occurred within its walls. Mallory missed and hated her old house it was a house she bought all by herself the house she raised her child in the house she had hoped to raise more children in. The house she...

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“The Stairway to Heaven” by Peter Stott

Submitted to Contest #51

The ‘Stairs’ was, in my day, a climbers pub. After a long day on the hills, someone said, “Fancy a pint?” there was only one place to head for, The Stairway to Heaven. Set at the head of a valley on the edge of an old quarry it was an imposing building. Originally a private house, it was now a pub with rooms. Why the name? The name refers to a narrow set of steps that had been cut into the quarry wall leading from the quarry floor up to the front of the old house. The steps ended quite dramatically leaving about seven metres of sheer rock up...

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“The case of the Missing Fountain-Pen” by Ankur Dhiman

Submitted to Contest #51

It wasn’t the first time I have had helped someone retrieving a stolen item. Navodya High School is a treacherous place. If you want to survive here, you have to go back to the basic primal instincts of an animal. Stealing here can be roughly translated to normal. Every here and then, something, belonging to someone goes missing—from hostels, classrooms, laboratories, mess-halls, you name it. Someone liked your belonging; it can go missing within a blink of an eye. You have had a fight with someone, you are sure to lose something precious ...

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“View Twister” by Dacie Zook

Submitted to Contest #51

Day 1It's been a week since the accident. Dr.Lou told me to keep a journal, so here it goes. Today I did nothing. I ate a bag of salt and vinigor potato chips, and watched All Dogs Go to Heaven. I try my best not to think about that night. EVER.Day 5I lied. I think about it all the time. The screams, the gun shots. It's never too far from my mind. Sometimes when a neighbor comes over at night, I hide. I know I'm supposed to be sleeping, but sleep doesn't come, not without the nightmares.Day 7Dr.Lou said my journal isn't descriptive enough. I...

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“Strange Origin” by Fred Sayin

Submitted to Contest #51

I just recently moved to a second floor condo in the northern suburbs of Daytona Beach, FL within the last two years. After checking appliances to make sure everything is off and the environment is safe I lie down and then go to sleep. However, I soon find myself in an 18th century barn that is on fire. How did I get from Daytona Beach FL to a ranch with a barn as I don't remember anyone driving me. Young children might be guessing that maybe space aliens abducted me. I tell myself to stop the nonsensical thinking. Could that have b...

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“Krime on Kitty Kat Boulevard” by Heather W

Submitted to Contest #51

The sun hung low over Kitty Kat Boulevard, so low it felt like you could reach your hand up and snatch it out of the sky. Something that would be a common pastime for the cats of Kitty Kat Boulevard, given their proclivity for batting and snatching. Rico de Avillo didn’t have time for those kinds frivolities. He was a serious cat from a serious line of cats. He spent his days inside delighting himself in his secret stash of catnip and nursing a good cup of warm milk. It was a good life for a cat such as he. A life as a cat detective. Today h...

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“The day Lucas and I died ” by Mariane Lindemann

Submitted to Contest #51

I’m dead. Lucas Santos is dead. We died on November 5th, 2015. We were among the seventeen people who died in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, the burst dam that released toxic mud and caused destruction throughout 500km of land and water. That day began like the past seven days had, with that sick, tight feeling in my stomach. Lucas felt the same. What was I going to do about Ana? I decided I was going to give her an ultimatum, so I got up from my bed, trying not to wake my brothers and headed for the small kitchen, in the...

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“The Painter” by Patti Foley

Submitted to Contest #51

The Painter By Patti Foley The building where I work was built during the great depression in the 1930’s. It was once a warming house for ice skaters on the pond in the park. It is now a senior center/recreation center. Rumor has it that the building is haunted. They say a man has been seen walking around the building. He’s wearing paint stained clothing and is carrying a paint bucket and brushes. It seems that he walks into the room with the high cathedral ceiling, looks around then disappears....

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“My name is Lara” by Fatima Faisal

Submitted to Contest #51

"Move out immediately! Get to the former location that child was at and restrict any by passers who seem 'curious' about the situation!" I quicken my graceful pace with my team right behind me. "If I'm right, then that child should still be in his home," a subordinate officer from behind me commented in a light whisper making me instantly snap my head towards his fleeting direction. "Contact the city's borders and make sure to tell them to inspect every car passing," I glare at him intensely with a murderous look, "You never know WHERE he mi...

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“Until That Day!” by Suzanne Urowitz

Submitted to Contest #51

It was Niagara Falls 2010. It's a small town everyone knows everyone. People are really polite almost all the time. Every morning I go down to the coffee shop at the corner to do my work. I always saw the same people. We became friends. Then on weekends I would stay home with my dog. I just went out to shop and walks. I liked staying home. Getting everything organized from the past week. I live in a one bedroom apartment. Well condominium building. It's pretty quiet most of the time, you can here the neighbors taking out garbage. I've lived ...

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“On the Forest's Edge” by Ema Fancher

Submitted to Contest #51

Once upon a time, a village sat on the edge of a forest and lived in peace with the magical creatures who inhabited it. Villagers never ventured into the forest. Likewise, the creatures never ventured out of the forest. Only one was exempt from this unspoken rule, the Tooth Fairy. The villagers allowed the Tooth Fairies to enter the village at night to exchange children’s lost teeth for tiny trinkets. In return, the creatures of the forest provided the villagers with a small grove in which they were allowed to hunt and to chop wood. Thus the...

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“The Haunting of Atterbury Manor” by Sadie Black

Submitted to Contest #51

The estate of Mme. Robichaux, neé Atterbury, was situated at the apex of a small rise which one could not quite call a hill, and was surrounded by an ancient forest carrying nearly as much weighty tenebrosity as the manor itself. Holmes and I had been invited to a luncheon one Friday afternoon by the lady of the house herself, and though I understood the social value of attendance, my companion did not. "Why you insisted upon dragging me to the home of a newlywed socialite is beyond me, Watson." I knew well enough to deny him a res...

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“The Dance of Romance: A Valentine's Day Mystery” by MaryAnn Green

Submitted to Contest #51

"What does it say? Is it about the Valentine's Day dance this weekend?" said Lizzy to one of her best friends, Em – whose real name was Emma - over the noisy chatter in the lunch room. "C'mon, read it out loud." said Charlotte, Emma’s other bff who went by the nickname Charlie. "Sheesh! Give me a second to unfold it.” Em giggled. “You'd think it was a marriage proposal or something." They were all eager to find out what was inside the note that had been left on Em’s desk just before lunch that Monday prior to Valentine's D...

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Write a story that involves a mystery — it doesn't need to be crime-related, it should just include something that remains unexplained until the end.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 206 stories

“The Empty Town ” by Eunmi Kim

“Bloody Orange” by Alysha Santos

“Within The Walls” by Michelle Williams

“The Stairway to Heaven” by Peter Stott

“The case of the Missing Fountain-Pen” by Ankur Dhiman

“View Twister” by Dacie Zook

“Strange Origin” by Fred Sayin

“Krime on Kitty Kat Boulevard” by Heather W

“The day Lucas and I died ” by Mariane Lindemann

“The Painter” by Patti Foley

“My name is Lara” by Fatima Faisal

“Until That Day!” by Suzanne Urowitz

“On the Forest's Edge” by Ema Fancher

“The Haunting of Atterbury Manor” by Sadie Black

“The Dance of Romance: A Valentine's Day Mystery” by MaryAnn Green

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Write about someone who has a superpower.

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Contest #51

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

1248

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: