Write a story that hides something from its reader until the very end.

Posted in Mystery on Dec 22, 2023

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✍️ 101 stories

“WIRED” by Michael Markoff

Submitted to Contest #230

Julie had never seen anything like it. A bloody mess, as her engineer father would say. There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the mechanism as if it was deliberately constructed to confuse anyone with a sense of logic and precision. That was her initial impression, the reflexive “Holy shit” muttered before she could head it off. The team was within earshot and she didn’t need anything to undermine their tenuous confidence in her. They were nervous enough as it was. She rotated her head enough to see the group of men exchanging anxiou...

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“Frosty” by Frankenwayne Frankenwayne

Submitted to Contest #230

Frosty The small town had been blanketed heavily by snow during the night. You could feel the excitement in the air when all the neighborhood kids heard the news, "No school today!" My wife and I got the kids all dressed up, then turned them loose to play in the snow. There was still a dark layer of clouds, that looked like it would snow again any minute now. We closed the door and headed for that first cup of coffee. Most the neighborhood kids were in our front yard rolling up snow for a snowman. "Hey John." A br...

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“Philip's Family” by JJ Piggott

Submitted to Contest #230

** This story contains sensitive content (mental health, trauma, violence), one use of strong language. It was time we got out of the house. I proposed that we go fishing at the old spot my father used to take me when I was younger. It was the perfect outing to spend quality family time together. Just me, Julia, Allie, and Leo. Julia told me from the start after picking Allie up from the camp that we’d need to spend as much quality time together as we could before she’d move on. I didn’t know if she was talking about college or not. Allie ...

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“Johnny & Mary” by Savannah Campbell

Submitted to Contest #230

A click and snap of a ballpoint pen brings Johnny’s attention forward and away from the window. A small stream of light tries to sneak through the space between the blind and the sill. “How has today been so far?” The older man asks, a hand hovering his papers, ready to write. “Did they tell you to ask me first?” Johnny’s voice has a touch of edge to it, “The people planning the end of the world know ...

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“Missing her. ” by Sammy Courtney

Submitted to Contest #230

Another cold morning. Another rude awakening by the sunlight. My house is full of windows, and on a sunny day like this, the rooms are filled with radiant sun; the opposite of how I’m feeling. Empty. Oh! What a terrible day it is. I don’t even know the last time I’ve ever been this sad. I can’t even bring myself to get out of bed. Not since she left me. I will just lay here, hoping my love will come back to me. I haven’t left the house in days? Weeks? Months? I’m not even sure anymore. It’s also been that long since I’ve seen anyone. I...

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“Summer Rain” by C.N. Jung

Submitted to Contest #230

It was cold. It was so terribly cold. The kind of biting chill that digs into skin like a hoard of terrible worms. Worms that burrow under flesh; stinging, burning, and twisting through bone and tissue alike. Water dribbled from the roof above me. It splashed against my head and popped against my nose. It wasn’t warm water, like raindrops in the summer. It was water moments away from hardening into dots of ice. The floor was a layer of smooth stone. The stone soaked up the miserable freeze of the atmosphere around it and shot it back up in...

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“The Delicious Fortunes of Master Waffles.” by Jodie Rawle

Submitted to Contest #230

“Welcome! Welcome, Master Waffles. My name is Esmeralda the Great. Let's read your fortune shall we?’ A small figure appeared in the dark doorway wearing a lime green turban covered in gold star stickers. Her hands jangled with oversized bangles, as she led the portly ginger boy from the quiet hallway into a room that smelled of play dough, cheap perfume and something else. Something delicious, he couldn’t quite place. The curtains had been yanked over the morning sun, casting an eerie green and blue hue across ...

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“The Green Flash” by Daniel Ward

Submitted to Contest #230

The Green Flash By Dan Ward The rooster must have eaten a chili this morning. He sat on Carl’s unscreened window sill and crowed like he owned the morning. At the first flicker of morning light, the beautiful but totally moronic bird crammed his noise into Carl’s unwelcoming ears like an old guy on a Harley. “Asshole,” Carl muttered, cracking an eye. It was Monday, the day after Rita’s cleaning day. Three days a week, Maria cleaned his house, which was three rooms in a concrete shell on the edge of the sandy bay known as Boca de T...

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“The Lunatic ” by CLAIRE MOORE

Submitted to Contest #230

The town bore and fatigued the man, a vagrant with dwindled hope and tattered boots. The air blew with an indifferent bite, flittering along his skin as a keen reminder of impending conditions. He sat with his back against a telephone pole, shuffling fragments of frayed paper in his callused hands. He pondered. Transient thoughts, captured visions, phone numbers, and names were recalled as he sought direction, numbing in the hurried wind. Winter was coming with haste, with hunger, void of sympathy, tinting his nose pink and ruffling grey whi...

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“Fluffy Talk” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #230

"So Darling, take me back to the very beginning." "This doesn't come easy, talking to you like this would be considered a sign of weakness in our family . . . I just feel so humiliated . . . It's hard. For someone like me. You know?" "Ok Darling, here comes the fluffy talk. I know it might seem hard to go there. I'm here to support you without judgment. I'm here to listen. If you need to stop at any point or feel uncomfortable, we can take a break any time. There's no right or wrong here. Just you sharing with me, blah, blah,...

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“Who am I ?” by Vanessa Severino

Submitted to Contest #230

It's true to say, I (secret character) wasn't born in your era. I (secret character) somehow missed out on communicating through a rotary phone, until the phone clicked, indicating there was an important call on the other line, requiring me to cut the conversation short. I (secret character) do not know what it is like to fight over the remote. as siblings argue who gets to watch their favorite show that evening. I own both my own phone, as well as my own tv. Even if I (secret character) was to miss my favorite program, there is a thing ...

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“Flight of Fantasy ” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #230

Jean-Luc was a man of many fantasies.His most persistent ones were somewhat delusional and had begun early in his life. He had been a quiet child, somewhat introverted and yet had a way of firmly holding stage center. When he was quite young, his parents began to be concerned about the slightly kinky nature of his narratives and often tried to temper his stories of murder and mayhem. They weren’t very successful.Time passed and Jean-Luc gradually learned to reign in his imagination. The look of shock and horror on his aud...

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“Afterwards” by April Zachman

Submitted to Contest #230

The door slammed shut behind her, and she leaned against it. Her bag hung limply from her fingers, hitting the floor before she did as her back slid down the length of the door. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face. Just breathe. In, one two three four, out, one two three four five six seven, in… After only two rounds of this, she heard the click clack of nails against the wooden floor and felt as a cold, wet nose pushed its way between her folded arms and pressed itself against her face. Despite herself, she le...

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“And the Journey was, and is, My Life” by Marilyn Karr

Submitted to Contest #230

I was born into a family of 12. When I was six weeks old, I was adopted out so I never knew my parents. Luckily, my new mum offered me a multitude of opportunities. Living at the beach afforded me the liberty to socialize with many others and we would often times play ball on the sand. At other times, I soak my body in the ocean and then lollygag in the pools of water lying on the sandy beach. I became an athlete in my youth. She enrolled me in prowess and sure-footed classes. With speed and agility, soon I competed in a series of obst...

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“A Lost Friend” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #230

A LOST FRIEND The last time I saw Marise was in Paris during the spring of 1971. Something happened then that is still not clear in my mind, or at least what I have left of my mind. Something that, to this day, I cannot forget. Winter stayed long that year, reaching well into May, leaving mounds of dirty snow in shaded areas of the city. A chill even pervaded sunny ...

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Write a story that hides something from its reader until the very end.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 101 stories

“WIRED” by Michael Markoff

“Frosty” by Frankenwayne Frankenwayne

“Philip's Family” by JJ Piggott

“Johnny & Mary” by Savannah Campbell

“Missing her. ” by Sammy Courtney

“Summer Rain” by C.N. Jung

“The Delicious Fortunes of Master Waffles.” by Jodie Rawle

“The Green Flash” by Daniel Ward

“The Lunatic ” by CLAIRE MOORE

“Fluffy Talk” by Phil Manders

“Who am I ?” by Vanessa Severino

“Flight of Fantasy ” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

“Afterwards” by April Zachman

“And the Journey was, and is, My Life” by Marilyn Karr

“A Lost Friend” by David D'EttoreUser

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story framed by a single scene: something happens, a flashback or inner monologue intervenes, and then the story ends with the rest of the original scene.

Write a story in which a character achieves a new level of clarity about how they’re really feeling.

Start your story with someone uttering a very strange sentence.

Write a story in the form of a list.

Contest #230

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

362

Contest entries

108

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: