Write a story where someone’s paranoia is justified.

Posted in Mystery on Jan 20, 2023

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✍️ 78 stories

“Careful—You’ll Slip, Fall, and Die on Those Slippery Slopes ” by Liv Chocolate

🏆 Winner of Contest #182

cw: references to sexual assault, kidnapping, and murderThe first time I crossed a street by myself—as in, without one or both of my parents present—I was seventeen. My parents warned me that the outside world was dangerous, and that, if something were to happen to me, I wouldn't know what to do. According to my parents, kidnappers, murderers, and kidnapper-murderers lurked on every corner of our small, suburban town where, statistically, my chances of becoming the victim of a violent crime were less than my chances of being allowed to ...

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“Critical Message” by V. S. Rose

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #182

Breath in. Breath out.Please pay attention. What I am about to tell you is of paramount importance.I don’t have much time before she figures it out. I know what I am about to say may be confusing, but if you listen carefully, you will make the right decision.A patter of footsteps on tile down a hallway. The world won’t be what you think it will be in the future.You see, I’m speaking to you from a time beyond your own. It hasn’t happened to you, yet.Voices, muffled through walls.You may be thinking that I am writing this messag...

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“Rural Route 12: Bev's Shoes Attend a Party” by Wendy Kaminski

Submitted to Contest #182

Allergen Warning: Profanity A pink palace in a sea of perfectly-manicured green lawn, the large "shoe-shed" at the back of Beverly Meeks’ property was a beauty to behold and a testament to depraved matrimony. Originally a mid-sized industrial chicken coop, the customized shed now held the footwear trophies of her successful behavior modification experiments on her husband, Dan, throughout the 17 years of their marriage (he remained oblivious). Yards of unending styles and colors “popped” – metaphorically – as the door opened, along with aut...

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“Save the Last Dance for Me” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #182

You look beautiful in that dress, floating under the disco lights like silver smoke. You dance in his arms, but I imagine you spooling apart, drifting out of his hold, back to me. No one else can see the ten slight pressure marks where his fingers meet the softness of your flesh, but I feel them like his hands are on me, not you. And you are smiling against his cheek, wearing a lipstick I have never seen you in, never kissed you in, before. Your first dance of the night is over and others stream onto the dancefloor as the music cranks u...

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“The Guest House” by Willa Wheeler

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #182

Carson Liao was the richest man in the world, so of course he was always being watched. Reporters were on him like flies on shit the second he stepped out in public. He had bodyguards, bulletproof windows on his limousines, and a security system so high-tech that anyone who breathed in the direction of his front gate got flagged. But this. This was different. This was a nagging feeling, a prickle at the back of his neck. It made him constantly want to glance over his shoulder. He felt it when he was in the back garden giving Gary his we...

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“Eyes in the Clouds” by Jude Ambrose

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #182

[Content warning: fantasy violence, horror, mentions of suicide] The local folk of the Phantom Stretch had always whispered of eyes in the clouds, but some kinds of terror must be suffered before they can be understood. Foolhardy wanderers paid little mind to what they called the idle chattering of superstitious forest dwellers. The gunslinger had burned the discovered corpses of a few such ignorant outsiders in her time. She’d burned friends, as well, and lost more of those than she’d burned. Some had left border towns destined for the wa...

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“Mike didn't come home last night” by Jane Andrews

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #182

“Mike didn’t come home last night.”I gaze at Mia, her lip trembling as the words escape in a jerky sob, and try to find the right platitudes to make her feel better. He loves you. He wouldn’t cheat on you. He probably just needs a bit of alone time. I know I should feel sympathy but I can’t help thinking, I told you so.The first time I met him, I knew Mike Dalton was bad news. Tall and dark with just the right amount of designer stubble and eyes that invited you to bed the moment you looked at him, he smouldered raw sexuality. He wouldn’t be...

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“And The Award Goes To…” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #182

“Welcome to the 100th Academy Awards!” Oh Jesus, what the fuck are these crappy seats? Keep smiling girl, don’t let them see your fury. You’ll be outta here in two hours tops. Although it was four hours last year but I was just a scummy plus one then so could get fuckin’ wasted. Great! There’s a camera guy right in front of me meaning I have to be on my super best behaviour, I should practice my rictus grin before they cut to me in the live show. Oh God, here comes the host, I threw water over him last time I was on his talk ...

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“Cicero and Catiline” by Daniel Allen

Submitted to Contest #182

My face burned with humiliation as the other Senators laughed and jeered at me. The entire Senate hall, or curia, as we called it, had turned against me. And the instigator of my shame? Catiline. Who else would it be? That he, an ignorant disgrace to Rome, wished to insult my reputation was no surprise. But that my fellow senators, men of honour and distinction, valued his birth and breeding over my cold logic and flawless rhetoric was a savage blow indeed.I had just completed a lengthy and thoroughly researched speech detailing why Catiline...

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“You're Unforgivable, Daddy” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #182

There’s a stain on my soul. It’s sticky, viscous, the colour of melting tar. And I can feel it spreading.On the surface, all is as it should be. The truck hums discordantly in my ears; my boots compress the pedals. The world flies past me in a dispassionate blur. Ahead, the skies and freeway are empty grey. The cargo remains silent.There’s no sensation like a stained soul. The closest I can think of is uncleanliness. Once, a woman left me and broke my heart, but even that is not comparable. That pain is dull now, smothered by the years spent...

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“The Agent, the Detective, and the Split Personality Droid” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #182

TW: Guns, swearing and misogyny.“The next demonstration is in twenty four hours,” said Agent Belle Nguyen.“Where?” Detective Arthas Jacques asked, looking away from the waves below the train.“It’s from an internal memo. They have my communicator, but they don’t know what the message says. They’re guessing the timing based on previous messages. If I was there I would know what the message says. That’s not in the memo though.” She ground her pearly teeth in frustration, thrusting a rogue hair behind her ear as if shoving a stranger out of the ...

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“The Confessor” by Alasdair Perry

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #182

MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT DATABASE Manuscripts > Digitised Manuscripts > French > XIV Century > 322-511 —----------------------------------------- ~ Access granted through your institution ~ —---------------------------------------- La Roche-Aiguille Manuscript BNF Ms-412 to 416 Date: 7-10[?] December 1316 Author: Robert of Lyon Fol. N/A Parchment, 5x pieces 250 x 340 mm. Description: Five pages, bound roughly together in the top left. Presented in order. ___________________________________________ [1] I fear th...

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“Break Those Chains” by Daniel Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #182

Cut those chains as hurtful as it may be. Killing yourself as the day passes not wanting to talk to anybody. Sorry for what you been through, sorry for the struggle. I get that you don't wanna acknowledge it. Isolating yourself in a bubble. Sorry for not helping you although there is nothing that I can do. Just making the situation worse with any word that comes out although I don't attend to. "Just save it man don't mention it. I've gone through enough yet you're piling shit." I'm just trying to help. "Help? You helping me? Sinc...

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“Dodged a Bullet” by T. C. West

Submitted to Contest #182

I chirped a whistle. Zed pounced through the clear teal water. “You catching fish girl? Hmm?” I rubbed the long fur at her neck. “You might have earned the Purple Heart, but that dog is the real piece of art,” McCall snorted and slapped Zed on the back. She fell back on her haunches and snarled at him, dashing through the sand, taking nips out of the air. “Yeesh, I don’t remember her being this feisty on duty.” Zed sneezed to let McCall know she was only playing, but he backed away a few steps. Clearly, one of my colleagues was more intell...

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“Paranoid???” by Halimah Wright

Submitted to Contest #182

She lived in a state of perpetual paranoia or so it seemed. Mama was always looking over her shoulder, peeking under the bed, locking doors and windows and huddling with us in a tiny room every night. I couldn’t understand it, we had a big house with three bedrooms and yet, every night we all huddled together in mama’s room sharing a single bed. We were six siblings and mama. Dad had left us in search of a better life, a better job, more money and the hope of giving us a better life one day.Every evening at sunset mama would hurry us indoors...

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Contest #182

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This week's theme: Feeling Watched

$250

Prize money

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Contest entries

154

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 27, 2023 EST

Won by Liv Chocolate 🏆

Title: Careful—You’ll Slip, Fall, and Die on Those Slippery Slopes

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Write a story where someone’s paranoia is justified.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 78 stories

“Careful—You’ll Slip, Fall, and Die on Those Slippery Slopes ” by Liv Chocolate

“Critical Message” by V. S. Rose

“Rural Route 12: Bev's Shoes Attend a Party” by Wendy Kaminski

“Save the Last Dance for Me” by Rebecca Miles

“The Guest House” by Willa Wheeler

“Eyes in the Clouds” by Jude Ambrose

“Mike didn't come home last night” by Jane Andrews

“And The Award Goes To…” by PJ Aitken

“Cicero and Catiline” by Daniel Allen

“You're Unforgivable, Daddy” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“The Agent, the Detective, and the Split Personality Droid” by Graham Kinross

“The Confessor” by Alasdair Perry

“Break Those Chains” by Daniel Fernandes

“Dodged a Bullet” by T. C. West

“Paranoid???” by Halimah Wright

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a home alarm system going off.

Set your story in a society where everyone is constantly aware of unwanted surveillance.

Write about a character who wishes they could just disappear — and then they do.

Start your story with someone entering a taxi and saying ‘follow that car.’

Contest #182

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

237

Contest entries

154

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: