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

Posted in Mystery on Jan 20, 2023

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✍️ 50 stories

“Imaginary Big Sister” by Katharine Johns

Submitted to Contest #182

“Meredith,” Her mother called through her daughter's closed bedroom door, “I have a meeting this morning and we're having company over this evening so I need some help around the house. Will you please change out the bathroom towels?” Meredith had to pause in the middle of getting dressed, take a deep breath in, and let it out as smoothly as she could. “...sure,” she answered, keeping her protestations to herself, and dutifully went about the task. She brought the dirty laundry downstairs and headed into the kitchen to have her breakfast...

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“Fade Away” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #182

“I hate you!” Poppy spat the words out at her mother. If she had been a foot closer she would have lashed out with her hand too. She wanted to hurt her mother. Her mother deserved it. The words were said and then she was stomping off up the stairs to her bedroom. Poppy had never said those three little words before. Those words were a culmination of a whole host of other words. Words that she drew to her and nurtured until they were dark and sharp enough to be thrown at her parents to hurt them as much as was possible. Her parents we...

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“Diary of an Abominable Snowman” by Joel Wilson

Submitted to Contest #182

New Year’s Eve’s Eve turned out to be a lackluster day. Tomorrow is the holiday party, but I could care less. I spent the last eight hours in a 70-pound abominable snowman costume waving to kids and sweating my ass off.See, when I’m not at work, I spend hours on the phone with this girl, Annie. I don’t know how she has time for her alleged boyfriend when she spends every waking second texting or Facetiming me. I’m at my wit’s end here. I’ve been single for nearly a year, and I finally found a girl that gets me, like really understands me. No...

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“Eyes” by Lord Anton

Submitted to Contest #182

This story contains themes of mental health, physical violence and suicide. Have you ever felt life has become too much to deal with, so much so, you wish you could just disappear? I guess everyone feels like that from time to time; hell, I feel like that right now. It has been a week since the horrible accident occurred and strangely nothing has changed. No one has even come by my apartment to speak with me about it; not a single knock upon my door. Everything seems to be fine at least that’s what I desperately want to believe. That...

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“The Unseen World of Abigail Dunn” by Michelle Caruso

Submitted to Contest #182

Abigail Dunn's fingers danced across the keypad in a wild frenzy. Her best friend's home security system delivered the promised piercing ring after her third unsuccessful try, somehow freeing the proper code from the dark corner of her mind in which had been hiding. She exhaled a sigh of relief and went back out the back door, putting the extra key back where it belonged—under the flowerpot. She paused for a moment before returning inside and reconsidered this plan of hers. In a matter of seconds, the events of the day began to flood her mi...

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“Disappeared” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #182

Here I sit, awaiting arraignment for something I would never do, could never do, but it happened; she disappeared. The she I’m talking about is Terry, my flaky, unreliable roommate and science lab partner. She’s one of those people who don’t have to study, and I can’t stand her. She acts like her hippie parents. Nothing phases her. She has no sense of space; everything is cool and groovy, or don’t have a cowman. I did threaten to make her disappear from the world once when she pushed up on my boyfriend, but I didn’t think it would be the las...

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“It's a Wonderland Life” by Erin Dydek

Submitted to Contest #182

"Ugh, why do I keep screwing everything up!" "Allison, you don't keep screwing everything up." "Yes, I do! I gave Mrs. Johnson an allergen-filled sandwich, awkwardly invited a cashier to my trading card group, and embarrassed myself in front of Spencer Greenfield." "The Spencer Greenfield?" asked Mom. "Of course, the Spencer Greenfield. Who else?" "Oh, it's not as bad as you're making it seem. I'm sure–," said Mom, but Allison was already halfway out the door. Allison's footsteps echoed on the sidewalk as she stormed off to her f...

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“Susan's not ready for the end of the world.” by Jane Summers

Submitted to Contest #182

‘Hello, Susan.’I groan under my breath. It’s Cathy. My head lowers, stretching the back of my neck and my shoulders shrink in. I grit my teeth, preparing for the worse.She bounces towards me with a wide smile, blonde, blue-eyed, and bubbly.Today Cathy’s hair is styled in an artfully designed messy bun. The oversized black waistcoat compliments her oyster silk shirt. Loose trousers are rolled up at the bottom. She is cool, edgy. The flat, silver-pink brogues, sans socks, finish her look.In comparison, I am drab and insignificant. Not that I c...

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“On the Run” by Alexis Meade

Submitted to Contest #182

Raindrops plunked on the metal roof of Audrey’s slightly beaten-up Forester as it idled in the gravel driveway, and she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Her mind wandered. She shuffled through various aspects of her life – her job, her house, Autumn – never stopping on any one long enough to put it into context or remind herself that almost none of it means anything anymore. Except Autumn. __ One and a half years earlier Autumn’s caramel skin glistened in the sunlight as the two women sauntered over to an open bench in the park. ...

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“Disappeared in the Tenebris” by Tamena Moultrie

Submitted to Contest #182

Dishes piled up, juice on the floor, food on the table leftover from last night, someone is crying. Inhaling a deep breathe Ashley mumbles, "Good morning," while shaking her head. But see this is the normal now in her household, especially since she's mentally checking out. A husband and three children later, she's becoming so disconnected she just wants to disappear...she wishes that often. She's thought about leaving, but where would she go? Somehow she managed to run through her savings so no rainy day fund. Trying to escape to a place th...

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“How to Dissappear” by Andrés Marticorena Hillman

Submitted to Contest #182

“Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.” -Unknown Never take your own existence for granted. I mean, think about it. Being born is the luckiest thing to happen to every one of us—yet all of us have done it; this naturally creates an atmosphere of indifference and even dissatisfaction with life and can lead some to throw away the luck that has been given to them. Like me. It wasn’t like anything bad happened that day. But by then, it didn’t matter if something happened; I had alrea...

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“parable of the ghost” by V. H. Yang

Submitted to Contest #182

There’s a line from a poem by felon-turned-poet Reginald Dwayne Betts I can never forget: Sometimes, there is nothing— just days and their ruthless abundance. I don’t remember anything else from the poem. In fact, I don’t even know the poem’s title. The only reason why I know the poet’s name is because we read his book in ninth grade English while learning citations, and since my teacher was a perpetually-bitter adult who enjoyed torturing fourteen-year-olds, we wrote them by hand. My point is, I don’t have any real connect...

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“Dear Diary” by Alyssa Fyfe

Submitted to Contest #182

*This story contains mention of deteriorating mental health and suicide.* Excerpt from Diary, Volume 1: August 5th, 2006 I had a lot of fun today! Mom took me to the park. Guess what? I got all the way across the monkey bars all by myself! Mom wanted to hold me up, but I told her I could do it alone. She waited for me at the end and smiled big when I got to the other side. She was proud of how brave I am. I’m getting really strong. &...

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“Leg Day” by Don Tucker

Submitted to Contest #182

It was true, he was sleeping with her. For months in fact. Hector Torres would sit with percolating anticipation on his days off, which were Sunday and Monday. Like clockwork, right around six in the morning, his phone would vibrate with his favorite text of the week. Sometimes it would just be a simple Now. Other times, when her window was larger, it might say Come now but u need to be gone by 11. And on the days when words were not good enough, he would receive a picture that would nearly make his impatient twenty-two-year-old erection sho...

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“Disappearance of Randall Marks” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #182

He made a mistake, the kind of mistake that will get you killed. The men he took the money from were not known for their compassion or forgiveness. In the rolling hills of Sonoma County that is covered with grape vines, Randall Marks found the money in a car he thought was abandoned, when he was walking home on this dirt road, he saw a Ford Impala parked on the side of the road near a family vineyard. When he opened the door, he saw the driver slumped over with a red dot on his forehead. The red dot was an entry wound.&nbsp...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 50 stories

“Imaginary Big Sister” by Katharine Johns

“Fade Away” by Jed Cope

“Diary of an Abominable Snowman” by Joel Wilson

“Eyes” by Lord Anton

“The Unseen World of Abigail Dunn” by Michelle Caruso

“Disappeared” by Kimberly Walker

“It's a Wonderland Life” by Erin Dydek

“Susan's not ready for the end of the world.” by Jane Summers

“On the Run” by Alexis Meade

“Disappeared in the Tenebris” by Tamena Moultrie

“How to Dissappear” by Andrés Marticorena Hillman

“parable of the ghost” by V. H. Yang

“Dear Diary” by Alyssa Fyfe

“Leg Day” by Don Tucker

“Disappearance of Randall Marks” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

🌟 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 a story where someone’s paranoia is justified.

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 🏆

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