You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Posted in Mystery on Oct 13, 2023

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✍️ 45 stories

“A Handful of Seeds” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #220

A wrenching hand pulls me from the comforting blackness. I don’t want to leave, but the hand is insistent; the deep night dissipates, lightens, blooms into a kind of day.And there she is, gripping my shoulder. After a few moments, her face comes into focus – a gentle face, her bright eyes fixed on mine, concerned. I smack my lips, trying to generate some saliva; my mouth’s horribly dry. She offers me a beaker of water and I drink. The cool liquid hits all the key spots – lips, tongue, throat. I sense it slipping down my gullet on its way to ...

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“Life.” by Ian Grogan

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?” Mr. Dobson had a recognizable rasp in his voice, but Jason hadn’t heard that voice in some time. “Uh, what?” Jason was confused. He had just passed out in his room and now he was back at Bridgefield, sitting at a wide table across from Mr. Dobson who was offering him some food. “Naw, I’m good,” his hoarse response caused him to swallow as he look around the room. “How did I get here?” Mr. Dobson gently set a package on top of the worn oak table and slid it across the uneven grain until it was in front of Jasons stomach....

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“As For Lynch” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #220

I received a call from dispatch: Joey Goodfray was down on the boardwalk causing some kind of commotion, but when I arrived at the harbor trail he was sitting on a bench, smoking, looking like crap, like he’d a had a few too many brewskis. I told him to put out the cigarette which he did by flicking it off the boardwalk and into the ocean, which ticked me off, but I let it go. Joey and I graduated from the same high school, a few years apart, but our paths had diverged. Cops and robbers from the same hood. He had a g...

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“Trauma Bonding” by Sylvia McDonald

Submitted to Contest #220

The girls trip I waited months for was finally here! Growing up a southern girl in Mississippi, nature was indeed calling me! After Being in New York for so long I really had begun to miss the country life. I moved to NY fresh out of high school, because I was offered my dream job before I even graduated at a very popular I.T. company called "Logic I.T". One of the youngest CFO's the company has had. Who would have thought, me, Kita Chase, would be a CFO? That was 4 years ago. My parents hated the idea of me moving A 1,000 miles away to work...

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“Eating Him” by Rachel Bunting

Submitted to Contest #220

Eating Him I’m not a day sleeper. I have to be almost dead to have that luck. On New Years Eve day, 2015, I was indeed almost that dead. We were at a dinner party that should have led straight into tipsy, midnight countdowns, yet today, a wisdom tooth was making the calls. Specifically, tooth #32, lower right molar. After I arrived and took my coat into the bedroom, the host was showing us her ice cream machine and explaining that she’d made gelato with crushed nuts in it. I was standing there, a thirty-two ...

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“Unfamiliar Ground” by Andrea Crocker

Submitted to Contest #220

“Hey!” A high pitched voice echoed in my ear. Feeling a nudge to my shoulder, I slowly opened my eyes. My cheek pressed against something hard, my nose taking in scents of stale coffee and syrup. Squinting through half open eyelids, blinded by the harsh manufactured light, a small woman stood beside me, clasping a round tray in her arms. She stared at me through teal rimmed cat-eyed glasses, wearing a stern but cautious expression. “Are you hungry, hon?” she asked, her gum smacking loudly against her teeth. I peeled my face from the sticky...

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“A journey without an end” by Arter Grim

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?” asked Edmund. “Not really.” replied Theodora as she started stretching after having been awakened. “Where are we?” she asked with her eyes still closed. “Oh, I stopped at this station for some gas. Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Theodora nodded, and the sound of a door closing was heard. She opened her eyes, but the world was still shaking and the colors were still bright, so she closed them again. She smiled. This was going to be an experience she would never forget. She always enjoyed driving on ...

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“Unfamiliar ” by Anna Komora

Submitted to Contest #220

It's much, much colder when awareness comes to her. How the temperature dropped overnight so drastically, she isn't sure, but for October, she supposes it isn't the strangest thing. Even more so since she forgot to take the throw blanket from the back of the couch to cover herself with it before lapsing into sleep. Last night had been so long, and after getting Gracie to bed, she hadn't thought about much of anything anything. Eyes still glued shut with the intention of more sleep, she drags her arm up and to the back of the sofa, in...

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“The Window” by Laura Johnston

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?” I stir uncomfortably in my sleep, wondering why I am dreaming of you again. I will your voice to go away as my skin prickles with goosebumps. “Are you hungry?” You ask again, closer this time. I squeeze my eyes shut and cover my face with my pillow as my limbs start to tremble. I thought I’d gotten away, that I had lost you forever. I thought I was free. As consciousness fights through my haze of deep sleep, I notice my pillow caressing my face. No, caressing isn’t the right word. It feels too stiff to caress. The starchy, ...

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“Losing Track” by Robert W

Submitted to Contest #220

"Are you hungry?"That’s Jay, my brother. I’ve just woken up, and he’s come into my bedroom with my birthday card and a monster pack of Snickers, my all-time, world-championship favourite. I sit up in bed. "Hell, yes", I respond. I am starving most of the time. Well, I'm sixteen. Too bad that most of the foods I like best seem to end up in one gigantic zit right in the middle of my forehead. Of course, when I fell asleep, I was twenty-four, but eating for two, hungry all the time, three months gone with a lump in my s...

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“The Longest Nap” by Laura Paul

Submitted to Contest #220

“Can you stop?!” I shouted. An incessant poking into my arm woke me up from the deepest nap I had had in years. I was seriously annoyed, especially after I had told my roommate to not wake me up unless we were being robbed or Arianna Grande was knocking on our door and asking for me. It had been a crazy few weeks of partying hard and still making it to every single class and turning in all my work. My dad had been on my case about me partying too much and I was trying to prove to him that I could do both and my grades wouldn’t suffer. OK may...

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“A Doomed Side Character? Really?” by Joseph Peck

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry, my lord?” A crisp and cultured voice cuts through the dark haze of sleep. Groggily, I open my sleep crusted eyes, blinking rapidly 2as my bleary vision is assailed by a bright light. I open my mouth to say something I don’t know what, but all that comes out is a dry rasp from a throat that feels like sandpaper. Immediately a soft hand lifts my head up from my pillow as another brings a wooden jug to my lips. “Here, drink this.” the voice says again, this time with an undercurrent of concern. I allow my lips to fall o...

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“Stairwell to Heaven ” by C.K. Adams

Submitted to Contest #220

I couldn't remember what I'd been dreaming about when I started to come around. The headache was the worst one I ever remember having. Like somebody had my head in a vice and twirled it tight then left it right there. A vaguely familiar voice trickled into the darkness, I could hear it, barely. I followed it until I was aware enough to try to open my eyelids. They were so heavy. Like they'd been closed for years."Are you hungry?" I knew the voice now. It was Mrs. Hawthorne from across the hall. Sweet old lady. I never asked her age; seemed i...

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“We all dream of ice cream” by Yevgeniy Peregudov

Submitted to Contest #220

Your mother visits you in your dreams. Her arms tight around you, a little too tight, but you don’t mind. Her lips are soft as she presses them a little too firmly to your forehead. Your father is there too, he picks you up and holds you close to his heart. Thump, thump… thump, thump, his heart always beats a tad quicker when you’re in his arms. Exacerbating his existing arrhythmia. Now you are running through the grass, your parents watch with glee as you stumble and tumble. Undeterred, you prop yourself back up on all fours. The smell of f...

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“Live For Yourself ” by Rodney Martin II

Submitted to Contest #220

Warning- This story contains brief scenes of mental health, substance abuse, and violence. The aroma of sweet pancakes fingers my nostrils as my sewn eyes burst open. “Are you hungry, handsome?” The voice sparks a sense of familiarity within me that I didn’t quite understand as my blurred vision decided to amalgamate an image before me. “You talk a lot in your sleep, you know that?” I wipe my eyes and see her. “Are we not speaking this morning, Danny?” she says with a slight pout. “No, I’m just really happy to see you.” “Hap...

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You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 45 stories

“A Handful of Seeds” by PJ Town

“Life.” by Ian Grogan

“As For Lynch” by Luca King Greek

“Trauma Bonding” by Sylvia McDonald

“Eating Him” by Rachel Bunting

“Unfamiliar Ground” by Andrea Crocker

“A journey without an end” by Arter Grim

“Unfamiliar ” by Anna Komora

“The Window” by Laura Johnston

“Losing Track” by Robert W

“The Longest Nap” by Laura Paul

“A Doomed Side Character? Really?” by Joseph Peck

“Stairwell to Heaven ” by C.K. Adams

“We all dream of ice cream” by Yevgeniy Peregudov

“Live For Yourself ” by Rodney Martin II

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character walking through a desert landscape, when they stumble across something unexpected. “That shouldn’t be there,” they muse.

You arrive at a destination you promised an old friend you’d visit after they passed, only to find them there too.

As a child you’re helping your grandparent bake. When you’re sent to the pantry to fetch an ingredient, you discover something odd.

Begin your story with a protagonist taking shelter under a bridge during a thunderstorm. An animal scurries past which shouldn’t exist. Against their better judgment, they decide to follow it out.

Contest #220

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

129

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: