Set your story in a place that’s frozen in time — literally or metaphorically.

Posted in Narrative on Jan 19, 2024

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✍️ 56 stories

“Don't Eat the Red Snow” by A. B. H.

Submitted to Contest #234

They say your life is supposed to flash before your eyes. The course of events from your bright bitter entry into the world, up until the moment your tether to the Earth is severed. All of this replayed in less than a second as if it were a movie or a flip book. Instead, the moment I died, or should I say the moment wherein it looks as if I’ve died, is materialized in front of me. I’m so close, that if I were alive, I’d feel the sensation of the thick, salty blood pooled at the scene of my death if I were to lick it. The thing is, in the sta...

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“Polar Night ” by Renee Yancey

Submitted to Contest #234

It wasn't obvious, not at first. The winter is always harsh, the night endless during the polar night. So, the fact that time had stopped wasn't known, not until the sun didn't rise. They came out of their homes and searched for it. It was a date long marked on their mental calendar. After months of darkness, the raising again of the sun was a day of celebration. Usually. But it didn't come. “We must be off a day.” The mayor of the little village says. His people grumble. “Yah know that ain't true. It has been March 1st since for...

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“Teenyboppers Delight” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #234

The sun was gone, and they still had no clue where the hell they were. Tamara was about fed up with it. Ben tells her they're going on this wonderful road trip to a national park, tells her it would only take about three hours of driving. They started at noon today, and they were still going six hours later. Asking him if he knew where he was going was fruitless, even to make herself feel more active in the situation, because it had become abundantly clear that he really didn't. That asking it just one more goddamn time would net her little...

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“The Timeless Echo: Celena's Enigmatic Loop” by Gureesha Singh

Submitted to Contest #234

Celena’s life has always been considered a typical perfect life: a perfect home, a smart handsome loving husband, and a healthy marriage. There is nothing that she could wish for! Nothing that she wanted anymore! She was satisfied with her beautiful fairytale life. Her husband would come home from work in the evening and spend time with her. When he is not there, she paints, reads books, and cooks delicious new recipes for both of them. Their home was a beauty in the middle of the hills, with a view of the river flowing by, and also had a sw...

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“In the Shadows” by A Vittoria

Submitted to Contest #234

The Malborough/Sarina Road used to be the busiest thoroughfare to get to far North Queensland from Brisbane along the old Bruce Highway. But now, a forgotten town occupies the Malborough/Sarina Road, and a road holds onto some of the darkest memories. Until the early 80s, the Malborough/Sarina Road was the major thoroughfare to get to Mackay from Brisbane, taking the inland route. During the 60s and 70s, this road saw several murders and unexplained disappearances. Along this very road, someone murdered my grandmother in the ...

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“A Forever Stay” by Robert Obszanski

Submitted to Contest #234

The hotel’s presence swallowed them in its shadow even as the midday sun shone brightly above. They needed a place to stay while they took in the sights and sounds of the wilderness outside the city. Neither of them was the backpacking type but Mark was the more adventurous of the two, so willing to try new things and take some risks. They were both in their twenties. Mark worked in finance, which afforded him a comfortable lifestyle and frequent vacations. He was tall, confident and restless. Jill was very much the same except for the lack ...

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“The Quack in the Woods” by Calvin Patterson Walker

Submitted to Contest #234

Five years. Compared to the likes one or two years, five seemed too far and distant to spend away from the first home I was ever graced with, and not only had I refused the pleasure of exchanging amicable notes with its proprietor, I had also abandoned the idea of ever visiting in its entirety until I acquired a most sombre of misfortunes. It had come quietly, in the metaphorical sense, as no one would dare mistake the blaring horn or clopping hooves of a mail coach heralding the arrival of their delicate cargo. I had not expected to r...

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“Tableau” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

Submitted to Contest #234

He comes to her room after Charmed. At 9 PM, the grungy theme song floats up the stairs on a candela of liquid crystal light emitting from the new flat screen, the most expensive thing in the house. We’re not allowed to watch Charmed because it promotes witchcraft and demon worship. Neither can his wife. Only he can, because God told him to “study the lies of the secular world”. You know how that goes. Alyssa Milano says her final line, soft guitar outro, then the stairs are creaking under his weight, the smells of Man–starch, aftershave, wh...

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“Forever Locked” by Karalee Ratliff

Submitted to Contest #234

Warning: Mental health and death The cove like reading inlet was quaintly nestled in the west wall near the woods. The snow covered the grounds and the trees glistened amidst the drizzles of frozen beauty falling from the sky. A fire popped in the adjacent family room creating a harmoniously calming white noise, perfect for the evening. Needing to reflect on his day at work, a practice that he did instinctively every night, Josh prepared his tea and set out his evening clothing. Ever since the accident, Josh found that nightly reflection t...

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“Going Home” by Kathleen Spencer

Submitted to Contest #234

A black crow sat on the roof of an old Victorian house. The wind was blowing, while snow was drifting across the rooftop, and still the crow did not move. The old bird sensed someone, or something inside the house was still there, if not in body, but in spirit moving about, restless, refusing to leave. Angie sighed, “I cannot find it. The box… where is it?” George’s present to her. She had misplaced it years ago. She longed to touch the necklace. It was the one thing he had left her when he had walked out the door, vowing never to retur...

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“Poppers” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #234

“Stay in the house at night and lock the door behind you” he said. Good advice any parent would give their child. Don’t talk to strangers and don’t hitchhike were a couple others my dad used to say.That was a long time ago….Before the virusBefore the changeBefore humans were an endangered speciesThe year was 2056. Over the past thirty years, one virus after another has ravaged the earth’s population. Nipah virus took twenty million to their graves in the 2030’s. They said it was fruit bats that were the source of the...

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“A Late Night at My Grandfather's House” by Erin Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #234

My movements were mechanical as I stepped into the too-quiet house. Keys in the dish on the counter. Shoes wiped on the door mat and kicked off onto the place on the boot tray that has always been mine. Jacket shrugged off, hung from the hook that once read my full name in bubble stickers. Only three letters are left, now: S_m__t__. Simple, automatic, routine. Nothing has changed at Grandpa’s house in twenty-five years. Nothing until tonight. &nbsp...

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“The Day I Longed for Snow” by Ciara McGuinness

Submitted to Contest #234

The Day I Longed for Snow by Ciara McGuinness In the dimly lit room, shadows dance on the walls as the solitary flame flickers against the canvas of my hand. Everything fades except for the radiating heat as the orange blaze inches closer and closer until - ouch, reality stings. I hastily wave my hand to dismiss the fire. If only it were that easy to extinguish every burning sensation. Undeterred, I open the matchbox again, another match ignited until the flames connect with my delicate skin. Why can’t I do this? Perhaps it’s the fa...

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“Forgotten Time” by Lauren Weeks

Submitted to Contest #234

Time doesn’t move here. Oh, we have days. But they’re like one long, giant yawn stretching over what you may call “weeks” on other planets. This means a lot can happen in a day. It also means you can clock 60 hours of work in a day – Fridays are not quite such a joyous thing around here. But oh, the weekend. A glorious stretch of frozen time, spanning hours and hours and just running along forever and ever. We relish in those here on our little green planet. We pack picnics that last an entire day, take extended trips to the beach when the d...

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“Chill Hours” by Mike Rancourt

Submitted to Contest #234

Chill. Two months ago, there was no such thing as chill, not even the memory of chill. Everything was sweat and fire. Maybe you could say there were “bone-chilling” things you witnessed as society broke down—your neighbor dragging her husband’s corpse from their apartment, children begging for water in the sizzling streets. And that was just Worcester, of all places. They say the bigger the city, the worse it was. The long, hot summer had been brutal. Every prediction of rain turned out to be wishful thinking. Every prediction of record-high...

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Set your story in a place that’s frozen in time — literally or metaphorically.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 56 stories

“Don't Eat the Red Snow” by A. B. H.

“Polar Night ” by Renee Yancey

“Teenyboppers Delight” by Cade Holter

“The Timeless Echo: Celena's Enigmatic Loop” by Gureesha Singh

“In the Shadows” by A Vittoria

“A Forever Stay” by Robert Obszanski

“The Quack in the Woods” by Calvin Patterson Walker

“Tableau” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

“Forever Locked” by Karalee Ratliff

“Going Home” by Kathleen Spencer

“Poppers” by Bruce Callahan

“A Late Night at My Grandfather's House” by Erin Hamilton

“The Day I Longed for Snow” by Ciara McGuinness

“Forgotten Time” by Lauren Weeks

“Chill Hours” by Mike Rancourt

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about someone whose time is running out.

Write a story about someone who wishes they could turn back time.

Write about someone taking advantage of some unexpected free time.

Start or end your story with someone saying, “We have all the time in the world.”

Contest #234

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

340

Contest entries

132

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: