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.

Posted in Narrative on Dec 22, 2023

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✍️ 90 stories

“The Decision” by Pamela Blair

Submitted to Contest #230

NOTE: This story contains sensitive content re: abortion. Chris plopped down onto her bed, stared up at the ceiling, and tried to barricade the thoughts flooding her brain. Three weeks after she'd visited Lansing for John’s birthday, she realized she was pregnant. I can’t have this baby. I don’t even know who the father is. It might be Winston’s or it might be John’s. I can’t be a single mother. I can’t quit my studies. I’m too young. It would crush my parents. The reasons for an abortion flew at her, each one stronger than the las...

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“Cherry Chapstick” by Harper Pechota

Submitted to Contest #230

My fingers are raw from trying to find the floorboard. I silently curse my fifteen-year-old self for not being smart enough to make some sort of indication on which floorboard I hid the box under. I finally am able to lift the jiggly one with the help of my car keys. I lift up the box, a wave of the past hits me with the force of running headfirst into a brick wall as I open it. “Are you even going to remember this box, Winnie?” Andrew laughs, kissing me on the cheek. “You know, if you keep calling me Winnie, I’m gonna have to ...

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“The Wakeup Call” by Tessa Hull

Submitted to Contest #230

TW: Alcohol abuse, familial harm Someone hammering on the front door at this time of night could hardly bring good news. I catch sight of my dishevelled reflection as I drag my arms through my dressing gown, feeling embarrassed for a moment at the prospect of someone seeing me in such a tatty robe. I run my hands through my hair as if that will make a difference to my unkemptness, and shiver in the wintery cold. The heat of my body still lingers on my mattress, whispering for me to return, to pull the duvet over my head and ignore t...

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“Hello-Goodbye-Hello” by Angela Kirby

Submitted to Contest #230

Whispers tickled Quinn’s ears as she turned the page of her magazine. The buzz of voices grew louder than the hiss of the café’s steam wands. “I can’t believe it’s him.” “He’s so much taller in person.” “Should I go ask for a picture?” Quinn’s curiosity won out as the whispering around her reached a fever pitch. As she looked up, her normally icy cool palms turned tacky with heat as she spotted the source of energy radiating through the café. Her palms prickled as they stuck to the glossy magazine pages. She feared if she lifted her hand...

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“My Christmas Miracle” by Marc Rothstein

Submitted to Contest #230

My wife, Dianne, and I sat shivering in Knishes and Dishes, wondering why the heat was off. Every new customer brought a blast of December air through the deli door. We put our coats back on and waited for my daughter, Jamie, and five-year-old granddaughter, Emma, to join us for dinner—the only ones who could make it just two days before Christmas. Emma had picked the place for its chocolate chip pancakes. She was my princess, and her wish was my command. I was the Jewish-light dad. Thanksgiving was mine to enjoy with the kids. Christmas bel...

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“172,800 Seconds” by Cree Jarman

Submitted to Contest #230

My alarm is ringing beside me. But I'm content to lay and stare at the ceiling. I can feel my muscles twitch in a way that stems from immobility. My mattress is caved in from the constant weight of my broken body and the dark blue comforter on top of me is soaked in sweat from the extended amount of time I've spent laying without moving. I can hear my alarm increase in volume. I groan and throw the device to the floor, rolling back over to continue making shapes out of the popcorn tiles above me. Her laugh was like honey, her smile as...

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“Tevoro” by Brad Chessum

Submitted to Contest #230

A short walk along the sugar fine sands brought me to a log structure with a roof fashioned of roughly plaited coconut leaves. In chalk, on a broken sandwich board, read ‘Lucious breakfasts and Loaded cocktails.’ It was a hot day, as it always is in Fiji, so I stooped under the hanging leaves and took a seat. The breeze off the Pacific gave much respite from the morning heat, I shut my eyes, finding the peace I’d come for. “Bula!” A man rushed in, stumbling on a plastic chair shouting the Fijian greeting. The linen shirt he wore looked like ...

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“People in the Sun” by Jake Scott

Submitted to Contest #230

“You know they’re all using it on their papers,” I said to Isabelle as we strolled down the main corridor of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. “I mean, I don’t blame them, but it’s still plagiarism, isn’t it?” On our right was a painting by Edward Hopper, People in the Sun. I hadn’t seen it before. I gazed into the frame, attracted by the sharp, brilliant colors. It depicted five figures in reclining chairs, gazing across a wheat field towards purple-blue mountains.“You think A.I. will change everything?” I asked, staring into...

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“Barefoot” by Mei Wu

Submitted to Contest #230

On Skype, Mom’s eyes were closing, her drooping eyelids covered by silvery strands of loose hair. She was slipping into a doze. “Tell me about the Four-Cleanse, Mom.” I brought up the “Four-Cleanse,” and her eyes shot open in a blast of energy. Mom came back. “Ahh, I had just graduated, fresh from medical school. Who could imagine I got sent to the country, and for what? Walking barefoot on the field! I was from Shanghai. ” Mom knitted her brows when barefoot was mentioned, as though walking barefoot wa...

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“Unjust Desserts” by Tom Bentley

Submitted to Contest #230

Clive delicately set the tea strainer on the saucer. He stared abstractedly at the intricate floral patterns on the cup. It was a piece from the 18th-century Meissen royal porcelain manufacture; it had been in his family for five generations. Its finely wrought fluted sides looked incongruous against the drab, dull wood of the rickety table. Clive held his face in his hands, the cords of his neck taut, his hair unkempt. He hadn't slept for thirty hours. Since he had ta...

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“Bridging Horizons: A Journey of Ambition and Identity” by George Ogenah Jr.

Submitted to Contest #230

George Ogenah Jr. December 29, 2023 In a Flash Bridging Horizons: A Journey of Ambition and Identity In the lively coastal city of Lynn, Massachusetts, George found himself at a crossroads in his life. It felt like a warm hug, the familiar streets and the waves splashing on the shoreline. Despite that, a persistent yearning gnawed at him—a longing for more achievement and fulfillment. "I am strong in mind and body," George declared, gazing at the cityscape that he knew like the back of his hands. The historic architecture and cultural vi...

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“Am I Here?” by Bernadette Beauchamp

Submitted to Contest #230

Darkness engulfed the men in front of me to the point that all I heard were silhouettes chattering, only pausing to take quick breaths, and get back to the greatest issue at hand. The smartest men I knew were chattering away. Three problem solvers in front of me and yet, they felt no need to deal with our lack of light, now that the sun was making its exit. Of course, they wouldn't because it was always Sarah who remembered to put on the porch lights. She would always add twinkle lights with colors that matched the season for some extra warm...

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“The School Bus” by Annie Blackwell

Submitted to Contest #230

The bus stalled as it struggled up Malabar Hill. We could walk to school faster. And sometimes we did, when the bus, awaiting retirement, refused to restart. I didn’t like walking, but it offered good thinking time. I liked thinking, then and now. Making memories and recalling them. Snapshots stored on previously blank pages. Perhaps, slides, waiting to be viewed. Sepia exposures. A projected spiral of time. Nineteen small bodies clamber down overly steep steps, exiting the bus, emerging onto the verge and heading, in a snaking line, up the ...

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“Just One Kiss?” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #230

She is beautiful. Almost too beautiful. The peace of her slumber transforms her into an otherworldly being. She is a goddess. And she is everything Dave Charming has ever, ever wanted. She is all he has ever dreamt about. This woman has visited him in his dreams. She has haunted him in every moment of his life, both sleeping and wakeful. She has invaded every fibre of his being until there’s nothing left but the desire to be with her. Forever and ever. Happily ever after. They are one. This is Dave’s destiny. He has given eve...

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“New Year Steve” by Billy Green

Submitted to Contest #230

Now. ‘The problem is you don’t want to work,’ Eddie slurred, zipping up his flies. ‘Here, here, here…I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you this dollar,’ he unrolled one from a gold clip, ‘if you can tell me why you don’t have a job, eh?’ He waved it back and forth slowly in front of the man’s eyes. Eddie pulled the collar on his Burberry cashmere car coat further up around his ears, a barrier against the harsh bite of the winter sleet falling steadily onto him. And the man sat silently at his feet. He held a cardboard sign, on it was handw...

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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.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 90 stories

“The Decision” by Pamela Blair

“Cherry Chapstick” by Harper Pechota

“The Wakeup Call” by Tessa Hull

“Hello-Goodbye-Hello” by Angela Kirby

“My Christmas Miracle” by Marc Rothstein

“172,800 Seconds” by Cree Jarman

“Tevoro” by Brad Chessum

“People in the Sun” by Jake Scott

“Barefoot” by Mei Wu

“Unjust Desserts” by Tom Bentley

“Bridging Horizons: A Journey of Ambition and Identity” by George Ogenah Jr.

“Am I Here?” by Bernadette Beauchamp

“The School Bus” by Annie Blackwell

“Just One Kiss?” by Jed Cope

“New Year Steve” by Billy Green

🌟 Similar prompts

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 that hides something from its reader until the very end.

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 🏆

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