Write about a character giving something one last shot.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 51 stories

“Tick, Tick” by Hayden Morrison

Submitted to Contest #136

Tick, tick. At this point in my life, the clock in my office was the most interesting thing in my world. The ticking sounds it made graced my dreams, filling my nights with bliss. The movements of the hands over the numbers were more captivating than the most attractive person I have ever laid eyes on. The shape was one of perfection- if all of the gods of all the myths were to combine their images into one, the beauty of that single holy being would still be dwarfed by the image of this clock. Unfortunately, the only reason this clock was ...

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“Is It Too Late?” by Chloe Longstreet

Submitted to Contest #136

Eli glanced around the empty helicopter before dropping his head into his hands. He hoped more of his friends would attend the Society meeting this year. They needed to work together right now. But it appeared they had given up. He traveled alone. He placed a hand on the seat beside him as his eyes welled up. Marquesa didn't give up. She died three months ago, before her 90th birthday. When news of her illness reached him, he dropped everything and raced to Italy. A few weeks after her death, devastating fires ravaged half of Milan, includin...

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“Blind Shot” by Stella T Morgan

Submitted to Contest #136

Propping on an elbow, Claire tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. Smashing the alarm clock dead with a muttered curse, she got on her feet blindly in search of coffee. She couldn’t afford to be late today. Madison would pick her up from the god-forsaken station in the middle of nowhere. There was no time to shower, and the idea of riding a bus for three hours to this tiny hamlet made her skin crawl. But they had agreed on neutral grounds to culminate their online trysts of the last fortnight. This was going to be a meeting beyond the p...

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“Give It One Last Try” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #136

My admiration for my gran only grew as I got older. She was known in the family as a tough old boot, a lovable character who called a spade a spade, but would help anyone who needed it. She grew up in England, in the country, one of nine children. Her mother was a seamstress and her father a labourer. Even when Gran’s dad went off to war, Gran’s mum still worked when she could. Of course her services weren’t needed as much as before the war, but there were some of the aristocracy needing the neat and immaculate sewing she did as they were s...

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“Gillian's Last Diet” by KS Logan

Submitted to Contest #136

There is an old saying that goes ‘I have not failed. I have simply found 10,000 ways that don’t work.’ Gillian felt they should engrave it on her tombstone. Sadly, she’d dedicated the last thirty years of her life to finding ten thousand diets that didn’t work. Thirty bloody years! Can you imagine waking up every morning of your adult life and your first thoughts are, did I eat too much yesterday? How should I eat today? Or, oh no, I went off my diet again. Special occasions are secondly about whose birthday it is or who got the promotio...

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“THE LAST CALL” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #136

THE LAST CALL She had long contacted that association___FOR CITIZEN’S RIGHTS____which claimed to be able tohelp people who were suffering psychiatric abuse and other malpractices by health care. She was suffering much more than abuse. Since too much time she had been subjected to a dictatorship, which probably wasn’t only psychiatry to inflict her. That it was a very unjust and very much...

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“Epitaph: Do not say goodbye” by Maria Esther Vilar Alvarez

Submitted to Contest #136

Epitaph: Do not say goodbye “An empty page stares at me like a menacing creature. I came to it for refuge and in return, I am greeted by a shivering coldness. A cold that freezes my very being and leaves me there, unresponsive, eyes fixated upon it. Blind eyes. I thought I had secured one bosom friend, watering and loving that friendship over the years but today I feel abandoned. My thoughts fly and crawl with the clumsiness of bees, foolishly struggling to reach the light where only darkness prevails. To reach freedom when they are bound ...

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“The Golden Key” by Hailey Gaar

Submitted to Contest #136

Kat pulls on the doorknob, nothing happens. You’ve got to have the key, you see. Nobody ever got through that door without a key. The door in Grandpa’s study was old and green, carved wood spun in intricate details that seemed too ornate to hold anything other than something extraordinary on the other side. She’s still tugging and twisting the knob when we hear noise coming down the hall. I grab my sister’s hand and we hide behind the floor-length curtains, curling our toes in. We breathe into each other’s faces and grin. K...

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“Old Man Transport” by Tyler Havoc

Submitted to Contest #136

That long white line ended for Henry Buck. He had returned to his shop with his old lunchbox and empty thermos, and was greeted by the owner, and a few other "Suits" he had walked past some mornings. "Henry, could you come with us to the conference room inside?" The CEO, Darryl Squibb asked. As the men trudged through the gravel lot into the monolithic office building that Henry only knew as the place his paperwork was handed in. The men were lead into a large conference room with a huge, beautiful mahogany table surrounded by what Henry i...

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“Escape” by Lexi Duckett

Submitted to Contest #136

I slowly open my eyes. I rub my eyes with the backs of my hands. It’s dark here, but my eyes adjusted to the darkness a long time ago. I slowly sit up, I am lying on the floor that is my bed. The floor is very hard and not comfortable at all. The floor has a light pink stained carpet on it. There is no furniture here. And it smells bad down here it smells like there’s a lot of mold down here. But I have a little bathroom that has a toilet, sink, and shower. But the water is cold all the time. I’d love a hot shower right now. But that’s just ...

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“The Devil in the Details” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #136

Each mysterious turn in the deadly quiet forest brought Joe Stinson face to face with another patch of darkness. He had driven around the entire afternoon trying to uncover the path to the ramshackle “mansion” that he thought would form the foundation of his future retreat on the Eastern Shore. Joe’s backwoods excursion, however, quickly brought him face-to-face with a confrontation more troubling and creepy than the twists and turns of his own deeply damaged psyche. For...

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“The Cursor” by H. Lee Russell

Submitted to Contest #136

The cursor blinks into my staring eyes. There’s nothing scarier than seeing that small dash fade in and out of existence at the top left corner of the page. It taunts me, winking at me with every minute I don’t put my fingers to the keys. My temples ache from staring at the screen for too long. Some music might help, says the right side of my brain while painting a picture that’ll never translate the same on the blank canvas tucked into the back of my closet. Do your damn work, says the left, smoking his twenty-sixth cigare...

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“Romantic_56837” by Allya Nosmada

Submitted to Contest #136

Today is the day! You have the reminder on your calendar. The day when you finally get to meet Romantic_56837. You met online, learning about each other’s hopes and dreams, personalities, and you really can’t see yourself spending your life with anyone but Romantic_56837. Yes, it may be too early to think this way, but haven’t all your married friends said that you know when you’ve met the person you are meant to be with?You decided when making this date that you would go all out. It feels like your last good shot at love, so a good first-im...

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“Triggering Tina” by David Hampton

Submitted to Contest #136

The insistent buzzing failed to accomplish its purpose; however, the faint scream ANSWER THE DAMNED DOORBELL from a distant part of the house jettisoned Tina's impressive bulk from the low spot on the couch to the front door. She peeked through a dusty sidelight to discover her friend Martha on the front porch jabbing at a cracked button that no longer emitted light but made up for it in noise. Tina opened the door and Martha pushed through and deposited herself on a faded velour easy chair in the living room. "About time," she griped. As...

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“The Train Wreck” by Samuel Newsome

Submitted to Contest #136

The Train Wreck The day was balmy and warm though winter was not yet done with us. On such a day the hills called out to be trod upon. Ol’ Spot and I set out, in no particular hurry, to mount those hills with whom we had become close friends over the years. Seasons never deterred us but were merely a change in mood, and who of us has not changed our mind or mood on occasion. The slope was steep with small riverlets that would eventually join a creek, then a river or two and finally the ocean. They were...

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Write about a character giving something one last shot.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 51 stories

“Tick, Tick” by Hayden Morrison

“Is It Too Late?” by Chloe Longstreet

“Blind Shot” by Stella T Morgan

“Give It One Last Try” by Valerie Preston

“Gillian's Last Diet” by KS Logan

“THE LAST CALL” by Mara Masolini

“Epitaph: Do not say goodbye” by Maria Esther Vilar Alvarez

“The Golden Key” by Hailey Gaar

“Old Man Transport” by Tyler Havoc

“Escape” by Lexi Duckett

“The Devil in the Details” by Bob Faszczewski

“The Cursor” by H. Lee Russell

“Romantic_56837” by Allya Nosmada

“Triggering Tina” by David Hampton

“The Train Wreck” by Samuel Newsome

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with someone saying “You’ll never know unless you try.”

Write about somebody who knows they’re probably going to fail at something, but does it anyway.

Set your story on a baseball field.

Write a story where hard work doesn’t pay off.

Contest #136

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

207

Contest entries

100

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: