Write a story about inaction.

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 106 stories

“Not Enough” by Peter Leslie

Submitted to Contest #45

“These people grieve differently to us,” that was how she said it.These people. She meant black people. The school walls were covered in posters. RIP Zeke. We’ll never forget you, Zeke. Just Zeke. She didn’t like it. I don’t know if it was the untidiness, or the disruption to routine. The day after Zeke died, she told the students that if they needed time to reflect, time to mourn, they could use the school chapel but nowhere else. Twenty minutes later, I saw her lock the school chapel.It was just the two of us in her office. I think sh...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Pitch black” by Pablo Mascaraque Glenn

Submitted to Contest #45

The sun was long gone, the moon presumably out yet nowhere to be seen, hiding somewhere behind the thick blanket of clouds that covered the sky. Leon looked up at it through his sunglasses. He didn't take them off very often nowadays, not even to sleep. He would occasionally catch someone averting their gaze, pretending they hadn't just been staring at him, their dark irises madly zooming in some other random direction, but he preferred that to the judgemental looks he got when he didn't wear the glasses. However, the people he spent most of...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Nothing happens” by Ellysia Mason

Submitted to Contest #45

In this world, there are humans and there are monsters. From the day you leave your mother’s womb, you are judged. Those that pass are allowed to continue in their mundality. Those like me.My brother is not so lucky. His face is the same as me but his yellow eyes make children scream and men bristle for a fight. Yet he never fails to greet me with a smile.He turned, holding my packed lunch with both hands,“Morning Squirt. You eating breakfast?”“Don’t call me that…”He laughed heartily,“Then grow up big and strong for me, Squirt.”He met my eye...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Keeping the Doctor Away” by Mr Jingo

Submitted to Contest #45

Twenty-three was too young for someone to face their own death.Within the confines of the plain hospital room, the little fires in Viv’s brain flared, her tenuous nervous system receiving the full brunt of the painful pangs. It was a cruel trick her body played – making her so exhausted that she spent most of the day in bed, but then jolting her awake every few hours with severe headaches. The waves of discomfort flowed through distinctly each time, making each interruption to her rest a unique experience, one that always kept her on the bri...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Coon Hunting ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #45

While we are reeling from the murder of George Floyd, attention has turned away from Ahmaud Arbrey who was hunted down and killed by a father and a son. There is a term for what they did and I haven’t heard it in a while, but I know it is still being done as it was on Mr. Aubrey back in February in a seemingly quiet Georgia suburb. For those who do not know, it’s called “coon hunting.” Coon is short for raccoon. These little creatures are scavengers with black markings on their faces that make them look like cute bandits....

1 comment 1

Read story

“Inaction” by Ellie Earle

Submitted to Contest #45

I sat before my keyboard, paralyzed with indecision. The cursor blinked at the end of the word document of the brief my manager had just sent through.“Write about a negative experience you’ve had recently, how it impacted you, those around you, and what you did to resolve it.” The instructions were concise and clear, its goal achievable, but my mind remained stubbornly blank. I felt the familiar squeeze of anxiety in my stomach, and my breath quickened.“I need a cigarette,” I thought suddenly.I left my makeshift office and stepped outside to...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Sorry, Is Not Enough” by Maggie Writes

Submitted to Contest #45

To calm myself I breathed deeply, in and out, losing it will not help Jamila. Jamila had always remained strong and leveled headed facing injustice, I must do the same. Unable to remain seated I paced back and forth desperately looking at the closed door. “We should never have come.” I muttered to myself on the verge of panic. Just hours ago, we joked on the plane about whether to claim all the gifts we’d bought for her family never expecting reality to so unreal. Did it really happen as they were exciting their plane ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Why?” by Ray Everblaze

Submitted to Contest #45

AliciaThe young girl cried herself to sleep. There was no one to comfort her. Her father was killed. Her mother had left to the marches. But everyone forgot about Alicia Park.She saw nightmares of faceless policemen with guns in their hands. They all surrounded her father and asked him to drop his gun. But it wasn't a gun. He argued with them, and then the shot came. A loud BANG in the silent night was heard. And one man was no more.She woke up with a start, knowing her father had to be there. He had to comfort her. But his warm, dark hands ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“48 HOURS.” by Gerard Watson

Submitted to Contest #45

Forty-eight hours. That's all it took for me to ruin my life. Forty-eight hours ago, I climbed the steps of the 1-9-3 Precinct, ready and eager to work the 8 x 4 tour of duty. Recently transferred to the Command, as is customary, I checked in with the Lieutenant at the front desk. I stood by while she finished writing in the Precinct's Log. After a few interruptions and distractions, she finally noticed me. The Lieutenant frowned as she gazed down at me. "Who the Hell are you?"“Police Officer Kenneth Nelson, Lieu...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Motion is Lotion” by Iam Danger

Submitted to Contest #45

The building was oddly opulent and provincially palatial for a government building. It wasn’t white marble gray granite conspicuous consumption like Washington DC built on tax revenue or Vatican City built on indulgences and slave labor, but brassy casino opulent, the kind of wealth built on honest and forthright criminality from games where people volunteer to be conned for their own entertainment, not the sublime kind that pretends to virtue. It is the honest prostitute to the gold-digging trophy wife, where you pay for a sh...

0 comments 0

Read story

“An Artist's Dilemma” by Alexandra Hickok

Submitted to Contest #45

Catherine was an artist; from the moment her fingers could cradle a brush she splashed citrus orange onto golden skies, royal blue onto cerulean seas, and burnt umber onto snowy plains, animating lamented white canvases with her vibrant colors and studying them with vivacious eyes. Her imaginative yet unconventional demeanor meant that her younger years were spent indoors, much to her mother’s chagrin. “Catherine,” her mother would say, “Why don’t you go and play outside with the neighbor kids? You’re looking a little pale.” In response, Cat...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Three Strikes” by Stevie Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #45

I’ve never seen the world move so slowly, but I guess that’s how death works. Well, and superhero films, although it’s usually the superhero witnessing the slow-motion as they perform some heroic feat, and I’m no superhero. I’m the guy cowering in the back of the 7-11 while some gun-toting shithead robs the poor clerk behind the counter. Outside, I can see cars driving past on the street, except they’re not really moving. The birds in the sky look ready to plummet to the ground...

0 comments 0

Read story

“J's Story” by Loretta Schiavo Smith

Submitted to Contest #45

“The banality of evil corrupts one’s humanity. Swiftly and mercilessly,” said Mr. Winston on the first day of senior English. I understood the philosophical construct but not its application on a personal level. But I do now. Maybe I could’ve avoided the pain and mess I’m in, if I’d recognized my own failings before acquiescing so easily. Mr. Winston reminded me later that foresight is wasted on the blind.xxxI sat in the middle row second seat. Edwin Rice Cooper was two rows behind me surrounded on all four corners by his posse. Churchill He...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Do I Really Deserve Forgiveness?” by Jaycelene Puetes

Submitted to Contest #45

I am fucking pathetic. I should’ve not pushed her away. We were just seventeen at that time. We were so young. We should’ve enjoyed life a bit more normal like other kids our age. You have been my friend since diapers. We’ve been in the same class for almost every year. We’ve been doing our matching poses for the class pictorial every year like two dorky kids. You were basically by my side through every passing moment. You watched me as I grew up: how I got my braces, how I got my first period, how I got my glasses, how I got rid of my brace...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The lady Sherlock Holmes gets trapped !” by Jatinder Vijh

Submitted to Contest #45

She had been suspecting him for quite some time, especially for the last three months. He was not the same anymore. He left house early morning and returned late in the evening every day. She was determined to find out with whom he was hanging around. Should she hire a private detective? She had seen enough episodes of Crime Patrol and CID and also seen quite a few suspense thriller movies. She knew tricks of the trade and she will do a fine job. She even googled "How to be a better detective?". While he was sleeping, she checked h...

3 comments 3

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about solidarity.

Nonfiction – 53 stories

Write a story about activism.

Nonfiction – 45 stories

Write a story about community.

Nonfiction – 65 stories

Write a story about change.

Fiction – 164 stories

Contest #45

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: A Time for Action

$50

Prize money

433

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 12, 2020 EST

Won by Raven Quill 🏆

Title: Constellations

Won by Yves. ♙ 🏆

Title: The Traveler Wife

Won by VJ Hamilton 🏆

Title: Winds of Change

Won by Anisha Yagnik 🏆

Title: Full Price

Won by Natalie Strawbridge 🏆

Title: Legacies

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story about inaction.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 106 stories

“Not Enough” by Peter Leslie

“Pitch black” by Pablo Mascaraque Glenn

“Nothing happens” by Ellysia Mason

“Keeping the Doctor Away” by Mr Jingo

“Coon Hunting ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Inaction” by Ellie Earle

“Sorry, Is Not Enough” by Maggie Writes

“Why?” by Ray Everblaze

“48 HOURS.” by Gerard Watson

“Motion is Lotion” by Iam Danger

“An Artist's Dilemma” by Alexandra Hickok

“Three Strikes” by Stevie Aldrich

“J's Story” by Loretta Schiavo Smith

“Do I Really Deserve Forgiveness?” by Jaycelene Puetes

“The lady Sherlock Holmes gets trapped !” by Jatinder Vijh

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about solidarity.

Write a story about activism.

Write a story about community.

Write a story about change.

Contest #45

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

433

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: