Start your story with one character telling another, “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”

Posted in Novel on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 132 stories

“LAOCH.” by OMONIYI WASIU

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat, Laoch.” Aletto said, looking in my direction. The cell where we are being kept was dark. It reeks of body odour and rotten food. The air inside is thick with strong smell of ale and moist earth. The windows attached to cell are so small that my fist cannot even fit through them. I turn towards Aletto and sigh. I have never been captured before so I have no idea it can be this dreadful being a captive. My armour and the family sword bequeathed to me by my father, Henry Farquarhson III,...

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“Phoenix of The Frozen Woods” by D Y

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat," Adolpha stated sternly, her eyes blazing with fire. "And since when have I been good at planning things?" Phoenix said casually, just as she would have, had she not been so foolish and got herself in this horrible situation. A couple of moons ago, she had much insulted the Queen of The Black Fire Tribe. It was a Full Moon, and as usual, The Black Fire Tribe had come to trade. The loud bickering of her tribe had silenced when the enemy tribes' presence was noticeable. Even thoug...

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“No winners here ” by Samone Dandridge

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you are already planning your defeat," Cerlix says to him before pushing him through the portal. The words ring in his head as he treks his way through the dark woods, making sure to step over splintered branches and overgrown tree roots. It’s the only words he’s clung to since arriving in his destination. He takes deep breaths trying to center himself. He unconsciously touches the metal wrapped around his throat in a cold embrace. It was a faded blue, that akin to the color of dead lips, littered with so...

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“TO BE A GUARD” by Christina Ekekwe

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Ryder placed his hand on Hera’s shoulder, shaking his head in disappointment.Hera was a part of a tradition that found it compulsory for females above the age of twenty-one to fight for who would become the Queen’s personal guard after the previous one loses her life. Ryder was her best friend and trainer, and seeing her want to give up after defeating four competitors just broke his heart. They had come so far.“Ryder,” she pouted, “don’t look at me like that.”He let out a sigh, “Her...

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“Change of Power” by Daryl Oliver

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”“Surely it does count.”“It can’t count if you’re not around to see the changes!”“Look around, tell me what you see.”“Well, the alley is filled with garbage. The sky is grey. The people live in squaller. Everything is in decay. What else is there?”“Son, you only see with your eyes. I only see with my heart. That is why it will count. One day you will see. You will see that each part of this world has more to it than the ways your eyes perceive it. There is hope in this alley, the sky a...

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“A Coward” by Sam W

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” The commander says.“Death is not defeat, sir.” The strategist retorts, leaning forward on the desk. “One man is not an army.”Commander March-a tall, square-set man in his early forties-checks the urge to roll his eyes. He looks up from their plan. He’s spent too much time in this room, too much time with the cocky, disrespectful man in front of him. The past three days have drowned March in grim reports from the watchmen and snark from the strategist, who acts like it’s the...

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“The Player In First Place: The Last One Standing PART 1” by Dude Man

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat. If you're not willing to play by the rules, I won't go easy on you just because we're friends. You shouldn't have came in 35th place, maybe we could've known each other for longer.... Aline.""The last one of us to finish the race is a rotten egg!" Cried Hannah as she pushed Liora aside and started running in order to give herself a head start."That dirty little cheater!" Grumbled Liora with affection, wiping her strawberry blonde hair out of her face, as she scrambled back up on her l...

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“Always Improving” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” “I’m not assuming that I’ll win, but that’s a very different thing from ‘planning my defeat’. Geez, Aya, why do you have to be so melodramatic about everything?” Tyler tried to laugh it off, but Aya wasn’t buying it. “Because you do this all the time. You’re a really good artist, why can’t you see that?” “Can we not get into this discussion again? Fine, I’ll enter the stupid competition. Maybe I’ll win, but the odds are against me. I’m not going to go pinning my dreams on somet...

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“Game of Chance” by Starlight Geminine

Submitted to Contest #66

“Ya know,” Alex said, lounging against the bars of the cage, “if agreeing to this deal is your way of trying to apologize for getting us into this mess, it doesn’t really count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Jazz sighed as she tied her hair back so she could think. “Shut up Alex.” “Oh I’m sorry for being concerned about you gambling both of our lives.” “I said shut up.” Jazz stood, her back still to the cage. “I know what I’m doing.” “Forgive me for doubting you, but you really don’t have the best track record to prove that...

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“Sunrise with my dad and son” by Gokula Krishnan

Submitted to Contest #66

I am 12. “Hey, wake up, wake up” I heard this sound. I opened my eyes; it is my dad. What is it dad? I asked him. He is asking me to come with him. I am in half sleep, but dad is not giving up. So, I am getting out of my bed to go with him. It is 5 am in the morning. I am wondering what he is up to. He started his bike HERO HONDA and told me to get on it. He is telling me to hold this fishing rod. It looks like we are on our way to a lake. “Dad, why suddenly you want to go for fishing?” I asked him. He is smiling, t...

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“The Eye” by A S

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat," his voice echoed and echoed and echoed. I realized the extent of my fatigue only as I sat down on my bed, ready to sleep. I needed a minute to process the rest of the motions that I would have to make before I fade into a deep slumber, lol joking, I mean before I stare at the wall wide awake unable to close my eyes. My eyes didn’t feel my own when I was sitting, wide numb. I was thinking that the only moment of rest was the five minutes I’d spend trying to ready myself to sleep. B...

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“Devil Incarnate” by Kaye Salangsang

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you are already planning your defeat," my sister told me three days before my wedding. "Sofia, I am not planning anything. I want him to think that I am clueless, when in fact, I am planning his demise." "Demise? Really, Andi. Are you planning to kill your fiancé?" she asked me, looking incredulous. "Okay, maybe demise is a strong word. But he is going down. If Francis thinks he can lie to me about meeting his ex-girlfriend, he is wrong." I seethed. Francis and I have been together for five years. He proposed ...

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“Her name is Maggie ” by Karim Gamal

Submitted to Contest #66

“ It doesn’t really count if you’re planning your defeat “ , “ I am not , I am planning to my success that will lead to yours.” “ I know that you want to lose this case Martin but think about your wife , think about your lonely mother ,think about yourself , you are going to destroy yourself because of something you didn’t really involved into intentionally . I am here because I do my job and my job is to get you out of here , so please help me in this because you are making things difficult” . Chris was shouting in his face , I though...

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“Contest Time!!” by Judith Buskohl

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat!” Lisa stood there looking at Jane who had just informed her that she wasn’t going to even try in their new contest of wills. To see who was the bravest and smartest to get themselves out of situations of their own stupidity, the contest for this month was to see who could get the most drunk without passing out. They were to meet at a bar on Friday and the chugging of the drinks would begin, they would each drink one drink each and wait for the other to finish before fi...

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“The Challenge Of Being Depressed ” by Lydia Sarrou

Submitted to Contest #66

Trigger warning: suicide, mental illness “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Ms. Miller said to me. “Well, what else am I supposed to do? You have seen the world out there, you have seen the horrors, the cruelties, and violence that have been happening since the beginning of mankind. It’s not actually a defeat when there’s no winner at the end of the day. How am I supposed to keep on living in this world where everything is so sickening and people are never going to change?” I asked her “It’s...

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Start your story with one character telling another, “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 132 stories

“LAOCH.” by OMONIYI WASIU

“Phoenix of The Frozen Woods” by D Y

“No winners here ” by Samone Dandridge

“TO BE A GUARD” by Christina Ekekwe

“Change of Power” by Daryl Oliver

“A Coward” by Sam W

“The Player In First Place: The Last One Standing PART 1” by Dude Man

“Always Improving” by Iona Cottle

“Game of Chance” by Starlight Geminine

“Sunrise with my dad and son” by Gokula Krishnan

“The Eye” by A S

“Devil Incarnate” by Kaye Salangsang

“Her name is Maggie ” by Karim Gamal

“Contest Time!!” by Judith Buskohl

“The Challenge Of Being Depressed ” by Lydia Sarrou

🌟 Similar prompts

Halfway through a fierce competition, your character is given the opportunity to cheat their way to victory: do they take it?

Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted.

Write about a contest with life or death stakes.

Write about a character who’s finally on the verge of achieving their lifelong dream.

Contest #66

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

584

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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