Write a story around the theme: Be careful what you wish for.

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 79 stories

“The Sackcloth Liar” by Vivien Leanne Saunders

🏆 Winner of Contest #16

There was once a woman who loved to tell stories. She had six children, and every night she would tell each one a different tale. When they were young the stories were short and simple, but as the children grew they became jealous of one another. They pleaded for more details, and demanded that their story should be the most exciting, longest story of all. The woman began speaking every night at sunset, and stopped when the sun rose. Her voice grew so weak, and her walk so weary, that all of her neighbors noticed. They decided that she was g...

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“Fairies tell no truth” by Miles Gatling

Submitted to Contest #16

"That's what I have to do?""Yes, a small offering, and your biggest desire shall be fulfilled." Crystal stood there twiddling her thumbs, eyeing the sparkling fairy. All of a sudden the act itself frightened her. "What's the matter? Don't you trust me anymore?" "Oh but I do. I just-" "You built my fairy house and invited me to stay," the flying creature told its host. "I thought you wanted my friendship and company." "Oh I do!" The young woman rushed to cup the little thing's feet. With tears in her eyes, holding on ...

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“Don't Wish For A Heart” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #16

His eyes were cold and lifeless as he stared at her, as dark as a starless night. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" The lamp slipped off the table, shattering against the stone floor, but neither noticed. She clenched her jaw, tasting blood as her teeth ripped into the inner flesh of her mouth. "Not anymore." Backed against the wall, she slowly reached into her jacket pocket where the comforting handle of a knife slipped into her palm. "It's been three years!" he screamed, his hot breath stinging her face as he drug ...

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“The Time Traveller” by M Daly

Submitted to Contest #16

I have been obsessed with the future for my entire life. I yearn for a time when the roads will be filled with the near silent hum of electric motors, driverless vesicles transporting their load to and from high rises in the city. A time when hospital waiting times are reduced to the time it takes a diagnostic tool to scan your body and dispense the appropriate medication. And a time when any material good would be available almost instantaneously, at the touch of a button.I have read that all of these things may well be achievable in the ne...

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“The Flight Risk” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #16

Marcus smiled down at Destiny. “May I buy you a drink?”“I have one, thank you. But we can talk.” She held a glass filled with icy clear liquid and a wedge of lime.“Great.” Marcus sat next to her. Each table stood in its own intimate alcove, perfect for conversation. Most of the tables were filled with travelers reunited or saying their good-byes.Destiny smiled. “My name is Destiny.”She was the most beautiful woman Marcus had ever seen. “I’m Marcus.” Destiny offered her hand and he took it gently. Her touch thrilled him. Destiny smiled ...

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“Have a Magical Day™!” by KC Gilman

Submitted to Contest #16

February 18, 2019 Ms. Gilman, Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate you reaching out to the Department of Complaints in regard to your less than satisfactory Magical Wish Granting Experience™ with Khamul the Grand (ID: 47-829351). Here at Genies Inc., we strive for superb customer satisfaction and are sorry that you did not have a positive experience. We regret to inform you, however, that we are unable to address the complaints you filed. Upon reviewing your request, we forwarded it to our Division for Dissatisfied Customers. They will...

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“The Plan” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #16

There was once a little girl called Sharon who wanted nothing so much as to be a princess. Nobody could quite say (herself included) where and how she first heard about princesses, or who put the notion in her head, but long before she went to school she was determined and would not be shaken. “Of course you’re our princess,” her parents assured her, or at least they did most of the time, when they hadn’t (because they were only human) had enough of princesses for one day. “Every littl...

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“Christmas Wish” by Karen Jones

Submitted to Contest #16

It’s hard to get in the mood for Christmas when it's 80 degrees instead of 30, sand instead of snow, and palms instead of pines. All I've ever wished for the holidays is snow, a warm fire, and friends to share it with. Even the robins, our usual harbingers of winter, haven't arrived yet and even if it was cold, my fireplace isn't working right. No one wants smoke billowing inside their living room instead of picturesquely curling out the chimney.Still musing about my string of rotten Christmas luck, I hear the mailman’s truck pull up outside...

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“Opposites” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #16

He sits by his mother, watching shadows flicker on the floor, forming patterns because of the clouds and the starlight. It's snowing outside, it always is, and it's cold.He peers out the window. The moon is dark, but the stars aren't, and he marvels at their brightness, their beauty. He knows that they could form constellations, tell stories, but to him, they are just a handful of glitter scattered across the sky.Even so, he can feel their meaning and he watches them glimmer in wonder.he turns to his mother."Tell me the story of why it's alw...

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“The Escapist Society” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #16

The spotless lamb slumbered into silence. A pale blue teacup had pricked the pure lamb red. Gushing blood soon followed, streaking through the evening, bleak sky, and pitter-pattering down the cobble road. The little, pretty dying one did bleed, and never before had his shepherdess which it had been her own. Eloise Clary, the shepherdess, would have stained the countryside black if given the choice. In curses and tears, she cried out to the skies for her own life to be taken. The winds were her sole answer. If she had not loved the lam...

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“Perfectly Pickled” by Debra Clewer

Submitted to Contest #16

PERFECTLY PICKLED. Hi, I’m fourteen-year-old Alex Graham, and I have to tell you yesterday was the weirdest day of my whole life. While I was at Grandma’s house with my little brother Mitchell. Gran has a television installed in her kitchen, which she watches when she’s cooking. She was following her favourite cooking show, Backwoods Homestyle Delights, when an ad break came on. There I was, standing by the kitchen door, listening to my grandmother laughing loudly at the ad for pickles. You know the one, where a genie appears to two people ...

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“The brave little tailor.” by Len Mooring

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time, there was a tailor of very small stature, named Abraham. He seemed to be very brave, but could also be very stupid. His biggest wish was to be tall. Being small, he tended to compensate for his lack of height and girth in being cursed by a large mouth and lungs which he used sometimes in inappropriate ways. A casual glance from some Adonis-like male would often cause him to immediately challenge him to a duel, or the equivalent thereof, because of some imagined sleight. Most of the Adonises would smile and move on, but...

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“Beautiful Brilliance” by Kali Sayovitz

Submitted to Contest #16

A small town rests on the edge of a cliff near the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike the dull, average fishing towns of the East Coast, this one is special, magical even. Upon moving into the town, each person is given something that they have always wished for. It is not abnormal to see a family move to town and mysteriously receive a large inheritance from a distant relative days after moving in. A young woman, incredibly intelligent but rather average looking, moved into town to study the effects of ocean currents on fish populati...

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“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Dayna Scott

Submitted to Contest #16

“This year I just want to find someone who will actually put me first, you know?” Jennifer O’Connell moped and moaned as she cleaned another spillage on the café floor. Thankfully, it was only coffee, nothing that would make her stomach churn. She scrubbed harder as her dreams swam to the surface, up from her heart, to her throat, and finally out of her lips. “Someone who wants me all to themselves, someone who will never let anyone else have me. I’m done with flings. I want the real deal.” “What fairy-tale high are you on right now?” Jackso...

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“Be. Careful. What. You. Wish. For. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Submitted to Contest #16

Trigger Warning: Depicts crime and blood. Be. Careful. What. You. Wish. For. Be very careful. You just might get it. George wished very hard for a clown for Christmas. This was when George was four. And again, when he was five. And again, when he was six. He finally gave up and wished for something else. But when George turned twenty, he finally got his clown. He got what he wished for. ***George was playing computer games online when he thought he caught a glimpse of a clown outside his window. He glanced outside, trying to get a better loo...

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Title: The Sackcloth Liar

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Write a story around the theme: Be careful what you wish for.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 79 stories

“The Sackcloth Liar” by Vivien Leanne Saunders

“Fairies tell no truth” by Miles Gatling

“Don't Wish For A Heart” by K. M. Carpenter

“The Time Traveller” by M Daly

“The Flight Risk” by John K Adams

“Have a Magical Day™!” by KC Gilman

“The Plan” by Deborah Mercer

“Christmas Wish” by Karen Jones

“Opposites” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

“The Escapist Society” by Natasha Arnold

“Perfectly Pickled” by Debra Clewer

“The brave little tailor.” by Len Mooring

“Beautiful Brilliance” by Kali Sayovitz

“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by Dayna Scott

“Be. Careful. What. You. Wish. For. ” by Rima ElBoustani

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that involves love at first sight.

Write a rags-to-riches story.

Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.

Write a story about a character on a quest, trying to "prove themselves."

Contest #16

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

314

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: