Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

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

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 79 stories

Shattered Reflections

Submitted to Contest #16

“Maryanne, add another curl to the left side and more pins to the right to lift it better,” Kiana ordered scrutinizing her image in the mirror in front of her.  “Yes M’Lady,” Maryanne sighed stretching her tired fingers and reached for another pin. ‘Kiana!” The door flew open and a disheveled young women ran in tripping inelegantly on the carpet before she reached the vanity.  “Emmaline,” Kiana smiled. “I long to hear what you rushed in here to thrust upon me with all the enthusiasm in the world, however.”  “However, you simpl...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Shattered again

Submitted to Contest #16

   Time is meaningless in the underworld. It’s a recurring nightmare. You’re alone, with nowhere to go, no other soul around. Just you, stuck repeating the memory of your death in a never ending cycle. It’s kind of like billions of parallel dimensions all with the label “hell” on top of them. Once you die you’re stuck here by default. Judging day is November 22nd. You just have to cross your legs and wait for it.    Getting judged is a choice, though. And truly, I can relate to the souls who would rather tr...

2 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

No, Never Mind!

Submitted to Contest #16

The girl stood alone in her room, her mud-brown hair shielding her profile so anyone coming into the room could not really look at her.                   “I’ll never move out of here. I’ll never have the best of friends. I’ll never have a secure future!” Delilah trudged to her bed and flopped down onto it. She was twelve years old, in the seventh grade and she was moving—yet again—to a new school—for the ninth time. This new house was the hundredth...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Full Circle

Submitted to Contest #16

Standing on the empty stage Morgan wondered if it was really happening. Finally she had been given the nod of approval and having played the piano faultlessly the photographer had taken a publicity photo shot of her. She had given a gleeful smile and then remembered her publicity coach had advised her not to give a broad smile until her teeth had been cosmetically enhanced. She would need someone to coach her in etiquette and how to respond to publicity.‘After all Morgan,’ her agent had told her, ‘you are not a pop artist; you are playing a ...

2 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Ellis and Mr. Christmas

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time there was a charming crawkulian named Ellis, who lived in a small town called Greenwich, which was to the east of Blackwich, but to the west of Greywich, and to the south of Redwich, but to the north of Whitewich. At first glance, Ellis seemed to be an ordinary crawkulian. She had the muzzle of a bat, the wings of a crow, short hairy paws, and a kind heart. Yet it was only on the surface that she seemed ordinary. In fact, she was quite special, because one of her eyes could see everyone’s future, except&n...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

Those Who Kill

Submitted to Contest #16

THOSE WHO KILLbyNare Agakhanyan Gharibi Noelle spent Sunday afternoons at the local café observing people in their natural habitat. Her particular favorites were the mothers and their daughters who came by around 3 o’clock. They would have their arms full of shopping bags as they smiled to one another.  Noelle longed for a similar relationship with her mother as she watched these strangers from a distance. In her twenty-seven years, she had almost forgotten what it felt to be a normal. A year ago, Noelle’s father got sick. His coughs ha...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

Wishes Do Come True

Submitted to Contest #16

The clock struck midnight as Carrie closed her eyes. As she drifted off to dreamland, she thought, I wish that Erica and Mike would break up before this weekend so I don’t have to go to their stupid wedding. Mike was Carrie’s first serious boyfriend. She lost her virginity to him, and thought they would be together forever. On her 25th birthday, two major things happened. Her best friend Erica threw her a surprise party and Mike broke up with her. Two months later she found out Mike and Erica were a couple, and two years later they anno...

1 like 2 comments 2
Read story

Blue Mist Creature

Submitted to Contest #16

Tilly pulls a large branch from the dirt road that she and her group are traveling on. Tilly stops, a small movement catching her eye. She looks toward it, a pile of leaves rustle and the pile bursts apart. Tilly takes a surprising step back, standing not five feet from her is a small rabbit.     “Ha, your afraid of a bunny,” Ben teases, he puts his hands up behind his ears like he had rabbit ears.     “Oh, stuff it,” she snips back. Tilly looks over to her best friend Molly and whispers, “Man, he’s an...

1 like 2 comments 2
Read story

Be Careful What You Wish For

Submitted to Contest #16

              BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR                                                                         &n...

1 like 1 comment 1
Read story

Buried Sunk ‘n Treasure skyrocketed dirt poor vagabond!

Submitted to Contest #16

Rumor persisted and fanned courtesy - fuel of exaggeration by yours truly. Word of mouth thru generations this tract of real estate once trumpeted barren open space. An overactive imagination whet the fancy of an even number of oddballs yours truly included. One after another rapt listener unwittingly elaborated, vis a vis master charging adding slight embellishment here and there. Within figurative wiggle of earlobe initial story materialized into mouth watering, eye opening, nose twitching, et cetera mythic legend. Analogous, high née iden...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might by CD Novak

Submitted to Contest #16

Accidents happen. Sometimes the outcome is a surprise, opening a new door. Sometimes the outcome sucks. Usually things fall in the middle. What is it you need for your life to become more idyllic? Money? Fame? Solitude? It’s always something. At least for must folks. And it’s usually money. No one ever seems to have enough, even though no one can define the right amount. Teller Martin and his wife Jen had been a couple for 18 years. They had three great kids in middle school or high school, all doing well. Life was grand. If you didn’t ...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

A Matter of Fate

Submitted to Contest #16

The ambient sounds of the city floated through the entrance of the abandoned building where a door once stood. It mixed with the dust particles floating through the air, illuminated by streetlights glinting through broken window panes. The honking of a horn right outside the building brought a flutter from Fate’s eyelids and a heavy, rumbling sigh as he shifted around on the pile of pillows and blankets that took up the entire corner of the room, settling back into sleep. Only a few minutes later, a clatter sounded, sending something small a...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

Life Without

Submitted to Contest #16

Anthony didn’t know what he had expected when his death sentence had been commuted to life without parole. His situation was unique, but it was not the only time it had ever happened. For security purposes, he had been classified as a ‘special circumstances inmate’, the highest possible classification. He had been transferred to solitary confinement in Maximum Security.In the twenty years he had spent on death row, Anthony had cherished time. Now that his death sentence had been commuted and changed to life without parole, time was all he ha...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

Fabulous at Forty

Submitted to Contest #16

Harriet saw red and was delighted. Throughout the whole shop red sale signs screamed their messages; “Half price Christmas cards,” “A third off calendars,” “Two angels for the price of one.” Harriet wandered happily amongst the displays, straightening a card here or putting one or two back in their right place.“Buying this shop was just what I needed to help me through this year,” she said to herself.Her eye was caught by the “Cards for Special” occasions section. Frowning slightly while she rifled through them, she selected one and pulled i...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

Devine Intervention

Submitted to Contest #16

A year and a half ago, after numerous failed attempts at making their marriage work, Rose and Scott had found themselves a gnat’s hair away from a physical altercation that took place in front of their two small daughters, Hailie and Zoe. The argument not only scared Rose, but terrified their oldest Hailie, who had been only inches away when their screaming turned to shoving. She inserted herself in between Rose and Scott and began yelling, “please daddy, stop yelling at mommy”.Those words quickly jolted Rose back from the rage and...

1 like 0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that involves love at first sight.

Romance – 87 stories

Write a rags-to-riches story.

Novel – 20 stories

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

Mystery – 98 stories

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

Adventure – 30 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel