Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 198 stories

“A King With No Crown” by Kane Fedde

Submitted to Contest #59

The air was crisp, and cold, and reeked of fish, and piss. The people danced and flitted around him, pushing past rudely, without even a care in the world for who they bumped into along the way. Lord Pendragon had enough when the forth person in the last minute shoved past so that their shoulders collided. “Excuse me, but do you mind not being so horribly rude?” he demanded while brushing off his fine black coat, as though she had gotten it dirty The girl only gave him a confused and almost disgusted expression in turn. As if she had t...

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“Opeque Destiny” by Brian Barrott

Submitted to Contest #59

Thick fog dulled every footstep and creaks of leather. All sound became alien, trying to ignore the waves of fear that began to grip me! I turned my horse to face home. My idea was to follow her hoof prints. However, unable to see our feet made it impossible! Hopes of normal vision became forlorn, putting us in danger! Riding became impossible. We stumbled for hours, following unseen paths that led us deeper, or towards dead ends. Desperation gripped us. We could not find the path-home! Ice saturated my clothes! I tried to shake icicl...

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“Innocent ” by Louise Muller

Submitted to Contest #59

Since I can remember, I've loved running. I became alive feeling the wind on my face, my legs burning, my lungs expanding, and my heart beating. Everything in my body working in unison as it was meant to. Due to bad weather I had skipped my morning runs, and I had missed them. Crankiness easily got the best of me, and I saw a snappy version of myself whenever the days between my runs were too far apart. Now on the road, there was no sign of a bad mood. I felt the sweet thrill of adrenaline pumping through my veins and I pushed myself even fu...

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“look around” by Amber Hartung

Submitted to Contest #59

The structure calls to the clouds above as it rises to the heavens. Each detail hand pick and then craved. Each detail brought a job. Each detail meant a future for at least a couple of months. A future that someone needs. The delicately made gods with the colors to make the rainbows jealous. The colors that seem to pull from everywhere. The colors that made your favorite colors hide and quiver inside. The reds are enough to make blood look dull. To make blood look colorless. The blues are from deep with in the stars. Deep in the nebulas, th...

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“Purpose” by Mat Mwan

Submitted to Contest #59

My name is Pulchra, but they call me D. I know they love me but did they have to remind me of how much of a daddy’s child I was? If there’s anyone that’s ever shown me love, it’s that man. Where I come from …. Actually, I don’t remember where I come from. Right now I’m standing in the cold mud of a slimy pond with my backpack on my aching front. The sky is … not blue. Or maybe it is. I can’t tell. The clouds cover it and thus it would be a lie to assume that the sky above the clouds is not blue. Let me start over. My name is Pulchra Panemo...

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“The Dragon War” by Amelia Hoffman

Submitted to Contest #59

Looking back, it is the smell that has stuck with me the most. The scent of burning flesh, of charred trees, of rotting bodies has been seared into my brain like a brand on leather. The images become harder to picture with time, but a whiff of a fire, and the exact odor seeps into my nostrils simultaneously with my thoughts on the subject. I will tell you the story once, and only once before I leave this world for the next. It takes my company four days on horseback to reach the camp behind the front lines. We are a small company. There are ...

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“The Birdhouse” by R.W. Emmons

Submitted to Contest #59

Michael never defied his father until the day his father died. You made your bed, boy, and now you have to lie in it. Michael thought about the words of his dead father while trying to figure out a way to avoid the tepid conversations among the congregants from his father’s funeral now talking to each other in awkward exchanges in various different rooms of his boyhood home. The bird house hung in the tree outside all of Michael’s life. He never thought much about it until some days after he was tall enough to reach it himself.&n...

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“Nimbus Novus” by Emily Brownlee

Submitted to Contest #59

“Now arriving at: Nimbus Prime. Please gather belongings and prepare to deboard.” A robotic voice gargled through the rusty speakers of the passenger cabin. Vallen’s lips tightened nervously and she studied the speaker nearest to her intensely to try and take her mind off of how afraid she was. It looked like an old tin can, she thought, imagining the robot announcer at the other end of the line speaking into a second tin can, connected to the first by a length of string. Her mother had told her about an archaic children’s tradition like tha...

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“cornfield summer” by S. K.

Submitted to Contest #59

The cornfields looked positively frightful at night. “Are we nearly there?” My sister leaned forward, peering out the front window. Ahead, the headlights illuminated the road for maybe 20 feet. Beyond that, all was in shadow. Rows of corn stretched to all sides, their sharp leaves rustling in a warm breeze. What little moon was visible shone feebly, doing nothing to alleviate my sister’s anxiety. I caught a glimpse of two pale eyes, peering at us from among the shadowy stalks. Then we were past. I pressed harder on the gas pedal. “Think so...

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“Heading south” by Stephen Timm

Submitted to Contest #59

We were descending into another world, as our bus steadily made its way down a mountain pass. From high up on a ridge, a canopy of green stretched out before us. We had left behind a dry savannah-like plateau and were now entering the temperate rainforests of Patagonia. Beside me sat a German girl who’d climbed aboard the small 32-seater bus in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, with nothing but forest for miles. From the window of the bus I had watched as the bus driver helped her stow her large backpack in the luggage compartment b...

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“To the Future!” by Adrian Tan

Submitted to Contest #59

Herb’s heartbeats were over the charts. On the one hand, he was excited with this one in a lifetime chance to travel to the future. On the other hand, he was overly anxious because he would not know what to expect until it was too late. The Genie had made it very clear from the start that Herb had only one more wish left so he could not wish to go five hundred years into the future AND wished to know what to expect UNTIL he reaches there. Herb had cursed the Genie for his inflexibility. To be fair, he did curse himself ...

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“the hospital” by Surora McPherson

Submitted to Contest #59

"where am i?" i asked. the doctor locked down at me then smiled. "you're in the hospital." i shook my head. "no no no!" i wasn't supposed to be here... how'd this happen? what happened? 'i remember!' “ hello blue!” my best friend kiya kiroshi said for the sixth time this day. It was now approaching lunch period when kiroshi started greeting me again. “Can you please hush?” I asked as politely as I could. Since he was my friend, I did not want to be rude in any possible way, but that wasn't for too long. “Are you going to th...

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“BLUE CHRISTMAS” by Susan Hudson

Submitted to Contest #59

BLUE CHRISTMAS Susan W. Hudson Annie was baffled by her mother’s decision to make all the Christmas decorations blue this year. Annie loved her mother very much. Annie knew that she was smart and pretty; she got that from her mother. Annie’s mother, Marie, had year-after-year decorated the house and the tree with beloved ornaments from years past. The theme was always red, white, green, and gold. Many of the items were hand made by her children and had been lovingly preserved over the years. After the mother abandoned all the tradition...

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“Clean Break” by Josefin Björk

Submitted to Contest #59

"We need to talk," Joshua said, sitting by the breakfast table. His belly pressed against it. It hadn't done that when we married. We need to talk. I didn't even look his way, my back was turned and my focus was on the coffee pot. "About what, honey?" A stray lock of my hair untangled from the curler. I had stopped trying to look good years ago. I thought we were at that point where appearances no longer mattered. The man had seen me split open when delivering our children, he already knew the worst of it. But he had, teary-eyed, exclaimed t...

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“Fodo & His Companions; On the way ” by Aidan Mahanga

Submitted to Contest #59

It was a day of joy and sorrow as well. Everyone couldn't believe what had happened. They hugged each other with great love. All of Fodo's friends welcomed the girl Lupi into their group. They introduced themselves to the cadres they were studying each other. Lupi introduced himself as studying the nature of wildlife. Fodo and Sagna were studying cadres in data management disciplines. And they headed for the accounting and statistics unit. Overall everyone was moving towards their unit. Lupi was the last ...

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Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 198 stories

“A King With No Crown” by Kane Fedde

“Opeque Destiny” by Brian Barrott

“Innocent ” by Louise Muller

“look around” by Amber Hartung

“Purpose” by Mat Mwan

“The Dragon War” by Amelia Hoffman

“The Birdhouse” by R.W. Emmons

“Nimbus Novus” by Emily Brownlee

“cornfield summer” by S. K.

“Heading south” by Stephen Timm

“To the Future!” by Adrian Tan

“the hospital” by Surora McPherson

“BLUE CHRISTMAS” by Susan Hudson

“Clean Break” by Josefin Björk

“Fodo & His Companions; On the way ” by Aidan Mahanga

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.

Set your story in a place with extreme weather, but don’t use any weather-related words to describe it.

Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.

Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Contest #59

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

767

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: