Write a story involving a noise complaint.

Posted in Sad on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 45 stories

“The Crimson Diary” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #148

Lady Brackvark had sent her manservant to the constables to complain about her neighbor, Lady Razia, and her raucous party. This was nothing new: Lady Razia was always throwing parties of some kind in her salon, and Lady Brackvark was a jealous, acrimonious old badger who longed for the days when she would be invited to such parties.This party was unusual, though, as it had been snowing heavily: Enough to deaden most noise. The constables - mostly collies and a few bloodhounds - assumed that Lady Brackvark was simply complaining again and ga...

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“Noises From Above” by Nigel Holmes

Submitted to Contest #148

I’ll pick up your prescription after work tomorrow and drop it off about 5. Neville was a slow texter, but also one who believed in correct punctuation. He re-read the message he’d typed, pressed ‘Send” and put the phone down on the countertop. At that moment the lights in his cramped kitchen dimmed. Then he heard a wooshing noise, like wind through trees, faintly at first but growing louder. Glancing through the window, the blue sky was dotted with a just a few white clouds, and the sun was casting long shadows. It didn’t look windy. Then h...

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“Spiralling” by Hugo Abbott

Submitted to Contest #148

Bella’s eyes were half-dead already. The buildup of gunk had drawn in flies which blackened the air. Her shrunken belly revealed the full row of ribs, painfully accentuated by the divots between them. I raised the gun, gently pressing it against Bella’s head. Whenever you shoot a human or cow, in the head, the skin peels back, burnt into a starfish shape. Blood, brain and bone explodes out. However the worst bit about the killing is the red mist that accumulates underneath your fingernails, in your hair and in your nostrils. It lasts for wee...

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“Plywood Walls” by Mark Linsky

Submitted to Contest #148

Plywood Walls I took it for as long as I could. So did Dean and Bob. But at last we had no choice but to head over to the property management office a few blocks down the beach where we laid it out: William was out of ...

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“Night Shift” by Catrina Bowles

Submitted to Contest #148

Officer Miranda Walker enters the elevator at Riverside Heights at 2:32am, and presses the button for Floor 5. She rings the rain from her ponytail and pulls it tight. She checks her appearance in the reflective steel elevator doors; her dark circles are deep even under her concealer. She had been drinking her mid-shift coffee when dispatch sent her to check up on a noise complaint: “Probably just a couple’s quarrel; check it out anyway.” When she steps out of the elevator, the hallway is quiet. A few of the residents who had been woken by t...

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“Taking a Bite Out of Danger” by Anna Gering

Submitted to Contest #148

“Not again!” I picked up the empty mousetrap. “This was supposed to catch that pesky mouse!” It was morning and I was going to be late for work. “Why won’t you catch these mice?” I demanded to my cat, Prouncer. He looked at me serenely. He was orange with stripes, and a little fat. I sighed. There were several mice running around my new apartment, and I had been using mousetraps for several weeks with little luck. Prouncer just disregarded them. I gave him a little piece of the banana I was eating to go with his breakfast. I always mar...

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“The Lease In The Time Of Covid” by Deirdre Fitzpatrick

Submitted to Contest #148

The Lease In The Time Of Covid In March Covid broke out and it seemed like the opportunity for lawlessness burst wide open. Food shortages, no diapers, people hoarding and landlords showing their teeth. We had been living in a cute little house in a not so important suburb of Los Angeles for around six years and haggled every year over the legal raise of 75$ a year increase. The landlord never repaired or made and upgrades then he has the “Hutzpah” to give us an 800 dollar increase or get out when and if C...

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“Slow Motion” by Ionel Rusanu

Submitted to Contest #148

My demons were louder than usual tonight. But their voices were garbled, unintelligible. It was like listening to a record played backwards. I even tried that once. I was not even born in 1981, when a Michigan minister named Michael Mills (another Mike with issues) rambled at some Christian radio that phrases like “master Satan,” “serve me,” and “there’s no escaping it” were hidden in the grooves of the Led Zeppelin hit “Stairway to Heaven” when played backwards. Of course, I don’t own a vinyl record player and moreover, I don’t have a Led ...

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“Apartment C Four” by Kay Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #148

“Have you settled into your new apartment yet?” “I did yesterday, Mom,” I shut my apartment door with my hands full, “actually One of the neighbors woke me up at midnight making the worst ruckus.” “Did you tell the manager?” I sat the box down, “They probably just moved in, too. I guess I can go introduce myself.” “Yeah and get the juicy gossip.” “Mom, I’m not my sister, but I will keep you updated. I gotta go, Mom. Love you. Bye.” “I love you, too, Benjamin. Bye,” She hung up. I dropped my phone onto the counter, and I took the box to the h...

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“130 Days with Dad” by Ben Mears

Submitted to Contest #148

February 2nd: My son moved back home today. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him rolling down the driveway in the passenger seat of his roommate’s car. The thing was packed to bursting with cardboard boxes. Unfolded shirts and clothes hangers stuck through holes in them like cheese through a grater. I met Joseph as he got out of the car. His caramel-brown hair was tied up in a messy bun. That was new. We exchanged pleasantries, and he introduced me to Mark, who'd offered the use of his car while Joseph’s was getting some bodywork done. M...

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“Diane and the Upstairs Wife” by I.M. Carney

Submitted to Contest #148

[Warning: domestic violence] Diane was surprised to find that the only thing she hated more than a pan filled with oil left on the stove by her roommate or the toilet paper roll left empty was living alone and finding every evening when she returned home from a long day of selling over-priced sneakers to stuck-up college students that no one, not even her gaudy roommate who was always late on paying rent, was there to greet her. This roommate, Ellie, who Diane insisted privately for a year and a half only to friends who didn’t know Ellie v...

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“D8” by K.K Ameyo

Submitted to Contest #148

“Let me call you back in a few minutes, okay?” “Okay. Bye.” As soon as she hung up, Terrence sighed and threw his phone on the plastic wrapped couch. Hands on his waist, he took his time examining the empty white walled apartment he had just moved into. Walking past the furniture, he slid the floor to ceiling doors apart and admired the view of the evening sky’s reflection on the man-made lake across the streets adjacent to his apartment block. “Something new,” he said to himself. He had just got accepted in a new firm and had to move halfwa...

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“Perdita” by Francesca Weisman

Submitted to Contest #148

Perdita would never have used the phrase “My real name is Karen”. If anyone asked, which they almost never did, she’d say: “Karen is my given name, my chosen name is Perdita”. Given, to be fair, was pushing it a bit. Allocated, more like: stuck on like a luggage label. Her mother’s choice, who had stood by the mirror in the hallway, and said, But those clothes aren’t you, Karen, they’re for someone…..glamorous. Or Are you quite sure you’re up to doing that job? Karen maintained sullen silence; but Perdita was defian...

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“Condemn It All” by AJ Jones

Submitted to Contest #148

Today is the day you move into your new home.Being nervous at a time like this is natural; you’re familiar with the feeling of twisting guts and hot blood and cold sweat. You turn off the moving van, shuddering to a stop, and the quiet in the cabin sounds like music to your ears. Moving vehicles, you’ve learned, are not quiet machines, and neither are the items you’ve carefully packed into the back. You withdraw your new key with a sigh and get to work.It’s going to be a very long day. The sun isn’t even fully awake yet.Your friend, Will, ex...

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“White Noise ” by M. Tobin

Submitted to Contest #148

*Content Warning: Mental Health and Substance Abuse*Apartment life can be noisy. Close proximity to others living their own timelines can lead to- misunderstandings. I was always taught to mind my own, to stay in my lane and let people figure out problems by themselves. No use sticking a clean nose into shit, my mother used to say between thick clouds of smoke, gnawed unfiltered camel hanging from her thin dry lips. It’s a good rule, keeps you on the straight and narrow and helps avoid trouble. I stuck to this rule even when I move...

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Write a story involving a noise complaint.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 45 stories

“The Crimson Diary” by Cajek Veilwinter

“Noises From Above” by Nigel Holmes

“Spiralling” by Hugo Abbott

“Plywood Walls” by Mark Linsky

“Night Shift” by Catrina Bowles

“Taking a Bite Out of Danger” by Anna Gering

“The Lease In The Time Of Covid” by Deirdre Fitzpatrick

“Slow Motion” by Ionel Rusanu

“Apartment C Four” by Kay Hamilton

“130 Days with Dad” by Ben Mears

“Diane and the Upstairs Wife” by I.M. Carney

“D8” by K.K Ameyo

“Perdita” by Francesca Weisman

“Condemn It All” by AJ Jones

“White Noise ” by M. Tobin

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about two neighbors who cannot stand each other.

Include a character in your story that is often in an apartment building, but doesn’t actually live there.

Write about a couple touring an empty apartment they might rent.

Write about an apartment building being demolished.

Contest #148

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

195

Contest entries

90

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: