Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Posted in Sad on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 82 stories

“Stronger, Smarter, and More Fit to Survive” by Ella Kinnett

Submitted to Contest #84

“I want to go outside and see the sun. I want to be able to run for miles. Please can I go out for just a few minutes,” I say drawing out the words so my voice sounds even more desperate. “A.J. you know my answer. As your mother it’s my job to keep you safe and keeping you inside is the only solution for right now. I promise I want to go out just as much as you do but we can’t.” “Why not?! It's not fair that I have to live my life never seeing anyone's face but my own mothers. You at least have to give me an answer. I’m 14 now I can ha...

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“The Bunker” by Aubrey Berry

Submitted to Contest #84

“Can you grab the veggie cutting board? I accidentally got the meat one,” my mom called out. After a few seconds, she added, “It might be in the sink.” It wasn’t hard to travel from my corner of the bunker to our “kitchen.” The bunker wasn’t big enough for a family of four. It was barely 20’ by 20’. However, it was the only life we had ever known. I didn’t even know there was something called outside until a couple of months ago. Or maybe years? I had never learned how time worked. It was hard to know what time it was. We just based it off ...

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“Normal” by Y V

Submitted to Contest #84

12th 0f October, the day we celebrate our hero. Without him, humanity would be dead, extinct, just like the dinosaurs that once roamed the planet called earth. He used his wealth to study our present planet mars, he knew that humanity would soon be destroyed by their own actions and ignorance. Elon Musk is his name, on the 12th of October 2018, he indicated to the world, on an app called twitter, that half his money would be to establish a self-sustaining city on mars to ensure the continuation of human life, now in the year, 10,23...

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“Where Was Mama?” by John Walsh

Submitted to Contest #84

Where was Mama? She’d been gone a full week and Opal was getting increasingly anxious. Mama bravely went out into the dangerous world to bring Opal food, clothes, books, music CDs, and paper and crayons so Opal could draw her friendly, formless faces when she got lonely. Every evening Mama would come home and they would fix dinner and then play cards, listen to music, or Mama would read aloud. Mama used to sleep in the other bed when Opal was younger but now she slept “in the house, so you can have some privacy....

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“Basement Betty” by Rose Lydia Page

Submitted to Contest #84

I awoke to the news on the tv. They were talking about Tony Blair for some odd reason. They had discovered something he had done I think. I quickly blocked out the chatter and leaned up and to the side to hang my feet off the bed. I stretched and yawn as I got up to go to the bathroom. I turned on the light and blinkingly stared in the mirror. Looking back at me was a messy bun headed 15 year old. Appearing scruffy as ever. I followed my normal morning routine, a bit of water here some soap there. By 9:30 I was ready for the day. Another da...

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“Meeting Mother Nature” by Alex Raines

Submitted to Contest #84

The first thing I noticed when my eyes finally adjusted was that the creator of crayons had clearly never seen the sky when they created “sky blue”. The second was that they’d never seen grass either. Then again, in the years since our great-great-great grandparents had crayons to draw the pictures hanging on our school room walls, the colors had probably faded. “Wow.” Kyler blinked a few times, his eyes still adjusting as he came out of the tunnel back down to the bunker. “Everything is so…” A pause. “Yeah. I know.” He nodded,...

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“Locked” by Richard L.

Submitted to Contest #84

The sun rose on the fake window, casting a brilliant yellow glow into my room. It was like this everyday. The sun rose, and I got up to face the fake window that had a beautiful virtual landscape printed on it. I wonder if I'll ever find out what the real sky looks like, I thought as I got dressed. What does it feel like to have the sun actually shine on you? The elders in the facility sometimes told us about what it felt like. How the sun created a warm, tingly feeling. How sometimes there was rain, when water droplets fell from the sky. ...

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“16 Years” by Virginia Soto

Submitted to Contest #84

DISCLAIMER!!! I am not Anit-Muslim, I only said the following because I wanted to base the war off of religion. Again, I am not Anti-Muslim. This is just a work of fiction. I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock, telling me it's seven a.m. I shut off the alarm, sit up and rub my eyes. I stretch my arms and yawn, then look around my traditional Japanese-themed room. Each one of my walls features a Shinto shrine in the middle of a pond/lake surrounded by cherry blossoms on the shore. There is a bridge that connects the small island wher...

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“Let's Face the Future” by LM Konkel-Dixon

Submitted to Contest #84

Lhan takes the corner at a dead run, slowing just enough to not slam into the wall. He makes it past the residence halls before he has to stop to catch his breath. Keeping in shape wasn't particularly important in the bunkers, at least not the one Lhan was born and raised in. The facilitators focused more on farming, animal husbandry, and keeping the populace more or less well-educated. As soon as he doesn't feel like he's going to fall over from physical exertion Lhan takes off running again. Kiele was probably in the park, she practically ...

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“Something Different” by Tedi Carey

Submitted to Contest #84

I remember the stories told to me in my youth. Stories about what it was like when we could go outside. I’m told that the air isn’t breathable, that the trees and most of the plant life are gone. When the plants died, most of the animals died too. What’s left are the carnivores...and they’ll eat anything. Now we must live underground. Scientists are working on ways to regenerate the earth. It isn’t going well. If anyone does venture outside, they must wear protective gear and use some of our dwindling oxygen tank supplies.&nbsp...

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“The Groceries ” by Serena Jones

Submitted to Contest #84

Conner stumbled into the house very late in the evening. His face was streaked with rust brown liquid and his shirt had three distinct rips where a REborn had gotten too close. Looking around on the ground, he found the remote and turned the TV on. “And just why were you out so late?” Conner rolled his eyes, pausing the TV. “If you must know, Dad, I was getting yeast. Those baguettes aren’t going to rise themselves.” He pulled out a long line of connected packets and shook them in the air. After a few moments of silence from h...

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“The Fear of Living” by Coira MacHaffie

Submitted to Contest #84

Social hour was always the highlight of Mickie’s week. Every Saturday afternoon, she headed out of her family’s pod and started the decontamination process. In the first chamber, she stripped down to her underclothes, shivered through the freezing cold decon shower, and then stood in the little dryer stall until her skin was pink with heat and moisture-free again. Then she moved to the second chamber, where she donned a new set of pre-sterilized clothes, a cleanroom suit, a pair of latex gloves, a set of goggles, a cloth facemask, and a plas...

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“The Bunker Kid” by RIC .

Submitted to Contest #84

My parents were teenagers during ‘The Great Toilet Paper Shortage’ of 2020. Or that’s what my mom called it. My father called it, ‘The Year of Disaster’ or the YoD for short. They like to tell me how some of the population couldn’t handle a thing called ‘social distancing’ or wearing a piece of cloth in front of their face. I asked them if they were sad that they had to be apart for so long. And before my father could answer Mom jumped in wi...

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“The Prisoner” by Kevin Bao

Submitted to Contest #84

This is the one and the only place that I have no desire to recall, there lived not so long ago some men who had spent their entire lives in imprisonment inside this bunker. The bunker was an ancient building which was nearly falling apart when I first saw it. There was a couple of lances laying near the pathway toward the bunker, a skinny horse, and a grey, skinny hound who could barely chase a rabbit. The odor was unendurable, it smelled like a mixture of rotten flesh and heavily burnt coal. Scraps of food and other refuse piled agai...

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“Buried: A Tale of Two Souls” by Render Zel

Submitted to Contest #84

“Do you think rain is real?” Jean gave Alexis a perturbed stare. “Of course not. It’s been hypothesised, but there’s no proof of it. Why would you think that?” “All the stories talk about it. Stories came from people, and those people must have seen it from somewhere.” “Alexis, we’re eighteen. We’re not supposed to believe in childish fantasies.” She gave him a smug stare. “Except it isn’t a fantasy. I spoke with Rosenburg. He said his grandfather saw rain.” Jean rolled his eyes. “Rosenburg’s a ranger. They’ll tell all kinds of crazy stories...

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Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 82 stories

“Stronger, Smarter, and More Fit to Survive” by Ella Kinnett

“The Bunker” by Aubrey Berry

“Normal” by Y V

“Where Was Mama?” by John Walsh

“Basement Betty” by Rose Lydia Page

“Meeting Mother Nature” by Alex Raines

“Locked” by Richard L.

“16 Years” by Virginia Soto

“Let's Face the Future” by LM Konkel-Dixon

“Something Different” by Tedi Carey

“The Groceries ” by Serena Jones

“The Fear of Living” by Coira MacHaffie

“The Bunker Kid” by RIC .

“The Prisoner” by Kevin Bao

“Buried: A Tale of Two Souls” by Render Zel

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Write about someone who’s trying to accomplish a task that used to be easy but is now made complicated by a pandemic.

Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Contest #84

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

664

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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