Write a story involving a portal into a parallel universe.

Posted in Science Fiction on Apr 28, 2023

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✍️ 61 stories

“The White Rock” by Kasey Kirchner

Submitted to Contest #196

On the night of her last disappearance, the Aurora was bright. The snow was stale and the blue bird songs of summer had drifted into memory. It was quiet and cold, completely still. The air smelled like sleep and frosted winter windows. She stood in the doorway of the cottage for a long time, facing the shadowy corners of her youth. The moonlight reflecting off the snow behind her cast a feeble blue light through the open doorway, obstructed in the middle by her warped silhouette. She thought she should feel sad to be leaving, but the sadnes...

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“Real is Relative ” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #196

Addie woke thirty minutes before her alarm was set to chime. She sighed deeply, leaned back on her pillow and tried closing her eyes again. She was in no hurry to begin another day exactly as the last. Addie wanted nothing more than to use her thirty minutes to fall back to sleep and resume her recurring dream. She lived for the nights her subconscious transported her to a life without worry and routine. It seemed like a cruel joke the Universe decided to play time and again, showing her the perfect existence just to have her wake into the m...

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“The Hole” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #196

“Don’t ask me how it works, it just does OK?” I can see she doesn’t believe me. She’s angry and her anger blocks everything out, other than the accusation she has levelled at me. Her anger is the righteous judge, she is the appalled jury. I can see my execution looming. “Why can’t you be honest with me!?” she wails this with an anguish that tells me everything I need to know. I have lost her and there is nothing I can say to change this loss. I consider the situation. I already know my current odds are so slim that they are skeletal....

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“A journey through the Skies ” by Dr Zayn Khizar

Submitted to Contest #196

Once there was a man pretty rich looking for a way to reach to a new universe he searched the requirements needed to create a portal that could take him from the Earth to the nearest black hole after so many efforts and learning from scientists he succeeded in creating that beautiful portal system so that people could travel interplanetry distances like to the moon jupital or mars but the real target was black hole which was really far away almost more than 1500 light year meaning that the speed of light which is almost 300000ms-1 would take...

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“Eve and the Snake” by Estee Kitelinger

Submitted to Contest #196

We all know the story. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then somewhere along the line he decided to make snakes (one of God’s less inspired ideas, really). Then he made Adam, which was fine. Finally he made Eve, and that’s when things really started to go downhill for this God individual. Eve met a snake. The snake convinced her to disobey God. And just like that you have war, syphilis, and 30-day return policies. The downfall of humanity, in an instant. That’s the story you know. What you don’t know is that in a ...

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“Door Bee” by Andrea Ben-Yosef

Submitted to Contest #196

Lila drove into the drive-through line of the coffee stand. She was late to work again but she didn’t care. This job was the same as any other job, a low-paid, dead-end gig with a jerk of a boss who would probably fire her soon anyway. Which meant that she wasn’t going to skip getting her favorite coffee just because she was a few minutes late. The coffee stand was in the middle of a parking lot behind a store that had gone out of business. Even though it was hidden behind a building, there was always a steady stream of customers. As she d...

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“Safely Insane...Or Not” by DeAnna Myers

Submitted to Contest #196

“Dreams allow us to be safely insane every night of our lives,” I murmured to my friend, Julia, as we walked along. We were on our daily morning walk and she just got done telling me about the dream she had last night. “You know,” I almost whispered as if talking to myself, “there’s a great deal of truth to that statement if you really think about it.” “I agree,” Julia answered thoughtfully, “because if you actually remember your dreams, they can be pretty insane.” “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything because when it comes to be...

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“The Parallel Worlds” by Elma Quddus

Submitted to Contest #196

When he regained consciousness, he looked around. Understand that he is in his machine. I was talking about Hasnat. He built a machine to control time. The problem is the machine didn't want to work. However, after so many years of research, he was finally able to build a machine. But he did not know that his machine could not control time. Rather, it will take him to a different world. No one has ever come to this world except him. The machine does not want to work at first but starts to run in a hurry. He loses consciousness due to exces...

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“Second Wind (Dorothy, the Sequel)” by Cassandra Adams

Submitted to Contest #196

Dorothy awakened early, as always, and took her place by the window with her coffee and pocket-sized Cairn terrier. Wistfully, she scanned the sky. The cacophony of robins and mockingbirds in the old oak told her that today would not be the day. Everything was as it should be. “God’s in His heaven. All’s right with the world”, she thought to herself. And, yet, the longing persisted. Some days, she could almost make out a foreboding hint of bile-green within the clouds. Then again, all her life she’d been accused of nurturing a vivid imag...

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“Help is not on the way” by Narico Noaa

Submitted to Contest #196

(TW: mental health, animal cruelty) One of her hands was reaching for the darkness and the other was trying to wipe the tears rolling down her face. Rena was wondering how much of what happened to her was real and how much was the result of her imagination. The sky was particularly dark that night, just a few stars here and there, and she was feeling tired. It was not physical exhaustion that she felt, the exhaustion had more to do with her soul than anything else. The kind of exhaustion someone feels after trying over and over but to...

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“Through the Land of Giant Hearts and Precious Dreams” by Arpad Nagy

Submitted to Contest #196

He wasn't much good at waiting but walking into the office of the woman you've loved for decades unannounced wasn't a great tactic. The fact this version of Heath Breeland stood seven inches taller than the original only added to his conundrum. It would be one thing if LeeAnn recognized him and totally another to explain it. The last time they spoke, Heath the OG made a lighthearted remark, suggesting that if he could only find a portal to a parallel universe, he'd show up at her door, flowers in one hand, hope in the other. And, in...

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“We are All Alice” by Alex Knepper

Submitted to Contest #196

She came to this place only in her dreams. A patchwork of tapestries forms a tunnel, she doesn’t know how long she has been there. But she is crawling like a child, weightless inside its cacoon. Beautiful quilts of flannel, floral sheets, and woolen blankets are all stitched together with invisible thread. She knows this part, where she crawls on hands and knees, following the quilted tunnel through its turns. The tunnel usually lulls her into the vague darkness of endless sleep. But this time— it ends. No longer weightless, she pu...

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“Pigs” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #196

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27 (English Revised Version)Teule- The Aztec name for gods when confronted by Cortez on horseback‘Brad?’ he called to the Captain, ‘Where exactly are we going? I could leave a message for Rod to join us.’Brad’s tactful smile faded and came back instantly. His right eyebrow arched beneath the new tactful smile. ‘Hey Simon, I wish I c...

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“Portal To The Non Mortal ” by Ayy Dee

Submitted to Contest #196

-Story is based on actual life and dream events. He stood there with one hand on top of what looked like a mirror. It was tall and oval shaped. Both of us watched as my grandma climbed through. Not one word or sound. We were surrounded by blackness besides the light that was protruding from where you would have seen your reflection. It was lit up with two beautiful bright shades of purple and a bright white light around the edges. I woke up confused. My dreams were always weird and different, but this dream wasn’t like an...

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“For Zakxin So Loved the World” by Ryan Does

Submitted to Contest #196

“Behold! We bring the victorious promise of Zakxin to the people of Earth! None of you need go on in your life. Zakxin alone can offer salvation to this dying world. Through the doorways of the New Dawn you shall receive the everlasting oath. To paraphrase your own sacred texts, ‘For Zakxin so loved the—’” Dennis Doves grabbed the nearby remote and turned off the break room TV. His finger pressed the on/off button with unnecessary strength. As if the extra pressure would turn off the screen for good and never turn on again. Dennis wished he...

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Write a story involving a portal into a parallel universe.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 61 stories

“The White Rock” by Kasey Kirchner

“Real is Relative ” by Myranda Marie

“The Hole” by Jed Cope

“A journey through the Skies ” by Dr Zayn Khizar

“Eve and the Snake” by Estee Kitelinger

“Door Bee” by Andrea Ben-Yosef

“Safely Insane...Or Not” by DeAnna Myers

“The Parallel Worlds” by Elma Quddus

“Second Wind (Dorothy, the Sequel)” by Cassandra Adams

“Help is not on the way” by Narico Noaa

“Through the Land of Giant Hearts and Precious Dreams” by Arpad Nagy

“We are All Alice” by Alex Knepper

“Pigs” by H.e. Ross

“Portal To The Non Mortal ” by Ayy Dee

“For Zakxin So Loved the World” by Ryan Does

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character unknowingly experiencing a “sliding doors” moment. Write your story in two halves; what could have been, and what actually happened.

Write a story that includes the phrase “Maybe in another life.”

You’re walking down the street, when you spot a familiar figure. It’s another you. And they’ve come from an alternate reality to warn you about something.

Set your story in a world where time travel has been perfected, and people can use it to hop between alternate timelines — but at a cost.

Contest #196

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

279

Contest entries

149

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: