Center your story around a mysterious painting.

Posted in Short Story on Feb 28, 2025

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 73 stories

“The Canvas That Hungered” by Haweya Abdirman Osman

Submitted to Contest #292

The Canvas That Hungered written by HAWEYA OSMANThe town of Eldermere had always been a place of quiet oddities—where the cobblestone streets whispered secrets, and the air carried the scent of forgotten dreams. It was a town where stories did not fade; they settled in the cracks of old buildings and the hush of wind through empty streets. It was here that Alice found herself once more, sitting across from Sylva in the dim glow of the café.Alice had never wanted to return to Eldermere. It held too many memories, too many ghosts. But she had ...

40 comments 40

Read story

“Apparently, Canadians Spell It C-O-L-O-U-R” by Joseph Mir

Submitted to Contest #292

Alright, the new Reedsy prompts were just posted. Let’s see the post title… “Colour Your World.” Wait—color is actually spelled that way? I always thought it was C-O-L-O-R, not C-O-L-O-U-R. Am I developing late-stage dyslexia? Let’s look it up.Oh, okay, so it’s spelled both ways. I guess that’s fine. But who in their right mind would spell it C-O-L-O-U-R? Ah—Canadians. That checks out.Ok… So the host of the contest is a Canadian publisher… Does this mean I have to write my whole story spelling “color” as “Colour”? I mean, I don’t want to off...

42 comments 42

Read story

“A Portrait of Death” by Victor Amoroso

Submitted to Contest #292

Clara Burton stared at the lady in the painting. The woman was old, her gray eyes looking tired, the wrinkles in her face marking time in her pale skin. Around her neck, a silver brooch, set with a crimson jewel which Clara swore sparkled in the candlelight of the foyer. The high neck of her white dress stiffened up to her jaw, lay open at the front, exposing her neck giving her a vulnerability that caused Clara to cover her own with her hand. The dress flowed down the woman’s body, hugging her frame. It covered her bosom, such a last centur...

16 comments 16

Read story

“A Colorful Past” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #292

Hallie gasped when she walked through the front door. The foyer was glowing in fiery red, blending seamlessly into a vibrant orange, then melding into a luscious turquoise. Daniel frowned at her expression. “Problem?”“No, I—” the young painter had to get her breath back. “I just…it’s such a gorgeous palette; are you sure you want to cover it up?”Daniel nodded. “That’s what I’m paying you for. Just white is fine.”Drifting after him into the living room, Hallie breathed in the glorious canary yellows and lime greens offset by a delicate mauve....

17 comments 17

Read story

“Lisa Ingersol (b. 1993), 'Nevermore', 2025, Oil on canvas” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #292

TW: Suicide, Violence, and Gore Lisa’s hand trembled as she turned the small liner brush through the paint. She wasn’t watching what she was doing—she was staring at what she’d painted on the canvas so far. It was too real, too accurate. God, it was the eyes. That’s what she was working on now, the finishing touches on the eyes. She could stop now and call it complete. The eyes would stick with you, haunt you. You’d never forget them as long as you lived.But she had a few more strokes to make and knew exactly how she was gonna make them. How...

11 comments 11

Read story

“The Painting of Joy” by Bethany Stanford

Submitted to Contest #292

I stepped into a new room; it was silent and had a mellow light that seeped in through a window with its curtains half drawn. On the wall, adjacent to where I stood was a portrait of a woman; a shawl the color of the sky after twilight was wrapped around her shoulders and when I stepped closer, I could see the detail in the threads of the dark cloth. Her eyes were perfectly drawn, small flakes of blue in a sea of gray. She was the most beautiful person I’d seen. She didn’t smile but she wasn’t stern either; her expression was that of one who...

12 comments 12

Read story

“Mysterious Painting” by Susie Bennett

Submitted to Contest #292

The dust motes danced in the single shaft of sunlight slicing through the gloom of the Curio Emporium. Elara coughed, waving a hand in front of her face. The air in the antique shop was thick with the scent of beeswax, old paper, and something vaguely…funereal. She loved it.Her gaze swept across the shelves overflowing with chipped porcelain dolls, tarnished silver snuffboxes, and first edition spellbooks with brittle spines. She was on the hunt for something unique, something that whispered of untold stories and forgotten magic. Something w...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Render Me Dead” by Maryam Haamedian-Beard

Submitted to Contest #292

Speed is my enemy.I’m a long distance runner, this sprinting malarky is the very definition of hell. Breathe, breathe, I repeat to myself as I race through the narrow streets of Yarrosh, cursing the cobblestone ground as it threatens to trip me. Every gods damned road in this forsaken city is concrete smooth, yet I’ve somehow ended up running here. Typical. I’m Betty, sinner of Yarrosh, burglar of justice, and as of tonight, a wanted woman. A modern day Robin Hood, if you will. I’ve stolen hundreds of paintings from hundreds of dif...

7 comments 7

Read story

“The Woman With The Green Eyes” by Tom Martin

Submitted to Contest #292

David George listened to his voicemails between sips of his Starbucks venti soy latte, threading through the downtown LA traffic in his Mercedes. The messages were all from his assistant, Ashleigh, and they were almost exactly what he expected: deals that went through, others that got canceled, invitations she had refused on his behalf, and her own futile-but-hopeful invitation to an anniversary dinner for her parents.“Also, we were contacted repeatedly by a law firm in Venice,” she said. The words “law firm” raised his hackles; legal troubl...

5 comments 5

Read story

“The Heart's Desire” by John Rafanelli

Submitted to Contest #292

**This story contains explicit language, violence, and gore. Cosmic Wonders is the very last storefront on Main Street in the quiet town of August Cove, Long Island. Its exterior is pristine to match the eloquent small boutiques that line the town's square, however the inside is a clutter of ancient and often mysterious items. The antique store has been around for almost twenty years. Clint Quirtly, the eccentric owner, has become a local legend of sorts. He’s quirky, light hearted, mysterious, and energetic. With his long white straggly hai...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Fake Mona Lisa” by Amy St. Pierre

Submitted to Contest #292

There is no sport that adequately prepares you to sprint down the sidewalk in heels, but that's what I was doing that morning. It was Wednesday, and I was late. I'm 23 years old and last night I'd had my first one night stand. The morning had been awkward, I shouldn't have spent the night. Perry warned me, but I didn't listen, partly due to laziness and exhaustion but also because it felt so transactional that I wasn't sure how I'd look at myself in the mirror the next day. My intention had been to get up early and sneak out before he woke u...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Painted Door” by Júlio Miranda

Submitted to Contest #292

For what feels like an eternity, I stare at the bloodied body without being able to move. It's sprawled at my feet, limbs flung wide open, limp, each arm and leg pointing in a different direction on the filthy cobblestone ground of the tiny, walled, dark, and abandoned courtyard. Above us, the moonlight and the sparks of stars flicker behind white clouds that slice through a deep blue sky, like ghost ships crossing distant, uncharted seas—the lairs of mythical creatures and fearsome leviathans.With my free hand, I grope blindly at my own sto...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The White Canvas” by Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #292

The night of the Carnegie Hall performance changed everything. She'd bought a ticket, sitting in the back row, far from where partners and muses usually sat. The program was familiar: Bach, Rachmaninoff, and then John Cage's 4'33" - the piece they'd argued about countless times."So we're paying to hear nothing?" she'd always say, rolling her eyes. Marcus would lean forward, passionate. "It's not nothing. It's about listening. Really listening. The music is everything happening around you: the cough, the shuffle of programs, the breath of the...

4 comments 4

Read story

“The Portrait’s Secret” by Angel Faye

Submitted to Contest #292

Eleanor Sinclair had spent the past ten years curating exhibits for the prestigious Blackwood Gallery, but no piece had ever unsettled her quite like The Lady in Red.The painting had arrived without warning. It was an unsigned oil portrait of a woman in a crimson gown, her dark eyes piercing through the canvas as if she knew every secret Eleanor had ever kept. There was no record of its provenance, no artist’s signature, only a small brass plate affixed to the frame that read: For Eleanor.Her breath hitched when she saw her name.“Who deliver...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Painting Through Time” by Emma Russell

Submitted to Contest #292

The man stands in front of the painting, a faint smile tugging on his lips. It’s positioned in the centre of the gallery, the main attraction, the masterpiece. His masterpiece. Well, he didn’t make it. But he found it. He recognised its eternal beauty, older than anyone who would ever see it but somehow still as young as when it was first made. A happy accident, many would call it, if they ever knew its true backstory. How it came to be hanging in the middle of the gallery in the twenty-first century. But of course, no one could ever know. T...

1 comment 1

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that has a colour in the title.

Short Story – 148 stories

Set your story in a world that has lost all colour.

Short Story – 93 stories

Center your story around an artist whose creations have enchanted qualities.

Short Story – 41 stories

Write a story inspired by your favourite colour.

Short Story – 56 stories

Contest #292

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Colour Your World with Kobo Writing Life

$250

Prize money

411

Contest entries

131

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 07, 2025 EST

Won by Natalie Garside 🏆

Title: Sophie's Colours

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Center your story around a mysterious painting.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 73 stories

“The Canvas That Hungered” by Haweya Abdirman Osman

“Apparently, Canadians Spell It C-O-L-O-U-R” by Joseph Mir

“A Portrait of Death” by Victor Amoroso

“A Colorful Past” by Keba Ghardt

“Lisa Ingersol (b. 1993), 'Nevermore', 2025, Oil on canvas” by C. Charles

“The Painting of Joy” by Bethany Stanford

“Mysterious Painting” by Susie Bennett

“Render Me Dead” by Maryam Haamedian-Beard

“The Woman With The Green Eyes” by Tom Martin

“The Heart's Desire” by John Rafanelli

“Fake Mona Lisa” by Amy St. Pierre

“The Painted Door” by Júlio Miranda

“The White Canvas” by Kashira Argento

“The Portrait’s Secret” by Angel Faye

“A Painting Through Time” by Emma Russell

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that has a colour in the title.

Set your story in a world that has lost all colour.

Center your story around an artist whose creations have enchanted qualities.

Write a story inspired by your favourite colour.

Contest #292

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

411

Contest entries

131

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: