Set your story in a kitchen, either early in the day or late at night.

Posted in Short Story on Sep 27, 2024

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✍️ 85 stories

“Biscuits Forever” by Craig Bradley

Submitted to Contest #270

This morning I got up as usual and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. This time of year it’s dark at 6am so I switched on the overhead light, but I’ve been doing this for so long I’m sure I could do everything blindfolded if I had to.I turned on the stove to heat it up, then got out the mixing bowl, the measuring cups, and the biscuit pan. I set the skillet on the stovetop and put a dab of lard in it so it would be ready to fry the eggs and bacon once I turned on the burner. I took the flour jar out of the cupboard, the wooden ...

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“Who Are You” by Erin Bunker

Submitted to Contest #270

Warning: This story contains sexually explicit content. Reader discretion is advised. Sunlight shimmered through the trees outside the kitchen window, the rays sliding across the table and backlighting the steam rising from her coffee cup. She brought the cup to her lips, sipping slowly as the corners of her lips curled up in a smile. Last night was incredible. She stared out the window, her eyes not truly seeing the amber leaves on the trees in the yard. Instead, all she could see was his eyes- dark and dangerous as he stared down at ...

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“Alloy” by Lori Elle

Submitted to Contest #270

He never lets her see him so bothered, but this time she catches him unaware. He doesn’t notice that she has come upon him from behind, barefoot, quiet as a summer’s breeze. She enters the kitchen from the screened-in porch and sees him huddled over a page of the morning paper. He clenches his fist, and when he releases his grip the paper is wrinkled; it looks damp to her. She stops, fascinated. He touches his fingertips to his forehead. From her position, she can’t discern that his eyes are closed.Don’t you know what it means when they braz...

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“Muted Mornings” by Alesia Lelaj

Submitted to Contest #270

The early lights of day peer through the kitchen windows and yet not a moment throughout the night did we shut our eyes. The golden hues reflect against the stark white kitchen and it makes me wonder why in this day and age it has become the norm to paint your entire home a cold hospital white or beige color. To replicate the colorful hues of nature is to bring beauty into your home. Green plants in red clay pots on the windowsills. Deep ocean blue wooden cabinets with carved details around the edges. Multicolored flowers sat atop white or w...

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“Moonlight Sonata” by Pink Pen Doodles

Submitted to Contest #270

The staccato of late night TV wound down as Avi watched his father slowly shuffle off into the gloom of the unlit staircase leading up to his room, forgetting to turn on the lights as always. “Dad, turn on the lights so you don’t run into anything,” Avi called after his father, knowing well that his words would go unheeded again. Resignedly, Avi himself shuffled into the kitchen to clean up. The yellow moon hung outside the window, its round belly peeking in upon the dirty dishes that lay—some in the sink and some around it. Avi flicked on t...

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“Christmas Eve Revelations” by Derek Hastings

Submitted to Contest #270

Fred Henderson climbed the stairs to his bedroom slowly. Monica was already in bed. Her excuse is that she hates Ikea projects. So she went to bed at nine-thirty, or thereabouts. Fred didn't mind much as the atmosphere in the living room, with only the lights on the tree and the presents under it, filled his soul with joy. Childhood memories enhanced the ambiance. But now it was almost midnight, and tricking out Joey's road bike was done. So, it was Time to head upstairs and get a good night's sleep. He was thankful that Joey had gotten...

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“The love I didn't know I could lose” by Elise M. Rieber

Submitted to Contest #270

The cat meowed, the dog barked and I cried. Or I was trying to cry, the wild winter wind was so harsh, it made of my deeply dramatic moment a mockery. I was supposed to have a beautiful flushed face and dainty teardrops on my cheeks, but I just looked like an idiot with my eyes squinted and lips cracked. I was also really hungry. I rose like the prettiest rose, kissed by a heavenly sunrise in a time lost long ago, in a Victorian era, when beauty was appreciated beyond words, loved to the point of creation. My type of beauty. My mother used t...

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“Fearless Love” by Savannah Pond

Submitted to Contest #270

My hands were shaking as I knocked on the door. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be getting an answer or worse yet if the door would be slammed shut in my face. The wind was rustling through the trees and rain was steadily coming down. It was a cold autumn night and honestly the warmth from the inside of the house would have seemed irresistibly inviting if it weren’t for the given circumstances. I had made a mistake. I had met my girlfriend Gracie about six months ago and she was everything I had ever ...

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“Fever.” by Leah Huston

Submitted to Contest #270

I have a fever. People hallucinate when they have fevers, right? I came here to get a glass of water because I was thirsty, because of my fever. I came to the kitchen and grabbed my favorite glass from its spot on the counter. I walked to the sink, and that’s when I saw whatever was standing there outside. There used to be a door there, right? It’s just a window now, the door is gone. It must just be because of my fever, I’m hallucinating. People hallucinate when they have fevers, right? Then why do my feet hurt so bad? They didn’t when I wa...

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“Pixies in the Kitchen ” by Jessy Lowmaster

Submitted to Contest #270

A small fairy fluttered in through the open window, a handful of freshly picked mint leaves clasped between her fingers and glittering dots of light trailing from her wings. Most of the time, pixie dust was hard to make out. Set against the velvet black of a moonless night, however, it sparkled and shone like miniscule fireflies. “Thanks, Charlie,” I murmured, opening my palm so she could drop the mint into it. With some of the newer folk I w...

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“A Season of Chances” by Cassandra Knight

Submitted to Contest #270

The rain tippity tapped on the window just before it slowly streaked down the glass, blurring the view through my kitchen window. The humid summer air flowing in through the windows filled the house with scents of pollen from the blooming flowers and trees. Despite the breeze, it was hard to breathe, the oxygen in the room feeling like honey traveling into my nose and through my lungs. A knot formed in my throat and my stomach churned. I stood there staring at my reflection in front of me, my hands gripping the edge of the sink, replaying th...

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“To Sneak A Snack” by Andrea Krist

Submitted to Contest #270

Pico peer around the corner into the dark kitchen. The room smelled like cut lemons and the remains of dinner. Light from the streetlamp shone in through the window above the sink and made the laminate floor shine like fresh ice on a lake. Beneath the counter hummed the dishwasher. Its rhythmic swish and thump like a thunderous rain storm. His long nose twitched with his whiskers. Beyond the disinfectant chemicals the humans of this house used to clean every surface, he could smell traces of beef, potatoes, carrots, corn, and green beans. He...

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“No one saw and nothing was there” by Penelope Stansfield

Submitted to Contest #270

The autumn day dawned bleak, filthy with festering matter and half-lived souls clinging to existence. A patchwork of rotting leaves, long strewn by wind and time, formed a sodden carpet over the silent dank streets, where an unnameable void hung in the air, an emptiness seeking to be filled, waiting for what it sought unknown. Nothing was there on that hollow, thinly veiled November morning, looming in the cracks and crevices, dour and rotten. Nothing had been there the day before, in the unoccupied corners filled only with shad...

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“A RECIPE WITH A PINCH” by Jolanta Polk

Submitted to Contest #270

The kitchen is neat; fat-bellied copper pots glisten on hooks, dishes are stacked on a rack, an old-fashioned toaster for refreshing corn tortillas is scrubbed of all residues and shiny, and amidst them all, is she - the Queen of Lard Cakes, the Princess of Preserving Jars, the Gravy Goddess, Doña Flor. Her apron is stained with the remnants of countless culinary conquests, while her hands tell the tale of years spent crafting exquisite masterpieces. "Chop the onions into small pieces,” she whispers to herself. The white bulb of ...

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“Reverse Engineering ” by A.M. Fischer

Submitted to Contest #270

“It’s wrong,” He stood over the seventh tin tray of the evening. “Too pasty in consistency, close but off by a noticeable margin,” Five-eighths of the day prior and now one-twelfth of the present had already fallen prey to these experiments. Something was always so grossly inadequate in each. The first had been too dry. The third had marginal charing adorning the top. The fourth was the closest texture-wise but the flavor was off. Number six was too heterogeneous and now number seven lies a homogeneous mass; still. The divinity of the ...

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Set your story in a kitchen, either early in the day or late at night.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 85 stories

“Biscuits Forever” by Craig Bradley

“Who Are You” by Erin Bunker

“Alloy” by Lori Elle

“Muted Mornings” by Alesia Lelaj

“Moonlight Sonata” by Pink Pen Doodles

“Christmas Eve Revelations” by Derek Hastings

“The love I didn't know I could lose” by Elise M. Rieber

“Fearless Love” by Savannah Pond

“Fever.” by Leah Huston

“Pixies in the Kitchen ” by Jessy Lowmaster

“A Season of Chances” by Cassandra Knight

“To Sneak A Snack” by Andrea Krist

“No one saw and nothing was there” by Penelope Stansfield

“A RECIPE WITH A PINCH” by Jolanta Polk

“Reverse Engineering ” by A.M. Fischer

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in the form of a recipe.

Start or end your story with two people discussing an important matter over a meal.

Write a story inspired by the saying “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Write a story about someone searching for a missing ingredient, literally or metaphorically.

Contest #270

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

341

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: