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

“What Happened to Lucas?” by Alchemical Attitudes

Submitted to Contest #270

“The world was nothing but a misty cavern, a dim bluish gray cloud is all that's left. The world is so empty now. But still I walk and I wander and I hope to find a memory somewhere in this place I now call home. How do you continue to wander for so long looking for something so useless. But what else is a dead guy supposed to do?” Lucas had long been stuck in this limbo. At first he would run to his memories then he would jog but now he just walks, He no longer minds talking to himself aloud as he knows well by now he will never be heard ag...

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“Cooking in Her Shadow” by Luna Lin

Submitted to Contest #270

I instinctively reached for the switch in the darkness and in an instant, bright fluorescent light flooded the small, 15 square-metre rectangular kitchen. I placed the blue plastic A4 folder on the countertop. For a moment I was worried that the loud glare would wake my family or the neighbours at two in the morning. But it was only the light. My mother loved this white brightness. She could see better. For years though, when I was still living in this house, I hated this fluorescence that made everything look stale and unpleasant. I could n...

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“Easter” by S. Hjelmeset

Submitted to Contest #270

It had been a while since the last time she went back to her childhood home. It was already easter, and Janne hadn't been back to visit her mother since sometime last year. The house - the whole region - held so many bad memories, and the ten-hour bus ride definitely didn't help her wanderlust. But she had to come home. At least to help her mom clear out the attic and prepare them both for the big move mom would have to make in a few year's time. Old people's homes, assisted living, or whatever they call it these days.As always, they en...

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“Meat Shower” by Amanda Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #270

I wasn’t suppose to eat it, but what’s a girl to do? I, like the rest of the folks in this small town, don’t have much a anything, especially not money. We’re hungry. We’re hungry all the time. Sometimes it’s hard to focus cuz I’m so hungry. I can’t sit still in school and I can’t finish my chores because no matter what I do, the hungers always there, like an aching, like a monster. It’s been this way ever since I can remember. Mama does her best feedin’ us, but it can get hard, even a 12-year-old like me knows that. My you...

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“The Midnight Cake” by Emma McGeorge-Hill

Submitted to Contest #270

“Let’s bake a cake.”My sister’s voice cut through the darkness of our shared room, and I blinked in sleepy confusion.“What? Let’s… what?”It was well after midnight, and our teenaged giggles and gossip had slowly given way to yawns. I had been happily drifting into slumberland, but her startling announcement pulled me back.“Let’s bake a cake!” Her voice rose with slowly building excitement.“Bake a… you mean now?”“Why not?” she trilled. “It’s mom’s birthday tomorrow—we could surprise her in the morning with fresh cake for breakfast!”“I dunno.”...

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“Good Morning, Sun.” by Rae Brocato

Submitted to Contest #270

I creep out into my kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The floorboards are cold beneath my feet and make little noises as I walk around my apartment; it makes me giggle to myself. My husband always said it reminded him of piano tiles. My eyes are still adjusting to the dark as I reach the fridge, the light illuminating the familiar sage green walls to my sides. I reach inside for my water purifier and turn around to set it on the island behind me, staring a little too long at the papers scattered across the surface. A reminder. I turn...

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“After-Midnight Snack” by Holly Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #270

Madeline opened her eyes and looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was two in the morning. The moon hung through her window. She sighed. It wasn’t time for Madeline to wake up for her job at the cafe yet. She closed her eyes again. She opened them up again. It was now two-twenty. That’s when she realized she couldn’t go back to sleep. Her stomach growled. She sat up. “Well, if I’m awake, I might as well prepare a past midnight snack!.” she told herself. A midnight snack would be nice. It was past midnight, of course, but sti...

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“Thunderstorms in Autumn” by Mark Leasure

Submitted to Contest #270

If you could kill one person in the world and get away with it who would it be?Jay can't stop asking these stupid questions but right now I don't mind too much, right now I feel like a god. Steph's hair smells like vanilla and lavender. I know this because her head is on my chest. Her hands are soft and smooth, but her nails are long and sharp. I know this because every time lightning flashes outside she grabs my hand, and every time the thunder shakes the walls of the restaurant she squeezes tight and her nails dig in to my palm. Julien ans...

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“Queen Agatha's Meal” by James Harris

Submitted to Contest #270

Gordan strutted into the lower kitchen, smelling like gold-plated perfume while the char-faced pimple-necked culinary aid bent over, struggling to stir a giant pot, his stomach slouching over the warm rim.“Dinner should be ready to serve by the witching hour, Bandit, that's thirty ticks,” Gordan said in his friendliest tone possible.Bandit looked to Gordan for a split-second, then silently continued, quickening his stirring speed. Gordan wandered over presumptuously with his chest puffed out and his hands behind his back, ready to lean over ...

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“Trust 101” by Hani Moon

Submitted to Contest #270

Culinary school teaches you a lot of valuable lessons, like how to artfully plate a dish and expertly handle knives. What it doesn’t teach you? That fellow chefs can and will stab you in the back with said knives—both literally and metaphorically. My experience was metaphorical, but if I could choose, I actually would’ve preferred literal. It would’ve been easier to heal. To this day I still feel the all too familiar pang in my chest at the memory of Cole, my previous pastry chef, purposely oversalting a critic’s dessert. For some back...

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“Three Visitors' Night” by Neil Achary

Submitted to Contest #270

Saph stood in the kitchen, hands on her hips, biting her lip. Candles flickered as the walk-in pantry next to the hearth whispered that it was almost empty. She inspected all the pine wood shelves, and in an old, tired-looking barrel at the back, she found one small sack of wild rice. "Too little rice for a vegetable stew," she said aloud. She thought she could bake a flat loaf with the rest of the flour in the pantry, or some kind of cake with the eggs, milk and the honey. Maybe she would, just to be safe. Use everything, spare nothing. She...

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“A Recipe for Survival” by Anne Carroll Marshall

Submitted to Contest #270

This story references Dementia - its effect on the sufferer and the carer. Hints of violence might be upsetting.A Recipe for SurvivalThey’d been to the market that morning, bought wonderful cheeses just in from France, an organic chicken nearly twice the weight of those in the supermarket in Singapore. Their dog had been tossed a chunk of prime beef – she made a beeline to the butchers on market day, and to the fishmonger’s who fed her gently with home smoked salmon. She sat like a lady, accepted it daintily then danced to the del...

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“What Happened in the Kitchen” by Kendra Calhoun

Submitted to Contest #270

The kitchen was almost entirely covered in white, white cabinets, white walls, and white countertops. The floor was made of white ceramic tiles, even the appliances were white. The only color in the entire room came from the wooden butchers block in the middle. Angie smiled at the warm brown color of the wooden block; she was glad to see something inviting within the confines of the white kitchen. However, she wouldn’t be smiling if she knew what it’s purpose would end up serving.Angie’s nerves were on fire, although she had an idea, she did...

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“Biscuit Hacks” by Lynne Boyd

Submitted to Contest #270

My grandfather always said we came from a long line of good cooks, and good eaters. It doesn’t take a detective to surmise the latter to be true. But I’m not here to talk about overweight excellent cooks, but to share my grandmother’s secret for mouth-watering biscuits. My mother never saw the need for homemade biscuits, felt it was a better use of her time simply to whop a can on the counter's edge. Watching Big Mama make biscuits in the early morning hours was like seeing an artist create the most beautiful sculpture, and I suppose, in her...

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“Sex, Love, and Food” by Tanya K

Submitted to Contest #270

"So, that was... I mean... I have no words", he said in a coarse voice, gasping for air. "No words necessary...", she said softly and came in for an even softer kiss. They were sitting at a kitchen table in her small apartment, across from each other, with a window overlooking the park. It was an unusually warm night for early fall. But they were warm from having have made love just moments before. "Was I worth the wait?" she asked, biting her lip. "Oh, most definitely you were. It felt, well, magical...". "But you don't believe in magic! ...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 85 stories

“What Happened to Lucas?” by Alchemical Attitudes

“Cooking in Her Shadow” by Luna Lin

“Easter” by S. Hjelmeset

“Meat Shower” by Amanda Wisdom

“The Midnight Cake” by Emma McGeorge-Hill

“Good Morning, Sun.” by Rae Brocato

“After-Midnight Snack” by Holly Gilbert

“Thunderstorms in Autumn” by Mark Leasure

“Queen Agatha's Meal” by James Harris

“Trust 101” by Hani Moon

“Three Visitors' Night” by Neil Achary

“A Recipe for Survival” by Anne Carroll Marshall

“What Happened in the Kitchen” by Kendra Calhoun

“Biscuit Hacks” by Lynne Boyd

“Sex, Love, and Food” by Tanya K

🌟 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: