Start your story with someone who wants to give up on their career right before their big break.

Posted in Short Story on Aug 30, 2024

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✍️ 39 stories

“SHADOWS OF A GENIUS” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #266

The room is a tomb, its stillness suffocating, heavy with the scent of old books that have long surrendered their stories to the relentless march of time. The air is stale, thick with the weight of forgotten dreams, and every breath feels like an intrusion, an unwelcome disturbance in a place where silence reigns supreme. Dust clings to every surface, a fine gray blanket that dulls the once-sharp edges of my creations, now reduced to mere artifacts of a past that feels increasingly distant. A past where I was a titan of innovation, a master ...

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“Story's Mission” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #266

Story’s MissionFinally, the library was one of the few places that offered any comfort in the old drafty Woodleigh Manor. The roaring fire was the main, though inadequate source of illumination in the cavernous book lined room. The light from the candelabra at Sir Percy’s elbow allowed for reading but did not reach beyond the well-worn leather club chair.Sir Percy turned the page of his book, pushed his half specs back in place and reached for the brandy snifter. Suddenly he paused in the lifting of the glass, his body at full alert. His bre...

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“A New Chapter” by Karen Hope

Submitted to Contest #266

Working in politics is hardly a profession people seek out to feel anonymous, but that’s because people don’t think about jobs like mine. I’m not the candidate, or one of their close aides. I’m not the spokesperson or the policy expert. I serve as the campaign communications person and speech writer, and I work behind-the-scenes from my home office.I’m not someone who seeks the spotlight, and I wasn’t looking for a job when this part time position practically fell into my lap. I had experience volunteering in politics, but I was already...

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“The First Death” by Justin J. Harris

Submitted to Contest #266

I won. Blood drips thick into the drain. They sound like the haunting ticks of a clicking clock. I grip the basin. “I’m… I’m fucking done,” I say, peering into the mirror to look behind me at the hotel bed. At the bloodied, torn shirt with grimed palm trees printed on it.Somewhere, a phone rings. ****“Wow, Vieja! This is the last comp before … you know who,” said Javi, his thumbs locked and his fingers wiggling above his head.“He’s Dracula, not Voldermort. You can say his name.”Javi chuckled. “Sorry, but the thought of meeting...

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“The RIght Stuff 2069” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #266

Danya groaned under the weight of the heavy equipment that she lugged across the tarmac. It felt like a metaphor for her life. One spent under the burden of following other people’s suggestions, which led to this dead end, working at a military air airfield in North Dakota. As she lamented her eight years in the Air Force, she gazed up at the stars flickering in the pitch black sky, and let her mind wander.She turned to her crewmate, Greg. “What sound do eagles make? Do they caw, or chirp, or…?”Greg's gaze remained focused on his e...

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“Oops” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #266

Oops“Timing is everything.”-Shakespeare (Or was it Bob Hope?)(Language) It’s the business world’s version of a frontal lobotomy. Sitting in a cramped cubicle for years crunching numbers until they all look the same. Accounting- one of the more meaningless activities contrived by man that provide a nice distraction from doing something that matters.Bob had been chained to this mind-numbing task for seventeen years. He hated everything about it.- The 35-minute drive in congested traffic into the city… especially in the winter… even more s...

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“Creamy-Sweet Dream” by Suzanne Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #266

The sweet creamy scent of vanilla buttercream that dances in the air of a culinary school’s bakery department comforts me. Raised within a family that owns and runs a flourishing full-service bakery, I simply have to shut my eyes and memories of my grandpa, father, and any assortment of uncles, aunts, and cousins flood my mind. The Constantine family live and breathe for bread, cookies, rolls, cakes, danish and pastries. Working side by side with my elders, I dreamed of the day I would lead our bakery into the next generation. I didn’t just ...

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“Breaking a Big Break” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #266

Edward had just turned 60 and he was very, very close to a big break in his career. He had been a college professor for some 30 years, and he had been informed that his department led by the current dean who was soon to retire was looking to him to take over that senior position. One positive aspect of this big break would be that he would be paid significantly more than what he had been getting as a mere teacher. He could retire earlier, something both he and his wife Edna wanted him to do so that they would spend more time t...

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“ANGEL” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #266

ANGEL Every spring carries with it an aura of promise. The newness can be seen in the tree blossoms, the crocuses lifting their heads above the ground to breathe new air, and the melodic chirping of birds whose song had been stifled by the cold winter. None of this is new, but rather a renaissance of what had occurred many times before. I looked forward to springtime. &...

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“Writers Life” by N. S. WALUSIMBI

Submitted to Contest #266

In a trice, the bright light from the window hit my eyes forcing me to locomote and choose a new part of the bed to seek refuge. The extreme end, the one neighboring the wall shall do it. Like a Boa constrictor who just had lunch, I tried to roll across to my chosen spot. It usually takes three to five seconds to get comfortable on any part of the bed but my bones weigh a ton. I am very weak. I am very hungry. I, for some unknown reason, glimpse the cross in my room. There is Jesus. Forever on that cross. In a way I guess He knew how m...

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“An Epiphany” by Sargam Singh Rasaily

Submitted to Contest #266

An Epiphany'Sorry dear, I can't do it.'Pawan yanked the sticky note sheet from the bathroom mirror, and read the message again – ‘Sorry dear, I can't do it’. He could not believe it. How can she step back when a step forward would be opening a whole new world for her, he thought. He swung around and stomped out, shutting the door behind him with a bang. "Sujata, Sujata! Where are you?" He marched to the kitchen, where his wife was preparing breakfast. “What’s this? He slammed the sticky note on the kitchen table. “How can you do this now? Wh...

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“Gus's Party Clothes” by Gil Harris

Submitted to Contest #266

GUS’S PARTY CLOTHES by Gil Harris“Looks like a great day. Fog has blown away. Sky is blue. I’ll do a few things around here until lunch time, hit the food truck downtown for some tacos, then come back and meditate. Need to recharge my brain after last night’s partying. Then an afternoon for body surfing at the Main Beach.” Gus told himself after sleeping in and standing on the porch at 10:00 on a Saturday morning. Last night had been a late one. He and his fri...

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“Murder Into Art” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #266

"I give up! It's all shit!" "Pardon?" "I said that out loud, didn't I?" The burly, bearded man knocks back the last slug of the cheap whiskey, motions at the bartender for another, and swivels on the bar stool, eyes bleary. "Of what do you speak?" The small man with the fantastic mustaches wears dove-grey gloves on his small hands, both hands palms-down on the bar top, a small glass of an emerald green liquid on a cocktail napkin placed at the exact midpoint between his two hands. "Publishing." "Oh, you are enga...

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“Just Words” by Fredrich TheFrogdrick

Submitted to Contest #266

You've probably heard about me before. I'm someone who was never bragged about. I'm not a straight A student, not a pretty girl, not smart, and not dedicated. I tried, but with so much failure it didn't seem to matter. At first when I said it's fine, it wasn't, but it grew to be. I got used to it. Used to a life where my all was never enough. Where to all I was no more than a let down so I started hiding in the crowds, just another head bobbing in the masses, a fish in the school, nothing notable about me, not a thing out of place, just how ...

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“Aspergillus Flavus” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #266

The backhoe tears at the earth, digging up rich, brown soil. “You’d better come up with something, Cliff… And soon,” Randall warns. Schooled at Cambridge in England, reed-thin, bi-racial Randall Fakir Raheem speaks four languages. As the King’s Counsellor of State and liaison for the Valley of the Dead Excavation Project, Randall has developed a fascination with native folklore. Small in stature with a prevailing roguish smile, Cliff Romer often gets away with his mistakes because he resembles a carefree leprechaun. Cliff calls himself an id...

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Start your story with someone who wants to give up on their career right before their big break.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 39 stories

“SHADOWS OF A GENIUS” by Darvico Ulmeli

“Story's Mission” by Trudy Jas

“A New Chapter” by Karen Hope

“The First Death” by Justin J. Harris

“The RIght Stuff 2069” by Scott Christenson

“Oops” by Murray Burns

“Creamy-Sweet Dream” by Suzanne Jennifer

“Breaking a Big Break” by John Steckley

“ANGEL” by David D'EttoreUser

“Writers Life” by N. S. WALUSIMBI

“An Epiphany” by Sargam Singh Rasaily

“Gus's Party Clothes” by Gil Harris

“Murder Into Art” by Geir Westrul

“Just Words” by Fredrich TheFrogdrick

“Aspergillus Flavus” by Michael Jefferson

🌟 Similar prompts

Your protagonist discovers that everything they type comes true. What happens next?

Write from the POV of a character in a story who keeps getting re-written by their second-guessing author.

Your protagonist has the perfect day scheduled — but things don’t go according to plan.

Write about someone who summons the creative muse through a convoluted ritual or method.

Contest #266

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

282

Contest entries

108

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: