Start your story with the lines: “The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.”

Posted in Short Story on Feb 7, 2025

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✍️ 109 stories

“All I Have To Offer Is My Truth” by Dermot Lane

🏆 Winner of Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here. But I know it to be a prison cell, cold and dank.I remember that the Praesidium of Magistrates say I am to die. They say I killed a man, that I am a murderer. Maybe these things are true, but they are only part of the truth.They say that Headsman Taliesan has been summoned from the Royal Palace, that he is to arrive on Fairday. That noon on Fairday is to be the hour of my death.They say Pastor Yakob shall tend to my spiritual needs, so that I may repent and save my immortal soul. Yet, I ha...

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“The Yellow Room” by Rebecca Hurst

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #289

(Staff Quarters): The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Normally when I wake up like this, there’s a man by my side, or a man recently vacated, leaving a warm hollow in the mattress. Normally, when I wake up like this, I’m in an unfamiliar house belonging to man I don’t know. A man I don't recall meeting, but must have done. But this time it’s different. Normally when I wake up like this, it’s because the unfamiliar man has gone to work or gone to get croissants, and each time I wake up wandering where I am, I have a headache ...

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“The Woman in Room Zero” by Jim LaFleur

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. The thought echoed in Evelyn’s mind as her eyes adjusted to the stark fluorescent light above. She lay on a cold floor, her head throbbing with each pulse of illumination. The ceiling was a perfect white square, unblemished except for that single light panel that seemed to hover like a trapped sun. Pushing herself to sitting, Evelyn pressed her palm against her temple. The skin felt tender, though she couldn’t remember hitting her head. She couldn’t remember much of anything beyond driving...

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“A Fun Night of Standup Comedy ↵” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar, I don’t know how I got here. But what a crowd! Looks like I finally made it to the wrong side of town! I'm back from the dead. Finally made a round trip to where my parents have always wanted me. Life goes full circle, I’ll tell ya!I like to get away from it all, but hell is a little too far.Now that I'm back, I’ve been catching up with all the new technology. I’ll tell ya, it’s a nightmare.I got my first smartphone. I asked my buddy how to use it, and he said, 'Just touch the screen!' — Touch it? My wife tells m...

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“Rooms with a view” by Rebecca Detti

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. And then it all comes rushing back. I had been lying on my bed reading A Room with a View as a short break from my dissertation planning. I had been thinking I wouldn’t be disappointed with a view of anything in Florence right at that moment when the phone in the corridor rang. As I assumed I was the only one in, I pulled myself up and slowly walked towards the phone expecting it to be someone’s boyfriend as it usually was. But no. It was my friend Fiona calling to ask me out. It star...

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“The Green Room” by Corrie H

Submitted to Contest #289

The Green Room“This room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here.” Mark mumbles to himself for the thousandth time as he looks aroundThe room is sparsely furnished with a bed and a chair. The window is high up on the wall. The walls are painted a shade of green that is believed to soothe the soul but instead demands that every thought and emotion be surrendered. All inclinations to rebel and question the status quo, any stray thought of little green men, holy or unholy ghosts, and all memories of love and affection are squelched. It is as...

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“Heartstopper” by Kim Olson

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. I am laying in a single bed with white sheets and a thin white blanket. It is a mechanical bed with buttons that allow either the head or foot to be raised. My head is elevated. On each side of me, there are silver safety bars, containing me so I don’t fall out. I have an IV in one arm and circular pads with wires coming out of them attached to my chest. A monitor behind me shows a pattern of multicolored waves that are ascending and descending in rhythm. Corresponding numbers flash at the...

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“Room for The Wronged” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #289

“The room is unfamiliar, I don’t know how I got here.” He was mocking them.“Oh la-di-da. Unfamiliar? Disquieting? Is the room inconvenient too? Do you need the heat adjusted?” Detective Trench leaned in toward the suspect and breathed pepper and garlic at the man with the face tattoo. Sergeant Reilly nearly leapt forward to grab the detective before he did something stupid right out of the gate. The suspect was cuffed, so it would be hard to explain a boxing match to the brass.“Fuck you,” said the...

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“Can I Have Your Attention Please” by Jan Keifer

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here. I knew I wasn't going to like my day. I could not remember the events that lead me here. I search for an exit.A chair, a table, and a bed fill the middle of the room. I go to the bed and push down on the mattress. The bedding falls through to the floor. I pick up the bedding and lay it in a pile by the wall.Tired of searching the walls, I make a bed for myself.I manage to fall asleep. Suddenly, I'm falling. I fall five feet and come to a stop. I'm hovering in mid-air. There...

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“Stolen Memories” by Melissa Lee

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Groggily, I blink the remnants of sleep out of my eyes and look around, disoriented. The room is sterile, like a hospital room, devoid of color and life. The walls are stark white. A small desk sits in front of the bed scattered with a few picture frames, but the faces are blurry from where I lay. A wooden rocker sits next to the bed with a soft blue afghan draped over the back. Dappled sunshine flits through the blinds as I continue to glance arou...

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“14,572 Days” by Corey Richards

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don't know how I got here. Even after fourteen thousand, five hundred and seventy-two days, this perfect two-metre cube remains as alien to me as the moment I arrived. At some point, I was placed in this sharp, aggressive box. This prison. It is all I know – all I have – yet it remains entirely foreign to me. All I can see, all I can visualise is its obsessive-compulsive right angles creating an illusion of shadows that dance in the bright, white light. On the wall is a digital timer, though I doubt it's...

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“ELEVEN DAYS IN A FUGUE STATE” by Sharon Clarke

Submitted to Contest #289

ELEVEN DAYS IN A FUGUE STATE The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. From the filtered light entering through the curtains, I can tell it is either early morning or the twilight of evening. My bedside clock reads five minutes to seven. I am coming out of a deep sleep on a comfortable and plush bed. Elegant and tasteful furnishings surround me. I am in my sleeping attire, so I assume it is morning. There is a knock at the door. “Madam, it’s just Nellie with your tea tray,” the voice outside announces. “Come i...

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“Akira” by Rem Brently

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Well, that’s only half the truth. I know why I’m here, and who brought me here, if the familiar faces of ‘Portly’ Ken’s henchmen were anything to go by. How they got the jump on me though? Now that’s the million dollar question. Portly Ken isn’t anywhere I can see, and considering how this warehouse is just one giant cube, my guess is that he hasn’t arrived yet. Figures. He’s always making his men do the dirty work. They’ve tied me to a chair… actually, scratch that. The hard smooth surfac...

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“The Yesterday of Tomorrow” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #289

THE YESTERDAY OF TOMORROW The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. Another place, another day where the feeling of betrayal replaced what is familiar to me, what is important. I shivered as I left the shower and began my morning ritual minus a hot cup of coffee and a glazed donut. Some might mistake me for a cop, but not for long. I hate that everything I cherish and have experienced will be erased when I die. I’m sixty-five years old. I have lived longer than I have left to live. Most of the time, I don’t think about it. Yet, th...

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“Subject Eleven” by Virginia King

Submitted to Contest #289

The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here. The walls loom around me, bare and smooth concrete, oppressive in their silence. No windows. There is no hint of the outside world. Only this cold, lifeless box. Overhead, a single bulb flickers, casting erratic shadows that slither across the floor like creatures. The light hums, a low, electric drone that settles into my bones. The air is thick, stale, and has a chemical, acrid odor. It coats my tongue and settles in my throat, choking me with a taste I can't identify. My head throbs, a ...

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Ended on 23:59 - Feb 14, 2025 EST

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Title: All I Have To Offer Is My Truth

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Start your story with the lines: “The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 109 stories

“All I Have To Offer Is My Truth” by Dermot Lane

“The Yellow Room” by Rebecca Hurst

“The Woman in Room Zero” by Jim LaFleur

“A Fun Night of Standup Comedy ↵” by Scott Christenson

“Rooms with a view” by Rebecca Detti

“The Green Room” by Corrie H

“Heartstopper” by Kim Olson

“Room for The Wronged” by Luca King Greek

“Can I Have Your Attention Please” by Jan Keifer

“Stolen Memories” by Melissa Lee

“14,572 Days” by Corey Richards

“ELEVEN DAYS IN A FUGUE STATE” by Sharon Clarke

“Akira” by Rem Brently

“The Yesterday of Tomorrow” by David D'EttoreUser

“Subject Eleven” by Virginia King

🌟 Similar prompts

Write your story as text messages or an online conversation between two characters — and at least one of them isn’t who they say they are.

Write an open-ended story in which your character’s fate is uncertain.

Write a story in which a character discovers that a truth they've believed their whole life is either false or not the whole story.

Your character is getting changed in the bathroom of a nightclub or restaurant, then emerges looking completely different. Why?

Contest #289

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

364

Contest entries

155

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: