Write a story inspired by the ultimate clichéd twist: it was all just a dream.

Posted in Short Story on Feb 21, 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?

✍️ 96 stories

“REM Job” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #291

Eli awoke with a start. The sensor attached to his left pectoral tugged painfully at gray scrub as he jerked back into the conscious realm.It was just a dream, Eli told Eli.“Good morning, Mr. Trainer! Please stay as still as possible until we can remove the leads.” The voice was somehow, simultaneously, cloying and utterly perfunctory, practiced and patient, and, as a result, Eli absurdly, simultaneously, somehow felt the desire to please and to bitch-slap the man in the observation booth.“Did you sleep well? Do you feel rested?”Eli worked h...

20 comments 20

Read story

“Maria Would do Anything for Love” by Teneille Mackley

Submitted to Contest #291

All Maria had ever wanted was to fall in love. To find someone who was her whole world, and she theirs. She pined over the romance stories she edited as a freelancer, swooning over the passion of star crossed lovers and forbidden romance. Oh, she had had her fair share of partners, lovers, and one night stands. But nothing that she would call ‘love’. All of that changes tonight, Maria thought to herself for the hundredth time. Tonight, I will find the one. She nodded at her reflection in the mirror, adjusting her purple-tinted hair and addin...

22 comments 22

Read story

“Transference” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #291

Shea butter. Hibiscus perfume. Smells distinct from the chemical staleness of the group home, signaling Miss Greenwood's arrival. Lenny looks up from his sketchbook as her dragonfly eyelashes carry her into the room. Heels today, pearl earrings, a navy pantsuit that clings to her form. "I'm told there's a boy here that puts Picasso to shame...is that you?"She's always making him blush. As they walk together, he wishes she would take his hand in hers and he could experience the smoothness of her palm again. She never does. Something to do wit...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Timeless Castles and Dreams” by Sandra Moody

Submitted to Contest #291

There is nothing more beautiful than a child’s dream, a dream of a place where love never dies, a place of sunshine and goodness. And kind Ms. Linville knew for certain, there are never dreams that cannot be. ***Sophie dashes up the street, dodges a flower vendor, jumps an open sewer ditch, and runs through a cluster of empty chairs spilling out over the sidewalk from a street café. She hears the street cries, a symphony of sing-song chants, a music box of sound, calling: cat meat, herring, second-hand clothing, kitchen utensils, pots t...

11 comments 11

Read story

“Tea Made From Seawater” by Laurie Molnar

Submitted to Contest #291

Warm liquid pours from the spout and into my teacup. As I hold it out for her, my palms grow hotter with the cups increasing weight. I can make out a faint green shade coming from the teapot. Steam rises, filling the room steadily with the smell of sage. She cuts the stream and sets the teapot down. The china against her wood coffee table makes a faint sound, one barely audible under the distant crashing of Atlantic ocean waves. Lei leans back in her seat that faces me, grabbing a notepad and pen. I admire the view of the ocean through floor...

4 comments 4

Read story

“I'm awake!” by Tella Artlauf

Submitted to Contest #291

Trigger warnings: car crash, drowning. Dark clouds hung in the distance over the ocean. Waves were crashing on the hard-packed sand, much bigger than I’d ever seen. I was a passenger in my cousin’s old, yellow VW bus as she drove us along the low road that seemed it might get washed away by a strong high tide any day. We loved that road, and her bus, almost as much as the shore. Racing the storm, we wanted to reach our favorite rocky outcropping to watch it. Although we suspected the drive might be scary, those waves were utterly terrifying....

2 comments 2

Read story

“Rumble Strips” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #291

I am reminded that there is a duality to life. An inherent dichotomy to our nature. Two sides to the same coin. Darkness and light. We are conflicted. A constant disagreement shuffling around in a state of confused bickering. Yet we’re sold a pup and made to believe that we are one. Coherent. Together. A single being. We are given a name for this singularity of ours. A cursory label. Those around us use that label and we all think that is who we are. I am Adam, named after the first of my kind. A good, strong name. Pure. Steadfast. I have ne...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Sam DeFranco

Submitted to Contest #291

Sasha’s arm ached from the lack of motion, but she knew that even the slightest movement could bring instant death from a German Karbiner 98k rifle. She hadn't yet spotted an enemy sniper, but she believed that he was near, hidden somewhere in the rubble of her beloved city.A light snow fell, and Sasha recalled the childhood fun of catching the first winter snowflakes on her tongue until a series of muffled explosions and the chatter of machine gun fire quickly disrupted the cherished memory. Through the acrid smoke that had engulfed the cit...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Good Old Days” by Julia McLeod

Submitted to Contest #291

I wake with a start and find myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. I blink and rub my eyes. Where am I? My attention turns to the wallpaper decorated with delicate wild strawberries and the ornate wooden furniture tastefully placed around a bedroom I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before. A noise brings my gaze to the bed and I startle when I realize I’m not alone. My bedmate rolls over and I suppress a gasp. Todd? I haven’t seen him since I broke up with him the day before I left for college. He was devastated. I was ready for new adventu...

3 comments 3

Read story

“DANIELLE’S ENERGY PODS” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #291

The night the enormous boom came, all the children at the playground scattered homeward. No one lingered. Everyone got up and left‌. Their moms ‌waited at the entrances to greet them. They got there before the rain intensified from a drizzle to a monsoon-like deluge of volume and duration. The air raid horn blew, and they headed to the basement shelters. A genuine threat materialized. The drills they practiced at school weren’t in vain. Fancy that! Even while sheltering underground, the sounds of explosions reassured the townspeople th...

4 comments 4

Read story

“The Bedroom ” by Kanch Randhawa

Submitted to Contest #291

Jake awoke to distant voices and sounds he didn't recognize. It must be those damn neighbours partying again! His bedroom was at the back of the house and it overlooked the neighbours patio, so he was used to the late parties and usually could sleep through the noise. Jake wanted to get up and yell out the window, but he just didn't have the energy. Jake's bedroom was his sanctuary, the place he could get away from it all. "The bedroom," as he liked to call it, was covered with poster's of his favourite bands, cars and of course some sw...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Echoes of Waking” by Niveadita Razdan

Submitted to Contest #291

Veda counted heartbeats instead of seconds while the ferry crossed the strait toward Ithaka Island. Thirty-seven days since the fever dreams began. Eighty-three nights since she last slept without jerking awake, gasping from visions of a lighthouse.Rain pelted the deck. Other passengers huddled inside the cabin, but Vedas stayed at the rail, letting droplets blur the boundary between sea and sky. The odd crescent scar on her wrist—appeared the morning after her first dream—prickled beneath her watchband. Her doctor called it a stress reactio...

11 comments 11

Read story

“Curls, Coils, and Chaos” by Kennedy Haven

Submitted to Contest #291

Keisha had always been at war with her hair. Not in a tragic, identity-crisis kind of way—more like a sitcom battle, with her coily strands playing the mischievous villain. She loved her natural hair, truly, but every twist-out, wash-and-go, and "quick" detangling session felt like negotiating peace with a nation that had declared independence decades ago. One humid Brooklyn morning, Keisha woke up, stared at her reflection, and sighed. Her hair had formed what she called "Defcon 4 Frizz." The satin bonnet she’d worn had clearly taken the ni...

4 comments 4

Read story

“7 of Cups” by Laura Elena Oancea

Submitted to Contest #291

I must, but I don’t have to write prose in the style of Witold Gombrowicz at the creative writing course. I say: - Why not? It was decided that we’d come. Then he asks: - Huh? And will it be? I respond: - Yes, it will be! At the pastry shop, or Cofetterey, as we call it. He says: - Where?! I don’t change overnight. And he grumbles: - I don’t change like the wind blows. And he gets angry: - Who do you take me for? I am who I am. And continues: - The envoy, the inspiration, the guide, the daddy, little shit! I am the Representative of Prose, o...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Drip. Drip. Disaster” by Natalia Dimou

Submitted to Contest #291

The Drip of Despair Drip… drip… drip… The relentless torment echoed through Bernard’s meticulously organized apartment. A man governed by spreadsheets and precision, he was at war with a leaky faucet. A chrome monstrosity, it defied his attempts at repair, each failed effort amplifying the maddening rhythm. His apartment, a testament to his obsessive order, featured a bookshelf arranged by color, a rainbow spectrum of literary control. Tonight, however, even this visual symphony couldn’t quell his rising frustration. He’d been...

12 comments 12

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a character’s addiction or obsession.

Angst – 83 stories

Write a story that keeps a key detail hidden from the reader until the very end.

Dramatic – 71 stories

Center your story around a character who successfully — or unsuccessfully — escapes their fate.

Dramatic – 83 stories

Write a story with a huge surprise, either in the middle or the end.

Short Story – 82 stories

Contest #291

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Illusion or Reality?

$250

Prize money

415

Contest entries

210

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 28, 2025 EST

Won by Aubrey Nickerson 🏆

Title: Eggshells and Sea Glass

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

Write a story inspired by the ultimate clichéd twist: it was all just a dream.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 96 stories

“REM Job” by Martin Ross

“Maria Would do Anything for Love” by Teneille Mackley

“Transference” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

“Timeless Castles and Dreams” by Sandra Moody

“Tea Made From Seawater” by Laurie Molnar

“I'm awake!” by Tella Artlauf

“Rumble Strips” by Jed Cope

“Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Sam DeFranco

“The Good Old Days” by Julia McLeod

“DANIELLE’S ENERGY PODS” by Lily Finch

“The Bedroom ” by Kanch Randhawa

“Echoes of Waking” by Niveadita Razdan

“Curls, Coils, and Chaos” by Kennedy Haven

“7 of Cups” by Laura Elena Oancea

“Drip. Drip. Disaster” by Natalia Dimou

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a character’s addiction or obsession.

Write a story that keeps a key detail hidden from the reader until the very end.

Center your story around a character who successfully — or unsuccessfully — escapes their fate.

Write a story with a huge surprise, either in the middle or the end.

Contest #291

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

415

Contest entries

210

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: