Write a story where a creature turns up in an unexpected way.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 25, 2024

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✍️ 98 stories

“Strolling with the Devil” by G S Martin

Submitted to Contest #274

mental illness. self harm. gore.I fell down and couldn’t get up. That was five days ago. My cell phone sits on the cluttered coffee table two feet above my head, hopelessly out of reach. But no matter, it died three days ago. The chair legs have become towering redwoods, the couch, a mile-high fake suede un-climbable wall. Thirst. That's what gets you. In the movies, your lips dry up. You stumble through the desert. Bad Hombres with full canteens find you crawling, begging… YOU: Water! PleeezGimmeSomeWATER!&nb...

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“Shadows of Eden ” by Sarah Kelly

Submitted to Contest #274

Trigger Warning: Blood, Vulgar language, ViolenceJust a few miles south of the river the shaft opened up to, Cullen had already set up his small camp. He had zipped himself up in his tent, flashlight in one hand, shining it onto the notebook he had taken from Tristan’s jacket pocket. He studied each page carefully, looking for clues about his parents written down as if there had to be something. Just a sliver of information about what happened could lead him in the right direction. The breeze outside was steady as it blew the polyester ...

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“Bad Fish” by Chester King

Submitted to Contest #274

Stephen visited his dad in the house he grew up in. His wife wanted to stop their son from becoming a dreaded 'iPad kid' so her father-in-law's three acre property was the perfect playground for their son who entertained himself by climbing trees. Stephen's brother also liked to climb trees. He often studied birds, listening to their calls and sometimes mimicking them, until Stephen made fun of him. Stephen liked to open up rocks and find insects, particularly Roly-polies. He liked the sound they made when he crushed them underfoot or betwee...

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“Moving House” by Geoff King

Submitted to Contest #274

Loud clumping noises distracted Kevin from his game. It sounded like a plague of giant possums had stormed the roof, but it was just Dad as he scrambled about installing some kind of radar, reckless in his disregard of the blistering sunlight. Indoors, Kevin dripped with sweat. Another year with this bonkers family before he could legally leave home. Though where could he go? Three more years before he could escape to university – that’s if he got accepted. Time stretched into the distance like the Great Wall of China. Twelve months ago, wh...

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“Tripping Over Silk” by Adrian Baev

Submitted to Contest #274

Trigger Warning:Mental healthPhysical violence, gore, or abuseMental self harm AFloat, she bobbed about the Waves, curving their crests around darkness from which spewed words of mock. At least that’s how Float felt when those rosy lips of the popular girls jettisoned out their thorns. Float lived most of the day on a little island that others called her mind. She was safe, well, mostly safe there. Not always though. Those words came in from the shores every day, comments from others, from herself, her family. But she’d managed to build thin...

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“It was once alive, and quacking” by Basile D Bonnaire

Submitted to Contest #274

On a cold Sunday morning, in the season where all is expected to die, and everything actually does, while the river carries the grime of the corpses in an unending rain, the streets of the open market fill up with an other kind of grime, a much more unsettling kind of grime, the living grime of man. Oh old and young! Disheveled or well-offs! Men or women equally disgraced! You, you my interesting bunch all gather here, dressed in full jackets and wearing your closed faces, to buy so many sorts of produce, dictated by a sort of necessity...

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“The Silent Grove” by Alex Marmalade

Submitted to Contest #274

The night draped the woods in darkness, a heavy cloak that whispered secrets and long-buried fears. A damp chill seeped through the trees as Reverend Elijah Mason threaded his way through the underbrush, the crisp leaves crunching softly beneath his careful steps. The lantern he carried flickered, casting long, trembling shadows that danced among the gnarled branches. He wore a cloak that hid the cut of his collar, the robes of a man of God, although he felt anything but righteous tonight. He paused to listen, feeling the forest's breath—a r...

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“Night Of The (Unfortunately) Living Clown ” by Xavi G. Xochi

Submitted to Contest #274

In all my twenty years of working at 7-11, I had never seen some shit like this. Seeing the reptilian-looking corporate owner in the scaly flesh came close. I hated that dude. Bro really filmed and sent me a mere dancing TikTok for my twentieth anniversary. Capitalism these days. However that worked. Anyway, it all started one night. During an overnight shift; which I always dreaded. There was nothing to do but ring up irregular customers. All night I’d have to put up with late night partiers, crackheads, sketchy soon-to-be serial killer dud...

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Write a story where a creature turns up in an unexpected way.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 98 stories

“Strolling with the Devil” by G S Martin

“Shadows of Eden ” by Sarah Kelly

“Bad Fish” by Chester King

“Moving House” by Geoff King

“Tripping Over Silk” by Adrian Baev

“It was once alive, and quacking” by Basile D Bonnaire

“The Silent Grove” by Alex Marmalade

“Night Of The (Unfortunately) Living Clown ” by Xavi G. Xochi

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story on a character filled with love and fear in equal measure.

Write a story that includes the line “Fate is resourceful.”

Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

Center your story around a childhood fear that – as much as you try to shake it – still resonates in adulthood.

Contest #274

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

405

Contest entries

119

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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