Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story with the line “I didn’t have a choice.”

Posted in Short Story on May 16, 2025

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 90 stories

Trouble

Submitted to Contest #303

My heart stopped beating at 11:35 on a Saturday morning. I heard someone saying I had waited for my daughter to arrive before giving my last breath, but the truth is that everything has been planned before, and I'm a man who likes his plans. That was the time expected, and that's when it happened. While a group of people discussed the music, candles and company I should have around in my last moments, the machine stopped beeping; I opened my eyes, choked, grabbed the first person who dared to hug me and died in the most gruesome and traumati...

35 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

The Smile Tank Diaries

Shortlisted for Contest #303 ⭐️

I didn’t have a choice.I know that sounds dramatic. Everyone says that when they’re trying to sound like a victim. But in my case, it was literally true. I was legally required to participate in the Personality Compliance Program.Because I failed the Empathy Calibration Assessment. Twice.I know what you’re thinking: How can someone fail empathy? Easy. They ask you to watch a video of a cartoon otter losing its job at a tech startup and record your “emotional reactions” while measuring your blood pressure and brow micro-twitches. I blinked at...

29 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Poor Little Rich Girl

Submitted to Contest #303

'Poor Little Rich Girl' “I... Didn't... Have... A Choice!”“Okay, okay, Sweetheart. I didn't mean to upset you. Please help me understand. I want to help you if I can. How could you get thrown out of your own house? Why would this Aunt Fanny of yours wield so much power when you were the rightful heir?”“She was vindictive and hated my father and my grandmother. She schemed for years and once Grandmother passed she wasted no time to convince Grandfather that my father, her brother, was an illegitimate child of a soldier her mother comforted wh...

25 likes 28 comments 28
Read story

Cooked

Submitted to Contest #303

Driving home from work, I had plenty to think about. No dull moments being head chef of a restaurant. But the last several days had been crazy. I admit to bringing much of it upon myself. Every day this week Socrates personally delivered flowers to me. Why would this bigshot restauranteur give me flowers? I’m nobody. No way he’s wooing me. We’re competitors, with restaurants in the same neighborhood. Admittedly, his is higher end. Did he know what I did? If so, why the flowers? If not, why the flowers?It made no sense. Monday. That’s when it...

19 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

The Necromancer's Folly

Submitted to Contest #303

“I didn’t have a choice,” said the man with the staff. “I need these spirits for a dire ritual. You understand, ignispawn.”Chiaro Arkenraye looked up at him through a haze of red. He felt Éabha’s last shuddering breath, held against him as she was. The only thing stopping him from leaping up and strangling the man with his own fancy robes. The only thing that had kept him tethered to this life up to this point.Well, the good news was he had a new tether.He blinked the ashes of sleep from his eyes and sat up. His nightmare–a memory, really–ha...

17 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

The Creature

Submitted to Contest #303

The broken floorboards creak under his feet as Victor eases the door open and enters the room. He’s faintly aware that the house is crumbling, but he doesn’t care enough, or has the time, to fix it. His eyes immediately find Marie, and there she is, lying in bed, looking like a withered plant in winter—embodying the smell of sickness swirling in the confines—despite the sunlight streaming through the fluttering curtains.“Marie”, Victor calls out, but she doesn’t open her eyes. Her lips keep moving silently, like she’s praying to the gods—mor...

15 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

The Reluctant Accomplice

Submitted to Contest #303

The headlights of passing cars streaked across our bedroom ceiling like searching spotlights. I lay awake, listening to the gentle rhythm of Eliza's breathing beside me, wondering if tonight would be the night I'd finally tell her everything. The digital clock on the nightstand blinked 3:17 AM. In four hours, I would need to make a decision that would change both our lives forever, and I didn't have a choice. My phone vibrated on the nightstand. I slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom, closing the door before checking the message. I...

15 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Hissing Man

Submitted to Contest #303

Content Warning: Supernatural violence, emotional trauma, death, possession, mental healthThe Hissing ManThe day Alex returned to the town he once called home, the wind carried whispers from the house at the end of the gravel road. Fragments of sorrow hung from the air. He hadn’t seen her, heard her voice, in so long. He’d abandoned her and left her to deal with the consequences of his actions. She was alone and scared and he knew it.She was only fourteen when he left her. He’d been the catalyst to their nightmare. He was fifteen, nearly six...

13 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

I didn't have a choice

Submitted to Contest #303

If you’re looking for a hero, take a left at the monument of failed ideals and keep walking until the gutter swallows your shoes. That’s where you’ll find me—what’s left when God stops listening and the Devil starts laughing. And no, I’m not telling this from the comfort of a fireside chair. I’m bleeding out on a concrete floor, wrists raw from the cuffs, the air thick with mildew, regret, and forgotten confessions. “I didn’t have a choice,” I mutter, blood sliding off my chin like it’s trying to escape before it hears the rest of the story....

13 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Redemption or Damnation: Tales from the Darkest Desert

Submitted to Contest #303

“I reckon this town ain’t got much longer. The demons have been more rowdy these past few months. Nearly lost you, girl.” Riley Roswell, nineteen years old, brushes his loyal steed, Cassie. Her beautiful chestnut brown hair shimmers in the moonlight. His black leather vest practically in tatters now, the same red shirt that was burned nearly half a year ago drapes over his shoulders, and his black hat now riddled with a few more holes. Cassie’s saddle is a walking armory. A rifle now has an extra-long barrel to increas...

13 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Condescension

Submitted to Contest #303

Dad said he didn't have a choice, but he was smiling behind his lips. It would be pointless to argue, so I didn’t. I just stood there for a few seconds, getting used to the ringing in my ears and trying to see if there was any movement. There wasn’t. He stood still as I slowly approached the body near the woods that surround the barn."Hello?"But there was no answer. I didn’t thing there would be, from the way that she fell. I hadn't seen him clearly, but I knew it was her from his smile. As the barn lamp outlined my shadow on the barren dirt...

12 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

24. Some Real "Who Shot JR?" Stuff, Brother.

Submitted to Contest #303

After talking to Sarah on the phone, Curt returned to sit with Kevin in the living room, bringing him tea. There was a lot to process. During the homecoming dance, a tornado had grazed their high school the previous night. They were trapped in a closet during the storm. Kevin’s injuries could have just as easily been a serious head injury, but he escaped with just a rash from flying debris, which may not have happened if he had not moved quickly to protect his boyfriend. Then, they stayed up all night to make sure Kevin didn’t have a concuss...

12 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A Dish Best Served Cold... Again.

Submitted to Contest #303

The glitter cannon was primed. Sarah, perched precariously on a stepladder in the school auditorium’s dusty prop room, double-checked the confetti load for the fifteenth time.This wasn't just any confetti; it was biodegradable, multi-colored, and specifically designed to cling to hair and clothing like a lovesick limpet. Her masterpiece. Her final, glorious act of kindergarten-fueled vengeance against a literal deity.Downstairs, the DJ was already spinning some questionable pop anthems, the bass thrumming through the floorboards and vibratin...

11 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

Spacer's Love

Submitted to Contest #303

I want to set the record straight. I didn’t have a choice. Well, I mean, I did, but I chose for myself and not for them. Those poor retched souls on that ship were doomed. They knew it, I knew it. Hell, everyone knew it, except for my engineering chief. He said, and I quote, “We need to bring them with us. All we have to do is stay docked with their ship a few more minutes. They are crippled and bleeding atmosphere. They won’t make it if we don’t help them.”“No! They sealed their fate when they fired on my ship.”The crew stared at me grimaci...

11 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Girls Will Be Girls

Submitted to Contest #303

Trigger Warning: Abortion, SA, LanguageBlue and red lights silhouetted those of us standing in the waiting room of the ER. Innocent patients and families watched, mesmerized by the authority pouring into the sliding glass doors. Anyone with a guilty conscience stood by, trance like, blood running cold through their veins. My blood was icy, crystalline pints bounding through my chest making it ache. I steadied myself against the registration counter.“This way officers,” I murmured. I badged into the back of the ER. I thought about hiding my b...

11 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who chooses revenge — even though forgiveness is an option.

Angst – 67 stories

Center your story around a character who breaks the rules for someone they love.

Dramatic – 49 stories

Write about a character who becomes the villain in another character’s story.

Short Story – 43 stories

Center your story around someone who makes an irreversible decision — knowing it will haunt them forever.

Dramatic – 77 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel