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

Posted in Short Story on Feb 7, 2025

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✍️ 95 stories

“The City Life” by James Plante

Submitted to Contest #289

Would it kill the weatherman to predict a little rain? Some cooler temperatures wouldn’t hurt either. It’s been so hot and dry in the last several weeks that people are getting ornery and short-tempered. And, considering all the work I've put into my lawn this summer, my grass is starting to turn to a shade of brown that’s hard to look at. I cringe every time I look outside from the living room. The money we've put into the landscaping alone on the house is insane because of the higher prices on everything from fertilizer, seeds, and the too...

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“My Friend Louise” by Ursula Gibson

Submitted to Contest #289

The first time I noticed it; we were in a bookstore. The smell of paper and plastic curled around us as we wandered through the aisles, fingers brushing against the spines of novels new and old. Louise hummed softly beside me; her lips curled into a knowing smile as she reached for a book—The Handmaid’s Tale—we had both read it at least four times. Flipping through its pages with casual ease, Louise carefully shelved the book, then, without hesitation, she slipped a small leather bookmark into the sleeve of her sweater.It was nothing, really...

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“Rogue Wave” by Cameron Snider

Submitted to Contest #289

Gust slices against the fishing boat as Marcello and Antonio heave together, preparing to cast their fishing net overboard.“The future?” Antonio teases. “What are you worrying so much for?” He easily ties his part of the line, ensuring a connection between the ship and netting.“I dunno, Tony. I just get thinking.” Marcello finishes tying his knot slower, then slumps against the side railing. He let his gloved hand run along the sea-rusted metal. “You sure this thing’s safe in waters like this?”“See there is your problem. The thinking. You ar...

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“The Friend. ” by Ainsley Besant

Submitted to Contest #289

It’s dark. Very dark. It’s an uneasy darkness, one which sends shivers down your spine with every breath. The air is thick. Everything feels close, but also empty and endless. The contradicting feelings make my mind feel like it’s being swept from side to side. It makes me feel nauseous. Though that could also be the water. Oh god, the water. It’s too dark to see it, but you can hear it. Smell it. Taste it. Feel it. All the other senses amplified because of the blinding darkness. Why am I here? That’s an interesting story, ...

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“Lost Love” by Jerilyn Kolbin

Submitted to Contest #289

In Carol’s sleep, she was twirling and laughing. He had such a cute smile. Every Friday night at the town Grange, there was a contra dance. She went every week. This was Jacob's first time at this Grange, though he had been to others and knew how to do it. Jacob eyed her from across the room and asked her to dance. She explained that her “dance card” was full for the next two, but she’d put him down for the third.Jacob was adorable. He had a big black bush of curly hair, with a red bandanna around his forehead. He wore a faded, yellow Black ...

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“Wednesday’s Child” by Deborah Sanders

Submitted to Contest #289

Content warning - mildly offensive languageWednesday, February 12, 2025Wednesdays! So often people complain about Wednesdays. At the beginning of the day, it is an uphill climb to the top of the week. But by evening, the middle is in the past and, with a bit of luck, the rest of the week will be a an easy slide down to the weekend.This year, I am embracing Wednesdays. My college classes end at noon on a Wednesday, and I can ride the buses back to my home, or rather the apartment building where I am staying with my uncle. ...

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“Big Girls Are From Venus” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #289

The two girls were unlike any streetwalkers they had ever seen, in fact there was a debate over whether they were streetwalkers that should have made the Channel 9 news, live at 11:00. Nobody seemed to know them, they didn’t walk from the projects nor were they dropped off by a driver. The usual gang were standing at the corner behind Mack’s Furniture when one of them said “here she comes”.Chelsea came trotting around the corner wearing a two-piece outfit that showed about six inches of her stomach, even though she weighed somewhere between ...

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“Fate” by Renee Yancey

Submitted to Contest #289

It was to be a quick trip before she starts her career. She recently graduated from college with a degree in finance and will be starting a job with a major bank in a month. Before the pressure of starting her life as a real adult, this trip, camping for a week in her favorite spot, all alone, will allow her to rest and renew. That is the plan. She parks her Chevy in the parking lot at the start of the trail. Opening the trunk, she lifts out her pack. It is heavy, filled with all she needs for the week. Camping pans and a stove, a sleeping b...

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“Sky full of rain” by A J Mortimer

Submitted to Contest #289

In a sky full of rain, I stand. The downpour is relentless. The shivering has stopped, the cold no longer stings. My pyjamas cling to me, my hair drips, but I barely notice. The wind howls around me, urging, calling. I came here for my eternal rest. Thunder rumbles overhead like something ancient speaking my name. It beckons me forward, whispering promises I don’t understand. I take a step closer to the edge of the building, my bare foot slipping slightly against the slick concrete. The city below is blurred with mist and water, streetlights...

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“Red Car ” by Kateri Daw

Submitted to Contest #289

Do you ever notice when you mention a car color, it starts to become the only car color you see? If you’ve ever played the game “yellow car” with your siblings then you are aware of the dull ache after they spot that pesky beetle before you and you get a nice solid punch to the soft tissue in your arm. Who doesn’t love a little of violence in the name of an innocent game? That is why when I started to notice the increasing number of red cars in my school’s parking lot, I thought it would be fun to get my revenge. My knuckles tin...

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“You Taught Me to Never Lie” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #289

You Taught Me to Never Lie “Where are you off to?” “Out!” That is the kind of answer I expect from him. His response to all questions is precise and to the point; it is in deciding which point, that the problem lies. I believe that I had something to do with his decisiveness. I began reading to him before he was born. I’d heard it was supposed to enhance fetus...

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“The dragon told me so” by Stephi Smith

Submitted to Contest #289

The dragon lies to everyone but me. He told me so. “You’re not like the others,” he told me so. I was the only one to enter his keep and exit with air, the only to see his gold and slow the steel, and the only to breathe his fire and endure the scorch. He told me so! When I first trespassed his lair, the gold there smelled like pennies. His perfume - a rich musty odor that stayed in my lungs and hurt my chest - was consuming and hideous: everything stunk. His scales flaked and his eyes burned. His prison was dank and clammy, but ...

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“Silence” by Tatjana Jancic

Submitted to Contest #289

You were always somewhere at the back of my mind, hiding in its shadows and pulling at my heart’s strings on rare encounters.It was a mellow Saturday evening. I was 12 years old, walking up the Main street with my mom. While passing by a fountain, I noticed a group of graduate high schoolers, catcalling, whistling, monkeying around. A short, brown-haired girl got my attention. She looked so sad and hurt it was almost palpable. She was looking at you like a wounded soldier with a pleading look. You extracted yourself from your gang and s...

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“Entering Affrahim” by Beetle Bopjun

Submitted to Contest #289

In the bathroom of a nightclub named the Odyssey, Leonore Shulze dried her tears with a brown paper towel that was so thin, Leonore could see right through it.Leonore closed the stall door behind her, the sound of muffled music and someone washing their hands kept her from vomiting, she focused on the sounds to ground her back to reality. She took her right hand, the one with all her rings, and bent down to unlatch the belt of her red heels. Despite being the clean freak she was, Leonore set her stocking clothed foot on the nasty public bath...

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“U F? No. ” by Kathrine Steppke

Submitted to Contest #289

Who paces out in the snow in -35 degree temperature? Size 8 high heal boot tracks overlapped each other in a small circle out in the snow. There was the sound of wind whistling with repetitive shuffling noises in the snow. Snow fell upon our heroine’s tongue as she hyperventilated. The smell of muddy oil hits her nose as a car drives by splashing her. Above her, a balcony door opens and she hears, “What the heck are you doing? You’re going to get sick!” She is buzzed into a white looking apartment building, which easily blends into the snow....

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 95 stories

“The City Life” by James Plante

“My Friend Louise” by Ursula Gibson

“Rogue Wave” by Cameron Snider

“The Friend. ” by Ainsley Besant

“Lost Love” by Jerilyn Kolbin

“Wednesday’s Child” by Deborah Sanders

“Big Girls Are From Venus” by Len Rely

“Fate” by Renee Yancey

“Sky full of rain” by A J Mortimer

“Red Car ” by Kateri Daw

“You Taught Me to Never Lie” by Joe Swanson

“The dragon told me so” by Stephi Smith

“Silence” by Tatjana Jancic

“Entering Affrahim” by Beetle Bopjun

“U F? No. ” by Kathrine Steppke

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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 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: