Your character is invited to a secret meeting. Who invited them, and what do they encounter?

Posted in Short Story on Oct 18, 2024

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✍️ 41 stories

“The Meeting of the Saints” by Ian McKerracher

Submitted to Contest #273

The saints began to trickle in. Old Mrs. Robinson was a widow from two years into a sweet marriage but has lived alone for the last 47 years. She was making tea and coffee. Peter Frampton (no relation) had also come early and had helped set up the chairs in the rented community hall, ostensibly for the so-called social gathering. Anthony Fresco, a middle-aged bachelor and old-school gentleman, was greeting everyone at the door with a big smile and overwhelming gestures of bowing and addressing the members of the congregation by name and with...

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“Atanase” by David Pampu

Submitted to Contest #273

When I was a boy, Mother told me, “All mirrors reveal beauty and shadow. Like the god Narcissus, fools focus only on the former and ignore the latter.” “Why would anyone want to look at the darkness, Mother?” I was vain and self-obsessed, even at a young age. “The mirror reveals my beauty—the most important thing. I don’t understand.” “One day, Atanase,” she said, “you will.” Years later, as a young man, I gazed into the mirror and was pleased to find the shadows exposed no wrinkles on my face. I turned my head to admire my profile and froze...

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“The Edge of Nowhere” by Vera N

Submitted to Contest #273

Zane Carter didn’t trust anonymous invitations. As a journalist, he'd long learned that anything cryptic usually hid something dangerous beneath it. Yet the unmarked envelope that had arrived on his desk a week ago seemed to draw him in, as if he’d been waiting for it his entire life. **“Come to the island. We know what you’ve been searching for. You will find the answers you seek.”** There was no name, no return address, just a flight ticket to a remote Pacific island and GPS coordinates. He debated ignoring it. What sane person would follo...

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“Lunch At The Blue Peacock” by Kathy Hayes

Submitted to Contest #273

Lunch At The Blue PeacockAnother Blue Peacock Short StoryBy Kathy HayesEllen looked at the invitation that had arrived in the mail. Plain envelope, no return address, no clues. Inside was a simple message. Please join me for lunch at The Blue Peacock, Thursday 1PM. No signature.Ellen dropped the invitation on the counter and put up her groceries. She laid out the ingredients for dinner in the fridge, double checking all the ingredients. Ellen felt some anxiety about going to a luncheon when she did not kno...

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“Resurrection Men” by Grace Bruno

Submitted to Contest #273

Is there a flaw more fatal than my loathing of normalcy? My self-inflicted imposter syndrome amongst anything less than beguiling, it brings me a detestful perspective of my past; a childhood of quiet rooms, disposable friends, and afternoons amongst limited company. I say this, not to scold my parents for being so characteristically pedestrian, but to help you understand what led me here. College was not particularly thrilling, save for the Ethics professor who lacked basic morality (the irony gave me a kick). I was not interested...

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“Friends for Life” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #273

It was full dark now, but Simon didn’t want to go home. She might still be up. He got off his bike at the cemetery gates, left it propped on the old wooden fence. The low gate screeched its displeasure like an old gargoyle disturbed from its sleep. He winced involuntarily and put his hands over his mouth then winced again, the sharp pain of his bloody lip ignited fresh memories of earlier that evening when she’d thrown her half-empty Budweiser bottle at his face. He’d told her he was glad his father had left because she’d deserved it. ...

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“The Kitchen Meeting” by Jacki Glisson

Submitted to Contest #273

Drip drip drip. A drop of water landed on the wet clump of cold oatmeal in his bowl. Drip drip drip. Sherwin was so used to the drippy old roof and peeling concrete walls that he would’ve felt unsettled if it were any other way. Drip drip drip. He took spoonfuls of gray sausage and began stacking them in the large sets of pans. It was 4:30am. Breakfast would be served in a prompt 30 minutes. Prison inmates don’t get a choice when it comes to breakfast. Wheeling the large carts stacked with tubs of gray sausage and old clumpy oatmeal to the s...

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“Patsy” by Lottie Waldeaux

Submitted to Contest #273

It’s the middle of the night when I arrive. The door is a polished blush with peach accents forming swirls around the top, a portal into the world of cotton candy and pink lemonade that is Danielle Manorla’s hotel sleepover. Danielle and her friends have weekly sleepovers in her apartment at Patsy’s, a pink high-rise hotel in West Hollywood that her starlett grandmother owns. It’s normally just the four of them, except for a few elusively popular girls who slide their way in like the movie stars who came and went during the hotel’s pri...

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““On Womanhood”” by Hanna Brauncajs

Submitted to Contest #273

Josie found the note, on one of those wishy-washy afternoons, at her office desk where it was peeking out from the pile of still-bound-to-be completed worksheets she’d ought to wrap up for her boss hours ago. Unsurprisingly so, she hadn’t. Unsurprisingly so, she wasn’t planning to anytime soon either. Being preoccupied with her usual stewy reveries it took Jodie a while to detect the message, though when she did it was apparent who left it there. She groaned not at all flummoxed by the heart-shaped, written in an overly twee m...

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“Burn This Note” by Kendall Gianakos

Submitted to Contest #273

Burn. This. Note. The thought races through my head as I pore through the open woods. I shouldn’t be here–I should leave–this note was not meant for me. But like gravity that pulls in the tide, something about this message makes me keep walking, keep looking, keep waiting. Leaves and twigs crunch and crack under my feet, synchronizing with the song of the birds in the trees. Now and then I glance at the map scrawled on the back of the note. Lightly marked in pencil, lines and arrows point to the ...

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“When Max Met Maya” by TC Cook

Submitted to Contest #273

“Into the old warehouse on Skewer Road, find the hidden wall behind the first-floor office, then just keep going straight.” The note was written on one of my grocery list pad papers. The note was boldly positioned in the center with my various magnets pushed to the side. “I live alone. Who did this? Who wrote this? How did they get in my house?” The questions plagued me throughout the day, as I continued to wonder if my house was even safe or not. I could barely focus on work, but that made the day go by faster. One of my coworkers even aske...

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“The Neophyte” by Brian Webb

Submitted to Contest #273

Tyron is a babe in arms again. He savors the comfort of his mother’s embrace, breathing in the sweet essence of her pachouli as he snuggles against her breast. He looks up at her smiling face, her sandalwood brown eyes, and the rich curly locks of auburn hair cascading around her shoulders. She kisses his nose and whispers “I love you sweet boy”. He can feel her breath and the soft brush of her lips against his ear… “Tyron. Wake up.” With a mild jab of his staff Tyron’s squad ...

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“A Reckoning at Hills Peek” by Heidi Fedore

Submitted to Contest #273

It’s like someone flipped a light switch out here. Everything is black. The almost full moon must’ve crept behind a cloud or tree . . . or something.I stop. My eyes dart struggling to find a point of reference. I fumble my phone from my pocket, tap my screen to turn on my flashlight, and gulp in steady breaths again. Thank God I charged my phone earlier.Now there’s extra light behind me. My bestie, Celeste, must’ve turned on her flashlight as well. The path is visible once more with its roots and ruts. I’ve already stumbled twice trying to k...

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“The Box” by Polly Bochkariov

Submitted to Contest #273

The figure in the chair swiveled to face the intruder as soon as the door opened. “I was waiting far too long for you to come,” a voice called out from the dark corner the chair was in. “Nearly didn’t,” replied the intruder. “And why all the secrecy?” The voice didn’t respond. Instead, a shuffling noise was heard as the person in the chair approached the intruder. “Grandma!” cried the intruder. The shuffling figure nodded her head. She grabbed her guest’s hand and brought her to the dusty table. Grandma had set a box down o...

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“Midnight Red” by Night Saga

Submitted to Contest #273

Jonah was awakened by the smell of coffee and toast. Bruna had this way of making them, which involved soaking the slices of bread in olive oil, sprinkling them with salt and pepper on both sides, and tossing them into a pan until they were golden. They didn’t have a toaster; Jonah insisted it was pointless.“Good evening, sir.”“I forgot to set the alarm.” Jonah sat in the chair he had designated as his since the day he decided to live with a roommate. Bruna had no choice but to accept it.“And that’s news since when?”“It’s Saturday, give me a...

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Your character is invited to a secret meeting. Who invited them, and what do they encounter?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 41 stories

“The Meeting of the Saints” by Ian McKerracher

“Atanase” by David Pampu

“The Edge of Nowhere” by Vera N

“Lunch At The Blue Peacock” by Kathy Hayes

“Resurrection Men” by Grace Bruno

“Friends for Life” by Tanya Humphreys

“The Kitchen Meeting” by Jacki Glisson

“Patsy” by Lottie Waldeaux

““On Womanhood”” by Hanna Brauncajs

“Burn This Note” by Kendall Gianakos

“When Max Met Maya” by TC Cook

“The Neophyte” by Brian Webb

“A Reckoning at Hills Peek” by Heidi Fedore

“The Box” by Polly Bochkariov

“Midnight Red” by Night Saga

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in the form of diary/journal entries about a secret or confession.

Begin your story with someone either being followed or following someone else.

Write a story with the line “Don’t tell anyone.”

Write a story that hides something from the reader until the end.

Contest #273

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

361

Contest entries

165

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: