Write a story about a character who takes nothing for granted.

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 21 stories

“I Was Always Good at Taboo” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #106

CW: Strong languageI forgot the word lightbulb today. I was trying to tell Michael how the laundry room went dark. I think we need a new… do we have any of those...those things that make…It was like a dark spot in my brain. The word had been redacted from my vocabulary. I tried to listen for it, to hear the word in my voice. All I got was static, like the old televisions used to have. Would you change that thing in the ceiling?We used to play this game with the kids when they were young—Taboo—where every card had a forbidden word you ha...

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“Crimson Butterfly ” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #106

(Content Warning: Blood, Gore, Murder, some crude language.)The monstrous heat is unrelenting, a good sign for things to come. I desperately stare out from the apartment window and notice my reflection smiling back. I never realized that I had such a wonderful smile. It suits me. I’m not used to smiling, but I think I can get used to it after what I just did. I glance up at the sparkling moon and bask in its afterglow - a radiant light that fills me with emotion.This is a night of rebirth—a new beginning. Frank will never be able to hurt me ...

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“6:30” by Elli Lewis

Submitted to Contest #106

My clock says 6. There are thirty minutes to go. Thirty minutes is half an hour because it is half of sixty. There are sixty minutes in an hour. So there is half an hour before I can go to mummy and daddy’s room. I want to go now. I don't like being alone. But it is a rule. They made that rule when I was little because they don’t like waking up early. Before 7 is early. I wanted 6 and they wanted 7, but I couldn't wait until 7. So, we made a deal. 6:30.Oh. Now my clock says 6:01. 29 minutes to go.I hate waiting. Mummy always tells me I shoul...

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“Behind the Pane” by Imogen Bird

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #106

It would be so lovely to go to an art gallery again. To look into the oil and canvas windows framed in gold. My window is framed in plastic, off-white and not quite as clean as it should be for a hospital. At first glance you would think it was fine, but as you keep looking you see that thin trim of dust, slightly too far into the crevice for the hurried cleaners to properly wipe away. The sticky remnants of something that was peeled off years ago in the bottom right corner, attracting fibers, making me itch to rub it clean. That would be we...

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“The Memory Letter” by Silver Pen: Temporarily Inactive

Submitted to Contest #106

TW: Suicide. Dear Chris, I’ll never forget the day we met, not even when death himself tries to wrench the memory from my stiff hands. Twelfth-grade calculus, third period. In full honesty, I’m not completely sure why I remember the day so well. Perhaps it was the way you smiled when we were paired. A small, courteous smile full of wires and metal. Ah, the braces. I remember how much you hated them. Every smile was lip-tight and careful, anxious embarrassment hiding the way your face lights up when you truly grin. Even in those days of awkwa...

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“It's the Little Things in Life that Make us Happy” by Eve Y

Submitted to Contest #106

Pamela awoke to the bright light-hearted chirping of the charcoal black robins that perched by her window every morning. She sucked in a deep breath of clean spring air, and quietly - before stepping out of bed - she thanked mother nature for bringing life and color to the world, for bringing air, water, and food to the people who lived. She even thanked the animals and plants who sacrificed themselves to support the needs of the people; She apologized for taking their lives to support her own, but - she thought - there was no othe...

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“Paradise on Earth” by Elisa Wells

Submitted to Contest #106

It was a long day at work which Susie loved doing just to get away from home. Susie's had so much responsibility on her that she didn't even feel married. Life started slowly consuming Susie and she had no outlet so she became bitter. Susie would sometimes cry in her room because she wasn't happy. Susie kept feeling like something was missing. Susie loved her family and was very loyal to them and her life was good. Susie was raised in the church all of her life and couldn't wait to stop going! Susie was made to go to church all the time as a...

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“Wobbly Wheels” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #106

“If you were constantly tuned in to everything that was going on around you or, say, what a wonder it is to have kidneys, you wouldn’t get anything done.” At the time I barely registered it. I was waiting for the father to finish giving his daughter a lesson and for her to put down the can of energy drink she was trying to persuade him to buy her, so I could get to my protein shakes. I filed it away, like so many snippets of overheard conversations I hear when trying to remember why I’ve come to the supermarket. I’d left the trolley par...

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“The Light Within” by Dr. Verse

Submitted to Contest #106

Raina tucked the spines of her lovers in the spines of her journals because they were too spineless to love her. She releases her vitality upon the lines of paper that only have the strength to withhold the affray within her core. The agony is unabated. It reminds her of the earthquakes, one calls legs, she tries to stand on. It reminds her that once again someone could not stay. She is reminded that is just a home for lost souls who need light. On her hips she balanced the weight of immature men, who were too lazy to love her correctly or t...

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“Lights Out” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #106

Detective Dana Ciccone and her partner, Tony Davis, didn’t find the silences that accompanied their morning drives to be uncomfortable. Dana drove. Tony looked out the window. They both enjoyed the temporary quiet. Twenty years of daily traffic jams from an obstreperous police precinct to an even more insistent crime scene had frazzled them both. But when they did speak, Dana was usually the one to start the conversation. In addition to being a damn good detective, Dana also seemed to be obsessed with random shit.“Do you believe in...

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“The legend of Kapo” by Catherine Tripp

Submitted to Contest #106

May 1, 1850 Dearest Sister Annie, I am writing to you from Kona Hawaii on my third week as governess to her Highness Emma Rooke, whom most people call Emmalani. She walks timidly on the land, almost on tip toes hips swaying gently. I have never seen Emmalani run, at least not on land. She skims from her beach chair to the ocean water, slides in, and then she is simply grace incarnate. Clean even strokes, and at last in the waves, without hesitation she covers miles swiftly and surely. As ...

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“Sunflower Queen” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #106

„You´re a last-minute last visitor.” “Oh Daisy, you´re in a hurry today?” Mary asked. “I have to pick up my daughter at the bus station and I don´t want to be late.” Daisy explained. “Really? Lotus is coming? I haven´t seen her since… I don´t remember.” Mary thought out loud. Daisy was sprinkling some green plants and sighed: “I haven´t seen her for the longest time either. “Why, I´ll get out of your way then.” “Oh no, Mary! That´s not what I meant! Please, you walk through and I´ll finish up here. We can close up and leave together.” Daisy ...

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“The Ballad of Marie-Augustine” by Jude S. Walko

Submitted to Contest #106

Marie took nothing for granted, especially the love she felt for her family. The grey clouds of mist and steam slowly parted to reveal the clearest blue sky Marie-Augustine had ever seen, or would ever see again. And slowly, then suddenly, sound, consciousness and reality hit her as equally as hard as the masonry, in fact the train, that so violently had, just moments before. Her eyes began to scour the intricate detail of each brick that the masons had so delicately, and skillfully, carved onto each and every square inch of t...

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“Sunrise on the Sonoran ” by A. Neptune

Submitted to Contest #106

Isabel woke with a start just before sunrise, her head snapping off her pillow. "Ow!" She gasped as a sudden rush of pain radiated from her left arm and ribs. She closed her eyes, took a few steadying breaths, and let the pains subside.Isabel listened to the many sounds of her bedroom. The buzzing of fan blades, the singing of the birds outside, all occasionally overpowered by her husband's snores. Then, with another steadying breath, she rose from her bed and gingerly put her left arm into its sling. A small 'Oof' escaped her lips as she di...

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“Dancing In the Wind” by Brandy Abercrombie

Submitted to Contest #106

Scout looked up from the book she was currently reading, while enjoying the nice summer evening on her back patio. Straining her ears, she listened for a noise way off in the distance. Trying to hear more clearly, she held her breathe. She tried to hear the noise over the beating of heart going thump-thump. Then, she heard the noise again, the low, distant, rumble of thunder. Earlier when she had gone in the house to refill her water, she noticed the sky was beginning to look darker off to the West. Closing her eyes she waited for the next r...

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Ended on 23:59 - Aug 13, 2021 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: I Was Always Good at Taboo

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Write a story about a character who takes nothing for granted.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 21 stories

“I Was Always Good at Taboo” by A.Dot Ram

“Crimson Butterfly ” by Daniel R. Hayes

“6:30” by Elli Lewis

“Behind the Pane” by Imogen Bird

“The Memory Letter” by Silver Pen: Temporarily Inactive

“It's the Little Things in Life that Make us Happy” by Eve Y

“Paradise on Earth” by Elisa Wells

“Wobbly Wheels” by Karen McDermott

“The Light Within” by Dr. Verse

“Lights Out” by Mike Garrigan

“The legend of Kapo” by Catherine Tripp

“Sunflower Queen” by F.O. Morier

“The Ballad of Marie-Augustine” by Jude S. Walko

“Sunrise on the Sonoran ” by A. Neptune

“Dancing In the Wind” by Brandy Abercrombie

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a character noticing the beauty in something they've seen hundreds of times.

Write about a character who’s known to be a cynic, but secretly romanticizes everything.

A mundane ability suddenly becomes a superpower. Write about someone or something affected by this.

Write a story about a character who’s secretly nobility.

Contest #106

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

153

Contest entries

206

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: