Write about a character who leads a secret double life outside of their day job.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 16 stories

“Hope Rising ” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #109

(Content Warning: Some mild violence.)She falls like a ghost lost in the endless void. Light-as-a-feather, yet heavy as a concrete brick, she falls. Her eyes point to the sky as the wind whips through her golden locks, so vast, so beautiful. The blue floral dress that she spent so much time contemplating whether or not to wear that morning flapped in the updraft of gravity.There were no tears to cry. What would be the point of sobbing anyway? Her life would soon be over with a bloody splat on the pavement below. People would glance at her li...

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“The Story of Cesar: An Unremarkable Person” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #109

The lighting in the Sumerian galleries of the New York Museum of Art was intentionally subdued due to the fragility and extreme age of the objects on display. Astonishingly, some of the most beautiful pieces of art in these galleries were estimated to be more than four thousand years old. They provide the opportunity to explore the dimensions of an early and sophisticated civilization that flourished and then disappeared. Unfortunately, this particular collection is largely ignored by most of the visitors to the Museum in favor of more popul...

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“The Night Job” by Jethro Pili

Submitted to Contest #109

My name is Father Gabriel Collins and I have been living a double life. No, this is not a confession about some hanky-panky going on between me and some altar boy or a married female parishioner, or a beautiful young novitiate at the convent the next town over. It breaks my heart that those things happen, but I am not one of those priests. This is about my day job. And my night job. Why does a priest need to have a day job and a night job, you ask? Because our town has been ravaged by a vile demonic plague. We are surrounded by and overran w...

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“The Secret Life of Mister Moffat” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #109

The Moffat family seemed like an average American family with two children and a dog. They lived in a small suburban town called Fairview on Mainstream Road in a split-level home with beautiful marigolds bordering the front wall in front of a large bay window. Sitting inside on the window ledge, were Steven and Rachel; two rambunctious pre-teens with limitless energy. They waited anxiously for their father to re...

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“In the Shadows” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #109

I kick back my block-heeled sandals under the divan that doubles up as an extra bed when Baba or any other odd relative turns up to see how am I faring as a single working girl. I pull away the sweaty cotton saree that is sticking at my waist as I reach my cramped bedroom and throw it on a heap that has been building up since Monday. I sit at my dining cum work table and sip ginger honey tea from the cup. I look out of my 5th-floor apartment window. It's 4.30 p.m. and I can see the playing area below swelling up with a steady stream of chil...

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“The Corporate Ladder” by Patrick Otvos

Submitted to Contest #109

I look over my desk. My empty desk. No need for paper now. Everything is on laptops and Chromebooks, and iPads. I reread the quarterly report and sighed. The company is doing well. Why don’t I feel good then? I sent an email of the report to Margaret, our 65 year old finance officer, with a little smiley face. She peered over her cubicle and smiled at me, giving me a thumbs up. Ah. the little things in life that keep us going. I zone out thinking about tonight. At least I hav...

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“Merry Christmas” by Sarah Wheeler

Submitted to Contest #109

He heard a quick rap on his office door. “Come in,” he said, but the door was already opening. It was Martin, in a sleek navy suit and patterned tie, holding the door with one tanned hand as he casually leaned into the opening. “Hey, Chris! Glad to see you’re still here,” Martin said, flashing a brilliant smile. Some of his dark hair was beginning to slip free from the rest, which was neatly slicked back. “Martin, what can I do for you?” Chris asked, swiveling in his office chair. “Just wanted to remind you that we need to get thos...

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“the Internalizer” by Alboricah Rathupetsane

Submitted to Contest #109

Grandma used to liken my personality to a pot of simmering broth. ‘Comfortable and settles well in the belly, it does,’ she’d often tell me. ‘But sometimes, people leave such things on the stove for too long, forgetting that a lid can only ever contain so much. And just like that, something comfortable and nurturing becomes dangerous.’ I’m reminded of her words now as I read an email from my boss’s boss instructing me to put together a detailed report on the new project. I don’t mind hard work, but I mind doing work that isn’t mine. More tha...

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“Chop, Chop goes Vidalia and the Chicken Robbing Gang” by Chesley Richards

Submitted to Contest #109

She needed the money. To pay the electric bill and, maybe, take her three kids out for the occasional pizza. They had no money, you see. Vidalia was broke. That's why she did it. She didn't think that she would go viral with 103 million views, nearly lose their health insurance, or meet the owner of the largest fried chicken franchise in the world. But that's what happened. All because she took a secret job as an onion."Vidalia. What are you doing home at 2 o'clock in the afternoon?""Well, my first job fired me. Cause I was late again.""Girl...

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“LIFE BEHIND THE CORNER” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #109

LIFE BEHIND THE CORNER Jeremy was the only baker in that small mountain village, little more than a hamlet, which was called The three chimneys. Most f the villagers used to go to his shop, early in the morning, to get their daily bread. Jeremy, with the only help of Paul, a young man who had grown up in an orphanage, cared to make bread, as well as candied biscuits, apple pie, and flatbread….., and then he sold his products in the shop next to the bakery, which remained open until 1pm. Jeremy, like all bakers, work...

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“The secret job” by Florencia Menna

Submitted to Contest #109

Every morning the alarm goes off at 7am and Robert turns it off so that his wife Helen can continue to sleep for a while longer. He takes a quick shower and then dresses in his elegant suit that he had arranged on a chair in their bedroom the night before. He chooses the tie that best matches with the suit and takes a watch from the dresser drawer - he loves watches and has several, even very expensive ones, but one that is his favorite and is the one that his father gave him when he turned his birthday eighteen-. To finish, he puts on his b...

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“The Child in Me” by Alex Scott

Submitted to Contest #109

THE CHILD IN MEBy Moxy PanredeI look like a kid. If you saw me on the street with jeans and a t-shirt, you’d swear I was a twelve-year-old girl. I am 5’0 tall and weigh 120 lbs. I have cute chubby cheeks with dimples, brown wavy hair, and big blue eyes. Though I can pass for 12, I am actually 34. I have three beautiful little girls that look just like me. My oldest is 12 years old. I’d do anything to protect them. My husband is a wonderful man, a pastor at Our Lord, The Savior.I work at the local library where I am in charge of story time. R...

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“Zhizhu” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #109

Sister Qian Guang pulled quackgrass from her pea garden. She built wooden trellises to support her pole peas, but only manual labor could stave off the weeds. As she yanked the last stubborn tuft of quackgrass from the soil, she felt a cramp in her lower back. She wiped the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her alb.A thousand years ago, just before the Great Flood, Qian’s ancestors referred one’s main gig as a “day job.” But here, in the year 3021, nestled in the lowlands of New Shaolin Empire, agrarian subjects of the new Empress Yi La...

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“I'll Think I'll Keep My Old Car” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #109

“Oh I love it Margie but how could you afford a car like that?” I was happy for my friend but a bit envious at the same time. I looked across the road at my ten year old Datsun, a big dent in the side of the door where someone had rammed into me in the local shopping centre, without even leaving a note or a phone number. I had asked the manager of the supermarket if we could look at the CCTV camera, but of course it was broken, so with no witnesses, that was the end of it. Of course I couldn’t afford to have it fixed, not on my wage. My brot...

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“Ed's Ego” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #109

Ed Jesperson combed back his steel grey hair, turning this way and that in the mirror, patting down rogue strays that refused to behave, and smiled. In the closet, he looked over his vast collection of ties, rubbing their silk fabric to recall the distant days. He could tell by their width where he had worked and when he had last worn them, like counting the rings on a tree. There were the yellow ones—“power ties” in their day—he’d wear with garish suspenders of Rubenesque wom...

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Write about a character who leads a secret double life outside of their day job.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 16 stories

“Hope Rising ” by Daniel R. Hayes

“The Story of Cesar: An Unremarkable Person” by Bruce Friedman

“The Night Job” by Jethro Pili

“The Secret Life of Mister Moffat” by Greg Gillis

“In the Shadows” by Suma Jayachandar

“The Corporate Ladder” by Patrick Otvos

“Merry Christmas” by Sarah Wheeler

“the Internalizer” by Alboricah Rathupetsane

“Chop, Chop goes Vidalia and the Chicken Robbing Gang” by Chesley Richards

“LIFE BEHIND THE CORNER” by Mara Masolini

“The secret job” by Florencia Menna

“The Child in Me” by Alex Scott

“Zhizhu” by Mike Garrigan

“I'll Think I'll Keep My Old Car” by Valerie Preston

“Ed's Ego” by David Ader

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who has landed their dream job, only to discover it isn’t quite what they imagined it to be.

Start your story with a character quitting their job, or getting fired.

Set your story during the night shift.

Your character sits down at their desk on a Monday morning and finds a completely unexpected email in their inbox. Write about what happens next.

Contest #109

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

162

Contest entries

149

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: