Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Posted in Winter on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 210 stories

“The Box” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #84

I never considered myself claustrophobic, but maybe its because I have never been in this situation. The crate is too small for me to lie down and to low for me to stand. The only position of any comfort is to sit back to one corner. At least I can stretch my legs this way. Cracks between the planks let dull light seep in, but there is precious little of that in the room where my crate is. I worry the edge of a plank with my fingernail to pass the time. The smells are strange, none that I had ever experienced before. Greasy and oily smel...

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“ If The Fates Were Kind” by Kas Reidva

Submitted to Contest #84

28th of January 2020 Time never makes haste when one wishes it to. It has a nasty habit of dragging on interminably, filling those who wait for something with impatience and in tragic cases, with hopelessness. There is nothing anyone can do to alter its relentless course. Praying, begging and stressing over it will gain you nothing, for time is its own master. So, the only option left is to distract yourself, wi...

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“Under” by Johan Rosenblad

Submitted to Contest #84

January: The police had been nice to the young woman. The social workers at the community centre had been understanding, and the police psychiatrist really wanted to help her. She had said “You need to get away, love. You need time to rest and recuperate. It will help you forget”. They had all pulled together to get her a vacation in an isolated scout cottage in the woods; a small, one-room cabin with a kitchenette, a couple of beds and a table. She was supposed to stay here for two weeks to collect her thoughts and let the fresh air and the...

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“Panic Room ” by Hannah Young

Submitted to Contest #84

They're finally here. I had sent out the invitations what seems like months ago but I know it had just been a few days. I had put on my best dress and matching heels after perfectly waving the knots of my platinum hair.It had been weeks since I had made the effort to apply makeup or to even care what my reflection looked like in the mirror. The difference in my appearance was more drastic than I'd expected, enchanting and beautiful compared to the glooming dark circles that made their beds beneath my eyes most days, no matter how much sleep ...

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“Once, I Was a Person” by Tatiana Olin

Submitted to Contest #84

It’s March again. I think. At least according to the calendar I scratch into the wall underneath my bed. It’s March again, but it never matters. I don’t even know why I still keep track. What would I be now if I was outside- 30? No, that can’t be right, that means I’ve been here for…. 12 years?It’s March again. I think. It’s another day I’ll walk to the small kitchenette 5 feet from my bed, the chain around my ankle clinking against the cement floor, and I’ll make my tea. I’ll stare out the barred window wondering how this happened to me and...

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“A room with a view” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #84

March 12, 2020, Day 1 Wanda looked around her new home. She was so excited. This was the first home she had ever owned. Well, almost owned. Right now it was a co-ownership between her and the bank, with the bank being the majority shareholder. But, she figured that would all change, just as soon as her new company took off. Her business was travel and her target demographic was seniors. It was the fastest growing sector of the travel business, and the group with the most disposable income. Cha-ching! What could be better? Her business orga...

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“My Crazy Uncle” by Dalia Navarez

Submitted to Contest #84

He said a platypus with velvet wings told him to drive the train through Portland. He said the wooly scarf with ugly stitching he had worn told him to drive it through the tumbledown doughnut shop.He now sits in a white room with fluffy walls and liquid food. Mama takes me to see him on the first day of every month at 9:02am. She likes to call him ‘poor Cody,’ but I like to call him ‘crazy uncle’ because he likes to pick his nose with his big toe like me. Mama tells me not to laugh when he does that, though, because it’s something he can’t c...

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“Moments In Time” by PK Spice

Submitted to Contest #84

The intercom system buzzes, crackles and screeches. “DeLaPaz, Misael. Please report to suite 701,982.”Misael stands, walks to the center of the room, and cautiously places his right hand on the glowing blue orb hovering above the ornate golden pedestal. As the others in the chamber of the departed look on, he shimmers and vanishes.An ethereal being holds open a white door and beckons him forward. “DeLaPaz, Misael. You have been judged as having led a good life. A one-year limbo period is required, and you are about to enter purgatory. During...

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“The Yellow Room” by Laura Philip

Submitted to Contest #84

I placed the last bag down and surveyed the room again. I have lived here for exactly a year and so much has happened that this room has witnessed. The brown stain, the wheel marks, the red paint….memories filled my brain and I felt the familiar feeling of sadness. The sunlight filtered through the painted glass window, angling itself in a way that it illuminates the entire room evenly. That was the first thing i noticed when i saw this room; the way the sunlight touched every corner of it. I started calling it the yellow room an...

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“The beast” by Yaj Imagination

Submitted to Contest #84

Want to know what a crappy life means? You asked the right person! For me, it's... this! What you're asking is basically the definition of my life. Force to get out of bed with an annoying phone alarm that I set my self to just basically continue my sleep in the end until the tenth alarm destroys the only dream that puts a grin on my lips. And the first things I had in my hands the moment I fully wake up in the late morning isn't a spoon for a hearty breakfast nor a heavy dumbbell to get back into shape but a phone where the only th...

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“THE RECOGNITION” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #84

Fred and Kate had been married 5 years. Fred was now 45 and Kate was 30. She had been charmed by the pharmacist 15 years senior and had married him. He was self-employed as he ran a chemist’s shop, whereas she worked for a finance company. Though his shop was doing well and had a regular high income, he remained wary about expenditure. He lived in a one room apartment of a high rise apartment complex. That morning Kate brought Fred his breakfast when he was in bed. He sat up and drew a foldable tray to his bed. Kate laid out the dishes on th...

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“The Best Times” by Matt Brooks

Submitted to Contest #84

I was thinking back to all the memories this old house had given me, both the good and the bad ones. It seemed so empty now that I was coming back to clean it all out. I started with the bookshelves, then my phone rang and it was my sister, Jenny. “Hey Jeff, I’m on my way to the house to help you. I’ll bring us some lunch. What would you like to eat?” “How about some Taco Bell, just get me any combo meal.” “Okay, sounds good, be there soon, bye.” I continued on with the bookshelves and I stopped to look at all the collection of stuff int...

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“The Mushroom Patch” by Raymond Ogilvie

Submitted to Contest #84

Usually the sun woke Paul up, but today it was the commotion outside. Through binoculars he watched a gruff man take a backpack of scavenged food. Judging by the child who watched a short distance away, she was a mother. The man pulled a pistol on her, but was stopped when a swarm of undead came at them. It looked to Paul like the entire planet had lost their minds. Despite the ongoing apocalypse; Paul considered himself lucky. No doubt he hated these times; just as bad as the stories had always depicted. But his grandfather owned a...

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“A year of revelations.” by S. Lothcraft

Submitted to Contest #84

When the lockdown hit, it found Damien at the lowest point in his life. He lost everything he once held dear. He was failing his education. His relationship with his parents was strained. All his friendships turned into acquaintances and eventually even that evaporated. He did not interact properly with another human being, heart to heart, for more than half a year now. Honestly, in the last weeks, he found himself questioning more and more everything that he did. Himself. His choices. His accomplishments, whatever they may have been once. A...

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“The Day is Almost Over” by Joy Rayner

Submitted to Contest #84

The sun is always setting these days. Dolores feels as if she is perched on a precipice in her rocking chair, the world below staggering in and out of view, all of it awash in a brilliant red. The date is lost to her, as is the time, and she grasps for any indication that the world is still turning. Hermione comes in at irregular intervals. The little girl has grown tall and slender and has shaved her hair off. Dolores longs to run her fingers over the fuzz that reminds her of Rick. How long has it been since she saw her husband? He hasn’t...

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Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 210 stories

“The Box” by Lynel Black

“ If The Fates Were Kind” by Kas Reidva

“Under” by Johan Rosenblad

“Panic Room ” by Hannah Young

“Once, I Was a Person” by Tatiana Olin

“A room with a view” by Tricia Shulist

“My Crazy Uncle” by Dalia Navarez

“Moments In Time” by PK Spice

“The Yellow Room” by Laura Philip

“The beast” by Yaj Imagination

“THE RECOGNITION” by Sivaram Govindaraj

“The Best Times” by Matt Brooks

“The Mushroom Patch” by Raymond Ogilvie

“A year of revelations.” by S. Lothcraft

“The Day is Almost Over” by Joy Rayner

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Write about someone who’s trying to accomplish a task that used to be easy but is now made complicated by a pandemic.

Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Contest #84

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

664

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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