Writing Prompt of the Week: February 6-12 (Dark, Dreadful, & Dystopian)

Review Badge_Legendary-icon

Welcome to the 34th Writing Prompt of the Week!

:fired_up:


Review Badge_Legendary-icon
GUIDELINES:

For a refresher on the guidelines, see this topic here:

Review Badge_Legendary-icon
DISCUSSION:

The chat feature will be enabled for the category (not individual topics). Please keep any extraneous conversation about the prompt, submissions, etc in the chat channel. We’d like to keep the topics clean and for submissions ONLY.

If you’ve got more questions, please ask in the Writing Prompts chat channel (tag CJ or the mods).

Review Badge_Legendary-icon


Week of February 6-12
Submissions: February 6-10
Voting: February 11-12
Winner Badge Awarded: February 13


Dark, Edgy, and Dreadful

These prompts are creepy, mysterious, maybe downright scary. There’s some prompts with room for comedy, though. Give us your best spin on a thriller, mystery, or horror short story. Whatever genre you choose, make sure there’s a spine-tingling plot twist or chilling ending for maximum effect!


This Week’s Prompt

Write four different, unique short stories that end on a cliffhanger (where the reader never finds out what happens). Write a fifth short story that ties them all together.

1 Like

#1

Jisu doesn't have much time left. If she wants to leave that place behind, she must turn the wheel as soon as possible. Time, however, is cruel to her. The car seems to be kilometers far away instead of just a few blocks.

She walks straight but can’t find her vehicle. What if it has been stolen? “That can’t be… I remember parking it here, or close.” As she ponders, a cold breeze hits the area and makes her shiver.

“Where is that godd4mn car?” She swears, wondering whether going to that stupid party was worth it. To add insult to injury, she hears a hiss. That can’t be the wind. It’s a deep and raucous sound.

She lets out a shriek.

#2

Aerin is alone. Everyone else has since left the party and returned home. But she doesn't have a place to call 'home' anymore. Since those monsters from the night destroyed it, she has been lost.

She checks her phone, waiting for notifications, but nothing comes. Plus, there’s barely any signal in the area. “I doubt Yujin will come and pick me up. I’m bound to stay here. What did I do to deserve that?” She cries, at first silently; then, she sobs. As tears flow down her cheeks, she wonders if she deserves to be left alone, outside in the cold.

She chants something barely intelligible, but her voice breaks as she cries again. Her heart is shattered, her soul is no more.

#3

Walking down the unlit street, Saeyan stumbles and falls on the ground. She cries for help but to no avail. She touches her ankle, trying to sense the pain. To her shock, she feels nothing. Either it's just nothing serious, or she is on her way to becoming immortal.

“No, no, that’s not possible… That was a pretty bad fall. How I can feel well, as if nothing happened? I need to find it out now.” She tries to stand up, but her right heel breaks. That, combined with the half torn skirt, is the perfect picture of a disastrous night.

Wanting to forget the worst party she has ever taken part in, Saeyan ditches her shoes and restarts walking, barefoot and trembling due to the stinging cold. She mutters. “Fxck me.”

Out of a sudden, she sees a light. A car approaches her. She can’t see the model or what its color. The only thing she’s sure is, that car brings nothing but trouble.

#4

"Help! Help! Where am I?" Sujin's cry for help echoes through the dark with no answer. She doesn't know where she is, or what time it is. She only knows that, unless someone comes to rescue her, she's one step closer to death.

She has to be home as soon as possible, though. Suhyeon and Sugyeom won’t survive for long without her. The power shortage at their house has been going on for three days. The lack of electricity and clean water at home makes Sujin worry for her two sisters.

At the same time, she also has to worry for herself. That growl won’t stop even after she runs to leave the horrible noise behind. Someone is after her. Someone wants her dead.

#5

The four women cross paths. Left all alone in desolation, they have no other choice than wandering in the area with no precise destination. They find one another by chance at a random gas station, where the lights barely work.

It’s cold out there. There are no cars, surprisingly. The women stick close to each other, not having anyone else to count on. As of each of them recalls what they faced not long ago, the mix of noises and flashing lights they encountered while leaving the party, returns, making their blood ice cold out of fear.

They hear a screeching voice calling their names. “Jisu… Aerin… Saeyan… Sujin. You’re mine. You’re bound to be mine. You won’t get rid of me that easily.” The voice stops pronouncing words, much to the ladies’ initial relief. Anything can happen in one night, too, even in absolute silence.

An awkward silence that leaves them agape, unable to cry for help or give each other comforting worse. Yes, that silence that could kill.