Character Study - Stories

Jason lives in the house he and Eric bought, talks to the dog, and tells his counselor the dreams. He doesn't tell about the cabinets that stand open on their own, or the whispers, or the footsteps that favor the left foot, the way Eric’s did. Pushed to the brink, Jason returns to the mountain where they once foraged for the Ghost of October, the mushroom that appears only when it chooses.

Owen has never met his best friend.

For four years Xavier has been a voice in his headset. Xavier knows about the dog Owen lost at nine. He knows which voice Owen uses when he's lying about being fine.

Xavier lives two thousand miles away. That's what Owen believes.

At midnight, when a man appears under the tree across the street and won't leave, Owen calls the one person who always picks up.

Xavier tells him to breathe and stay away from the window, and promises he's safe.

Xavier means every word.

He's lying about almost everything else.

Johnson Tilden was born with Laryngeal Agenesis, which is rare defect where the larynx and trachea fail to develop entirely or are severely incomplete.

Additionally, his vocal cords failed to develop properly, and he was thus rendered mute.

This became a big problem for him when puberty hit.

Seventeen years ago, Tyler was Martin’s high school drama club rival, accusing him of stealing the role he deserved. Now in their 30s, Martin has no interest in reconnecting with the guy who made his school years miserable. But when their employers team up to create a theater program for underprivileged youth, Martin and Tyler are forced to work together. It doesn’t help that Tyler is still cute as hell.

As old rivalries give way to some kind of friendship, Martin is plagued by painful memories of the past—and increasingly aggressive fantasies about his former nemesis. Have these theater nerds grown up at all?

Two strangers collide on a council estate at 2am. Cory is drunk, hostile, and desperate to prove he's straight. Simon is exhausted, terrified, and completely out of his depth. When Cory drags him home and demands to be "stopped," what follows is a messy, brutal collision of denial and desire. Neither of them is prepared for what comes next—or how hard it will be to walk away.

*A raw, darkly comic story about the lies we tell ourselves and the truths our bodies refuse to hide.*

Josh & Konstantin have been friends, with benefits, since High School. But one has been stuck in the past and one in denial. After an explosive night of sex, they begin to face the things they hid for so long. As they get closer to the truth, secrets are revealed, and by the end of the night, one of them will learn the greatest lesson of their lives.

After a long day of physical work, Mihai returns home and asks Lorenzo to kneel and remove his boots. What begins as a simple act of service becomes the first true test of the trust, shame, desire, and power growing between them.

This one comes from Prompt #71.

Write a short story featuring only one character. No secondary characters at all. You might drop them in the woods and see how they fare, or come up with your own idea, but only one character is allowed.

Fraser Vogel knew it was dangerous to parachute in high winds. He wasn’t left with too many options in his Cessna 182 Skylane when its yoke seized and the engine failed.

Jump or crash? Pretty easy choice.

Bill is the quintessential "dad" – effortlessly leading at work, guiding strangers with kind words, and commanding a queer "boy harem" online. He solves every problem, fills every need. But in every dad, there's a son who needs a reassuring hand.