Short Stories 101

Story #1

"There was only one choice they could make. No turning back now"  Goal Word Limit: 400-450

He began his life standing up,  surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air. Drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool air, hoping his eyes would adjust to the darkness. Hands trembled, feeling the cold wall against his skin. 

He screamed, "Help me, someone!" each word ripped his throat. Suddenly, the lights above him flickered on, easing his worries a tad bit. 

He heard noises and fear squeezed his chest, "Who are you?" a voice questioned. 

"Where are you from?" another soon right after.

Blur was all in his sight, at first he could only see shifting shadows, but they soon turned into shapes of bodies. They came closer and faces were cleared, some were boys others were girls, a few looked slightly older than him, the others looked younger. 

"Welcome to the waze," one said. 

Confused as he held out his hand for him to shake. He took a closer look at their attire, clothes smudged and sweaty then suddenly felt dizzy. He took a look around and saw vines crawling up the walls, the stench was disgusting, from what he could see, led to passages and long corridors beyond. 

"Oh you're gonna have a tough time fitting in." Several boys laughed. 

"Shut your mouth Simon" a deeper voice responded.

 A short kid with blonde hair and a square jaw made a face in disgust. He sighed.

"Where am I?" he asked surprised at his voice. 

"Nowhere good," said the boy with the blonde hair. 

"Well, what's your name since we're on the topic of questions?"

He paused for a moment, "Harry." 

He barely heard himself say it, his thoughts had spun in a new direction. "Nice to meet you Harry," Simon said.

"Don't worry, we've all been through this, I can guide you." He thought for a moment, completely starstruck by all this. 

There was only one choice they could make. No turning back now. Panic was all he could think of, he started hyperventilating, breathing heavily, afraid that he may not make it back home to wherever.

"Hey Hey Hey stop and calm down, see there are only about fifty of us here, and like I said we've all been through this," a boy with brown curly hair and light brown eyes responded. 

Harry stood up, filthy, confused, sad all those emotions were everywhere he just couldn't contain them. "I am also a newbie in this but I can still be your friend."

"I don't need friends," Harry interrupted.

He pushed past them and started to walk swiftly ahead of them, don't exactly know where his path takes him. All of a sudden, a clanking noise was heard above him, halting him to a stop, he's on high alert. 

"Oh back up, back up slowly," Simon says slowly.

"That's a Spike," he says as a four-legged creature comes from above, about almost a traffic light tall, ugly looking, and pointy sharp thorn-like on his legs. No wonder they call it a spike. 'Oh we are screwed now' was the only thought in his mind.

Goal Word Limit Successful: 504