Menu

More apps built by Reedsy

Assemble a team of professionals

The writing app for authors

Writing courses, events and memberships

Get your book reviewed

Weekly writing prompts and contests

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about someone who chooses revenge — even though forgiveness is an option.

Posted in Angst on May 16, 2025

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 64 stories

Ashes of Mercy

Submitted to Contest #303

The sky over Limpopo was a strange gray that morning. Not the quiet calm before a storm — no, it was the kind that clung to your clothes and whispered of something unclean. Themba Moyo noticed it as he locked the front gate of his late father’s house. It was the same house he grew up in, the same house he buried his mother from, and the same house that had stood silently the night it all burned down — not in flames, but in trust.He slung his rucksack over one shoulder and turned to the cracked road that led toward the bus depot. In his pocke...

6 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

The Bad Johner

Submitted to Contest #303

Bear with me. This account is about a murderer best understood in context.The tale, or true telling, starts out in Saint John, New Brunswick. Saint John, not to be confused with St.John’s Newfoundland, is a city on the east coast of Canada that used to be on a par with Boston, due to its forests, shipbuilding and year round ice free port. Times change, as they say, and it has shrunk spectacularly. The town now visibly relies on tourism brought by cruise ships, but more realistically, heavy industry courtesy of the Galon family.The Galons cam...

6 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Deceptive Passions - Rage of Betrayal A Tale of Revenge and Emotion

Submitted to Contest #303

Angela stood frozen at the edge of the cliff, the night wind howling around her like a warning. It yanked at her hair, clawed at her coat, and sent a chill through her bones that had nothing to do with the cold. Below her, the ocean thrashed against jagged rocks, each crashing wave sounding like the echo of a secret finally unleashed. The moon cast a ghostly glow over the water, illuminating the madness below—and the madness inside her. Her heart slammed against her ribs, not just from fear, but fury. A raw, bitter betrayal pulsed through he...

6 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The Quiet Knife

Submitted to Contest #303

Every bastard knows revenge is a road that only runs one way. Down.I've known it since I was thirteen and put my first man in the ground—a stable master who'd taken liberties with my sister. Cut him ear to ear with a blade I couldn't properly hold. Made a proper mess of it. Of him. Of me.Thirty years and gods know how many corpses later, I still know it. Every time I reach for steel, every time I watch the light fade from someone's eyes. Every red and dripping time.Revenge is a poison you drink to kill your enemy. If you're lucky, it works. ...

6 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Shooting the CEO

Submitted to Contest #303

I hate shoots. Photoshoots, videoshoots, any activity where someone thinks they can boss me around and tell me to how to behave. When to smile. How to smile. It’s a waste of my time. Something that could be over in fifteen minutes takes the whole goddamn day.Given these feelings, it is strange that I arrive early for the shoot, I guess. But that’s because there is one thing I hate more than shoots - traffic. It drives me insane. It would have been better if people didn’t drive like idiots, but here we are. I’ve tried taking calls, meetings, ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Masks

Submitted to Contest #303

TW: This story contains depictions of grief, trauma, revenge, and non-lethal violence resulting in permanent disability. ***He knelt beside his parents’ bleeding corpses, completely void of emotion. Was he supposed to cry? Was he supposed to hit somebody? Was he supposed to join them in death?The shock did all the talking—except, the talking was complete silence. Empty words floating around in his head, words that made sense, but words he didn’t hear. He looked again at his mother’s face as he continued to tightly hold her hand, ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Cheers!

Submitted to Contest #303

Cheers! Well, OK, I had had alcohol. I was back from a happy hour gathering so of course I had had alcohol. But I had been very reasonable. No abuse, that’s for sure. Anyway, as a regular drinker, I don’t feel the buzz anymore. The fact is, rain was mainly responsible for all this. Puddles on the road that act as mirrors to reflect the beams of oncoming vehicles and literally drive you blind. Hard falling rain so strong that wipers can’t work properly. Furthermore, traffic jams were so numerous that night that ther...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Like, Whatever

Submitted to Contest #303

5/18/25 That bitch picked the wrong girl's man. Obviously everyone was drunk at Vanessa's party. But she shouldn't have been there in the first place! She should've just been at home, being her usual good girl self, reading Emily Dickinson or whatever she does on Saturday nights. But she managed to find her way to Vanessa's house. Managed to find the punch bowl. Managed not to notice the fact it was Evercleared as fuck. And then managed to get into the hot tub with MY man! Ridiculous! Oh, diary, when I saw the two of them mashing face that ...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Testament

Submitted to Contest #303

The Testament The stars shone overhead as they always did in Palerow. Eternal night blanketed the land, and beneath its vast canopy, a small convoy of covered wagons—along with the weary horses that drew them—sat in a circle around a roaring fire.Such a thing was a luxury in the Wastes. Light drew attention from the strange creatures that roamed the land, and only the strong could wield it.So the Bonfire burned: either a bluff or a testament.Either way, life revolved around it.It revolved around the fire—and a young man with a guitar on hi...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Catching Up with the Past: Boys Will Be Boys

Submitted to Contest #303

Prompt: Write about someone who chooses revenge-even though forgiveness is an option. Catching Up with the Past: Boys Will Be Boys The air smelled musty and dank as I rummaged through the boxes in the basement of my parents’ house.It was easy to see that a multitude of years had passed before anyone dared to tackle this hording nightmare.Being the only child, I was tasked to forage through this outlandish pile of obsolescence and so-called memorabilia before the house was placed on the realtor’s market. I was doubting myself as to my inten...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

FOR ZOEY

Submitted to Contest #303

My love, someone hurt you. They left you in a coma. They took you from me. They almost killed you. A sweet loving lady like yourself shouldn't be fighting to live. You know where you should be my beautiful Zoey? You should be laughing at my jokes with your infectious laugh. Showing me those pearly white teeth. You should be painting those beautiful pictures of nature. I know you love animals. The cutest ones even the most dangerous ones. My Zoey, you once told me all animals even the most dangerous ones are a gift from God to make the world...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Heart and Soul

Submitted to Contest #303

The evidence of the previous night’s battle stained her skin, a cruel reminder of the weakness that had been forced upon her by her oppressor. She would be rotated back into the arena one week from her previous fight, giving her six more days to get her strength back up. The task felt more and more impossible as the years went on. The actions of Cabrena’s royalty against her people were demeaning and barbaric- forcing them and their soul ties to fight against each other for their entertainment. To them, their pain was the greatest pastime- t...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

What Lies Within

Submitted to Contest #303

Twenty minutes before midnight on a Saturday night, I lost my soul. Felt it leave my body as it drifted away on gossamer threads, pulling and stretching until nothing was left except rage like molten lava that pulsed through my bloodstream and stopped my breath. Because there she was, laughing and tossing her head as if she hadn’t just taken a sledgehammer to my life. I despised her and all that she stood for. Don’t you give me that look, sister. It wasn’t my fault. I was brought into this world in typical selfish fashion by two narcissistic...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Indelible Stain

Submitted to Contest #303

Fastening the last of his belongings onto his horse, Poe Fitzgerald struggled to breathe or even swallow. His heart was pounding in fear and anticipation of his impending journey. He was wrapped in a scarf that covered his face and head, protection for his pale skin from the deadly sun.He patted the neck of Estella, a sturdy sorrel mare. His pack was light, containing only the essentials: his well-worn blanket, a few extra sets of clothing, several slabs of jerked meat, and his Electric Lantern, a parting gift from the Repository's Artificer...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Cold Work

Submitted to Contest #303

The life support machine cried. "Time of death, 15:00."I couldn't care less about what the doctor and nurse said afterwards. My last conversation with Sister Mary Margaret...it was like a splinter under my nail.The rest of the world sounded muffled, but then I could hear the doctor again. "Whatever she said to you, don't take it personally. It's called confabulation, the creation of false..."Yes, I know what confabulation is. But that...that couldn't be, could it?It was like she described a recurring nightmare in perfect words...the click of...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a character who breaks the rules for someone they love.

Dramatic – 47 stories

Write about a character who becomes the villain in another character’s story.

Short Story – 40 stories

Center your story around someone who makes an irreversible decision — knowing it will haunt them forever.

Dramatic – 74 stories

Write a story with the line “I didn’t have a choice.”

Short Story – 87 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel