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#374 Tell No One

There’s nothing like a big secret that’ll keep a reader hooked until the very last word. Some of my recent favorite stories don’t just include a grand reveal at the end — they’ve also got subtle hints sprinkled throughout, making me feel even more compelled to continue turning the page and uncover the truth before the protagonist does.

This week, let’s write stories that center on secrets. Whether they’re kept under lock and key or accidentally leaked, make them an important element of your story. How could your characters’ lives change the moment they find out the truth?

🥇 Winner

Devil's Advocate

Winner of Weekly Contest #374 🏆

I know my life has taken a turn for the worst when I find myself finishing a Little Caesars pizza with my right hand and scrolling through the WikiHow page for “How to Find Love: 10 Steps (with Pictures)” with the other. Grease smears my computer’s trackpad as I read in the dingy overhead light of my studio apartment. I’m wallowing for undoubtedly silly reasons. I’ve just watched the 1926 adaptation of Faust. I remove the flashdrive Tom gave me with a pirated copy of the tale where a scholar makes a deal with the demon Mephistopheles, selli...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

This week's prompts

Write a story that includes something secret in it (e.g., a secret group/society, a secret ingredient).

– 64 stories

Start or end your story with a character noticing something they were never meant to see.

– 29 stories

Write a story with two (or more) characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret.

– 34 stories

Include the words "My lips are sealed" or "Don’t tell anyone" in your story.

– 43 stories

End your story without answers or certainty.

– 65 stories

Stories

Darkborne

Weekly Contest #374

Rain bombards the windshield of my car as I sit in the long driveway of my grandparent's manor, the water washing down in thick waves that blot out my view. I pause here not just because of the elements, but another cold feeling in the bowels of my stomach. Or is the cold just in the air, my imagination stirred up by the remote lodge and the quiet British countryside as usual? I cannot be sure. I look at my reflection in the rear view mirror and see a tired young man looking back at me, dark circles under both eyes, my freshly shaven face sl...

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Secrets In The Shadows

Weekly Contest #374

Betty lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood. There were tree lined streets and children playing in their yards. She was always watching the goings on and reporting to any one that would listen. Some called her “The mouth of the south” and some said she had “Loose Lips”. Either way she was in everyone’s business. Lately she had her eyes on her neighbor to the left. He was a single man in his fifties. Bill was a relatively peaceable man, but there was something happening at night in his garage. Betty peeped through her curtain and watched as ...

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Social Interactions and How to F*cking Maneuver Them; A Guidebook to Normalcy by Sören and Kai

Weekly Contest #374

In the way that the sky has always been blue and the grass has always been green, Sören has always been awkward. It was something he couldn’t control; like watching himself be painstakingly uncomfortable in third person with no way to intervene, and it became glaringly obvious just how awkward he was when he got transferred to public school. He used to loathe his private tutors, but somehow, public school was worse than pompous Englishmen and stuffy afternoons locked away in the library of their summer home in Milano. Public school meant con...

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Caprice on a Whim

Weekly Contest #374

Caprice on a Whim Hello my name is Caprice … I really messed up today I actually went out my way to close the deal if you know what I mean…. I’ll save the messy part for last … So, I went to my usual place to grab my coffee, The Coffee Cove. A beautiful, chic and exclusive establishment welcoming elite individuals to partake on their morning brew; surrounded by other elite individuals such as myself. As I walk in: *Long sniff* “Ahhh I love the smell of coffee in the morning.” I walked in with the amazing, confident aura that I usually have n...

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It had to be the night.

Weekly Contest #374

11:45 p.m. Somewhere in a California cemetery. “Why do I let her talk me into these things.” Angela thought to herself as she followed behind her cousin Renee. “How are you feeling back there? Drew said these shrooms are more potent than the last batch.” Renee said. She continued to lead the path to their grandmother’s tombstone. “I think its starting to kick in, my steps are feeling a little weird now. Are we almost to Grandma?” Angela replied. They walked a few more steps and Renee made a sudden stop. She placed her flashlight down next to...

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We Eat Cow

Weekly Contest #374

August had the most painful heats that I could ever remember. I could feel the cinching that happens at the top of my forehead when my eyes have had enough of squinting. As I looked out of the passenger window a trail of orange dotted trees passed in a field. With the weight of my heavy head I pressed my cheek to my seatbelt feeling the sweat that formed in between. As a kid I wondered if I could ever catch a thing like the sky. I spent a lot of my life holding things very tightly in my hands. I spent a lot of time wondering what it felt lik...

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Night Shift

Weekly Contest #374

Third jumper this month. Sarge said the divers still haven’t found a body—not a single one. How deep does this river go? They set up a barricade, a couple of feet high, trying to deter folks from jumping off, I guess. That didn’t do much. The call is the same each time: guy ditches his car, walks right up to the railing and steps over. No note, no cry for help, and no body. Eyewitnesses report a woman in a white trench coat walking along the footway, but no one can ID her. A woman in a coat, like that’s going to help. “Hey, Dot, can I get an...

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Final Grades

Weekly Contest #374

Sebastian Greaves woke to his alarm at 5:15 and slapped the old clock, knocking his school badge onto the floor. Some mornings he hoped the clock would stop in the night. One morning of reprieve after eighteen years of perfect attendance didn’t seem like much to ask. He sat up anyway. In the bathroom, he flipped the switch and a bulb above the mirror popped. He stood on the cold tile, mentally adding light bulbs to his shopping list, then reached for his toothbrush. The wintergreen woke him more effectively than the alarm had. He dressed in ...

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What Goes Unseen

Weekly Contest #374

The teenage girl, the grunge one with the enormous dog, was in the cemetery. Again. Or the Kirkyard, whatever they called it. She was leaning against a tombstone; the curtain of her long red hair fell in limp clusters. As always, she was alone. Except for her dog. The massive thing was roaming idly, sniffing at a cluster of wet leaves and mushrooms nearby. I walked between the grave plots and hoped the girl wouldn’t ask me for a lighter again (I hate smokers), but she was already twirling a cigarette in her fingers. She locked eyes with me. ...

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Lover’s Pit

Weekly Contest #374

She was the next person to enter the pit this morning. Maya watched as the young woman below, in a long, flowing, white dress paced frantically, back and forth, back and forth. The Young Woman’s body quivered head to toe, her shoulders stiffened, her breath abated. The Young Woman was terrified, an unfamiliar response to the Remaining. Puzzled by the woman’s behavior, Maya wondered why this woman hesitated so to offer herself to the Light. The All-Powerful from above whose Light can dry lands and cause endless flame. He, who burned crops, in...

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The Estate

Weekly Contest #374

The Stanford Estate sprawled across twenty-five acres along the Salmon River's shores. Its sixty-year-old owner had earned a reputation for philanthropic generosity, supporting numerous charitable organizations. Those acquainted with him often found him eccentric—his flamboyant, quirky personality was unmistakable. He was particularly renowned for hosting lavish, extravagant celebrations throughout the holiday season. Remarkably, few understood what transpired at these gatherings. Invitations remained highly selective, and attendees kept str...

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The Concealed

Weekly Contest #374

I slumped into class with despair. I slowly sunk down into my chair. Before the teacher had come in, I started to hear everyone murmuring about something. “It’s happening!” Isaac whispered, he defeated the whole purpose of whispering because he could be heard from miles away. “It is?” Kylie asked, surprised. I started to worry. Was I supposed to know about this? “The ‘thing’ is happening?” Raymond asked. “What thing?” I asked back, everyone ignored me. For a second I thought it was just because I was too quiet. I was known to be the new quie...

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The Moirai's Curse

Weekly Contest #374

“…There. Right there! Pause it!” Brad’s finger pressed hard against the LCD screen, ripples of discoloration emanating outward. “See? That little boy. He wasn’t holding a balloon, nobody was. Don’t you remember?” It was a small detail; Imperceptible, or close to it. Something he was never meant to notice. “You know what, maybe you’re right. I think...” Liz’s face contorted in deep thought. “But... Okay but if so, what does it matter? Who cares?” “I don’t know what it’s supposed to mean, but it’s not nothing. The whole talent show is changing...

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Gone But Not Forgotten

Weekly Contest #374

“It’s a long story.” “It’s a long story.” “It’s… a long… story.” The woman sitting across the aisle from Katie glanced in her direction, and when she saw that she was talking to herself, she quickly turned her attention back to her book. Katie sighed, dropped her eyes and shook her head. “Trust me,” she said to the headrest in front of her, “it’s a long story.” She nodded in satisfaction. “That’s it, that’s the one.” Katie’s bus arrived at the West Fairfield terminal at noon, about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Katie collected her ...

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Cynthia's Secret

Weekly Contest #374

As the song goes, she was a coal miner’s daughter.* Cynthia, or Cyn as her family and friends called her, was the seventh of eight children born to the Palmers of Little Fork, West Virginia. The youngest of two girls, she’d already had seen her older sister Kathleen escape a life of poverty, debt, and death by decamping to Northern Virginia when she was 17. There, she met and married Brian Fields, an accountant. They just had their first child. For Cynthia’s father and brothers, there was no escape. As a child, Cynthia watched as black lung ...

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