2025 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 22

Write a piece of flash fiction each day of February with the February Flash Fiction Challenge, led by Managing Editor Moriah Richard. Each day, receive a prompt, example story, and write your own. Today’s prompt is to write a story that takes place in one spot.

Last week! Whether you did just a few stories this month or you've been writing every single day, you have an opportunity to write even more this month. Keep going! You got this.

For today's prompt, write a story that takes place in one spot.

(Note: If your story gets flagged for review, be patient—we will be releasing comments every few hours throughout the weekdays of this challenge. Our system randomly flags comments for review, so just sit tight and wait for us to set it free! If you run into any other issues with posting your story, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue.)

Here’s my attempt at a story that takes place in one spot:

Nebby Neighbor

Eleanor had been looking out the window more and more, half hidden by the curtain, peering into the neighbor’s house. The new owners didn’t put curtains up and left their blinds open, which baffled her. She found herself caught on the routines of their lives; getting ready for work, family meals, nighttime feedings. Her house was empty now, with John passed three years now and Katie over in California. At first, she was just being nebby, but as time wore on, she began to see the negative of her life overlaid on this young family, an addiction that pressed on the sweet ache in her chest.

Since obtaining her MFA in fiction, Moriah Richard has worked with over 100 authors to help them achieve their publication dreams. As the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, she spearheads the world-building column Building Better Worlds, a 2023 Eddie & Ozzie Award winner. She also runs the Flash Fiction February Challenge on the WD blog, encouraging writers to pen one microstory a day over the course of the month and share their work with other participants. As a reader, Moriah is most interested in horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about anything with a great hook. 

Learn more about Moriah on her personal website.