STORY PROMPTS FOR NIFT NID CAT

 

Five 6-sentence story prompts, followed by a short example story for each:

Creative writing Practice for NIFT | NID

By Dr Anindita Roy, Creative Career Coach , South Delhi | 9818541252

WWW.THECREATIVESCIENCES.COM

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Prompt 1: "The Train That Skipped Stations"

A passenger boards a familiar train only to realize it isn't stopping at any scheduled station.
Strange passengers get off at invisible platforms.
The announcements are in a language they don’t understand.
Their phone shows a time that keeps moving backward.
No one else seems concerned.
They must decide whether to jump off while it's still moving.

Example:

I boarded the 7:45 train expecting the usual morning crowd and half-sleep yawns.
But the train sped past my stop—and every other one.
I asked a co-passenger why we weren’t stopping, and she just smiled and disappeared.
The loudspeaker crackled in a tongue that made my skin crawl.
My phone now said 1883, and my clothes began to look vintage.
When the door opened to a grassy hillside, I jumped.

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Prompt 2: "The Mirror Lied"

Every day, her mirror told her she looked different than she felt.
One morning, it whispered, “This isn’t your face.”
She touched her reflection—and her hand went through.
Inside, she saw another version of herself waving frantically.
The mirror started to pull her in.
She had to decide who would remain.

Example:

For weeks, I thought it was just poor lighting when I looked tired and sad.
But today, my reflection blinked before I did.
Then it whispered, “You stole my life.”
My hand sank into cold glass as her fingers clutched mine from the other side.
She looked like me, but not broken.
As I tumbled through, I hoped she'd fix what I never could.

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Prompt 3: "The Last Plant on Earth"

In a post-apocalyptic world, a child discovers the last green plant.
It glows faintly at night and seems to hum.
Everyone wants to own it, but the child hides it.
They begin to hear the plant speaking in dreams.
The plant asks to be planted somewhere forgotten.
Doing so changes the entire planet.

Example:

Under a pile of ash and twisted metal, I found a green sprout glowing like hope.
I hid it in my satchel and lied to the raiders who searched me.
At night, it sang lullabies no human ever taught.
One dream told me of an old valley where no bombs fell.
I buried it there, with hands shaking from hunger and awe.
Within weeks, the clouds cleared, and the birds came back.

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Prompt 4: "The House That Wasn't There Yesterday"

A new house appears overnight in an empty plot.
No workers, no trucks, no sound.
The neighbors swear it wasn't there the day before.
The lights are always on, but no one is seen inside.
A delivery boy enters and never comes out.
Curiosity draws you to the front door.

Example:

The old man next door gasped when he saw the two-story cottage beside his own.
“That wasn’t there yesterday,” he whispered, clutching his newspaper.
By sunset, the lights blinked like eyes behind lace curtains.
A food delivery guy walked in, waved at the camera, and vanished.
I stood at the gate that night, drawn by music leaking from its chimney.
When I knocked, the door opened by itself, and someone whispered my name.

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Prompt 5: "Borrowed Time"

She buys a watch at a flea market with no price tag.
The seller says, “It gives you extra time—but not for free.”
She uses it once to save her child.
The second time, to save herself.
Each use leaves a scar only she can see.
Now she has one final use left, and a difficult choice to make.

Example:

I twisted the crown of the strange gold watch and time froze—the car stopped just before hitting my son.
The seller had warned me: “Every tick you borrow has a cost.”
Next time, I avoided a fire in my flat by two seconds, but my hand aged ten years.
Now I have one use left and an impossible choice—my mother is slipping away.
My arms already ache with invisible scars only I can feel.
Still, as her breath falters, I wind the watch one last time.

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