A lot of interesting stuff happens on the border between two things. That’s because there is inherent tension between the stuff on one side and the stuff on the other.

Borders could either be in time or space. We are coming up on a border in time between 2025 and 2026, although this is arbitrary demarcation between years: things don’t necessarily change greatly from December 31 to January 1. More important time borders could be a deadline or a momentous event where things are quite different on either side of the border (e.g. a wedding is a big border event where you’re unmarried on one side and married one the other side).

Physical borders are easier to picture, but also include things we don’t think of as often like the shore being a border between the water and the land.

Story Prompt: December 22, 2025

Write a story about a border, either in space or time

The trick is to show a contrast between the two sides of the border since conflict is often shown in contrast.

If you write a story with this prompt, send me a link to your story on your own site, either in the comments or at info@greenwalledtreehouse.com. You can also submit your story here for a chance to have it published on the site next week.

Merry Christmas!