Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Door Under The Sea

Published September 25, 2026 | By Laura

Welcome to Fiction Friday, our weekly flash fiction challenge.

Here’s how it works:

Set a timer for five minutes and start writing

Keep going for as long as you can once the timer goes off

No editing allowed—raw writing only

When you’re finished, feel free to share in the comments (but there’s no pressure.)

Today’s prompt: The Door Under The Sea –

A lighthouse keeper discovers a door beneath the sea that opens only when someone, somewhere, forgets their own name. Each time the door appears, the keeper hears their own voice calling from the other side—but the voice is always speaking a name they do not recognize.

For years, the keeper has recorded disappearances in a salt-stained ledger: sailors who abandoned their lives, children who stopped answering to their names, old people who woke without memories of who they were. Then, one storm-lashed night, the door opens beneath the lighthouse itself.

Continue the story.

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Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.

Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Door Under The Sea

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