An open-ending story occurs when readers are left uncertain about how the story is resolved. As the writer introduces a series of events but does not openly state a conclusion, readers must use their imagination to determine how the characters and situations come to an end.
An example of a open-ending story is Frank R. Stockton's short story "The lady or the Tiger?," in which a knight is forced to open one of two doors: behind one there is a lady he does not love, and behind the other there is a fierce tiger. At the end of the story, the author asks, "And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door - the lady, or the tiger?"