Start your story with the line, “That’s the thing about this city…”

Posted in Adults on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 283 stories

“Surprise” by Sean Tarzy

Submitted to Contest #85

“That’s the thing about this city, nobody cares about nobody….” All I did was give this drunk, homeless guy a dollar. I didn’t sign up for an intimate conversation. I didn’t ask for a philosophy class. Why do I always end up in this kind of bullshit? “That’s why I appreciate you man, you’re a good person. God has a plan for you, man.” I nod my hea...

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“Kurfürstenstraße” by Hanna Levine

Submitted to Contest #85

"That's the thing about this city," Cynthia interrupted from the corner of the drawing room. "It will never daunt those who understand how to live in it." The three others stood dumbstruck, gaping at her. Marguerite, probably because she'd never heard anyone interrupt her fiance. Meanwhile, Frau Scheuner looked as though she had been jolted from a stupor. Edmund cleared his throat and announced, "I use that term only referring to how the city must seem to an outsider. You may not know this, but the nation is shifting rapidly toward industr...

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“Learning the Ropes” by A Mehendale

Submitted to Contest #85

“That’s the thing about this city, see. It takes care of its own.”Bang.****************************************************************************Alyx stands by the sink in the corner. Cool water falls from the tap, just the wrong side of numbing. Slowly, methodically, she cleans her hands under the stream, alternating, finger by finger, than thumb, than wrist.It’s something of a ritual for her. ‘End the day with clean hands’. ‘Wash away the world and your sins’. ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness’. Her mother had had a hundred such phrases ...

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“Vlad ” by Grace Rolls

Submitted to Contest #85

That's the thing about this city...I just took a piss on an effin' graffiti stained wall. My life's gone to shit but I'm on an effin' ball. Im drunk as shit, got enough enough my pocket to get another beer. One for Tommy, cheers cheers cheers, cheers! Seven in my hand and seven in the clip. Around here a cig butt is a fag, don't take offense. Its a difference of a tag. I look to see the bare ass sky, the moon's butt naked. And so am I. Looks like a fang of some other effin' shit. I like to eat the kitty in the midst of my warm bliss. Its wor...

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“The Same City” by Erin Edwards

Submitted to Contest #85

TW: assault, violence against women That’s the thing about this city, about all cities: they’re different places for different people. A free drink in a bar is one round you didn’t have to pay for, or it’s a risk of a roofie. A trip on a packed tube is the fastest way home, or it’s somewhere you might get groped. An alleyway is a shortcut or it’s the setting of your own personal horror story. The city is different when you’re a woman. You don’t walk the streets alone. There are places you don’t see after the sun has set. You don’t take a ste...

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“Perfectly Ordinary” by Erin Glass

Submitted to Contest #85

“That’s the thing about this city- it is just too ordinary. Well, maybe not the city, but definitely the people”, Lizzy complained while making her way down the sidewalk. She was talking to someone next to her who she didn’t even know. She liked to strike up conversations with strangers, hoping they would talk back to her. The stranger grunted in response and walked away form her. The city seemed full of life, but not emotion. Everyone blankly walked past each other without so much as a ‘hello, how are you’- so wrapped up in their own little...

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“The Turquoise Stone ” by Nirmila Lall

Submitted to Contest #85

“That’s the thing about this city. I can never get enough of it. I am the iron filings to its magnet I am talking about Georgetown, my favourite place on earth. " The trishaw parked nearby was tempting, but a long-overdue walk was in order. I passed the Penang Baazar where colourful kaftans and sarongs of varied sizes were suspended from hooks from the awnings above. It sailed with every slight breeze. A salesman darted out onto the sidewalk and accosted me to enter this rabbit’s warren with its narrow dinghy passageways and cramped stalls. ...

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“Longing” by Megan Walsh

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city—there are enough places to eat that you’ll never be able to get through them. Never. And trust me, I’ve tried. There’s this great breakfast spot, corner of Lovejoy and 17th, killer burritos. I mean, the kind that make you want to bend a knee to the old gods and the new. When I first put that piping hot tortilla, stuffed with homestyle hashbrowns, salsa verde, black beans made by a woman who has made them since utero, I moaned so loudly the table next to me gave me a side-eye. But I didn’t care. I...

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“The Butterfly Bride” by Emma Rose

Submitted to Contest #85

---January---“That’s the thing about this city….” she hesitated, taking a shaky breath, before shaking her head and looking away.“What,” I prompted, softly, already knowing what she meant to say but needing that validation, that hope, that knowledge that somebody hated this place just as much as I did.She shrugged, looking up at me with a wistful smile. “It’s lonely. That’s all.”She gathered her books in her arms, taking the receipt from my hand and rushing out the door.---March---I was ready for her the next time she came.“Quite the plot tw...

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“THE UNOFFICAL, DECLASSIFIED, SNIPE HUNT” by Hannah Rutledge

Submitted to Contest #85

THE UNOFFICIAL, DECLASSIFIED, SNIPE HUNT “That’s the thing about this city…it’s just brimming with love.” Alan said, leaning in for the kiss. The scenery was perfect. They were on top of a skyscraper, a large Valentine’s Day billboard behind them, and a view of the bustling city and its sparkling lights glittering in the dark. But Laura turned away and stood up. “Alan, there’s something that I must tell you.” “Oh no.” Aaron said in ...

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“The city of firsts” by Elisa Nablyn

Submitted to Contest #85

That is the thing about this city… I hate it so much, yet I can’t leave. Of course, I could if I wanted to, but no matter how much I try, I just cannot do so. There is a lot I would be leaving behind and I don’t think that’s fair. No, I’ve got no kids, no job, no family here but I have memories and I think that’s important enough. This city- let’s call it C- was the first I ever explored when I came to this country. Was it 5 or 6 years ago now? I fail to remember. I had come for holidays and had instantly fallen in love, thinkin...

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“Discovery” by Jill Kudera

Submitted to Contest #85

The thing about this city is that it can be the best place ever or it can be a place straight out of your worst nightmare. You are the one in control of how things will go, the catch is you don’t know that when you arrive. Let me tell you about the first day I arrived in Discovery. A beautiful city with the most terrifying secret lurking just out of sight and ready to pounce. I had arrived in the afternoon, and even though exhausted by my travels, I remember marveling at the beauty of it all. The colors of the sky were like nothing I ha...

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“The coolest little capital of the world ” by Stephen Douglas

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, the encircling hills, gives our coolest little capital a compact feeling, where one can commute from suburb to Central Business District just past the hour, to be present at that meeting, luncheon, or sports affair; it is not too big and not too small. It is big when you come from a country town and for the first time you are in a city environment. But when you come from another a larger city there is this sense of it being little. Yet this is the city’s gem, the close proximity of everything both indo...

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Start your story with the line, “That’s the thing about this city…”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 283 stories

“Surprise” by Sean Tarzy

“Kurfürstenstraße” by Hanna Levine

“Learning the Ropes” by A Mehendale

“Vlad ” by Grace Rolls

“The Same City” by Erin Edwards

“Perfectly Ordinary” by Erin Glass

“The Turquoise Stone ” by Nirmila Lall

“Longing” by Megan Walsh

“The Butterfly Bride” by Emma Rose

“THE UNOFFICAL, DECLASSIFIED, SNIPE HUNT” by Hannah Rutledge

“The city of firsts” by Elisa Nablyn

“Discovery” by Jill Kudera

“The coolest little capital of the world ” by Stephen Douglas

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a major city that your character has a love-hate relationship with.

Write a story that takes place in the same building but in two very different time periods.

Write about someone fighting to change their city neighborhood for the better.

Write about someone fighting to keep their city neighborhood the same.

Contest #85

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

671

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: