Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story about someone looking to make amends for a mistake.

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 222 stories

Nightborn 9

Submitted to Contest #54

The darkness hung from him like an oversized cloak, swaying gently as to a nonexistent breeze.  So it is true. He is a Nightborn. Rebeca Voltaire found it hard to believe that one of her top detectives was a member of the enemy.  “I am not one of them,” detective Cross said, his voice still resolute even after hours of interrogation. She could usually crack men with ease, but Damien… It was as though he spoke the truth. And Rebeca didn’t know if she wouldn’t prefer his words to be lies. “But you joined them willingly,” she said, no...

25 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Another Chance

Submitted to Contest #54

 I plan on enjoying myself until I discover his picture on the back table with the label "The Departed." In disbelief, I take hold of his picture frame to get a better view of the image in the photograph. Again my hands become clammy and cold as tears saturate my eyes. I realize the man in the picture is my old friend Renny. I should have told him how much I always appreciated his love and friendship. I am unable to find words to express the mountain of regret that swells in my memories of him. I whisper to myself, " Renny, I'...

25 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

Ever Been on a Road Trip with a Ghost Before?

Submitted to Contest #54

“Can you not go so fast?” Damien, my best friend, asked me as we sped along the highway at sixty-five miles per hour to his parents’ house.He struggled to stay in his seat at this speed. “The speed limit is sixty-five miles per hour--so I’m gonna go sixty-five miles per hour,” I said.“Why are you so concerned with following the law now? Didn’t you commit murder three days ago?”I glared at his translucent ghost body. Big mistake. The moment I took my eyes off the road I accidentally started swerving and almost hit a Honda. Gripping the wheel ...

24 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Mistakes

Submitted to Contest #54

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Justin stays silent, not bothering to look me in the eyes. “Justin, say something.” I keep my voice from cracking. “I don’t know, Katie.” Justin mutters. “What do you mean? You should know.” I lower my voice. “You should know,” I whisper. “Does it look like I do?” I don’t reply this time. “Kat, look at me.” The anger is building up in Justin’s voice. “Does it look like I do, Katie! Hm? You tell me. I obviously don’t know!” He grabs me by the shoulders, making me look at him. I press my lips together. “This is...

24 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

Six Months, One Week and Four Days.

Submitted to Contest #54

Jessica leaned against the window, she had been watching the world go by, allowing the hypnotic rhythm of the train lull her into forgetting the emptiness of her life.The train pulled into the station, Jessica glanced at the sign, one stop to go, suddenly she saw him. The colour drained instantly from her face, her stomach twisted into a tight knot and a wave of nausea washed over her. She had to get off the train; she rushed to her feet and grabbed at her bag. “Excuse me, excuse me.” Jessica pushed passed people as politely as she could wit...

24 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Split Second

Submitted to Contest #54

I must make amends for what I’ve done. You see, I haven’t been the perfect wife, although heaven knows I’ve tried, I’ve really, really tried. I’ve read all the manuals (and there’s a hell of a lot of them), but things don’t seem to stick in my little brain, despite these lovely curls I have. I keep putting my foot in my mouth and have to atone for my sins. Will I ever learn what I’m supposed to do? Actually, I’m kind of fed up (that’s the polite way of putting it) at having to backtrack, say I’m sorry, plead with him to give me another cha...

24 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Wonderful World

Submitted to Contest #54

“Dear God, thank you for being my Father in Heaven. Thank you for all the things you give me every day so that I can live well. Thank you for letting me talk to you. And I'm really really sorry for letting you down, yet again. Thank you for giving me the chance to start again every time I go wrong. So please help me to do better starting from right now. Thank you for listening and I know you will help me if I listen to you. So please help me to listen hard and to know how to do what you want me to, so that between us and everyone else who kn...

24 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Little Ribbons

Submitted to Contest #54

I crawled up the stairs to my apartment, feeling the boundless nothing taking hold of me tighter with every step. I was hollowed out, empty, yet there was a tremendous heaviness that weighed me down. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. A piece of the world had just been ripped out, stolen away, so why are all my neighbors walking about as if nothing happened? I wanted to scream at them. How could they not feel it, this horrible grief that plagued me? Why me? Why her? I was so tired, so exhausted from the pain she left me with,...

23 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

The Queen of Albuquerque

Submitted to Contest #54

Looking out over her kingdom from where she stood at the top of a parking garage downtown, The Queen of Albuquerque wept. Her kingdom was in a bad way, and her people milled about below more desperate, broken and miserable than she had ever seen them before. The illness which had caused the world to shift into reverse while going 100 mph down the highway of civilization seemed like child's play compared to what the shutdown had done to the downtrodden. Every day there were new faces, people who'd been bucked out of the cozy saddle of their l...

21 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

If Only

K A

Submitted to Contest #54

Trigger warning: suicide   All he could do was wait. There was nothing beautiful or calming about the art of being still, not like he had expected. The world was spinning uncontrollably, while life suddenly seemed to be seeping through the cracks of his broken visage. How could he be still? The room he had been instructed to wait in, was filled with a disturbing silence. An elderly couple were seated in a corner to his left, neither of them acknowledging each other or anyone else for that matter. A few seats down, a middle-aged woman sa...

21 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Only Human (takes place about sixteen months after "A Parting of the Ways")

Submitted to Contest #54

Standing on the boardwalk, one hand in my pants pocket and the other resting on top of the wooden railing, I watched boats arriving at and leaving from the marina. It was after midnight and the wakes left behind by the boats were covered with little sparkles and speckles of moonlight.I was reminded of another night. When we'd stood right here, holding hands. Then we lowered our medical masks and kissed. Two unforgettable kisses. The future seemed bright and almost anything seemed possible.Sixteen months had passed since that night. The quara...

20 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Addiction

Submitted to Contest #54

My head is spinning. I can’t even think straight. I’m riding a rollercoaster going so fast you can barely begin to digest what’s around you. And I feel like I’m going to throw up.  I have started watching a lot of stuff now that I have a lot of free time in the summer, and I just can’t take my eyes off the screen. I’ve become addicted. My head ducks in shame as I look at my screen time from the present day. I used to make fun of people that would stay on the screens so much. Never would have I thought that I would become one of those p...

20 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

This Is How I Make Amends

Submitted to Contest #54

I know this is coming to an endAware of all the pain that will ensueAnd when it leaves a hole inside my chestI’m not sure how I’ll cover up the woundThose are the notes I play on the piano. The broken melody of a shattered serenade. The notes have no meaning or strength. Just like me.I feel the mistakes in the notes, just like I feel the mistakes in me. Each one a glass shard of a broken picture which was never perfect to begin with. The musical imbalances are like a separate stab between my fingers. They should be perfect. I’ve been pl...

19 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Unimaginable Fate

Submitted to Contest #54

It would be me as it could be you too.  January 2003 just after the New Year celebration, Donald came back from London with a lot of gifts for the community. Some of the packages include clothes, shoes, and smartphones. Donald offered everything to the community members present that what left for himself was nothing. The wife, Maima, was not at peace with it and she said, "How could you do that? Are you Father Christmas? Even Father Christmas doesn't share gifts in January." In reply, "I am blessed and what I came home with are just a f...

19 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Space Age Sorrows

Submitted to Contest #54

Oct 22, 2087. “Losing control!” Lt. McCoy shouted as alarms and red lights went off around the interior, “Colonel Thompson, what do we do!”        “She won’t make much longer, sir, we are dangerously close to Io’s gravitational pull, if not in it yet,” Major Kane said.        “Everyone check to ensure their suits are tight and follow my lead out the hatch,” the Colonel ordered. He sounded calm but inside was a raging panic.        “All th...

19 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.

Romance – 283 stories

Write a story about someone going back to school as a mature student.

High School – 88 stories

Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.

Funny – 154 stories

Write a story about a TV show called "Second Chances."

Novel – 108 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel