Write a story in which someone returns to their hometown.

Posted in Adults on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 81 stories

“The Road(s) Home” by Taylor Petska

Submitted to Contest #164

V Road Old friend, I’m driving down that road you have always loved. You know the one; it’s the long way home. Its bends and twists are jarring, and I know that one who is unfamiliar with the way she dances may not be prepared for her surprising steps. But you and I, we’ve spent all of our lives learning each one of her tricks. In eighteen years, she hasn’t fooled us yet. And seeing as this road is the one familiar thing from the past, I don’t think she ever will. We’ve spent nearly our entire...

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“Homecoming Soldier ” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #164

Homecoming Soldier On one of my first Army duty rosters which included four days off I decided to make a trip home. A chance to rekindle fading connections with my west coast heritage. Perhaps because I went straight from on-duty shift to airport departure spaces, I wore my uniform. Out in public, displaying visible trappings of my new army girl status. Making a statement about my profession as a public servant. Needed to store my hat in overhead locker. Listened to announcements about, ‘items may shift…’ At least hats issued to army girl...

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“Duality” by Joey Balk

Submitted to Contest #164

They passed the sign that used to announce the name of the town. It was hanging sideways, held up by a single screw that soldiered on, and instead of showing the town’s name, it showed a spray-painted cock that he’d artistically drawn on it when he was fifteen. ‘Excuse me, could you stop here?’ lee said, ‘I’d like to walk the rest of the way.’ The driver pulled over immediately and seemed a little relieved that he wouldn’t have to smudge his car by driving on the dirt road. Still, he asked, ‘are you sure, Mr. Yang? I was asked to drive yo...

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“Time” by Josie Marshall

Submitted to Contest #164

CW: Substance/alcohol abuse *** I’d lost count of the years that had gone by since I’d last walked the streets of Seattle. It felt like forever, the last time I’d prowled around the city at night, heading to a show, reading the concert flyers plastered along every lamppost and wall. I’d missed that feeling in the air, the way the closer I got to live music, the excitement would start flitting around from person to person along the clustered sidewalks. Nothing ever felt like that after the move to San Francisco. As the years ro...

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“Swan Song” by R. N. Jayne

Submitted to Contest #164

Trigger warning: the following story contains sensitive content including mental health issues, self harm, assisted suicide, and brief mentions of an eating disorder. Reader discretion is advised.***In my line of work, the buried ones stay silent, but they aren’t gone: the dearly departed remain in me.***My current client has reached the deadline of her days on earth; however, she doesn’t realize tonight’s her swan song. When she filled out her death interest form on my boss’s business page (the dark web site www.dieinmysleep.com), she check...

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“Just a Birthplace, Not a Home ” by Anna Nozik

Submitted to Contest #164

I don't remember my hometown. My family left when I was 4. I have a few vague memories of our apartment. Kitchen on the right. One small bedroom in the back. My crib in the living room where my parents also slept. So at the age of 32, my mom took me back to show me where I came from. We went from New York to Lviv, Ukraine. A city in the western part of Ukraine that nobody had heard of till recently when CNN correspondents used it to give the world coverage on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We boarded our first class flight. It...

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“Home” by Elizabeth Butzke

Submitted to Contest #164

“ I’m drunk and I’m sad and it’s 1:00 in the morning, I’m so sorry,” I sob into the phone. “ I shouldn’t be calling so late. I shouldn’t be such a baby.” Nobody sees me cry, except maybe my husband and even that’s only been a handful of times in our 26 years of marriage. Not my counselor, or counselors I should say.Years of counseling actually. Not my foster parents. Not even my children. “It’s ok,” Richard responds, “you can call me anytime, and you’re not a baby.” “I just hate her so much!” “I understand,” he says. H...

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“Welcome Home, Rory Bender” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #164

With the sold out crowd screaming for an encore, Rory Bender unplugged his virgin white Stratocaster guitar and walked off stage staring at the path ahead. Climbing in the backseat of the limo waiting for him, he handed the driver a couple of Ben Franklin's and croaked, "Drive me to Seneca Falls." "That's A three hour round trip." The driver stared at the money Rory Bender had given him. "Got a problem with that?" Rory asked, glaring at the driver over his sunglasses. "There is more of that where that came from, pal." "It ain'...

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“unnamed town” by Akshay Arora

Submitted to Contest #164

Outside the bar, he looked up at the sign above the open door and tried to remember how neon worked. He remembered that neon light didn’t leave an imprint on most kinds of glass, and that different colors are formed by adding other noble gasses. The man was in fact an acclaimed scientist but he did not need further knowledge to know, looking at the sign, that it had been yellow. “I don’t have a strong opinion about Arkansas,” said the barback.She leaned against one side of a low, wrought iron fence lining the bar’s patio and ashed her ...

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“A Homecoming Wish” by Curtis Jackson

Submitted to Contest #164

Thematic content: discussions of death, disability, family separation, tragic, unfulfilled romance, a brief note of wartime amputation, and crude surgery.An enormous, black steel vessel emerged into view from the great billow of steam, smoke, and particles it created from its funneled chimney. An exhaust congested the Hanover Junction Railroad Station's platform area.A sharp whistle sliced through the crisp afternoon fall season air when the vessel's valve gears, rods, piston, and large metal wheels ceased. It woke late twenty-aged Connors f...

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“Pulling up Roots” by Alexis Meade

Submitted to Contest #164

The distinct roar of the freight train rang in Bea’s ears as her taxi drove her down familiar streets. She was suddenly transported back in time to her adolescence, when she would walk along those tracks with her friends, smoking joints, watching the boys try skate tricks, and sharing their fears of the future. For Bea, the train chugging was one of those unmistakable noises, like the crunching of gravel as your dad’s truck pulls into the driveway. The cicadas outside your open window in the summertime. The patter of your cat’s paws on the l...

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“Homecoming” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #164

Where do you go when you have nowhere else left to go? I went home. Not to the place that I had most recently made my home, that place had failed on one of the measures of a home. It was no longer safe. So, I made my way back to the place I grew up. They said you should never go back. I’m not sure who they were and what the premise of this advice was. You do what you have to do is my retort to them. Maybe I was resorting to the only thing I knew. I was fresh out of ideas and my head wasn’t going to provide me with much of any...

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“The Moon Over the Moors” by Saul JJ

Submitted to Contest #164

TW: physical violance The bus was five minutes late as per usual, always late and always by five minutes. It is strangely orderly in its tardiness. Always the same driver, the only one in town. His name is Tommy, Tommy McLeish. He doesn't remember me, which is to be expected; high school was a long time ago and my appearance has changed considerably, his hasn't. “You getting off here, big man!?” He shouts to me, his only passenger. “naw, how come?” “Would you mind just getting off now? I'm bursting for a shite” No point i...

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“Unanswered Questions” by Yousif Lahig

Submitted to Contest #164

Sitting on an 8-hour flight to Dubai gives me a lot of time to reflect on what was and build that feeling of trepidation about what awaits me on the other side of this journey. Yes, I wonder what physical changes have been made to one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, but more importantly, there are the feelings and emotions I may have left behind. Am I going to be walking straight back into those, or will all the work that I have done on myself these past 3 years hold me in good stead? Anxiety is a future-based emotion, and I am a...

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“I prayed for your death” by Keith Rebello

Submitted to Contest #164

CW: death, suicide, abortion It would have taken his father gasping for his last breaths to bring Kevin Conlin back to his hometown of Wilmington and it was that very messenger of death that beckoned his presence that night. The bright stars seemed to eclipse all life below them but he was too stuck within himself to see anything beyond the agony of returning home. It had been 20 years since he last saw the long winding roads and town houses that he once called home. However, being the fortunate son of the richest man in town, home for him...

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Write a story in which someone returns to their hometown.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 81 stories

“The Road(s) Home” by Taylor Petska

“Homecoming Soldier ” by Karen Lethlean

“Duality” by Joey Balk

“Time” by Josie Marshall

“Swan Song” by R. N. Jayne

“Just a Birthplace, Not a Home ” by Anna Nozik

“Home” by Elizabeth Butzke

“Welcome Home, Rory Bender” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“unnamed town” by Akshay Arora

“A Homecoming Wish” by Curtis Jackson

“Pulling up Roots” by Alexis Meade

“Homecoming” by Jed Cope

“The Moon Over the Moors” by Saul JJ

“Unanswered Questions” by Yousif Lahig

“I prayed for your death” by Keith Rebello

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character saying “Where I come from, …”

Write a story about coming of age in a big city.

Write a story where a local takes a newcomer under their wing.

Think of someone who stood on the periphery of your childhood memories (a classmate, a teacher, a neighbor) and cast them as the main character of your story.

Contest #164

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

235

Contest entries

91

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: