Write about someone who needs to face their past in order to move forward.

Posted in Adults on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 73 stories

“I'm just like my mother. ” by Nicole Mancuso

Submitted to Contest #161

The same old cliché rings heavy in my ears: I never wanted to become my mother. Lucky for me I’ve managed to shake off her selfish indifference to anything and everything that isn’t directly related to her dogs, and have used that notion to raise my very human children with love, compassion, and focus, from skinned knees to the inevitable question: “Mommy, what happens when we die?” We were close once, before I was a fully developed person with my own opinions, some that differed from her own. That’s where things got hairy. I’m a probl...

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“Still to be.....” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #161

"You slut!" Ryan roared into his phone. But it was too late. She had already hung up on him. That had been his ex-wife. She was getting remarried, and wanted to move interstate, taking his two sons with her. Ryan was feeling jealous, this was not his idea of an amicable divorce. He and his ex were supposed to be co-parenting in harmony, presenting a united front to their boys. "Ha!" Ryan slammed down his phone, and picked up his can of bourbon. Before too long, he was on another bender. A pile of empty tins were soon his company. He knew he...

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“A Misplaced Childhood” by Vie L'cast

Submitted to Contest #161

Opalence Williamson leaned against the threshold of the door allowing time to lapse over her in waves of fading light. Her mother had recently passed and Opalence could not keep her mind from wondering into corners she had long ago stopped visiting. Every item in her mother's house had the power to bewitch her, to hold her in place while her mind raced before her to distant times. The faint smell of rosemary, the constant ticking of the living room clock, the wood-paneled walls all activated memories that sprung open before her like triggere...

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“Ghosts of the Past” by Lydia Moseley

Submitted to Contest #161

The wind blew softly, like a comforting breeze as I stared out at the endless horizons that lay before me. A vast space of landscape beckoned to me, and I knew my journey had only just begun. However, I also knew that the next step I took meant the beginning next and final chapter of my life. I turned back and looked at my companion, Rose. Being childhood friends, Rose was always around. She had a calming presence and a sweet but very fragile heart. She had only come on this journey because she meant to watch over her closest friend, ...

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“Roots and Vines” by Joe Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #161

Kudzu’s foreign verdant vines drape a dying wood behind a gray hollow apartment building. I’ve always thought that plant’s name sounds like it could be found on the label of some vagabond’s rusted musical instrument, a windpipe of some sort, that bleats a gray air’s bleak tune. That tune played coolly over the vine’s fecund jungle. The afternoon rain emitted steam from the earth’s cooked crust as I swear those vines extended toward me, growing to me as they breathed in the natural rejuvenating cycle of the sky. I never minded kudzu all...

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“From the Ashes” by J.L. (Jesse) DuRona

Submitted to Contest #161

It took Curt forever to figure out how to pull his TV away from the wall, and the cords were so tight that they kept coming undone as he worked. He cursed and panted, the agony in his back at a solid seven. All this bending and wrenching was a young man’s game, and he hadn’t been a young man for a long time. “You’re not gonna have a heart attack, are you?” Abra, his daughter, was slumped on the sofa. Her thick-black eyeliner, dark clothes and purple-streaked hair made her look like an extra in a Slop Bucket music video, not that she’...

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“Deep Breaths” by Adelina Laffitte

Submitted to Contest #161

I am absolutely SICK of this. I sit in the corner of my dim cell glaring at the creature blocking my path. The door to my cell is open, and it always has been ever since I first got myself stuck here about a decade ago. I have tried many times to get out, don’t get me wrong, but this stupid horror keeps me from succeeding. It has the form of a tall skinny human covered in pitch black, void of any facial features except for two sharp horns protruding from either side of its head and a huge, wide smile that reaches from ear to ear with a snake...

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“Betrayal” by C P

Submitted to Contest #161

It was midnight. Vicky cleared the kitchen sink and loaded the dishwasher before getting ready to sleep. He was glad it was a long weekend. He usually plans hikes or treks whenever he gets such opportunities. But this weekend he wanted to get some rest. It was a cool summer night in San Francisco. He quickly cuddles up on his bed with a warm quilt to cozy him. After a tiresome day, the warmth acted on him fast. In no time, he could hear his own snore faintly at a distance, but he was still thinking. He was in the realm where the d...

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“HER” by Anisa Ali

Submitted to Contest #161

Spending many years of her life believing the only way to move forward is by letting life be, Shay always felt everything would find a way to work itself out. Her logic revolved around the idea that your strength will take you where you are meant to be. Little did she know, to be strong, you will first need to be weak, and to move forward, you need to face the past. Living with her parents, Shay had the tendency to feel numb. Locking her thoughts away, she’d let her feelings sit, never to be addressed. Why would she? Her life appeare...

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“The Hatchback” by Ramsey Tawfick

Submitted to Contest #161

It's the funeral and It’s dusk, the sky is blacker than what any of the gods have agreed to be reasonable for the time. Can you blame them? The ocean is gone. How can the sky gleefully soak up sashire shades? When the Hatchback is dead. Submarines glide on salt, daring gravity to show her hand, while ships carved beyond the work of any man sail the skies and walking palaces higher than the heavens. Maps crumpled and folded into origami white feathers, too scared to show the places beyond the edges of their flesh. But the gods are not...

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“It Was Going to be Beautiful” by Jenny Blur

Submitted to Contest #161

1. Oria happened to be standing at the window when one of the boys crushed an empty Orange Fanta can then tossed it onto the edge of the yard. He and his friend were all striped sweats, broad smiles, and voices so loud the sound spilled through the small houses along Violet Drive. If Adam were here, he would have stopped the boy and demanded he pick up the can. But Adam was dead. She’d have to fend for herself. She slipped a thick, black sweatshirt over her head then crossed the overgrown lawn barefoot to retrieve the crushed can. Under th...

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“Looking for Trauma” by Marie White

Submitted to Contest #161

As they sat on his stiff suede couch, a Survivor rerun he’d never intended to watch droning on his sixty-inch plasma screen TV, Anthony tried to slide an arm around her shoulders, but she flinched away—an act, by now, all too familiar to both of them. It reared its ugly head whenever he tried to do this, or embrace her, or kiss her, or put a hand on hers or caress her cheek or slide a palm up her thigh. She didn’t want to react this way—in fact, she’d tried very hard not to and felt horrible for show...

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“Family Situation” by Rachel Walker-Alexander

Submitted to Contest #161

A Family Situation The two women faced each in a secluded corner for a late lunch, the charming bistro atmosphere wasted on them. To the casual observer the two women were similarly attractive in a non-threatening way. The older woman had a polish about her whereas the younger woman aspired to be. There was no small talk as the women studied the menu with an intensity that seemed more appropriate for college exams. If you looked beyond the natural hair and the obvious generational fashion choices an objective...

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Write about someone who needs to face their past in order to move forward.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 73 stories

“I'm just like my mother. ” by Nicole Mancuso

“Still to be.....” by Julie Grenness

“A Misplaced Childhood” by Vie L'cast

“Ghosts of the Past” by Lydia Moseley

“Roots and Vines” by Joe Bradshaw

“From the Ashes” by J.L. (Jesse) DuRona

“Deep Breaths” by Adelina Laffitte

“Betrayal” by C P

“HER” by Anisa Ali

“The Hatchback” by Ramsey Tawfick

“It Was Going to be Beautiful” by Jenny Blur

“Looking for Trauma” by Marie White

“Family Situation” by Rachel Walker-Alexander

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone sharing a secret that has a big impact on everyone.

Write a story where someone finds comfort in an unexpected event, place, or person.

Write about a character who lives a seemingly charmed life.

Write a story where a character has to take on heavy responsibilities (perhaps beyond their age).

Contest #161

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

241

Contest entries

125

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: