Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone whose job is to help people leave their old lives behind.

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 246 stories

“Welcome to the new you. ” by Moon Lion

Submitted to Contest #75

I smiled gregariously at the young couple that walked in, going around my desk to shake both of their hands. "Hello! Hi, please take a seat." I gestured to the chairs in front of my cluttered desk. "Did Amy get you anything? Coffee, tea?" "Oh we're fine, thank you." The young woman said, confidently taking a seat. She smiled in a friendly way at me, then glanced back at her husband or boyfriend. He stood for a moment, hands in his pockets, before sitting down. he was obviously from money: even his regular outfit (a t-shirt and jeans) hel...

10 comments 10
Read story

“Bubba's New Life” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #75

Jeff sat at his desk staring at a stack of applications that he had to go through. He hated this part of his job, but he knew it had to be done. Jeff started a unique service years ago to help people coming out of the military get used to normal everyday life. He got the idea from having to help his brother David assimilate back into society after years of service. When you're in the military for that long you get used to how things work. They had to follow a strict routine everyday, and sometimes they couldn’t even use the bathroom without ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Joy City” by Gaurav Shetty

Submitted to Contest #75

I am a Story Collector and Liaison for Newcomers here at Joy City. My day, rather my night starts as usual sitting at the reception desk. Mostly waiting for people to come in. Nighttime is a busy time for us at the reception but that day it was unusually quiet. There was no reason for it. Maybe everyone was happy down there. I knew that was impossible. But it was always good to hope for the best. That is when I saw him. He was a young skinny teenager with dark skin and wavy black hair. He looked perplexed as he walked up the stairs to the re...

14 comments 14
Read story

“Aparajita - the healer ” by Alkaa Sharma

Submitted to Contest #75

Aparajita , a young girl from a modern town was not aware of her powers. “What powers??” was the question often pondering her mind. Yes , on the day of her father’s demise she felt some strange sensations in her chest and pelvic region, she did feel something within her that warned her that something was not correct.She did feel that something very bad was about to happen and unfortunately she cannot do anything about it. The spiritual world is a very mysterious world. It gives a delusion to a person who may feel spiritually on a higher...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The book of your life” by Aman Fatima

Submitted to Contest #75

“Long before the world we know came into existence, long before the kingdom was established there was a tribe. Now this tribe could be considered the first tribe to ever exist, from them the civilization started but it’s hard to trace where these people came from and how they…” Will stopped as the sound of the door bell chaimed throughout the house. He closed the book and took one look at Cindy, who was fast asleep, her hands so small that Will’s hands looked as if they belonged to a giant. Will gently placed a wild lock of hair behind Cindy...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Jelly Bean's Last Bounce” by Ted DeMarsh

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #75

Jelly Bean’s Last Bounce By Ted DeMarsh                They had left Jelly Bean here to sort it all out. To fix the thing that needed fixing. To do it once, for everything, for everywhere. Whatever he came up with they’d do. He was created to come up with the solution they would act on. They created him, set him down where he told them he needed to be, and waited. They hoped it wouldn’t take him long to figure it out and it didn’t.&nb...

20 comments 20
Read story

“The Caregiver” by David G.

Submitted to Contest #75

Irving Fisher was agitated.“Who the hell are you?" he yelled. "And what the hell are you doing here?”He squinted his cataract-occluded eyes, the pupils darted between the television set against the far wall and the face of the woman towering over him as he lay in his mechanical bed, the top half of which was inclined slightly. The blue cotton blanket and pillows he had thrown to the ground in a fit of frustration or pique of rage at some adversary or enemy, real or imagined. His legs were exposed, hairless and marked with thin, twisting blue...

27 comments 27
Read story

“Convincing Death” by Tolu Odel

Submitted to Contest #75

I watch her sleep.And I watch her sleep some more. And she continues to sleep. Holy mackerel! Well, mackerels aren’t holy, but, wowzers! Is this girl gonna sleep all night? Hurry it up lady, you may be mortal, but it’s not like you need eight hours of sleep.Wait a second. I look it up, only to find that indeed, mortal humans need around eight hours of sleep.***So, four hours later, why is this girl still asleep? She stirs.Then she starts snoring again.Call me impatient, but I got other peeps to take, so clearly I need to asser...

4 comments 4
Read story

“The Followers” by JASON PARKER

Submitted to Contest #75

The illness burned through my home like a forest fire.   The twins were the first to fall; their once rosy cheeks struck pale by an unseen killer. Foreheads burned and toes curled and their mother and I watched helplessly. Hopelessly. No Doctor would come; most were waist-deep in the afflicted, if not sick themselves. We were utterly alone.  We buried our boys in the yard. There were no church services anymore; no tearful eulogizing; no remembrances carved into stone. They looked like baby birds—tiny and featherles...

13 comments 13
Read story

“Three Words Unspoken” by Cassandra Durnin

Submitted to Contest #75

It was late, the city finally starting to sleep. Streetlights flickered here and there, and things of the day had died down, giving the Night her chance. His chance of another target. However, things were looking grim, nobody around for him to… finish. The darkness didn’t help, wrapping him in a cloak of anger, making the gin on his lips burn hotter, burn faster. Half the glass was gone, enough to warm him, but not so much that it would hinder his deed, a careful precaution. But after wandering the streets frustrated and cold, he almost gave...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Route 5” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #75

A deserted highway. A young girl, no older than seven. The girl is pale, too pale. So pale that she stands out against the surrounding shadows. Not glowing exactly, but sharply contrasted against the blackness and mixed green foliage behind where she kneels in the dirt. The girl begins to weep. The tears run down her face, but never reach the ground. They drop from her chin and disappear. Her sorrow and despair permeate the night air, bouncing off the tree trunks and faceless blacktop. The starless sky above the only audience to her sobs. ...

9 comments 9
Read story

“Death Meets A Life(Coach)” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #75

“It is time for you to go.” The shrouded figure leant heavily on their scythe and peered out from the depths of their hood. An outsider might’ve suggested that the hump in its back was old age, and the pressure of the millennia of work that it had endured. In truth, it was boredom. “But I wasn’t ready!” the obese woman cried. “I was going to the Bahamas next month!” The figure looked at what was left of the woman in the corporeal world. The bag from her takeaway chips was still perched on the arm of the sofa next to her, with half a do...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Exit Agency” by Adriana K. Maxwell

Submitted to Contest #75

Exit AgencyHalf down. No refunds. Prices vary by customer. Contracts sacred.--And of course, it’s a parking ticket, because that’s how Simon Barell’s day/week/life goes. It’s just the way the joke would go. He gets in, rests his forehead on the wheel for just a few seconds, just to breathe, before looking at the paper to see how much money he’s going to lose and how much his wife is going to yell at him.There’s a card that slips out. White fancy paper with shimmering gold script: Leave It Behind: Exit Agency- Half do...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Curtain Call” by Ari Fargo

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #75

Trigger warning: Suicidal ideation 1. She’s four the first time he sees her. Most people didn’t start the life-long relationship with him until later on, but a tumble in the pool is all it took for the two of them to meet. He sits on the edge of the pool, watching her splash, arms breaking the surface vigorously. The California sun beats down on the water, transforming the droplets into sparkling diamonds that burst upon impact with the concrete that surrounds the water. She goes under, and the ripples lap lazily at his pants legs. Minutes p...

8 comments 8
Read story

“New Life Anonymous ” by Anita Rachelle

Submitted to Contest #75

Welcome to New Life Anonymous. Here at New Life, we know the challenges you face daily: the desire to leave your old life behind, combined with the obligations bogging you down, preventing you from finally making that final move. Many of our members faced the same hurdles and tried the traditional so-called solutions: the self-help books, a revolving door of therapists, and often a new wife or husband in the hopes they might help unveil utopia. As the founder of New Life, I’m here to tell you, there is a true tried-and-tr...

2 comments 2
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who has finally managed to succeed at a long-standing New Year’s resolution.

Winter – 98 stories

Start your story with one character making a vow that they never would have made the year before.

Holiday – 102 stories

Write about someone who doesn’t remember their past — and doesn’t want to.

Thriller and Suspense – 205 stories

Write about two characters who each want to change the same thing, but resolve to go about it in very different ways.

Teens – 84 stories

Contest #75

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: New Year, New You

$50

Prize money

735

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 08, 2021 EST

Won by R. A. 🏆

Title: The Violinist

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

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

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢