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

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 246 stories

“Sign Your Life Away” by Ira Waynewright

Submitted to Contest #75

“It doesn’t matter now.” Foci leaned forward, xyr pink glasses slipping a millimeter down xyr nose. “Your past is in the past.” The client sighed and smiled downward, shaking his head slightly. “Just like that? A new life?” “All yours,” xe smiled and slid the document toward him. He glanced once more at xem before tracing his finger along the dotted line. *** “Two cases done already?” Eglin, xyr manager, said when xe dropped the signed paper at eir desk. “That last one was a breeze.” Xe opened xyr hand for xyr next assignment. ...

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“The Lady of the Glawackus” by Mollin Luxeder

Submitted to Contest #75

"Miralee, you can't do this!" Corin raced after his sister. "Have you even thought this through?" he asked between breaths. Even after years of chasing after her, he still couldn't keep up with her quick stride. "Please stop for just a second," he pleaded, leaning on the rough cliff face on the side of the road. Miralee turned around and smirked. "Slowpoke," she muttered. "I heard that," Corin shot back. "I may be slow, but I can still hear just fine." He stood up straight and took in a deep breath. Miralee couldn't repress a short lau...

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“The Last Leaf” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #75

The old dirt path was dimly lit by the lamps of the dilapidated stage coach, it's driver standing on the side, bundled in a dark cloak, his facial features hidden from view by the top hat he wore. He seemed to look to his right and upwards towards old hackberry tree that seemed bare except for one small leaf that was barely hanging on to a branch. The driver knew that it would not be long before that leaf would fall to the ground. The sound of footsteps broke the silence, the leaves making a crunching sound with every step, unable to bear ...

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“Revenge is Best Served from the Dead” by H B

Submitted to Contest #75

My name is Danny Donahue and I am not your ordinary fourteen-year-old boy from Southern California. Well, I guess I may be ordinary, except for one teeny thing but I guess that normal. Nobody is just ordinary, heck what does ordinary even mean, I guess I will never know. Because I am not your ordinary boy, I am Danny Donahue, the boy who helps ghosts cross into their next life. Movies weren’t wrong, there are ghosts on Earth and sometimes they might get stuck on Earth because they have unfinished business with someone or themselves (ug...

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“Crossing the Grapple” by Caleb Goehring

Submitted to Contest #75

Most people call me “thief” or “crook,” and say that I’m “devious” or “underhanded.” But I think that something like “benefactor” or “protector” would be more appropriate. I’ve prevented (or at least delayed) three wars, paved the way for brand new lives, and maintained an incredibly valuable piece of architecture. The war part sounds outrageous, but the truth is that I am the gatekeeper between two great nations: Graepjoos and Appeljus. The mighty Grapple River divides these lands, and I faithfully guard the only logical (or conve...

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“Aiding and Abetting” by Steve McKenney

Submitted to Contest #75

Alex Watters pulled up to the house as Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” announced an incoming call. “Yeah?” he answered. He listened to the voice on the other end for less than a minute, then the unmistakable buzz of dial tone. Before getting out of his car, he looked at the house. The sides, painted white, were faded and peeling with what looked to be permanent mascara runs on them. The front porch seemed like it was barely standing; the half-dozen wooden stairs and hand rail that led to the porch leaned to the left and if you weren’t c...

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“You are worse” by Regan Boden

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: sexual assault, date rape 'Kate is going crazy. You really need to help me' Jason pleads, whispering with his dark eyes flitting from side-to-side, taking in the cheerless blue room. A room he has been to many times before. It is dingy, stuck in the corner of a rusty strip mall and flanked by a tattoo parlour and mini-casino. It has always looked much more appealing than this - lust gave his lenses a rose-gold tinge. Today was not about lust, but about love. An old love. 'You know that I don't take on clients t...

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“New beginnings” by NK Hatendi

Submitted to Contest #75

"Good afternoon. Compliments of the Season! Is this Mrs Tsika? My name is Mwadiwa Sango of Singer Migration Services. Your son contacted our firm by email, and I am following up your request for preliminary immigration advice. Do you have a minute or two, so we can talk?""Compliments of the Season to you too Mwadiwa. Call me, Sheila, that's my first name. Temba mentioned that he would contact an agent to speak to me, I wasn't expecting such a quick response. Yes, I can talk.""From his email which you were copied in, I understand that yo...

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“Dante's Divine Disappearings” by Callum Tucker

Submitted to Contest #75

I change people’s lives. It’s quite easy actually, people who need me will find my flyer: DANTE’S DIVINE DISAPPEARINGS Want to get away from your current life? Want to change who you are forever? Want to leave it all behind and start afresh? Well come on down to Dante’s Divine Disappearings and we’ll whisk you away from your current plight and land you in a new, much happier life. Then there’s an address beneath, but it changes depending on where the person lives. It’s always in some creepy alleyway that no one goes down though. W...

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“Someone must remeber ” by Thandeka Katsika

Submitted to Contest #75

I stared intensely into the certain eyes of Samantha Smith. The last name Smith was ironic because usually such a common last name represented a larger group of people yet here she was, the only person from the incident who wanted to remember. As was customary I asked her again “Are you sure?” In response she nodded her head. “Are you sure you want to remember this incident?” I asked again. I maintained a monotone voice and a straight face, for my line of work it was vital that I made no judgement to the decisions made either good or bad. “...

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“A Glimpse of the Works and Wonders of a Dead-People-Processing Teller” by Andrea An

Submitted to Contest #75

T/W: Mention of Rape.You type away on your keyboard, your eyes barely seeing the screen. Working for years in the same office in the same job post looking at the same form that’s barely changed for decades, it becomes as familiar as the back of your hand. You continue to type away on the keyboard, unhearing and hearing the wail and complaints of the person on the other side of the glass pane in front of you.“Yes, yes,” you push enter. “You’re done. Get your ticket on the next window.” You block the person off your sight although you can...

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“Dump the Garbage, Make Room for Glitter” by Anna Bush

Submitted to Contest #75

“As you continue to breathe and go inward, you notice that you are getting very relaxed,” the hypnotherapist said as she guided her client into a deep state of trance. While Hannah had been a hypnotherapist for seven years, she had spent her lifetime helping people rewrite the scripts to their lives. In junior high, she was like Lucy from Charlie Brown, with friends seeking her out during lunch period for advice. One even told her, as an adult, that she had saved her life. On ...

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“Not in His Attic” by Jessica Burke

Submitted to Contest #75

"Alrighty, Miss....Smith?" the secretary stared over her gleaming, red glasses into the waiting room, wondering which woman would change their life forever today."Yes! That's me, that's me," a short, mud-haired woman shoots up from of her dull, fading leather seat. She catches sight of the doctor who opens the mysterious door that leads to the path that will hold her future. His mold green eyes stared at her, almost insisting that she was making the right choice. Come. It was as if she could read his thoughts. Her black heels begin to clack ...

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“Life Changer” by Claudio Murgia

Submitted to Contest #75

It is on the first day of the year, every year, that my job comes into effect. For the rest of the year, I prepare. I am like that painter that spends days looking at her subject without touching a brush and then, when she is finally ready, finishes her painting with a few, rapid, master strokes. A person comes to me, they want to change their lives completely, and I do just that. On the first day of the new year they are someone different. My job is done, I disappear. Almost no one has regretted it and asked me to go back to their previo...

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“Opening Portals” by Samira Davis

Submitted to Contest #75

"Jackie, what do you think is happening to you?" Star Phoenix, expert child psychologist, gazed patiently at the squirming boy sitting in front of her. Star's office was all grey. A bleak, cold grey, which muffled the sunshine and made another monochromatic world which seemed to be drowning in silence. The cat clock's eyes ticked back and forth. Jackie Sloan was seeing portals everywhere since his parents went off the grid. He believed that one day, these doors would lead him to them. When asked why he couldn't open them yet, he always said ...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 246 stories

“Sign Your Life Away” by Ira Waynewright

“The Lady of the Glawackus” by Mollin Luxeder

“The Last Leaf” by Patrick Druid

“Revenge is Best Served from the Dead” by H B

“Crossing the Grapple” by Caleb Goehring

“Aiding and Abetting” by Steve McKenney

“You are worse” by Regan Boden

“New beginnings” by NK Hatendi

“Dante's Divine Disappearings” by Callum Tucker

“Someone must remeber ” by Thandeka Katsika

“A Glimpse of the Works and Wonders of a Dead-People-Processing Teller” by Andrea An

“Dump the Garbage, Make Room for Glitter” by Anna Bush

“Not in His Attic” by Jessica Burke

“Life Changer” by Claudio Murgia

“Opening Portals” by Samira Davis

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

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

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

Contest #75

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

735

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: