A forgotten photograph tucked away somewhere is the catalyst for an unexpected journey.

Posted in Adventure on Jul 5, 2024

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✍️ 88 stories

“Dreaming of You” by C.J. Carlin

Submitted to Contest #258

“This is ghoulish,” my sister said, from somewhere in the dimness of the attic.I had been flipping through an old photo album, my mind a million miles away. “What is?” I asked.“Grandma isn’t even dead yet and we’re already going through her things, dividing it up and acting like it’s ours already.”“Let’s be realistic,” I offered. “We know she may only have a couple weeks, if that. Would you prefer we did this after the funeral, when everyone is depressed?”“It just seems wrong to-“ Jules stopped suddenly, and I looked up. She was holding a pa...

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“A Forgotten Memory” by WR Peden

Submitted to Contest #258

As I carried a box of my grandmother's belongings into the house, a wave of loss and nostalgia swept over me. Despite a few days having passed since the funeral, the reality of it still felt surreal. My grandma had been such a significant part of my life, and now her absence left the house filled with emptiness and echoes of the past. The movers had transported stacks of boxes from her house to mine, and I faced a full week of sorting through them. I was unprepared for the emotional turmoil that awaited. Eac...

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“The Last Sunset” by Shahnaz T.M

Submitted to Contest #258

Trigger warning: Violence, drugs and suicide Morris looked into the distance and saw the city skyline as it rose from the bay, built on the very dirt and grime that plagued its entrails. He puffed on his smelly cigar and watched as the bin men cleaned out the streets, hauling those meaty trash bags full of vice and knew that as hard as they tried they couldn't clean the guilty conscience out of this sinful city. He bent down to tie his shoelace, covered in mud. The glaring moonlight reflected his bruised knuckles that were smeared with blood...

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“Not dead” by Laura Camacho Frias

Submitted to Contest #258

It all started a year ago when my grandfather returned from the world of the dead. To be fair, he had never died, "just" disappeared, but for my mother, who saw him convulse in a hospital bed until the flatline appeared and lived without him for decades, both things were the same: he was lost and dead... Twelve months ago, my mother argued with my grandmother during a phone call, which was nothing new but triggered an unexpected event. Who would have told us, her close family, children, and husband, that a discussion about good manners wou...

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“The Memory Box” by Dee H

Submitted to Contest #258

I learned 4 years ago there is no safe way to open a Memory Box holding gems accumulated from the years age 5 to 18. You know the kind of box I mean. A sturdy repository where report cards, class photos, and participation ribbons for sporting events were deposited with the hope that, someday, going through the items would bring about warm and fuzzy memories of summer softball games and winter singing contests. In my case, it was a clear, non-descript plastic tote with a green lid that had not been tended to in nearly 10 years....

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“A Puzzling Last Wish” by Skye Griffith

Submitted to Contest #258

The photograph lay on the floor where I’d be sure to find it and showed Ada in her twenties when she’d already become a New York City Ballet sensation. I’d unlocked the door to her closed-up house, the sunlight pouring into the familiar entryway, remembering treasured past visits. She’d given me a shiny new key a few days after settling in at the assisted living facility. She said she’d changed all the house’s locks and for me to hold onto it. I’d smiled, amused to...

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“Out There” by Angie Lucas

Submitted to Contest #258

Easton was a large, thriving community that rarely experienced any conflict, hardship, or pain. Every one of its nearly 2,000 residents contributed equally to the building and maintenance of the village, which was a testament to the overall harmony they enjoyed together. Most had moved to Easton to get away from the evils of the world, and sometime over the past decade, decided that total isolation was the only way to truly achieve the peace they so desperately longed for. When a young woman named Rachelle was disowned by her family and cast...

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“Origami Eagles and the Whuppin’ Belt” by Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #258

The will was brief and precise. I got everything. The house, the land, the money. The house and property were tucked away in the northern part of the Texas Panhandle, miles from a highway and light years from anything I had ever known. The money was tucked away in municipal bonds, earning two percent a year. Eighty-nine years of RG’s life distilled into legal documents and an old photograph. Grandpa Rook, who insisted that I call him RG, died peacefully in his bed while I was sleeping peacefully in my bed, two hundred miles away.Everyon...

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“Old Wounds” by Justin Diaz

Submitted to Contest #258

Old Wounds The midday sun shined brightly on the American flags that adorned all the homes in town and down main street. As preparations were being made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of V-E Day. The day that World War Two ended in Europe and so many of the veterans, city officials and volunteers were busy setting up for a large parade and festival to commemorate the soldiers who fought and died for the country. You would be hard pressed to not find anyone feeling a sense of patriotism this time of year. Except for some of the younger ge...

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“Down Memory Lane” by Lisa Spargo

Submitted to Contest #258

Down Memory Lane Alex Roamer climbed the steps of his parents’ house, dreading the job of cleaning it out. He and his mother had planned to go through everything when they got the time. But the stroke and his mother’s death made that time now. His father had passed several years before and he had been nagging his mother to get rid of all the junk he used to hang on to. Every time Alex would say, “Dad why do you hang on to this?” His father would answer, “I have a good memory about that.” His mother said the same thing abo...

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“An Unsettling Discovery ” by Dawn Harwood

Submitted to Contest #258

“Mom, where do you think your passport is?” I shouted up to her, wondering why I did as my mother could not hear me talking even when I was sat next to her. I moved some more papers in the drawer that seemed to be breeding papers and items. Suddenly, I saw a photograph of a young man in a uniform. On the back was written “Ich liebe dich, Gerhard xx. 24.09.1943 xx”. I turned the photo over and noticed the German uniform. I remembered seeing this photo before when I was a teenager, snooping through the drawers. My mother had caught me and I ha...

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“Would you capture yourself a dream?” by Marija B.

Submitted to Contest #258

Have you ever dreamed of a journey to the most beautiful land of them all? Have you ever pictured a moment where life seems to stop, and the moment stops for eternity? I have. I dream of it all the time. I fantasize about it while walking the streets of this small town I call home. I fantasize about the uniqueness of the beautiful scenery and the colors. Ah, colors. The only colors I see walking through these bland lanes are different shades of brown and gray. I can at least catch a little bit of green in the nearby forest, which is, to th...

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“ONE THOUSAND MILE JOURNEY” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #258

Today was a hard day for my family. Today we buried my grandfather or pops as he liked to be called. Pops was the best guy. Pops and nana were married for many decades. They were so much in love. Pops was more than just my grandfather. He was my confidant. Pops was there for me more than my own father ever was. I talked to pops about everything. I loved him so much. Now I'm left with a big hole in my heart. I can't stay with my family any longer. It's painful knowing pops is not here. If there was a time when I need pops the most it would be...

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“The Hummingbird ” by Johanna Parry

Submitted to Contest #258

She found it at the bottom of her sock drawer. Old cough drops, a pencil, smiles paralyzed in a photograph. Awkward almost-adults hanging on each other while holding up a trophy. It was a birding award from the National Audubon Society. A gold hummingbird sitting perched atop a wooden base with a plaque that read "Winner of the 1938 hunt for the Amazonian Bomber." Under that it has the latin name; Patagonas Gigas. Linda cringed. The audacity it takes to name a magnificent bird, without considering what those who lived with it from antiquity ...

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“I Know a Way Out of Hell” by Lois Corey

Submitted to Contest #258

I have come home but not come home. I have buried my medal, letters, and mementos at the bottom of a crumpled cardboard box, in the bottom of a drawer in an unsuccessful attempt to leave the battlefield behind. But I am still there. The days pass by. Months go by. Surrounded by stale pizza boxes and empty beer bottles, still in a drunken haze, I flop once again in front of the TV. I mindlessly flick the remote and start watching a movie, “Ghandi.” I am transfixed. Toward the end, there is a scene that hits me like a cannonb...

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A forgotten photograph tucked away somewhere is the catalyst for an unexpected journey.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 88 stories

“Dreaming of You” by C.J. Carlin

“A Forgotten Memory” by WR Peden

“The Last Sunset” by Shahnaz T.M

“Not dead” by Laura Camacho Frias

“The Memory Box” by Dee H

“A Puzzling Last Wish” by Skye Griffith

“Out There” by Angie Lucas

“Origami Eagles and the Whuppin’ Belt” by Astrid Skarsgaard

“Old Wounds” by Justin Diaz

“Down Memory Lane” by Lisa Spargo

“An Unsettling Discovery ” by Dawn Harwood

“Would you capture yourself a dream?” by Marija B.

“ONE THOUSAND MILE JOURNEY” by Melinda Madrigal

“The Hummingbird ” by Johanna Parry

“I Know a Way Out of Hell” by Lois Corey

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around two strangers who bond over their shared love of photography.

Write a story where a photograph could change the course of history if it’s delivered to the right (or wrong!) person.

Start your story with someone who has lost everything but finds solace in photography.

A photographer captures an image of something unexplainable. What happens next?

Contest #258

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

289

Contest entries

88

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: