Start your story with the narrator or a character saying “I remember…”

Posted in Angst on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 102 stories

“As I Grow” by Cate Stamper

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember many things from my life. When I look back to childhood, there’s so much I could focus on. But no memory will ever be as ingrained in my head as my mother saying “grow up” is. I can see her face, the way her eyes narrowed, and how her mouth looked. How her voice sounded as she delivered this harsh statement. I heard this statement many a time in my youth. Granted, it was almost always directed towards my father, not me. My parents tended to bicker, their words like venom. They fought a lot. I grew up on a farm. My dad spent...

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“Hard Up” by Dawn Govender

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the first time I saw a dead body. It wasn’t gross or gruesome or anything like that but, never having seen a dead person before, it was, if nothing else, informative. Mr. Brewer had been a friend of my grandparents since well before I could remember. I assumed he was older than Grandpa because even though they both had grey hair, Grandpa had more of it. Mrs. Brewer had died long before I arrived, and her loss was Grandma’s excuse for why Mr. Brewer’s house looked shabbier and more piled up with every kind of junk each time they c...

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“Stay Off Memory Lane” by Jessica Hayes

Submitted to Contest #140

As i sit here pondering on what to write and watching all the kids skate around in circles reminds me the times i went skating. I wasn’t a very good skater. I always just tried to fit in with the rest of the kids from school. It looks a lot different when you're older. I look around and see all kinds of people younger kids, teens, and even older people skating. I wish i were like some of these kids. They look free and happy. They look like they haven’t got a worry in the world. Especially, the birthday girl that's wearing a rainbow tutu with...

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“Destination Undetermined” by Ron Davidson

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember as a child my mother chaining me to our apartment’s radiator. The tiny flat was on the third floor of a crumbling brick building at the end of Celestial Street. My mom was very concerned that the chain was too tight around my ankle. She was worried that it would cut off the circulation in my foot, resulting in an amputation which we could not afford. I reassured her I was fine, and I didn’t mind the restraint. Chaining me to the radiator became a frequent event and it was ritu...

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“Prom Blight” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #140

Prom Blight “I remember my prom. What a night… Changed my life… Never forget it.” Lisa’s mother fussed over Lisa’s hair and reminisced. Tonight was Lisa’s prom. Expecting another pointless story, Lisa tuned her mother out. Recent conversations with friends carried more weight. Matthew, her date, would be there soon. ‘This is prom night! Why so gloomy?’ She had too many mixed feelings. Her friend, Hannah, knew why prom was the biggest social event of the year. Simplified, both boys and girls believed sleeping with their date was the prime re...

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“The Diamond in the Beans” by Gabriela D. Martin

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the story our grand-grandmother told us about Lady Barclay, her aunt, who once stunned the London society by appearing at a glamorous charity event wearing a diamond as a tooth.My grand-grandmother's memory wasn't quite reliable at 97 years old and was famous for coming up with fraudulent stories at her parties when she had too much to drink.So, I double checked that memory by examining her diary.To my delight - an aspiring story-teller myself - here's what I've found as the last entry: "The Diamond in the Beans" It wa...

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“The Tide is High ” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the moment when my roommate Nigel asked me to try cocaine for the first time. It was in 1996 and we were living in Tokyo in a vaguely multicultural apartment with roommates from Northern England, Queensland Australia and myself from Midwest America.Nigel had been asked the same question a week earlier by our other Australian roommate and apparently had been having a good time since then.“You should try it,'' Nigel said.“But I’ve heard so many warning about it.” I said. In my mind I pictured a hundred film scenes of Al Pacino type ...

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“Love Is (Not) Enough: A Memoir” by Spike Uesugi

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the first time we met. Do you? I went to pick you up at the airport. It took a while for you to get your luggage and walk to the concourse, but I saw you from across the room as soon as you walked in. You were holding the stuffed animal I bought you and your favorite pillow. When you saw me, you tensed up. I couldn’t tell what you were thinking, because you were just shaking your head and hiding your face. Then I realized that you were too shy to come toward me. So I came toward you instead and gave you a big hug. I remember think...

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“My Li'l Black Dad” by Frank Bosworth

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember, seems from the day I was born, I remember my dad was short and black. Well, no, not quite. Let’s say not ‘short’ short, but vertically challenged. And not ‘black’ black, but how about he was, uh, colored? Yes. Better. He was colored. Yes. Vertically challenged and colored. Better. Much better. He was four colors, actually. Being I was, and still am at this writing, a certifiable Caucasian, an explanation would be in order. You see, for many years, long before I was born and long after, my dad worked in a foundry. An iron fo...

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“Sabrina ” by Raizel Michelina

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember now, years later, that bittersweet day when our lives changed irrevocably forever. A heads up would have been nice. But, oh no, Mr Ugly Duckling had to be all dramatic and incredibly sadistic. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. This is the story of me and my family. I am called Sabrina Swan of the great Swan Family. My founding ancestor was of course Mr. Ugly Duckling who turned out to be a Swan. We were deemed to be special, a clan of Swans who grew up slowly like humans and attained ripe old ages like them.....

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“I Smile” by Annette C

Submitted to Contest #140

contains sensitive content about cancer and its struggle I remember when my aunt actually said that she went through cancer. Ok, she was diagnosed with cancer, but it was stage ZERO. Are you kidding me? I sat there listening to her ordeal as she cried when she was told that she had cancer stage ZERO. The family support for her was enormous. Meanwhile, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, but she was the one with the attention. Fine! I really don’t need attention. My aunt posted a picture of extra hair on her brush due to pills that ...

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“The Good Old Days” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the good old days. Aunt Alice was always saying this. She’d go on about kids being better behaved back then. How they knew their place and how they sat quietly and only said something when spoken to. Kids were happy to play outside in the rain or the snow and with cardboard boxes they used for make-believe games. Not magnifyingly expensive toys like today’s kids have. She’d also go on about designer clothing and how every little kid from three upwards these days owns a mobile phone. How children have got no manners because the ...

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“MY GARDEN THAT GROWS BONES” by Darrell Grant

Submitted to Contest #140

Warning: some violence I remember when I was the self appointed almighty protector of my neighborhood. I also remember always thinking and being aware that it was a matter of time before I got caught doing what I believed I had to do, to protect my neighborhood. Hell my neighbors couldn't just keep coming up missing or dead and me not becoming one of the suspects. But I didn't care because I knew that even if a person burned down their own house and left a can of gas in the middle of the living r...

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“Memory of Now” by Shannon Patch

Submitted to Contest #140

“I remember when it was just you and me,” I say, smirking a little as a five year old crawls from the arm of the couch onto Josh’s head. He’s trying to read. He smirks back, dog ears the page, and pulls a ball of arms and legs and energy down into his lap. “I remember when you used to nap!” he says, and lands a kiss on her chubby, giggling cheeks. “Remind me she needs a bath later,” I say, rising to tidy up the living room while our child is momentarily distracted by her daddy’s Sunday morning stubble. I remember the soft scratch...

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“Whirlwind” by Carolyn Carter

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember when my daughter was a toddler, I avoided taking her to the park because it always drew her to the colorful big toys and the noisy energy that came from the playground. As I watched her beautiful brown eyes sparkle with excitement, I cringed with apprehension. It hurt me to see her lovely face turn shades of pink and her cheerful smile turn upside down when I said things like, “Uh...we’ll come back tomorrow, ok honey?” ...

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Start your story with the narrator or a character saying “I remember…”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 102 stories

“As I Grow” by Cate Stamper

“Hard Up” by Dawn Govender

“Stay Off Memory Lane” by Jessica Hayes

“Destination Undetermined” by Ron Davidson

“Prom Blight” by John K Adams

“The Diamond in the Beans” by Gabriela D. Martin

“The Tide is High ” by Scott Christenson

“Love Is (Not) Enough: A Memoir” by Spike Uesugi

“My Li'l Black Dad” by Frank Bosworth

“Sabrina ” by Raizel Michelina

“I Smile” by Annette C

“The Good Old Days” by Barbara Burgess

“MY GARDEN THAT GROWS BONES” by Darrell Grant

“Memory of Now” by Shannon Patch

“Whirlwind” by Carolyn Carter

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character with an unreliable memory.

End your story with total oblivion.

Write a story that involves a flashback.

Write a story inspired by a memory of yours.

Contest #140

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

333

Contest entries

170

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: