Write a story about someone coming to terms with how different they are from their younger self.

Posted in Angst on Nov 25, 2022

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✍️ 49 stories

“RATFACE OF THE ELDERLY” by BRUCE MARTIN

Submitted to Contest #174

Mickey Murinian hated the reality of getting older. It wasn’t the aches and pains that caused him such angst. It wasn’t the difficulty playing tennis or inability to run with his grandkids that he disliked so much. It wasn’t even the fear of his own inevitable mortality that gripped his psyche. Mickey Murinian was extremely vain. And whenever he looked in the mirror, he was witness to the ravages of age. Once a fairly handsome young man, now his face was changing rapidly. He first noticed some sagging of the neck. But the neck was not ...

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“COOKING FOR ONE” by Eileen Turner

Submitted to Contest #174

(Relies heavily on having seen ‘Aliens’.) COOKING FOR ONE Scrambled eggs and toast. She actually cooked for a change, but only because she was out of cold cereal. Gloria took the dish to the couch where she was now in the habit of eating. She put her feet up, pushed play on the remote control, and settled in to watch ‘Aliens’ for the third time. Or was it the fourth? If anyone asked me why I like this movie, she caught herself thinking, I really couldn’t give them ...

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“Little Blue Jay” by Em M

Submitted to Contest #174

The cries seemed so surreal that I almost thought they were automated. There was no way a real human could be making that sound. Tears dripped down my face as my forehead scrunched so much that my years of retinol and moisturizer were thrown out the window. I’m a wrinkly-foreheaded mom now. But I’m okay with it. The feeling in my heart isn’t palpitations, but instead a feeling of soul-crushing ecstasy. The kind that you want to hold on to forever, because you know that no other moment in your life will top it- but you also can’t wait for it ...

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“Stardust or Starbucks” by William A. Neary

Submitted to Contest #174

They built a future that could nearly last forever. I guess ‘nearly’ wasn’t good enough. It’ll happen a thousand years from now, but we can already feel the effects, seeing things that are gone or never existed, remembering things that hadn’t happened. Whatever they’ll do, or ‘did’ from their perspective, caused problems with all the timelines, this one and the ones beside us. I didn’t know we had those... parallel timelines. That’s all I can gather so far. Baffle doesn’t explain things very well. He’s a trans-human being from five hundred y...

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“The handwritten letters” by Dao Huy Kien

Submitted to Contest #174

It was the first time in my life I received a handwritten letter from a girl who wanted to make friends with me. The story happened in 2005 when I was seventeen. After appearing on a TV talent show to set a new national record of football juggling, I experienced the sweet taste of fame for a while. The next Monday, the vice-principal commended me and a girl in the same grade in front of the whole school in the patriotic ceremony. “Our high school is well known for the high academic achievement”, he said with a strong voice. “But studying is ...

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“Thank Guvvie...” by Dylan Mass

Submitted to Contest #174

“Hey kiddo, how are you?” I ask to the kid across the kitchen table, who just smiles. “You know you can talk right? Guvvie approved it.” Nothing “Say something at least.” I beg. “Like what? What do you want me to say?” he tilts his head, the smile gone. “I don’t know. Don’t you have questions or something? Am I married? Kids? Something dude.” my face gets hot with annoyance. “Just looking at you, I can tell that you aren’t married. No wedding ring or any trace of a former wedding ring, so no divorce. And there are too many fragile objects ar...

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“An Evolutionary Fall” by Sarah Goodner

Submitted to Contest #174

The seasons were changing, and the air was crisp and cool. It had become easier to hear the sound of the traffic on the freeway as the molecules in the air clung together to find warmth. Joining the freeway noise was the sound of dry leaves underfoot and fighting together in the breeze on their way down to the cold ground. This was my favorite time of year. For some reason, I’ve always associated the smell of autumn with childhood. At this time of year, my mother would open all the windows, letting the clean smell in to mingle with the tur...

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“Checkmate” by Pauline Milner

Submitted to Contest #174

Checkmate Shannen Taylor kicked a stone along the dirt road as he made his way toward the asphalt that would be teeming with heat as the temperature was already in the low nineties. Soon the stone was transformed into Bettle’s head and Shannen stopped to mush it into the dusty sand. It only made him feel better for a moment. Shortly after he arrived, Bettle would likely be at his desk with the perpetual mocking or ridiculous antics that often started his day. &nb...

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“A Little Older, A Lot Wiser” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #174

It was the worst few years of my life. First, I contracted Lyme disease, which was so excruciating, physically, mentally, and any other way a person can suffer, that I considered suicide more than once. A parade of doctors told me I was delusional and needed a psych evaluation. If I'd heard, "All your labwork is normal," one more time, I might have landed in jail on assault charges. One doctor, who looked about twelve years old, actually twirled her finger next to her head and said, "You know, many times, these things are all in our hea...

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“Now and Then” by Devin Chapman

Submitted to Contest #174

She grins. A dimple in her cheek and copper eyes remind me of a happy little round face not seen for decades which now exists only in dusty old photo albums at her grandmother’s house. She darts back and forth across the lawn in the warm sun. “Catch me!” She’s surprisingly fast on her tiny legs, thinner and longer now than that of the wobbly baby that she was only a couple years ago. I snatch her up and swing her through the air. She squeals in delight as I produce my best propeller sounds. “Airplane!” she screams, flying round and round i...

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“Baby Teeth ” by Bianca Riddle

Submitted to Contest #174

There’s a rip in the fabric of the universe. She knows it. Her younger self knows of it. Others probably don’t understand what they’ve stumbled upon yet. It’s inconspicuous. She can’t even describe how it works; just knows that years ago she got off the four-o-nine, a pitstop on her way to Ann Arbor and there she was, already at the corner.Autumn thinks this might mean that Blue Benn’s Diner in West Virginia is at the center of the galaxy. Or the edge of it. Maybe that’s why or how it happens. How they’re able to meet at the same place, the ...

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“The Mother's Curse” by Mandi Schrader

Submitted to Contest #174

“I couldn’t believe it, Mom,” Ella said. “She's done the all things you expect at her age—picky eating, backtalk, drawing on the walls with crayons—but this was a whole new level. I walked into Charlotte's room, and her clothes were in rags—all of them. She’d got her hands on a pair of scissors and cut holes in all her jeans. She cut the sleeves off her t-shirts and—why are you laughing?” The breathless laughter through the phone grated on Ella’s nerves. “This isn’t funny. Do you know how much we spend on clothes for her? She outgrows them...

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“Reuniting With Yourself” by D.C. Reed

Submitted to Contest #174

“I can’t believe that you made it. Girl. I mean, I just can’t.”“I know… I know, isn’t it amazing!!!” Is what Claire meant to say with a bounce as her childhood bestie, Gail, smothered her in a hug. Instead, Claire’s arms barely warped around her friend as she rocked with Gail. Awkwardly accepting the hug like she was playing dead in front of a bear. “Well, we’ll have to do something more. You don’t escape. I will be right back.”Gail weaved through the crowd, leaving Claire alone in a sea of doppelgangers a decade older than her graduati...

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“Bixby” by Ruthie Nicklaus

Submitted to Contest #174

Life was so much easier when I was a kid, before I turned nine. Back then, there was no Bixby. Oh, I wanted Bixby. I’d begged for him. “Joey has a dog, can’t we have a pet?” That was me, pretty much every day. “Not a dog, honey,” said Mom, “You have school and your dad and I work. Dogs need a yard, or someone who can take them on a walk. They get lonely when they have no one to play with.” She picked up her purse. I knew what that was like, to have no one to play with. “Pets are a lot of work, you know. Don’t st...

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“Change Is Not a Curse” by Eris Blight

Submitted to Contest #174

Everyone changes many times within their lifetime. This is a story of a girl who tried to submit to the ways of her younger self even though she had changed. Her name is Diyala Wittebane. Diyala had been friends with a group of people a couple of years older than her for a few years by now. They are the type of teens that sneak out, do drugs, and disobey authority. Ever since Diyala started to hang out with these people, she had started to get peer pressured into doing the same things as them. They had become bad influences on her. Over the...

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Write a story about someone coming to terms with how different they are from their younger self.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 49 stories

“RATFACE OF THE ELDERLY” by BRUCE MARTIN

“COOKING FOR ONE” by Eileen Turner

“Little Blue Jay” by Em M

“Stardust or Starbucks” by William A. Neary

“The handwritten letters” by Dao Huy Kien

“Thank Guvvie...” by Dylan Mass

“An Evolutionary Fall” by Sarah Goodner

“Checkmate” by Pauline Milner

“A Little Older, A Lot Wiser” by Patricia Merewether

“Now and Then” by Devin Chapman

“Baby Teeth ” by Bianca Riddle

“The Mother's Curse” by Mandi Schrader

“Reuniting With Yourself” by D.C. Reed

“Bixby” by Ruthie Nicklaus

“Change Is Not a Curse” by Eris Blight

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story where someone says, “Everything is changing.”

Write about two old friends meeting for the first time in years.

Write about someone whose desire to constantly improve something borders on obsessive.

Write a story about a brilliant scientist making a startling discovery.

Contest #174

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

238

Contest entries

96

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: