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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 320 stories

“Where it all began” by Barbara Langille

Submitted to Contest #98

She fiddled with a flame, flicking it between her fingers like a magician with a coin. The bright kaleidoscope of reds and oranges reflected in her slate eyes as she glanced up at the chestnut mare that was pawing the ground, anxious to keep moving. “Easy Fyn,” Pen reassured, as she leaned back against the massive oak whose leaves were temporarily giving her respite from the drizzling rain. She dispelled the small flame with a sigh, flexing the cold dampness out of her long graceful fingers. Fyn whinnied as if in disagreement with her fl...

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“Destined for Darkness - A Letter for you” by Hadia Abbas

Submitted to Contest #98

Dear Esser, I watch you. During the night, during the day... during work hours, during leisure time. I watch you all day, every day. It sounds terrifying, right? There's a random stranger lurking about, looking into your life. Staring, never joining. But I'm not a random stranger. I'm not a creep, looking scandalously into people that do not concern me. No, I'm not. I'm... Well, I'm family. Or at least, I was. I grew up with you. Don't you remember? Your one little sister, your one best friend. I'm her.  I'm yours....

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“The Oceans Whispers” by Kenzie Lindow

Submitted to Contest #98

There is a feeling that strikes me each time I return back to the ocean. A sharp feeling that makes me wonder if my fate is slowly turning on its edge, circling like a spinning coin until it falls flat on the table. The waves lapping against the waves make me flinch, asking me in the mists of saltwater if I remember whose hands my fate truly lies in.  Distant sounds of creatures, larger and more terrified than I am called out in the dusk. The smell of fish and sand is diluted by the growing smell of hunger that masks our small shoreline...

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“The Fair” by Mona Del Valle

Submitted to Contest #98

I felt lost. The deafening wailing that announced the beginning of a new ride on the roller coaster, distorted voices shouting something I could not understand and loud music as thick in the air as a physical obstacle. Somebody took my hand, I was so dazzled I did not even look who it was. The mass of people, chatting, laughing, shouting, pushed me, somebody pulled me through the stream of bodies. Sometimes I succeeded in focusing on a face but I recognized no one. So I retreated further into myself from this sea of noise and strangers. I fo...

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“Just a car ride?” by Allison Law

Submitted to Contest #98

It didn’t feel like I slept long, but when I began to stir and one my eyes I felt way better. I was a little stiff from the way I slept in the car, but I no longer felt groggy, tired, dizzy, or confused. In fact, I felt just like myself, and felt well rested. I began to stretch bringing my hands above my head. Then I looked over at him, and smiled. He smiled back before turning his head back to the road, “Hello sleepy head. Feeling better?”  “That really did the trick. I feel much better.” I looked out the windshield at the dark sk...

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“The Road” by Alex Acosta

Submitted to Contest #98

I couldn’t go back. Not after saying goodbye for the last time. The empty highway ahead of me felt infinite. It went on forever.  But that didn’t matter. I had nowhere to go anyways. My legs recovered enough for me to start riding my bike again. I hopped on and started pedaling. Normally riding my bike was fine and easy but this time I was carrying a backpack full of supplies and my weapons.  It was peaceful in a way biking on this long, smooth road. It felt almost wrong to be biking on a road once dominated by cars. Now it was ...

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“On The Run” by Jenny Van Zandt

Submitted to Contest #98

Mae touched the pink hair gingerly as if afraid it would fall off of her head if handled too harshly.  It might, she thought. Still looks like a wig. No one’s gonna buy it. She ripped her fingers through the ends. A few strands of hair tore from her scalp with a sting, but for the most part, the pink stayed intact.  That’s that, then. It’s real. It’s hers.  It looked like trash. More than that, it made her look trashy.  Mae gave herself a shy smile in the bathroom mirror. Perfect.  It wasn’t as if she was expec...

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“The Fire” by Donna Quiroz

Submitted to Contest #98

The Fire 2353 words Reedsy Contest #98 Origin Stories She knew she couldn't go back there, but Aiden couldn't help herself, after all it was home, her home. She had spent her childhood there, and several of her teen years, first with her mom and dad, then alone with her mother. "What is so important about "home" anyways?" She spoke aloud as she wove in and out of the traffic on I-5. Home meant so much more than shelter, or safety, it was tied into her memories of everything warm, safe and loving. It was the best place to grow up, out a...

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“Promise home” by Natalie Charnock

Submitted to Contest #98

'' One...two.....three...four'' It was nothing then a normal night really I never can be able to sleep at this time of night so I'm always at the window counting all the stars in the sky, I always have to recount not that I don't mind at all actually just that my brain can sometimes wander off with me knowing. I sigh and stopped counting and look back in the dark cold room everything was almost completely black if it weren't for the night sky filling the room through the window the floors were cold and cement-like the walls and ceiling just ...

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“The Tale of Princess Lark Adalyn Poverly ” by Natalie Borg

Submitted to Contest #98

Once upon a time, on a day brighter than any other, a girl whose name was Princess Lark Adalyn Poverly was born. She was the pride and joy of her parents Queen Eloise Gwyneth Poverly and King Raynor Thornston Poverly. They were the rulers of the kingdom of Alondia. For years, Lady Eloise was told she would never have children, so it was a surprise to everyone when Princess Lark was born. As a heads up, I want to warn you. If you think this is a story where everyone lives happily ever after, nobody dies, and no tragic incidents happen to ma...

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“Goodbye Poppy” by Jeannie Cleven

Submitted to Contest #98

Jonathan sat on the remains of a fallen pine tree on a small island directly across from his Grandpa’s place. It was so quiet. Nothing was moving. Jonathan took a deep breath and looked over the frozen lake. Grandpa John… affectionately known as “Poppy” should be somewhere over there, but no sign of him yet. Poppy was so proud of his home, and he should be. He was a young man of 19 when he bought this piece of land on Lake Akerman, which many years later earned the nickname of “Lake Belly Ache” after one holiday cookout where questionable...

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“The Prince and the Crimelord ” by Mikayla Ross

Submitted to Contest #98

He really did hate the slums. The foul street urchins wandering the streets, clutching onto his clothing, begging for his money. Street brawls breaking out on every corner, creating pools of blood everywhere he stepped. Though most of all, Alexian hated the smell, the stench of dead things, and uncleansed bodies reeked around him. Yet there he was, trekking through Osagia’s slums. The putrid smell infiltrating his nostrils, making him gag. He didn’t want to be there and there was really no good reason for him to be there other than the fact...

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“Red Sky at Morning” by A Mehendale

Submitted to Contest #98

Red wakes up that morning - like he does most mornings - with screams ringing in his ears and the bitter taste of smoke faint on his tongue.He stares unblinking at the ceiling, like he does most mornings, taking a moment to simply be and breathe, to fill his lungs with cold air that does not choke him.And then, like he does most mornings, he shrugs off his bed covers, twisted together and clammy with sweat, and makes his way to the open window, to determine by how many hours he has beaten the sun’s rise.Today the moon is paling, low in the s...

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“The War Between Hope and Death” by Skylar Brooks

Submitted to Contest #98

( This story is about two young boys in World War 1 fighting for the British Army. I know it's not perfect and I tried my best to make everything accurate. It is a little long I got carried away. Trigger Warning because it does discuss darker things. I hope you enjoy! )I was a young boy, too young. My name was James. I had just had my 16th birthday when we had gotten news from father that a war had begun. My father was too old and frail to go fight for our country I knew I had to be the one to set up. The day I left my mum cried harder than ...

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“homecoming.” by Rebeca Sage

Submitted to Contest #98

Stephen Artemis ran, his feet thumping on the ground underneath him. The cool midnight breeze cooling off his warm, rosy cheeks. “Have fun trying to get back home in time to stop us from restoring our one true advantage.”  The portal was just two feet away from him; he willed it to work with every cell in his body. “Magic is indestructible, we could fight the humans back with it. But the cost is much too great.” He knew it wouldn’t work, but that didn’t stop him from trying, despite the fact he had to run into a tree trunk at ev...

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Ended on 23:59 - Jun 18, 2021 EST

Won by Mary Sheehan 🏆

Title: Blessed Home

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