Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 320 stories

“The Red-Eyed Boy” by Abigail Romick

Submitted to Contest #98

The blond boy jerks awake, red eyes opened wide, searching frantically, before falling back into the embrace of unconsciousness, or in his case the headlock of unconsciousness.“What’s wrong with him?” I ask, studying his form. He’s skinny, somewhat frail, but not deathly so. That said, it still looks like a large meal would do him good.“We are not quite sure,” Mikita replies. Mikita has been a member of this ‘fine’ crew far longer than my callow cleons of life. A mother to us all, she feeds us, teaches us, and nags us when we don’t do our ch...

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“Fifty Years Past” by 64sg1 Wexler

Submitted to Contest #98

FIFTY YEARS PASSED For fifty years the road stood unchanged. The road upon which an old man appeared. It was a cold day, gray as the man himself, who stood fixed upon the near ancient gravel glowering at the brownish cottage with white trim standing upon his right hand. His eyes turned away but his step failed to advance. He simply stood immobile, as if lost in thought, his weathered face and narrowed eyes reflective of man struggling with a memory, a pattern of thought that would not form. The old man stood t...

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“The Red House” by Stephanie Albright

Submitted to Contest #98

The Red House The red house had been there for a very long time. No one had lived there in at least fifty years, and no one could even remember who owned the place. It was a three-story Victorian made of brick, blood-red bricks. The yard was overgrown and surrounded by a six-foot iron fence. The shutters were all closed tightly, except for the window on the widow’s walk, some claimed that they had seen weird lights in that window. The townsfolk stayed away from the house except for the man that the city sent over to cut the grass three or...

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“А потом они пришли за мной” by Ben Hulme

Submitted to Contest #98

The moon’s glare fell across the ripples as the Dons waters lumbered around the river’s bend. Yana saw it before she heard it. A flash of light, that erupted up into the sky, to be absorbed by the clouds. Then arrived the dull bang. Then another bomb fell. Voronezh burned. They will be here soon, thought Yana, pulling a golden strand of hair from across her face. The door behind her opened and she t...

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“The unknown journey of Cody” by Roberta Henley

Submitted to Contest #98

I always knew that this day was coming. I could feel it in my gut. I knew that I couldn't stay here forever. My job of being a leader and president of us stuffed animals is over. So, I decided to what I thought was right for our people by retiring to Paris, France. I know that it was a hard decision and I didn't want to do this. I hated to leave everything and everyone that I know and love behind, but I didn't have a choice or option. I'm not as young as I used to be. At least, not anymore. I can't keep doing this job of being leader and pre...

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“Scorched” by Jubilee Lubov

Submitted to Contest #98

home (noun): the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.__‘Home.’ Ha. What a funny word. What even is ‘home?’ Is it the place where you feel safest, the place where you laugh with family and friends, or is it simply the structure in which you live? Is ‘home’ even a place at all, since the very definition of home varies from person to person and place to place? If you really think about it, has ‘home’ ever really been a specific or special person or place to anyone? But, if we follow the ...

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“The Birthday Gift” by Sarah Reilley

Submitted to Contest #98

I never thought it would end up this way. I went for a walk to cool my head after he blew up at me. I made a wish and walked out the door. It was stupid. So stupid. And now I’m stuck. I hadn’t loaded the dishwasher, and I’d told him I would. It wasn’t like he was controlling me, though. He’d been asking me to do it for a week. But I kept forgetting. Somehow, my brain stopped functioning. It was like I was living in a fog. I tried to get out of the funk that was sucking me deeper and deeper into this depression, but everything I tried just fe...

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“Home Again, Home Again” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #98

To market, to market, to buy a fat hen, Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. To market, to market, to buy a fat hog, Home again, home again, jiggety-jog. When my mother used to sing all the verses to this Mother Goose rhyme to me, neither of us knew it actually came from 1598 (if not before), from Florio's A Worlde of Wordes, or Most Copious, and exact Dictionarie in Italian and English. As a very young child, I simply liked the rhythm and the rhyme, and how I felt when being bounced on maternal knees. Whee! One never forgets thos...

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“Lady Hotaru” by Marici W

Submitted to Contest #98

I was on a tour in London when this had all begun. It was July 6th of 2030, and it had been pouring since 8 o’clock in the morning. The thunderstorm woke me up at 8 but I went back to sleep after the thunder came in at such a frequency that it established a soothing rhythm. When I finally got out of bed at noon I rushed to the Rivoli Ballroom to get ready for the performance in the evening. It was still as dark outside as if it were midnight. I stared into the darkness, and asked David, “Is this type of weather normal to you? ” “Ay...

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“apartment 23” by Anderson Lemus - Del Cid

Submitted to Contest #98

I pushed the door of the bathroom, my shoes tapped against the ceramic floor of this empty bathroom. I used the urinal. I did not flush as the water seemed like it would overflow if I did. I walked over to the sink, washed my hands, looked at my hair, my tired eyes, the zit that had recently brewed itself. I dried my hands with my shirt — there weren’t any paper towels. I walked out of the bathroom and returned to the same. I live pretty near to where I work, roughly a 15-minute walk, so I walked back from work to where I resided in my small...

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“The Warning” by Alexa Mae Pecora

Submitted to Contest #98

“The three of them,” something inside me breaks. “They just stood there-” “Lee, calm down-” “24 days,” I remember the way the man had spoken with fear. “24 days! They’re coming-” “Hey, calm down-” “The three of them. 24 days,” I wrench my arms from Mira’s grasp and fiercely run my fingers through my hair. “Oh my gosh!” I moan, “24 days, 24 days-” “Harley!” Mira called me by my full name. I look up into his dark, hazel eyes to find confusion, fear, and hurt. He takes my wrists and envelopes my hands with his....

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“The Battle of Love” by Sidney Lauro

Submitted to Contest #98

I came out to my dad yesterday. A southern boy, growing up in Kansas, he'd worked in the fields since he was six. His dad beat him with a whip whenever he misbehaved. He went to church weekly but prayed daily. He'd briefly gone to school, but had dropped out when money was tight. And now, he was single, my mom having left him when I was four. I've been in love with her--Maria--for a few years. Ever since my crush on her began in sixth grade, I'd known that I'm gay. I'd never have thought that she was, too. And especially not that she liked...

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“Always Almost Home” by Lavender Z

Submitted to Contest #98

(Ashlynne)Home. It wasn't a place. It was a person; or rather, a feeling. It was the feeling of the silky bunny hat you let me wear on a chilly december walk home or the feeling of your hands on my waist when we slow-danced in your screened-in porch. Home dripped from the stars, beautiful and close with the comforting night sky until it was swallowed with the lucent rays of sun. Home killed me when I found myself in that high school parking lot miles away from you, lodged itself into me and refused to let me breathe until I learned...

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“The return that never happend” by Anika Roy

Submitted to Contest #98

Raman was twelve years old when he came as a servant to his master's house. He belonged to the same caste as his master and was given his master's little son to nurse. As time went on the boy left Raicharan's arms to go to school. From school he went on to college, and after college he entered the judicial service. Always, until he married, Raicharan was his sole attendant. But when a mistress came into the house, Raicharan found two masters instead of one. All his former influence passed to the new mistress. This was compensated by a fresh ...

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“Part of the Family” by Tommie Michele

Submitted to Contest #98

I shouldn’t be here. It’s the stubborn thought that hasn’t left my mind for the past month. One month since the family of my dreams caught a glimpse of me outside their window and invited me inside. Bram, Lori, and Nell. Bram, with his strong and gentle fatherly spirit. Lori, who’s made me dinner every single night. And Nell. With her auburn hair and sea-green eyes that make me feel like she can see right through me, with the shy smile that sends my heart racing. I’ve been trying, I really have, but it’s become evident that ...

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Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 320 stories

“The Red-Eyed Boy” by Abigail Romick

“Fifty Years Past” by 64sg1 Wexler

“The Red House” by Stephanie Albright

“А потом они пришли за мной” by Ben Hulme

“The unknown journey of Cody” by Roberta Henley

“Scorched” by Jubilee Lubov

“The Birthday Gift” by Sarah Reilley

“Home Again, Home Again” by Kathleen March

“Lady Hotaru” by Marici W

“apartment 23” by Anderson Lemus - Del Cid

“The Warning” by Alexa Mae Pecora

“The Battle of Love” by Sidney Lauro

“Always Almost Home” by Lavender Z

“The return that never happend” by Anika Roy

“Part of the Family” by Tommie Michele

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a family with a long-standing tradition, whose members all have conflicting origin stories for it.

Start your story with a character having a premonition, but no one believes them.

Write about someone who’s desperately trying to change their luck.

Set your story on (or in) a winding river.

Contest #98

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

751

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: