Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 320 stories

“I Never Told Her She was Home” by Mellanie Crouell

Submitted to Contest #98

Giving his goodbyes to his love ones, he was excited to go on this new adventure that life afforded him. He walks to the depot. He hears a whining and weak crying. He continues to walk the sound gets louder. He hears men laughing, speaking his Arabic calling this her a whore, plotting for the next man turn and what they were going to do her. I tried to ignore what was being done. All I could think about is what if that was my sister. I would want someone to help her. I walked softly back to the corner where I could pick up my bags and run on...

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“Unexpected Joy” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #98

Poppy stood outside in the moonlight, shivering a bit at the unexpected cold of the late summer weather. Pulling her shawl more tightly around her shoulders, she stared into the stone cottage before her, hidden where she stood behind the massive oak tree, its heavy branches masking her image. How she longed to enter and see the people who resided therein – how much she missed them - but she knew she could not go inside. No, she could never return home. Despite the fact that things had now turned around completely for her, and she had a home ...

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“Cookie Jar Secrets” by K.R. Switzer

Submitted to Contest #98

Crumpled in the corner of the kitchen like a dead spider, blood dripped down my father’s temple and onto the hexagon-shaped tiles. His eyes remained fixed on his feet with the absence of any life behind them. I still had a white knuckle hold around the neck of the broken whiskey bottle. I tried to wrangle my thoughts together but it seemed pointless as my head spun wildly. I dropped to the floor, with my fingers deep in the crevices of the tile, holding on for dear life. I stared at the floor and waited for the air to become thin enough to b...

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“Kind of Like Home” by Maddison Buch

Submitted to Contest #98

A.N.: Mentions of child abuse - nothing explicit or graphic, but it is there. It was hard, knowing that she couldn't go home. What was even harder was pretending that it didn't bother her. There was so much that went into it. Logically, she knew what had happened was abuse and that abuse was bad, but there was a part of her that couldn't help wondering if what happened wasn't abuse. It was the way her dad showed affection, it was for her own good, and her dad was so nice when she took it without crying. She knew it wasn't logical. She k...

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“M-I-S-S-I-N-G” by Saga Kosak

Submitted to Contest #98

Here he was, yet another night, staring down at the many houses below. The boy had his eyes fixated on one house in particular. Silhouettes of people waltzing through the rooms could be seen. The light was turned on in the kitchen and a person was moving around inside. As the familiar person looked out of the window, The boy felt an ache in his chest. For he could not go there. He could not waltz through the rooms of the house while waiting for dinner to be finished. Yet he could not help but to return to the house which had used to be his h...

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“A War Disguise” by Chloe Madeleine

Submitted to Contest #98

We got a letter in the mail today. We didn’t open it because we knew the words that would be planted on that piece of paper. Like getting a college acceptance letter. You either knew or you didn't. War. Such a short word with a powerful meaning. The letter read, “You’ve been drafted for war…” and a bunch of other information I didn't want to be reading. Why us? Why were we basically given this death sentence, sending us into a fear frenzy. Even just the thought of going to war when we were already financially struggling, made me sick to my ...

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“The storm that changed my life ” by Jayden Hackworth

Submitted to Contest #98

I sat on the bus with my earbuds blasting in my ears. I was on the greyhound bus heading east out of Texas. I was on the way to my new life in Massachusetts. I was leaving the place I had known for seventeen years because of a dust storm that had happened only a few weeks before. It was a nice summer day in June. It had been a typical summer day in Texas, the kinda day you go have BBQs with friends and then go swimming. You know, just a normal summer day with friends. My friend's family had invited my family over for a summer kick-off BBQ....

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“And That's Just Sad” by Daniel Norton

Submitted to Contest #98

It was tough for me growing up. Both of my parents were very strict. Yet they would send me out to play and tell me not to come home until it was time for dinner. It was hard trying to make friends. The few I had never wanted to come over and play at my house. And I was never invited to play at their homes. While my few friends were having sleepovers I was at home by myself playing with my train set and matchbox cars until I learned to read. Then I would read and listen to the local top 40 on AM radio. Thought this was fun un...

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“Can't Go Home Again” by Kimberly Hallman

Submitted to Contest #98

I was seven when the people in suits came to take me away. I remember thinking how rich they must be since Mama had always told me that people wearing suits were rich. I don’t think I understood what was happening at first. Mama was crying, but the suit people were so kind that I figured there couldn’t be anything really wrong. Mama was just having another one of her crying days. She had them every so often - days when she couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t take me to school, or make me dinner. On the really bad crying days, she would sometim...

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“Cross Country” by Joy Wood

Submitted to Contest #98

“And that, class, is why we always wear our protective eyewear!”The class erupted in a round of applause as David Jones, high school science professor, took an impromptu bow. The mangled remains of a class project stood humbly in the deserted front row.After an anti-climactic cleanup, punctuated by the ringing of the final bell, David packed up his briefcase and headed for the door.“Mr. Jones!”David turned to find himself face-to-face with Jason, a bright sophomore who had started out the year quite shy but had, as of late, begun to come out...

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“Saving Moon 342: Earth's unwitting demise” by Steveanddanine Gruber

Submitted to Contest #98

Nalaha excitedly swung wide the hatch, feeling a slight pinch as she climbed out of the cramped travel pod. She was assisted by the arms of a handsome USS carrier crew member sent to retrieve her. Wide-eye and full of anticipation, she determined to memorize every smell and sight around her. It was surreal. Her impossible dream had become a reality. Earth. Since Nalaha was a little girl on Moon 342, she had heard stories of her relatives of long ago. How hard they'd labored in the beginning to establish the settlement she now called home....

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“The Glowing Stone” by Lia Way

Submitted to Contest #98

Ayda was running.She had no clear goal in mind, she only knew she had to get away. Just a look over her shoulder told her that she’d have to be faster. Running past houses and crossing empty streets, the footsteps behind her grew louder by every passing second.Ayda wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep running. Her lungs had started burning, and she feared her legs would soon give out. She dared another look behind her. It was too dark to see who was running after her, or how many of them, but she knew they were catching up.That was whe...

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“Exiled” by Abbey Long

Submitted to Contest #98

Warm hands slip into Mary’s cold and clammy ones, awakening her from her trance. She has been staring forlornly at the passer-by’s down below for hours now, wondering how easy it could have been for her had the accident not occurred. Pulling her attention away from the carts, she stares at the small child beside her. An exact replica of her, the child has blonde, wispy hair, blue eyes the size of saucers and a petite face, always adorned wi...

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“Collateral Damage” by Jasmine Bell

Submitted to Contest #98

AN/Warning: Deals with suicide and an internal battle between religion and science. The latter is the main focus of this story. If you are uncomfortable, please skip :). -- “Your order ma’am. Please be careful as the coffee is still very hot” Alex, deep in thought, could not mentally process the message and disregarding the barista’s warning, reached out to sip her “Black Devil, Intense Roast heated brew”. God knows what she was thinking when ordering the cafe’s notorious black devil coffee. Rumors had it, that coffee could shoot som...

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“The Story of Alice Smith” by Neeta Kanen

Submitted to Contest #98

The wood creaked beneath their feet as they trudged down to the flat flooring. The sight of a messy rug decorated the two-step in front of them, dimly lit surroundings, and a table filled to the edge with fruits, pastries and wine, carefully placed for anyone who cared for it. A pattern of stools were spotted by the group of four located near a long wooden counter. The group approached it in unison. A little knock on the hard, polished wood sent a burly-looking man with a savage beard running to the strange group. Rather than welcoming, he g...

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Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 320 stories

“I Never Told Her She was Home” by Mellanie Crouell

“Unexpected Joy” by Cindy Calder

“Cookie Jar Secrets” by K.R. Switzer

“Kind of Like Home” by Maddison Buch

“M-I-S-S-I-N-G” by Saga Kosak

“A War Disguise” by Chloe Madeleine

“The storm that changed my life ” by Jayden Hackworth

“And That's Just Sad” by Daniel Norton

“Can't Go Home Again” by Kimberly Hallman

“Cross Country” by Joy Wood

“Saving Moon 342: Earth's unwitting demise” by Steveanddanine Gruber

“The Glowing Stone” by Lia Way

“Exiled” by Abbey Long

“Collateral Damage” by Jasmine Bell

“The Story of Alice Smith” by Neeta Kanen

🌟 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: