Write about a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 111 stories

“Droogs” by Dan Goff

Submitted to Contest #120

The homeless man outside Michael’s car window interfered with a rule of his: to not make eye contact, whenever possible, with homeless people. When he did, they were suddenly human and not just fixtures of the landscape, not just a bush with a cardboard sign propped in its branches or a mailbox with a too-big hoodie draped over it. When they became human, Michael started wondering all sorts of pointless things, like where did they use the bathroom? and where did they get all those layers of clothing? and where did they sleep? Surely it wasn’...

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“It's So Hard To Say Goodbye” by Stephanie Jeannot

Submitted to Contest #120

Dear Triton,You were like a painted image of sunsets and autumn leaves scattered upon the brook. I loved you from first look.You are a memory of straddling multiple genres. You squeezed the truth out of me without even having to lay down my thoughts on a blank page. You offered me forty lines without even having to add a new journal to the forty notebooks in my bin that have piled up since the fourth grade. We took flight like a soaring eagle from day one and we have been a chorus of love ever since.It was us versus the world. Your presence ...

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“before daisy” by Romee Koyama

Submitted to Contest #120

I don’t need to give any of you an explanation. My father always told me—thrice, before I died; once when I was on my deathbed—that if you want something, there is nothing and no one stopping you from getting it aside from yourself. “You don’t need to give anyone an explanation,” his hand on my shoulder, and fingers hooked under my chin. His voice almost overlapped with mine but not quite enough that I failed to recognize which is which. He liked to do that. He enjoyed taking the smallest parts of me and saying that I got it from him. The ...

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“Nightgown, Unworn” by Victoria Rimasse

Submitted to Contest #120

Making love with Frank Parisi was something that Vivian never did, and always wished she had, from age 22 into perpetuity. December, 1984. The light on Vivian’s answering machine was flashing when she got home at midnight; she had “three new messages”; it turned out they were all from Paul Meyer. Paul was quirky; he either called her every hour of the day or not at all for weeks which suited Vivian fine; she could only take him in small doses. When she was halfway through playing the third message, Leo, the doorman, called on the in...

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“His Name Was Ezra” by Rebekah Wheadon

Submitted to Contest #120

His name was Ezra. He was my twin brother. The midwife joked that we were born at the same time, but in reality, he was just seconds older than me. As babies, we screamed when we were separated and only quieted when our Momma put us in the same bed. Our first words were in a language of our own creation, one I can still speak today. We were each other's shadows wherever we went. Poppa said we were the same person split between two bodies, so completely did one know the other. It was an early spring day when we went swimming down in a creek...

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“Rosewater and Saffron” by Vishnu Prasad

Submitted to Contest #120

Three days days after he had buried her, he sat there now on the bedroom floor, shirtless and gasping for air. It was a cold night, and the wooden doors of the armoire in front of him swung gently to the breeze that crept in through the open window. His barely blinking eyes were wide open and the bottle of cheap whiskey next to him was all but empty. The old man ruffled his ever-thinning hair and scratched his sparse shadow of a beard. He gazed, like he had a hundred times over the past hour, at the unruly stacks of books, papers and ma...

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“In the Absence of Warmth” by Iris Zhang

Submitted to Contest #120

Every day when I awake, the sun still rises. Its rays peek through the slants of my blinds and when I finally peel my eyes open, the room is bathed in a familiar gold. Slivers of light fall on my face, like they always do, and when I roll over to his side of the bed, I learn to expect the empty sheets. I breathe in the remnants of him – the scent of his favourite cologne, smelling of cloying cinnamon, permeates my lungs with every inhale. He’s no longer there, but the sun-warme...

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“The Other Halves of Me” by Rachel Snider

Submitted to Contest #120

I still remember the day my sister was kidnapped. Guess I should since I had to rehash it about a thousand times. I was mad at her over something stupid, so I rode my bike like mad home from the park. I thought, if I could get there fast enough, I’d have time to play with her Crissy doll and braid her hair. Oh, that reminds me what we’d been fighting about. Barbara said Crissy’s hair couldn’t be French braided, but I wanted to show her it could. Turns out I couldn’t French braid anyway, but since Barbara didn’t come home, I had plenty of ti...

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“Whitewater ” by Kat Davis

Submitted to Contest #120

Ella’s room was dim, illuminated only by the rising sun through the window and a melting wax candle still lit on her bedside table. She rubbed the crust off her eyes and watched the candle burn beside her. This week it rained every day until the paint peeled from the exterior walls of her uncle’s beach house. Ella stayed inside for six days. She did yoga, she meditated, she rubbed essential oils on her wrists until her skin turned red. When she was done with her exercises, she cleaned the house. She wiped the windows until they shone and ref...

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“Voyage” by Rob Ryter

Submitted to Contest #120

It was the first time for Miles Levenage. He couldn’t believe what he was experiencing. He’d had the laptop almost a year - rather fittingly, it was coloured ‘space grey’ - and he hadn’t tried out the speakers until today. What had he been missing? How could they do that? It was just a laptop, with no hidden extras, small and light enough for him to bring along. Yet, as the track played, drums and hi-hat emanated convincingly from a point about a foot to the left of the device. The vocals, similarly, were coming from somewhere well east of t...

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“Girl in the Window” by Sarah Rich

Submitted to Contest #120

I walked along the empty streets of my city. Lights flickered and hummed over my head as the air never felt so cold to me. It was the fifth time I’d been tossed to the streets. After the third time, it was easy to shove aside the hurt. In fact, I found that I wasn’t hurt at all. I hated that place and those people, so it was a gift over a punishment. The air continued to chill my bones with its winter bite as I realized I’d been thrown out without a jacket again. I sighed and stared at the warmth of my breath being casted into the open ai...

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“Saudade” by Omar Alvarez

Submitted to Contest #120

Diogo, pt. 1 “Back in my day, we knew how to dress.” Diogo said as he flipped through old photos of the family during one of their visits. “We know, avô!” His grandchildren exclaimed. “You tell us every Sunday! But that was 40 years ago!” It was a different time back then when war had ended. Diogo immigrated as a child with his family from Brazil then later served in the A...

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“Contentment” by Brittany Leisy

Submitted to Contest #120

She woke up at 5:45 when her alarm went off just like every other morning. She fed the dogs, brushed her teeth, combed her hair with the practiced routine that didn’t require brain cells. She debated over how professional she cared to dress for the day and if she would even care if someone noticed. She walked into the kitchen to the expectant tail wags of her dogs waiting for her to fill her water bottle so they could get their special ice cube treat. Even they knew her routine down pat. She packed her lunch, let the dogs go out one more tim...

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“Protect & Serve” by Sheri Girgenti

Submitted to Contest #120

The police officer adjusts his badge over his savior complex and approaches the car. He sees the female driver's reflection in the side mirror. She reminds him of his sister. They all do. "Is there anything wrong, Miss?" He tilts his head for a better look. Her eyes are red rimmed and tired. "My car broke down. I'm waiting for a friend to come get me." Her tone matches her eyes. "Alright," the officer replies, "Any idea what happened? Maybe it's something I can help with." "I don't know. It just died," the woman says. "Why do...

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“Go back to sleep” by Ruth Zschoche

Submitted to Contest #120

The van wasn’t white. It had been white, but not anymore. An inch of dust matted it like a wet cat let out to play. No windows were free of the grime. There was no seeing in or out save through a center patch on the windshield.This wasn't a commercial vehicle. It had been a van to drive to soccer practices and little league. Camping trips and the beach.But not anymore.It swerved first left, then right, then managed the middle of the lane. Always just inside the lines, until this once. Over the outside line. Back down the middle. Left, a long...

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Write about a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 111 stories

“Droogs” by Dan Goff

“It's So Hard To Say Goodbye” by Stephanie Jeannot

“before daisy” by Romee Koyama

“Nightgown, Unworn” by Victoria Rimasse

“His Name Was Ezra” by Rebekah Wheadon

“Rosewater and Saffron” by Vishnu Prasad

“In the Absence of Warmth” by Iris Zhang

“The Other Halves of Me” by Rachel Snider

“Whitewater ” by Kat Davis

“Voyage” by Rob Ryter

“Girl in the Window” by Sarah Rich

“Saudade” by Omar Alvarez

“Contentment” by Brittany Leisy

“Protect & Serve” by Sheri Girgenti

“Go back to sleep” by Ruth Zschoche

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with the line ‘Back in my day…’

Write about two characters’ different perspectives of the same past event.

Start your story with a character looking through an old family photo album.

Your character has always viewed the past with rose tinted glasses. Write about what happens when they’re finally confronted with the truth.

Contest #120

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

244

Contest entries

163

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: