Write about a moment of defeat.

Posted in Angst on Jun 21, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 54 stories

“Too good to be true ” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #256

I’ve only seen my sweet darling father cry about soccer. Because he cheers for Atlanta United, he cries a lot. On Saturday, another artificial turf drama unfolds on our TV, and once again, Giakoumakis is on the ground two minutes into the game, rolling and howling and clutching his knee. Again, bleach-blond Saba kicks against the goal post. And now, they’re sending Etienne Jr in? We’ve already lost. 86 minutes in against Cincinnati, my father sheds tears into his beer, a glass full of Heineken he clai...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Lessons of the game” by Matt Pearson

Submitted to Contest #256

“Ball Four!” The call from the home plate umpire ignited a roar from the crowd as Sycamore High’s season, and its hopes for advancing to the state championship game remained alive. Tommy pumped his fist at the dugout as he headed for first base, rallying his teammates to muster the belief they were not done yet. Everyone in the dugout responded to Tommy drawing the walk with cheers and high-fives. Everyone except for Kyle Sanderson. Kyle had been holding a bat in his hand the last two innings hoping he would get a chance to redeem his season...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Shortage” by Allie Gunnarson

Submitted to Contest #256

It was always my favorite question to answer because I already knew my answer “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Growing up, I had everything figured out. I knew I wanted to be a teacher before I even knew what teacher's lives looked like. I grew up forcing my brothers to play school, to which they begrudgingly obliged. Once my brother’s got tired of me I moved on to my baby cousin, who was just happy to have someone’s attention. I never thought that achieving this dream would be this hard. I never thought that achieving my dre...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Failing Race” by Aaron DeMeyer

Submitted to Contest #256

The boat feels small today. It’s amazing just how quickly my perspective changes. Growing up, I spent time on ski boats and party pontoons, and my family even owned a little cabin cruiser for a couple of years. At that time, a twenty-four-foot boat seemed luxurious. All last semester, I felt lucky and privileged to go out on the water on a 24-foot sloop like this one every day. My twenty-four feet of freedom had felt spacious. We’ve been sailing a 62-foot sloop for weeks, though. Hannah, Ben, James, and I are bumping into each other as we r...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Moment After Defeat” by Noel Selovire

Submitted to Contest #256

Note: This story contains mentions of family member death and the grief/trauma that comes from them dying. As well as mentions of physical violence, blood, and implied mental health (anxiety/panic attack, BPD episode).Defeat- it isn’t the moment the ball drops on your side of the court, or the moment you get an F on the big midterm. For Delilah, defeat was the moment she said goodbye to her grandmother. The moment her image began fading from her memory, and Delilah could only remember the color of her grandmother’s eyes from the images of ph...

0 comments 0

Read story

“True love” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #256

True love is never a wasted effort. Be open to it, share it even in the darkest of times.As the sun set, he went to work doing for them in death, what he couldn’t in life, protect them. Grabbing a spade from the barn, he dug a grave for each. Deep enough to keep out the coyotes, each freshly tilled mound, capped with a fieldstone. He had watched in disbelief as Penny and the entire McCormick family were skinned alive by the ravenous horde of locusts. Their skin, clothes, hair, organs, all devoured in a rapacious clou...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Boxer From The Sun” by Paul Betts

Submitted to Contest #256

The Boxer From The SunThe Olympic Games 408 BC. Aeschylus stood out from the throng of men who had formed a circle around a bronze statue of Zeus. He was a full head taller than most of the other men, and to honour his god, Apollo, he was clean shaven. He had a muscular build, the result of months of training for his debut at the Olympics, and his face was far more handsome than any of the other boxers who waited for the official to arrive that would determine who would fight who in the days competition.There were men of various ages, shapes...

0 comments 0

Read story

“ I sat, I walked, and I dreamt.” by Clarissa Venter

Submitted to Contest #256

I never ran much. I was supposed to, but days went by where I could only sit at the end of my garden, whistling Piano Man to any old bird who could hear me. In my imagination, I dashed through warm light in the meadows, my hands becoming as refringent as water droplets. It was a dance against the dark dirt when I floated for a moment in between those leaps of faith. The wind became oil paint smeared across the canvas around me in monumental colors. It did not matter how fast I ran, but rather, it mattered how the deer ran alongside me and ho...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Last Day ” by Dania Hefley

Submitted to Contest #256

It was the night of the graduation party, the Bolo Dghe, the last day. My ex-girlfriend Emilia was a senior, I was a sophomore. We’d been on and off for nine months until she’d finally had enough of my bullshit and broke it off for good. A couple of weeks before the party I went over to her place after hooking up with Andrew and I mistakenly told her she “was a wayyy better kisser than him.” I had intended it as a compliment. She never kissed me again after that. She didn’t say a word to me at the grad party either though I stared at her the...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Hand-to-Hand” by Dmitrii Jeraux

Submitted to Contest #256

Tearing up the ice from underneath the ring they were inseparable. Flying across the whole circle, clouds of snow off left and right. She was a graceful, black dress with “diamonds” glistening along with the snow, he was her shadow lifting her up for the whole invisible audience to see. Companions in skating are viewed as a couple by most, with the exception being athletes themselves and trainers. They glided across. Jane was dancing, Tim – running. “Lift! Lift!” – yelled coach, his commanding voice echoing thro...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Get the Gold ” by Kit Farley

Submitted to Contest #256

I was spoiled with the luxury of choice. Ice cream or brownies for dessert? Swimming or running over the summer? Race for fun or seriously this time? Perhaps because I had all of these moments where I could casually decide my destiny, regularly met with a fork in the road, and harbored this freedom marred by a sprinkle of slothfulness, I did what any spoiled child may do: I let someone else decide for me. I incited a sort of Double-Slit Experiment type situation. By disregarding how my actions affected my future, I handed my destin...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Ground Zero” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #256

Ground Zero and Square one sometimes seem to blend together. Once when I was in my 50s, I asked my mother a rather simple question.“Mom, if you had it to do over again, would you have had me?”My heart, if not in my throat, was throbbing quietly to a fear that scrambled for escape.My mother, a rather taciturn blend of Scottish, Irish, English genes was somewhat unpredictable.She could morph from a sweet loving woman who would allow you to nestle beneath her ample bosom into a straight laced Victorian prude who removed you firmly from that spo...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Fuller Than My Chest” by Jay Dotson

Submitted to Contest #256

We were all giddy to see the look on Callum’s face. The archetypal “Big Man on Campus.” Captain of the football team, president of the Gamma Delta Tau, and so connected that he could strangle a professor in the middle of an exam and still walk the stage as valedictorian. Guys like him float through this world, knowing that consequences are only for the “little people,” like me. But he won’t float much longer. The plan was mine. Garrett, Holly, Nick, and Natasha were eager to play their parts. To the average student, the name “Callum Ho...

0 comments 0

Read story

“GEORGE” by Rory Kilalea

Submitted to Contest #256

Rhodesia declared a unilateral declaration of Independence from Britain in 1965 to avoid black rule. A bush war erupted. Black freedom fighters attacked the white Rhodesian forces for control of the country which they called Zimbabwe. Men and women were enlisted. Mixed race people could work with whites, even though they had a ‘black African’ mixed heredity. Brady Barracks. Bulawayo. Rhodesia. Africa. 1973 The stark sunlight outside was flat. Like another world. The tar shimmered through the dwarf marigolds at the base of t...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Big Chance” by Nate Farrell

Submitted to Contest #256

Big Chance Dave McGuinness could not believe what he was seeing. For the last few years, here in the college gym, he had been playing pickup basketball and getting better little by little, often the result of playing against some very good players, the kind who had been stars on their high school teams. It had taken time to build up even a little reputation. Certainly no one was going to pick him by sight. This was Court One, where serious players came to play. The big state school had six courts in the gym, but the best games were always ...

2 comments 2

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in the stands at a major sporting event.

Fiction – 40 stories

Write about someone who has trained all their life for one moment.

Character – 45 stories

Write a story about an underdog, or somebody making a comeback.

Character – 42 stories

Write a story about two sporting rivals having to work together.

Funny – 23 stories

Contest #256

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Going for Gold

$250

Prize money

204

Contest entries

102

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 28, 2024 EST

Won by Melissa Van Rensburg 🏆

Title: Injury Time

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write about a moment of defeat.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 54 stories

“Too good to be true ” by Masha Kurbatova

“Lessons of the game” by Matt Pearson

“Shortage” by Allie Gunnarson

“Failing Race” by Aaron DeMeyer

“The Moment After Defeat” by Noel Selovire

“True love” by Bruce Callahan

“The Boxer From The Sun” by Paul Betts

“ I sat, I walked, and I dreamt.” by Clarissa Venter

“The Last Day ” by Dania Hefley

“Hand-to-Hand” by Dmitrii Jeraux

“Get the Gold ” by Kit Farley

“Ground Zero” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

“Fuller Than My Chest” by Jay Dotson

“GEORGE” by Rory Kilalea

“Big Chance” by Nate Farrell

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in the stands at a major sporting event.

Write about someone who has trained all their life for one moment.

Write a story about an underdog, or somebody making a comeback.

Write a story about two sporting rivals having to work together.

Contest #256

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

204

Contest entries

102

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: