Write about someone trying to atone for a mistake they’ll never be able to fix.

Posted in Angst on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 199 stories

“The Dollmaker (B.W.)” by Laiba M

Warning: This story includes content on OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and self-deprecating thoughts that may trigger some readers. Please avoid reading this story if you have experienced any or both of the above. Achebe. Your face crinkles, like the paper balls you would throw at her behind Rox's back. Your tears attempt to cling to your eyelashes but fail and slide off, falling o...

1289 comments 1289

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“I Like To Be Cold” by Zilla Babbitt

I like to be cold. It reminds me of you and your cold hands -- you and what you’ve done to me. You always liked winter, and now I do too. Summers are cluttered and hot, but winters are high and lonely and crystalline, like you. When we first met I did not like you. You were stubborn and sometimes cruel, but that wasn’t it. It was because I felt myself falling in l...

44 comments 44

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“Unforgivable ” by B. W.

August 1st, 2039We've all been friends for about seven or so years, though Achebe and Alexis have never met each other during any of that time. Though that's going to change today, we're all going to eat at a restaurant in a few hours. I'll tell you how it goes. -RoxanneAugust 2nd, 2039I don't think that it went as well as I was wanting it to go yesterday, we all met outside of the restaurant so the two of them could formally meet. Though something seemed a little...off with Alexis.

488 comments 488

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“A Gateway to Heaven” by 💛🤍 L U N A N A 🤍💛

Trigger Warning: Suicidal mentions and death. This story could be sensitive or triggering to anyone uncomfortable with suicidal topics and or mentions of death. Authors note: Even by the trigger warning it's probably easy to guess; this one is a sad one. I've noticed that I tend to switch between sad, and fantasy. Weird combination? So I actually wrote this story a couple months ago(more like last year) ...

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“Painful Deeds” by . .

I woke up in the morning, the cold stinging my bare arms. I shivered but didn't make any attempt to warm myself, to pull a blanket over me. All warmth was gone in my life, so why pretend. The water that ran above my bed flew here and there in torrents which I couldn't see, but I could feel them. My feet touched the floor, frail limbs flexing and aching, as I struggled to get to my feet. After about three more tries, I ma...

41 comments 41

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“Morning of the Dancing Butterflies” by Amiable Sorceress

I could never find a proper way to say this, even as the tears keep coming and I lie awake in bed. You betrayed me, and I thought we were going to have a life together. After a while, I throw off my bedspread and move out the door into the dome-like sky. The sky was always so beautiful back in the regular lands; here it feels fake. Everything feels fake, feels almost surreal,...

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“Time Travel with Death” by 𝕂𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕖 𝕎.

What if you were given the chance to go back in time and fix your mistakes or those of others? Would you take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity without a second thought? Or would you be a little more cautious (You could change the world)? What if it wouldn’t change anything at all? --------- Hi, I’m Death. It’s nice to meet you (Even though I've probably already met you, you just didn’t know). You may know me as The...

29 comments 29

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“Red Water” by Writer Maniac

I leave a note on the table for Carter, telling him that I would be back in a few hours, and there was food in the fridge if he was hungry. Might as well be a good wife while I still was one. I hope that today goes well. I don’t want it to happen again. Picking up my car keys and house keys, I leave the house and lock the door. I slowly ...

11 comments 11

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“For the Flame” by ꊰꏂꋬꋪ꒒ꏂꇙꇙ ꊰꄲꉧ

Silence. Then, footsteps. Many, many footsteps. A village of people on the move — no, a city. Hundreds of shadowed figures slipped through the trees. Through the dark forest they trudged, their path only faintly lit. One headed the pack, leading the way through the dense trees. A small ball of flame lingered above their hand shedding a weak light. Scattered among the crowd were others with hands alight to show the way. Despite their numbers, the city was silent, save ...

37 comments 37

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“A Bottle of Red Rum” by Yolanda Wu

Kier twisted the quill, not even noticing how the ink dripped onto the parchment and bloomed across the page like black blood soaking through thin fabric. A bundle of claustrophobic feelings choked his throat – the more he tried to swallow, the worst it became.He tried to write, but his hand was trembling too much – unshakable spasms.Dear Lentan… The ink smudged.Dear Lentan… Too illegible. Dear Lentan… I deeply apologise. No. My most sincere condolences. No.

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“~ Anymore ~” by Stevie B

I began seeing the woman who would later become my second wife before my first wife and I had broken up and separated. It was right at the time I was about to turn thirty and felt the fleeting dreams of my youth dying, and quite frankly, was having my first of many midlife crises. So, how did I deal with it? Well, I admit, very poorly, to say the least. In other words, I handled the situation lik...

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“Switzerland” by Scout Tahoe

On my birthday he brings me flowers. A thin bouquet of sweet apricot-colored carnations. A million little delicate petals that smell of small-town grocery stores. The white papery tag is still hooked to the plastic but I don’t dare look at it. The flowers are real, dripping water into my palms, but the gesture is fake. He holds my hand in the doorway and kisses my ring. A fake ruby the size of a thumbnail that he gave me for my last birthday. I hate the way it reflects in his eyes but I have to wear it when he v...

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“In The Mud” by FJC Montenegro

Possible triggers: Language and suicidal thinking.Detective Lopez stepped into the humid room and the cursor hurried to the big x in the corner of the screen to close the case report. Detective Richards opened some other file and looked busy, pursed lips under a pencil mustache. A slow thunder dragged itself across the sky as the heavy rain washed the city on the other side of the window. Lopez knocked on his desk with a smile.

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“The sin I made” by Radhika Diksha

Yes, I have sinned, that I can ever undo it. Nor fix it. But I should have fixed it, I should have accepted that I committed a mistake. But I could not. I should not have attempted in the first place. Why did I do that? Because I was lonely. Yes, I was surrounded by crowds and friends. But I was lonely among them. I was crying in the washrooms, I was crying myself to sleep. I thought people hated me...

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“Breaking Free From A World Of Snow ” by Malz Castell

“Hi, I’m Brad and I’m an alcoholic. I’m also an addict. Today, I’ve completed two years of sobriety. Two years since I checked out of rehab. I don’t count the period that I was in there because I had no other option but to remain sober. But after that last day in rehab? That’s all me. Most of you here have heard my story. But for those who don’t, my rock-bottom, my breaking point, was the day I almost killed my wife. It’s funny, you know? I was high and drunk at the time. I didn’t e...

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Write about someone trying to atone for a mistake they’ll never be able to fix.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 199 stories

“The Dollmaker (B.W.)” by Laiba M

“I Like To Be Cold” by Zilla Babbitt

“Unforgivable ” by B. W.

“A Gateway to Heaven” by 💛🤍 L U N A N A 🤍💛

“Painful Deeds” by . .

“Morning of the Dancing Butterflies” by Amiable Sorceress

“Time Travel with Death” by 𝕂𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕖 𝕎.

“Red Water” by Writer Maniac

“For the Flame” by ꊰꏂꋬꋪ꒒ꏂꇙꇙ ꊰꄲꉧ

“A Bottle of Red Rum” by Yolanda Wu

“~ Anymore ~” by Stevie B

“Switzerland” by Scout Tahoe

“In The Mud” by FJC Montenegro

“The sin I made” by Radhika Diksha

“Breaking Free From A World Of Snow ” by Malz Castell

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who’s so obsessed with a goal that it leads to the destruction of their closest relationship.

Write about a character who everyone thinks is guilty of something terrible, but isn’t.

Write about two people who know they’ve made a mistake, and one of them wants to tell the truth but the other wants to lie about it.

Write about a character who’s so afraid of making the wrong choice that their indecision ruins the very thing they were hoping to keep safe.

Contest #70

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

750

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Tired of MS Word?

Explore more writing prompt ideas: