Your character always makes the same promise; to change. Will they finally make it happen this time?

Posted in Angst on Dec 30, 2022

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✍️ 44 stories

“Better Late Than Never” by Magnolia Blackwell

Submitted to Contest #179

This story contains content related to (victory over) substance addiction and sexual abuse. ********************************************************************Once the holiday hoopla was over, I hung out around my back door firepit, feeding the flames with fallen pine boughs and sipping on a bottle of bourbon I kept tucked in my breast pocket. Between that and the fire, I didn’t seem to feel the cold front that was promising a storm later in the day.I shook my head at the bottle in my hand. I knew it wasn’t a great habit, but I had my reaso...

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“A Coping Mechanism” by Agnes Fejer

Submitted to Contest #179

It has been ten years since that fatal New Year’s Eve. There have been nine New Year’s Days since then, and I have made the same resolution as every year: that I quit drinking. Maybe this year, I will succeed. But a tenth anniversary is not easy, and I already crave the sweet haze alcohol casts on my brain. Maybe I should try Antabuse. Or at least Alcoholics Anonymous. But I feel exhausted. As I open up my laptop, my hands feel like lead, my mouth is dry, and all I want is to sleep forever and drink a glass of whisky. Or six. Not necessarily...

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“Not Again ” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #179

Not Again My teacher used to say,” if you can see it, you can achieve it.” The same thing happened every year, I wrote down the resolutions by Christmas day, and by Valentine’s day, I had broken all the important ones. Not this year; I’m determined to make a vision board…they say they work. Posting one up in my office at work and one on the refrigerator here at home. This way, others can keep me accountable. So, I can return to my high school weight by our fortieth reunion in June.Not sure if what I see in my mind’s eye is even a vision boar...

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“At the Bottom of a Wishing Well ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #179

"Hi, my name is Dustin and I'm an alcoholic." He said as he sighed and closed his eyes. He had no desire to look at any members of the group. One of the old timers had decorated the room with Christmas cheer, a mocking reminder of his New Year's resolution to quit drinking. That had not happened and with a week left of the crumbs old year passing, Dustin Wenton was still drinking despite two tours of rehab. All he could smell was his failing liver trying to metabolize the quart of vodka he had for lunch, just before t...

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“The Ten Contracts” by Daisy Mae

Submitted to Contest #179

Trigger warning: Substance abuse, mental health, violence***She signed her name on the line for the fourth year in a row.Of course, in red ink.“Mom, you’re not supposed to write your name in red ink, remember?”After a long sigh, she swiveled my direction to ask if I really believed in such superstitious nonsense. For a woman who was paranoid out of her mind when it came to most things, she appeared unfazed by the cultural taboo she had just committed.“Well, I don’t want you to die…You should write in black ink instead,” I whisper under ...

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“Mirror, Mirror” by Elliot Kessler

Submitted to Contest #179

I take a sip of my beer and watch as the man on the TV has a mental breakdown. Tears stream down his face, and he sobs uncontrollably. I had thought watching a character drama would make me feel less alone. Maybe the urge wouldn’t hit me so hard. Maybe I could fight back. But it’s happening again.Bringing my hand up to my head, I feel the cold metal of the neural implant. The buttons wait patiently, and my brain longs for me to press them. I squirm on the couch and take another sip of beer. No matter how much dopamine I give myself through m...

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“Climax Street” by Kang Lee

Submitted to Contest #179

“Again!” Mr. Nox snarled. “Colvin, a corpse could shoot better than that!”For the twenty-first time that day, I had missed my target by a matter of twenty metres. The lightbulb I had shattered had landed upon the mountain of ceiling tiles that I had amassed on the floor. My heart was racing at light speed and the room was a vibrating blur of colours, yet I steadied my hands and fired the slender, black gun. The bullet ricochetted off of the back door, before embedding itself onto the far wall, a full ten metres from the silhouette....

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“The Dark Place” by Autumn-Rose Oberhammer

Submitted to Contest #179

I promised to change. At least that’s what I told everyone. Now whether or not I was sincere at the time, I couldn’t tell you. I promised to change when I was nineteen. My mother sat at the kitchen table praying into a bowl of half-snapped peas, while Daddy flicked me with holy water like I was a cat who had climbed onto the Christmas tree. “You’re going to hell, girl!” he screamed. Spit flew from his mouth, and his face was as red as the tomatoes freshly picked from our garden. I stood there with droplets of water running down my skin sta...

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“Weirdo Walter” by Barbara Latterner

Submitted to Contest #179

December thirty-first, a day that always found me compiling a list of New Year’s resolutions typed on my computer, to likely sit there, and not be revisited until next New Year’s Eve. It usually was a short list and unfortunately, often repetitive; lose weight, exercise daily, take my wife out to dinner more often, apologize to family and friends when I’d been hurtful in some way. The last resolution on my list was always the hardest to fulfill, yet the one of most importance. I just wasn’t good at it. I...

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“Alice in Wonderland” by Jerrell Sanders

Submitted to Contest #179

Alice’s breath fogged the windows of the bus, further obscuring her view of the unremarkable countryside, its features silhouetted by the darkness of early morning. Beyond the glass, she could just make out the blurred shapes of forgotten farmland against the backdrop of rolling hills far in the distance. The lopsided farmhouses and single room homes now just empty carcasses – mementos of those whose dreams, realized or otherwise, had come and gone. The desolate landscape was a stark contrast to the oppressive skyscrapers of the city. Just...

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“Time to Change” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #179

Change is easy when you think about it. Change is easy to talk about. Change is always easier said than done. Tim sat at the edge of his lonely bed and resolved to change yet again. This was not the first time and he had this sinking feeling even as he grit his teeth and promised himself and the world that this time would be different, this time he would change. That sinking feeling was all too familiar. That sinking feeling was now a part of him, and yet it wasn’t, because he was sinking into the world around him. No one is ...

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“Shining through the Skky” by Sri Vi S

Submitted to Contest #179

Deep in the infinite Was a matter so shiny It wanted to rise and Shine, It felt power It felt fearless It felt love It felt joyous It felt form It felt senses It felt the mind And then was born The star from the skky!! AbasMarg a.k.a. AMarg as it was known was crossing the great “ocean of stars”. The stars were in conference of some sort. Their facets were serious and drawn in high intensity focus and concentration. AMarg carried its responsibility with great commitment and dedication. It never took things lightly ever. This was its inna...

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“Can I Change?” by Adam DeBuque

Submitted to Contest #179

It happens with such regularity it has become almost sickeningly predictable. The desire to change is real, but the failure to overcome such deep seeded beliefs is almost inevitable. Once again, here I sit. Alone by my own words and actions. At this point the desire, even the need, for change is obvious. This is unsustainable, and even after 16 years of marriage there must be a breaking point somewhere. The fear is real that I will find it one of these days. And I promise, again and again, I will change. I will find a way. I will persevere i...

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“Roadside Promises” by Brandon Kruyen

Submitted to Contest #179

Somehow, I had found myself driving the A109: a thick, heavy asphalt scar that traced its way across the oldest of all continents. Music thumped lazily out of the bass, and the wind had been fresh in my face. A rooster comb of dust plumed behind me, while high above, the sun bleached the land a bone white and found me driving and listening, driving and trying to forget. Yet one memory never strayed far anymore, shackled to me in the heat of the day, tightening painfully in the dark of night. My daughter: a beautiful green-eyed girl, ...

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“Memories” by Emilie Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #179

It was around 5:00 in the afternoon when I arrived at the cemetery. The sun was already setting, and the air had gotten colder. The crunching of dead leaves filled the void of silence. I opened the gate and went down the path I knew by heart. I come here almost every day to pay my respects. I keep telling him I'll get over his death, but it feels near impossible sometimes. In the solitude of the graveyard is where I find my comfort. My son Andrew died five years ago of cancer; the poor boy was only ten. Since then, my wife Sarah and I have g...

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Your character always makes the same promise; to change. Will they finally make it happen this time?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“Better Late Than Never” by Magnolia Blackwell

“A Coping Mechanism” by Agnes Fejer

“Not Again ” by Kimberly Walker

“At the Bottom of a Wishing Well ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“The Ten Contracts” by Daisy Mae

“Mirror, Mirror” by Elliot Kessler

“Climax Street” by Kang Lee

“The Dark Place” by Autumn-Rose Oberhammer

“Weirdo Walter” by Barbara Latterner

“Alice in Wonderland” by Jerrell Sanders

“Time to Change” by Jed Cope

“Shining through the Skky” by Sri Vi S

“Can I Change?” by Adam DeBuque

“Roadside Promises” by Brandon Kruyen

“Memories” by Emilie Buchanan

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone making a vision board.

Write a story in the form of a list of New Year's resolutions.

Write a story about someone scrambling on New Year's Eve to fulfil their resolutions for the entire year before the clock strikes twelve.

End your story with a kiss at midnight.

Contest #179

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

200

Contest entries

103

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: