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

“Shot in the Light” by Clayton Musick

Submitted to Contest #179

“Let me read this part, Daddy.” Christopher stuck the corner of the book page underneath his fingernail and watched as the white sheet picked up the black from underneath his nail. “Ew! Chris! What have I told you about doing that?” Christopher’s face scrunched in towards his nose like a French pastry, with a wisp of blonde hair on top. His elated laugh resonated throughout the little living room and echoed, as if in convection currents-- hahaha down to the floor, and hahaha up to the ceiling. He was six years old, and the spit...

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“I NEED TO CHANGE MY TUNE” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #179

I want to do it, I have to do it, I must do it. OR ELSE! Listening to this same tune on the same album has been like riding a thoroughbred on the longest racetrack EVER! In my head, it just went around and around like loopy loops all day long. And here we are, same page different year. It's the last train to Nashville or whatever that song is, which is now stuck on autopilot. Change is not only that loose stuff in your pocket, but a purpose you set as your goal to achieve a major milestone. It's one that I certainly have put off for a few ye...

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“Burial” by Lily Hall

Submitted to Contest #179

My mother was dead, and only now did I know. As I watched from the battered living room archway while she popped the cork to her second bottle that night and filled the contents of some stale yellowed glass, I numbly buzzed. My emotions were delayed, stuck like a dammed river in my mind. Their waters were still and stopped up with a mix of betrayal and hurt, but I could feel somewhere far down in the bottom of the river in the sediment of my conscience, there lay guilty relief. Relief that this would all be over, and each time I inhaled, the...

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“The Land of Blue Trees ” by Belac Nemo

Submitted to Contest #179

It's a new year, but nothing has really changed. At least not for me. I'm still just rambling through life with no real aim. No "guiding star" as the motivational speakers love to tote. I don't even remember how it got this way, I'm not stupid, it's not ambition I lack, it wasn't a bad childhood either. But I'm sitting on this train all the same, empty. I quit my job back in the states a few days ago, and I used some of the money I had saved up to fly to Tokyo. And I don't know a lick of Japanese. ...

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“All we need is a little help.” by Dunbarin Fadairo

Submitted to Contest #179

It's the first day of the new year, Maya was sleeping soundly when she was awoken by the sound of clattering bottles. She lets out an exhausted sigh as she pushes herself out of bed, she grabs her robe from the place it hangs behind her door and puts it on, then walks out of her room. As she walked down the hallway, she heard the sound of the dryer running. She stalked closer to the living room where she was sure she'd find her father passed out in a pile of empty liquor bottles and trash, but instead she found nothing, in fact, it was clean...

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“The Width of a Corridor ” by Owen Bennett

Submitted to Contest #179

Philippa lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. After a few minutes, the textured Artex began to swirl in front of her eyes, making her feel that at least something was moving in the flat, even if it was an imitation of life. Her hands lay across her chest, clasped together, but not in prayer. The only noise came from revellers in the square five storeys down. A few shouts, some singing, punctuated with a blast from a police car siren. Philippa took in a long deep breath through her nose and then exhaled slowly. She focuse...

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“An Epiphany at Slugs'” by Joe Gatto

Submitted to Contest #179

JANUARY 2, 1971 — BROOKLYN, NEW YORK“Good morning Don DiLoretto. You wanted to see me?,” I said."Remember that guy you killed 6 months ago at the park?," said Don DiLoretto."Yes, I do.""He didn't die.""What?""That's right. In 22 years of stabbing guys the same way, no one has ever lived to identify you. Until now.""Mario Flore,” I said, although I couldn’t believe it."That's the guy. He woke from a dream after months of recovery, and wrote on his pad that he thinks he knows who it was.""I'm surprised that retard can write.”"The cops had a sk...

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“The Lamp Lighter of Cape Woolamai” by Sam Porter

Submitted to Contest #179

It was a balmy, summer night on the island. A chorus of insects chirped loudly underneath a cloudless, starry sky. The prospect of a new year had brought an air of excitement and nervousness into the house. In a warm room lively with laughter, William poured three more glasses of wine.“Willy, not another!”Abby, his wife, hugged him from behind and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled and kissed her, spilling wine onto the table as he did so.“It’s a celebration, honey. A tribute to a new year as parents.”He set the bottle on the table, ...

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“Never Again” by Hannah Reed

Submitted to Contest #179

Never AgainPurple crescent moons hung under my tired eyes. Scarlet blood vessels trailed across the whites. Deafening ringing rattled inside my head and I was certain my brain would explode at any given moment. Knuckles bloody and white, gripping the porcelain sink. Beads of sweat formed on my ice cold forehead, letting me know that the withdrawals were about to start. The sweat would trickle into a fever, which would proceed an evening of nausea and involuntary retching. The agony was like a slow tune, building ...

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“Late Night Findings” by Salome M

Submitted to Contest #179

New Year’s resolutions were always Stevie’s thing. His younger brother loved anything to do with planning or making lists; the simple pleasure of holding a pen and paper made him content as a child. Brad could still remember him at six years old, running around with an old clipboard their mother had gifted him from the supply closet at the office she used to work at. He’d write down everything, each step of his day, and make note of everything he saw from the mailman to the birds. Naturally, Stevie made a list every y...

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“Promise Keeper ” by Brenda Butler

Submitted to Contest #179

Kenny Jr’s only resolution for 2022 was to keep his word to those he loved. No, resolutions, just keep your word, man!! He would say to himself at least ten times a day. He wanted to do better and be better and he knew that started with following through. How hard can that be, he would scream. If you make a promise keep it. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. After all these years you would think his family would have given up on Kenny Jr, but they hadn’t. The only thing they wanted for him was for him to change. His older s...

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“Same Old Story” by Lashun Williams

Submitted to Contest #179

“Are you going to submit your manuscript?” “Yeah! Of course!” Jenna reassured Rebecca for the tenth time this month. It seemed silly for Rebecca to repeatedly ask the question, but supposedly Jenna had the same devotion to writing as she did. It seemed odd that her passionate and action-oriented friend would commit to something and not do it. Considering her pattern, though, the pit in Rebecca’s belly gave her little room for comfort. “In order to win the Brave Writers Scholarship,” Rebecca reminded her friend, “you have to submit a co...

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“Making Changes” by Dilbert Jazz

Submitted to Contest #179

Linda had always prided herself on being a woman of her word. She was reliable, trustworthy, and dependable, and she always made sure to follow through on her commitments. But there was one promise that Linda had been struggling to keep for years. She had repeatedly made the same promise to herself, vowing to change a particular aspect of her life that had been causing her frustration and unhappiness. But she fell into old habits and patterns every time she tried to follow through on that promise. It wasn't that Linda wasn't motivated to cha...

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“Mosaic into another forest” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #179

-"I don't make resolutions." she says dreamily to herself, "That only betrays that we expect that the paths we've walked in the past year will be the same ones we're going to take in the next. Or at least the fear of it. That is probably why we are not able to keep them. Fear is a bad motivator. At least for me anyway." -No resolutions," I say softly, "but intentions perhaps?" She shakes her head resolutely, sinks back on the couch, and puts one arm under her head. -"I remap." she says, staring at the ceiling. "I paint a mosaic that runs in ...

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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

“Shot in the Light” by Clayton Musick

“I NEED TO CHANGE MY TUNE” by Debbie Curtin

“Burial” by Lily Hall

“The Land of Blue Trees ” by Belac Nemo

“All we need is a little help.” by Dunbarin Fadairo

“The Width of a Corridor ” by Owen Bennett

“An Epiphany at Slugs'” by Joe Gatto

“The Lamp Lighter of Cape Woolamai” by Sam Porter

“Never Again” by Hannah Reed

“Late Night Findings” by Salome M

“Promise Keeper ” by Brenda Butler

“Same Old Story” by Lashun Williams

“Making Changes” by Dilbert Jazz

“Mosaic into another forest” by F.O. Morier

🌟 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: