End your story with someone finding themselves.

Posted in Character on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 39 stories

“Kile and the Cupboard” by C. K. Marley

Submitted to Contest #124

In a little shop on an unmarked road stood an enormous painted cupboard that was very old. The cupboard stood to the right of a large window that was poorly decorated with porcelain dolls that looked out a dirty window with blank, unseeing eyes. The window was tier shaped in three sections from where a sign stood above the mercantile, that read, Flora’s Treasures. Flora was the granddaughter from whom the shop was named, long ago. Flora was no longer running about with pigtails and dresses as she did as a child. She was a heavy woman in her ...

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“The Couple on the Hill” by C.B. Oates

Submitted to Contest #124

In my early forties I began to doubt myself. Had I accomplished enough so far? Did I have enough time left to achieve the lofty dreams of youth? Which would be longer, the trail behind me or the path ahead? I wouldn’t say that I had a mid-life crisis, because no one wants to think of their days on a timeline, but I did do something somewhat spontaneous.It was a windy, fall day in late September. The sky- a heavy, gray blanket- was waiting for the right moment to weep. I was on my way home from work and wrestling with my inner monologue. At w...

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“Defining Yourself” by Jane Curtis

Submitted to Contest #124

I survived my birth mother's attempt to abort me. When I was a few hours old she wrapped me in newspaper, went down an alley, and pushed me deep into a trash can. My big brother who was 4 followed her. He fished me out of the trash and took me to a neighbor's house. We children lived mostly under the house for protection. We were not bathed because the bruises would show. My big brother & sister took care of me and then when I was 2 my little sister was born, and I cared for her. When our little brother was born less than a year later, I...

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“In Search of Sophie” by Sophie Smith

Submitted to Contest #124

Everyone has a wall built around themselves, there to protect them from the dangers occupying their world. For some people, their wall only consists of a few bricks. Looking more like an ancient ruin than an actual wall. They are the lucky ones. The ones that haven’t had to experience trauma. They haven’t needed to protect themselves from the world. Other people like me, their walls are sky high with no chance of escape. No way out. No way in. Mine resembles a tower. So high up in the sky that all you can see ...

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“Apes” by Alex K. Maxwell

Submitted to Contest #124

Roberto Dean was lead down a tall, narrow and grimly lit hallway to his seat in the left upper mezzanine. The hastening echoes of his best dress shoes on the white marble floors announced his anxiety of tardiness to the punctual and, he feared, already seated theater-goers. He thought about skipping ahead of the large man leading him, after all he knew the Boncraft Theatre by heart, even though he himself had never been chosen to attend despite his many attempts; however his temporary warden was so wide that he took up most of the hallway by...

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“Never really lost” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #124

I keep having this feeling that I have lost so much: time, creativity, my voice, myself… Truth is, I lost myself in stagnation. I blamed a virus going around. It sure as hell didn´t make things easier, but it wasn´t entirely to blame. I turned the blame on the muses, for no longer visiting with me. It was too easy to blame the loss of my creativity on them. I came to the insight that I needed to tame my mental resistance and welcome the muses back, and allow myself to be inspired. To be creative is to embark on a long journey, and neve...

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“What Was Left Behind” by Bryan Rye

Submitted to Contest #124

Markus poured the wine. His friend had a high, slow pour that sent the dark red liquid diving into the glass, sloshing at it rose. Such little things had always fascinated him since…He couldn’t recall. But it pleased him to watch Markus fill the glass, tapering off his pour as the wine swelled toward the rim. Yes, he was sure that it had always pleased him.“It is only just,” Markus said.He nodded absently, accepting the glass and giving it a little swirl as Markus poured another for himself. Then they both set their drinks on the table – his...

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“Finding Mr. Evans” by James Kappas

Submitted to Contest #124

Finding Mr. Evans Written by Jay Kappas Edited by Oliver Hagemann “Come on,” my best friend Charley shouts. “Let's go!” “I’m coming, I’m coming,” my other friend Matt yells. We were running as fast as we could to the tree house fort by the stream; the same stream where we found Mr. Evans. When we got to the tree house, we didn’t notice him. We ran to the rope ladder and climbed up. I grabbed my telescope and looked through it to see if anybody had followed us to The House. That was what we called our tree house fort. The House.&nbsp...

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“The Amusement of Roses” by Kathleen Kralowec

Submitted to Contest #124

The beauty of nature, cultivated and confined into a hedge, surrounded Newcomb on all sides, and loomed above him in the shape of a cube, balanced on its corner, a storm of tangled branches hovering paradoxically as though it weighed nothing. Left and right, forward and backward, the alleyways of this maze offered themselves, green doorways in the leafy walls, and all throughout them were the roses. Every surface was decorated with them, including the cube. They smiled on him from every wall, and also on every face of the cube, including the...

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“Things Are Not What They Seem” by Chandra Anderson

Submitted to Contest #124

How long had it been? Taylor glanced at her watch. It read 11:43 a.m. just as it had the three times she’d checked it before. Had it stopped? She didn’t know, because all around her it seemed as if everything had stopped. Except her. She was the only thing moving in the office. Stopped, in mid-sip of the latte he drank every day, was her boss Pete Elliott. Eyebrows raised, lips pursed to blow on the hot liquid, and tendrils of steam suspended in the air above the cup. He didn’t move. He hadn’t moved. ...

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“The Way West” by Leotie Review

Submitted to Contest #124

I’m nothing without failure. It’s made me who I am, I have become it. Now, I haven’t become better for it, that is to say, haven’t learned anything of value or grown from any experience that is failure, but rather inhabited the word so well its very essence has become something of a cloth to me, my own flesh and bones warmed by the letters. DUI’s and failing out of school. I’ve been fired from more jobs than I can count. I’ve never saved a dime. I have no skills. I decided to move out West a few years ago, hoping it might amplify...

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“The Dream Job” by Isaiah Ramos

Submitted to Contest #124

"I'm home!" Juan called to his wife, throwing his keys on the desk. Isabel came out of the hall. "Did you get it?" she asked, squinting her eyes in curiosity. "No." "They still won't promote you?" "Apparently not. I swear they like me where I'm at and as long as I'm there, they're not going to let me move forward. I'm sick of it!" After a short evening of silent brooding, Juan and Isabel went to bed. Suddenly, Juan woke up. He sat up and looked around. It was pitch black. He looked at his bedsheets only to find they weren't there. He w...

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“Beyond the Corridor” by Elizabeth Burchman

Submitted to Contest #124

Perhaps it was a dream, she thought. Perhaps if she pinched herself, she would wake up. But she didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to stay in this dream where he was… She looked around her and all she saw were doors. There was a familiar metal one in front of her, a daunting red one behind her, a mysterious green one to the left of her, and brilliantly bright blue one to the right of her. She could hear the faint sound of a piano playing through the metal door, she took a step closer feeling the sense of comfort this door and room provided ...

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“Held Your Breath Through the Tunnel” by Castiel W

Submitted to Contest #124

We’ve been driving for a few hours now, Jack and I. I think I might’ve fallen asleep earlier, but very little has changed since I last remember, so I can’t be sure. It’s starting to get dark, the first pink shards of light have begun to appear over the mountains speeding by, and the moon’s already up. No stars, though. “Do you wanna pull over?” I ask, and wince at the sound of my voice. It’s scratchy and broken from the lack of usage. Jack nods curtly, tight lipped. “In a little while,” he says. “We can find a place to stop when it gets da...

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“Falling” by E.G. Radcliff

Submitted to Contest #124

The wind was blowing from the north: a hint of rose in the air, mixed with the smell of shit, a breeze coming both from a parfumerie and the Seine. It brushed back the fine hairs on my arms and made my skin prickle. From somewhere in the apartment, the chocolatey strains of ‘Ave Maria’ slipped between the hinges of the balcony door and wisped away through ivy leaves into the night. The moon hung full above, looking for all the world like a movie prop, like a sigil proclaiming oui, this is Paris, this is la ville d’amour.It was cold out....

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End your story with someone finding themselves.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 39 stories

“Kile and the Cupboard” by C. K. Marley

“The Couple on the Hill” by C.B. Oates

“Defining Yourself” by Jane Curtis

“In Search of Sophie” by Sophie Smith

“Apes” by Alex K. Maxwell

“Never really lost” by F.O. Morier

“What Was Left Behind” by Bryan Rye

“Finding Mr. Evans” by James Kappas

“The Amusement of Roses” by Kathleen Kralowec

“Things Are Not What They Seem” by Chandra Anderson

“The Way West” by Leotie Review

“The Dream Job” by Isaiah Ramos

“Beyond the Corridor” by Elizabeth Burchman

“Held Your Breath Through the Tunnel” by Castiel W

“Falling” by E.G. Radcliff

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character in search of something or someone.

Start your story with someone trying to read a map.

Write a story where two characters are playing hide and seek, literally or metaphorically.

Set your story in a labyrinth that holds a secret.

Contest #124

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

226

Contest entries

147

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: