Write a scene in which a character’s behavior or reaction to something is affected by a past experience — without saying what that experience was.

Posted in Character on Sep 15, 2023

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✍️ 54 stories

“How the Leopard Lost its Spots” by Rebecca Miles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #216

A gull can fly but Asad could race across the beach like a boy with wings. Gathering speed, he would run lightly across the pebbles, laughing at my attempts to catch him. He was always two steps ahead, but my imagination lifts the memory and gives it flight, so he rises up, soaring clear of the shore. Across the waters, arms outstretched, he disappears into the hope and fear of the horizon. If I squeeze my eyes shut, I am with him, gliding like a seagull against a blood-red sunset. I picture us, arms sprouting feath...

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“Some of Them Kept Records of Their Troubles” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #216

As the last two customers finished their enchiladas, Joslynn began to close for the night. She preferred being at work—or school—ever since her mother’s boyfriend had moved in. He liked drugs and so did her mother, but his leering eyes made Joslynn’s stomach tie itself into knots. Mothers are all slightly insane, Joslynn had highlighted in her tattered copy of The Catcher in the Rye. Her English test began in less than nine hours, so she snuck in snatches of studying whenever she could. She’d alre...

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“The Sugar Thief” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #216

Things I don’t like about Ina:1. She’s old.2. She smiles too much.3. She always tries to use coupons that have expired.4. She wears cheap, ugly clothes.5. She calls me “dearie.”Things I like about Ina:1. She’s a sugar thief. &...

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“Another Queen on the Board” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #216

You can’t go home right now. Go to that pizza place that’s always open. Order the buffalo chicken. You have some cash on you from the other day when Uncle Greg slipped you a twenty. That’s enough for two slices. You can have some pizza and check your phone. Play some chess. You need to play more chess. You’re good, but you could be better. You always give up your bishops right off the bat. That’s no way t...

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“A Journey to belief” by Jutta Hauke Arriola

Submitted to Contest #216

I find it hard to believe that I am loved now. I just can’t accept that it’s true. I’ve lost the belief of anyone being able to love me. My mother? No. My father? No. My brother? No. My boyfriend? No. I don’t feel lovable anymore. No matter how many people show me sorts of affection. “Nat? Did you hear me? I love you” He’s staring at me, his tough hands resting on my shoulders, as if attempting to pull me...

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“Another Chance” by Ian Gonzales

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #216

“Good morning, Arthur,” I say, as the thick metal door shuts behind me with a ponderous clang. Multiple locks automatically click into place, sounding like a series of gunshots. “How are you today?” “Oh, just peachy, Doc.” The man sitting on the other side of the table shifts in his chair. The links of the manacles he wears—bolted to the scuffed, battered tabletop—jingle and clink. “And you?” “Can’t complai...

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“Anne-Marie, The Story I Can’t Tell You ” by Danie Holland

Submitted to Contest #216

T/W: This story contains explicit language and depictions of child abuse. Please read at your own discretion.“Let me see that,” I say. I pull her into my lap, smelling her apple scented hair. Tears trickle down her cheeks while cries hiccup from her chest. She needs me. Blood droplets form from a scrape on her shin. It’s not as bad as she makes it out to be. It seldom is. I never tell her so. Only we feel our pain, after all. What is a minor ache to someone might be an unbearable weight to another....

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“The Hitchhiker” by Carson Lupton

Submitted to Contest #216

The hitchhiker stood firm on the side of the poorly kept desert road, his left thumb stuck up at an almost unnatural angle. In his other hand, he held a piece of cardboard that had Phoenix written crudely in black Sharpie. Behind him, a mile away if not more, was the town of Las Vegas, the neon lights from the city barely visible from where the hitchhiker was stationed. As he patiently waited, the hitchhiker tried to think of how he had ended up here, why he would have ever wanted to go to a place that somehow would make him poor...

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“The Sound of Raining Leaves” by Judith Jerdé

Submitted to Contest #216

The mountain air was crisp and still, and Autumn had painted a most colorful picture frame around the cabin while they slept.Mattie Duval walked Ginny Clarkson a friend from grade school to her Auntie Sookie’s car. The musky sweet fragrance of fallen leaves hung in the air around them.Soon the sun peeked through the clearing, illuminating the golden leaves in a sizable grove of Ginkgo trees nearby. The Ginkgo’s leaves fell silently like a steady rain shower in the morning mist. ...

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“Crack in the plate” by Waaa Intresting

Submitted to Contest #216

"Sorry" said Viv. "you're too late." Muted colours that dance in the shadows, the words reverberated in Edwin's mind. For what this time? "You're too late". A crack in the plate. The words hung in the air, sort of as if it was a lingering melancholic melody that pulled the strings of Edwin's heart. Words that seemed lost, whispering a lost dream, tantalizingly close yet ever so distant. Like a song you cherish, but the lyrics slip through the cracks of your memory. Leaving nothing but a faint resonance. Edwin thoug...

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“My Sweet Petunia Scene 5” by Robert Schatz

Submitted to Contest #216

“Hello, my sweet Petunia. You’re looking pretty tonight.” “Why do you always call me that Sam?” “Pretty?” “A petunia. Why a petunia?” “It’s a pretty flower.” “Lots of pretty flowers.” “I just like petunias in particular.” “You know, you always say I look good. Good for my age, you mean?”

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“Pooltime Serenade” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #216

Her feet are at the poolside, placed on the very edge, toes primed for the plunge. Her body is a stiff, unwieldy skeletal structure. Her bikini feels like bondage and the unforgiving sun roasts her exposed back. Sara is stuck in limbo – one that exists between the solid and watery worlds. Everyone around her is laughing and squealing, as if they’re mocking her fear as she inches forwards. She tries to drown out the sounds, but it is impossible. Everyone is in full-fledged holiday mode, except for her. This is her moment: the one she worri...

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“Morning Reflections” by Peter Gaskin

Submitted to Contest #216

I sit by the café window and gaze out at the crowds walking by. All these colorful people, so full of life, with busy schedules, probably headed to someone who loves them. I sit and regard my melancholy reflection, recalling my past. My troubled past—“Excuse me, are you going to buy something?” a man with an apron and a nametag asks. “You can’t just sit here if you’re not going to buy something.”“Oh. Sorry.” I rise and let the man feel the anguish in my soul by staring directly into his eyes, the red rims moist with the thre...

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“Reunited?” by Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #216

"Visit Grandma? Oh n-" Sonya stifled an 'Oh no'. "Oh great," she finished lamely, glad that her mother couldn't see her from over the phone. "I thought you would like it," her mother said. "You must be looking forward to seeing her again after so long. You two were so close." She still remembered the cheerful, carefree Sonya of ten years ago, the one who giggled when she was tickled and said in her a...

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“Destiny's Violent Strings” by GW LeCroy

Submitted to Contest #216

I sat at the corner table in a dreary inn in Swanknoll, very aware of the eyes that found me. The small mountain village was used to passersby almost every day, most traveling from Ríse to Kruh Zivota, and still, their glares painted a vivid picture of how welcome I was. If there was another way through the mountains, I would use it, but I was here, instead. Talons wrapped around the mug, I brought it to my beak...

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Write a scene in which a character’s behavior or reaction to something is affected by a past experience — without saying what that experience was.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 54 stories

“How the Leopard Lost its Spots” by Rebecca Miles

“Some of Them Kept Records of Their Troubles” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“The Sugar Thief” by Delbert Griffith

“Another Queen on the Board” by Story Time

“A Journey to belief” by Jutta Hauke Arriola

“Another Chance” by Ian Gonzales

“Anne-Marie, The Story I Can’t Tell You ” by Danie Holland

“The Hitchhiker” by Carson Lupton

“The Sound of Raining Leaves” by Judith Jerdé

“Crack in the plate” by Waaa Intresting

“My Sweet Petunia Scene 5” by Robert Schatz

“Pooltime Serenade” by Keelan LaForge

“Morning Reflections” by Peter Gaskin

“Reunited?” by Khadija S. Mohammad

“Destiny's Violent Strings” by GW LeCroy

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story in a coffee shop without using obvious words to describe it (e.g. barista, coffee cup.)

Include dialogue that shows that a character is socially awkward.

Include a scene in your story in which a character's body language conveys their hidden emotions.

Write a story with an open ending that gives readers just enough details to draw their own conclusions.

Contest #216

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

296

Contest entries

116

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: