Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Posted in Character on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 252 stories

“RATH YAATRAA (CAR FESTIVAL)” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #51

Abhiram Panda was very happy that the rail tickets he booked for travelling to Puri, got confirmed. When he told his wife and son, both were quite excited, particularly the ‘Chhotu’ with his visible excitement. He exclaimed, “Aiyah! How nice! We will be able to go for Rath Yaatra this year. So many times, I had seen it on TV. Now I will be there witnessing the same directly. Baapu, you will be sweeping around the divine chariot and I will be pulling the it. Okay? I saw on TV like that. One person does the sweeping. Then on the swept clean p...

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“Dear Diary” by Rachel Hudson

Submitted to Contest #51

Katie went on her first date today. I’m not upset. I mean, you have to expect someone to date again after a relationship ends. It’s been a whole year; I’m surprised she even waited that long. That doesn’t mean I liked it, though. I followed them to the restaurant. I wasn’t trying to be creepy or anything; I just wanted to see what he was like. Not that she’d even notice I was there. Oh, what I’d give for her to notice me again. His hair is the same color as mine, but he’s a little taller. Got a nice beard, too. I think I heard her call ...

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“Two Wrongs for Money” by Marian Reiley

Submitted to Contest #51

I knew I shouldn't have done it; Lindsay thought. Why did I?! It had been three years but her actions finally caught up with Lindsay. "We have the video footage of you;" Detective Rice stated. "You were there at that bank a week before the robbery! You're just as guilty as Frankie Romano!" Lindsay knew the surveillance video was damning. 'Fired Up' Frankie was the head of the Romano syndicate. She shouldn't have crossed paths with him but it had been unavoidable. Maybe if she talked first, she could get some sort of protection. "Fine;"...

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“Past, Tense (Lucy, part II)” by Ken Coomes

Submitted to Contest #51

More than anything else I think about my past. As I ponder what will happen when I get out, that balance may shift. But for years I’ve thought about the past. The past, the past, the past. Always the past. Sure beats thinking about my present. You know, some people tell us to leave the past where it is - behind us. We can’t go back and change anything about it. And that might be a very good thing. When you think about changing the past, especially if you’re thinking about ending yourself because of that past, just think about t...

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“Red and Blue” by Sydney Jensen

Submitted to Contest #51

The pregnancy was a...surprise, to say the least. Aina was fifteen years old, after all. That was quite an age gap to have with a sibling. And she was almost certain that the baby wasn’t exactly planned. Nonetheless, she smiled and gave her mother and stepfather a hug. This would be a good thing. Right? * Aina and her mother, Elisabeth, were very close, they always had been. She had been born in a brutal, abusive marriage and used by her father as a pawn to keep her mother under his control. They lived with him until A...

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“Trojan Horses” by Nahyan Ameen

Submitted to Contest #51

Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one's own Trojan horse. -Rebecca West.Like all stories worth mentioning, this one is about a girl. Asha was beautiful, no matter how you looked at it. She was widely desired amongst men and boys in many different social circles. Her breasts were voluptuous, her hips wide. Anyone could tell she was sexually active. These were the kinds of circles were ones where everyone knew each other more intimately than outsiders could ever suspect. You could even say incestous circles. Eve...

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“Called Back Home ” by Melissa Sparacino

Submitted to Contest #51

I had always run away from my childhood even before my feet knew how to walk. I did not want to end up like my father, a fisherman who barely knew what the world was beyond the outskirts of our small rural town. Our home was small, three rooms that my mother had managed to make into a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom. She was talented like that though at the time I never gave her much credit for it. My sister Kalli was 4 years younger than me. She chased me around the house with those dark eyes t...

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“2037” by Lizzy Burt

Submitted to Contest #51

The year was 2037, ten years after the Borthons attacked. At least I thought it was about ten years ago. I stopped caring about time long ago. Sunshine reigned the sky, but I didn’t feel its warmth. Warmth meant nothing. I dug my hands deeper into my faded green coat pockets and stared at the gravel in front of me. A leaf crunched underneath my boot. I shone my flashlight downward to see where the crunch came from. I had crushed the bones of a teenager’s hand, his vacant eyes reflecting the stars from above. Horrified, I stepped to the ri...

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“A Forgotten Past ” by Katie Keller

Submitted to Contest #51

I held the knife to his neck. He pleaded with me, “Please I have a wife and two kids”. I considered this for a brief moment before I slashed through his neck. I slipped my knife into its spot on my belt. I looked back at my twin, her head slipped quickly to the left. The signal to leave. I ran to our rental car and slid in the passenger's seat. “One down, many to go.” I looked at Adira. “Where is the next stop?”. Adira looked at me annoyed and turned away. For some reason, she was always mad at me. “We should have never left.” &n...

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“Cigarettes and Stars” by Kai Easterbrook

Submitted to Contest #51

Kiyoshi breathes in steadily, holding the smoke in his mouth for ten seconds before he releases it through his nose. A plume of grey crowds his vision, and for a moment, all he knows is the stinging of the smoke in his eyes and the nicotine in his veins. But then the smoke clears, and he can see the sky again. There are tiny pinpricks of light, barely making it through the strong cover the clouds have provided. Stars, he thinks, and reaches up his empty hand to touch them. His fingers close over nothing. The stars are beautiful, yet almost...

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“Portraits in a Pale Room” by SIDDHI AMRALE

Submitted to Contest #51

He laid down on the soft bed with double pillows and comforters so thick, it soaked up all the stress of a dying man. Perhaps not. He winced as they pinched him with a needle, yet it was with the utmost care. They jutted his broken leg above which dangled low from all the fat that his leg had bore. He screamed and wailed and they took all the care to be as promising as they could be. Stuffing pillows underneath, three boys each carrying a foot of his bandaged leg ensuring the best possible service. He blinked again and everything was a white...

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“Did I? ” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #51

I gazed up at the night sky’s night robe of stars being displayed, I guess, just for me. Whatever I am. I lay on my back against my makeshift cot of axed logs as well as big and medium branches cut from the palm trees surrounding this uninterestingly big island. I dig my bare feet into the warm, comforting sand, making little ditches with my tan heels. But I don’t want to make my own ditches. I want to make them with my older brother. Steven is my best friend. But he’s not here. The cruise had sliced—literally—883 passengers’ trip short wi...

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“The Beauty in Death ” by Ethan Jarmush

Submitted to Contest #51

The blowing wind, swaying trees, radiant sunlight, and crashing waves surround me. To think I could find peace here. After ten years I had almost convinced myself. But it seems fate always has a way of bringing two enemies together. “Lord Yasumori, that’ll be 20 mon, as you already know.” The fisherman says. “Same as always. I don’t think you’ve ever bought anything different in your ten years of staying here.” “What else would I need when Mother Nature already provides.” A man on horseback gallops down the muddy street ...

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“Secrets from the Past” by Angela Morrissey

Submitted to Contest #51

Peggy-Lee Williams had just got a job up in Darwin as a Psychiatric nurse after graduating from her nursing training. The year was 1970 and winds of change were blowing across the sunburnt country although the Vietnam War was still raging in South East Asia and the twenty-one year old was coming across newly returned soldiers every day as they were shipped back from the conflict zone. There was a new condition called post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychological disturbance lasting more than one month following stre...

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“Grandview Manor” by Celine Rose Marie

Submitted to Contest #51

Grandview Manor Sitting in my car, I stare up at the towering Manor with its intimidating stature and hope that I never need to step foot inside after today. I hoped I would never need to when I left, but it seems I was wrong in assuming that. Quashing my cigarette, I pray it helped calm my nerves and exit the car. This place now encourages anxiety in me, though I’m not sure why. At almost fifteen years old, this car has been rundown for about five. But still works to get me from place to place, proving itself reliable time and time again....

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Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 252 stories

“RATH YAATRAA (CAR FESTIVAL)” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

“Dear Diary” by Rachel Hudson

“Two Wrongs for Money” by Marian Reiley

“Past, Tense (Lucy, part II)” by Ken Coomes

“Red and Blue” by Sydney Jensen

“Trojan Horses” by Nahyan Ameen

“Called Back Home ” by Melissa Sparacino

“2037” by Lizzy Burt

“A Forgotten Past ” by Katie Keller

“Cigarettes and Stars” by Kai Easterbrook

“Portraits in a Pale Room” by SIDDHI AMRALE

“Did I? ” by Christine Hungerford

“The Beauty in Death ” by Ethan Jarmush

“Secrets from the Past” by Angela Morrissey

“Grandview Manor” by Celine Rose Marie

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Write about someone who has a superpower.

Write a story that involves a mystery — it doesn't need to be crime-related, it should just include something that remains unexplained until the end.

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Contest #51

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

1248

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: