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

Posted in Character on Oct 28, 2022

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✍️ 252 stories

“Echoing Words” by Rawn A Lynn

Submitted to Contest #51

Yura slowly perused the store. Looking around diligently and determined. A couple of tasks at the forefront of her mind. Her list.Buy 5 different and new outfitsBuy new pairs of shoesBuy 3 new video games not on saleBuy a brand itemEat at an expensive restaurantLong-term Goal: Buy whatever I want without regrets.As she read over her list, her nerves refused to settle. She has never bought this much stuff. Her psychologist recommended she did it all in one day. Guilt shifted in her stomach. She had no more reason to feel guilty. She isn’t rel...

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“Caught in the Narrative ” by Spencer Pinkus

Submitted to Contest #51

11.12.2008 Dear Editor,You know you’re getting old when you start to repeat the same old stories. It’s not because your memory is starting to fade. On the contrary, it’s because your memory is getting too good. You’ve told your stories so many times they’ve become ingrained in your memory. You can relate to that, can’t you?Yours,A Subscriber12.12.2008Dear Editor,I was once selected to be the parliamentary candidate for St Ives. I was fresh out of university at the time and full of energy. I would have...

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“The Hue by Arnab Ghosh” by Arnab Ghosh

Submitted to Contest #51

I closely watched the two blanched leaves just underneath the bud. I was unsettled about whether to give it a splash of water or to call the horticulturist for an inspection. I bent to have one more look at the bud. It was green with a tightly closed tip and the sepals glued together, not allowing anyone to survey the inside. The horticulturist advised me to sprinkle some liquid NPK and water it a little. I obliged.I knew her since she was seven. She never failed to amuse me with her innocuous capriccios. She used to make me admire even...

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“The Day I Died” by Sophie Dunn

Submitted to Contest #51

...Leo’s POV... “I remember that day, like it was yesterday. The day it happened. The day I died…” “You see I always had my er… issues, but nothing like this. I thought my life sucked, but I didn’t have anything to compare it to. My mother died giving birth. My father drank himself to death. I had no other family members, so I was put in the foster system. I had a family until I was 13. Then they had their own kid. They thought that I was old enough to look after myself, so I was kicked out” “For three years I lived on the move. I n...

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“Apollo” by Bruce Charles

Submitted to Contest #51

I’m was on my back, lying on a green field, and above me were the stars sparkling. In the nighttime sky, I saw the shape of an archer, the constellation Orion. This is how the dreams always started. I vaguely remembered the tale of Orion from Greek mythology. He was a hunter and friends with a goddess named Artemis. Apollo, the twin brother of Artemis, was jealous of their closeness, and sent a scorpion to kill Orion. Artemis grieved for her friend, and turned him into a constellation to honor his memory. The first time I was sent to the...

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“At the Crossroads” by Andrew Wheeler

Submitted to Contest #51

Trigger warning: depictions of suicide It was a tired day that had long overstayed its welcome, and the sun began to wane on the horizon. The glare of the dying sunbeams struck across the metal before him as they clung to the final vestiges of day, shining into his glasses and causing him to wince. Reflecting deeply on himself out on those train tracks, Andrew had momentarily lost sense of his surroundings. It was silly, what they told him about his older brother. Jeremy was always such a charismatic man, much like himself. Nobody cou...

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“The girl who was slaughtered” by Ruben Smith

Submitted to Contest #51

I still remember the tightness in my chest, squeezing my lungs, trapping the air inside of me unable to inhale, unable to exhale. I remember feeling his cold hand cling onto mine, sending shivers through my body as he pulled me back. Staring into his demonic eyes I could feel myself falling into the cages he had set up for me, I was unable to move. “Are you going to kill me?” I remember asking, my voice quivering higher than it was supposed to be, frail like my wobbly knees. “I'm not sure yet.” He said th...

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“The DiffiCULT Child” by Shreya Chadal

Submitted to Contest #51

Lalitha sits in the dark on her wooden armchair in front of a running television. Her spine is parallel to that of the chair’s, her elbow resting on its arm and her fingers joined as if holding a pen. Her right leg is crossed over the other, lifting up her saree to her ankle, drawing to light the toe rings that ornamented her feet since her wedding. On the floor is an unfolded letter, its contents hidden by her shadow. She looks like the school principal she is during the day and not a loving mother she’s always tried to be after she got bac...

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“Benign Lives ” by Melissa Keeping

Submitted to Contest #51

I had been bugging my parents for a pet for a really long time. What I really wanted was a dog- a little guy to follow me up to the soccer field and sleep in the tent with me when my buddies had camp outs. My mom always said that it wasn’t fair to leave a dog home alone all day while she and my dad worked and I went to school. What my parents brought home instead was this huge, scruffy cat. He had ragged ears and ginormous paws and long, black fur. Right through his black fur was a long, white scar just above his left eye. It made it l...

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“You Were the Only Thing Worth Crying Over” by Madeline Rossi

Submitted to Contest #51

With the sun beginning to rise, I laid down in the tall grass, barefoot and emotionally exhausted. It had been some time that I had spent running away - 7 years 4 months and 3 days to be exact. The funny thing is, when I started running I thought I was running towards a brighter future. I didn't realize that I was also running away from a tormented past, bound to follow me no matter how quickly I moved. I was 14 when it happened. I spent the next 4 years counting down to the day when I could finally leave, and begin to forget everything. S...

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“A Sister’s Love” by Katie Devlin

Submitted to Contest #51

1 A sudden shriek and I am awake. I sit up in my bed startled, but not alarmed. Once I catch my breath, I check the clock. I don't know exactly why I check the clock; I already know what time it is. Its 1:42 in the morning. It is almost pitch black due to the rain clouds passing through on their way to Wichita. The clock emits a dull red glow which is just enough for me to see my sister. Janie is standing in the corner wearing those trashy old clothes with that insidious grin. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but she looks exactly the...

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“Why?, Part II” by A.J. Brown

Submitted to Contest #51

(This is a sequel to my previous story – “Why?”) The music was loud and it sounded great on the warm evening. Every table was filled. They had a great view of the water from where they were sitting. He looked across the table at his date. Brooke was exactly the kind of girl that Matt wanted to be on a date with. She had blond, straight hair and a pretty face, was petite, and she was well-dressed. She was quite tan, most likely she got it in a tanning bed and not naturally in the sun, but that was fine with him...

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“Just Another Summer” by A. L. Myers

Submitted to Contest #51

The waves crashed against the pier as Leah walked along. It had been a long time since she’d met any of her friends on the beach. She wasn’t sure she’d gone at all since the incident last year, at least, not alone. She looked up, feeling eyes on her. Some of the younger fishermen were standing in front of the docks, leering at her. She hugged her shirt around herself, thinking her father had been right to suggest bringing the dog along, but it was too late now. She wasn’t going back in front of those old shacks.She glanced around when she st...

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“A Scent of Gray” by Alystair White

Submitted to Contest #51

I'm in a small room. It is old, and it’s dingy, and there is an odor to it, something subtle, a scent of... gray. I look around, trying to get my bearings. It’s like I’ve been here before, but not quite here. It’s disorienting. The first thing that comes into focus is a bedspread, dull and drab brown, like that dreadful coffee you get from a convenience store. Then I see the wallpaper, which is a dark, depressing version of red, muted and faded, like dried blood. There are off-white stripes running down it from ceiling to floor, like t...

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“Ghost of a Forgotten Life” by Connor Andrei

Submitted to Contest #51

Robert sat on the edge of his bed. The room was dark, almost entirely, except for a sliver of warm amber light coming from the old green banker’s lamp on his desk. His hands were folded together in his lap. His head hung forward and his shoulders drooped down. He breathed slow and shallow. Robert had given up. “I’m sorry,” he breathed, his voice cracking and barely audible over the ever present hum of the furnace in his apartment. “Why?” asked a voice behind him. He turned suddenly to see a small boy, maybe ten years old, perched on the p...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 252 stories

“Echoing Words” by Rawn A Lynn

“Caught in the Narrative ” by Spencer Pinkus

“The Hue by Arnab Ghosh” by Arnab Ghosh

“The Day I Died” by Sophie Dunn

“Apollo” by Bruce Charles

“At the Crossroads” by Andrew Wheeler

“The girl who was slaughtered” by Ruben Smith

“The DiffiCULT Child” by Shreya Chadal

“Benign Lives ” by Melissa Keeping

“You Were the Only Thing Worth Crying Over” by Madeline Rossi

“A Sister’s Love” by Katie Devlin

“Why?, Part II” by A.J. Brown

“Just Another Summer” by A. L. Myers

“A Scent of Gray” by Alystair White

“Ghost of a Forgotten Life” by Connor Andrei

🌟 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: