Write a story about a character trying to find a way to express their gratitude to someone.

Posted in Character on Jul 26, 2024

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✍️ 61 stories

“The Heart of the Matter” by Karen Hope

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

She adjusts herself in the stiff chair, trying to get comfortable. It seems each time she shifts, it’s not long before she needs to squirm around again, looking for that sweet spot. But then she reminds herself she’s in a hospital, watching her husband sleep soundly after his surgery. It’s not about her comfort. It’s about his. A baseball game is playing on the TV, the volume so low she can only hear a steady buzzing from the small bedside speaker. Her fingers ache to gingerly grab the remote from beside her husband and turn on her favorite ...

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“The Regenhardt Dilemma” by Rebecca Hurst

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

Nelly Regenhardt had been writing to prisoner B6732FH for nine hard years and had never received a reply. But she had seen The Shawshank Redemption, and came to understand that in the matter of correspondence, persistence always won the game. And win the game it did. Ten years after her husband had been shot in the head by the very man she had been writing to, she received a standard reply: Prisoner B6732FH will see you on (appointed date and time), at a venue very much decided upon: HMP Wingfield: Category A. But le...

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“Paper Cup” by Helen A Smith

Submitted to Contest #261

If only good things lasted. Maybe not forever, but for as long as we need them.This section of the riverbank has been my favourite haunt for the past year. There’s a chill in the air and my feet scrunch along a well-worn path. Ancient half-bare trees sway a little, their curling leaves settling after a languid descent. Soon they will be little more than trunks with skeletal branches; passers-by will observe them while clumping along carpets of rusty red and gold. Then they will turn to mulch, and traipsing visitors will long for the promise ...

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“Thanks For Everything” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #261

I’d like to thank you for not giving up after the twins, and for the months of discomfort while carrying me, the pain when bearing me.I’d like to thank you for your early care, even though later I’d discover that you’d sometimes actually been rather negligent – almost fatally so: there was that time you dropped me going down the stairs and I bounced, ending up at the bottom in a pool of blood; then you let me wander off while you were cleaning and I ended up on the main road, seen by a passing lorry-driver and taken to the police station; or...

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“Fangs for Your Help” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #261

Gene Waters, the sweaty postman with beady eyes that were too close together, grinned at her like a shark.Lindsay Adams’s stomach dropped. Oh no. Not again. Couldn’t she ever go out running in peace? Why did her early morning efforts have to draw such attention? Lindsay wanted to get back in shape after years of working at the bakery, which had led to a bit of weight gain. Her boyfriend – now her ex, she had to remind herself – had called her fat and ended the relationship. He threw two-and-a-half years away because of a few pounds. And to t...

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“Thank You Note” by Tom D

Submitted to Contest #261

Content warning: Contains references to violence.I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. About how to express my gratitude to you. You see, it’s really quite the puzzle. You’ve done so much for me and I don’t know how best I can thank you for it. But I’m determined to try.This morning started like any other. It started in a greasy spoon. As I perused the breakfast buffet, loading up my plate with sausage and scrambled eggs, I glanced up at the television screen set in the wall. The news was on, and it was the same old story - bombs fallin...

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“Purple” by Amanda Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #261

Now what. I can’t move. I can’t think. I’m just sitting here, frozen, mouth slightly agape, staring at a sea of people. Well, a room with about 50 wedding guests, give or take— but you get the point. This isn’t a great start for a Maid of Honor.What am I supposed to do again? A small voice breaks through the fog. “Come on, Liss. You can do it. You’re almost there.” I look over at the boy sitting next to me. Not a boy anymore, not really. A man. Seth is more of a man now than our father ever was. I look into Seth...

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“Another Passenger on a Train” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #261

It has been said that “thank you” may be the hardest word in the English Language to say. I don’t know if I agree, but it certainly has caused me some hardship in expressing my gratitude at times. I know for certain it is not social etiquette that prevents us from expressing our gratitude, but it has more to do with how we decide to express gratitude appropriately. Too often we fall short of the true depth of our gratitude and leave the impression that we are really not grateful at all for something that has been done witho...

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“Four Roses With Father” by Thomas Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #261

It was almost 12:30 a.m. as I pulled up to the end of the long driveway beside the staid and prestigious old house where I had grown up in the toney and uber-wealthy outskirts of Greenwich, Connecticut. Despite the late hour I wasn't surprised to see that the lights were still on inside the study. Whether he had fallen asleep in his deep leather chair with a book in his lap or if he was still awake - browsing some well-thumbed novel by Vidal or Mailer - was another question. My father’s sleep schedule was anything but on schedule lately, mai...

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“Hakeem and Walid” by Daryl Kulak

Submitted to Contest #261

I left the room with the kidnapping suspect and walked to the opposite side of the hallway to meet with the parent. The eight year-old boy only had a father now since the mother was killed as part of the abduction. As I entered the room, I saw the father, Hakeem, sitting at the empty table. His hands were gripping the chair seat and he did not acknowledge my presence. I deal with these parents all the time so I wasn’t affected by this. “Mr. Fayez, it is nice to see you again.” I used my most pleasant office voice. He still didn’t look up. “M...

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“The Art Critic” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #261

John Gideon Edwards is an art critic extraordinaire. Well, perhaps cynic extraordinaire is more appropriate. He is also a snob. His father was a curatorial assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for many years. John Edwards Sr. had grand ambitions for his son, hoping he would someday become a world-renowned artist. He enrolled him in the educational art program at the museum itself. Its purpose was to teach various techniques and methods while exposing children to the museum’s vast works o...

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“What I’m Grateful For ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #261

Welp. Here we go again. You can’t see it, but I’m rolling my eyes right now. Why? Because it’s time once again to write the yearly essay of “What I’m Grateful For”, and then have my teacher paste the Quality Copy (not the Sloppy Copy! Never the Sloppy Copy!) to a piece of brightly colored construction paper, before hanging it on the classroom wall for Open House Night. It’s the same every year. Even now that I’m in 4th grade. Pretty much an adult. Or at least a teenager. When I was in Kind...

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“Thank you Henry!” by Bracy Ratcliff

Submitted to Contest #261

Any other night, Dad was at the table waiting for us, his four sons, when Mom called us in for supper. Tonight, Dad was on the phone so as we walked into the kitchen, Mom did that “shhh” thing with her finger in front of her lips. We quickly quieted down and found our seats at the table. We could hear Dad talk, but he wasn’t saying much, “Ok, sure, I understand. Ok, I’ll let them know. Ok, thanks.” He untangled the stretchy phone cord and hung the handset back in its cradle on the wall. He quickly settled i...

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“High School in the 70's and 80's” by Josh Abel

Submitted to Contest #261

When I entered high school I had a full beard and a medical condition (a seizure disorder) that wasn’t under control with medication. In junior high I was called Abraham Lincoln because of the beard, however no one knew about the seizures. I didn’t eventell my friends about it. It was embracing when I had a seizure. I kept to myself and hid my feelings about it. I didn’t want to go out in public much because I was afraid of people’s reaction if they saw me have a seizure. One time at home I had just climbed aflight of stairs. When I reached ...

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“The egg donor” by Giuliana Sica

Submitted to Contest #261

Dear Stranger,My name is Anna, and I am the mother of your daughter.I hope this letter finds you in good health and surrounded by love. I know that reaching you through these words may never be possible, but I need to share something that weighs heavily on my heart and has been a constant companion through some of the most profound moments of my life. I want to tell you my story, though I’m not sure you will ever read it. I hope that, somehow, it will reach you, if only through the ether of heartfelt emotions.I imagine you must be wondering ...

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Write a story about a character trying to find a way to express their gratitude to someone.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 61 stories

“The Heart of the Matter” by Karen Hope

“The Regenhardt Dilemma” by Rebecca Hurst

“Paper Cup” by Helen A Smith

“Thanks For Everything” by PJ Town

“Fangs for Your Help” by Joshua G. J. Insole

“Thank You Note” by Tom D

“Purple” by Amanda Wisdom

“Another Passenger on a Train” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Four Roses With Father” by Thomas Wetzel

“Hakeem and Walid” by Daryl Kulak

“The Art Critic” by Ralph Aldrich

“What I’m Grateful For ” by Nina H

“Thank you Henry!” by Bracy Ratcliff

“High School in the 70's and 80's” by Josh Abel

“The egg donor” by Giuliana Sica

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a creative nonfiction piece about something you're grateful for.

Write a story about a cynic who has been told to start a "gratitude journal," and does so — begrudgingly.

Write a story about an unsung hero.

Write a story in the form of a series of thank you cards.

Contest #261

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

300

Contest entries

97

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: