Write a story about a character who starts out as a pessimist and ends as an optimist. (Or vice versa.)

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 46 stories

“Don't be Roadkill” by Kendi Stoneberg

Submitted to Contest #20

Allaby Treemontan was having a very, very bad day—but he was all right with it. There was nothing in the world that seemed to get Allaby down. His smile was for everyone who crossed his path. His step never once faltered with negative hesitation. He was Santa Clause without the beard and the belly, and his Ho-Ho-Ho’s were continuous “Hello’s!” and “How do you do’s!” Today was no different, even when it seemed the world was against him. The power went out in his apartment complex, which meant that his alarm didn’t go off when it was suppose...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Into the Light” by Ellyn Quiggle

Submitted to Contest #20

I wondered if there would ever be peace. People joke that you have peace when you're dead. Maybe so. Leaving the house was against the rules between 1 and 1:15pm, on option expiration days. Maybe this time he would not notice. "I told you I am losing money and cannot be distracted, so here you are again. Why can't you stay out if my way?" I meekly replied, "I have a doctor's appointment and must walk the dogs before leaving." "You're an asshole." At what point did I give up my self worth to be with a man who had nothing nice to say or do? I ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Burning Love” by Adelaide Prochazka

Submitted to Contest #20

The fire had to be a blessing in disguise, it brought me to this house and to the boy next door. In all honesty the years had blurred since I lost my parents. The foster care system was lacking at best and no one wanted the toddler. My family had burned in a fire that started in the kitchen and I was the only one who was spared. Still I remembered everything like it was engraved in my mind. My childhood was not sweet nor kind. “Why can’t you behave like a normal little girl,” my father yelled, I didn’t understand what...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Head Held High” by Lindsey Buck

Submitted to Contest #20

She walked the school hall with her head high and a smile on her face. Or, she always tried her best. She could feel herself slow down sometimes, she could feel the urge to watch her feet, she could feel her smile sag but even on her worst days she could keep her head high and smile on her face. She only ever dropped her mask when she was alone. If you knew about the tears she shed, she trusted you. If you saw her tears, she’s not okay.Many people told her that she was incredibly kind and she was ridiculously smart. The day her mask fell off...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Begin Again” by Barbara Schreibke

Submitted to Contest #20

So this is how it ends, Charlie was thinking glumly as he took the final steps down the courthouse corridor. The ornate wooden door was wide open, and he crossed the threshold with the other sardines swimming his way. Charlie came out on the other side and he stood off to the side of the flagstone path leading to the sidewalk. He was watching and waiting, trying to pull himself together, hoping for a sign that would lead him away from this place and toward a future that was at this moment incredibly unclear. He rehashed the coll...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Hydroplaning” by Stella B James

Submitted to Contest #20

This rain is going to kill you. That’s what you think to yourself as you squint at your windshield, willing the white-gray blur to let up. The rain drops harder, pounding a rhythm a marching band would struggle to match, and you turn the wipers on high speed. If you die in this, will they even notice?Shaking your head, you press yourself into the back of your seat as the car hits another deep puddle. The edges of this back road are flooding, the road a narrow squiggle of cement that you struggle to keep on. Hitting another deep patch of wate...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Bogman 2” by Felix Twingrin

Submitted to Contest #20

For most people, life begins in warmth. He however, cannot imagine what that must have been like, he was born in cold.Sometimes he dwells on it, the strangeness of it all. How others don’t remember coming into this world. They don’t shudder with thoughts of that hideous gasping first breath. They don’t recall the people that pulled them to the bright light and wiped the muck from their eyes. Their first screams of indignation at being pulled into an existence all too foreign to them. They pulled him from the bog fully formed and screaming. H...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Someone You Know” by Janie Cruz

Submitted to Contest #20

"Stupid. That's all it is. I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of it." I growled. "Oh come on Kalley, it's gonna be fun. Please come with us!" "No thanks. You guys go have fun." "Kalley, just because you got stood up last year-" "Stop. Okay? Just stop. Just accept the fact I'm done with high school boys and dances and leave it at that." I stood and left. I got out to my car and saw a note on the windshield. I opened it. Dear Kalley, I would be honored if you would go to prom with me on Saturday. Now, I know you don't want to...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The soul has a timeline all its own” by Chitra Gopalakrishnan

Submitted to Contest #20

The soul has a timeline all its ownBy Chitra Gopalakrishnan2998 wordsOn a brisk Tuesday afternoon, on November 13, 2015, on an uncommonly smog-less and blindingly bright day for New Delhi’s moody weather this time of the year, I sit with two other journalists, Riya Mathur and Nitin Khanna across the table of an elite food court in New Delhi with an air of fretful preoccupation. While we keep up the ambient noise in this area with our animated talk of terrorism and the clatter of our cutlery, the base hum comes from the diners all around us. ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Forlorn Blithe” by Cari Morgan

Submitted to Contest #20

Optimist:A person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of somethingA word that I have heard thrown around a few times; whether it be in a conversation or a ‘motivational’ book claiming that ‘to live your best life you must have an optimistic outlook’. To be quite honest, I do not get it - how is one supposed to be optimistic in the world we live in. I watch the news every-so-often and when I do, I feel anything but optimistic.“We are here live at the scene in which many gunshots were fired last night, k...

0 comments 0

Read story

“If The World was An Orange” by Dane Pangilinan

Submitted to Contest #20

[Look around you and you'll see, how beautiful the world is...]I tried my best to finish my assignment but I simply can't. How can I even portray the beauty of this world if I can't find any?"Having trouble writing, Ace?" my roommate asked as he entered our room. He just came back from buying fruits from the supermarket.I solemnly nodded at him."Ms. Oberon just had to make us do a poem about the Earth's grandness, eh?" He mockingly said as he chuckled. I gave him a small smile before going back to my poem.Earth, beautiful - I never even asso...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Your Whole World Will Be Infected ” by Simon Stuthers

Submitted to Contest #20

In times like these, I’m surprised I still hold onto the happiness you left in me. Apparently, you changed me more than I like to give you credit for. That short amount of time was enough. I don’t know how, or what you did. I get another blow to the face, almost like I deserve it. Of course, I probably do. These people don’t understand why I stopped fighting, so they continue on like I’m their punching bag. “Stop smiling. This is disgusting.” One of them spits in my face before the group decides they have had enough. I pull mysel...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Union” by Gary Angle

Submitted to Contest #20

1. Upon walking in the conference room Ellen was swallowed by darkness. There were no windows in any of the university’s basement offices. Ellen blindly felt for a light switch rubbing her hand along the wall next to the door where she thought it would be. Fear suddenly gripped her and seized her hand ironically coming to rest on the wall just two inches above the light switch. Someone was in the room. She squinted into the black...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Blessing in Disguise” by Somdatta Gangopadhyay

Submitted to Contest #20

The clock had just ticked 12. Mini looked up, tired and then focused on her phone screen while also checking at the door, and the babies submerged in their afternoon nap.‘You’re using phone!’ Mini looked up in utter shock as the voice came out of the ‘1st Steps’, as the classroom was called. Ms. Stevens, the Assistant Director of Little Steps Preschool was standing at the door of the classroom with her rather ferocious look at Mini, continuing, ‘You can’t be with us anymore. Give me your phone.’ Stevens just grabbed the phone off Mini’s hand...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Change in Perspective” by Helen Kingkade

Submitted to Contest #20

A sense of defeatism manifested itself early in life. She was seven. The year of her Holy Communion, which was held on Easter. Six weeks later was the crowning of the May Queen. One of the female communicants would be chosen to place a crown of flowers on Mary’s head. Actually, on the head of her statue, but since symbols signified truth in the Catholic Church, the chosen one would actually be crowning the Queen of Heaven. Maura prayed every night from the day the teacher announced in class that one of her stud...

2 comments 2

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character experiencing anxiety.

Character – 83 stories

Write a story about a character who would be described above all else as "logical."

Character – 31 stories

Write a story about a day in the life of a mother.

Narrative – 55 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing independence for the first time.

Teens – 59 stories

Contest #20

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Quite the Character

$50

Prize money

274

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 20, 2019 EST

Won by Amy St. Pierre 🏆

Title: At Home

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story about a character who starts out as a pessimist and ends as an optimist. (Or vice versa.)

Submissions are closed

✍️ 46 stories

“Don't be Roadkill” by Kendi Stoneberg

“Into the Light” by Ellyn Quiggle

“Burning Love” by Adelaide Prochazka

“Head Held High” by Lindsey Buck

“Begin Again” by Barbara Schreibke

“Hydroplaning” by Stella B James

“Bogman 2” by Felix Twingrin

“Someone You Know” by Janie Cruz

“The soul has a timeline all its own” by Chitra Gopalakrishnan

“Forlorn Blithe” by Cari Morgan

“If The World was An Orange” by Dane Pangilinan

“Your Whole World Will Be Infected ” by Simon Stuthers

“The Union” by Gary Angle

“Blessing in Disguise” by Somdatta Gangopadhyay

“A Change in Perspective” by Helen Kingkade

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character experiencing anxiety.

Write a story about a character who would be described above all else as "logical."

Write a story about a day in the life of a mother.

Write a story about a character experiencing independence for the first time.

Contest #20

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

274

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: