Write about a character who is starting to open up to life again.

Posted in Character on Mar 24, 2023

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?

✍️ 68 stories

“Here I Grow Again” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #191

The single, pale cherry blossom petal lays before me, asking me a world of questions. Ignoring its voice, I instead choose a moment of fantastical hope. He has been here. He walked into this room, the petal is testament to his continuing presence in the world. Only he could convey the petal to this place and press it to the cold tile on the kitchen floor, pinning it there for me to discover. A subtle love note to his beloved. It is fitting, that petal is for me, and only me. The petal is a messenger, it brings with it glad tidings ...

6 comments 6

Read story

“These walls can see” by Jessamie R.

Submitted to Contest #191

Four panes of glass stare back at me. Their faces are darkened with rain splatters and mud from passing cars. They judge me. Judge my navy blue sweater, my grey trackpants with the coffee stains that won’t wash out. I don’t want them to.They remind me of my grandma, the way she used to slurp instant coffee from that yellow mug my brother bought her for her 86th birthday. I remember watching as quick rivers of diluted brown dodged the long white hairs on her wizened chin. I would laugh quietly as she caught the stray liquid in a bib that was ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Twinkle in her Wrinkles.” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #191

Bubbly Vivi had made it to her tertiary college. She was so thrilled, now she could have some freedoms, leaving school days behind her. Vivi was looking forward to learning new subjects, she planned to study Maths, and become a teacher herself. Her parents wanted her to follow the straight and narrow, so she joined a Bible studies group of undergraduates. Their little church chapter met weekly at lunchtimes, Vivi soon made friends. What could go wrong? They were all young Christians, following in God's way, the new adults of society. Sebast...

2 comments 2

Read story

“In the Finding” by Adam Shaw

Submitted to Contest #191

---BLAKE"Hell of a way to go! You never considered just biting a bullet? Probably cleaner for all involved."I nearly jumped at the sound, but kept my footing. I had thought I was alone in this cliffside clearing, besides the commotion of two boys fighting in the distance and the whistle of an old man on the other side of the crest. But now my last minute of revery was being interrupted by a pale stranger in an olive shirt, worn brown slacks, and no shoes, standing 10 feet away and looking curiously at my predicament.The stranger continued, "...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Ava Rediscovers Her Joy.” by Leon Walldan

Submitted to Contest #191

Ava sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the blank white wall in front of her. It had been four months since her life had taken an unexpected turn, and she was still struggling to find her footing. It was a sudden break-up with her long-time partner, David. She had been so invested in their relationship, and when he left her, it felt like her entire world had crumbled. The days that followed had been dark and bleak, and she found it hard to get out of bed and face the world. Ava had always been a cheerful and outgoing person. She loved m...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Venus Flytrap” by Adam Young

Submitted to Contest #191

I knew something felt off. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. The days of off-ness turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into a blur. It all started on New Year’s. I normally begin a new year with a feeling of freshness and clean-slatedness. This time around the sun was different. I felt hopeless. My life had come to be rather nihilistic. The gray cold and hollow winds of the skies matched my interior. One could simply pass it off as a dip in the doldrums. After all, I had been through different ebbs and flows in my time on this e...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Hunger, A Love Story” by Nancy Graham Holm

Submitted to Contest #191

Hunger, A Love Story by Nancy Graham HolmHome delivery service in rural California was standard during the Covid19 pandemic, and Amelia was grateful for it, especially since the delivery boy was so attractive. Tall. Muscular. Light blue eyes framed by dark curly hair – someone her granddaughters would say is "hot."Nobody would suspect this 80-year-old woman was nurturing a craving buried in her memories. Lust. She smiled when she thought about it, amused that she still experien...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Flowers in her Hair” by Kierstin Pilon

Submitted to Contest #191

The fog clings to your skin, just as dew clings to the grass, and just like your clothes cling to your body. Even in this wide open space everything feels so close to you, as you inhale, the thick mist invades your lungs, as you lie back on the grass in the meadow. You close your eyes to the overcast sky and remember a day completely unlike this one, so many years ago. You walked through the trees to see the clearing that would become your second home. This place was perfect, enough distance from the town center that you no longer hear the...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Love at the Bed and Breakfast” by Michele Savaunah Zirkle

Submitted to Contest #191

Samantha Maplegood tucked her best-selling author award into the desk drawer, sopped the tears from her face and called her soul sister. “Izzy, you know what I’m going to do?” Samantha said, squinting into the morning sun. “Hunker down here and manage this bed and breakfast, polish my nails and get funky with the next hot guy who blows my skirt up. Forget Max and his bullshit. ‘I’m too busy with work to make room for y...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Chasing The Shade” by Laura Gifford

Submitted to Contest #191

CHASING THE SHADE Hiding in plain sight under a Cherry Blossom tree isn’t easy to do when they come into bloom. Cultural ignorance? Horticultural ignorance? For me the tree was much needed shade on an unusually hot Spring day in the heart of Sydney’s west. Being a street performer has its downsides. You’re in trouble if you go into it with any sort of ego. I sing and play guitar to a mostly oblivious audience. The odd person tips you. I get thanked sometimes. Abused other times. The elderly like the music I play. Occasionally you’re ask...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Six Seeds” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #191

Hand in hand, we walk together through fields of barley, watching grain ripen as we pass. Persephone: daughter of sunlight; daughter of corn; child of Zeus; child of mine. I watch as sunbeams trace a path across your face: your father’s kiss. (Your uncle’s too.) Zeus: King of Gods; son of a Titan; my brother; my lover. Mount Olympus is populated with his offspring: he sows his seed up there as blithely as we sow our seed within the world of men. Scattering grain, planting crops to yield a harvest, we walk the fields tog...

4 comments 4

Read story

“All My Memories Begin with Flowers” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #191

From the start, as far back as I can remember, all my memories begin with flowers. For those who know me, this may not come as a surprise since my father owns a flower shop in Lower Manhattan. What is surprising is that I am moving out of the city to start my own life after the murder of my husband Arden Mapolee. Always an outsider to the family business, which by the way was not really flowers, Arden was always willing to do whatever they asked of him. Little did he know, it would eventually lead to his demise. I learned ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Emerging” by Ann Miller

Submitted to Contest #191

I sleep. I wake. I realize that this waking, this emerging from sleep, is new. I feel awake. All is gray about me, but I am awake to observe this gray. I can observe. That is new. I am awake and I observe. I sleep. I wake. There are…shapes in the gray. I do not recognize these shapes, but they move. I am sure of it. The gray near these shapes seems to flow, to shimmer. I can sleep, wake up, observe, and see movement. Seeing is new. Movement is new. I stay awake. I do not feel the need to go back to sleep. I watch the shapes m...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Pushover” by Ernie-Rose Wayer

Submitted to Contest #191

Family is undoubtedly the most cursed gift known to mankind. You believe this because you've constantly reminded yourself of it. Since you were a wee little child of nine, you came to believe that while the word was highly praised and revered in your society, it meant nothing but the most foolish and detrimental of bonds.You are sitting by your bedside table, your open window providing a view of cherry blossom trees, your Montblanc pen poised in your left hand. Your palms are sweaty and dripping all over your journal, but that doesn't bother...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Two Strangers (On a Bench in the Rain)” by Lenore Corbeau

Submitted to Contest #191

it's raining. the rain is light and sparse, but the droplets are thick, and when they plink on the ground they splash. it's a pretty, early spring rain. puddles collect in the divots in the concrete. the streets become slick. the trees drink their fill. it's a warm rain. it's falling from a purely white sky. there are two strangers sitting on a park bench. the first raises an umbrella to shield his perfectly coiffed hair. he wears a long overcoat and a big silver watch on his left wrist. he checks the time. the other stranger is lo...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with your character(s) going to buy some flowers.

Spring – 78 stories

Write a story about a character who’s late to witness a special event.

Funny – 25 stories

Make Japan (or Japanese culture) an element of your story.

Narrative – 37 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “I feel alive.”

Dialogue – 68 stories

Contest #191

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Sakura

$250

Prize money

276

Contest entries

170

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 31, 2023 EST

Won by Pari Ghodsi 🏆

Title: Lilies

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 about a character who is starting to open up to life again.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 68 stories

“Here I Grow Again” by Jed Cope

“These walls can see” by Jessamie R.

“A Twinkle in her Wrinkles.” by Julie Grenness

“In the Finding” by Adam Shaw

“Ava Rediscovers Her Joy.” by Leon Walldan

“The Venus Flytrap” by Adam Young

“Hunger, A Love Story” by Nancy Graham Holm

“The Flowers in her Hair” by Kierstin Pilon

“Love at the Bed and Breakfast” by Michele Savaunah Zirkle

“Chasing The Shade” by Laura Gifford

“Six Seeds” by Jane Andrews

“All My Memories Begin with Flowers” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Emerging” by Ann Miller

“Pushover” by Ernie-Rose Wayer

“Two Strangers (On a Bench in the Rain)” by Lenore Corbeau

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with your character(s) going to buy some flowers.

Write a story about a character who’s late to witness a special event.

Make Japan (or Japanese culture) an element of your story.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “I feel alive.”

Contest #191

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

276

Contest entries

170

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: