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

“Against the storm” by Mg Bot172

Submitted to Contest #191

Our table was placed next to the window, looking out at the city and the evening sky. It was late summertime; therefore, the sun hadn’t gone down yet even though it was already eight o’clock. That’s why I made sure to get us the best spot in the whole restaurant when I made our reservations. It had taken months of waiting, but we were finally here, enjoying what she believed to be just another fancy date.But this, believe it or not, was not just another date. Of course, I was managing to hide it somewhat. But even so, my guts had tied themse...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Victorious spring” by Marinette Novak

Submitted to Contest #191

It has been a year since the war in Ukraine began. It was a big shock for all of us. Nobody thought that Russia would invade so soon. The first days were like in a blur. I was only 15, a teenager. The endless air-raid sirens I'd heard in the movies became reality and I wasn't ready for it. I think nobody was. But the scariest thing was to realise that your life had been turned upside down in just one night, and all your plans, dreams, everything you had built was ruined. But I tried ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Leland's Penumbra” by Doug Joseph

Submitted to Contest #191

Sunlight crawled through Leland’s bedroom and finally reached his right cheek. The warm caress on his face and the fragrance of blooming flowers tantalized his senses. For once in a long while, waking up was easy. Many years separated the last time he left his curtains open to allow the outside world to peak into his solitude. He wasted no time and rolled out of bed. Age had prohibited him from leaping, but that is what occurred in his mind.With unbounded energy, he breezed through his morning activity of getting ready for the day. Everythin...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Are the Cherry Blossoms Blooming?” by Maruna Rizh'ye

Submitted to Contest #191

A glass box placed in a void of white,It’s owner and prisoner the same.The key sat by their knee,But the jailbird only wished to stay. ————————————————————It was raining almost every day now, now that the snowfall had stopped.Rin preferred it to the biting frost that would come to nip at her nose, and cause her to have a sore throat every morning. Even so, the overcast that greeted the world each day, making it hard to distinct dawn from dusk, did nothing to lift anyone’s spirits.Some days were bet...

4 comments 4

Read story

“A Flower Blooms in Springtime ” by A. D. Kramer

Submitted to Contest #191

“Roses – a classic man!” The cashier at the flower shop flicks his wrist with a flourish that gives Walter whiplash. He grunts and hands the man a crisp twenty dollar bill. “Oh! So sorry, that’ll actually be forty-four ninety-nine for the bouquet.” The cashier wrinkles his nose and gestures towards a fluorescent yellow price tag next to the rose display. Sure enough. Christ, all that for a couple of flowers that are wilting as they speak? Whatever. Prices have gone up in the last quarter-century, Walter supposes. He rifles through hi...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Closing of a Door, The Opening of a Window” by Molly Layne

Submitted to Contest #191

Her father’s voice sounded hollow. He glanced around the room as if looking for someone or something else besides the small maid before them. “Professor Alvin Trewella. And this is my daughter. May I see the...Madam?” “Right this way, sir.” The corridor was long and narrow. Cobwebs hung along the ceiling like so many little hammocks and the smell of moth balls was overpowering. The place gave the impression of a giant storage tote. At the end of the corridor, there was a plain brown door. The employee tu...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Snow on a Cherry Blossom” by Lie Moreira

Submitted to Contest #191

The world has become quieter, in a way, so to speak. From all those colorful noises that stay in our mind all the time. A deafening breath in the mind. What do I do with all this mental space I have left now? Since I gave up filling it with self-pity, I've had to get used to the silence of the mind. There are times when I get closer to his breathing just to feel the clearer presence of another life here in the apartment and fill that void. Yes, because there was only him and me left in the apartment since the plants weren't noticeable enough...

0 comments 0

Read story

“What Moves Us Forward” by Laurie .Bahlke

Submitted to Contest #191

Maggie was twenty-one and often woke in the night to dreams of chocolate cake, tapioca pudding, doughnuts with heavy, vanilla icing, cotton candy, and her mother’s raspberry cream-filled macaroons. She didn’t wake with energy or a happy disposition. Instead, she felt disoriented, alone, and sad. Her neighbor, Mrs. Carter told her once that dreams like this weren’t about sweet cravings but rather about conflict and sometimes, grief. Other nights, after Maggie went to check on her three-year-old daughter and rock her back to ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“We Walk Left Of What Is Holy” by Jessica Bailey

Submitted to Contest #191

WE WALK LEFT OF WHAT IS HOLY I’ve driven ten hours and thirty-one predatory roadside red-tailed hawks to talk to a man about pain, and words, and why he messaged me- a stranger- to say only that I must remain close to the birds. My world has grown progressively more southern; more salty, more sodden, slow. The urgent hum of miles under tires has drifted away on a honeyed wind that my body moves through like lovers’ time. I’ve hidden myself away in a hefty mossy oak, a tiny house built into her arms like her child, ho...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Welcome To 2023” by Abner Perez

Submitted to Contest #191

An eye scanned the area through a slightly creaked door. Ninety-Three-year-old Adam opened the door wider as his heart felt like a speedbag, slowly moving at a decreasing speed before stopping. Adam put one shaking toe on his welcome mat. He had to shut his eyes and let his foot settle for balance before lifting the other. As his body crossed over, the rising sun met his face like an old friend saying hello. For a brief second, he had a flashback of himself standing on the grass in his backyard barefoot with his baby brother while feeling t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Memories with Death” by Sophie Greenhalgh

Submitted to Contest #191

The girl sits against the old oak tree, clutching her knees as if that is the only thing stopping her from falling apart. Great sobs shake her tiny body and dead leaves fall around her as if the wizened oak, cursed by her sorrow, was mourning alongside her. Death, crouching low from behind a neighbouring oak tilts his head askew as he watches the small creature in front of him. It’s only a matter of moments now. Slowly he feels himself place one ivory toe after another, stalking closer to this curious target of his. With every step dark pat...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Waking Up” by Joe Sweeney

Submitted to Contest #191

I stare wistfully out the small window and across the tarmac. I’m going to miss the desert. A typical early winter day in Tucson. The sun shines brightly from clear blue skies onto the tan desert sand, generously sprinkled with the cactus greens of saguaro, cholla, hedgehog, and barrel. Not a single Palo Verde tree in site, though. There are a handful of them decorating the main entrance side of the airport. The plane rolls backward and is turned. The pilot guides it to the runway. After a few minutes to wait, the engines whine and the...

5 comments 5

Read story

“Maybe” by Dean Fenton

Submitted to Contest #191

When you are young, it’s easy to miss just how hard life can be. The world seems to be an adventure waiting to happen, the possibilities seem limitless and the future can only be better. Each new love, new job or new place is just another experience waiting to happen. Risk is just a fancy word for fear and pain is just a fleeting sensation. The world is waiting to be conquered and happiness is sure to follow. Maybe riches lay around the corner. Maybe true love. Maybe great adventures.Howard Scal...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Coming Back to Life” by Stephie Kulec

Submitted to Contest #191

SENSITIVE THEMES: Mental health; substance abuse; suicideI am 36 years old, but I have already experienced three rebirths. By rebirth, I mean an almost literal “coming back to life”. One where I discarded my old life and rediscovered life with all its beauty and promise again. The first rebirth occurred when I was only 17 years old. Yes, most kids are coming into their own around that age, but for me, I finally blossomed into a butterfly from the warm cocoon of anxiety and depression that had held me back for far too many years during my ado...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Coffee Shop Curmudgeon” by Joel Bloom

Submitted to Contest #191

Hoover stood in line at the coffee shop and looked over the menu board. "Frappa Crappa..." he mumbled.." what happened to just plain coffee? Who the @%$! thought of putting oatmilk in anything? I mean, once it existed, people were gonna mix it in, but why bother to MILK an oat in the first place? Who thought of oatmilk at all? Do oats lactate? Do almonds? Do freaking soybeans?!? Its freaking oatJUICE! What's next? Skittle Latte?" He waved the two millenials who were standing behind him in line to go ahead of him. But in truth he needed a m...

1 comment 1

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

“Against the storm” by Mg Bot172

“Victorious spring” by Marinette Novak

“Leland's Penumbra” by Doug Joseph

“Are the Cherry Blossoms Blooming?” by Maruna Rizh'ye

“A Flower Blooms in Springtime ” by A. D. Kramer

“The Closing of a Door, The Opening of a Window” by Molly Layne

“Snow on a Cherry Blossom” by Lie Moreira

“What Moves Us Forward” by Laurie .Bahlke

“We Walk Left Of What Is Holy” by Jessica Bailey

“Welcome To 2023” by Abner Perez

“Memories with Death” by Sophie Greenhalgh

“Waking Up” by Joe Sweeney

“Maybe” by Dean Fenton

“Coming Back to Life” by Stephie Kulec

“Coffee Shop Curmudgeon” by Joel Bloom

🌟 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: