Write about a character who wakes up in the future and learns that their legacy has outlasted them — for better or worse.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 32 stories

“My Dear Watson” by Ben Rounds

Submitted to Contest #111

“Next! And who are you supposed to be?”“Um, Holmes, of course…”“Yes, yes, yes, but which one? I’ve got straight canon characters over there, Robert Downey Jr.’s in that line by the Powerades and your standard, Without A Clue, riffers next to them; all done up like Michael Caine and looking angry that anyone else thought of it... so, which are you?”“Right, sorry; I’m Rathbone.”“Basil Rathbone? You, are Basil Rathbone?”“Yep, check out my deerstalker.”“They all have deerstalkers, sweetie, and plastic Meerschaums, and little cland...

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“Legacy(The First Female Fighter Pilot)” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #111

Addison Reyes, the first female fighter pilot in the United States Navy, and also the first person of color to be a fighter pilot. Since she was a little girl Addison loved the skies, she would spread her arms wide and pretend she was a bird flying. When Addison was ten years old her grandfather, a pilot in his own right took Addison flying. She loved every minute of it. At twelve years Addison's father, a pilot took her to an air show to watch the military planes. Addison was mesmerized by the pilots and the planes, from that time on ...

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“Zombies of the Future. ” by F.S Smithard

Submitted to Contest #111

It was frigid and dreadful in the dim capsule; billionaire Jack Frost sank into absolute boredom as he watched time slowly tick by on the glowing screen placed in front of his eyes. This was no way for the most dignified man in all of the twentieth-first century to live. However, in a selfish attempt to prolong his life, Jack had his body frozen after discovering that he had stage four cancer. Even though time crawled for the past week, the billionaire was too preoccupied with thinking about what the future would look like. Thoughts of hover...

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“The Birth of a Deity” by V. S. Gerrans

Submitted to Contest #111

January 7th, 2123, the plastic-looking white tanks were close at hand and the outer periphery of the city was in tatters. This was the end, I already knew, as the capital city was being overrun by the most detestable kind of guerrilla revolutionaries. What did the future hold for us now? In fact, for all of civilisation?‘We’re going to put the fortress into hibernation mode,’ I finally said to my assistant. A look of horror came upon his face.‘There aren’t enough cryogenic caskets for everyone.’‘I know. I’m going, and so are you and the...

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“The Statue” by Nancy A

Submitted to Contest #111

Mary Wollstonecraft’s eyes fluttered open to burnished leaves crackling in the breeze. As she filled her lungs with sweet, musky-smelling air, she could almost taste its caramel flavor. Beyond the elm tree’s skeletal branches, clouds scudded across a blue, sunlit sky. She sat up and shielded her eyes to survey her surroundings. Had she been here before? The area looked different, yet she sensed a familiarity. The Green. Her heart raced. Yes, she was sure of it. She leaped to her feet. On the corner stood the Unitarian Church. Rows of ter...

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“Project Icarus” by Crazy Crypto

Submitted to Contest #111

The one percent, of the few atop this hierarchy, wanted her gone. They warned the resistance that if they did not turn the sisters over to The Eyes, they would all be marked. For years the memory of a city that never slept reminded us that we could climb the highest heights, the tallest ladders and that was all the mattered in our minds, while these broken walls and ruined dreams left an arch that no one could find save for one. This was a very different world and a very different city. It was called New York City--although we d...

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“LIKE THIS MUSIC/ THE GREEN FACE” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #111

LIKE THIS MUSIC / THE GREEN FACE/ TIME, what does not erases time, what does not end up in oblivion as time going by , it often happened to Alma to think so. She , who was already forty, could not help but feel a shiver through her back , when she thought how quickly the forty years of her life had passed. In a breath, in a flash they were gone. And she could not help but think, with tremor and dismay, that also the time she had left to live would go by just as quickly. She would be gone one da...

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“Death to the Duplicates” by Caje Auchard

Submitted to Contest #111

Avon was sprung back into consciousness as his back slammed into the biting cold of a steel table. Before he could even breathe, the base of his skull cracked against the cold metal, the crunch reverberating through the small room. Pain coursed down his entire spine leaving him unable to move, let alone think. His throat felt torn to shreds, only the most pitiful of cries escaping his mouth. As he tried to draw breath and gather his shattered wits, the overpowering stench of gore and disinfectants flooded his senses. As his mind tried to qui...

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“Legacy” by Cynthia McDonald

Submitted to Contest #111

“Mr. Rodriguez.” Dim light pierced Manuel’s eyes. He tried to raise his arm but the limb felt heavy. “Easy. You’ve been asleep for years.” “Years?” He croaked. “Yes, 150 years.” Tingling, running up and down Manuel’s body. A hand touched his face. He turned. The woman’s expression was kind, her face beautiful her blonde hair pulled up. She held a straw to his lips. “Drink slowly,” she cautioned. He sipped through the straw. The liquid was cool and sweet. “What is it?” “A combination of electrolytes and other nutrients.” Suddenly he saw flas...

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“Crushing It” by Anisha Yagnik

Submitted to Contest #111

Munni woke on the floor of the most pristine bathroom she’d ever been in. Everything was white or silver or glass, and she’d never been here before. If one were to wake up on a bathroom floor and not remember why, the most likely answer was alcohol. But Munni had given up drinking last year. 2018 had been a blessing, and one day she just looked at the wine in her fridge and decided that she didn’t need it anymore. This far into 2019, she hasn’t had a drop of alcohol, and she even found another outlet. In her opinion, it was healthier. But no...

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“What Endures Through Time” by Drake Tymon

Submitted to Contest #111

A bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder; the slow, deep rumble of an earthquake, and the hissing, roaring wind of a hurricane. All of the fury of Mother Nature in one terrifying, absolute moment. The world slowly calms, and your senses return to you, as if you had just awoken from the longest, yet restless, nap you could possibly fathom. You are in a sterile-white room, half-laying against a cold, steel surface. A voice speaks to you, and as your mind deciphers the sounds you come to the realization that the voice has been speak...

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“Inmate Number 113887” by J.M. Shannon

Submitted to Contest #111

“Good morning inmate number 113887, it is now six in the morning.” Someone or rather something was talking to me. I swatted at the air, fumbling to find my bedside table, in search of my alarm clock. “Good morning inmate number 113887, it is now six O’ five in the morning.” The sound of a robot woman rang out again. Strange, considering I didn’t have a robot alarm sounding alarm clock. The room was pitch black, as I stood from the bed, the cement floor stinging my feet, as I rushed to the side of my room I had thought my...

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“Down the Line” by Azia Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #111

Down the Line Waking up dead was an interesting experience. He’d lived a full life full of adulation and praise, but death has a way of exposing lies. Five times he’d slept, woken up, and was shunned for his crime. It was a cold feeling, being ostracized in death, but it was the least he deserved. January, 9th 2094 Tamara could still remember her surprise when she’d begun hearing voices in her head while at kindergarten one day. At first, the five-year-old thought it was her classmates talking to her, but they just said no when s...

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“Sacred Blood” by Ellie Kay

Submitted to Contest #111

Pulling. Reaching. Scratching. Clawing. I'm in a dark tunnel, a sharp wind pushing me towards the wrong end. No! I scream. It's the wrong way! I get pulled, closer and closer. A white light blinds me and I'm surrounded by color. I wake up, my heart pounding. I furrow my brow, confused at my surroundings. Instead of my old wooden bed, I'm in a sleek hovering bed with hospital-white sheets. I glance up and see a tinted-glass ceiling. Airplanes drone above me, but they're like nothing I've ever seen. I race towards my back door. I sigh. That...

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“Graveyard Shift” by Evan Przesiecki

Submitted to Contest #111

He fell asleep on the job, again. His navy blue jacket, a bomber with ‘SECURITY’ inscribed in white across the back, was left hung on the backrest of his chair. Max’s eyes opened to a wintry forest at dusk. Cold gusts of a gentle wind swept through the rows of white birch trees and whisked silver snow over his body that lay limp on the ground. The thick flakes of white that fell from the sky of grey gathered in a mound over his pressed dress shirt of pine green and chestnut trousers....

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Write about a character who wakes up in the future and learns that their legacy has outlasted them — for better or worse.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 32 stories

“My Dear Watson” by Ben Rounds

“Legacy(The First Female Fighter Pilot)” by Melinda Madrigal

“Zombies of the Future. ” by F.S Smithard

“The Birth of a Deity” by V. S. Gerrans

“The Statue” by Nancy A

“Project Icarus” by Crazy Crypto

“LIKE THIS MUSIC/ THE GREEN FACE” by Mara Masolini

“Death to the Duplicates” by Caje Auchard

“Legacy” by Cynthia McDonald

“Crushing It” by Anisha Yagnik

“What Endures Through Time” by Drake Tymon

“Inmate Number 113887” by J.M. Shannon

“Down the Line” by Azia Bradshaw

“Sacred Blood” by Ellie Kay

“Graveyard Shift” by Evan Przesiecki

🌟 Similar prompts

An intelligent young girl solves a big problem, but becomes frustrated that no one wants to believe her. Write about what she does next.

Set your story in eighteenth century London, including a casual reference to something that changes the course of history.

Write about a child who carries on their parent’s work or legacy in some form.

Write about a group of friends who hope to use their combined skills to better the world.

Contest #111

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

124

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: