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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Posted in Character on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 237 stories

“Strong, but Milky” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #51

You might think it would have been confusing for me, when I was a child, having two grandfathers called James, but it didn’t work out that way. From – well, from as soon as I was aware of them, I never mixed them up. They both absolutely doted on me, and I adored them back and looked forward to visiting both Granddad James and Grandpa Jimmy.      But they were entirely different. Granddad James, my Mum’s father, was a retired professor, and lived in a house full of books and pictures and though never o...

6 comments 6
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“My Favorite Place.” by Marsha Webb

Submitted to Contest #51

I open the heavy, wrought iron gates and listen to the familiar comforting creak, running down the gentle sloping drive, I glance at the beautifully tended flowers in the garden. I breathe in their heady, perfumed smell like walking through a meadow in full bloom. I feel a sense of pride, I helped plant those flowers, I helped water them every week and I helped pull the weeds out. Reaching the bright blue, freshly painted door I flip up the catch and open it wide. “Bampy, Bampy, I’m here!” I shout at the top of my voice. Running into the kit...

7 comments 7
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“Home” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #51

SNOW FELL SOFTLY on a late November evening in Michigan, quiet and without fuss, as though sneaking in to surprise everyone with slippery sidewalks in the morning and driveways in need of shoveling. The house was dark, save the lone ghostlike glow of the lamp beside my bed. I’d just given up trying to read and was ready to slip into pre-sleep thoughts about the day, the kinds of thoughts that spill over each other such that, as time passed, you wouldn’t quite know if you’d actually thought about anything. And sleep—like the snow outside—woul...

5 comments 5
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“The Funeral” by Kayla Joy

Submitted to Contest #51

Lacey's already here when I pull up, chatting with Momma on the front porch with mason jars of sweet tea. Her son Riker is sat on her lap, cooing at some birds or trees or whatever it is kids see. The dogs bark at me, and I don't blame them. It's been about 10 years since I've been home, and almost as long since I've seen them. Momma stands and opens her arms for me to walk into, while Lacey flattens out her skirt and gives me one of those awkward tight-lipped smiles. So thats how it's gonna be. Fine. Two can play at that game. Momma bring...

4 comments 4
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“The Past Pulled Forward ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #51

“When do you want to go in?” Mark asked. Zane peered through the gloom at their target. “In a few minutes. Let it get darker. Check our gear.” “I did.” “Do it again. This is one and done. No redo’s.” Mark listed his inventory. They were traveling light – shovel, flashlight, map and duffle bag.  “All here, bro.” Zane looked at his younger brother. “You ever been back?” “Not since we moved. What, ten years ago?” “Almost twelve.” “I wouldn’t know it. They changed everything.” Zane nodded. “They ripped out the old house… all the apple tre...

4 comments 4
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“Lucky” by Sav G

Submitted to Contest #51

I look outside the window. I have everything. A pond with kersimo fish. The biggest yard. Big, protective trees, whistling me a tune through its breeze.  Sliding on my coat, I walk outside. Yeah, that’s right. I can take a walk in my backyard. That’s the first thing anyone ever says when they come to our house. Yes, we know. We are very lucky.  We have things that some people could never dream to imagine. And sometimes I can't either. I wake up sometimes, surprised by how perfect everything in my life is. Great, warm food. Huge c...

6 comments 6
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“Erica” by Cece Lin

Submitted to Contest #51

The house he grew up in was a beautifully designed manor, but when he moved out, he had done so without any intention of returning. Despite that, he was here now. An indescribable emotion clawed at his heart as he walked up to the house.“Eric,” his boyfriend said. When he received no response, he reached over and tugged Eric’s Yankees cap down over his eyes. Eric let out a noise of protest, and his boyfriend continued, “I need to take this call. I’ll come in after I’m done, okay? You go ahead.”Eric nodded, readjusting his cap. As his boyfrie...

4 comments 4
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“Returning Home” by Maya Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #51

A gentle breeze ruffles the leaves on the maple tree. Sunlight gently bathes the house in a warm light. Birds fly to and fro, chattering to one another. You ease your car up the driveway and park outside the garage. Opening the door, you step outside and take a deep breath. You have arrived. Walking around the garage to the side door, nothing seems to have changed. The pine trees still stand tall next to each other, forming a tiny cave underneath their branches. The rickety old basketball hoop seems to guard the driveway proudly, even thoug...

8 comments 8
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“#The Young Shall Grow!” by Abigail Slimzy

Submitted to Contest #51

Seedlings need a firtle land to spring forth and grow out into trees blessed with fruits. Yes! Afamefula and Chike were childhood friends from Obodoama village. As little boys with great dreams and aspirations to grow up and become famous in life, the duo kept watering their plant of becoming great in life with words of encouragement and dertmination. Life took a different phase as one of Chike's Uncles who lived in the city, Abuja to be precise came back to the village and decided to take Chike with him.It was indeed a moment of loneliness ...

1 comment 1
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“The House” by ℤ ℍ☮️

Submitted to Contest #51

The house was patch-worked, with pieces of thin wood horizontally clumped into squares and rectangles and shapes of all sorts. A group of ripped, torn plants formed a vertical path, cutting across the stone ribbon meandering down to the house's dreary entrance. All the windows were half-moons, sitting in awkward places and showcasing the house's deprecating light.I walked on the stone ribbon; minding the drooping weeds that grew from the deep cracks etched across the thick stone circles. Every step, every time my foot moved forward, my heart...

9 comments 9
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“Making Amends” by Peace Nakiyemba

Submitted to Contest #51

For a very long he had considered the shell before him his second home. ‘It looks like it always has’ Tom mumbled to himself in awe. As though when he left, it had been encompassed in a time bubble. But then again, what had he really expected? His grandparents were meticulous people and not a single strand of hair fell out of place unless they asked it to. This was the first time he was stepping back here in twenty years and their conservative nature had not allowed them to change a thing, not even the railing that had always been falling ...

5 comments 5
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“Where Daydreaming Ends” by Geneva Savage

Submitted to Contest #51

A cool, salty breeze caressed her cheeks. With the waves lapping at her feet and the warm sand beneath her toes, Rizpah Van Winslow hadn't a care in the world. The clouds swept along with the breeze, creating lazy pictures that Rizpah's closed eyes never saw. Still, somehow the girl knew that the sky couldn't help but reflect her do-nothing mentality. If only her parents shared this mindset, then life would truly be bliss. The thought of her parent's disapproval of her life choices, or better-stated lack of, disrupted the serenity before su...

13 comments 13
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“HOME, BITTER HOME” by Mercy Ojonoka Musa

Submitted to Contest #51

My heart danced as the taxi pulled up before the mud house, which was now sloped to one side. The same house that had haunted me for years and made my mother bipolar. Suddenly, I wished I hadn't listened to Mama. I sat there in the taxi staring at the house like I had seen my father's ghost. 'Madam! ', my eyes met the taxi driver's on the rearview mirror. 'Sorry ', I alighted, paid him and grabbed my luggage. The taxi drove trailing a plume of red dust. Quickly, I turned around to leave. I wasn't ready to face them--my paternal grandm...

4 comments 4
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“St. Elergy's Orphanage for Colored and Indian Children ” by Saron Mengistu

Submitted to Contest #51

The little boy was nervous. He was afraid. Clutching a tiny, faded blue teddy bear in his fist, he gawked at the tall looming, compound. Dark grey brick slabs comprised the buildings, with black stalagmite-like spires stabbing the air. The boy thought they were sharp enough to puncture the sky. The boy shivered from a sharp breeze as well as vexation. He puffed a breath and watched the wisps swirl and dissipate. He wished he could do the same, be as free as the snow and the breeze. But freedom was a violent blizzard for colored children like...

13 comments 13
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“If Only...” by Jessica X

Submitted to Contest #51

The crisp scent of the freshly cut grass. The warm luster of sunshine prickling my skin. The old playground sitting adrift amongst the many rowdy kids. The delicate, pink flowers falling from the elegant cherry blossom trees. The numerous pebbles wriggling in my shoes from the dusty, old trail. The patches of abundant 3 leaf clovers crowding the grass under my feet. Everything was just as I had remembered. The place looked the exact same as my memories of when I was just merely a child running to the park in the evening everyday to play. Ex...

3 comments 3
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