Write about someone trying something completely new.

Posted in Character on Dec 29, 2023

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✍️ 34 stories

“Khao Yai” by James Maxwell

Submitted to Contest #231

I’ve decided that I’m going back to Khao Yai. My father is against the idea, naturally. On the phone he kept trying to talk me out of it. “You know that we worry about you.” “I know.” “And we just want to know that you’re safe. Last time you went there we were very concerned. We couldn’t contact you for days.” He doesn’t seem to understand that that’s the point. The lack of contact. The ability to disconnect from society, to sever the cord that feels so permanent and so real for most of our lives. You always have to reconnect but it feels ni...

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“Nereid's Tale” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #231

A small, red sun rose over a snow-covered planet of the Nereid system, the lights of a semicircular hangar carved into the side of a mountain overlooking a narrow green belt that followed the equator. Hundreds of unclothed, pale-skinned humanoids with artificial bodies toiled at their stations; a community that acted as one mind with no concept of citizenship, laws, disobedience, individual expression. Unconformity leads to selfishness and unpredictability and therefore ex...

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“Oh, The Irony...” by Carly Mart

Submitted to Contest #231

No. That’s the first thing I say whenever I think of trying something new, or when someone asks me to try something new. I mean, why bother if it’s not necessary, right? Like the greatest saying of all time goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’ve always wondered who was the scholar to come up with that brilliance (but I never managed to find out, bummer). Yet, here I am: I find myself in the midst of breaking this rule I have always proudly lived by. Please, allow me tell you all about it. I always thought this was something I would ...

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“Claire” by Cody Martin

Submitted to Contest #231

I was coming off a string of bad luck and just kind of wondering what in the hell is the point of all this? I mean, we’re here in this banal existence. Crappy Job. Crappy Life. The same things day in and day out. The only thing that seems to give it any meaning is agony or some form of suffering. Is that why we’re here? To give life a spark by bleeding all over it? To seek cheap thrills until we die? Another hit. Another puff. Rain comes down on me softly, like little kisses on my cheek. I actually like the rain. I don’t despise or mi...

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“First Ride of the Midnight Rider” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #231

I’m not exactly sure how Marty Reavis and I ever became friends. We had exactly one thing in common: We both attended Briar Bend baptist Church. Daddy was a deacon there and Marty’s grandparents were members. Marty’s grandparents, Whit and Maudie, were raising Marty. His parents had been killed in an auto accident up in Detroit. Marty and I were as different as two guys could be. We were both sixteen yeas old and that pretty much sums up our similarities. Marty was from Michigan and he talked like it. He had the swagger of a city kid. He w...

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“The Death of Kuvé Hwanuk” by René Pinet

Submitted to Contest #231

Accustomed as we are to cell phones, CNN, video games, it is difficult for us to conceive that, in one of the most remote regions, in the 18th century, José Hwanuk considered himself a relatively fortunate and modern person. Educated as a neophyte at the Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores Mission in the Northern Territory, he had surpassed the expectations of the friars. He had become a skilled worker. To such a degree that, overcoming the reluctance of his advisors, Father Granados himself had taught him to read and write. All reluctance quickly...

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“The Grief Maker” by Liam Xavier

Submitted to Contest #231

Roger had just killed a man last month - not for the first time - and sitting opposite him now was the man’s sister. Again, not for the first time. Though it was true that it was uncommon for therapists to kill in the pursuit of clients, Roger liked to call this his unique selling point. Albeit, a USP that was never advertised to the general public. He was not exactly subtle but he had managed to avoid suspicion so far, a fact that sometimes even baffled his own mind. Roger was so confused and thrilled that he often tried becoming mor...

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“Kate” by Joan Wright

Submitted to Contest #231

Kathryn woke up for the third time. It was 8:00 this time. New Years Day 2024. Something was vitally wrong. She had no hangover, no headache, no mouth full of cotton and no unsettled stomach. New Years Day had been a recovery day for as long as she remembered. Resolutions. That's where it all started. One year ago Kathryn had woken up on Becky"s floor wrapped in a dog blanket. Sick as a could be and wishing she were dead. That's when she made the resolutions that changed her life. She would be disciplined, care about her appearance, and wor...

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“An Artist's Achievement” by Maya Johnson

Submitted to Contest #231

New Year's Day came with many unexpected surprises. The first day to start weight loss goals. The first day to start writing a book that’s been trapped in your mind for a long time. The first day to research a new hobby, or new recipes to make. For Pam, New Year’s Day came with the long awaited news she’s been waiting for since November: her acceptance email to table a booth at the next Lexington Comic and Toy Convention in March. She had a bit of doubt it would ever come, or that she’d get rejected. She spent months creating prints of cha...

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“A New Beginning ” by Scarlett !!

Submitted to Contest #231

It was a late Friday evening, and I was delivering my last pizza for the day. As I pulled up to 4452 Lakewood Drive, I noticed smoking slithering out of the open window in 4453 Lakewood Drive. I squinted my eyes to see better, and noticed a deep red glow in the room. At once I realized it was a fire. Quickly, I dropped the pizza and ran across the street. I began banging on the door and yelling for them to come outside. There was no answer. It occurred to me that there may not even be people in there at all. As I hesitated, I heard sc...

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“ Last Letter to Santa” by Chris Mueller

Submitted to Contest #231

The door of the post office swung open. “Big news!” an eager little elf yelled.Charlie, one of the most senior elves and the postmaster at the North Pole, popped his head out from the back room. “What?” he shouted back. “Santa. He's got exciting news. Come on. We are meeting at the wrapping factory for the announcement.”“Yah, yah. I think I will skip it. I have work to do,” he said as he shooed him out, “The last big announcement was dairy-free milk would now be offered in the break room. Oh, and the one before that was –”“It's mandator...

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“Something New This Way Comes” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #231

- You're kidding me. - No. Really. - You're going to start playing the trumpet? Well, bugle, actually. A pause. - The bugle? - Yes, you know. Ta-ta-tootle-tootle. Ta-ta-tootle-tootle. That one. - What was that? - That's the tune they play at dawn to wake everyone up. You've heard it: Revelly. You know. Cowboy films. Bugler by the flagpole. Get Out of Bed. - Sounded more like raspberries. I suppose it could get someone out of bed though. - I'm not actually playing a bugle, am I? Just doing the lips. - I get that. Just kidding. So y...

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“A Tower of Timber, Splendor and Child” by Zachary Fox

Submitted to Contest #231

The paddywhack thwack of little hands, lending themselves to oh such tireless work, could be heard against the threshold of the backyard, stuck between what was very much that of a yard- and what had been the mysticism of a forest. A set of pudgy hands, so very little if you could believe it, had been giving themselves to the swing of the tiniest of mallets, as a small boy did wield its might against nails through the thickness of an oak. It was the said oak, whose branches stretched and groaned like tired joints, spiraling outward like th...

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“a new adventure” by James Mckinley

Submitted to Contest #231

Journal entry: the sky is overcast this morning and they say we are expecting more rain. It is humid and hot here and I am not sure when I will be dry again. My tent seems to work well enough but the Mosquito netting is a bit tedious. I got tangled up in it again this morning when I had to get up and go pee. I am having trouble getting used to the silence, or at least the lack of the drone of artificial noise. The sounds of nature can be just as deafening but I have been assured that I will soon get used to it. I know I resolved to stop sitt...

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“Shameless and Shameful ” by K T

Submitted to Contest #231

Content warning: Vulgarity, Explicit Language, Sexual Violence We have been living together for almost a year. July 1st“Hola, it’s Iggy,” I answer the phone, rummaging through my bag as I see the bus pulling up. “Hello, is this Ingrid?” an unsure voice calls out. Weird.“Didn’t know we were on full name terms. Who’s this?” I question, opting to hop onto the bus from the back door, too lazy to fish out my coins. “Oh yes! This is Althea, your roommate. Or, uh, soon-to-be roommate.” Ah. “Gotcha. Whaddya want? K...

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Write about someone trying something completely new.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 34 stories

“Khao Yai” by James Maxwell

“Nereid's Tale” by Len Rely

“Oh, The Irony...” by Carly Mart

“Claire” by Cody Martin

“First Ride of the Midnight Rider” by Zack Herman

“The Death of Kuvé Hwanuk” by René Pinet

“The Grief Maker” by Liam Xavier

“Kate” by Joan Wright

“An Artist's Achievement” by Maya Johnson

“A New Beginning ” by Scarlett !!

“ Last Letter to Santa” by Chris Mueller

“Something New This Way Comes” by Chris Pye

“A Tower of Timber, Splendor and Child” by Zachary Fox

“a new adventure” by James Mckinley

“Shameless and Shameful ” by K T

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in the form of a list of New Year's resolutions.

Write about a character who has reinvented themselves, but realizes it's not always easy to outrun your past.

Write a story about hope.

Set your story on New Year's Day.

Contest #231

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

278

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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