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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#140: Down Memory Lane

It’s no secret that many writers draw inspiration for their writing from real life, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, when you’re searching for things to write about, taking a memory of your own and altering it is a reliable way to get out of a bout of writer’s block.

Memory is an important concept when writing fiction, as it helps connect the past to the present — so this week, let’s take a trip down memory lane.

This week's prompts

Start your story with the narrator or a character saying “I remember…”

Angst – 102 stories

Write about a character with an unreliable memory.

Character – 46 stories

End your story with total oblivion.

Horror – 24 stories

Write a story that involves a flashback.

Fiction – 71 stories

Write a story inspired by a memory of yours.

Nonfiction – 90 stories

Stories

“The Tequila Moon” by Dillan T Ajer

Submitted to Contest #140

With a glass of tequila in my hand, and a bottle on the table, I rocked back and forth on the back legs of my chair. I was nursing a blue mood as I sat in darkness at the big bay window of the upstairs front room, listening to Dexter’s ‘Round Midnight while looking out over the old village and into a clear, cool night. The antiquated street lights of the old village were supplemented by a full moon that could be seen high over the darkened hills that sheltered this sleeping little town. Only the church spire attempted to converse on a lunar ...

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“The Lost Boys of Troop 41” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #140

The picture is over fifty years old, a frozen moment in 1968. Bad jobs, poor relationships, and failing health have made me forget what being a hopeful, impressionable twelve-year-old was like. But whenever I look at the photo of Boy Scout Troop 41, the little boy in me surfaces long enough to laugh, cry, and reflect. Some of the signatures on the back of the photo capture the typical bravado of a twelve-year-old, such as Charles P. Frenchette III, or Quentin Myles Moseby, Esq...

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“A Trip to Walmart in a Wheelchair” by Chelsie Hermsen

Submitted to Contest #140

I look at the clock — 3:15. I shudder; my nap was going so well. “Should I go to Walmart or not?” I ask myself while looking at the cat, as if she could answer me. She doesn’t move. I think, “Well, it’s supposed to snow tonight so I can’t go.” Then I remember I have a PCA at 5:30 and the round-trip takes two hours, so I need to decide. I ask the cat, “Lisa, what do you think?” Again, she doesn’t move until I yell her name three times. Then she pops up, so I ask her again, “Lisa, what do you think?” She lays back down. “Thanks, Lisa,” I think...

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“In The Tower” by Lee Holmes

Submitted to Contest #140

In the Tower We were walking towards downtown with no direction. The three of us are looking for something to do. Some excitement to get into. Misguided youths in the bodies of men, we were unstoppable. Bobby was big, 6 foot 6 inches and a slim 190 lbs. and had a mean right hook. Lorenzo was the opposite, 5'7" and built like a brick shit house with a cinder block for ahead. At 230 lbs, Lorenzo was tough to move. I was in between, 6 feet tall and about 200 lbs. and just along for the ride. Quite frankly, I was able to be a voice of reason o...

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“Crayons & Fate” by Liz Skelton

Submitted to Contest #140

1998 Molly’s small fingers gripped the magenta crayon, her seven year old beating fast in her chest. The side of her hand rubbed over the rough texture of the construction paper as she drew a large heart that filled the beige page. She bit down on her lip as she painstakingly wrote four letters inside the heart as carefully and neatly as possible. The noise of the thirty other second graders was just a faint hum that barely broke through her dedicated concentration. When her work was finished she reviewed it carefully. Her masterpi...

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“You've Still Never Seen a Bear” by Rachel Kenley Fry

Submitted to Contest #140

“There have been a lot of bear sightings in Valdez this summer,” Brother Gordon explains to your concerned mother, as he loads a rifle into the back of his Suburban. “I just want to be prepared.” You hug your mom goodbye and jump into the van, ignoring her requests for a kiss. The year is 2003, you’re 13, and you can’t wait for your second year of Mormon Girls Camp. “Don’t worry, Mom!” you call as you wave through the open window. “I’ve never even seen a bear!” Outside of a zoo, of course. You spend the five-hour drive to the camping d...

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“What's in a Nickname?” by Olive Juuiice

Submitted to Contest #140

A decade. Ten whole years. People have known each other for less time and gotten together. What was I waiting for? The buzzer for baggage claim sounded and I came back to the present. I was struggling to get my mind right. One of my best friends was coming to pick me up from the airport soon. My friend of ten years. My guy friend of ten years. Throughout my entire trip, we texted and called every day. “I should have come with you,” he told me one night after I made it back to my Airbnb. “No way,” I laughed. The guy was a straight-A studen...

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“Where Were You That Day?” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #140

I thought JFK was assassinated on a Wednesday. Why? Because I always went to the cinema that day. The picture house at Eastbourne was the only one that showed a fresh film midweek and weekends. I could watch a new programme twice in seven days and different films at the other three cinemas. There was little else to do at the seaside town, especially during the winter months.I was sixteen and in my second job since leaving school. After paying out tax, insurance, superannuation and union money, I had little left of my weekly wage. I paid gran...

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“Remember when Country Girl ” by Tina Lonabarger

Submitted to Contest #140

Summer was fast approaching. Sprung from the classrooms, I was free. Flowers were blooming, and the trees were donned with bright green leaves. It was a time of rebirth and awakening from a long, hard winter.Poor mom, imprisoned by Jack Frost those many months. Her punishment? Me and my three siblings. Now, as an adult, I understand the actions she took. When warm weather arrived, she would send us outside and lock the door. I did not mind. Living in the country, there were so many things to discover and explore and every year was different....

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“Three Perspectives” by Victoria MacDonald

Submitted to Contest #140

MY SIDE OF THE STORY...I remember meeting Lorraine one blindingly sunny day at Shoppers Drug Mart. My head throbbed, and I leaned heavily on the shopping cart for support. I’d overdone it on the vino again. About ten years younger, she beamed from behind the cosmetics counter as I entered the store. I was buying perfume and mints as cover-up, and offered a “Cheshire Cat” smile to disguise my self-loathing. “Hi! I’ve seen you shop in here a lot. Do you live in the neighborhood?”“Just up the street.”“Oh wow, me too! I love living nea...

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“Inheritance Box” by Rebecca Timberlake

Submitted to Contest #140

“I remember!” He shouted, jumping to his feet and scrambling over the back of the couch. “I remember where Dad said he put it now!” Lizette watches her brother, Carmen, as he races down the hallway to the series of doors at the end. To her surprise, Carmen doesn’t go into their parents’ room but instead opens the door to her old bedroom. When she moved out, Mom made it her hobby room with a sewing machine and bookshelves full of books with a small comfy chair by the window. When Mom died, Dad made it a storage room- which i...

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“Mrs. Warner” by Susan Winters

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember; I wasn’t nervous at all! As a matter of fact, scanning the room and seeing the eyes of 30 students upon me, even those that looked less than enthused to have me standing in the front of their classroom, energized me. I knew, by the time I was done with my presentation, all eyes would be alert and hands would be competing with each other in the air to be called upon. It was in that moment, that private moment within myself that she came to mind, like a ghostly angel hovering over my shoulder. Gosh, if she could see me ...

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“Memories Are Forever” by Sheila Sarrett

Submitted to Contest #140

I have so many memories, they are the cockles of my heart. Remembering has become one of my deepest feelings as I am an 84 year old women who will soon be 85 and have joy looking back on my life. My first remembrance was of my Sunday trips to the zoo with my dad. I was a 5 years old cute blonde girl with curly hair and always smiling. As my dad and I entered the gates to the zoo there was a darkskinned man dressed in what I thought was a conductor’s uniform who started to talk to me, I remembered what he looked like from a picture ...

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“Strolling Down Memory Lane ” by Terry Huntingdon Tyd

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember a day in late May, 1953, when several of my friends and I disappeared into the bathroom after the last bell rang. I borrowed a tube of lipstick from one of them and we plastered bright red across our lips, some of the less experienced among us running a bit outside the lip-line — including me of course, looking a lot more like Cruella de Vil than Terry Lynn Huntingdon. Then, attempting to escape down the hall and make a b-line for the two-block walk into town to share our favored banana splits — slices of ripe bananas on the sid...

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“Ties” by Rett Fay

Submitted to Contest #140

TW: Death of a parent "I remember when I was in middle school, he told me to use a bar of soap for shampoo, like he did." I retold this irksome memory to my sister as we waited for our father to wake from his deep sleep. She laughed softly. "Well, he was cheap." "He was bald!" I exclaimed incredulously as we laughed. He wasn't the best father, but he wasn't the worst. As I held his weak, curled fingers, I could barely remember why I had thought he was less than perfect. His eyes opene...

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$250

Prize money

333

Contest entries

170

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 08, 2022 EST

Won by Cecilia Maddison 🏆

Title: Old Soul

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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