Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“Crystal City Polar Bear” by Bill Kemp

Submitted to Contest #140

Crystal City Polar Bear Christmas 1955. The brand new Philco 45 RPM all-transistor record player was encased in a puke-green plastic box with a lid of the same putrid color. Despite the extremely heavy use over the next three years, in 1958, the Made in America turntable, still rotated without a glitch. A white plastic mesh cover on the front of the box hid the speaker. With the precision of a skilled surgeon, I lifted the lid. Inside on the left, I rotated the round white plastic knob to ‘On’ and waited for the virgin transistors to warm-...

2 comments 2
Read story

“As I Grow” by Cate Stamper

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember many things from my life. When I look back to childhood, there’s so much I could focus on. But no memory will ever be as ingrained in my head as my mother saying “grow up” is. I can see her face, the way her eyes narrowed, and how her mouth looked. How her voice sounded as she delivered this harsh statement.  I heard this statement many a time in my youth. Granted, it was almost always directed towards my father, not me. My parents tended to bicker, their words like venom. They fought a lot. I grew up on a farm. My dad spent...

5 comments 5
Read story

“The Catfish” by Tanner Burke

Submitted to Contest #140

There used to be a pond just behind my house on Terry Street. It’s still there, actually, I’ve just moved on. It was surrounded on all sides by reeds taller than me or Max or even Carson who was the tallest. We went there after school, left our backpacks at home and picked up our fishing poles then walked just past the Barbers’ house down the hill to the pond. Oh no, it was the Palermo’s house with the wind chimes that sounded like thunder, not the Barbers.  There were benches all around the pond to sit on and look out, little oak logs...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Hard Up” by Dawn Govender

Submitted to Contest #140

I remember the first time I saw a dead body. It wasn’t gross or gruesome or anything like that but, never having seen a dead person before, it was, if nothing else, informative. Mr. Brewer had been a friend of my grandparents since well before I could remember. I assumed he was older than Grandpa because even though they both had grey hair, Grandpa had more of it. Mrs. Brewer had died long before I arrived, and her loss was Grandma’s excuse for why Mr. Brewer’s house looked shabbier and more piled up with every kind of junk each time they c...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Teacups” by Gordon Allan

Submitted to Contest #140

It is good to be back in the old neighbourhood. As much as the suburbs are quieter and safer for raising the kids, I have to admit I sometimes miss the city. Even the incessant sirens, constant sound of traffic and the general hustle and bustle of people I've started collecting porcelain teacups which gives me an excuse to visit more often. The kids are staying with my parents for the weekend, so Jason and I have taken the opportunity to tour the neighbourhood’s antique shops, in search of new additions to my fledgling collection.We walk lei...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Margaret Brown” by Allya Nosmada

Submitted to Contest #140

Charlotte Schaefer, the youngest granddaughter of Michael and Margaret Schaefer tip toed into her grandparent’s den and climbed up onto the sofa beside her granddad. She held her breath as she stared at the old man who sat erect in an arm chair in a quiet repose. “Papa?” she whispered. “Yes?” inquired the old man as he adjusted in the chair, still keeping his eyes closed as he clung to the remnants of his afternoon nap. “What is it, child?”“How did you and g-ma meet?”The old man opened one eye then the other, and shifted again in h...

6 comments 6
Read story

“A Fantasy Foreign” by Justin Briggs

Submitted to Contest #140

I wish for a fantasy. And so it goes… In a far distant land, I find myself lost. What I search for, I do not know. Where I have been will remain a mystery. The air has electricity. There is much the same that is familiar, only nothing seems domestic. This is foreign land. I find myself walking amongst some bushes and so I extend my palm to them, welcoming a new experience. What I find is consistent surprise. It appears as even the clouds are new to me, though surely clouds are the same everywhere. This place, as the clouds, is an expanse. ...

2 comments 2
Read story

“A Meaningful Contribution ” by Talulah Pellon

Submitted to Contest #140

When Zyra's family had been allocated the land and the house for free, they did not mistake it for a gift. It was, however, an opportunity for the family to rise above the unfortunate circumstances that had displaced them all. Zyra's mother had lost her Singaporean citizenship as they'd been on public assistance for far too many generations. Nevertheless, her skills had kept them afloat in the early years that the family had settled on the wet Florida coastal town.She opened a chili crab restaurant under their stilt house. People ate her foo...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Oubliette” by Frances Hogg

Submitted to Contest #140

“Where one is forgotten but not gone.” Pamela chewed on her pencil. Number 39 across was a word with lots of vowels. The title of the puzzle was “The French Connection.” How to say “to forget” in French?” She’d excelled in the language in college. Oublier, of course. Pamela penciled in, O-U-B-L-I-E-T-T-E. She remembered the first time she’d ever heard that word. She’d been with Charles in a castle in England somewhere, or maybe in Wales. It was during their grand European honeymoon. They’d visited so many castles then, because as a chil...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Katyusha” by Arya Peterson

Submitted to Contest #140

Three months after The Incident, everything fell. When a rat got out of its cage at the local lab, it knocked vials of chemicals against each other, attempting to escape the scientists. After mixing two highly toxic chemicals together, it exploded. The explosion caused the chemical to spread, not just across the city, or the country, but the whole world. Now people rioted in the streets and fire raged through the crumbling cities. It was kill or be killed. After around a month, the food supply around the world almost completely diminished. T...

0 comments 0
Read story

“tick, tick...BOOM!” by Okashi Kashi

Submitted to Contest #140

Present DayDrew Zolta unlocked the door to his father’s home. He’d just returned to Arizona coming from New York, where he went to college, majoring in Film Studies. The 21-year-old aspired to one day break his way into the ranks of Hollywood’s elite directors.It was a luxurious house, double in size compared to average, drenched in copper paint that was complemented by the dusty desert valley. Drew unloaded his luggage onto the floor. Camera? Check. Tripod? Check. Light? Lens? Microphone? Check, check, and check. He yanked off his shoes and...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Waiting” by Rama Shaar

Submitted to Contest #140

"See how it's different when you cook with love?" Dean said while helping himself to more Lasagne. Leah looked at him and continued chewing quietly. "....and he continued to be his stupid self. He just loves ordering me around as if I were a temp or something. What an impostor!" he shook his head. She recalled her conversation with her colleague earlier that morning. He had come into the staffroom bleary-eyed to make his morning break coffee telling her how his baby girl kept him up most of the previous night because they couldn't find h...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Common Troubles” by Talulah Pellon

Submitted to Contest #140

My Dad was sitting on the swinging bench with a pile of my books again. This time he didn't take anything from my nightstand, the stuff I was currently picking away at. So while I was weary about why exactly he was interested in my reading selection- at least I wouldn't be missing anything that I wanted to pick up. My parents had deposited us at the lake house cabin in upstate New York with our aunts and cousins, as they did every summer. The cabin had ten beds on the highest floor and three private bedrooms for the adults, more than en...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Little White Mercies” by Rebecca Lefkoff

Submitted to Contest #140

Maureen McConnell lay awake but kept her eyes tightly closed. Maybe, she thought, Maybe, everything will be normal again. Maybe, I will open my eyes and see my white bedroom curtains dancing in the warm morning breeze. But when Maureen finally let her lashes flutter open, all she saw was cheap commercial grade pleated drapes in muted shades of green and yellow. The window could not even be opened. Maureen knew this was not her home. This was not her bed. Those were not her vomit-colored curtains. As she cast about trying to orient herself,...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Tabla Rasa” by James Miller

Submitted to Contest #140

“Welcome to your service of remembrance! I’m Kazuo, and it will be my pleasure to guide you through the process as you consider the various options extended to you by NeuroNon. Your presence here confirms the clarity of your life priorities. We believe that life is made of moments, not minutes, and capturing and retaining those moments that you want to savor is what we’re here for. With over a decade of public service and another fifteen in the private sector, we are the world’s first and oldest in the field. You’ve obviously discerned that ...

3 comments 3
Read story

$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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.