#164: Where I Come From

Elizabeth Brewster wrote a beautiful poem titled ‘Where I Come From’ — this is how it begins:

“People are made of places. They carry with them

hints of jungles or mountains, a tropic grace

or the cool eyes of sea gazers.”

I’ve always loved this poem’s abstracted sense of local identity, so this week I invite you to consider how your characters’ backgrounds affect their personalities and choices.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character saying “Where I come from, …”

Middle School – 85 stories

Write a story in which someone returns to their hometown.

Adults – 81 stories

Write a story about coming of age in a big city.

High School – 14 stories

Write a story where a local takes a newcomer under their wing.

Adults – 24 stories

Think of someone who stood on the periphery of your childhood memories (a classmate, a teacher, a neighbor) and cast them as the main character of your story.

Middle School – 31 stories

Stories

“In the Neighborhood” by Beth Elliott

Submitted to Contest #164

I’m back in my old neighborhood. I drove all night to get here, close to ten hours. I parked my car on the side of the road across from my old house and stepped out. I haven’t breathed the air of my childhood in almost ten years. It is crisp and green in my nose, transporting me to autumn at age six, and age ten, and age fifteen; a lifetime of falls. Now I stand on the sidewalk, the sidewalk I rode my bike on countless times, countless years ago. I feel the ghost of my younger self speed by. She ruffles my skin and hair in her passing breeze...

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“From Whence She Came” by Jenny Bee

Submitted to Contest #164

It is quiet here. Dust motes float in the shafts of light filtering through the slats in the shutters. Spider webs adorn the top of the doorway, and Breanne ducks slightly to avoid entangling her hair. She sits on the one chair she trusts, causing some of the dust motes to dance, and arranges the tea-towel on the dusty surface of the table. She reaches into her yellow satchel, and pulls out the brown-paper bag, emptying its contents with gentle precision: bottle of grapefruit juice, one egg-salad sandwich on brown bread, one Spartan apple, ...

2 comments 2

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“Puzzle Pieces” by Gillian Belk

Submitted to Contest #164

Well, my alcohol consumption increased dramatically. It’s not that I didn’t drink at all before moving home, I just didn’t have anyone to drink with. Not that I didn’t have any friends… I just… didn’t have any friends that really drank. Some had valid reasons. They were allergic to alcohol. I wouldn’t give peanut butter to someone who was deathly allergic to peanuts, so I was not about to give a glass of wine to a friend and watch them pray to the porcelain gods all night. Sorry for the imagery. Others, just didn’t? Not that alcohol c...

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“The Casserole” by Niels Zwarteveen

Submitted to Contest #164

“But how did he do it?” I asked the bartender as he poured me another drink. Whisky, straight. No ice. “Jimmy C Mullen? He put it down to his intuition he replied. I just make the right choices. Simple as that, he would say, and people would marvel. A hero of our times people said, sometimes bitterly, most times in admiration”. “And what does the C stand for?” I asked. “He never tells. People ask him and he’d reply that’s a State Secret. And then he’d give a little smile and start off on some story of his again. He’s told me once or...

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“Wishing you love, luck and a happy life” by Ilana Goldbaum

Submitted to Contest #164

I was raised in a house that is now a cage of energy that composes memories. I left the world exactly a decade ago, and until now, I didn't have the courage to return to my hometown. However, today is a special day, besides the fact that's my death's anniversary, it is also my wife's birthday. Hathor - her parents named her like that after the Egyptian goddess of happiness, maternity and love, curiously, she was one of several goddesses who were believed to help deceased souls in the afterlife- was the one and only love of my life, that may ...

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“Edgar Nikephoros Huntinger, P.I.” by Olivia Snead

Submitted to Contest #164

On April 30, in downtown Miami, Florida, a car turned the corner. Its tires screeched as it bumped a palm tree that stood precariously there. It jolted, moved back, then continued, with frenzied speed. The harsh sunlight of early morning gleamed on its black chrome. A young boy and his mother, who crossed the street at that moment, were momentarily blinded. Too late, the boy saw the monstrous vehicle. He screamed as it rammed into them, so hard it knocked them down, moved over them, then abruptly turned, roared, and screeched back around the...

2 comments 2

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“The Road(s) Home” by Taylor Petska

Submitted to Contest #164

V Road Old friend, I’m driving down that road you have always loved. You know the one; it’s the long way home. Its bends and twists are jarring, and I know that one who is unfamiliar with the way she dances may not be prepared for her surprising steps. But you and I, we’ve spent all of our lives learning each one of her tricks. In eighteen years, she hasn’t fooled us yet. And seeing as this road is the one familiar thing from the past, I don’t think she ever will. We’ve spent nearly our entire...

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“GHOSTS OF THE PAST” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #164

I am dreaming in the deep dark abyss, when suddenly I am wrenched awake by, “Super Massive Black Hole,” peeling from my cellphone. The sickly green glow from the digital clock beside the bed tells me it is 12:35AM.…goosebumps burst upon my skin; only bad news arrives in the middle of the night. “Hello,” I answer, groggy with sleep. “Liz, it’s me, Darren.” My brother Darren is two years younger than me, and I haven’t heard from him in months, he’s a foreman for some big building contracts up in Auckland. I wipe the sleep from my eyes,...

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“Lit” by A. L. V.

Submitted to Contest #164

A simple diamond ring reflected the sunlight that streamed through my windshield, and then I promised myself that I would return to the East Coast as soon as possible. Pretend to get along with half of the extended family, check in with my father, and dip before anyone else I knew recognized me or heard about me being in the area. Given that it was the Midwest, nothing much happened around here besides occasional farm accidents and local school events. I was, unfortunately, the only impressive thing to come from this area besides the ...

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“Returning Heroine” by Jonathan Morris

Submitted to Contest #164

All great quests begin and end in the same place, the heroine’s hometown. The heroine is compelled to take on a task that is larger than life. She reluctantly leaves and embarks on an epic journey full of thrills, dangers, ups, and downs. She then returns once more to the warm embrace of home and her loved ones, completing her adventure. The heroine recounts her tales and can live the rest of her days happily in the halls of her beloved home, in the company of those whom she loves. Tess tried to remember that as she rode the bus across the ...

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“Cabbage Hill” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #164

Charlie checked his Rolex. An hour before his flight to Toronto and the connection home. He had one final pre-arranged stop. He drove the rental Camry down the street of stunted maples and shaggy bushes until it reached Perimeter Road, then went two blocks beyond. Here we are, the house that time forgot. The bungalow needed paint and the front yard was overgrown with thick-stemmed thistles. The blinds were half-drawn on the two front windows, like the lids of two watchful but tired eyes. In the city, Charlie knew this kind of dereliction: an...

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“Some Things Never Change” by Kimberly McFetridge

Submitted to Contest #164

I was on the fence about attending my 20th high school reunion, but I was really glad I went, not entirely for the reasons I thought though. I was kind of shy in high school, and still am by nature, but being a high school English teacher for the past 15 years has made me more loquacious. So, I thought I could handle the small talk. There were a few people from my class that I thought would be fun to reconnect with too. I decided that I could combine the reunion with a visit to my godmother Aunt Phyllis who still lived in the small tow...

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“Salvation Blues ” by Carissa Cherrington

Submitted to Contest #164

Salvation looked like hell. So it was exactly as Iris Danes remembered it. She steered her Jeep around a jagged crack in the asphalt just ahead of the faded sign that read Welcome to Salvation! Posted beneath the cheery welcome message was another, more ominous sign. For your safety: Turn on the radio Keep your windows rolled up Do not feed the monsters “Good to be back,” Iris muttered, syncing her Bluetooth and cranking up the volume as she dro...

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“Broad Strokes” by Katy Lynn

Submitted to Contest #164

Broad Strokes A portfolio of photos laid open on my desktop as I clicked through the next set of acne-ridden faces in need of touchups. Parents paid a $19.99 up-charge to have their children’s imperfections eliminated. Puberty sucked for everyone, but as a slight kid growing into an adult that I didn’t want to be, it was particularly awful for me. While I was more comfortable in my skin, my job removing the defects of others didn’t satisfy the need to create that was slowly suffocating inside me. I was sitting in my home office, wh...

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“The ripening of a Violet ” by Pippi C

Submitted to Contest #164

You know it’s funny how we all think we want to grow up. But, when you start going through some of the most awkward and embarrassing years of your life you’re practically screaming and begging to go back to when all you had to do was to be cute and create painfully awful art with waxy sticks that older people think is oh-so-beautiful. The “ oh so beautiful ” turns into screaming matches on why you failed your chemistry test. The once colorful world becomes colorless. Congrats you're 13! You're an adult now. Ok, maybe not when you're fighting...

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$250

Prize money

235

Contest entries

91

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 23, 2022 EST

Won by Lindsay Flo 🏆

Title: Mothering

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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#164: Where I Come From

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character saying “Where I come from, …”

Write a story in which someone returns to their hometown.

Write a story about coming of age in a big city.

Write a story where a local takes a newcomer under their wing.

Think of someone who stood on the periphery of your childhood memories (a classmate, a teacher, a neighbor) and cast them as the main character of your story.