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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#168: Choo Choo!

The concept of train travel has always been a powerful motif in story telling. Train wagons can be a great setting for serendipitous love encounters, like for Jesse and Céline in Before Sunrise, or mysterious murders, like in Agatha Christie's classic Orient Express.

On a train, the mind wanders, time shifts, and life… unfolds. We hope that these train-inspired prompts will put you on the right track to writing some great stories.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone looking out a train window.

Middle School – 98 stories

Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

Narrative – 58 stories

Make a train station an important part of your story.

Narrative – 74 stories

Write a story about a character who misses a train, for better or worse.

Adults – 33 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Bon voyage.”

Adults – 17 stories

Stories

“I hope one day you'll find one, too!” by Mel Kolaja

Submitted to Contest #168

My hair is done, my make-up is ready, the long satin white dress is on, I’m ready to catch my train. I know it’s weird I insisted on getting to the wedding by myself and by train, but I felt like two hours on my own, with no friends or relatives were exactly what I needed before making this huge step. I’m sure the groom will manage the last preparations just fine without me. The wedding is right next to the station, so at twelve thirty my dad will be picking me up. I must admit I enjoy how people look at me today. Their confused faces turn...

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“My Monster” by Tyler Barela

Submitted to Contest #168

My chin rested on my hand as I stared out the train window. I watched the snow-covered fields of Colorado swiftly pass. I glanced up and scanned the mountain range. With the beginning of fall came the conclusion of the coniferous pines. The majestic green had been replaced by a blanket of frost from the base of the mountain to their chilling peaks. I followed the range then as I glanced up, I jerked back away from the window. My eyes bulged as I stared in disbelief. Beyond the mountains waited an unspeakably large creature. I watched the cre...

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“The Vacation” by Jason Sikora

Submitted to Contest #168

I really shouldn’t have been looking out the window, but this was the first time I ever traveled by train. Two days ago, when we boarded the train, Mom and Dad told me it was a surprise vacation, that we were going somewhere special. They made me put on a blindfold so I couldn’t guess where we were going. The blindfold itched. My sister, Esther, complained about how itchy it was, but Mom said it was important and to keep it on.Every so often I could hear my parents snoring, and that’s when I knew it was safe to pull down the cloth and take a...

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“Becca On The Train” by Mamode-Issop Emilie

Submitted to Contest #168

As the train starts moving, May looks out the window, her face growing pale. “Are you okay?” Steve asks, concerned, leaning towards her. “I-I think I ate too many strawberries…” she replies weakly, a hand over her mouth. Bucky closes his eyes, head shaking, unimpressed. Why did she eat so close to boarding? That appetite of hers… “Switch seats with me,” Steve offers, getting up. “You’ll feel better if you’re looking forward.” “Thanks, Stevie,” she manages in a weak voice. Bucky, worried, stares at May beside him, before f...

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“A Different Place and Time” by Alice Baburek

Submitted to Contest #168

A Different Place and Time The cars of the electric train shifted as it roughly switched tracks. Allen Foster jostled in the cushioned seat. His limited view through the dirty window became tiring, so he tried to focus on the blurry countryside speeding by. But the creeping migraine continued. Lights inside the locomotive dimmed. He sat alone. The constant humming from the racing train lured him to sleep, and before long Allen closed his weary eyes. Strange images of a small midwestern town formed within the...

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“Blackout” by Amalie Wad

Submitted to Contest #168

As the train was enveloped by the tunnel, the view from Linda’s window turned from a vast mountain landscape into a rough stone wall. Occasionally, a bright fluorescent lamp flashed by, leaving stripes of white light in their wake. For hours, she had watched the green countryside and the quaint little sugar cube farmhouses snugly slumbering beneath towering peaks. Rivers coursed like veins through the verdant scenery, their frothing streams speaking volumes of wilder nature higher up the mountain.Cows and sheep and horses were grazing happil...

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“LAST STOP” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #168

There isn’t anything more romantic or purely luxurious than train travel. I thought that. I used to think that. As I was growing up, I experienced that. As I stared out the train window, I searched my memory for why I’d thought that. I couldn’t remember. My mind was protecting me, I knew, because if I allowed my thoughts to focus, I’d come around to thinking about what I’d done, the mess I’d left behind.I didn’t dare look away from the scenery as it flashed by, lest anyone near me get the mistaken impressi...

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“Hold The Line” by Ellipsis Mark

Submitted to Contest #168

The following is a fictional war story. While there are no detailed descriptions of gore, death is mentioned in both earnest and lite within the text as well as combat. Reader discretion is advised. “Captain, are we going to die?” Lieutenant Smith asked as he surveyed the horizon. “Of course we are Lieutenant.” I inhaled the last of my cigarette, “Every mortal man gets called by Saint Peter sooner or later. It’s the way of the world.” “I meant today, sir.” Lieutenant Smith clarified. “Oh? Yeah. Likely.” I tossed the cigarette aside and sto...

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“Tracks To Nowhere ” by Ruby Pix

Submitted to Contest #168

Gathering around a newspaper stand like moths to a flame, is a group of people who believe a rumor about a train that can travel in time. Some people think it's inhabited by spirits that are lost and wandering in between planes of existence. Others believe it is cursed by someone who died a tragic death, by falling onto the train tracks and wanting to move time forward or backward to prevent their death. But there is another rumor. A rumor of how a woman in white leads lost and desperate souls down a path they can never return from. Such new...

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“Sent to Nowhere” by Sarah Rich

Submitted to Contest #168

CW: References to violence, suicide, cannibalism, and threats of violence Darkness loomed with a foggy heaviness as Ander took his seat. The Night Train was meant for one thing and one thing only—a trip to Nowhere. He gave a sigh as he sat against the royal purple cushions in the bench that awaited his company. He glanced out the train window for a moment before adjusting the collar of his coat. Nowhere was a dreadful place that most criminals were sent to fend for themselves. It wasn’t a prison, but a ravenous, secluded town barred off ...

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“The Hell Coach” by PETER Inserra

Submitted to Contest #168

I knew the woman was bad news the second she entered the stagecoach. Though, more accurately, I should say I sensed she was bad, the knowing would come later. The horses certainly sensed it and did their best to flee her and the perceived evil that enshrouded her. The driver and his shotgun were able to hold them long enough for her to give them a look which calmed their demeanor faster than a shot of angel dust from old doc Metzger. After shrugging their shoulders at the hors...

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“First They Took the Boys, Then They Took the Men” by Matthew Ployhart

Submitted to Contest #168

The morning was cool, there being a light breeze in the air. However, the sun just coming up over the tree line brought a warmth that found my hands and face. I had to squint every time the sun fell from behind the white clouds, and it had already become an annoyance. A few flies buzzed past my face, and so I tried to blow them away, but they just rebounded back to me and continued to fly around whatever they thought was so interesting. Perhaps I still had some jam on my face from breakfast, or saliva shining on my lips, but whatever it was,...

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“Bringing Home the Boyfriend” by Charlie Bright

Submitted to Contest #168

Annie stared out the train window. There was a couple outside, enthusiastically reuniting after a long time apart. The man with curly hair and glasses had swept the dark-haired women off her feet, clutching her to his chest like he never wanted to let go. She smiled at their reunion—the desperate clutching, the whispering in ears, the blinding smiles… It was cute. “What are you looking at?” Kiyo asked, sitting beside her. He took a peek out the window too. “Oh. Ew.” She rolled her eyes. “Ew?” He nodded like she agreed with him. “Exactly. It...

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“All aboard!” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #168

For what felt like the hundredth time, she battered her hands on the door to the platform. Repeatedly, she heard the sound of an oncoming train but never saw one arrive. Nor had she seen a single passenger, conductor, or anyone at the ticket counter. Had it been hours? A day? The light never seemed to change outside of the train station. She didn’t even remember how she got there. All she could remember was riding her bike back from Mike’s after another mediocre date of pizza, wine, and a rerun of The Office, followed by underwhelm...

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“Clarksdale Station” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #168

I heard myself groaning as I glared at my watch for the third time. It was 10:15PM and there was no sign of the 9:55 train coming. This is ridiculous, I thought. Wasn’t standard time developed to ensure trains ran on schedule? As I stood on the boarding platform at Clarksdale Station, my eyes followed the southbound tracks for as far as I could see, but the appearance of an oncoming train was not to be seen. Shit! It was another ten minutes before the lights of the locomotive turned around the bend.As I stepped off the platform and into the ...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

105

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 21, 2022 EST

Won by David Sweet 🏆

Title: SOUTHBOUND

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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