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!

#196: In Another Life

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the way making a single decision, big or small, can cause your life to fork off in an entirely new direction. There are the obvious crossroads, the big life choices, and then there are the tiny ones; ones we fail to notice are taking place every single day. Waiting at the crosswalk instead of jaywalking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, spending an extra 10 minutes scrolling through social media — even these non-events can make the difference between a life-altering incident happening, or not happening.

But what if we could access those paths we didn’t take? Would we go back and choose a different route for our lives? What if we could sense those “sliding doors” moments as they happened? This week's prompts are inspired by this classic sci-fi dilemma, and by the coulda, shoulda, woulda’s we all live with every day.

This week's prompts

Write about a character unknowingly experiencing a “sliding doors” moment. Write your story in two halves; what could have been, and what actually happened.

Dramatic – 62 stories

Write a story that includes the phrase “Maybe in another life.”

Dialogue – 74 stories

You’re walking down the street, when you spot a familiar figure. It’s another you. And they’ve come from an alternate reality to warn you about something.

Thriller and Suspense – 32 stories

Write a story involving a portal into a parallel universe.

Science Fiction – 61 stories

Set your story in a world where time travel has been perfected, and people can use it to hop between alternate timelines — but at a cost.

Dystopian – 50 stories

Stories

“In Another Love Life” by Katie DeShane

Submitted to Contest #196

He lay on the rustic wood floor with his head in her lap. Her hands seemed to work magic as she massaged his head and his greatest fears and doubts flowed freely off his tongue for the first time in his life. They had known each other for less than a month but their connection was undeniable. Spending the summer as camp counselors can do that to people, but this was something different. She had worked at summer camps for several summers in a row. West coast based, this was her first time venturing out to the east coast on her...

Read story

“The Calamity's Reverie” by Jules Truong

Submitted to Contest #196

The sky bleeds red as meteors fall, peppering the city with crater kisses and eliciting a chorus of screams from different pockets of the city. The people run as best they can, but monsters roam the streets, teragris growing from open wounds that dripped black ichor. As soon as one falls, another rises from the corpses of the fallen, twisting their once humanoid forms to crystalline monstrosities. She stands at the balcony, cradling their baby and watching their city burn before their eyes. Her silvery white hair caught the wind, and t...

Read story

“The Misinterpreted Patients” by Ian James

Submitted to Contest #196

(CW: Vulgar Language)"Alright, Patient 21," I said in a professional tone, tapping my pen against the clipboard as I looked over the young boy's file. "It appears that you've been diagnosed with Elaboration Deficiency." Hakimi looked at me with a sheepish grin, as if he had expected this outcome.I couldn't help but reflect on how this was becoming a familiar scene at the I Can Do It (ICDI) Clinic. As a group of educators, my colleagues and I had noticed a common thread among our students - a reluctance to admit their weaknesses. Despite our ...

Read story

“His need for discovery” by Arter Grim

Submitted to Contest #196

For as long as I have known myself, I have always tried to be a man of reason. It is as such that I have grown to scoff at any superstitious notion placed in front of me. I always found it laughable how it was necessary for one to depend on an all-powerful figure just so they could flourish and remain a good person. The thing I found to be even more ludicrous was the idea of a grand plan. It was simply preposterous to consider it. Especially when one of the main principles God preached was that of free will. The existence of a predestined l...

Read story

“'GOOD LOVE'” by Kajsa Ohman

Submitted to Contest #196

‘GOOD LOVE’ Dear BFF, you wouldn’t believe who I met last night! Walking toward me, under the streetlights…he’d just finished buttoning something into his shirt pocket and was getting ready to glance back up. Our eyes met; our footsteps slowed. The mutual recognition was as instantaneous as two particles. Our grasp of its significance took a little longer. Okay, here’s what I saw. (I don’t know what he saw.) He was taller than me, of course, and his hair was longer than mine is since my recent hack job. He was extraordinarily good-...

Read story

“The High” by Rudy Senecal

Submitted to Contest #196

I remembered the shot, but that was it. I remember being startled by the lack of kick, and the brightness of the green beam that lit up my face and cut through an air car like a plow through snow. I’d looked up from the display with a dropped jaw and wide eyes as I watched the fiery wreck spin out of control and tumble to the ground below. It felt like something washed over me. All my doubts, shakes, and cold chills were burned away by that laser. The ensuing firefight hadn’t even scared me, and I hadn’t lost this smile and light in my eyes ...

Read story

“Supermarket shopping isn't best done at Night.” by Abigail-Rose BUTTERWORTH

Submitted to Contest #196

As I step out of the car, reluctantly leaving the heated seat and the warmth of the confined space, and am instantly hit with the bitter cold wind of classic Melbournes mid-July. I walk around to the boot to pick up some shopping bags, The wind irritatingly whipping tendrils of my hair, that I fruitlessly tried to bat out of my face. The car park was deserted, save for a few lone cars of Coles employees that dot the also empty street. The bright white light of the supermarket looks to offer much better protection from the bit...

Read story

“The Door” by Kathleen Shapona

Submitted to Contest #196

What if you could go back in time and make different choices? Would you do it? Change that perfect life you thought you would have but didn’t by the choices you did make? As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.Elle Mackenzie spent more time regretting the choices she made in her past than making new choices to change the path she set herself on. Always an excuse as to why she couldn’t. Her continuous mantra was, ‘If only I made a different choice and went to college.’ She was unhappy in her job as an office assistant and was told s...

Read story

“The tree hollow” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #196

Kenny King covered his ears with both hands, squeezing hard, trying to block out the noise. It wasn’t working. Raised voices seeped through, dishes being broken, threats exchanged. He grabbed his pillow with the Spiderman pillowcase burying his head, covered in a thick shock of ginger hair, like a tortoise trying to find protection in its hard carapace. Stop, stop fighting! he screamed into the matching Spiderman comforter. He knew they wouldn’t. It was a wishful mindset. More times than not, the flashing l...

Read story

“Fresh Frontier” by William Simon

Submitted to Contest #196

“BRACE FOR IMPACT!!” hollered Lieutenant Blaze. The ship shook violently as several consoles inexplicably exploded; their unfortunate operators sent tumbling across the deck dramatically. The air smelt of burning chemicals and the blaring of alarms made it hard to hear what was being said unless it was shouted. “WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS COMMANDER?! SHIELDS ARE AT JUST 40%. WE CAN’T HOLD OUT MUCH LONGER.” Commander Nova Apollo-Jones, Supreme Admiral of the 7th Solar Fleet, hero of the United Alliance of Civilized Planets, saviour of the pr...

Read story

“Mirror Mirror” by Rain Dyer

Submitted to Contest #196

Henry had never liked seeing reflections. Ever since he was young, and he thought of himself as old even though he was still a scrawny, nine-year-old boy, he would avoid looking directly into puddles, large glass windows, and, especially, mirrors. Whether it was his own image staring back at him, copying his movements just a hair behind when he thought they should have, or someone else moving next to their doppelganger. He simply did not like them. He never told anyone of his aversion. It didn’t seem to him something you brought up wi...

Read story

“Where Four Remain” by Cassandra Fan

Submitted to Contest #196

Nearly four minutes ago the last deserter left through the gateway. The last sight that they would have seen before escaping to the other side was the field. A barren, open stretch of wilting grass, a muddy hue of sepia and faded brown. Those further ahead perhaps would have looked back as they faded into the spiraling neon blue abyss, a final glimpse at the long line of their kin, patiently waiting their turn, stretching to the horizon. Strangers and family alike, they all sought a common goal: escapism. Long ago, the land served as an airp...

Read story

“Parallel Revolver” by S.N. Beale

Submitted to Contest #196

[TRIGGER WARNING - MENTION OF MENTAL HEALTH, DRUG ABUSE, SEXUAL ABUSE]I was supposed to be a lot of things.To my grandmother, I was supposed to be a child star or model turned beauty queen, then an actor. To her, this meant I was supposed to be white; she didn't want me to be born. She'd tell me from a young age how worried she was that I had a black mother. Concerned about how I would come out. Questioned how'd I look and what people would say. She said some of her troubles were swayed because I came out beautiful and intelligent. My grandm...

Read story

“The Day We Never Met” by Fire Bird

Submitted to Contest #196

In a world where time can be changed, I believe the only constant is love. Love is timeless. “Hello welcome to TimeTravelLLC. Where are you planning on traveling too today?” A strange man looks at us with a blank stare. He wais almost more robotic than human. It is my boyfriend and I’s two-year anniversary, and we have been saving up all our money to go on this once in a lifetime opportunity as the advertisement had described to us a few months prior. I kne...

Read story

“The Row” by Quinn Micheals

Submitted to Contest #196

I tried to escape again last night. Not my most gallant of attempts, but it did make for good conversation at breakfast among a few of the travelers this morning. “Oy, did I hear you tryin’ to break out again last night Arlo?” Elwyn shouted at me across the chow hall with a mouthful of grits. “That makes number 12 yeah? I don’t know why you’re still tryin’, you’re gonna get your date moved up fool. That what you want huh?” A few of the men in the hall chuckled, though most were still half asleep and just waiting for the...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

279

Contest entries

149

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 05, 2023 EST

Won by Delbert Griffith 🏆

Title: The Bullet that Esther Stopped

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!

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 ⭢