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 Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#42: End of Story

Reaching the end of a story is a bittersweet thing. Upon reading the final word of a particularly good piece, you’re often hit with a sort of story-hangover: the ache of wanting to stay in the world of the tale, yet knowing there’s no more story to be read.

 

A truly excellent ending can mitigate that pain — which is why, as a writer, it’s crucial to nail the end of your own stories! Of course, this can mean different things for different pieces. A great ending might underscore a story's theme, or it might pose more questions than it answers; it all depends on context and execution. For more info, check out our tips for crafting a memorable ending here, and then dive into our ending-themed prompts below!

 

p.s. — We're hosting a Live Copyediting Workshop! On May 20th, Editors Tracy Gold and Julie Artz will take to YouTube to copyedit passages submitted by writers like you! For a chance to have your writing featured, click this link to register for the event and you'll receive submission instructions by email.

🥇 Winner

⭐️ Shortlisted

This week's prompts:

Write a story that ends with the narrator revealing a secret.

Mystery – 176 stories

Write a story that ends in the past.

General – 75 stories

Write a story that ends with a character asking a question.

General – 276 stories

Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

General – 229 stories

Write a story that ends with one character waiting for the arrival of another.

General – 211 stories

Stories

“Chaos Tea” by Zilla Babbitt

An eerie white light fell through the cracks in the window and slid down to the floor. The light flung the dust into the air and illuminated the splintered floorboards. The air was cold and empty and smelled like dead things—as though a cold, dead rabbit reeked somewhere in the room.The light touched a pair of feet gently, pale and arched and elegant, crossed carelessly on top of each other. The man lay sprawled on the mattress, tattered clothes hanging loosely on his bony frame. Da...

11 comments 11
Read story

“The Big Red House Where Truth Resides” by Zilla Babbitt

It was actually a rather small House; with cracked red brick walls and small-paned dusty windows, but by that society’s standards it was a big house, nearly a mansion. The early-morning mist settled low on the gables’ shoulders and the silver oaks and willow trees that gathered round the house seemed to draw up their strength as the sun rose high. She awoke with a gasp, bolting upright. “Anything wrong, Wey?” Meeli asked sleepily from across the room....

12 comments 12
Read story

“Unfriendly waiting” by Sadia Faisal

Best friends are things you come by only once in your lifetime... Or are they? I've had a lot of "best friends" during my life and I don't think I'm still friends with any of them. They have all ended for the normal reasons; growing up, moving on, changes. One of my friends, though, that is a different story.It all started after we graduated high school. I was just finding out that I was unable to go to a writing college in New York due to how expensive it was and since my family was just my mother, my sister, and I on a very low i...

17 comments 17
Read story

“Truth or Dare” by 𝔸. 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕖

"Truth or dare," she asked, rosy lips curling over newly straightened teeth in the pale moonlight."Truth", the boy says, snickering while moonlight catches honeysuckle hair and eyes that glinted like sapphire."Hmph," The girl says, thinking of a worthy enough question to send the boy into a frenzied state. "What is your biggest fear."He smiled shyly before speaking "Oblivion.""Oblivion?" The girl questioned, a playful smile tugging at her lips "Why fear oblivion?"He shrugged simply before rubbing his han...

27 comments 27
Read story

“Medium Lemonade With Extra Ice” by Lata B

It happened. It happened quietly and fast. It happened to me.  I strolled down 15th street into a small coffee shop called Midleap Express. Which is my usual hang out place. I like it because it's never too busy. The door chimes as I walk in and I get a whiff of coffee and cool air. I can hear someone shout “Welcome! I'll be right there” from the back of the store. The floorboard creaks as I walk to a table closest to the window. I wait a couple of seconds before a middle-aged woman comes out with a smil...

11 comments 11
Read story

“Sarang” by Rhondalise Mitza

My footsteps slow as I reach the end of the hall. I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing every so softly. I stop in front of your door and reach for the knob, but I don’t pull it open quite yet. I’m waiting for you to sense me and say, “Come in, I’ve been waiting for you.” I’m waiting to hear your wonderful voice, clear as a bell and also wavering in and out of existence. When I’ve waited for over five minutes and still haven’t heard you say anything, I push the door op...

21 comments 21
Read story

“Angel Of Hope ” by Vrishni Maharaj

I loved doing the dirty work. No, I didn’t mean typical dirt-under-your-fingernails type of gardening or scrubbing drains and toilets. It’s more like the filthy blood and sweat that goes into making an ugly, otherwise undone job successful. The satisfaction upon completion is blissfully thrilling— I would rather die than give up that feeling. Settling into the sofa, I took a deep breath. I had done a particularly good job today. The United States had far surpassed the million cases benchmark, thanks to my

34 comments 34
Read story

“William” by Zilla Babbitt

It’s like I said, I didn’t know him very well. He’d already graduated by the time I came along, and I only heard about him from his mother and ex-girlfriend and the chemistry teacher who thought he was spoiled. I’d seen him once, when he came in to ask his mother about something. He came barging in through the dull fake-wood door and held a muttered conversation with his mother, who bore ink stains up to her elbow. She lit up when she saw him. 

15 comments 15
Read story

“Diamond Necklace” by Holly Pierce

Ida and I were walking along the beach and I saw a beautiful purple shell. I quickly picked it up before the waves took it. My father always used to give me shells... “Whoa, this is so pretty!” I said. Ida had also found a beautiful shell, and hers was light blue. “Let’s keep looking around,” Ida said. I wanted to go look for my father, but I humored Ida. We waded in the water every so often, picking up shells here and there. Something shone in the sunlight, and I stooped to retrieve it. I grasped a small charm and pull...

32 comments 32
Read story

“Murderer” by 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖 𝔻. <𝟛

Murderer, by Brooke D.I woke up to my alarm beeping. I turned it off, got up, and walked over to my closet. I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and then walked first to the second floor and woke up Xavier, and then to the third to wake up Xander.Once they were awake, I was able to go downstairs and start getting their breakfast ready, along with my lunch."Xavier! Xander! What kind of cereal do you want?"I called."Cinnamon Toast Crunch, duh!"Xavier yelled."Fruit Loops please!"Xander screamed. Xand...

15 comments 15
Read story

“The Choices We Make” by Daryl Gravesande

People make stupid decisions all the time. I'm no different. It's those stupid decisions that give us experience. But in this instance, I am different; because this STUPID decision could've been avoided if I hadn't held myself back and just let the truth run free. I see that now. Quarantine was over and people started going back to their old jobs. I decided to take a chance at a job that I thought would look pretty decent on my resume. Little did I know, that this job... would change...

36 comments 36
Read story

“But, Calista...” by Tvisha Yerra

I breathe in deeply, trying to remember the lessons about lying that my mother taught me years ago. I open my eyes, staring into the cop’s eyes.He leans to the other person, whispering. I still hear it, “She fits the description, black hair, and blue eyes.”“Katrina Hemlin?” he asks, directed to me this time. I nod and the police continues, “You were friends with Calista Normf?” The name unleashes a flood of emotions, and I try to keep it in. Tears sting my eyes, I don’t bother to keep them hidden. Maybe the cops ...

37 comments 37
Read story

“Living A Lie” by Daryl Gravesande

They told me to just wait in the damn car! Why didn’t I just listen? I would’ve been better off this way. I want to tell you how this ends, but I suppose I should start at the beginning. When this all started. When everything was perfect. Cut to a family of 6. Me, my brother and my two sisters. We were a nice family. A good family. Before this all started. We lived in a quiet, suburban town that hardly gets any action. I THOUGHT that was us. I could've never been more wrong. I never knew that m...

53 comments 53
Read story

“Prom” by 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖 𝔻. <𝟛

I woke up to my alarm beeping and threw my arm over to my nightstand to turn it off. But it wasn't wear it normally was. I shook my head, got up, and started looking around the room. Finally, I found it in my closet, next to a dress. But not just any dress, my prom dress for the coming night. That night was prom. I was so excited because it was my very first prom, and I was going with the guy that I'd had a crush on since kindergarten. His name was Ryder, Ryder King. It was always funny when our teachers did attendance, because th...

10 comments 10
Read story

“Time Travelers” by 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖 𝔻. <𝟛

The tension was like there were a million sharp knives in the air, and you had to dodge getting cut by each one. We had been here before. We swore that it would never happen again. We promised each other that we would never talk, let alone see, each other again.“Okay. One of us has to talk, and since I’ve always been the talkative one, it might as well be me. I thought that we weren’t going to see each other again.” I looked up from my hands and realized it was Chloe who was talking.“Yeah, well, that’s what I thought, too. B...

2 comments 2
Read story

$50

Prize money

1002

Submissions

Ended on 23:59 - May 22, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: The Firebird's Answer

Winning stories will be featured on our website and in our weekly newsletter. For more information, please consult our terms of use.

Submissions will be approved and published within 7 days of the contest closing.

Please keep your submission between 1,000 - 3,000 words.

Any questions? Check out our FAQ

Tired of MS Word?

Join the revolution and write your book in a tool designed for authors. 🙌

Includes FREE typesetting to print-ready PDF & EPUB files, track changes and collaborative editing.

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Comedy Writing Prompts ⭢

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

For Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

General Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢