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!

#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.

This week's prompts

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

Mystery – 162 stories

Write a story that ends in the past.

Teens – 68 stories

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

Narrative – 260 stories

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

Short Story – 214 stories

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

Kids – 199 stories

Stories

“And If You Pardon Me” by Christopher G

Submitted to Contest #42

“…And if you pardon me…da-da-da-da…forever in blue jeans...” I sang in the voice of a seasoned smoker, out of tune with Mr. Diamond’s static-soaked voice on the radio that lay dangerously close to my aged CB. I sighed with a stoic acceptance that it wasn’t in the cards for me to become the next Neil Diamond, not even with liquid courage in the shabbiest of karaoke dive bars. As a matter of fact, my voice could probably make a deaf person blind. No, there is no logic behind that hyperbole, but these are the type of philosophica...

9 comments 9
Read story

“Only Humans” by Victoria Lendon

Submitted to Contest #42

Ikrani- What would you do if you weren’t human? I looked out on a dead world. What would you do if you weren’t human? Faced with billions of deaths at the hands of these beasts. A planet once decorated with trees is now littered with filth. I don’t see a distinction between a man, woman, or cow. I see life. There is a simple decision. My algorithm is sure I must pull the trigger. Humans create many thought experiments. One asks if you should pull a lever to redirect and prevent a tram from hitting five people, even if that means one unfortun...

2 comments 2
Read story

“The Story Of A Broken Doll...” by Dhyani Patel

Submitted to Contest #42

“And the Author of the Year award goes to…the best-selling author since last three years…”And with a slight smile on her beautiful but emotionless face, she advances towards the stage to receive the award. Ma’am, would you like to say something regarding this achievement?“People told me:Time changes;Time taught me:People change;But my experiences proved:Time and People change *YOU*.”Anamika Mehrotra, a famous name in the genre of “Revenge.” Looking at the brimming innocence on her face, no one would ever think that she could be a thrill writ...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Rain Over Snow” by Lea Sabb

Submitted to Contest #42

Who knew scent could be such a powerful memory trigger?My wife walked in the kitchen today wearing a scent called Vanilla Sunset. It took me all the way back to college. It took me all the way back. To her. Freshman year. I was so excited to have finally moved out from my little hometown in Michigan all the way to Indianapolis. I was so ready for all the parties and college chicks. Turns out girls don't tend to go for the guys studying Aerospace Engineering. Honestly, looking back, I don't think I would've found the time for all that. I...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Mistaken Karma” by Natalie Dafoe

Submitted to Contest #42

It was there, the subtle flicker of a shadow barely caught Leah’s eye, but it made her seize up all the same. No, it was not the first time she had noticed the figure. Following her for the last hour on her jont through the park, creeping around her peripheral vision with the lilacs and lilies. She wasn’t one for assumptions, tried to convince herself it was a mere coincidence, but the facts did not lie. Someone was following her.She wondered with a mild horror what the person was there for, what they wanted from her. Nothing good, she ...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Late” by Tolu Odel

Submitted to Contest #42

The box of Nutty Honey Zeros stare at me as I shovel the cereal into my mouth. I really wish that my mother had just bought the brand name Cheerios, but she said we should be saving money. I just really don’t want to fill myself up with Zeros before a big math test. The big Math Test. My brother always said, “Do your best and God will do the rest,” but I really don’t think it counts unless I actually do my best. I should have studied, but I started a Shreck marathon. It really isn’t my fault that there are so many movies. I finish my bo...

3 comments 3
Read story

“snoitseuQ and srewsnA” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #42

“Because we’re here.”The words, which had not been casually proffered, hovered in the space between them for a moment; from the mind of one and into the ears and heart and soul of the other.The Questioner took the answer completely seriously. On the surface, it might have seemed like a flippant, even careless answer to what had been an honest, earnest question. But the Questioner knew better. The answer, although simple, contained a lifetime’s worth of wisdom, succinctly and simply presented in its most basic building blocks by the Answerer....

2 comments 2
Read story

“Just the Way You Look Tonight.” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #42

Just the Way You Look Tonight           “I love you, just the way you look tonight.” He would certainly sing those words from the old song concerning the woman he was looking at right now. On a dare to himself, he had decided to go to this all-ages singles dance in the community centre. He felt that he had nothing to lose as there was no one important in his life at the time. Friends and close relationships from his past had all long ago ended. It was time for so...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Deja vu” by Catherine Stevens

Submitted to Contest #42

               The neighbors dog was barking incessantly, its high pitched wail is setting my teeth on edge. Groggily I roll over and cram my pillow over my head, but it does little to silence the noise.                   “Shut that dog up” I shriek at nobody and everybody. My head feels like its going to burst, I am so tired I can barely open my eyes. My body ache...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Autumn and Winter” by Lisa Jawalekar

Submitted to Contest #42

Ever since the dawn of her memories, Persephone had been counting the long days until she could go back to her home. It never seemed like enough when she was underground, as snow and wind raged above; when she was warm in Hades’ arms. Her mother, Demeter, openly disapproved of Hades, and so her months with always felt stolen, never enough. Still, Persephone had long since accepted her mother’s hatred for her husband, that was as undying as all of them in Olympus. Persephone could feel the days getting shorter, along with her mother’s te...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Waiting For "You"” by Cindy Bennett

Submitted to Contest #42

My Heart felt the pull of "you" long before I met you. It was as though we were always meant to meet. But with life and other distractions constantly throwing us off course, we always seemed to end up further and further away from each other. So far in fact, that we lived in opposite parts of the world! I would dream of you night after night, always in the same setting where we would be seated in a French styled cafe Crème De Le Cocoa, Located in the northeast of Florida. You would order the sweet treat "Southern Belle”, a rich gooey pe...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Woman unnoticed ” by Sayani Sarkar

Submitted to Contest #42

It was probably ten o’ clock on a cold winter morning. There was a light which fell directly on her face waking her up. It was a big crack on the nearer side of the window that the small curtains couldn’t cover.She had meant to get the crack fixed. She had even called a guy last week.But nobody seemed to pick up the call most of the time and the one time they did,they kept saying ‘we can’t hear you’. It’s one thing for people to ignore her in person knowing that she wasn’t a very attractive person nor had a great personality but it’s another...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Ed” by Jeni Conrad

Submitted to Contest #42

“Will it be much longer now?” Sarah clutched her mother’s hand, nervous to meet her father for the first time.Her mother appeared to stare off into the distance, past their luscious, manicured lawn, past the long roadway that rolled along the countryside but which no car had ever driven down, and even further, past the bright white fluffy clouds and into the deep blue sky itself. “No, not much longer.” Christina’s soft words floated to the young girl at her side.Sarah was used to her mother staring off down the lane, waiting and watching. Ev...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Star Kiss” by Keith B.

Submitted to Contest #42

Out of all the rock concerts Chris had been to this was the loudest and most electric. He would not had guessed that a childhood crush of his would be a lead singer in one of the most promising indie rock bands of its’ time. Chris stood in the middle of the crowd several feet back from the medium size stage. He was shoulder to shoulder with very excited, sweaty, drunk young male and females, who were also pushing, screaming and smoking. The girl in front of him was lifted up onto her boyfriend’s shoulders. She joyously raises her hands in th...

6 comments 6
Read story

“What's in a Name?” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #42

“Why can’t we call her Shalimar?” Stewart Lovell sounded far more hurt and puzzled than angry. He was the kind of man who hated confrontation and most certainly didn’t want it now, when his wife Wilma had given birth to the most wonderful and beautiful and miraculous small human in the history of the whole world, ever, only a few hours previously, and he still couldn’t get his head round the fact that he was her father. Looking at his two fantastic girls, he felt his heart and soul brim over with joy. So why was...

3 comments 3
Read story

$50

Prize money

903

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 22, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: The Firebird's Answer

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.