Write a story including the line “I can’t say it.”

Posted in Dialogue on Feb 16, 2024

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✍️ 59 stories

“I can’t say it…but” by Not An Author

Submitted to Contest #238

I am writing you… hoping I’ll finish it this time and not delete everything again and have the courage to send it. Probably my 10th attempt…. I don’t know where to start. I want you to know that what happened between us was not meaningless.. and it’s probably more meaningful than my actual marriage. I am sharing things that I haven’t shared with anyone else and will not share with anyone else. The person I married it totally the opposite of the person she pretended to be she I met her. But worse is that she is so mean, disrespectful an...

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“The solace of a man hides a litany of emotions. The heart of a woman lies all the love she will ever receive. ” by Kwasi Sike

Submitted to Contest #238

*Trigger Warning: Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Sexual Violence* When my father came down the hallway, his face burgeoning with excitement at the potential of the long-awaited day when he could finally exist differently. Three hundred and sixty-four days of a monotonous gait zapped away by the mere presence of… well, presents. He is a simple man, five feet ten inches, with a beer belly that extends past his feet and droops downward like he is with child. His claws are trimmed once a year out of respect for the occasion of Christ’...

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“SAVING KELSEY” by Gary Clifton

Submitted to Contest #238

SAVING KELSEY“For God’s sake, somebody help me.!” Strapped in a partially reclined chair, the dismal room illuminated by a single overhead bulb, Roxy struggled against her restraints. She’d tried for hours to recall how she had gotten here. She’d been clubbing with friends, drank a Manhattan…my God it had to be a roofie! She’d been drugged and kidnapped by a monster.The door opened and her abductor strutted in. A huge man, with a drooping handlebar mustache, he radiated pure evil.“How’s my little Roxanne now,” he leered down at her, helpless...

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“FAMILY PAST” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #238

In a softly lit office adorned with rich mahogany furniture and shelves filled with medical journals, Doctor Edmund Pierce, a distinguished psychiatrist with graying temples and kind eyes, was in his favorite chair. Across from him sat an older woman in a striking red dress. She introduced herself as Madam Penelope Peacock from New York.Madam Peacock exuded an air of refined elegance despite the faint tremor in her hands. She settled into the plush chair before Doctor Pierce, her posture regal yet betraying a hint of nervousness.As they prep...

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“Before Tonight” by Bri Heron

Submitted to Contest #238

Before tonight, my girlfriend and I had been in a relationship for nearly seven years. We fell in love our last semester of college after I spotted her in a coffee shop about two blocks from campus. She sat in a booth, alone, sipping away on a large black iced coffee with crumbs of a croissant sitting on a plate. In her hands was a rather bulky textbook, though I don’t remember the title now, and she was so engrossed in the textbook I knew there was no way she felt my eyes on her. She wore a stained navy-blue sweatshirt with some black jogge...

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“Papers for People” by Elio DiCavas

Submitted to Contest #238

Miriam came from the kitchen with the handle of a hot pan in her armpit, the other straddling a newborn, and her legs victim to her two six-year-olds. Dinner was going to happen in fifteen minutes and the potatoes were almost done, but everything else would be late. While she thought of the chicken that might have been safe to eat, she balanced bobby pins stuck in her hair. The phone started to ring. Miriam urged herself through the slush of her kids and their messes, but a wave of potato grease threatened to slip out of the pan, a f...

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“The Eavesdroppers” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #238

I’ve never told this story to anybody before now. Once I get going, you’ll understand why. It’s the proudest I’ve ever been of Mama and she isn’t even aware that I know what happened. I hope everybody reading this remembers party lines. This was way back in 1979. I was 15 years old and my family lived in Spivey Subdivision, over on Flat Fork in Caudill County. They still had a party line there. They were a thing of the past in most places, but you’ve always been able to set your watch back 10 years when you come to Eastern Kentucky. That p...

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“The Crash of Love” by Marceline Snyder

Submitted to Contest #238

The ocean sings her song to us as we sit upon the very cliff where we first met. I glance over at her until my gaze becomes a very apparent stare. “You know, when I first met you I was actually about to kill myself.” I let out a nervous giggle wondering why in the world I would mention that right now. She snaps her head towards me, redundant panic filling her eyes. “You what? Why would you wanna do that?” her hands race to mine, clutching them as if she lets them go, the past would break its bound from underground and rip me away. My ch...

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“The Dream” by Matthew DePan

Submitted to Contest #238

The weather had been unseasonably cold and damp here in Colorado. “Three hundred days of sun my ass!” I cursed under my breath as I reached for the door, opening it hastily. The warm air of the pub hit my face like a rogue wave, instantly fogging my glasses, as if I were looking through a plastic bag. I removed my glasses – wiping them clean – then replaced them on the bridge of my nose. It took me a minute to see through the busy mayhem of the pub, my eyes still adjusting to being indoors, but then I found him. He was seated at a hi...

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“A Park Bench” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #238

A Park Bench The splashing and delighted squeals of children came from the pool a few hundred yards away and I hoped it wouldn’t intrude on my conversation. I glanced around again, she was running late and that wasn’t like her, always prompt to the second. I smiled at the memory of her meeting me outside the restaurant on our first date, she’d shown me her watch that read 6:59, and our date was for 7:00. We’d laughed and gone in to eat, that was three years ago now and she’d never failed to be on tim...

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“How am I going to tell my dad?” by Allan Marshall

Submitted to Contest #238

She woke to the noise of her mother setting up the toys for her day of childminding. Her eyes remained closed as they remained heavy, almost un-openable. She did open them and clearly saw it was time to get up for school. She had no desire to go. She heard her little brother playing in the next room, he was talking to himself, pretending. His older brother, who shared the room, told him. "You going to shut up, I'm trying to sleep." Her little brother just ignored him and continued to play. She swung her legs out of bed, feelin...

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“Winter's Best Kept Secret” by Al Casagrandi

Submitted to Contest #238

“WINTER’S BEST KEPT SECRET” BY A. CASAGRANDI The area around Weston Vermont is charming year around. The area features quaint country stores and cafes. The village of Weston captures a snowy persona, once winter arrives. The snow is a big element in Weston, especially during the holiday season. However, it is the town’s community projects that bring folks together as a troupe of happy New Englanders. Center Street stays winterized with snow mixed with decorations until after Valentine’s Day. Weston may be the only New England town wit...

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“Taboo” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #238

I can’t say it. I just can’t say it. I want to say it but I can’t. I can’t say anything that might be comic or funny or even something that somebody else might think is comic or funny. There is too much at stake. Too much to lose. This is our culture now. People are not allowed to make jokes or say anything that is funny. It has been almost exactly 3 years since humour was banned. After the Election in 2024 the new British Government wanted to make an immediate impact but they had no money to spend so their options were limited. Very limite...

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“IT HAS TO BE SAID” by Brian Bywater

Submitted to Contest #238

IT HAS TO BE SAID “What are you hiding behind your back Leonard? Do not even think about saying nothing, I saw you go to the mail box and take out a letter. Who is it from?” “It’s nothing that concerns you Jessica. I do have the right to some privacy. You will be the first to be told if it is something you need to know about.” “Another letter of demand isn’t it? You are in trouble with your gambling excesses again aren’t you? How many times have I warned you of what will happen if do not control your betting? You are an absolute ….., w...

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“What lies behind the glamour” by Matthias Poynder-Meares

Submitted to Contest #238

I can’t say it… that was all I could think. Not now. Not here. Wrong time. Still, she was hanging on the other line of our dial-up phone and all that was between us was static. I couldn’t even hear her breathing. Just static. “I’m being called for dinner” was all I could muster, before the usual awkward and off-kilter goodbye between us. The spaghetti was still on the boil, the table hadn’t even been set yet, but my tone was kind, and we would see each other in school anyway tomorrow.  This was what it had come to. After years of t...

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Write a story including the line “I can’t say it.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 59 stories

“I can’t say it…but” by Not An Author

“The solace of a man hides a litany of emotions. The heart of a woman lies all the love she will ever receive. ” by Kwasi Sike

“SAVING KELSEY” by Gary Clifton

“FAMILY PAST” by Darvico Ulmeli

“Before Tonight” by Bri Heron

“Papers for People” by Elio DiCavas

“The Eavesdroppers” by Zack Herman

“The Crash of Love” by Marceline Snyder

“The Dream” by Matthew DePan

“A Park Bench” by Maureen MacLennan

“How am I going to tell my dad?” by Allan Marshall

“Winter's Best Kept Secret” by Al Casagrandi

“Taboo” by Paul Simpkin

“IT HAS TO BE SAID” by Brian Bywater

“What lies behind the glamour” by Matthias Poynder-Meares

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or finish your story with a speaker unable to finish their sentence, perhaps overcome by emotion.

Write a story in which a conversation takes place where the true subject is only implied.

Write a story in which an important message is cut off, leaving characters to wonder or puzzle out what was left unsaid.

Set your story at a silent retreat.

Contest #238

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

285

Contest entries

98

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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