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

Posted in Dialogue on Apr 28, 2023

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✍️ 74 stories

“A Cancer in Time” by Daniel James

Submitted to Contest #196

It had been a week since the incident, one day since the funeral, and my grandfather had yet to reach out. Every text and call I made to him went without response, and then today my phone finally dinged and showed his name pop up on the lock screen. He was coming over. I had considered going to his flat before hearing from him, but he had always handled grief in his own very specific way. Mom had once told me that when she was a child and she had first been diagnosed with ca...

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“Reflections in a Sliding Door” by Alison Lawrence

Submitted to Contest #196

“Hellllp! Help me!!” I screamed into the sliding door. “I don’t know what to do! Help me!” The door slid right down the wall Slipping right under my fingers I ran over to the end of the hallway and caught it just in time, my fingers grasping the door handle just in time for the wall to twist and turn but I held tightly on and fell painfully sideways against the wall as it twisted once more. I pushed with all my strength and the door slid open long enough for me to throw my whole weight toward the opening. The sl...

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“Select Your New Avatar” by Phoenix Nova

Submitted to Contest #196

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Jake. He loved playing video games. He always selected the female character as his avatar. One day Jake wasn’t watching where he was going and was hit by a car and died. To his surprise, as soon as he died, his consciousness was transported to a calm white room with ambient music playing. He was sitting at a desk with an unfamiliar computer in front of him. A female voice spoke the words “Thank you for playing. You are now dead. In case you didn’t know already...

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“What happened to this life??????” by Deepika Gorji

Submitted to Contest #196

DEE IS FREE NO DEE IS NOT FREE Well, that's the main question, and why not since that's the main question? The dee I know is really innocent and so full of energy not sure how this fullness became so many compromised characters. Maybe because there was so much to happen. The girl who was a free bird and knew no limits trying to part the world with surprises of yes “Girls can do it” to the notion of “There is nothing I cannot do” This character and daddy's girl never knew she will ever be afraid of people and relationship. The day she finis...

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“Concealed ” by Kate Wright

Submitted to Contest #196

Trigger warnings: guns, poor mental health, mentions of past bullying, swearing. * People wouldn't underestimate me any more unless I wore a sign with a list of suggestions as to how they might manage the task. Part of it was how I looked, most of which I honestly couldn't help. If you googled the term "femboy" someone has probably posted my picture with it. People liked to use words like "slender" and "willowy", but my penchant for fishnets and heels quickly got me dubbed a "trap" and a "disappointment to my parents". I was conside...

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“The Rhythm of a Thousand Armies” by Mira Flowers

Submitted to Contest #196

On purple ceilings, we dance to the rhythm of a thousand armies. We twirl with the shots, stomp at the falls, and duck when the enemy advances. Smiles litter the dance floor, but the destruction is at our windows. The music cannot be heard over screams, but it is still music, still sound. Majestic balls contain blood, and power is walking on graves. The chandeliers threaten to fall with the motions. They dangle, shining, glittering, horrifying. The theme was crimson trouble. Skirts and dresses skate across the vicinity in their red glory. At...

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“To Be Free: A Case Study of Ancient Robotics” by Odette C. Nassar

Submitted to Contest #196

My end is near. I can feel it with each slow drip of liquid seeping from my broken frame. The battle cruisers glide above the mountains of mechs on the ground and I turn my head to see what is left of the centuria that I was a part of. The loose pieces of titanium, plastic, and rubber surround me but not a single viable ‘bot. I scan the field beyond the piles of components around me but I can see no movement, only a random limb jutting here and there in the smoky air. The silence is deafening. Except that it is not silent. Not really. My hea...

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“Voices” by Lorraine Spring

Submitted to Contest #196

Voices Jean stepped onto the verandah of the weatherboard cottage, frowned at the squeaking floorboards, shook her head at the fragments of glass strewn here and there, remnants from the broken window. The cottage held her memories, of the Grant family, who lived on one side, and Josie Jones who lived on the other, of paddling in the murky, brown river at the end of the street. A lifetime ago, before the illness which wrenched three-year-old Lizzie from the family, and left her, seven-year-old, Jeannie not understanding what had happen...

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“Peaches and Promises” by Bailey Marie

Submitted to Contest #196

You have brown eyes. You throw your head back when you laugh, covering your mouth to hide the insecurities but by now it’s just a habit–you’re used to me being around and never thinking of you as anything less than completely and breathlessly stunning. In this moment your room is dark except for the flickering street light coming through your window to highlight your skin. I can’t remember what I said to make you laugh, but we’re adding onto it, I can just barely see the pink tint to your skin and the tears in your eyes. You show all your te...

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“The memory of sunset” by Tonatiuh Duran Meza

Submitted to Contest #196

David could hear the door behind him opening quietly, a set of heavy footsteps walking up beside him as he stared numbly at the night sky. "Do you mind if I smoke?" He smirks tiredly at his friend John, trying his best to show him the reliable leader he thought he should be for them. "Knock yourself out." “...so, how are you hanging?" Apparently he didn’t try hard enough. "Really? Do I really look so bad that you feel the need to make small talk?" David couldn’t stop his words from getting out, the stress of it all finally causing the me...

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“322 Passerine Place and The HGTV Defense” by David Sanchez

Submitted to Contest #196

“Can you state your name for the record, please?” “Pablo Moreno.” “And your date of birth?” “12/16/78.” “Where do you currently live?” “Here in Valley Heights, Texas.” “I meant, what neighborhood?” “Corona Hills.” “And Mr. Moreno, do you realize you are charged with trespassing -- namely, squatting in an unoccupied residence, specifically the home located at 322 Passerine Place -- on the evening of Friday, December 10th? How do you wish to plead?” “I plead not guilty,” I said in almost a whisper. I was scared. I have never had to ma...

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“Jacqueline” by Sierra Fraser

Submitted to Contest #196

I woke up this morning with another desperate urge to run away. Pale sunlight fluttered through the sheer curtains of my room. Gray. Even the bright paintings I hung on the wall last week look gray. Everything is becoming so dull. I stare at my blank ceiling and wrestle, like every morning, with the instinct to leave. I can always find something to tether me here. But not today. &nb...

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“Lost Souls” by Aaron Vitatoe

Submitted to Contest #196

Campfire Lit.I sit down to rest, replenishing what I will need as I enter what will surely be the most menacing part of the castle.The mage told me this part runs adjacent to the Chasm, which is filled with the soulless undead. I am told the halls are filled with soldiers, roaming as husks of their former selves as they walk aimlessly and kill mercilessly.I stand up and prepare for my journey. I put on my heavy armor and pick up my double-bladed sword.Carefully, I pass through a decrepit archway. On either side is a wall just tall enough to ...

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“The Approxinator” by Daniel Besa

Submitted to Contest #196

“I admit it's a stupid name that I came up with when I was about twelve years old.” he said after introducing himself. "I got it from a movie, and it sounded cool at the time. I thought that I could be a superhero or something. I kept on using the name and it stuck. Now if I change it, it'll just confuse people." Jethro "the Approxinator" Medley was a minor celebrity to the wider world and a widely popular controversial figure of the math world. He sat across from me doing a crossword while he talked. His apartment was on the sixty-fourth ...

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“Almost Perfect” by Chris Metcalfe

Submitted to Contest #196

Dylan Cooper was a twenty-three year old bank teller living in Salt Lake City, who still had ambitions to be the next big thing in the rock world. The people he saw on TV and YouTube made it all look so easy, but nothing easy about dealing with reality. His parents told him two things: 1. Work hard for what you want and 2. Always have a back up plan. If touring around the world was not in the cards, maybe helping people with personal financial goals would be. A single man with no kids, he enjoyed concerts and hiking, but also enjoyed smoki...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 74 stories

“A Cancer in Time” by Daniel James

“Reflections in a Sliding Door” by Alison Lawrence

“Select Your New Avatar” by Phoenix Nova

“What happened to this life??????” by Deepika Gorji

“Concealed ” by Kate Wright

“The Rhythm of a Thousand Armies” by Mira Flowers

“To Be Free: A Case Study of Ancient Robotics” by Odette C. Nassar

“Voices” by Lorraine Spring

“Peaches and Promises” by Bailey Marie

“The memory of sunset” by Tonatiuh Duran Meza

“322 Passerine Place and The HGTV Defense” by David Sanchez

“Jacqueline” by Sierra Fraser

“Lost Souls” by Aaron Vitatoe

“The Approxinator” by Daniel Besa

“Almost Perfect” by Chris Metcalfe

🌟 Similar 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.

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.

Write a story involving a portal into a parallel universe.

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.

Contest #196

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

279

Contest entries

149

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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