Center your story around a character who longs for something they’ve lost.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 15, 2024

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✍️ 88 stories

“The Crumple-Rumpled Thing” by Zelene McBride

Submitted to Contest #277

That blasted thing. There never seemed to be an end to the search for it. I sighed. She had lost it nearly four decades ago, yet still I hunted for it like a golden eagle seeking indefensible prey. I remembered it well. She wore it infrequently. The most common place for it was on the dresser, atop the mirrored vanity tray brought from who knows where. I was too young to know that particular thing’s origin story. For that matter, I was too young to have such a singular focus on something that was surely gone forever… I sank deeper into the ...

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“Burn the Old Blue Bird Down” by Suzanne Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #277

“Hey, Jay, get in here and help me.” A young man with a slight British accent shouted from inside the bus through the open doors of the old Blue Bird. “The sooner we clear out our stuff from this ol’Bird and move into the new bus, the quicker we can hit the road.”On the outside, Jay shot a glance at the gleaming machine to his right as he stood beside the faded yellow school bus with the blue logo above the door. “The new tour bus is a fine piece of machinery, I must admit. And I’m glad we are successful enough to ride in style, but…” He sto...

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“We Are Forced to Take a Stand ” by Tommy Goround

Submitted to Contest #277

Hard Water was going around because some of the local kids got hold of oodles of erectile dysfunctional pills and climbed the water tower, opened the testing hatch and “Voila!”Blame Amazon, again. So the entire town is on lockdown now because Mr. Westly at the bank likes to walk around with his morning coffee. His wokeness was right in the face of a kid waiting to see if their parents got an extension on their mortgage. The kid screamed, Mr. Westley dropped his coffee all over the spots that got McDonald’s sued for hot coffee. The bank ...

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“The Beadmaker” by Leigh Foster

Submitted to Contest #277

I traveled through the life of him, I was before, during, after, within. I am no longer who I was before I traveled through his life, though I wish I was. There is no beginning to how it happened, only the knowledge that since the moment I saw him for the first time, I needed to understand every part of him. This need will be what keeps me from him throughout even the most fluently changing timelines, and I have accepted this. I am sorry to every version of myself who will love the half of him who is free. I am the reason for the creation of...

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“The Sad Princess” by Aimee Lavigne

Submitted to Contest #277

(Note: strong themes of death and grief) Riley was ready to save her sister from the dragon. Even though Riley was younger, and smaller, and scared out of her mind, she knew she had to be brave. The dragon, Onyx, had stolen her sister, Rosalie, from the edge of the castle grounds. It was an act of retaliation because their father, King Richard, had been sending his army farther and farther east into the mountains. He wanted to expand the kingdom and secure passageways to the far ocean. The dragons were angry at the men for encroaching...

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“The Emerald Keychain” by Arora Gleans

Submitted to Contest #277

When Hannalina Grey entered the office, it was one minute past nine in the morning. She strutted across the white marble floor with a paper cup of coffee wrapped beneath her pointy red nails. Hannalina always rolled in a minute late with her chocolate hair snatched up in a ponytail. The sweet lady at the reception hollered good morning in her usual cheery mood and Hannalina displayed her signature smile—straight teeth and sparkly from all the whitening she endured. Although Hannalina entered the office late with a certain grandeur, there was...

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“Something Lost, Something Gained” by Cody Cole

Submitted to Contest #277

In the distant, magical land of The Feathered Keys, where shimmering waves of crystal waters slosh against shores beneath the rainbow-washed sky, in a town called Harpy’s Haven stood a quaint tavern known as The Plunge. Its wooden beams glowed warmly, the evening sun revealing the reddish tint living beneath the weathered surface. The sign, creaking as it rocked in the gentle breeze, was a beautiful carving of a tankard dropping into water. It was a place where adventures began. Behind the polished mahogany bar, an old bartender named D...

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“B&B” by Viking Princess

Submitted to Contest #277

There once lived a man who could not hug.Through actions, he chose to show his love.He helped others achieve their dreams,though he had none of his own, or so it seemed. He learned people are greedy, selfish and stingy.They lacked ambition, were lazy and needy. Losing hope in his quest for people to encourage,he fell sad, lonely, became disparaged. There once lived a girl. She was a hugger. Heart on her sleeve, oh how they tugged her. She lived to serve, and her service was needed.&...

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“The Dragon Chaser” by Kate Simkins

Submitted to Contest #277

The Dragon Chaser stood on the shores of Atlantis, vigilant. She had watched these skies for years.Waiting. Anticipating. Knowing.The blood that ran through her veins was inextricably linked to the power of the Dragons and she knew in her heart that they would come, with a conviction she had never felt before. The last time they came, drawn to the power of the island, the tsunami from their wings was so large, it reached the mountain, devastating everything in its wake.It couldn’t happen again. Atlantis couldn’t withstand another attack.Kata...

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“Christmas Nostalgia” by Leslie Mamola

Submitted to Contest #277

Sensitivity Warning : This story deals with the loss of a loved one. Fern climbs out of her warm bed and gazes out the window. Heavy snow falls from the early morning sky. The forecast is calling for two feet of snow and a blizzard warning is in effect. She’s glad it’s Christmas Eve and she can stay in for the day. This will be her first holiday without her husband, Ben, who loved Christmas. Although she’s lonely, she’s determined to make the best of the festivities in honor of his memory. She plans to spend her day wrapping presents and ba...

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“Leaves” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #277

Sue leaned her forehead against the glass, a wiry, middle-aged woman gazing through the lacy streams of rain, out into her garden. The huge Oak in the middle of the lawn lifted its branches and held out its spindly hands: 'Me? It wasn't me. Who did this?' But it was the Oak. It tossed its acorns onto the lawn every year and shortly after began to litter the grass with dead leaves. It started with one. One dead leaf, brown and shrivelled around the edges: an explorer into another world no-one noticed. In the subsequent days and week...

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“Hell Hath No Fury Like a Glaciate Scorned” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #277

“I’m home, Electra. I picked up that generator you wanted,” Agent Ellis Eaton yells. Ellis looks around the kitchen. Battered pots and pans litter the floor. The refrigerator door has been ripped off its hinges. Torn photographs are scattered like confetti. Electra’s copper bracelet lies abandoned on the kitchen table alongside a note. Ellis, Love was the energy that gave us the strength to battle against the storm seeking to drive us apart. Now, my heart, like the storm, has broken. Ellis hurriedly dials his partner's number at the ...

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“Potter Street” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #277

He can go out when the kids are asleep. They’re still young enough to be put to bed before ten. That’ll change in a few years, and then he doesn’t know what he’ll do. He loves his kids, but he thinks about what having kids meant a hundred years ago. When there were nannies and people went on honeymoons for months on end, like in The Sound of Music. He thinks about boarding school and wonders to himself if he has the guts to send his kids to one. Not because he’d miss them, although he might, but because of the judgment he’d face from everyon...

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“The Pineapple Men” by Cari Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #277

I’m on my elbows in a progressive muscle relaxation when my nervous system is ripped through by a frantic pounding on my front door. I rush to the window and see Taka leaning his head on my door, still banging his fist."Damn— Taka? What—shit," I start to motion at Taka but he's already stomping in. He smells pungent and sickly metallic. His clothes are soiled and there's a bloody balled up jacket around his lower arm. He appears as though he just survived close proximity to a bomb."Antibiotics! I know you didn't finish 'em. Where!?" Taka's s...

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“Absence” by Jere Liles

Submitted to Contest #277

“Logan!”It was Shamus on the phone, of course, the self-proclaimed black sheep of the family—a designation he fought their youngest sister for like a championship title-belt, using reckless acts and messy situations that embarrassed the whole family (most especially the non-immediate members) as their ring. Both siblings were aloof and lax to ask for assistance, but the difference between the two of them was that their sister was angry and couldn’t care less what anyone thought of them—least of all family, and, incIdentally, that is exactly ...

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Center your story around a character who longs for something they’ve lost.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 88 stories

“The Crumple-Rumpled Thing” by Zelene McBride

“Burn the Old Blue Bird Down” by Suzanne Jennifer

“We Are Forced to Take a Stand ” by Tommy Goround

“The Beadmaker” by Leigh Foster

“The Sad Princess” by Aimee Lavigne

“The Emerald Keychain” by Arora Gleans

“Something Lost, Something Gained” by Cody Cole

“B&B” by Viking Princess

“The Dragon Chaser” by Kate Simkins

“Christmas Nostalgia” by Leslie Mamola

“Leaves” by Chris Pye

“Hell Hath No Fury Like a Glaciate Scorned” by Michael Jefferson

“Potter Street” by Story Time

“The Pineapple Men” by Cari Rodriguez

“Absence” by Jere Liles

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about an outsider or social outcast who will do anything to fit in.

Start or end your story with two friends who become enemies/rivals, or vice versa.

Write from the POV of a fairy tale character sharing their side of the story.

Write a story with the word “wicked” in the title.

Contest #277

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

328

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: