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

“we couldn't see outside” by Sana Mufti

Submitted to Contest #277

we couldn’t see outside It’s an orange kind of day now that the wildfires have settled and infected the rest of the world. I inhale pinkish smoke until my chest feels strange and heavy. Imagine a leaf curling inwards from decay; I imagine this is how my lungs react to the new substance. “I had a dream,” I begin, all Martin Luther King Jr without the voice for revolution. &nbsp...

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“i killed the flower and i killed the fairy” by Grace R

Submitted to Contest #277

Sometimes a memory will hit me and I will think, ah yes. This is one of the memories that make up the snow globe of who I am. Shake me hard enough, and the memories will fall from me like snowflakes. It only happens occasionally, and whenever it does, I need to sit and think for a moment, undisturbed. I wouldn’t even be able to bear the sound of my own voice. You see, I hadn’t meant to grow up. It had just happened, like sunlight creeping through the blinds before you’re ready to wake up. I lost my nastiness. I was such an angry ...

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“Is this all there is?” by Jennifer Braveheart

Submitted to Contest #277

These were the news articles I was reading when covid was first discovered in the United States.Following a rapid spread from its origin in Wuhan, China, the first case of the 2019 novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as covid-19, is confirmed in a man from Washington State on January 20, 2020. The virus, which would spark a pandemic, was first reported in China on December 31, 2019. Halfway across the world, on January 19, a man who had returned home to Snohomish County, Washington near Seattle on January...

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“Yellow Tulips” by Nina Belladonna

Submitted to Contest #277

I had assumed it was my period. Heavy cramping, numbed by painkillers, with bleeding so strong it stained my favourite pair of jeans. Just the everlasting part of being a woman. After a few days, though, my period would gradually get easier, and in a week disappear into nonexistence again. That time, it was the opposite. After class, I ran to the university restroom. The cramps were getting unbearable and no pills would help anymore. Sitting down on the toilet seat, gripping the walls with both hands, trying not to crumble down to the floor,...

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“Blank Slate- Recovering Lost Love” by Sara Rasa

Submitted to Contest #277

What they don't tell you about becoming a witch, is the cost of using magic. When a witch or wizard casts a spell or soars on a broomstick, this requires a withdrawal from their S.S. (Sorcerer’s Sum) account. Much like the way mortals fill up the gas tank of a car, witches must find a way to pay, or they end up walking. Fiscal responsibility is not high on the list for the Witches Council; the face of a political leader printed on a crinkled piece of paper in one’s pocket holds little importance. The council sees no value in it, and so ...

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“A Drop of Nothing” by Bohan Sun

Submitted to Contest #277

It began with a simple misplacement on a crisp autumn day.Leaves crunched under people's tennis sneakers as they enjoyed the cool and breezy weather for once in the summer heat of El Paso, Texas.The student sat forlornly in a classroom overlooking the grand park, a sanctuary in the weathered plains. Everyone longed for that cheap plastic chair, but that particular student thought it was taunting and ironic that they were trapped in a dull, painted-over brick building while everyone else was free to live. He was so absorbed in thinking that h...

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“Eggs” by J. Aizu

Submitted to Contest #277

Such a craving for eggs I had. Indescribable, really, this craving. I don’t know where it came from—maybe the cat I met in the alley the night before, with its tail between its legs, or maybe the sour milk I poured down the drain that morning. Don’t ask me why. Either way, the craving for eggs was so large it could fill my bathtub. I opened the fridge. Of course, I didn’t have any eggs. What I had was a slab of butter, a red bell pepper, a packet of ground beef, and a tin of tuna. I like my tuna chilled. Makes it soak up better, somehow, all...

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“One Day, Maybe” by Josephine Elsa M

Submitted to Contest #277

Rain splashes up into the air around my boots as I make my way down the puddle-filled sidewalk. The pink neon lights of the bars in my street reflect off the aftermath of last hour’s downpour and into the night sky. I can see the moon, high up and proud in the darkness. I roughly recall that tonight is exactly a half moon—half-full or half-gone, I can’t quite remember. My breath forms misty clouds in the air as I exhale, a taste of winter in the middle of November. I slow down as my destination comes into view. I can’t believe I haven’...

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“Jake and Lily” by Elizabeth Regan

Submitted to Contest #277

Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night. Cliche, right? Well, my story did happen once upon a time, and although it wasn’t dark and stormy, or even nighttime, or really even my story, it’s a fun little addition, no? This is a sad story. A story about love and loss and how difficult it is to move on. So let’s begin….. I met Jake on a train going nowhere. Literally, it was a scenic train that took us around a lake and right back to where we started. I had just gotten into town and was looking for something to do. I was walking through...

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“Gone” by Sarah Lou Ryan

Submitted to Contest #277

Trigger note: Story deals with themes of death / dying. Nothing graphic! Kate lies on the floor, hands clasped over her stomach, listening to her carpet sizzle. The bottle said to leave on for no more than five minutes. She closes her eyes. Three and a half minutes go by. The sizzling stops. Kate turns her head slightly to breath in the faint smell of bleach and counts out another ninety seconds. Taking the cloth which lay beside her, she rubs until a layer of white foam appears, replacing the red wine stain which had been there moments...

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“No Matter. No Heart. ” by Isabelle K

Submitted to Contest #277

Absolute silence greets me when I place my hand against my cold chest, searching for a familiar da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. My brows draw together and the corners of my lips tilt downwards; this is a new feeling. Although, I’m not sure it can be described with that word- if you feel nothing, is that itself a feeling? (Can you feel numbness, the ultimate oxymoron?) No matter. I must get going! I roll myself out of bed, only noticing my feet have hit the floor when my eyes track the movement. Is the wood cold? I stretch, my empty cavity of a...

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“The Threads of Fate” by Delaney Fairchild

Submitted to Contest #277

"You don't belong to us Maela." A strong hand squeezes my shoulder from behind and I'm grateful to Kallias, my guard and close friend, for the support because my entire world as I knew it, is tipping, and I know in this moment everything is about to change, and not for the better. "What do you mean I don't belong to you?" My voice cracks with utter disbelief. Possibilities and questions swirl like a windstorm through my mind. Where did I come from? How did I end up here? but all that I can manage is "Why are you telling me this now? I'm seve...

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“Coming Undone” by Shannon Haffely

Submitted to Contest #277

tw: blood, language, self harm (kinda?)Beneath my collar, the skin is red and raw, the deepening scratches burning with absence. Halter necks, collars with buttons at the hollow of my throat, or piles of laces that frill across my skin or hike up to my jaw—these have been my uniform for the last few weeks.When I'm home, I swap these exorbitant veils for the comfort of a faded pink crewneck sweatshirt. Age has loosened the collar. Not noose-tight, but it's tight enough. The sleeves are unraveling at the end: I can hook my thumbs through the t...

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“Don't Blame Me” by Rosa Christian

Submitted to Contest #277

I am Death. I am everywhere and nowhere. I will come 'as a thief in the night', in full daylight, expected or unexpectedly, in agony, peacefully, singly or by the thousands. Of one thing you can be sure. I will come. Yes. I will come for you.However, you have no need to fear me. I am not the executioner. I am merely the tool. So, don’t blame me. Others, much more powerful than I, decide the where, when and how, but the ultimate decision belongs to The Destroyer, who has his own reasons and does not share those with the likes of me.My job is ...

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“The Caretaker” by Gary Gallant

Submitted to Contest #277

The Caretaker I watched the old man rake the leaves under the ancient oaks. He shaped the leaves into neat, tidy piles, then scooped them briskly into giant, green plastic bags. Then he moved to the following graveyard plot and did it again, and so on, as we moved up and down the rows in the cemetery.“Do you ever talk to them?” I asked the old man“Sometimes I do. Sometimes, I think that they hear me, but there are a lot of headstones in the cemetery, and some days, I forget.” The old man moved slowly to the next plot. He moved that way, slow...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 88 stories

“we couldn't see outside” by Sana Mufti

“i killed the flower and i killed the fairy” by Grace R

“Is this all there is?” by Jennifer Braveheart

“Yellow Tulips” by Nina Belladonna

“Blank Slate- Recovering Lost Love” by Sara Rasa

“A Drop of Nothing” by Bohan Sun

“Eggs” by J. Aizu

“One Day, Maybe” by Josephine Elsa M

“Jake and Lily” by Elizabeth Regan

“Gone” by Sarah Lou Ryan

“No Matter. No Heart. ” by Isabelle K

“The Threads of Fate” by Delaney Fairchild

“Coming Undone” by Shannon Haffely

“Don't Blame Me” by Rosa Christian

“The Caretaker” by Gary Gallant

🌟 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: