Write about someone who receives a gift or message that changes their life forever.

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 3, 2025

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✍️ 94 stories

“Godzilla” by Ben Hersh

Submitted to Contest #284

It was ornately wrapped, far beyond what my clumsy hands were capable of doing. Time and care did not do its packaging justice, as it felt almost criminal to tear it open. Part of me wanted to discard it with care, as to not tear the paper, working up the seams and folds of it so I could re-wrap it later and have it sit as to not spoil the sparkling hard work that lay in front of me on the table, but I would never be able to replicate the work present. There was no sender or return address listed, and it was a surprise I ha...

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“Jeopardy” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #284

“C’mon Hon, show’s about to start.” Milton knew his wife hated missing a second of Jeopardy, she enjoyed the opening spiels, she rooted for the contestant she related to the best. Given the choice between a local from Pensacola or a black woman from Alaska, she’d choose the black woman every time.Milton’s own cousin had been on the game show eight years past and did Velma root for him? No. She cheered for the elderly black woman in the floral mu mu.He had said, “Really Vel? Have you ever seen a parade float win?”Velma had scowled and growled...

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“Crystal Key Mage” by Idris Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #284

I lay awake listening to the sounds of the orphanage. Thirty boys ages ten to seventeen are housed here in bunks. I, like many of the boys, have lived here my entire life. A few more hours and all that will change. Today is my eighteenth birthday, and I will have to leave. The prospect fills me with dread. I shift in my bunk, drawing my long legs up so the blanket covers my feet. “D, you up? “You know I am,” I reply. “Go back to sleep Eddie. Big day for you tomorrow.” He peers down at me, green eyes shining in the moonlight. “How...

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“DEATH COMES TO CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

Submitted to Contest #284

“Joyce Ryan?” “Yes?” “I was a friend of Jimmy Albright. He would have wanted you to have this.” “I don't understand.” “It was a manuscript he was working on. He spoke of you often.” “I really didn't know him very well at all—and then this happens. You really think he wanted me to have this?” “He dedicated it to you.” She hefted the thick leather envelope. “It must be over a thousand pages. “Well thank you, Mister—?” There was no answer, and when Joyce Ryan looked up, she was alone in the hospital corridor. [Final pages of Jimmy Albright's m...

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“One Last Gift” by D.M. Woolston

Submitted to Contest #284

The phenomenon started shortly after I arrived at the old family farmhouse in Fredericksburg. At first I enjoyed the fresh country air and color-changing leaves of fall, but restful sleep now eluded me. Again, as the last night before, I heard the faint and familiar melody of a violin being played from another room. Beautiful sound floated down the hall until it found its way to me. But it couldn’t be his playing. Dad had passed away only two weeks ago and hadn’t played for several years before that. Two empty-nesters in a quiet house. They ...

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“In the Red” by Will Hogan

Submitted to Contest #284

Cliff Daniels loved order. As a veteran IRS agent, his greatest joy was the smooth clicking of a calculator and the neat, satisfying rows of balanced accounts. He wasn’t popular at the office—“by-the-book Cliff” didn’t make friends easily—but that didn’t bother him. He believed in the system, in fairness, in everyone paying their share.So when Doris Thompson’s case landed on his desk, Cliff approached it with the same precision he applied to every audit. Doris, an eighty-year-old widow, had been making payments to the IRS for decades. The pr...

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“No Going Back” by Kaeyllane Dias

Submitted to Contest #284

Content warning: Themes of coercion and criminal activity Katarina stared at the thick envelope sitting on her desk, her pulse quickening. The return address was from an anonymous sender, but the bold, red stamp across the front read Privado y Confidencial. She had almost ignored it, thinking it was another tedious legal document. But when she finally opened it, her hands began to tremble.Inside was a single photograph of her daughters—Manu and Tina—taken at the park two blocks from their house just yesterday.On the back of the photo, i...

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“Thank You” by Nour Abdul-hadi

Submitted to Contest #284

She came into the office with brown, sultry hair and a firm physique. Her name was Sophie. Reception told her to wait in the waiting room. She had a small purse that she set on her lap until she finally got called in. Angie was the physiotherapist that would be attending to her. I believe Angie fell in love with Sophie at first sight. But Sophie was married with kids and she felt less inclined to share the feelings that Angie had. As she rubbed her back Angie felt a deep longing for Sophie. Sophie started talking about her husband and how he...

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“The Birth of Elizabeth” by Henry Ramos Acosta

Submitted to Contest #284

Elizabeth was adopted into the Johnson’s house. The Johnsons before the time of her birth, pledged until the day they die to take care of this beautiful little child forever. Elizabeth's birth mother was of a lower socioeconomic status, had struggled with substance abuse and had lamented when becoming pregnant with one of her former physical abusers. Marcus was no longer in the picture, but left an indelible mark on the world which pained the heart of Elizabeth’s mother Mary, but delighted Sylvia Johnson’s. Once Mary gave birth, she refused ...

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“The Sixteenth Gem” by Shane Strode

Submitted to Contest #284

“What are you selling here?” Clementine asked the owner of the almost empty booth. She came to the market almost every weekend and had never seen this one before. “Oh not too much, dear,” the vendor said. “And please, do call me Faith.” “Oh, um, alright Faith,” Clementine replied. “Well not much isn’t nothing. So what is the something?” She sized up the vendor; she was wearing a long breezy skirt and a big brightly colored scarf over a more muted sweater. Her long blonde hair went past her shoulders. On one hand she looked a bit strange, and...

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“Happy Birthday” by Natalie Dokter

Submitted to Contest #284

This story contains content about death, illness, and substance abuse. “Lauren, we have to talk about… something.” Terri’s thin form was all but swallowed up by the pillows, a husk of the woman she used to be. The rented hospital bed took over Lauren’s normally neat living room. By the look of her mom, this bed wouldn’t be necessary for much longer. Lauren let off watering her spider plant. Her mom’s serious tone didn’t bode well. “What is it, mom?”“It’s about your father, the day he…” the woman before her struggled for words.“It’s o...

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“The Beautiful Gift” by Jerilyn Kolbin

Submitted to Contest #284

Jane was an ugly child. One day she would be beautiful, when she was old enough for plastic surgery. But five years seemed like an eternity away. For now, her big hook nose was going to have to stay. She couldn’t even picture herself ever being a teenager. Her only saving grace till then, was her hair. “Jane has such beautiful hair,” grownups would always say. “If only she would take care of it,” her mother would dutifully chime in. Class picture day was coming up and her mother sat her as she did every day on the red st...

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“A Gift Like No Other” by Pete Gautchier

Submitted to Contest #284

Prompt: Write about someone who receives a gift or message that changes their life forever.A Gift Like No Other I never thought an actual person would be considered a gift. But that is what God does. His gifts are seen and unseen. If I had to guess, more of His gifts come from real people and less from receiving physical objects. In my life one such person became my gift to me. The unique thing about this gift is it unfolded into a true love story where she became my heroine. Her name was Karen. We w...

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“A Gift Of Time” by Lee Kendrick

Submitted to Contest #284

A Gift Of Time By Lee Kendrick Shortly after his friend Albert Dawkins's funeral, astrophysicist Jason Goddard received an unusual gift from Albert, delivered by Royal Mail. It took two postmen to carry it. His eyes lit up when he opened the packaging!He had always been interested in the pyramid structure. It was always a talking point when he visited his friend in Inverness, Scotland. Whenever he questioned Albert about this strange contraption he always looked coy and was secretive about i...

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“A Soul in Denial Doesn't Realise It's Dead” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #284

Sometimes, we’re sent signs. Sometimes, we invent them. Who’s to say what’s what, and where do we draw the line? Claim it’s frequency or confirmation bias. Call it intervention, divine. Nora hadn’t left the house with the occult shop in mind. She’d strolled down an unexplored road, its unturned cobble stones, and familiar yet novel sense of grey – new globs of phlegm and dry gum and cigarette butts and candy wrappers. A window of ribbons like serpent tongues. Bags in shop windows, shoes, handwritten price tags. A florist, potted plants on tr...

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Write about someone who receives a gift or message that changes their life forever.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 94 stories

“Godzilla” by Ben Hersh

“Jeopardy” by Tanya Humphreys

“Crystal Key Mage” by Idris Kennedy

“DEATH COMES TO CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

“One Last Gift” by D.M. Woolston

“In the Red” by Will Hogan

“No Going Back” by Kaeyllane Dias

“Thank You” by Nour Abdul-hadi

“The Birth of Elizabeth” by Henry Ramos Acosta

“The Sixteenth Gem” by Shane Strode

“Happy Birthday” by Natalie Dokter

“The Beautiful Gift” by Jerilyn Kolbin

“A Gift Like No Other” by Pete Gautchier

“A Gift Of Time” by Lee Kendrick

“A Soul in Denial Doesn't Realise It's Dead” by Carina Caccia

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a character spending their first holiday alone.

Write a story that includes the line “I should’ve known better.”

Center your story around an unexpected guest who changes a traditional get-together.

Set your story in a place where everything should be familiar to your character(s), but isn’t.

Contest #284

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

347

Contest entries

145

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: