Your main character is approached by their long-estranged parent who wants to reconnect. How do they react?

Posted in Dramatic on Jul 31, 2021

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✍️ 193 stories

“Mother” by Tracey Carvill

Submitted to Contest #79

I was nine years old when I lost my mother. It was the 70s, and we lived in a big industrial town. Jobs were hard to come by, and my father had been out of the picture since before I was born. Mum worked odd jobs where she could to make ends meet. Sometimes she had to leave me on my own at the weekends once I was old enough to look after myself. I didn’t mind too much – I became quite self-sufficient early on, out of necessity more than anything – but I loved Mum fiercely, and always looked forward to her coming home again. Our evenings to...

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“The Letter” by Linda Brodsky

Submitted to Contest #79

“I got a letter from my mother today, an actual letter that came in an envelope with a stamp. The mailman left in my box with the gas bill and a sale paper from Stop N Go.” “Did you open the letter and read it?” “Not yet.” “Why not?” “I knew I was going to see you today and I thought reading the letter would be hard. I thought…that is, I was wondering if…I mean…” “Would you like to open the letter and read it now, while you’re here with me?” “I gu...

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“Casey the Crook” by Amanda Kelly

Submitted to Contest #79

Casey knocked on my door around 10:30. I never ever expected my fleeting mother to come to my doorstep with a smile nonetheless. I was in bed with my wife, Marisa. We were watching “Bones”, my favorite TV show. It always made me happy when the bad guy was finally caught. Then, a brisk knock on the door reverberated in my ears. I turned to Marisa. “Are we...expecting someone?” I asked. She shook her head, a...

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“Surprise Gone Wrong ” by Spark Tang

Submitted to Contest #79

Jaehyun had come out of Sooyoung’s house and soon a man who was in the vicinity approached him. "Is this Kang Sooyoung's house?" "Who are you?" Jaehyun asked. He didn't want to be rude but in order to protect Sooyoung, he wanted to know who was looking for his girlfriend. "I'm her father. I've been abroad so I haven't had a chance to see her new place yet" "Ah. Nice to meet you my name is Jaehyun" Jaehyun replies. Sooyoung hadn't really told Jaehyun much about her dad other than the fact that he was ab...

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“Unknown Number” by Sage Henry

Submitted to Contest #79

Unknown Number October 28, 2018 12:36pm Unknown Number: Happy Birthday, Danny! I can’t believe you’re 18 already! How did you grow up so fast? Let Your old man know how you’re doing every Now and then why dont ya? November 15, 2018 15:17pm Unknown Number Hey Buddy, I haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope you had a good birthday. Call me when you Get this-really need to talk to you. . . December 2, 2018 20:56pm Unknown Number Still giving me the silent treatment? It’s been ages. You’re an adult now, you need to l...

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“Meeting Again” by Kiki Abbi

Submitted to Contest #79

I look through the glass pane windows and see a face I never thought I'd see again. Her brown curly hair that in the radiant sun resembled a blonde shade. Her bright blue eyes that looking into them could send your body through a million waves. The ocean itself would envy. She was a sight for sore eyes, a magnificent creature, my father would say. And she was my mother.A couple hours earlierI faintly hear my alarm ring. As I slowly awake, the noise becomes louder and louder ringing in my head. I let out a loud sign and roll on my side, turni...

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“supposed to be dead.” by Charlotte Sully

Submitted to Contest #79

I am the only kid in my class who was in foster care, or with a limp. I was blessed with a birth defect and parents who didn’t love me, yay! #blessed. No matter how much my new parents love me, I can’t get over the grudge I have for my real ones. People ask me if I remember my mom at all, and I have to refrain from replying, “Hey moron, didn’t I tell you I was given up at birth? Do you remember first seeing your parents? No, I didn’t think so.” And other people say “How lucky you are to be adopted, some kids aren't that luc...

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“The Troubled Child” by Suhan Bangera

Submitted to Contest #79

'Is he really coming, daddy?' I asked, still unable to believe what my father had just muttered. 'He is hon. He will be right here in front of you by this evening,' my dad answered while gently pressing my nose like a button. He was packing some things in his car, preparing to get my brother. 'That's great,' I jumped out of excitement, but that was momentary since a horrific doubt started bothering me the very next second. 'Daddy, how long will he stay this time? Last time he barely stayed for a month.' 'He will stay until he doesn't cause a...

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“Leah's Choice” by Gwyn Everett

Submitted to Contest #79

I shuddered a sigh in the dark. Tears stung my eyes, wetting my pillow from the steady flow of lingering grief. Diana stirred beside me, her chestnut hair framed her face as she turned over to look at me.Concern colored her tired voice. “Leah? Are you ok?” “I don’t know,” I breathed. The admission was a hammer to my heart. I curled up against her chest and she kissed my hair.“My love, I’m here,” her hand traveled my upper arm in slow, methodical squeezes. I focused on her touch and tried not to imagine the mahogany casket of my father i...

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“The Memory Of His Face” by Rachel Daniels

Submitted to Contest #79

I didn't hear the letter come through the door that morning. I heard the barks of our dog warning the postman off. I lay there, not yet willing to let my hazy dreams slip away. Not yet willing to accept the start of another long sleep-deprived day. I groaned as I finally half-opened my aching eyes and swung my legs out of bed. My feet momentarily touched the cold wooden floor and recoiled, before finding their way into the fluffy slippers. This was a well perfected routine, standing and stretching before my eyes came to rest on that same old...

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“Father's Touch” by Tracey Fletcher

Submitted to Contest #79

"I don't want to see you." Six words that finally hit the nail on the head, a coffin that was now sealed on all ends and ready to be buried. Words that made me feel like I needed the earth to open up and swallow me, because surely what I had tried to manage, this rocky relationship with my father, couldn't be salvaged after these words that he just threw at me, looking at me squarely in the eye, emotions and sensitivity out the door. I was 21-years-old, but I wanted to cry out like a baby deprived of food. It wasn't like we had ever had a ro...

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“Only one chance” by Katarína Kyseľová

Submitted to Contest #79

With every sound of the door opening, Emily’s heart stopped for a second. Every time she lifted her head and stared at the door with the hope that the person for whom she was waiting for finally came. But then with a deep sigh, she continued reading the menu while hesitating if she made the right decision to come. She hasn’t seen her dad since her parents got divorced, she stayed with her mom, and her dad left with another woman. She ordered a big cup of herbal tea to get warm. She came earlier so she didn’t want to sit there without any d...

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“Written ” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #79

He was around ten when one day, without telling her kids or husband where she was going or when she would be back. Maybe she believed that they were too young to understand or that she was truly mental as people were suggesting. They were five in the family then, two boys and three girls and okwudili the oldest was just ten then. He was to hear his mothers voice again twenty something years later. Their father mr. onyema was a motor parts dealer, not poor, not rich. He was okay in Nigerian standard. They were just normal family like many o...

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“Losing My Rythem” by Lisa Segale

Submitted to Contest #79

Every light in the house was on and the noises coming from inside sounded just like those one would expect to hear at a party. This had to be the right place. I tucked my drumsticks into the large pocket on the inside of my coat and knocked on the bright red door. No one answered. I tried again. This time the door swung open so fast that it banged against the wall of the entryway. Good thing I wasn’t in its way or I would have been knocked off of the steps of the narrow walkway. &nb...

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“Mourning Mother” by Kay Wren

Submitted to Contest #79

*** 01/30/20 The room is stuffy. My black dress, all thick cotton and dark fabric, is suffocating. I try to breathe. In and out. In and out. Somebody murmurs something from the rows of pews that are stretched before me. I take a breath and begin my prepared monologue. “Caroline Andrews will always be remembered for the time she spent on this earth. She was a mother, a wife, and a friend.” I let the pain of remembrance echo throughout the church. I glance down at the slip of paper, trying to read the ti...

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Your main character is approached by their long-estranged parent who wants to reconnect. How do they react?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 193 stories

“Mother” by Tracey Carvill

“The Letter” by Linda Brodsky

“Casey the Crook” by Amanda Kelly

“Surprise Gone Wrong ” by Spark Tang

“Unknown Number” by Sage Henry

“Meeting Again” by Kiki Abbi

“supposed to be dead.” by Charlotte Sully

“The Troubled Child” by Suhan Bangera

“Leah's Choice” by Gwyn Everett

“The Memory Of His Face” by Rachel Daniels

“Father's Touch” by Tracey Fletcher

“Only one chance” by Katarína Kyseľová

“Written ” by Philip Ebuluofor

“Losing My Rythem” by Lisa Segale

“Mourning Mother” by Kay Wren

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who decides it’s time to cut ties with a family member.

Write about someone who discovers the only family member they have left has just betrayed them.

Write about two characters who’ve gone through something so intense they now feel like family.

Write about a “found family” who are finally able to get together again after a long time apart.

Contest #79

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

905

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: