Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about a character who wakes up in their past life, or as a future reincarnation of themself.

Posted in Fantasy on Jun 17, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 54 stories

The Time Cheat

Submitted to Contest #151

“So, tell me why you’re here?”Len picked at a thread on the couch and avoided eye contact with the psychologist. Why was he there? Mostly because of his heartless, cheating, thieving monster of a wife, he supposed.Ex-wife.“Closure,” he said.The psychologist nodded, her face impassive behind her steel-rimmed glasses. She glanced down at her notes.“I see here you’re suffering some health issues?” she asked.Len shrugged. He was sixty-eight, of course there were health issues.“Care to elaborate?”“Not really.” He picked at the white patch of skin...

49 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

Lost down Memory Lane

Submitted to Contest #151

“Betty, wake up, it’s starting!”“Come on dearie, you don’t want to miss it!”The words come through slowly, thickly, like they’ve waded in honey. Sticking together, they seem to make little sense. Still, I open one eye and then the other.There she is, radiant even as an image on a glass screen; the satin gown seems to glow with its gold and silver threads as if she’s been dipped in a pot of light. That dress, it looks like it’s been spun from my sweetest dreams, perhaps the dreams of every girl watching. Who wouldn’t want a dress like that? T...

24 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

The Goddess of Life

Submitted to Contest #151

Content. That is the word I’d use to describe my current condition. Surrounded by a warm substance, fed what I want at my slightest whim, surrounded on all sides by cushioned walls. Some would probably call where I am a prison; I call it paradise. Compared to the rest of my life, feeling safe and secure is more than just a bonus, it’s a delicacy I never thought to consume. A comforting female voice was my constant companion, whispering to me and planting her warm, loving hand on my head. Less common was a deeper rasp, but no less loving...

23 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

The Do-Over

Submitted to Contest #151

           At forty-nine years old, all that Keith had to show for himself, was his vast movie collection, and $422.53 in the bank. Nothing else in his possession was completely his. He was renting a one-bedroom apartment above a Chinese restaurant. The odors from the restaurant permeated the air of his apartment.            Keith cherished his VHS and DVD collection that he began to put together when he was a teenager. He still reca...

15 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

The Grand Synthesis

Submitted to Contest #151

In my fourth decade as a subject of the most powerful empire on earth, I was struck mad and committed an affront against the Empire, a crime for which I was to be held captive indefinitely in an institution for deranged criminals.After twenty years of captivity, I was offered my freedom in exchange for a statement proving that I had regained soundness of mind. I embarked on formulating a grand synthesis, a credo of redemption based on all the great religious, scientific, and philosophical principles.I began by scouring the tomes of the ...

15 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

The Change

Submitted to Contest #151

I spent the afternoon of my 50th birthday in my primary care physician’s office, enjoying our annual visit.We exchanged perfunctory greetings. How am I? Peachy. I pictured a wicker basket full of peaches, on top of a red-checker enrobed picnic table that screamed, “Summer greetings.”How’s life? Great. The only way it could be better today was if I were wearing a party hat, blowing out fifty candles on a fire-alarm, mile-high chocolate cake. It would take dozens of firefighters hours to sift through the molten lava of sugar, saturated fa...

14 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Make It Stop

Submitted to Contest #151

I've never considered myself to be special. I'm not extraordinary in any way. I wake up everyday, go through the same routine over and over, take care of my family the best I can, and end my day by losing myself in a good mystery book. The only notable thing about my life is that I have a reputation for being the girl who hates rain. I'm often mocked and ridiculed for canceling plans if the sky clouds up. It's not storms or thunder or lightning that scares me, simply the rain. The anxiety that it causes requires me to plan my whole life arou...

14 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

The Unbroken Chain

Submitted to Contest #151

This feeling. I remember this feeling. Cold. I remember it. It always made me feel alive. Alive? Am I alive? I am awake. The boy sat up, damp hair clinging to his neck. Reaching back, he realized it was his. Long. The cold from the wet concrete seeped into his exposed legs, giving him a vibrant chill. He didn’t mind. Despite the wetness in his hair, it swayed in the gentle breeze that swished around him, wrapping him in its cold embrace. He stood, patting himself down. Attempting to brush away some of the water, he realized he was wear...

14 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

A Past Life

Submitted to Contest #151

A PAST LIFE Since I had no significant other to go home to, I would take classes in the evenings after work. After spending an evening with a group of women talking about past life regression, I was eager to get home and practice what I had learned. I wanted to see if it was possible to dream about a past life. So, after getting ready for bed I did my meditations, drank my tea, laid down in my bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep.  I must have been in rem sleep because I was dreaming about a place I knew. It was in the past, in...

13 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

a chronic condition

Submitted to Contest #151

Content Warning: Mentioned suicide attempt, mental health issues, character death It’s the first day of the new year, and Jasper wakes up in a bed that is not his own.The first thing that registers is the cold, and when he reaches for Charlie’s warmth his fingers instead meet a cool plaster wall. He jerks upright, alarmed and confused, and almost falls out of a bed that is far smaller than what he’s used to. He blinks the sleep from his eyes as he adjusts to the dim light. He’s in a dark room hung with posters and sticky notes.His room.Th...

13 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

The Worst

Submitted to Contest #151

Saint's pits. I'm Marina again. Marina is the worst. Her tone is nasal, she can't see anything, and she seems brainless. And she lives in the medieval age, where everyone smells. Bad. They all smell terrible. Women are expected to stay home, have babies, and be boring, basically.  I wake up in bed next to Alan, Marina’s husband. My husband. I am Mariana, or I was, centuries ago.  It’s not that I actively remember my past lives. I have moments of Deja Vu like everyone else, but hon...

13 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

the days of my lives

Submitted to Contest #151

TW; mental health; lobotomy; drugs; "I am nothing. Nobody. Not important. One of billions. Not special in the least." This is what I use to repeat to myself every day. Pathetic, I know. You would, too, if you had been subjected to the lonely, guilt-riddled, tortured existence I had. Not that I'm blaming anyone. I can fully accept the consequences for my actions. I have seen many places. I have passed through the hands of many men, and some women. Most of them discarded me as fast as they found me, something I'm no...

13 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Born Again Stalker

Submitted to Contest #151

TW: Death Standing at the back of the mourning crowd I listen to the story of her life. She grew up moving all over the country. She travelled the world. Her childhood friends wipe their eyes and sniff. Everyone is wearing black.             I should be part of the story. I spent years of my life married to Judith. Not this life. I want to push my way through the crowd and hug her sister and her mother. I want to tell them we’ll get through this together.     &...

12 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

A Long Haul Trucker Gets a New Job Assignment

Submitted to Contest #151

Author's warning: adult languageGreetings to all of you and thanks for taking the time to listen to my story. I don’t get to talk to many people and am pleased to be having this conversation. I’m Nick, a long-distance trucker: a disappearing job and way of life. I drive my 18-wheeler coast-to-coast weekly with various kinds of cargo. My rig is actually my home – I don’t have a fixed address. Long-haul trucking is a weekly, boring journey across our highways, passing anonymously through truck stops and chain restaurants. Why do I do it? ...

12 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Circle of Time

Submitted to Contest #151

Natalie pulled the night vision goggles over her eyes and scanned the stone wall surrounding the city. The snowstorm was a welcome ally because the guards were inside the guard shack keeping themselves warm. She spotted the ventilation exit a short distance from the shack and zoomed in on the locking mechanism. Relieved that it was an outdated one, she crawled back down the hill to where she left her gear and swung it over her shoulder. When she reached the exit tunnel, she picked the large lock and was careful to put it back into place once...

11 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about somebody breaking a cycle.

Narrative – 41 stories

Write about a character who keeps ending up in the same place.

Sad – 40 stories

Repeat the same line of dialogue, from the same character, three separate times.

Middle School – 57 stories

Write about a character who’s expected to follow in someone’s footsteps.

Kids – 38 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel