Start your story with an ending and work backward toward the beginning.

Posted in Fiction on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 201 stories

“Her...” by George Puscuta

Submitted to Contest #89

Why?! ……. Why am I here? Where am I? ……. The floor feels… hard. Was it there a minute ago? I’m not sure! Where am I? ……. I can’t remember anything. I can see something crawling in a corner to the left. It looks like ants. Hundreds and hundreds of ants crawling across the floor. Where are they going? Why? Why am I here? ……. The ants, they’re glowing. Hundreds of ants are glowing green and blue. They’re glowing and they’re crawling across the floor towards the opposite wall. They’re just walking, one after the other. Just walking! Where am I? ...

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“When You Were Here” by Gabbie S.

Submitted to Contest #89

A long time ago, when my hair was a golden brown and my skin full of an inner glow, I was given a choice. At the time it was an easy one. I could stay in the same dreary town I’d always known, or I could travel the world with the one person who truly mattered to me. The answer used to seem so obvious but now it’s not as simple and I wish I’d put more thought into my impulsive decision. Still, the few years that followed were some of the best of my life and though we did not have a fairy tale ending, I find myself still smiling each time I lo...

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“The Eight Years” by Meggysa Nine

Submitted to Contest #89

White smoke — not from my old ashtray — from my hot coffee with low caffeine and creamy taste. After I finished reading Matthew Kelly's "Rediscover Jesus", I took a quick shower and change my shabby clothes. Tight faded blue jeans, oversized black shirt, and brown espadrille sandals. "I haven't cut my nails, they grow so fast..." I whispered to myself and heaved out a calm sigh, "Nevermind, I'm gonna be late." I looked around my small living area to check if I forgot something, "I turned the lights off of my room as well as the fan...

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“A love story in five parts” by Arch R

Submitted to Contest #89

The Follow Up She felt the heaviness of a boulder right above her legs as she climbed up the last few steps before arriving at his doorstep. He had asked her to come over without explaining why. She had asked to meet at a park. Neutral territory. Four weeks after they had decided their relationship wasn’t worth saving, she wasn’t sure what there was left to say. That’s not true, she had a lot to say. She had written it all down. But she wanted it said on her terms, unlike the last few months where she felt like a floating dust particle in ...

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“Untangled” by DJ HOBBS

Submitted to Contest #89

Whenever James applied himself to a task, he went about it methodically with patience and care. He never undertook a job of work he was ill-suited for, so his practised movements might have fooled a person unfamiliar with his personality into thinking he was a skilful, dexterous sort of man, but he was not. He liked coffee because it was simple, yet Jenny only drank tea, and this was why he’d made a mess of the tray as he scooped her tea bag out of the mug and flipped it into the bin. He’d never made tea before. James removed the milk jug, t...

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“Revelation” by Fathima Mehrin

Submitted to Contest #89

Was it the smell that disturbed her or her sister in all her glory.Miryam was strikingly unsimilar to Zainab.Yet,they resembled each other . The apartment was old.its roof and of wood and curtains maroon coloured.Lit with yellowing lamps the room looked cozy. On a side a table was tucked upon which various art equipments were dumped,there was an almirah which showcased it's glorious collection of paint through its open windows.There and here canvases on stands had paintings,some complete and some incomplete Near an open wi...

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“He died, and I woke up...” by Talking Bushes

Submitted to Contest #89

It was in the afternoon when my grandpa passed away. As I woke up from my nap, I was in a daze. My grandma was in shock; she was crying. My parents came home early that day. As everyone was scrambling around, I fell into my own bubble of thoughts. A world without my grandfather was not going to be an easy one. This, I knew in my heart. Still, the final lesson he had managed to teach me in the last month we spent together was that “sometimes, in life, when nothing seemed to be going your way, you just have to take a leap of faith.” And so, wi...

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“The Wiped Existence” by Pooja Dubey

Submitted to Contest #89

Not a single soul! The roads were empty. The houses were closed. Not a single kid was playing in the garden. Not a single car was panning the road. It looked like a ghost town. I looked at the huge mall building, covered with glasses holding the huge hoardings that flashed sales. Just a week back, I was inside it enjoying coffee, on a table near the glass pane. I was looking at the busy street, wondering when the crowd would stop growing in the city. The city had already exhausted its capacity to hold more but people seem to not care. Eve...

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“One Giant Leap” by Wayne Njoroge

Submitted to Contest #89

The anxiety I was feeling was palpable. Sweat skid down from my forehead down on my neck. For some reason, I was hyperventilating. My anticipation was high for this expedition. I took in long deep breaths to try to get my act together. From left to right, I could see push buttons blinking in diverse colours of the spectrum. The navigation panel had many push buttons radiating different colour codes. Radio chatter spewed from my comrade's earpiece, who happens to be Blair, the captain pioneering this vessel. I gazed upon the reinforced wind...

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“Young love” by Anoush Hovnanian

Submitted to Contest #89

I sat in my car for a moment. Looked at the letter again. Written quickly, on a simple page. Not on a card, not with sweet words. Simply critic instructions. I should have known. I should have guessed a long time ago, but this made it so obvious. There were so many signs… But you are oblivious when you want to be. How did I not see this coming? It had always been coming. His months of avoiding me, his lies that just went on and on. So many lies. All those signs and I still saw none of it coming. My hands started shaking, trembling more and ...

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“Time Did Reverse” by Risha Tevins

Submitted to Contest #89

There’s darkness. The smoky flavour of ash crumples in his mouth, grit, grime, and tears and blood, and he thinks that there is more to this than sensation alone. There’s a soul-weary ache seared into the fibres and fragments of his bones that severs any conscious thoughts from coming into fruition. It feels frustratingly lonely. It’s bitter. It consumes all of him like a great, hungry beast.He does not know his name. Doesn’t remember.At that moment, he is weightless. He is nothing and everything all at once, existing and erased, and his min...

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““When The Limits Are Pushed.”” by Ellie Tucker

Submitted to Contest #89

Trigger Warning: self harm, and suicide. There she lies. In a bathtub, with red water. An empty bottle of pills, and a red, blood stained blade falling out of her hands, onto the bathroom floor. It was over, Her body had reached the limit. Her emotional, state had reached the limit. This is how it ended. In a few hours, her mother would come home from her late shift at work, and wonder why her own child didnt come to greet her at the front door like she usually did. The house was silent. When her mother got home, she waited for Leslie to wal...

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“Doin' the Laundry” by Glennj Russell

Submitted to Contest #89

"Mama Didn't even Remember the spankin'" McKee said in amazement after Mama finished doctorin' him up and went back in her room to lay down. Well, I said," at least ,for once, I didn't get a whippin' for somethin' YOU did!" McKee made a ugly face and went in the livin' room to watch TV while I breathed a big sigh of relief about last night at the Laundromat bein' forgot, just in case Mama had still been mad, and then went and saw to the little babies' diapers. Ever since the night Mama caught Daddy down in Prichard at the Copacabana honky...

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“Rabbit's Totem” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #89

We had been four great friends- four young rabbits who’d known each other since we had first opened our eyes and grown fur. Now there was just us three. We foraged together, played together and talked about girl rabbits. We now wept together as well. Sam is the biggest of us. His thick coat was a rich chocolate brown that matched his soulful eyes, his big flop ears and tail tipped in black as if dipped in an ink pot. The ladies did swoon when he looked their way. I am Seth, my twin’s name was Robbi...

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“The circle of love” by Quirky Being

Submitted to Contest #89

The grass was almost touching their knees but it did not bother them, as Sushil and Garima whirled over the earthy dance floor. Sushil going down on his knees to propose to her was a bonus over the fact that after so many years she had met him in person again, at the same place where they had seen each other for the last time. She was wandering in the open corridors of the building which used to be her school when a voice from her back made her stop on her way. “Hey!” The voice was from the person she had never forgotten. Sushil, the guy she...

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Start your story with an ending and work backward toward the beginning.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 201 stories

“Her...” by George Puscuta

“When You Were Here” by Gabbie S.

“The Eight Years” by Meggysa Nine

“A love story in five parts” by Arch R

“Untangled” by DJ HOBBS

“Revelation” by Fathima Mehrin

“He died, and I woke up...” by Talking Bushes

“The Wiped Existence” by Pooja Dubey

“One Giant Leap” by Wayne Njoroge

“Young love” by Anoush Hovnanian

“Time Did Reverse” by Risha Tevins

““When The Limits Are Pushed.”” by Ellie Tucker

“Doin' the Laundry” by Glennj Russell

“Rabbit's Totem” by Tanya Humphreys

“The circle of love” by Quirky Being

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that spans a month during which everything changes.

Start your story with a character taking a leap of faith.

Write a story where one person is trying to say goodbye but keeps getting interrupted.

Write about someone who is always looking toward the future.

Contest #89

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

719

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: