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

“Abigail” by Rahnyah Stormyst

Submitted to Contest #89

The white-haired Cardinal made his way to the woman's cell to escort her to the gallows. The stone walls were damp with moisture as he proceeded down the stairwell, edging ever closer to Abigail. The young woman paced back and forth with desperate anxiety. The babe in her belly had been growing ever bigger. With a clank of keys, she heard her abuser coming towards her. Her heart froze in her chest as she realized that, his abuse would never be known to the world. The Cardinal stood before her, holding out his deep garnet ring for her to kiss...

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“The Long Goodbye” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #89

T-Plus Seven MonthsIt was close to four in the morning, and I was sitting in my backyard, looking up to the night sky, and glass of merlot on the table beside me. She'd been gone seven months, and I missed her. I know I’m not the only person who is missing someone because they are gone, forever, but at that moment, sitting in my backyard, I believed that no one else could feel as lonely as I did.I scanned the sky. There was a sliver of a moon. I could see Orion’s Belt, Betelgeuse, Sirius. Venus and Mercury were huddl...

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“When Death Comes” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #89

When my time finally comes, I am at peace. I smile and greet Death as an old friend. Two Weeks Earlier Clunk. Shuffle. Shuffle. My cane and I make our way down the garden path of my childhood home. It feels fitting that my time will end here in the same place that it began. And my time is coming. I can feel it deep in my bones. And I am grateful. I am tired. Both in my mind and in my soul. I am ready to reunited with those who have gone before me; especially my love. Twenty years we have been apart and it feels closer to a hundred. Besides...

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“The unicorn” by Caroline B.

Submitted to Contest #89

Was she really going to do it? What did she have to lose anyway? And surely he would want to know, wouldn’t he? She hesitated for a second, then took a deep breath and rang the bell. *** She had never been to that part of town. It was the nice area, the kind of area where people had fancy cars, a little lane going up to the porch and a little curated garden at the front of the house. Probably an even bigger garden at the back, away from the street and prying eyes. The bus came to a stop and she stepped out. She started walking sl...

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“Decisions” by Katelyn Harnisch

Submitted to Contest #89

She played the song on repeat until the lyrics meant nothing to her anymore. She laid in bed, eyes wide open, relishing in the sad, apropos lyrics that came streaming out of her pathetic computer speaker. I deserve this. Nothing more, nothing less. Just this, She stayed in this state for three days. Friends called. They knocked on the door. They honestly considered whether or not she was still within this plane of existence. Eventually she would have to move, but not now. Maybe tomorrow. The nice thing about feeling half dead is you ...

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“Rewind” by Adra Verse

Submitted to Contest #89

There it was. I could see the gun in his hand. The trigger was about to be pressed. This would be my end. It is my end. It’s time to say goodbye. Just because of my error, Jack and I got into a fight. How the hell did he bring his gun to school? Why am I even asking? This is Jack we’re talking about. Jack the Ripper, as some may say in my class. He’s ruthless, brutal, and his personality has everything else you wouldn’t want the person holding a gun to your face. He was strangling me, but I tried to hold out my hand to push away the gun, but...

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“The Explosion” by Rosie Garcia

Submitted to Contest #89

There are two people sitting on opposite sides of a table. One of them does not have red hair. The other does not have blue eyes. They're talking. Here, I'll turn the sound on. There we go. "You do know why you're in here, right?" The one without red hair asks, gently, politely. The one who does not have red hair stays quiet. There is nothing for them to say, not really. "I don't." The one without red hair is surprised that the one without blue eyes has admitted that they do not know something. The one without blue eyes keeps talking, and t...

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“Chimera's Rage” by Hagen Oase

Submitted to Contest #89

“Alright Mrs. Mason,” went the officer as he stared at the young woman before him, her fragile appearance and feeble mind seem to not wish to interact with anyone nor has she attempted to speak with anyone on what had happened earlier today. “Mrs. Mason,” he went again this time catching a glimpse of life within her jade-green eyes, “I understand that you have been through a lot and I understand you seem stressed about this, but I must implore you to answer us.” A shaky sigh escaped her pink yet cracked lips, “I apologies officer,” she said ...

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“The Caretaker” by Stephenie Domenico

Submitted to Contest #89

TW: murder 1. As I waited for the EMTs to arrive I stood over her body and remembered the first time I had thought about killing her. It had been one of those passing thoughts that come in a moment of anger. If I smothered her with her pillow, they would probably never know. They'd just assume she died in her sleep. At that moment, it had felt like more than a passing thought. It had felt like a desire. I could feel the longing to pick up the pillow and lay it over her face. I would just have to hold it down until s...

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“Bad time to say “I do!”” by Emma Moody

Submitted to Contest #89

The church bell rang out once more, signifying yet another hour has passed. I looked over the horizon thinking what would have been a month of pure bliss. Instead it was now full of confusion and heartbreak. I haven’t spoken to Elizabeth and not sure if I am going to. I just know in this moment I need to figure out how to deal with everything that went down that day before I can think of, really, anything else. One month earlier... “Do you Jonathan, take Elizabeth, to be you lawfully wedded wife-” and that is when...

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“DISAPPEARED” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #89

TW: murder, abuse, kidnapping DISAPPEARED Carol V. had disappeared since the sixteenth of July. From that day, indeed from the morning of that day no one had seen her or had heard anything more about her. The last person who had seen her was Roxana B., who claimed to have met Carol that morning____the morning of July 16___on the main road of the little town, the one which led to the Alpine park. She had met Carol on that road at about half past nine in the morning. Roxana B. was ( had been) walking down the road...

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“So She Killed Her Mother-In-Law” by Elena Ilkova

Submitted to Contest #89

Her only regret about killing her mother-in-law, if one could call it as such, was not killing her earlier. From the beginning, she knew that it was not just to plain kill her, it was a matter of winning, too. The way she would win, she taught, is that she will not give her mother-in-law the satisfaction of conveying the message after her death that she was important enough that someone took the time to plot out her murder. So, when she murdered her if one could count that for murder at all, she did it not thinking of it at all. Nonchalance ...

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“Langoustines in Vladivostok” by Johan Rosenblad

Submitted to Contest #89

My name is Maxim Verlushenkov and I’m deathly afraid of Aeroflot. Well, I’m afraid of flying altogether, but the smell of vodka from the cockpit seems to aggravate my phobic neurosis. That’s why I was sitting in a tea shop at the Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal in Moskov, waiting for a train to take me halfway around the world, all the way to Vladivostok, my new home for an unforeseeable future. I had been commissioned to take over as senior lieutenant in the Primorsky Krai Police Force, and my train - on which I was to spend six whole days - was ...

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“Hidden Heartbreak.” by Carole Cobos

Submitted to Contest #89

6:30 PM, Owen’s Diner, May 8th: “Hi,” Cammie introduced herself. “I’m Cammie, your blind date.” The shorter girl was bold and a little foxy, her dark eyes framed by dramatic eye makeup. “Ooh, you are cute!” She smiled, a smile full of secrets and mischief. So unlike Alex… “My name is Alya.” 8:30 PM, Diana’s Dessert~ April 12th; Cammie was waiting there for her, it was obvious in the way she was poking at a melting cup of ice cream. Sitting outside of the shop, in the cold, looking intently at the parking lot. How she kne...

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“Forever Hers” by Jordan Large

Submitted to Contest #89

I spent forty days and forty nights taking shifts with her family to sit in a candle’s glow after she died. We prayed, we played cards, we laughed, we danced and celebrated the amazing life she lived. But as the days went on, and the grief set in, we wailed, we held each other close and shared the pain of losing someone so young. It’s believed that it takes the spirit of a loved one forty days to pass on to the afterlife, but it’s been a year now, and I still see her in everything that I do. I developed every picture we ever took of eac...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 201 stories

“Abigail” by Rahnyah Stormyst

“The Long Goodbye” by Tricia Shulist

“When Death Comes” by Lyn Carstone

“The unicorn” by Caroline B.

“Decisions” by Katelyn Harnisch

“Rewind” by Adra Verse

“The Explosion” by Rosie Garcia

“Chimera's Rage” by Hagen Oase

“The Caretaker” by Stephenie Domenico

“Bad time to say “I do!”” by Emma Moody

“DISAPPEARED” by Mara Masolini

“So She Killed Her Mother-In-Law” by Elena Ilkova

“Langoustines in Vladivostok” by Johan Rosenblad

“Hidden Heartbreak.” by Carole Cobos

“Forever Hers” by Jordan Large

🌟 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: