Write a story in which the same line recurs three times.

Posted in Fiction on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 164 stories

“Colleen” by Mary Sheehan

🏆 Winner of Contest #101

Colleen is packing to leave for university. She folds her clothes into neat piles, her fair hair arranged in an artfully messy bun, with gold strands curling around her face. She packs her rolled up socks into the maze of groves left by the clothes piles. Her movements are thoughtful and tender, like she is tucking them into bed. I watch her from my quiet corner outside the door of her room, chewing on a hangnail. I am still wearing my pyjamas and I haven’t showered yet today. I stare at her, willing her to hear my voice in her hea...

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“For The Last Time” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #101

“Ow! You little bugger—you’ve nipped me for the last time.” Five months in, breastfeeding had lost its luster, especially as the baby began to teethe, searching more for pain relief than for nourishment. Perhaps they were both just thoroughly exhausted, as both mother’s and child’s sleep schedules—blissful for a month or so after a chaotic start—now became wholly disrupted. Why is it just when we get used to things, they suddenly change?Five months in, the mother had persevered through sore nipples and engorgement and leaking throu...

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“Recognition” by Alex Sultan

Submitted to Contest #101

Des scavenged the workbench for a wrench—he would need one to save a life.He searched through old toolboxes and his fingers brought up flakes of rust. Damn abandoned place. Dust rained to the floor as he pushed aside empty bottles of oil. No luck. Des checked beneath, USB sticks and used up needles cracking under his boots, and found a few grime-coated coins. It would have to do.“Rats crawl over my circuit boards!” Elio buzzed. His glitching voice echoed through the looted mechanic shop. “They gnaw on my wires!”“Yeah, I heard you the first t...

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“Flower Stems” by Silver Pen: Temporarily Inactive

Submitted to Contest #101

The flowers’ stems broke as they fell from her hands. The delicate petals fell, colors kissing the soft lilting grasses of the plain. Another time, she might have stopped to grab them, brushing off the dirt and laughing about loose grips. But now, her darting eyes followed her newest friend, the girl with the sun-kissed cheeks and an eggplant-purple oversized dress. She would certainly grow into it with age, the girl’s parents said. The pair’s youth was a clouded lens, hiding the children from the worries of money. To the sharp-eyed adults, ...

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“Broken” by Johana Htwe

Submitted to Contest #101

“Goodbye, Dad. I will come back on Saturday,” George’s eldest daughter, Alina said while holding her seven-year-old daughter’s small hand. They were going towards their car, parked a little far from George’s house. “Goodbye, grandpa,” Alina’s daughter said with her high-pitched, cute voice, waving her hand vigorously while her other hand was secured in her mom’s tight grip.“Goodbye, Alina, and my favorite grandchild. I will be preparing your favorite pizza next Saturday!” George shouted for his granddaughter to hear him from inside thei...

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“LIVE” by Alizah Muhammad

Submitted to Contest #101

Trashed, smashed, I went all out, laughed, yelled, then just sank down…. Sinking, weeping, Perhaps was I just reaping what I sow ….? Rising slowly to the top, not high and not low, I was just floating now ….And at that point, I began, one step at a time, Pondering ….Then one day I went Live to tell everyone about life. It was a day when I finally realized,I WAS ALIVE.In July 1999, on a usual Sunday morning, something special happened. I opened my eyes in this world. The beautiful sky illuminated and darkened in a sequence, my life ...

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“Crush” by VJ Hamilton

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #101

It’s late spring in New England, and the sun is warm syrup pouring down, making hikers sticky and hot. Hair clings to Tessa’s temples like scum at the lake’s waterline. The seventh-grade class vibrates with excitement on their field trip and she scrambles to keep up. They carry logbooks and at the gurgling brook everyone halts to record observations. She writes: “Small fish came to my hand and touched me with their noses and rushed away. I think I scared them.” Then they’re off again tramping through scrubland. When the teacher’s back is tur...

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“"Are You Sure?"” by Jillian Oakes

Submitted to Contest #101

“Are you sure? You’re ready for this?”The cold autumn breeze slipped through my hands. Half of it was natural, the other an effect of my own manipulation. I twirled it between my fingers before redirecting the gust towards Lyla. She wrapped her body tighter in her thin yellow hoodie before she realized what I had done. She gave me a light shove. “You Environmentals. Can’t keep your magic contained.” She paused. “And yes, I’m sure. This duel was my idea, anyway. I’ve got to see it through eventually.” “Bold talk coming for the glori...

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“The Lemon Tree” by Keya J.

Submitted to Contest #101

A beam of moonlight stepped over the balcony and was lying on the bed. Starry figures bloomed in the dark inky pot above. A sudden craving of thirst found Adele sitting up straight in her bed, stretching her arms and yawning like a ferocious bear. Chocolate strings of hair were tangled up in a ponytail leaving a few trails on her forehead. Her eyelids felt heavy as she tried to get up from her pink dyed bed sheet. Her sight stumbled on the sleeping Hawaiians and the silent houses chirping in the dark. She fluttered her lids rapidly to drive ...

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“episode six” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

Submitted to Contest #101

A man has been murdered and we have a killer on the loose. The security footage from the magazine store is a little grainy but we see the man before he was murdered. We see how carefully he walks down the aisle, tracing his fingers along the rows. We see how his fingers look like claws, scratching the wooden aisle like a witch’s fingers. For a minute, he pauses and he looks over his shoulders. There is a woman behind him but she’s wearing a hoodie so we can’t see her face. The man turns back to the magazine he’d been checking out and the ...

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“To Be Him or To Be Me” by Kira Krieger

Submitted to Contest #101

"I didn't touch it, Arlin, and you can't prove I did!" Nebula yelled, stabbing Arlin with her index finger. "I don't care if you did!" He met her intensity. With a breath, he continued, "I just want to know who fixed my tablet." "Even if I did, don't think you could catch me with that lie. You've never thanked anyone in your life." "Not to you. You mess around with everything… what… what is the sound?!” They walked out of the hall into the main room of HQ. Nothing was there, but the noise persisted. They took a few mo...

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“Shots” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #101

Trigger warning: alcohol addiction The leather of the basketball made a satisfying swish as it sailed perfectly through the hoop, making no contact with the metal rim. Marcus whipped both hands towards Coach Martin, ready to take the next free throw. “How many is that, Coach?” “Number 100. That was your last shot.” Finally! Hitting 100 free throws before leaving the gym always hit Marcus harder than anyone else. The center of his semi-professional team, he never had to shoot from more than two or three feet from the bas...

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“What I can't say” by Consistently Lost

Submitted to Contest #101

"You're wasting your parents money." My music teacher tells me for the 5th time this hour.There's certain things you can't say to adults. Especially when they're mean to you.For example: Shut the hell up, You're an idiot, How about get outta my face you *** of a *****, stupid ******* *****.You shouldn't say that.That's not nice.You can think it.But don't say it.Usually when my teacher is giving me a hard time, I just sit there and take it, telling myself that 'I'm a Musician and this is what we go through to be the best.'I mean, compared to ...

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“Evil people” by Melody Frost

Submitted to Contest #101

"Finally," said Tracy Dixon to herself in a relieved voice. "Ah, I should switch off my phone before there are any calls that disturb my once-in-a-lifetime vacation," said Tracy while switching off her phone. When she was just about to switch off her phone, the name 'DEVIL' appeared on her phone screen. "Lord! When in the world will I be able to live freely?" she said to herself while attending the call. "A body was found this morning. It was a man in his thirties. He was found dead in his house," informed Sergeant Cole. "So??" asked T...

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“Magic Like Zizou” by Sorcha Wilde

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #101

CW: substance abuse Our communication was laborious: a labour of love. He didn’t speak my language, nor I his. Neither of us fully mastered our third, French, the one we shared. Our earliest conversations, then, were exceptionally banal, little more than names and nodding. We established a common love of football, listed teams, national and international, the names of players, deduced which ones we both liked. Henry. Barthez. Schmeichel. Cantona. “Zizou.” He said the name like it was a magic word, and I responded, slowly, nodding with the sa...

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Title: Colleen

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Write a story in which the same line recurs three times.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 164 stories

“Colleen” by Mary Sheehan

“For The Last Time” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“Recognition” by Alex Sultan

“Flower Stems” by Silver Pen: Temporarily Inactive

“Broken” by Johana Htwe

“LIVE” by Alizah Muhammad

“Crush” by VJ Hamilton

“"Are You Sure?"” by Jillian Oakes

“The Lemon Tree” by Keya J.

“episode six” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

“To Be Him or To Be Me” by Kira Krieger

“Shots” by Michael Martin

“What I can't say” by Consistently Lost

“Evil people” by Melody Frost

“Magic Like Zizou” by Sorcha Wilde

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character doing something they’ve done hundreds of times — only this time, it’s taken on a new meaning.

Write a story about a character who fails to understand something until they have the full context.

Write a story about a character who always repeats themselves.

Write a story that involves a reflection in a mirror.

Contest #101

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

731

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: