Write a story that involves a flashback.

Posted in Fiction on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 74 stories

“Moonjars” by Shea West

My horse Echo, idled at the hitching post with her reins looped loosely around it, as she wasn’t the kind of horse that I needed to tie down to keep near. Shotguns were pulled at high noon around these parts and her tail whipped away at pesky flies completely unbothered by the reverberations of the occasional bullet whizzing by her head. Echo was steady and ready the way a marshal’s horse should be.I’d mount the saddle on Echo’s back every nightfall and ride her through the canyon past the giggles that evaporated into th...

55 comments 55 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Cartographer” by Alex Sultan

What is the sky, but dying stars? One step and the next—Valianne moved her feet, keeping in line with the others. A hundred prisoners of war. She breathed heavily as she worked, the hot sun weighing her down. Until nightfall, it’d be labour until exhaustion. Stone after stone until collapse. The fort would be paved on top of corpses. And do burdens not sleep best in their graves? A hand tapped her shoulder. Scrawny fingers and a desperate touch. Valianne ignored it. She continued the work of laying stone, bare feet bu...

30 comments 30

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“Egg Casserole for Christmas” by Kathleen Fine

“This was one of the best Christmases I’ve ever had,” Hope said, leaning down to give her mother, Alice, a kiss on her furrowed cheek. Clara smiled and held up her glass of fizzy citrus to cheers her sister. “Merry Christmas,” Clara said as she swallowed a mouthful of her mimosa, spilling a dribble on her fleece, snowflake patterned pajamas. “This was second to the Christmas when we got that amazing Bar...

23 comments 23

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“My Dear Doctor Mortem” by Hannah P. Simmons

“in vita et in mortem… in life as in death” My Dear Doctor Mortem, I am writing to you on behalf of one of my most difficult cases. I thought perhaps you could help me. Yes, I realize this is highly irregular, given the nature of our individual practices, but I find myself at a loss. My patient is one Leanna Richards, and before you start...

14 comments 14

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“The Damning Wish” by Riel Rosehill

The early summer sunshine fills our studio flat, brightening the white walls and caressing my arm with its gentle warmth through the velux windows as we sit at the table. Crumpet purrs, sunbathing on the wooden floor and pawing the air behind her favourite person. I remember when he picked her up from the street as a skinny black kitten a couple years ago, despite our landlady’s “no pets” policy. She’d let us keep her, he said. Now, I have to share him with the cat, but it is all I’d ever ask for.The air is swee...

37 comments 37

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“Stake My Breath Away 🦇🐺” by PJ Aitken

Moving one catch and then the other, Simon wrestled open the shed door as quietly as someone at 4.30am could manage. Once inside he began to move paint pots, ladders and soil out of the way so he could reach the main event. Covered in dust and dried paint, Simon felt a wave of regret knowing he should have done this years ago. With all of the items off to one side Simon grabbed one end of his late Grandad Abrah...

12 comments 12

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“There Go I” by Bill VanPatten

She wore bitterness like it had been carved into her face by a mad sculptor. Each wrinkle, each line in her advanced crow’s feet, each gin blossom bore witness to a heart that long ago must have stopped feeling anything other than resentment. Her peppered hair was untamable in its greasy need to flop-flop with each lumbering step. An oversized t-shirt blared “Chukchansi Casino”, and faded blue jeans hugged her double-wi...

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“LUCKY ME” by Jennifer Claire Pulling

If you were a first time subscriber to Bright’s Lending Library you might be excused if you thought you had wandered into the drawing room of a country house. There were comfortable armchairs and sofas, a deep piled carpet and overall the genteel atmosphere of neatly dressed helpful assistants. Bright’s offered a haven to bored housewives, retired military men and titled gentry. Here they could browse,...

5 comments 5

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“Anhedonia” by Charlene Simon

(This story contains the loss of a loved one)The fingers of light pouring through the glass floor-to-ceiling windows of my apartment draw the curtains of sleep from the haze in my mind and let consciousness diffuse in. I have a fleeting thought to get out of bed, and almost will myself to, but something leaches my strength. I struggle to lift my hand to filter the light hitting my tear-stained and watery red eyes and rub at a pulsing spot in the space between my brows. Even such rudimentary actions eat away at my remaini...

15 comments 15

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“How We Used To Be” by Shelby B

You spend years of your life with someone. You get to know their favorite foods. You get to know what their hair looks like first thing in the morning. You get to know about every single detail of them. You find yourself in love with everything about them, even the bad parts. You think there won’t ever come a day where you would despise that person. You would be wrong. You would be so completely wrong. I could be biased, but I’m just speaking from experience. I hate my husband. I hate when he comes home from work and goes straight to the ...

2 comments 2

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“Katyusha” by Arya Peterson

Three months after The Incident, everything fell. When a rat got out of its cage at the local lab, it knocked vials of chemicals against each other, attempting to escape the scientists. After mixing two highly toxic chemicals together, it exploded. The explosion caused the chemical to spread, not just across the city, or the country, but the whole world. Now people rioted in the streets and fire raged through the crumb...

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“Waiting” by Rama Shaar

"See how it's different when you cook with love?" Dean said while helping himself to more Lasagne. Leah looked at him and continued chewing quietly. "....and he continued to be his stupid self. He just loves ordering me around as if I were a temp or something. What an impostor!" he shook his head. She recalled her conversation with her colleague earlier that morning. He had come into the s...

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“No More An Innocent” by Chris Campbell

Symon Kishka sat in the passenger seat of his father’s car, transfixed on the brightly glowing tracer bullets of an opening salvo from a Russian armoured personnel carrier rapidly finding its range. Moments before, Symon and his father had been speeding along a deserted Ukrainian highway, their successful mission to rescue the two dogs they left at their abandoned farmhouse, well underway. The road had been clear throughout the drive towards their home of many years. In the wake of the Russian inv...

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“Autumn ” by Daniel Deschenes

Are you coming to the party tonight? Bryan hadn’t wanted to but he nonetheless made the short drive. After all, Cade was his best friend and it would mean a lot to him. Bryan rang the doorbell and waited for someone to come to let him into the party. He had never felt particularly comfortable in groups of people that he was unfamiliar with but tonight that feeling was particularly pronoun...

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“Jesus In The White Horse” by Minerva Noiropp

Sudden realizations rarely happen to us as they did to darling Saul on the road to Damascus. Yes, sometimes the lightning bolt of consciousness can hit us as we sit in a chair, contemplating why the devil has sent his evil creatures, his fakes, snakes, toys, and noise after us.It came in the form of a flashback, sitting and doing that very thing which I just explained. Except, this flashback wasn't from this lifetime. It was one that took me 2000 years to the past.The crowd was jeering at me. The people were devoi...

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Write a story that involves a flashback.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 74 stories

“Moonjars” by Shea West

“Cartographer” by Alex Sultan

“Egg Casserole for Christmas” by Kathleen Fine

“My Dear Doctor Mortem” by Hannah P. Simmons

“The Damning Wish” by Riel Rosehill

“Stake My Breath Away 🦇🐺” by PJ Aitken

“There Go I” by Bill VanPatten

“LUCKY ME” by Jennifer Claire Pulling

“Anhedonia” by Charlene Simon

“How We Used To Be” by Shelby B

“Katyusha” by Arya Peterson

“Waiting” by Rama Shaar

“No More An Innocent” by Chris Campbell

“Autumn ” by Daniel Deschenes

“Jesus In The White Horse” by Minerva Noiropp

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with the narrator or a character saying “I remember…”

Write about a character with an unreliable memory.

End your story with total oblivion.

Write a story inspired by a memory of yours.

Contest #140

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

341

Contest entries

171

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: