Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Set your story in a major city that your character has a love-hate relationship with.

Posted in General on Aug 4, 2021

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 159 stories

“The Windy City ” by Nainika Gupta

*Nainika's Note* Yo, so this is basically *ahem* fact-based and doesn't really have much of a plot, per se....anyways, enjoy!My city gets a lot of mention around the country, and sometimes even around the world. The City of Big Shoulders, the Center of the Midwest, The Second City, The White City, the City That Works, and most notably, the Windy City. I have lived within the city’s reach all my life, and even though I live out in the ‘burbs, I am proud to call myself a Chicagoan. And I love my city, I really ...

47 comments 47
Read story

“Rose Witch” by Amany Sayed

It is not that I hated the people of the city that I did what I did. Really, it was quite the contrary. I found them fascinating, from the inside of their intestines to their outsides. I found that the human body had it’s many limitations, but it was easy to work around them if you tried.  The blood never really left from underneath my fingernails, and the smell lingered underneath the suffocating rose scent of my...

36 comments 36
Read story

“Off With Their Heads” by 𝔼𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 ✳🏳️‍🌈

"Yes mother," I sigh into the line, wrapping the infamous cord around my finger. "Of course, I'm fine... What? No, it's not like I'm in the states! This is Britain, god damn it! Mother... no I think you should lie down for a while. Call dad as well. He'd fancy a visit from you, I'm sure" And just like that, my hand smashes back on the receiver. Blood, Britain, eh? Who could ever have imagined Olivia from the apart...

26 comments 26
Read story

“The Best Pickpocket of Palma de Mallorca” by H Bolton

Beca stood outside her hide-out, her hands on her hips, breathing in the smells of bread baking, salt from the ocean, and the sewer line, broken, two avenues over. Today was going to be a fantastic day. She turned to close up her home, a hollow space in the city wall, just tall enough to sit in and long enough for her to lay down. She better stop growing or else she’d have to learn to sleep on her side. Shaking her hea...

19 comments 19
Read story

“Grace and Mercy” by Lee Roberts

“Cleopatra?” the barista shouted as he put the cup of coffee on the bar, turning to work on the next order. “It’s Cleotha, Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty . . .” the elderly woman replied, who had been waiting patiently for her much too expensive beverage. If she hadn’t been in a hurry, she would have preferred a cup of coffee from a 7-11 or Dunkin’ Donuts; however, necessity forced Cleotha to the self-important coffee shop situated on the corner of the block where she had lived most of her adult life. She h...

39 comments 39
Read story

“Back To London” by Zahra Daya

TW: AbuseMeet at Banana Tree for dinner, 7:30, my calendar reads. I inhale as my eyes gloss over the words, my mind already running a million miles an hour. Breathe. Birmingham is far enough away from London that my past there doesn’t clash with my present. I didn’t want to move that far away from London; there are parts of it I love, really, so I ended up here, in banal Birmingham. Nothing to complain about, but all the same, not much to praise. Now, I stand on the train platform at Bayswat...

23 comments 23
Read story

“Visions of the West” by Amarah Friedman

Agatha has always been stuck in between. When she was born in the Gateway to the West, the doctor reading his watch on her mother’s left declared it 11:59 PM, March 31st. The doctor reading the wall clock above her mother’s head said it was 12:00 AM on April 1st.Unsurprisingly, Agatha’s mother advocated for the March birthday while her father insisted she be born on April Fools. Agatha’s mother fainted from the combined exhaustion of arguing and giving birth, and the doctors had the common decency t...

19 comments 19
Read story

“A Quiet Night In San Francisco” by Jessica Primrose

Her friend spilled a Margarita on her. Mary was never fond of the smell of alcohol. Actually, she downright despised it. Perhaps it was the way it lingered on the breath like sweet spoiled nectar or the lack of coordination thereafter. Either way, the entire ride home she smelled like sour lime and southern Valencia, which now embedded itself in the car seats, no doubt. Why she even agreed to attend that party, she frank...

13 comments 13
Read story

“This Place Is Dead Pt. V” by Joshua G. J. Insole

The flames of Greywood cast an orange-black glow over the ruins of the city.   What remained bore little resemblance to the Tilgreen she’d grown up in. The city she’d fallen in love with. What remained looked to be little more than rubble and toothpicks. And what remained had sapped the last vestiges of love from her heart. Had drained her of her fondness for the streets she’d once called home.   Polly used the inferno as cover and made a break for it. What else could she do? Sit...

2 comments 2
Read story

“No Judgement” by Cathryn V

TW: addiction, violence Grace remembers the women at the fabric store talking about the Ramsey family, trailer trash they said. Mother and father with three little ones. The bank took their house. The Ramseys left in the middle of the night and took nothing with them. The townspeople carried out a good sofa. A set of twin beds. A high chair and crib. The pictures from their mantel were thrown in the garbage. Grace had taken the dishes.    Even so, Greenhills Pennsylvania had a certain nostalgia to it. Gra...

14 comments 14
Read story

“Le Plan” by Lani Lane

A suitcase rolls toward me, the sharp corner hitting the middle of my thigh. I wince and step back onto a man’s foot; he grunts and shoots me a dirty look. Shaking my head apologetically, I shuffle forward and settle against the pole next to the doors as the train lurches forward. The City of Love, my ass.Four more stops of pressing my back into the pole and I’m finally lunging out of the train, hurrying up the steps into the street and pulling out my metro map.Parisians hurr...

14 comments 14
Read story

“Call Me Lizzy” by Daniel Hayes

I love this city because this is where I found her. This was David Leary’s only thought as he stood overlooking Mason city on Old Hill Bridge. He felt a cool rush of midnight air blow through his black hair, which would normally bother him, but not today. David was full of confidence and desire for a special young lady, by the name of Elizabeth O’Conner. Tonight was a special night for David and Elizabeth because this was going to be their first date. The both agreed to meet on Old Hill Bridge and have...

23 comments 23
Read story

“Unspoken Conversations (A Sequel to ‘Faithwood Boarding School for Girls’) ” by Ana Govindasamy

Author’s Note: Hi! Also: NOTE FOR ALL Y’ALL WHO GO ON LIKE SPREES: I personally think that likes are nice, but comments and critiques are much more helpful! I kind of hate it when people just go on random liking sprees. I would appreciate it much more if you took the time to read and give feedback. Points are nice but at the end of the day, improvement is better! Ok, so this didn’t need a sequel, but here we are. I loved the original, I don’t think I did it justice, but I hope you enjo...

9 comments 9
Read story

“This city never sleeps” by Vanessa Queens

DOING THE WORK“This city never sleeps,” thought Jamie as she walked down the main street, cigarette in one hand, digital camera in the other, heading for her apartment. It had been a busy day and she felt dead beat.Her job as a freelance photographer was more than a steady income for her; it was a passion; she loved to immortalize people, places and things, especially those that go unnoticed. During...

2 comments 2
Read story

“A Day In The City” by Ann Tillinghast

Another day of waking up with the sound of sirens zooming by outside. I'm not ready to start the day. I stay in bed for a few more minutes. "Alright, I better get up and get ready". I walked to the bathroom to take a shower. I'm singing-along with my morning playlist on Youtube. I get out of the shower. I feel refreshed.Outside on the busy streets of the city, I walk to church on a Saturday morning. I stop at the corner waiting for the light to turn red. While the light was changing red, a bright blue car sped t...

15 comments 15
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that takes place in the same building but in two very different time periods.

Historical Fiction – 163 stories

Start your story with the line, “That’s the thing about this city…”

General – 296 stories

Write about someone fighting to change their city neighborhood for the better.

General – 48 stories

Write about someone fighting to keep their city neighborhood the same.

General – 35 stories

Contest #85

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: City Living

$50

Prize money

704

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 19, 2021 EST

A winner will be announced soon.

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Tired of MS Word?

Join the revolution and write your book in a tool designed for authors. 🙌

Includes FREE typesetting to print-ready PDF & EPUB files, track changes and collaborative editing.

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Comedy Writing Prompts ⭢

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

For Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

General Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢