Write a story about coming of age in a big city.

Posted in High School on Oct 31, 2022

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✍️ 14 stories

“Breeding Coins” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #164

Cold, crap covered cobbles assaulted Neville’s nose. Rubbing his filthy hands together, he watched his breath mist the air. “Keep up, Neville Cobbler, when the door to the workhouse closes you starve. If you want a meal, you turn the wheel.” “I know, Albert, I know. Quit using my full name. You’re my brother, not my father.” He ran to keep up with the boy whose strong gait belied years of hard labour.&...

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“I Never Knew Your Name” by Francois Kosie

Submitted to Contest #164

I never knew your name, but I always knew that it was you.When I told you where I was going, you always replied, "I'll see you there."In the beginning, we played in a kingdom by the sea, among the toy horses and dinosaurs, collecting golden coins as we frolicked in the softness of calm meadows and coves.Stacking blocks, we built ourselves an elaborate house and everything else we could conceive, all the while avoiding the lingering creepers.Then one day, there was a change. I found myself dying of thirst, and you were the polished sphinx I m...

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“At the End of the Street” by Susan Whitlock

Submitted to Contest #164

Up the street, Sharon walked: summer, winter, autumn, spring. Over the mound of weedy grass that led from the white curb to the first swaying trees. The trail led through some brush and down a path on a tree-dotted hill. Then there was a wide, pan-shaped meadow of dirt and grass and little treelings that held out hopping, chirping, buzzing, golden days. Alone or with friends she would go; drawn by some magical string that connected her navel to “the woods”.&nbsp...

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“1982” by James Freeh

Submitted to Contest #164

He rode the subway with semen in his underwear. It slowly dripped down the edge of his thighs as he read the Post, the gift of some unknown rider before him. He thought back to last night, the shy OSHA government worker so excited to bed a good looking, young (emphasis on young) man on a Wednesday evening. The sex was forgettable, but he was more than a little drunk by the time they left the bar. He rarely performed at his best when alcohol was involved. He couldn’t really remember what happened after they got to the OSHA guy’s home. They ta...

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“The BARd” by Troy Chavez

Submitted to Contest #164

Martin Hernandez was at it again. Speaking to a loathsome crowd that would rather hear music than his miserable rhythmic poems. The bar let him do it because he was a regular drinker there. A regular bum who stumbled in half drunk before picking up a few more glasses of poison. But when on stage, he got more than sober. He became entranced by a higher power. However, this higher power couldn’t save him from the occasional bottle thrown from the belligerently intoxicated crowd. They booed, jeered, and sometimes, cried. Martin loved when they ...

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“Diving In” by Gregory Struck

Submitted to Contest #164

DIVING IN The road in and out was always dusty. At least, that’s how she remembered it. Dry and dusty. Just like the township – if you could call the straggling collection of houses that made up Fairtown a township. Growing up, it had been Daisy’s world. A small, simple world, but her world. Not like the city, a sum of overlapping worlds. Work. Friends. Neighborhood. And now, a darker world, a world that threatened to consume her. She remembered when it had started. She had first met Bella in the lobby of her apartment block – inner-cit...

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“The ripening of a Violet ” by Pippi C

Submitted to Contest #164

You know it’s funny how we all think we want to grow up. But, when you start going through some of the most awkward and embarrassing years of your life you’re practically screaming and begging to go back to when all you had to do was to be cute and create painfully awful art with waxy sticks that older people think is oh-so-beautiful. The “ oh so beautiful ” turns into screaming matches on why you failed your chemistry test. The once colorful world becomes colorless. Congrats you're 13! You're an adult now. Ok, maybe not when you're fighting...

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“What They Have Died For” by Ash Universe

Submitted to Contest #164

Where I came from, there were no growling cars or hissing factories. The lights buzzed but they didn't showcase the blue, pink, purple splendor of the colourful lights here. There were stars in the sky, winking and blinking at me with the confidence of a thousand suns. Nonetheless, that was where I was, and I am more a fan of living in the present.There were always different stories of everyone's coming of age, some said it happened when you were twelve, others say fifteen and yet many say eighteen. I came of age at the ripe age of twenty-on...

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“The Phoenix and the Candlelight” by Aurora Martin

Submitted to Contest #164

Warning* Story contains mention of slavery, self-hatred/loathing, past harm, murder, and your classic evil stepmother. Also implied rape. sorry about this. Collin awoke with a groan. He hated today. He knew what day it was. Of course he did. He couldn’t forget anything, no matter how much he wished he could. Some might say that meant he couldn’t get over things, but no, it was more of he kept thinking of how he had failed in most things. It was the day his mother died. The day his home burned in black fire. The day he was sold into slaver...

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“A Most Sensual Plight” by Adam El Nabli

Submitted to Contest #164

Disclaimer: This story contains sexual content, which may not be suitable for all readers. Islam was his name. Islam was his religion. Islam, submission to God, was all he could strive for without escape. But, he liked to masturbate. Allah wouldn’t like that, he would constantly think to himself. After every self-relief came the self-reproach he would carry to the bathroom and perform ablution on before praying in search of forgiveness. But, the cycle would repeat itself. Islam knew there was no escaping his lustful thirst and the burning ...

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“21: A Prosperous Year” by Lydia Lim

Submitted to Contest #164

The club is dark, there’s neon lights flashing, burning my eyes out. I laugh, a rattling sound in my chest. There’s a rancid smell - alcohol - and I breathe it in. 23.50. The music blares overhead. Susie gestures to me, pointing to the dance floor and I see the way her black dress outlines her curvy figure but I shake my head. 23.51. I make my way to the bar, holding out my false ID card even though I already showed it to the bouncer outside. He barely even glanced at it before letting me in. I guess there rea...

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“Summer in the City” by Eliza Marie

Submitted to Contest #164

Friday Joy and relief float through the air this morning, like a gentle breeze winding its way through the crowded city bus. Classes are done for the week, and three glorious days of freedom await us. Already a cool breeze cuts through the air, and by Monday there will be more work to do. But for now, we abandon ourselves to the last days of summer and pretend that they will never come to an end. One by one we skip down the steps of the bus, jostling for space on the sidewalk, arm in arm or hand in hand as we wander down the street. We pai...

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“Memoirs of a Lion” by T. S. Memory

Submitted to Contest #164

It was finally time for me to move out and start living independently. I was not moving physically of course, but politically I was going to be on my own. For the first time, I was free to chart my own future and embark on a journey that most humans call adulthood. I was born to a wealthy, aristocratic family, the sort who had an absolute belief that we had a duty to tame the world as we see fit. And like other similar families, I was placed in a distant land at a young age to spread their gospel. I was always painfully aware of my lack o...

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“The Cement Mixer” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #164

There were thirty-foot oak trees in my hometown of Mount Kisco, manicured lawns, parks that spanned for miles, and the air smelled fresh and sweet. Where I was going to work in the Bronx, the scrawny trees were two feet high and were marginally protected by sharpened barbed wire fences. There weren’t any lawns, the parks had more broken glass than grass, and the air smelled of dog crap and urine. As Senator Carmen Marini’s communications director, I was duty-bound to spend forty hours a week in a claustrophobic, crime-ridden dump. My frie...

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Write a story about coming of age in a big city.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 14 stories

“Breeding Coins” by Graham Kinross

“I Never Knew Your Name” by Francois Kosie

“At the End of the Street” by Susan Whitlock

“1982” by James Freeh

“The BARd” by Troy Chavez

“Diving In” by Gregory Struck

“The ripening of a Violet ” by Pippi C

“What They Have Died For” by Ash Universe

“The Phoenix and the Candlelight” by Aurora Martin

“A Most Sensual Plight” by Adam El Nabli

“21: A Prosperous Year” by Lydia Lim

“Summer in the City” by Eliza Marie

“Memoirs of a Lion” by T. S. Memory

“The Cement Mixer” by Michael Jefferson

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character saying “Where I come from, …”

Write a story in which someone returns to their hometown.

Write a story where a local takes a newcomer under their wing.

Think of someone who stood on the periphery of your childhood memories (a classmate, a teacher, a neighbor) and cast them as the main character of your story.

Contest #164

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

235

Contest entries

91

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: