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

Posted in Middle School on Oct 25, 2022

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.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 153 stories

“Love's Trap, by Francesca Quarto” by Francesca Mohan

Submitted to Contest #85

Love’s Trap Thom Love was an unusually clever twenty-eight-year-old. Even as a young boy on the fast and furious streets of Brooklyn in 1911, he was considered a sharp kid. He had a reputation for always besting the local gang of bullies. After years playing the avenging angel for his baby brother, Albert, he had plenty of time to perfect his tactics. The fates were unkind to little Albert. He came into this seething cauldron of poverty and ignorance, generall...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Hellhole” by Sjan Evardsson

Submitted to Contest #85

Mention New Amsterdam, New York and the response is either gushing love or hateful revulsion. When it comes to NANY, there is nothing between the two extremes. Some, however, have learned to embrace both sides. Seth Burdian, NAPD Precinct 47 Captain, was one of those. In elementary school PS 422, he was bullied by the larger students. He was short, even for a gnome, with a “classic” gnome nose, large and straight with wide nostrils, and large, round ears he didn’t grow into until well after puberty. His frizzy, medium-brown hair and olive-t...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The City” by Steven Taylor

Submitted to Contest #85

The city never changes, he thought as he rushed down the stairs to the subway. Blazing sirens, only slightly louder than the various noises of the scrambling crowd, screamed off into the distance, and a stench, puffing up as smoke from a manhole behind him, flooded his nostrils. He felt something foul bubbling up his chest, stopping at the back of his throat. The streets seemed more congested than ever, and the sidewalks even more so. He reached the platform just in time to wa...

4 comments 4

Read story

“The Poisonous Apple” by Christy Sutton

Submitted to Contest #85

It will ALL be okay!The Post-it clung to my bathroom mirror haphazardly. It was there as a reminder to find my happiness, or accept my lack of happiness, or something like that. At least, that is what my therapist told me. Back when I had a therapist. Back when I, or more accurately, my parents, would pay for a therapist.There were sixteen of these notes around my dingy, tiny apartment on the Upper West Side. I had three roommates and no space, and it was still more than I could afford. My two waitressing jobs hardly made ends meet. I had le...

4 comments 4

Read story

“True colors” by Anais Alexa Reynaga

Submitted to Contest #85

Nefelibata, the land of the blindness. That's where we live, you only see the world as black and gray. That is until you meet your Saudade. Saudade means feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgic, but here in Nefelibata it basically means soulmate. In other words, your color undressor. As soon as you see the face of your Saudade, you’ll be able to see the world with color. As you can see, I’m not interested in meeting my Saudade. I mean, relying on someone else for the simple reason of seeing colors is absurd. I’m taking initiative in lea...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Parched City” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

Submitted to Contest #85

“Country Road take me home to the place I belong....” this evergreen song may be is often hummed by those who left their homes to earn livelihood in the big “City”. The dream place with the skyscrapers, flashy cars, attractive Malls and of course the money is actually a trap to catch all those greedy innocent rats running after an easy piece of cheese. Both jungles and Cities look romantic on a silver screen or on the cover page of a glossy magazine. But in reality especially for our Kaveri ( named after a famous river of Sout...

2 comments 2

Read story

“This Old House......” by Marianna Mills

Submitted to Contest #85

That house, the one on Elm Street that sat wedged between another apartment building and a restaurant bar on a busy street, it roomed maybe 25 tenants, cheap rent, run down, but it was there. Like a rock that withered and aged in grey shadows, never going anywhere, breathing tales of years gone past. This house was situated in a nice area, surrounded by trees, gardens and other big expensive homes, well kept for the most part, except this one. Let me tell you, the tenants that lived here, well, let's just say characters with each very differ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“CityMates” by Amy Brown

Submitted to Contest #85

19 year old Sophia had came to the City with big dreams thinking of the busy streets, the beautiful skyline and all.She came here to start earning her own money. What she did not know was it would change her aspect of looking towards this city, a terror she’ll always remember.Sophia was standing in the elevator as calm elevator music chimed in. The elevator reached her floor and she stepped out. She dragged her bag around to find the apartment no.808. She waited outside the door as she ringed the bell. After a few bells, a girl with short bl...

8 comments 8

Read story

“Shadow of the Past” by Annette L

Submitted to Contest #85

I could hardly remember the city anymore. The colorful bokeh of lights had turned into a galaxy of stars in the sky and fireflies in the long grass, and the electric, intoxicating music had become crickets near ponds that formed from pot-holes. The desolate streets were something out of a sci-fi scene, a land far in the future that emerged after the destruction of humanity and the world as we know it. Except today, May 4th, 2028, was not the definition of The Future that appeared in our movies and books as children. Only three years ago did...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Volantina” by Jasper Goredema

Submitted to Contest #85

The stone mason 's paradise, the highest achievement a farmer's lad could hope to accomplish i.e living in the city ; The pride of a peasant's daughter to be married to a man who resides in the city. Well there are two schools of thought about that afore we reach a sequitur, to the city immigrants, city living is the next thing to a paradise but it's a pandemonium to the City natives, The automobiles are a wonder and the skyscrapers are a tourist attraction to the reservoir relocatee whereas it makes no matter to a native born all the s...

0 comments 0

Read story

“A chilanga love story” by Belén Houghton

Submitted to Contest #85

They call it the big city, her dad hated going there. He said it was always loud and always full of traffic. She, on the other hand, was drawn to it. That fast cosmopolitan lifestyle was fascinating to her. Growing up in a small town, Belle often found herself bored, wishing she could live in a different place, somewhere she could see more, experience more, immerse herself in different cultures and activities. She made a promise to herself, right there and then, at 12 years old, that she would move to the city when she grew up. When sh...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Haunted Streets of Love and Memory” by Aj Lumague

Submitted to Contest #85

She was dead. Those were the only words that had registered in Amor's ears as he sunk deeper into the depths of the silence ringing all around him. He hadn't felt how he had put down the phone or his breathy whispered reply of, “I’m fine,” to his cousin on the other end of the line. She was dead and he was a whole world away. But if he was in the mood for being honest, Amor had been worlds away from her a long time ago. A broken promise ago. “Are you going back home?” His tita, Rose, had asked in their mother tongue ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Why You Shouldn't Hate the World” by Dalia Navarez

Submitted to Contest #85

The smell of smoke residue from some teenagers inhaling cigarettes the other night clouded my senses as a nightly trail of drool went up my nose, the simultaneous wail of a police siren and deathly red of an ambulance hovering in the distance doing nothing to help them. I grumbled a sarcastic ‘good morning’ to myself before peeling myself out of the cold mattress called ‘my bed’ to brush my face.Hmmm… yeah...I had to rethink that thought as I grabbed the red toothbrush and wiggled the last remains of toothpaste from the shriveled mass of pla...

0 comments 0

Read story

“WHERE SHE LOST EVERYTHING” by Leena Deshpande

Submitted to Contest #85

TW: road traffic accident, graphic descriptions of injury and death She hated it. She hated the city. Everything about it. She hated how bustling and cosmopolitan it looked on the surface. She hated how it felt homey and cosy; when underneath it was bleak. Nightmarish. The vibrant things about Las Vegas were necessary; they were necessary to hide the ugly things that actually happened. And Lucinda Black knew of those things. Her relationship with the town was complicated. She had grown up here, made friends here, gone ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Adventures in Altron” by Robert Consiglio

Submitted to Contest #85

Adventures in Altron By Robert Consiglio Alert level 1: Star Shield Testing will commence in 15 minutes. Colonel Jecos Diaz checks his smart watch, then again reads the electronic billboard announcing Star Shield inside the MetroTram he is riding in. He grunts and turns to gaze out of a gri...

4 comments 4

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Historical Fiction – 154 stories

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

Adults – 283 stories

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

Teens – 44 stories

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

Teens – 34 stories

Contest #85

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: City Living

$50

Prize money

671

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!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 153 stories

“Love's Trap, by Francesca Quarto” by Francesca Mohan

“Hellhole” by Sjan Evardsson

“The City” by Steven Taylor

“The Poisonous Apple” by Christy Sutton

“True colors” by Anais Alexa Reynaga

“The Parched City” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

“This Old House......” by Marianna Mills

“CityMates” by Amy Brown

“Shadow of the Past” by Annette L

“Volantina” by Jasper Goredema

“A chilanga love story” by Belén Houghton

“The Haunted Streets of Love and Memory” by Aj Lumague

“Why You Shouldn't Hate the World” by Dalia Navarez

“WHERE SHE LOST EVERYTHING” by Leena Deshpande

“Adventures in Altron” by Robert Consiglio

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

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

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

Contest #85

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

671

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: