Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story where one person is trying to say goodbye but keeps getting interrupted.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 154 stories

The Fifth Wave

Submitted to Contest #89

“Well, I appreciate your kindest regards, gentlemen—but I must get back to work,” he said graciously, standing up to leave the café, affixing his silk top hat and holding his calfskin gloves. “Oh, don’t leave yet, COVID,” Flu said. “You’ve been so busy this past year, and we haven’t heard all of your plans for the coming one. How many more political careers will you topple? How many more economies will you destabilize?” Flu laughed, pausing only to sip his sherry. “You’ve made quite a name for yourself, my boy.”“I agree with Flu, COVID,...

168 likes 143 comments 143
Read story

Farewell

Submitted to Contest #89

I rang the doorbell next door (Mrs. Foster’s house) and waited patiently listening for the footsteps. But, the only thing I could hear was my heartbeat. After a few seconds, the door opened and Mrs. Foster’s always smiling face appeared. She had her dog, Charlie on a leash. I cleared my throat, but she spoke first. “Oh dear, I was so worried about Charlie. Neither I can take him to the yoga class along with me nor can leave him alone in the house.” (She treated Charlie more like a child. She even called it him.) Then she thrust the lea...

109 likes 46 comments 46
Read story

Oranges and Goodbyes

Submitted to Contest #89

I spooned some classic orange marmalade from the Mason jar and heartily slathered the fruity jam on my homemade sourdough bread. Hmmn… Andrew’s favorite bite at his most favorite time of the day. The scent of tangy flavor permeating my kitchen’s air – ah – what would be a morning without the delightful taste of the pulpy citrus on my crispy bagel and a cup of black coffee to go with it?With the cup in one hand and my heart on the other, I went out to the porch, tilting my head up to smile at the morning sun. I feel giddy like a teen. It’s ju...

67 likes 32 comments 32
Read story

This is all so out of control!

Submitted to Contest #89

Warning: Violence"So, this is it," I said, incapable of hiding my smile. I turned to look at Elena, wondering why the hell she looked so nonchalant.I was finally doing it, leaving. But I expected some tears. Where's the love, the affection? The tearful promises, however false they may be? Elena nodded, looking around the entrance of the airport, hands in her pockets. Also, I knew the hit out on my life was fake, but what was with the lack of any and all concern? I narrowed my eyes at her, trying a different tack. "Aren't you gonna miss me at...

63 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

bye bye buddy

Submitted to Contest #89

Goodbyes were never meant to be easy, but this one in particular is the worst one you’ve had yet. All morning long, you’ve been tapping your feet, dragging your hands, drinking too much milk and sipping it from your broken wine glasses because, after all, the rest of the dishes are sitting in a sticky pile by your sink. You can’t get up and get going but you know that if you don’t leave the house now, the heavy setting is going to choke you out and, as much as it’s hard in the moment, you like breathing. You want to be able to move on, even ...

46 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Don't Walk Away...

Submitted to Contest #89

I laid there on my side, eyes fixed on the alarm clock by my bed. Cold sweat trickled across my forehead. I don’t know how long I had been awake. I found it harder to keep track of time as the minutes ticked by.Finally, deciding that my alarm wasn’t worth the time staring at, I turned over to face the other side. Customarily, I expected to be greeted by the smiling face of Axel. I had grown used to the way he would try to reassure me, convince me that I was going to be fine.However, all I saw was an empty bed and a fluffed up pillow. I panic...

45 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

To the Pieces of a Person

Submitted to Contest #89

Some people hate goodbyes. The only thing you hated was saying them more than once. You told me that a goodbye, a real goodbye, is final. Like a last breath, it's something that can only happen once. I don’t want to mess this one up.  The other day I found an empty snail shell in the garden. I picked it up between my forefinger and thumb to examine the nothingness inside, but my hands were shaking so badly that I crushed it between my fingertips. It turned to dust, and I thought of you. It felt like a sign, even though I never believ...

42 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Goodbye...

Submitted to Contest #89

Authors Note: So long story short, I ended this story a lot sooner than it probably should have only because I'm exhausted and I can't write. I just can't think of better ways to write this story out. If you decide you like this story and I get enough requests I will continue this story and add in more information. But only if I get enough requests from you guys. I'm exhausted from work and I had a little over an hour to finish it so my brain just shut down on me. I also had really high hopes for this story. But anyways, enjoy! The sound o...

41 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

Goodbye Mother.

Submitted to Contest #89

Goodbye Mother. Sitting in the middle of her two best friends, Jane and Mia, Andrea was preparing for additional suffering. Andrea would be speaking before her entire community. As each friend grabbed one of her hands, the silence of the Bright City Church was deadly; her mother was too. Although academically gifted, Andrea's public speaking abilities were dreadful. However, today was unlike school. Choosing the wrong way explain a topic would simply result in poor grades at school. How Andrea presented her mother's life with her eul...

40 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Closure

Submitted to Contest #89

The road between Nanaimo and Uclulet is long and winding. It snakes around stunning lakes and curves under ancient trees. It clings to breasts of craggy mountains and stretches over bowels of deep green gullies. The way is occasionally barred by rockslides and often slick with steady island rain.Today though, as Natalie returns home, the pavement is dry and a few brave rays of the late summer sun peek through the Pacific Rim’s constant coastal mist in tentative greeting.Her tiny rented Prius put-putts patiently behind a rust-spotted Westfali...

38 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Come Again

Submitted to Contest #89

CW: suicidal thoughtsMy mother dropped a thermometer once when I was little. I leaned over the mosaic of broken glass and mercury beads, and a hypnotised hand extended to pick up one of the perfect balls. The sight ripped a screech out of my mother, so shrill it sounded prehistoric, making the hand retreat immediately. She took me in her relieved arms. ‘You’re like a magpie, aren’t you? Can’t say no to shiny things.’It’s twenty-five degrees outside. I know because I’m looking at a thermometer similar to the one she broke that time, hanging o...

38 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Goodbye, Old Friend

Submitted to Contest #89

It was like trying to swim the English Channel. Jeb's knees were wobbling by the time he opened the gate to the fortification that was Carl's yard. The winter wind fought him every step of the way down the gravel path and up the rickety porch steps which creaked and popped as the stout breeze toyed with loosened boards.Carl, the closest and only person to a friend Jeb had left, still liked this setup it seemed. Ever since the psychotic break ten years ago, he had developed a fetish for the bizarre. There were perfectly-spaced fence posts sur...

36 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #89

Thick mist drifted between the graves, the rain soaking the already drenched ground, making the mud even more slippery and treacherous to the mourners who were trying desperately to stay upright.“I told you not to wear those shoes,” one man said to his wife as her heels sank into the ground.Tom gritted his teeth and tried to block out her reply as she was yanked free.“….and those that are left behind can only….”, the monotonous voice of the Priest droned on, as if determined to finish so he could escape back to the comfort of his lounge and ...

33 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

So Hard to Say Goodbye

Submitted to Contest #89

  C/W: domestic abuse, alcohol abuse    It's so hard to say goodbye. Isn’t that the name of a song? Well, they were right. It’s tough to even think about, but it’s time to say goodbye. I know it is time. I’d given him one last chance and he blew it.   He walks in, tiny box in hand. With that smile I can’t resist and those eyes I could melt into, he hands it to me, and I hesitate. I don’t want to open it. That will just make this harder. But he urges me on, and I can’t say no to those eyes. It is a beautiful necklace. An a...

30 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Above and Below

Submitted to Contest #89

Have you ever been so terrified you couldn’t move? No. Probably not.But It happens often to me. I am frightened of so many things.As the smoky haze closed in around me, My legs stayed planted on the blackened rug. One of the beams had fallen from the ceiling and now I watched, unable to run from my burning home. My father was under that beam. I couldn’t bring myself to go over and help him out. I couldn’t even move to save myself. I was petrified. Paralized by my fear.“Colette!” He called.He wouldn’t ask me to save him. He was...

30 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that spans a month during which everything changes.

Sad – 131 stories

Start your story with a character taking a leap of faith.

Middle School – 151 stories

Write about someone who is always looking toward the future.

Adventure – 77 stories

Start your story with an ending and work backward toward the beginning.

Fiction – 201 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel