End your story with a character looking out on a new horizon.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 63 stories

“Chapters” by Rachel Kenley Fry

Submitted to Contest #134

She could not wait to leave home. At nearly nineteen, she could not stand being told what to do by her parents, who were well-meaning, but who nagged incessantly and were, quite frankly, out of touch with the real world. She boarded a red-eye flight, bound for her brand-new life, and watched through the window as the lights of the city faded to black. In the morning, everything would be different. In the morning, the next chapter of her life would begin.She loved college life. She ate take-out pizza at least twice a week and joined an improv...

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“My Baby Brother Runs Away From Me and I Chase Him Laughing and Falling Over in the Grass” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #134

Like a reel of film playing in my mind, it just goes on and on. It seems to be in sequence but not everything is showing on screen. I’m back to being a little girl and my whole life is before me – like a story book where only the first few pages have been read. I had a good childhood. My baby brother runs away from me and I chase him laughing and falling over in the grass. “Come on you two” mother shouts “tea time” and I pick myself up, grab Tommy by the arm and we go inside the house. The aroma of dinner makes me feel really hungry and afte...

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“Queenie” by Steve Penn

Submitted to Contest #134

Queenie’s stockings were smudged with coal dust as she trudged home with a bag of old newspapers. It wasn’t too far from the Ovenden’s; just a ten minute bus ride but she had to walk today. The snow was thick in drifts and the ice was black in places. She stopped every hundred yards or so to straighten out her back and breathe warm air into her red raw hands. Her little road was quiet except for the concerned faces appearing at the windows and the shuffle of her boots.She forced the door to her little terraced house with her shoulder; on the...

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“Not Real” by Heather Johnsen-Gisi

Submitted to Contest #134

Cyndi Chapman stared anxiously at the road in front of her. It was now noon and she had been driving since four in morning, but she didn't feel at all tired. She was on her way to visit her brother, Isaac. She had not seen her twin brother in a little over five years, since she had graduated high school, and she wondered if he had changed at all. She also worried that he wouldn’t want to see her after all this time. She had good reason to worry about this, for the last time she had seen him he had accused her of betraying him. And he was rig...

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“Our Own Horizon” by Dakota Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #134

I wanted something different; but this, this is an opportunity that is equal to a coin flip. It’s hard to make out anything clearly here. I couldn't tell you the color of a single particle here. Light gray and darker grays, that’s it. I wouldn't touch anything closest to black, that I've learned from a quite difficult situation. So to not be interacted with, is to not interact. An introvert’s wonderland, that would be the easiest way to describe this atmosphere. I've seen dark oceans reflecting an iron sky. Trees wickedly branched out, like ...

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“The Locked Door” by Koen Cooper

Submitted to Contest #134

The Locked Door “Don’t leave the bunker'.' The words rang in the child's ear. He was no younger than 10 and was told by his parents to get into a bunker. “Whatever you do, don't leave the bunker for any reason,” said his father again. “We’re going to town to get extra supplies,” said his mother. “Be a good boy and make sure this place doesn’t get set on fire or something. We’ll be back soon. We love you”. Just like that, there was a loud bang and the steel door was locked. The kid turned around clutching his stuffed blue lobster toy ...

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“The Queen of Mars” by 𝗢wen 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿

Submitted to Contest #134

The Queen of Mars walks at ease. She keeps her head bowed as if nodding to those that pass. Her shoes scuff the asphalt. At a dumpster, she raises the lid in hope, but it is empty. Further down, past the Venice sign, closer to the beach, she finds trash cans full of discarded food. Her hair, matted and grey, falls over her face as she reaches inside. Her fingers catch a bag of fries, then part of a burrito wrapped in paper. Straightening, she notices a smear of ketchup in her hair. The Queen of Mars strains it out with her fingers and wipes ...

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“The Cannonball Run” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #134

Wednesday A few hours after dinner, Ashley barged into my room without knocking, as usual. At this point in our cohabitation in the tiny two bedroom far East Village apartment I couldn’t even be upset, she correctly assumed I wasn’t doing anything private or interesting. She flopped down on my bed with a dramatic sigh, demanding attention. Turning away from the biochemistry I was reviewing for my midterm the following morning was not a great s...

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“To the Moon ” by Lucy G

Submitted to Contest #134

That night we sat outside for hours, listening to the rain as it fell softly on the rooftop, watching the simple motions of life play out before us, absorbing every second into our memory. Family members danced along to songs blasting from my tio’s heavy-duty outdoor radio. Pure joy emanated from everyone as they rejoiced at the start of the monsoon season. There wasn’t a frown in sight. I allowed myself to participate in the celebration by laughing, dancing, and enjoying those final moments. I allowed genuine happiness to flourish through m...

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“Azimuth” by Warner Witherell

Submitted to Contest #134

Zenith was at work when the news broke. He and all his co-workers squeezed into the break room, crowding around the TV. Everyone was quiet, their faces twitching in anticipation, ready to cry or laugh, like they were waiting for the doctor to tell them how the surgery went. There had been something about it on the radio this morning when he was driving to work. Something about light being bent by a massive object passing through a distant system. By the time he got into work it had become much more than that. Everyone was constantly checking...

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“Tides Ablaze” by Brittnie Bowling

Submitted to Contest #134

No wind, no rain, no movement for as far as the eye could see. The captain paced on the deck behind the helm. Ten days they have been stuck in the same place. Bobbing along with the ripples of the current but not progressing anywhere. The captain has traveled these waters for years and has never seen this before. If he didn’t figure something out now, he would probably end up with mutiny on his hands. The captain slammed his fist on the table before he picked up his spyglass, to see just sea and rocks. As he was looking o...

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“A Nameless Horizon” by Christopher Wagner

Submitted to Contest #134

Kai sat back with his legs up on the dashboard, fiddling with a small instrument in his hands. This particular instrument was used not for picking locks, not for any kind of thievery or mischief, but rather for discovery, and exploration. It almost looked like a thermometer, but rather than gauging temperature, it analyzed all of the significant properties of whatever object one used it on. The small ship steered itself, so there was no need for Kai to do anything but wait. Wait for what, you might ask? Well, for ano...

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“Azure Colony” by Daniel Doggett

Submitted to Contest #134

I had 3 weeks to figure out what to do before the sentencing for my inheritance. I couldn't believe that this could happen to me. I never thought that someone would mention me in their will let alone leave me their entire estate. If I had known before my Great uncle had fallen into a coma I would have refused the bequest. He had been in a coma for ten years. In that time the inheritance laws changed, the tax was more a punishment than a fair law. Receiving it would cost me everything. My home was in jeopardy. We could not afford to move into...

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“The Blood of Gods” by Kjanela Fawcett

Submitted to Contest #134

Air filled her lungs, freedom filling her chest as much as the air did. Too-tight chains fell from her wrists, leaving bloodied skin behind. She stepped out into a world graced by twilight, heedless of the tears of blood that fell upon the ground.The sky spread out in front of her. The blue was fading as it fell into night; shades of red spread through the sky, rising from behind the mountains like streaks of blood. A remnant left behind by the sun as a promise to the world that it would return.That promise, however, was not meant for h...

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“The day David Bowie died ” by Marie-Helene Verney

Submitted to Contest #134

On the day David Bowie died, Ziggy and I rode to Stone Beach to watch the Geminid meteor showers. I must say the news shook us badly. Bowie, dead? It could not be true. David was special, in a kind of other worldly way, so I guess we’d grown to believe that earthly laws of physics and biology did not apply to him. Turn out we were wrong. Janine sniffled about it all day. I wouldn’t have minded a bit of a cry myself, but I was too numb for it. Ziggy took it hard. He kept saying how unfair it was that on the day Bowie passed away...

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End your story with a character looking out on a new horizon.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“Chapters” by Rachel Kenley Fry

“My Baby Brother Runs Away From Me and I Chase Him Laughing and Falling Over in the Grass” by Valerie Preston

“Queenie” by Steve Penn

“Not Real” by Heather Johnsen-Gisi

“Our Own Horizon” by Dakota Carpenter

“The Locked Door” by Koen Cooper

“The Queen of Mars” by 𝗢wen 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿

“The Cannonball Run” by Maria Avisal

“To the Moon ” by Lucy G

“Azimuth” by Warner Witherell

“Tides Ablaze” by Brittnie Bowling

“A Nameless Horizon” by Christopher Wagner

“Azure Colony” by Daniel Doggett

“The Blood of Gods” by Kjanela Fawcett

“The day David Bowie died ” by Marie-Helene Verney

🌟 Similar prompts

Your character, by chance or habit, peers through a telescope. They see something unusual — what is it?

Set your story beyond our own world.

Write about a character who has a ‘hot and cold’ personality — or is affected by someone like this.

Write from the POV of someone, or something, that experiences gravity differently.

Contest #134

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

223

Contest entries

128

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: