Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Posted in Narrative on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 115 stories

“How I hate Covid-19” by Anil Smith

Submitted to Contest #84

I am Amber Cassidy. I am 25 years old and I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am also frequently visited by nightmares. Of the worldwide pandemic. I was 6 when it happened, so 19 years ago, and it still haunts me. It haunts me when I design living rooms and bathrooms and everything in between. When I see anything that reminds me of Covid-19, a bag of chips I might have eaten, a book I read, a tv show I watched, all those painful and gut-wrenching memories bombard my brain like a tsunami and its aftershocks. You can't stop it, but...

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“Is there life after Covid-19? ” by Anastasia Blithe

Submitted to Contest #84

James yawned wearily this morning. He glanced at his alarm clock. There were two minutes to eight, it’s time to enter the online class. He opened his laptop; the buttons clicked softly under his numb hands. Password... E‑mail... Access... Enter... he muttered to himself. Boom! He was in the class. On the screen appeared the tired face of the teacher; many people's skin has been affected by the excessive use of the internet. - Good morning, eighth grade! Are you here? Can you hear me?... Eighth grade?- the teacher's voice was ...

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“Boomerang” by Cheryl Fulks

Submitted to Contest #84

Lauren grabs a bag of A positive blood and heads to the corridor. She has taken five already, slipping them under her coat. The government assured all of the population that they would be fine after everyone received the vaccine, but they left out a few details. The Covid-19 pandemic ran its course, even with the mutation of the new strand. Coronavirus was eradicated. Lauren went through the lobby of the hospital as usual after working twelve hours. The temperature checkpoints, spray down of antiseptic were enfo...

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“The letter” by Y V

Submitted to Contest #84

The pandemic was deadly, unyielding and never ending. Everybody went into isolation, we all thought it would soon be over, but as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, humanity lost hope. We do not really know how long the pandemic lasted; it is easy to lose track of time when you are indoors all the time. Was it God? Mother Nature? The flow of time? Either way, the pandemic suddenly ended but nothing was the same, we all struggled to move on, but the effects of the pandemic still weigh us down. “DURO! Why? Why! It should have b...

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“The Aftermath” by Stefania Liv

Submitted to Contest #84

The alarm went off and wake her. “Is it already 07:00?”, she thought as her eyes opened up unwillingly. Not that she had slept much. The nights seemed so shorter, now that she had to wake up early again. She made her way to the bathroom to wash up. While she was brushing her teeth, she noticed a couple more pimples creeping under the surface of her skin near her chin. Her acne had shown up a few weeks earlier, but it was a long time ago when it actually had started. Maybe junior high school? She doesn’t even remember. “Some concealer and pow...

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“Laughter Is The Best Medicine” by Miles Swanson

Submitted to Contest #84

“Take your pill, shave your head, brush your teeth, take your pill, shave your head, brush your teeth” Jace found himself muttering under his breath just a few seconds after his alarm woke him up from the best sleep he’s had in weeks. Four hours and thirteen mins he sees as he looks down at his watch. Between the side effects of the drugs including hair loss, tooth decay, and headaches along with the nightmares that wouldn’t leave, sleep had been hard to come by. He missed the normalcy of life. In fact, they said life would get back to norma...

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“The Pop-up Camp” by Matt Keating

Submitted to Contest #84

The Pop-up Camp I collect fishhooks whenever I find them. I string them like a beautiful curtain between two trees. There are many ways out of my camp. You can run one way and get the hooks. You can jump out into the reservoir and swim away. Some people try to go back the way they came in, back on the old hiker’s trail. The reservoir is huge now that the dams don’t work. It’s deep in the middle and rocky at the edges. Diving is a real bad idea, but it’s an idea that come...

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“Beyond the Mask” by Albina D'Souza

Submitted to Contest #84

Its March 2022. Exactly two years since the world had been facing the pandemic. The United States government and the other countries of the world declared the respective countries covid free a week ago. Everything is back to normal. Thank God the 'new normal' is not normal anymore. Offline schools have reopened, co-orperate sectors have reopened, people are back to work, the world is back on the track and finally humans can breathe beyond the masks.Cassie, a 21 years old psychology student in New York is having hard time to sink in , a hard ...

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“A day after the end of the pandemic.” by A Cat

Submitted to Contest #84

"Today, the pandemic had officially ended in our country" shouted the health minister in glee to through the national television. " The countries last Covid patients have recovered, the country is free from Covid ." The words everyone wished to hear one day has finally been said. The pandemic officially ended. "What a year we have been through. Who would have thought that the world would have to face a day like this. I really thought that 2020 would be the best day of my life, since it was 2020. 20 used to be my lucky number ,now I don't thi...

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“Grey” by Sara Abbood

Submitted to Contest #84

The world is grey. Odd to say, trust me I know. But the sky is completely colorless; the sun tucked beneath a lingering blanket of smog. Sometimes I imagined God poking a straw through our world and sucking all the blue from the atmosphere. A cold drink, a welcome respite from this suffocating warmth. But then I see the factories with their black belch. Our lungs become choked with thick smoke, tongues covered with ash. And I know this isn’t some work from God, but rather centuries of neglect and ignorance. They give us masks to ward off ...

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“Moving On” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #84

A year after a devastating pandemic hit the country, the people are stilling feeling the effects of the pandemic. It's been a long road. The country is not yet healed, but help is here, help has always been here, the people have showed that during the pandemic and after the pandemic. Riley, a free spirited young woman survived the pandemic. She is one of the lucky ones, not many people can say that. Riley is one of those people who made a difference. She helped those who needed help, lift the spirits of the front line workers including h...

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“Mask it (The Story of How Masks Were Created)” by Caleb Williams

Submitted to Contest #84

I get up from my bed and look down at myself. I am a mess. I walk to my dresser and get out my robe. I change and head to the shower. "Jonathan!" My mother calls me. I brush my teeth and run downstairs. On the way, I grab my basketball. Breakfast is on the table. I slurp up my breakfast, and head outside to the courts. "Where do you think YOU are going young man?", My mom says. "The usual!" I say. I was going to go outside and play basketball with my two best friends, Charlie, and Devin. "Haven't you heard?" she says. "Heard what?" I ask. Da...

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“Solitary” by Galen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #84

CW: suicide The alarm bell rang. A sound so shrill and shocking, it caused the occupant of the bed it sat next to to fall uncomfortably on to the floor. The room was in shambles. Clothes and trash littered the floor of the shabby cage of a house. The man rose from his slumber and slammed his hand down on the blaring alarm. The piercing sound radiated in his head, blurring the nightmares that had not left since it had all happened. He stretched and looked around the heap. It was disgusting, yes, but it had kept him safe. At least so fa...

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“Lonely, but Not Alone.” by Kristian DeJesus

Submitted to Contest #84

“What if you had it all / But nobody to call? Maybe then you'd know…” SMACK. A drowsy hand fell like Wile E. Coyote’s ever-failing anvil trap attempting to quench the Roadrunner; or in this case, a morning Spotify playlist alarm singing from the slumberer’s cracked iPhone 11 Pro Max. The device, her alarm clock for the past 5 years now. Ever since her grandmother’s passing, every morning began with music. It is what she would have wanted. However, the only songs that seemed to matter were the one’s about feeling alone. Every morning, a play...

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“AFTER COVID” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #84

Ken was 29, was tall and handsome with large biceps. If asked about his parentage he would say “I didn’t know my parents. A distant relative was kind enough to bring me up and he is also now no more.” He had finished school when he became apprenticed to a plumber and learnt the job. He was at it only a year when he got money from an unexpected source: A prolonged litigation had ended leaving him money. Using the money he opened a shop selling sanitary ware. He was lucky in that he got the garage of a big house in a business area to trade in....

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Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 115 stories

“How I hate Covid-19” by Anil Smith

“Is there life after Covid-19? ” by Anastasia Blithe

“Boomerang” by Cheryl Fulks

“The letter” by Y V

“The Aftermath” by Stefania Liv

“Laughter Is The Best Medicine” by Miles Swanson

“The Pop-up Camp” by Matt Keating

“Beyond the Mask” by Albina D'Souza

“A day after the end of the pandemic.” by A Cat

“Grey” by Sara Abbood

“Moving On” by Melinda Madrigal

“Mask it (The Story of How Masks Were Created)” by Caleb Williams

“Solitary” by Galen MacLennan

“Lonely, but Not Alone.” by Kristian DeJesus

“AFTER COVID” by Sivaram Govindaraj

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Write about someone who’s trying to accomplish a task that used to be easy but is now made complicated by a pandemic.

Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Contest #84

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

664

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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