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

“Over” by Blessedout W

Submitted to Contest #84

Emily and Ethan shot out of their seats as soon as the bell rang, amidst the clamor of other juniors. They grabbed their backpacks and headed for the door. "Can you believe we're seniors next year?" Emily asked. "You know it! I didn't spend all those years in school not to be at the top of the trash heap!" Ethan yanked on her backpack for emphasis. "Hey, stop that! You know I hate it when you do that!" Ethan took on a sultry voice, "I'm the baaaaad guy." Emily wrinkled her nose, "Ugh, you WERE always such an Eilish stan." "Shut u...

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“Waiting for What? ” by Kate Gaston

Submitted to Contest #84

This should be simple.This should be simple.This should be child's play.But it isn't. The idea of taking the public bus to the post office is terrifying me, an adult woman who once faced the world boldly. Now the idea of posting my property tax payment on the very last day for the postmark has frozen me to the sidewalk. Two buses have pulled over, waited, then left.Today is the deadline. It must be postmarked today. I stopped driving because I couldn't trust entering the premises of any gas station. And I'm not able to contemplate sharing th...

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“A New New Normal” by Sara Rotondi

Submitted to Contest #84

I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing continuously. I let it ring a few times and hoped that the person on the other would get the hint and stop calling. Unfortunately, whoever was calling needed me right then and there and couldn’t wait until a reasonable hour to talk to me. After the third call came through I rolled over and grabbed my phone off the bedside table. “Why?” I answered the phone without even looking at the caller ID. “Alessia, tell me you watched the news this morning,” Devin’s voice came out from the other end. ...

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“THE LIFE OF A HUSTLING WOMAN WITH THREE CHILDREN” by Silindile Mhlongo

Submitted to Contest #84

The was a woman called Zama age of 24 who was living with her grandmother and her two kids, her grandmother was her closest friend, a mother , a shoulder to lean on. Zama went to University in Durban after completing matric in 2013, she had her first born in 2015 the baby lived with her grandmother because she was a fulltime student. she used to live with six cousins (uncle's children), her cousins become jealousy with her because she was hunting for a better future and because she was the first person to pass matric with good levels and fir...

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“The Town Gimp” by Jennifer Wiebe

Submitted to Contest #84

Creston hated Spectral Sciaticism, it was not so much as the pain of constant shockwaves running through his leg and sometimes down his neck. What he hated most was the pain and struggle in everyone’s eyes. People did move on and learned to live with the pain, but limping became the new normal. Not having a limp meant you either did not get the virus yet, or you have not been vaccinated. Anyone who met a limpless would get an intense flare up of the Sciatica nerve beyond imaginable pain. The pain would last 3-7 day...

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“Making It Work” by James Mckinley

Submitted to Contest #84

Making It Work By James M. Vines The Sun ca...

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“A Brave New World” by Camille Houde

Submitted to Contest #84

It had been almost two months since Luna and Evan had left the bunker and they still had not acclimated to the present circumstances that they had found themselves in. Upon leaving their bunker, they had found out how little they knew about the present world. The land that they walked on and saw was completely blasted and destroyed; trees were felled, the water they found was stagnant, and the air reeked of rotting vegetation. What surprised them was the lack of noises. Even as they walked through felled trees and what used to be dense fores...

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“The Pandemic Executions. ” by Starla Moore

Submitted to Contest #84

TW: murder It all started innocently enough, a cold here, a fever there…You would see it on the news, people in foreign countries wearing masks and staying indoors to control the outbreak “fear mongering” the man who would go down in history as the LAST PRESIDENT of the United States would say. Even with the precautions taken, the virus slouched from Bethlehem to our doorsteps. By then all there was to do was stock up on canned food and bolt your latches. What’s funny-well, more ironic to me is the way people behaved when the plague was just...

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“Trapped: The Virus Breathes” by Nikole Paparde

Submitted to Contest #84

It's inescapable. This itching feeling climbing up my spine. Tingling as if my blood circulation has been temporarily cut off. Yet not severe enough to completely disable me. This creeping feeling has no voice. And it speaks not a single word, yet the feeling tells me one thing very clearly. It isn't safe. No matter how careful I am, the risk to my life and security are always here. Encapsulating me. Each of us. Almost having been frozen or suspended in time by the pandemic. Lingering. Leaving us living to survive, and compelled to turn away...

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“Breaking News” by Aburrow Marsh

Submitted to Contest #84

The speedboat rounded a bend in the tunnel, roaring into view on a V-shaped feather of spray. Number 10 stood ready, mask in place, gun in hand. Number Three, black-clad, wind-swept, expertly piloted the Sea Hawk 285 toward the dock, using bursts of throttle to maneuver. They were about 20 feet beneath the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris; slanting shafts of sunlight cast yellow circles on the choppy waves. Number 10 had to wonder how much bat guano and other noxious material he’d inhaled since arriving here five minutes ago, barely ahead of Numb...

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“Moving On” by Addison Martucci

Submitted to Contest #84

I felt my eyes starting to get heavier and heavier and I left like I was slipping off the edge. “ We’re losing her!’ someone yelled ”,” but I had no clue of who it was the only thing I could make out were six blurry figures standing above me. All I could feel was tired and in pain: so much pain. “ Come on girl stay with us!” this time yelled by someone different. I didn’t pay much attention to it and was about to close my eyes fully when- “AVA, AVA wake up you're having that dream again!” I shot up out of bed and turned to my roommate: Olivi...

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“As It Was” by AJ Stone

Submitted to Contest #84

How am I supposed to do this? I open the door to my house and step outside. Trepidation immediately floods my bones. I stumble back inside and practically slam the door. Stop this. You're just being paranoid. My mini pep talk does nothing to calm my nerves. I take a deep breath. I release it and I let the sound become my anchor to sanity. I don’t even know why I’m so scared? Well, that’s a lie. I do know why I'm scared. I look out my window. How is no one else struggling? How can they all go back to life as it was before? I can ...

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“Post Pandemic america” by Robert Buratt

Submitted to Contest #84

Complacency has set in over the entire population, down into the black depths of the american memory hole. Millions of jobs are forever lost. Tens of thousands are evicted. The homeless population have swelled to unmanageable numbers. The service institutions are chronically overwhelmed. Bank accounts are overdrawn yet banks are bigger and more influential than ever. Economic relief has been exhausted on government spending on vaccines and some measure of economic relief but not nearly what is required to eliminate homeless, full employment,...

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“Tears Take Tolls” by Rachael Lee

Submitted to Contest #84

TW: suicidal ideation, self harm A bright day. Cloudless, the sun shining shamelessly in the sky. The light breeze brushing against my bare lips. Nothing blocking it. But I feel sick. I want to throw up. I act like everything's okay, nothing's wrong, sipping my Fanta calmly through a paper straw. Because across from me, my best friend Logan sits on a white plastic chair, smiling. An innocent and sparkling smile, a naked one. Not covered by a breathless mask or anything. The atmosphere is tight. It's awkward because we haven't seen each other...

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“Watching” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #84

Sitting here in the shade of a brick building whose brick has shed its soft alluring demeanor and has taken on the stories of those that have passed; those that live and those that no longer care or need to. When time marches slowly enough past our front door, it allows one of two things to happen. Either we look for detail and appreciate the effort, or we get bored of the sameness, and begin to think of things we have no business thinking about, but for the distraction. Jammie Espiers sat on his stoop overlooking Franklin Avenue and ma...

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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

“Over” by Blessedout W

“Waiting for What? ” by Kate Gaston

“A New New Normal” by Sara Rotondi

“THE LIFE OF A HUSTLING WOMAN WITH THREE CHILDREN” by Silindile Mhlongo

“The Town Gimp” by Jennifer Wiebe

“Making It Work” by James Mckinley

“A Brave New World” by Camille Houde

“The Pandemic Executions. ” by Starla Moore

“Trapped: The Virus Breathes” by Nikole Paparde

“Breaking News” by Aburrow Marsh

“Moving On” by Addison Martucci

“As It Was” by AJ Stone

“Post Pandemic america” by Robert Buratt

“Tears Take Tolls” by Rachael Lee

“Watching” by Joe Swanson

🌟 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 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: