Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

Posted in Narrative on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 58 stories

“The Train Ride” by Jennifer Chan

Submitted to Contest #168

“Please enjoy your trip,” the girl says politely from behind the counter. I murmur my thanks as I take my ticket before walking through the automatic doors that lead out to the platform. Immediately, I am made aware of the marked contrast in temperature between the indoors and the outdoors. The cold nips at my fingers. A fog rolls in from the I pull my coat tighter around my body and glance around the platform. Aside from me, there is only an old woman and a mother and son. I nod politely at them before checking the time on my watch. ...

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“Green Paint” by Dakota Red

Submitted to Contest #168

My grandfather’s door was red, once. A deep burgundy sort of red, that he said made him think of an old horse he owned. Now, it’s mostly sun bleached, or peeled away to show a dull blue beneath. It’s been like that for years, but I hadn’t noticed how badly it needed a paint job until now. Finally, I turn the doorknob and walk in. The immediate smell beckons a thousand memories that had laid dormant for so long. I see the checkered tiles of the kitchen and think of sitting cross legged on them, trying to lure the cat. I remember tracin...

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“The Promise” by Teresa Renton

Submitted to Contest #168

The Promise “Think about it,” Alex said one day. “They have offered me the big promotion. And you can work from anywhere. You’re portable.” He stretched his arms in front of her, palms open, shoulders hunched, defeat already tensing his features. After two years of dating, it made sense to move in together, but first Hannah couldn’t leave her sick dad, then she couldn’t leave his house, and Alex continued to drive the 260 km to York every Friday. After a demanding week at work, he travelled to spend the weekend with her. She wondered wheth...

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“Everlong” by Leah Rantz

Submitted to Contest #168

And then, as it has since the Beginning of it all, Summer had come again. The sun burned bright and reassuring from the window in my apartment as it had before. But this time, the warmth couldn’t touch me from my empty bed. The rays stretched out across the apartment, searching for me. They beckoned me, but I didn’t budge from my side. I faced a gray wall. I wasn’t interested in a new season. Last summer had been different. I couldn’t wait to get out of bed, couldn’t wait to run outside to my car. I always seemed to be running la...

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“The Moscow Train” by Anne Marie Byrne

Submitted to Contest #168

The Moscow Train A cold wind howled around the platform as Irina Kuznetsova climbed on board the Moscow train. She was glad of the fine leather gloves that her parents had given her as a going away present. The journey by horse and carriage from her home town of Suzdal to the railway station at Vladimir had been slow and uncomfortable. Her brother, Ivan, had had to steer the carriage cautiously along the rough road. Melting snow meant that the road was muddy and the potholes and sidings were difficult to discern. But the horse was str...

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“Miracle” by Siti Zulaikha Abd Rahman

Submitted to Contest #168

People often said love happens when you fall in love with someone, and you want to spend your entire life with them. But for me, love is when you told yourself, your partner isn’t perfect, they have flaws, and you accept them as who they are. You believe in them and help them to climb up the mountain of challenges awaiting ahead of them. Tup! Close my laptop and walk towards the sliding door. The sunset looks so beautiful. The mix of the colour of orange and blue skies makes them exceptionally mesmerizing. Look down and see my fluffy cat sti...

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“The Conductor Steps Out” by Marvin Sohl

Submitted to Contest #168

[Content warning: this story contains scenes of violence, blood, and language] The sight of distant cosmos swirling past the window had long ceased to impress the Conductor. At two months old it was one of the senior staff on the train, and while first-time tourists and younger Conductors often gawked at the milky way beyond, to this one it felt as routine as the offboarding announcement it knew was coming as the tracks wound down to the planet below. &nb...

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“"Go."” by Faosiyat Kolapo

Submitted to Contest #168

Warning! Story will contain things such as: Mental health Self harm Implied Violence Swearing 08: 12 am, Mon, April 2nd, 19XX ****** “Hey mom, wake up!” "What?” said Eden’s mother, drowsy, not bothering to look at him as she wrapped her blanket more tightly around her. “Have you seen my suitcase?” “Why?” “Don’t ask why, you know why; my train is leaving in less than four hours,” “And?” asked Eden’s mother as she turned away from him. Eden groaned. He knew he’d get nowhere if he got angry so he took a deep breath ...

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“Who am I” by Haley Blank

Submitted to Contest #168

Dedicated to my younger self and anyone who is struggling with loneliness and/or life changes. I’m surrounded by thousands of people, but they all feel like strangers. I know many people’s names but at the same time I don’t really know anyone, and no one knows me. I write this in my journal, as I notice little wet circles dampen the page. It takes me a moment to realize I am crying. I’m not myself. I look up through my tear-drop blurred vision at the cinderblock wall of the dorm I’ve been assigned. I stare at the wall as the whit...

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“Haunted House” by Lucy Bergholtz

Submitted to Contest #168

I used to be terrified at the prospect of leaving. To leave something, someone, anything that I knew and grew close to, was always a thought I avoided having. I try not to get attached to people, places, or things, but it’s hard not to fall in love when my existence kisses the existence of something else. The beach town upstate that feels like it’s all my own, the man I fell in love with nearly two years ago and with whom I want to spend my life, every letter I’ve ever received from my cross-continental penpal. Places, people, things. I hate...

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“TheIM's Ripple” by Sri Vi S

Submitted to Contest #168

TheIM could see the autumn out of the train window in that special journey. The most reflective period she pondered. She was so tired of words and letter, wanted to de-vocabularise, de-chatter from the very core of her being. She had been perplexed with Time and she could never understand what humans meant by age. It seemed "season" was more relevant than time itself. But at the threshold of fifty-one, TheIM felt a vortex of seasons. She was being ripped and torn to shreds at every ripple. But this vortex was within her. Zen at its didactic ...

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“The Cure” by Ashley Smith

Submitted to Contest #168

Nothing mattered anymore, and nothing was important anymore. There was no point in going to medical school, so I quit. In most cases, my parents are a good support system, but they do not understand how I feel. I felt my fingers getting numb, my face getting clenched, and I was on the verge of crying. Rather than continue with this, it would be better if I just ended it all. I am ugly, I don't deserve to be here, and it would be better if I just ended it. My thoughts were coming to life and whispered to me the word die. I heard Mila, my olde...

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“Someone” by Isabella King

Submitted to Contest #168

I set the letter down on the dining room table and waited for Roger to come home. His name, scrawled in red ink, occupied the front of the envelope, the color chosen for its eye-catching hue. It wasn’t like him to be out at night, I fumed, glancing at the grandfather clock as it ticked toward eleven. At last, Roger came in rather clumsily, stumbling over the legs of the coat rack before closing the door behind him. A battered pirate hat sat askew on his head, and a plastic sword dangled from his ...

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“La Petite Mort” by L.J Sunwing

Submitted to Contest #168

A buzz echoes in an empty hall with the smell of formaldehyde and sulfate filtrating in and out of the rooms like an unsettling, invisible haze. Every room of the building was dark except one, of which two individuals sat with computers lit on each trying to finish paperwork before going home for the night. Truthfully, this conversation would be better had outside of the walls of the workplace, but secrecy and illicit affairs rarely allowed that. It was a small coffin for the little death of them both. “I wish I never met you,” the gi...

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“The Last Train South” by Alistair James

Submitted to Contest #168

I was cold and tired; like painting with numbers, I was living by numbers, one job at a time, one day at a time. Inverness Station matched my mood. It was dark and cold, its outlets long closed for the day. I spotted one platform still lit for access. The overnight sleeper for Euston, London, was getting ready for departure. I swiped my mobile at the gate and boarded. Ten minutes to go. The sleeper compartments were all booked, and I had no choice but to reserve a first-class aisle seat facing the direction of travel. I was at the front...

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Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 58 stories

“The Train Ride” by Jennifer Chan

“Green Paint” by Dakota Red

“The Promise” by Teresa Renton

“Everlong” by Leah Rantz

“The Moscow Train” by Anne Marie Byrne

“Miracle” by Siti Zulaikha Abd Rahman

“The Conductor Steps Out” by Marvin Sohl

“"Go."” by Faosiyat Kolapo

“Who am I” by Haley Blank

“Haunted House” by Lucy Bergholtz

“TheIM's Ripple” by Sri Vi S

“The Cure” by Ashley Smith

“Someone” by Isabella King

“La Petite Mort” by L.J Sunwing

“The Last Train South” by Alistair James

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone looking out a train window.

Make a train station an important part of your story.

Write a story about a character who misses a train, for better or worse.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Bon voyage.”

Contest #168

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

105

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: