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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a character who’s lost.

Posted in Narrative on Nov 29, 2024

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 74 stories

“Loss for the world” by Lol Hey

Submitted to Contest #279

The 19-year-old boy sat in his room, staring at the wall. He had just dropped out of college, and he knew his parents were going to be disappointed. His father had always wanted him to be a lawyer, just like his older brother. But the boy knew that law wasn't for him. He wanted to do something else, something that would make him happy.He knew his father would never understand. His father was a traditional man, and he believed that the only way to be successful was to go to college and get a good job. But the boy didn't want to live his life ...

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“The Timekeeper's Gift” by Jim Lola

Submitted to Contest #279

The town of Willoughby slept under a blanket of twilight, its streets quiet but for the occasional chime of an unseen clocktower. It was a place caught in a perpetual dusk, where shadows stretched long and the air carried the faint scent of old books and candle wax. Through these shadowed streets walked a man named William Crowe, his shoes worn thin and his purpose as faded as the name on the satchel he carried. William had arrived on a train he couldn't remember boarding. He had been searching—always searching—but the destination was unclea...

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“How Kind of You” by Annelise Maguire

Submitted to Contest #279

It was luck, truly, that she found herself trapped in the bank. It’s not as if she was a robber, she simply needed to make a withdrawal for some odd hobby, and BOOM! Suddenly she finds herself alone. Now, she’s no coward or anything, but can you blame her for the loud shriek she let out upon the darkness that suddenly consumed her? Fear of the dark is a real thing guys, and rightfully so. It was probably some sort of sick prank or something, she always knew people were out to get her. Why? She couldn’t tell you, but she was sure the ban...

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“Honey-Colored Bear” by Connor Pickard

Submitted to Contest #279

Fifty days ago, Christopher left his dilapidated Subaru in a deserted parking lot deep within the entrails of Cascade Forest National Park. Forty days ago, he became an unwilling member of an infamous group he used to read about in the newspaper with cold, rolling eyes: lost hikers.  Soon after moving to the small town in which he currently resides, nearly a decade ago, a new friend suggested going for a hike nearby. Christopher was not an avid hiker, and his less-than-ideal cardiovascular ability gave him pause at the idea. Still, the ...

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“My friend, Cleo” by Maria Calderon Zavala

Submitted to Contest #279

Trigger Warning: this story contains sensitive content, including the loss of a friend, grieving, and issues of mental health.She often thought about her tomorrow. She daydreamed about the climbs she would conquer and the happiness she would earn. Her spirit and mind were much younger than her actual years. I guess you could understand why many were envious of her without wanting to accept it. Everyone desires to be younger once we realize the time we have wasted. Funnily enough, when we are little, we just want time to pass through faster t...

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“Candelabra” by Jacky S.

Submitted to Contest #279

She was gold. Engraved with lines and drawings of everything that once was. I thought of her as a diary, capturing all the stories she’d heard over the years. On chilly evenings, I watched her reflect the faint light shining under my flimsy door as if she liked to play with it. I’d witnessed objects like it every so years, but none were quite like her. She wasn’t even tucked away at first, but our hallow halls made footsteps larger, louder, and bigger than necessary. My colleagues and I are made of steel. We’re made to echo each memory broug...

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“Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust ” by Eli Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #279

Warning: Contains allusions to death and suicide as well as unspecified religious beliefs. Page 613 of 2012My first recognition of consciousness coincided with the last gasping breath of the first human to walk this earth.  In the millisecond difference between my moment of consciousness and the time it took for the human to open its eyes, I had already acquired the life of every person who would ever walk this earth. I remember how he woke clutching his chest, long matted hair covering his wide nose and lips, red berry juice staining ...

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“The Last Transmission of Archibald Tell ” by Patrick Huber

Submitted to Contest #279

The following transmission was recovered from the ULYSSES Starship. The first of its class starship capable of reaching farther reaches in space, equipped with ion engines, self sustaining life support system and hibernation chambers able to keep an individual in stasis over long voyages. In the event of a mission critical emergency, the Captain will be woken from stasis to triage the problem. Captains Log…This is Captain Archibald Tell of the starship Ulysses, commissioned by the New World Exploration Alliance. Our mission st...

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“”The TikTok Demise of Demure”” by Paul Kearns

Submitted to Contest #279

News Item, November 26, 2024Demure’s current victory and success as Word of the Year - as designated by Dictionary.com” can largely be attributed to TikTok user Jools Lebron, better known as @joolieannie, who shared a slew of advice this year on how to appear “very demure” and “very mindful. This all perfectly describes this weeks them “REEDSY Prompt about “a character who’s lost....it’s meaning” ”The TikTok Demise of Demure” It’s all a joke – all for fun - yet suddenly, somehow – that perfectly standard, non-ex...

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“Veronique Badin, that…” by Torry L

Submitted to Contest #279

Best-selling author of the New York Times, whose work has been adapted into award-winning movies, has chosen hers in a pool of random names. Safi was about to have lunch with an icon! This had to be her lucky day of the year.When they took a seat at a booth in the café, Safi opened up by singing her praises. Telling Veronique how much she admired her work and that how it changed her, a real sucker this girl.  “I’m glad you feel that way,” said Veronique. “As I’m honoured by the compliments. But something tells me you didn...

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“Among The Poppies” by Alexandria WHITWORTH

Submitted to Contest #279

The gravel lightly crunched, harmonizing with the sound of the brakes screeching to a halt. It slung me against the back of the van door with a solid thunk. My hands were still tied and my eyes blindfolded when I heard the slow scraping of boots. Every few hours repeated themselves. Whoever took me drove in one direction for miles. Every so often making slight turns as to avoid taking the same road for too long. The van would stop. A violently large man would make his way to the back of the van. He would ask questions I did not have the answ...

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“THE DAY HIKE” by Philip Keaton

Submitted to Contest #279

 I am one of those people who loved to read about a lot of different things, whether Egyptology or military history, I liked to learn different things. Of the recent things I have read about is spelunking. It seems so exciting to go exploring underground! The book had plenty of pictures of stalactites and stalagmites, quartz and just beautiful rooms with such splendor. I couldn't wait to get into my first cave. I asked a few people I knew in the neighborhood, and no one knew of any local caves. One neighbor said to g...

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“The Lost Little Lad” by Euan Brennan

Submitted to Contest #279

Trigger warning: contains themes of abuse, bullying, suicide, and emotional distress.The boy slept under the snow-covered trees. Two of the oaks stretched, curving their roots and branches, creating a home for the young lad - a resting place. Dreamless was his sleep; peaceful was his slumber.His breath puffed in silent, intermittent beats. No wind blew, no whistle in the leaves. A rich scent of pine and oak broke through the blanket of white. Sunlight cascaded over all without a source.The branch hanging over the boy's head, burdened with th...

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“Vivamus” by Anne N

Submitted to Contest #279

Azzie trudged over fallen rubble and debris. Rain pattered against the dilapidated shell of the antiquated space. Thunder rumbled overhead as rainwater dripped from the brim of her hoodie. Gravel crunched beneath the soles of her combat boots. She kept her hands in the pockets of her rain jacket. She passed through the double doors leading to the main foyer and winced as one of the doors fell off its rusted hinge. The sound echoed in the emptiness as a plum of dust shot off the ground. Azzie stepped over the door and peered up the staircase....

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“The ones who got away.” by Ashlee Osborn

Submitted to Contest #279

Content warning: This story contains depictions of Holocaust violence, abuse, torture, suicide, and trauma.Prisoner number eleven. Part one. Lost. Before the war he who must not be named was a busker of art. He was admitted to a military hospital as a patient for a Pych assessment and received treatment for trauma he suffered when his unit was attacked by mustard gas in the trenches. He had schizophrenia, Bipolar, and was a psychopath.  During the nineteen hundreds six million Jews were murdered by those who cannot b...

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