Write about somebody breaking a cycle.

Posted in Narrative on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 42 stories

“Incarnation” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #151

Today is my coronation. My thirteenth birthday.Tomorrow is the day I die.I grip the howdah’s railing as the elephant lurches down the Way of Heroes. I wave to the people lining the broad, cobbled street. I’m thankful for the parasol, shielding me from the searing sun.“They love you,” says the man beside me, gripping my shoulder. Yesterday, he was King Henloc. Today, he abdicated. Tomorrow, he will be king again.Thousands watch us pass, cheering, waving, and celebrating the Sacred Coronation. Behind them the sandstone buildings and granite sp...

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“Across Lifetimes” by F.J Red

Submitted to Contest #151

TW: mild themes of DV“Break the cycle, my daughter. Don’t end up like me.” My mother would tell me. The earth has felt the footsteps of countless women before me who’ve fallen victim to the cycle of abuse, passed down from mother to daughter. Like the sun that sets when the moon appears, abuse became the relentless rhythm of repetition. With it, tradition formed the lyrics to this sombre tune, its haunting echoes swirling through the bloodlines, replaying on a constant, agonizing loop. Effortlessly, the mother teaches her daughter the m...

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“Yellow Dot Fever” by Seán McNicholl

Submitted to Contest #151

The old doctor sat back and rubbed at his chin. “And when did the symptoms start?” he said after a fashion, his eyes scanning over the young woman before him. “W-Well doctor,” the girl said as her tongue danced along her lower lip and her fingers gently drummed her legs, “I-Eh-I think about two months ago or so.” “And all the symptoms started at once?”“Eh, I-I-I don’t think so doctor. It’s just gradually got worse and worse. And now, I-I can’t control it, I-I-I need help!” she stammered out, the drumming increasing its r...

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“Just Stop” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #151

THEN When I knocked on the door of my manager’s office at 9:30 a.m. that morning, my throat felt dry and constricted. Despite the 22-degree-Celsius setting of the office air-conditioner, my shirt stuck to my sweaty back and my hands were clammy and shaky. “Come in please,” he said in his usual toneless voice. It was a regular office with staid furnit...

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“True Colors” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #151

“Hi, my name is Richard, but everyone calls me Ricky—I’m six and a half.”“Hi Ricky! I’m Jimmy. I’m six, too.”“I’m six and a half! I’ll be seven in September.”“My mom says I’ll be six and a half next month.”“Hey, we’re practically the sameage.””That means we’ll be in the same grade. Are you gonna go to Faulkner Ridge Elementary?””I think so. Do you go there?”“Uh-huh. It’s close enough we can walk there. Do you want to be friends?”“Sure, I don’t have any friends here. That means you can be my best friend.”“Okay!”“Whatcha doin’?”“I’m catching s...

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“Fade to Black” by H L McQuaid

Submitted to Contest #151

A young girl with strawberry blonde hair clutches a stuffed bunny rabbit as she follows the trail of matted grass and snapped twigs. Ahead of her a man drags something heavy, wrapped in a blanket, deeper into the woods.He sings, “I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight, on a bed of California stars…”He stops, wipes sweat from his brow. She ducks behind a tree, holds her breath, then peeks her head out to watch. He digs, his shovel tossing dirt, until it clangs on metal. He rolls the stuffed blanket into a hole with his boots. It lands with a ...

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“When Words Are Not Enough” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #151

My first question has an answer when Conejo arrives in the same beat-up Mazda we once kissed in. Fame has not changed him. The second question lasts until we lock eyes for the first time in two years. He still looks at me as if we’re alone in a crowded stadium.If there is a third, it floats away with my heart in the humid Barranquilla breeze.We are not talkers, me and Conejo. Even in childhood, we spoke little. There is only fútbol - a dance, a duel, and a heart-to-heart all in one. Words could not have brought us close enough.Once when...

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“SHADOWMAN” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #151

Lurking in the dark shadows of a slum alleyway, I stealthily waited for my chance to strike an emancipating blow for justice. What had been in the planning for three months would unleash unsuspecting and vengeful hell on some deserving reprobates. I knew their patterns of behaviour and without detection, had followed these violent creatures of habit for the last several nights. Vengeance was about to take on a new form and I assigned myself the responsibility to execute it with severe intolerance. When done, the city would breathe a big sigh...

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“Running Round A Dream” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #151

Read original story “Running Down A Dream” here https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story/03dhqg/ His eyes exploded wide open as the harsh sunlight hit them. Mikey had had one of those dreams again but this felt even more real than last time. He didn’t need to wrack his brain because every detail was etched into his mind. The lake. Sound of a boat’s engine. Voices. His best friend Warren was there. A close up of the T-shirt they bought during a group trip to the Mall last week. An enormous explosion. A time – 9.15am. Then once again ...

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“The Pitch” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #151

Every weekend… Every weekend we come out here to see them play and he does the exact same things. Has his hands up to his face and just lets the other team run past with the ball. All those practices and he just does not do a thing when the game is on. Four years of this and he still does not care at all about it. When I was his age, I was out there wishing I had a uniform and a new ball to play with and people to make me better at the game. But no, we have to come out to the pitch and see him just freeze in front of all of the other parents...

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“The Land of Milk and Honey ” by Futurama Delivery

Submitted to Contest #151

As he nestled within a center of spiraling trees, Kreios clutched his whetted stinger to Amara; his eyes unabashedly filled with envy. A soft, snowy midnight glow bathed them. Seeing Amara's black-coated hair reflected in it, Kreios shivered as an undeniable power gleamed in her eyes. Her susurrations echoed in the trees. She bounced up and down.Amara was almost giddy beneath her fearfully shaking antennas.Her sandalled hindleg languished on firmly rooted oak branches. Dense shrubbery was beneath them. Pollinated by the bee colony's hard wor...

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“Selene” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #151

I visited her at night as always, travelling to the Mountains, tall and dark like a looming beast.I walked to a hidden cleft marked only by a blanket of blossoming Moonflowers. At the base lay silvered, black doors that only opened when the sun’s heat was long gone.With a wordless gesture, it opened and I strode into the welcoming light. Soft, plush grass carpeted a ground of hard, cold rock. Lights were festooned into the walls and glowed with a bright, yet cold light.I strode through the corridor until it widened into a vast library with h...

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“Wheatish Complexion, Average Height” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #151

I hop over the 20 dot kolam and open the gate. I know I will be sent to Mayura Bakery and Sweets within minutes.I look back at the four swans with cherries in their beaks, encircling a sharp leafed twig. They float on the street outside the gate only when special guests visit us. The guests who could potentially become family.I remove my school shoes and carry them inside. The shoe rack has been shifted from the front door to the back door in honour of visitors.I walk into the living room. A new diwan cover set with red elephants parading on...

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“Stalling” by Jeremy Renbarger

Submitted to Contest #151

I wasn’t very cool in school, kind of nerdy, shy, and awkward. I had always felt weird about people, we would be cool one day and the next day they would pretend they didn’t know me. I always wanted to be like my older brother Rick, was super popular in school had a lot of friends and friends that would pretty much take a bullet for him. Rick being my brother made me, I guess sort of cool, but my brother did his best to give me tools so that I could be cool on my own. He taught me how to breakdance, always put me on to cool music,...

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“Sins of The Father” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #151

What’s the point of being superhuman, of trying to make the world a better place if someone out there is counteracting my work? I’d guessed there were others like me out there doing what I do. I was naïve to think they would all have humanities best interests in mind. I hide in the home of a climate change activist. She’s asleep in her bed, next to her boyfriend. They don’t know what’s coming. I use chloroform on both, then inject a sedative that will knock them out for ...

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Write about somebody breaking a cycle.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“Incarnation” by Michał Przywara

“Across Lifetimes” by F.J Red

“Yellow Dot Fever” by Seán McNicholl

“Just Stop” by Kanika G

“True Colors” by Thom With An H

“Fade to Black” by H L McQuaid

“When Words Are Not Enough” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“SHADOWMAN” by Chris Campbell

“Running Round A Dream” by PJ Aitken

“The Pitch” by Kendall Defoe

“The Land of Milk and Honey ” by Futurama Delivery

“Selene” by Crystal Lewis

“Wheatish Complexion, Average Height” by Suma Jayachandar

“Stalling” by Jeremy Renbarger

“Sins of The Father” by Graham Kinross

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who wakes up in their past life, or as a future reincarnation of themself.

Write about a character who keeps ending up in the same place.

Repeat the same line of dialogue, from the same character, three separate times.

Write about a character who’s expected to follow in someone’s footsteps.

Contest #151

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

233

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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