"Just say it," you silently reminded yourself. You knew you'd regret it if you didn't.

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 217 stories

“Jinxed” by Anita Doroghazi

Submitted to Contest #47

“Just say it,” you silently reminded yourself. You knew you’d regret it if you didn’t. At least that is what you told yourself when you bought the dang thing. Now you regret even going into that cursed shop. “I’ll take it.” You handed the salesperson the money and grabbed up your new treasure holding it tightly to your chest, as if to protect it from all harm. When you get to the car, you carefully place it on the floor behind the passenger seat, tucking a towel that had been lying on the seat around your prec...

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“Love Your Pottery” by Sierra Wintonyk

Submitted to Contest #47

You smile to yourself, admiring your work. It is amazing what you can make if you put your mind to it. Your vase is short and wide, with many curves and thick walls. It’s a masterpiece, You think to yourself, wiping your cakey hands on a wet washcloth. You slide out of your chair, carefully lifting your vase to bring it to the firing table at the back of the room. As you turn, a group of students pass by you, taking their vases to the table as well. You stop to let them pass, trying to be polite. Two of them slow, taking in you...

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“Writer of the One-Liner” by Rahul Ghose

Submitted to Contest #47

Mr. Alice,Please open your eyes. Let there be light. An Indian evening at your attic window.The city of kalkata has turned red with the setting sun.An elongated room – mouldy and lonely,thousands of miles away from your motherland – France.Sitting in a wooden chair with long handles,you are trying to do something on your writing table.A white notebook under your right hand – blank and unwritten.You're leaving no stone unturned.But,nothing is happening.Actually,nothing is reigning over something.As you've been in the so called “ Writers' Bloc...

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“Time to Go” by Chloe Novak

Submitted to Contest #47

"Just say it," you silently reminded yourself. You knew you'd regret it if you didn't. As you walk through the halls of the hospital, you think of all the firsts: first date, first kiss, first baby’s cry. Now, you’re close to adding another first: first time losing a spouse. Your husband has been in the hospital for months, gradually getting weaker as cancer spread from organ to organ. It was already too late for treatment when they found it: stage four, metastasized beyond the point of chemo, radiation, or surgery. Since then, yo...

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“Just Say It” by Anita Saxena

Submitted to Contest #47

Nothing would haunt you more than the unsaid words. While he lay in the intensive care unit on life support system probably breathing his last few breaths, you looked hopelessly, perhaps trying to say you wished you could have one final conversation with him. JUST SAY IT !! This time would never come back. Maybe he can hear you. Was this the right time and place to express your feelings? You had to be alone to talk to him. There was so much left unsaid. The trauma and shock of seeing him in this condition was bad enough, surely you wo...

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“Pieces of you or the story of how you never let go” by Malu Belo

Submitted to Contest #47

(Trigger Warning: gore) You thought you never loved any other as much as you did him, face blocking the sun, beams surrounding him like a halo. Forcing your eyes open against the light, you could only remark how his eyes were the color of seawater, bulbs of greenish wonder. You pictured yourself diving, head first. You don’t remember much of how it happened. Figments of the scene haunt you with their incompleteness. The one thing you know: he tore you open. You know for a fact that it happened literally as well as metaphoricall...

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“Acceptance” by Rebecca Andrews

Submitted to Contest #47

"Just say it," you silently reminded yourself. You knew you'd regret it if you didn't. Wasn't this what you had always wanted, what you had been working towards for years? You didn't want the kind of life your mother had had. You had known it when you were a girl, sitting under the dining table and watching your mother doing housework. Although you were eager to help, your younger brother Tim never did, and when your father was home it always seemed to be Tim he spent time wit...

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“How did you become you?” by Bridget Sam

Submitted to Contest #47

You were going to be the school’s prom queen. Everyone knew there was no competition. Why would there be? You had teachers in the palm of your hands, students worshiped you. Even with your immerse popularity in high school, everyone knew it wasn’t going to stop there. You would go to the best college, an ivy league. You would win fans in college as well. You will be as popular as you were here, maybe even more. It was inevitable. If you were pretty but dumb, it will be easier to beat you. But guess what? You’re not. Some say it’s impossible ...

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“On Towards Repentance” by Chinemerem Ike-Okonkwo

Submitted to Contest #47

You knew something was wrong, you just didn't know what. Your mom had called you for counseling a number of times and you said nothing a number of times. The lockdown was starting to wear you out. You wished school would begin but as soon as that thought came, you forbade it. You hadn't opened your books since the lockdown began except to tear a piece of paper for the grocery list. School was reality to you. There was no way you'd be this useless in school. What with the editorial team and fellowship and courses to cover and meetings to atte...

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“Long-awaited Words” by Asg Gun

Submitted to Contest #47

At his bedside, looking down at the cadaverous bulk, everything that he once put you through, starts flowing like a river of random scenes. How would they say it? Your life flashes before your eyes like a film strip, right? With only one slight difference, though. It was nowhere near being a movie but indeed was too real. All those nightmares, all those dark times, all those scenes that you were subjected to… And all that pain that came with and followed even after many years did not help it all. You are shaking your head to come back to the...

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“Second Chances” by Eesha Irfan

Submitted to Contest #47

Life has a really round-about way of teaching you things you never thought you needed. You made plenty of mistakes in the past and when you realized it, you said you’ll do things differently if given another chance, while secretly hoping that the moment never comes because just the thought of it makes your heart thud loudly in your chest with fear. Uncertainty has always been a struggle for you, it drives you into deep, anxious states and you try to avoid it at all costs. That’s how you spent most of your life; in fear of uncertainty, so muc...

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“The Stars Remain” by Hannah March

Submitted to Contest #47

The acrid cold of space envelopes you and seeps into your skin as you hold his still body in your blue-scaled arms. You look at his closed eyes and know that this will be your last chance to tell him. Once these fragile moments have spent their last, fluttering seconds, there will be nothing at all. Is there any point in taking that chance? But here you are, liquid sizzling with electricity from your eyes. Any moment now and he will disintegrate into fragments and disappear forever. You found him here, in the sett...

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“Your Phone Rang” by Lillian Frasier

Submitted to Contest #47

You were there for days. Weeks. Months. The hours started slipping and swirling together, just like the coffee you still brewed and mixed with milk every morning. There was no more work to be done, no more errands you needed to run out of the house for, and yet every morning without fail that cream would blossom like storm clouds in your green and yellow mug. You were talking on the phone one night. “No, Mom, I haven’t left the apartment in a week. How could I be sick?” You were chewing on your fingernails. You hadn’t done that in a while. N...

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“Literary Suckerpunch” by Heather Scully

Submitted to Contest #47

Clutching your journal in your hand, you slowly climb the steps to his place. The night has already been long and dark, and the night air’s bite is exceptionally chilly as you ran out without your jacket. The cold hasn’t hit you yet though, you’re too focused on the task at hand. With each step mounted, your heart ratchets up another rapid beat. Are you really going to do this. Considering what happened, do you really have much choice, you ask yourself. He’s left you in a precarious place. Clinging to fantasy, when reality has come...

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“Buried” by Sarah Burke

Submitted to Contest #47

The wind whips harshly against your face, the burning sensation the only thing you’re able to feel besides the raw ache pulsing within you with every agonized beat coming from your chest. Just the same as yesterday, the previous day, and the day before that. You reach out for his heart of stone in front of you, only to find it as cold as it always is when you’re seeking comfort. Fighting off the impending shiver, you wrap your arms around yourself, not for warmth, but to keep the pieces he broke from falling apart and crumbling down to be st...

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"Just say it," you silently reminded yourself. You knew you'd regret it if you didn't.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 217 stories

“Jinxed” by Anita Doroghazi

“Love Your Pottery” by Sierra Wintonyk

“Writer of the One-Liner” by Rahul Ghose

“Time to Go” by Chloe Novak

“Just Say It” by Anita Saxena

“Pieces of you or the story of how you never let go” by Malu Belo

“Acceptance” by Rebecca Andrews

“How did you become you?” by Bridget Sam

“On Towards Repentance” by Chinemerem Ike-Okonkwo

“Long-awaited Words” by Asg Gun

“Second Chances” by Eesha Irfan

“The Stars Remain” by Hannah March

“Your Phone Rang” by Lillian Frasier

“Literary Suckerpunch” by Heather Scully

“Buried” by Sarah Burke

🌟 Similar prompts

As you check your mail, you notice a letter that makes you stop in your tracks.

You looked out the window and, not for the first time, thought about how wrong the weather forecast had been.

Suitcase in hand, you head to the station.

You check the time. Perfect. As intended, you've arrived fashionably late.

Contest #47

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

878

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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