Write about a date you went on that took an unexpected turn.

Posted in Nonfiction on Nov 8, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 37 stories

“Crumbs of Love” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #276

Boston was wet that night, the misty drizzle that makes a whole city feel like it is under a giant dewy lens. The streets glow, and so did I, but probably for different reasons. This was my 20th first date this year, and it was only February. They weren't all gems, not even kernels of fool's gold found in dirt. It was rough out there, kids. Let's just say the local sex shop knew my first name and vibrator preference. I'll admit, it's been a bit of a dry few months...fine a year and a half.I was about to meet someone new, someone who had—in o...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Suddenly We” by Claudia Batiuk

Submitted to Contest #276

Looking over my shoulder, I walked fast, faster and out of the establishment, a well-known bar in West Hollywood named “The Rainbow Bar and Grill". I began running, I slightly sped up on the sidewalk a little faster, still looking back and suddenly came to an abrupt halt. “Ouch” I said, “what the hell”, I had run into someone on the sidewalk. A tall man standing solidly grounded, body firm posture, outside the building next to the Rainbow. I thought “damn” because I kept looking backwards instead of in the direction in which I was running, I...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Subtle Irk” by Anna Fothergill

Submitted to Contest #276

Contains sensitive content relating to mental health & abuse. On paper, Edward was everything I wanted. Since then, I have rewritten, burned and sprinkled the ashes of that paper all over the very idea of “a type”. If a type can be flattened to paper, the likelihood is the embodied personality will be two-dimensional at best. At worst, they will be an Edward. We were set up by my parents, so I suppose there was a baseline level of trust that was unwarranted. For the most part, Mom and Dad had stayed far away from my love life but ...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Slightly Charred” by Alex Kamczyc

Submitted to Contest #276

To the broke, unmotivated and hopeless college kid with no job, something like cooking your own meal can be trivial. On a good week, you’d get anywhere between 30 and 50 bucks that you’d need to stretch for the whole month. You could spend that on chicken, fresh veggies and pasta. Of course, Taco Bell is right down the street and a box of ramen is a buck fifty - which means you can buy a few cases of beer on the weekends if you need to. This was my life at Kent State University in gloomy Kent, Ohio, and aside from studying journalism and wri...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Stalking Over Grinds” by Tamara Lieberman

Submitted to Contest #276

The Escape: Later I yearn to be in my townhouse with my striped cat, Raskolnikov, entwined securely around my torso, his paws protectively grasping my arm; instead, I drive to the Target off of 611 to hide among the many crowded aisles of suspiciously too jolly and gluttonous Saint Nicks juxtaposed with eerie elf animatronics coming to life with a slight tussle, their green eyes peering at the eager shoppers. It is early November, and the moon is shaded by Nimbostratus clouds fortelling rain. I glance at the time–8:4...

3 comments 3

Read story

“So Far Away” by Marion Cohen

Submitted to Contest #276

So Far Away Five decades ago I was completing my senior year at college. As was customary back in those days, I lived in the dormitory for the duration of the four years while I was seeking my Bachelor’s Degree, at what is now called Kean University, in Union, New Jersey. I thoroughly enjoyed the college experience. The classes and professors were intellectually stimulating, as was the era when I attended, being the late sixties and early seventies. &nbs...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Little Evil” by Melissa Cote

Submitted to Contest #276

Trigger warning: Substance abuse and vulgarity.Names have been changed. “Who is angry at an arcade?” Fiancee asked looking at the old image on the screen. I found a disk of photos from the early 2000s, and I was starting to regret looking at the pictures. There I was, in full makeup with lipstick, glaring at a pinball machine in a black leather jacket and jeans. I don’t wear makeup or leather anymore. I don’t do a lot of things anymore. “It was supposed to be dinner and a movie,” I replied chuckling at the memory. “What’s so funn...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Bermuda Triangle of California” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #276

The Grapevine is the Bermuda Triangle of California. My memory of that expanse of Highway 5 is desolation, dust and depression. Current crazy-ass boyfriend Simon and I were about to experience this marvel of soul-sucking spirits firsthand. We had been celebrating Simon’s 24th birthday in the coffee shop I worked at by day, Ground Zero. The café was closed, and the turnout was sad: just his sister and best friend, my best friend and her tweaky little brother. We drank chilled Stoli, fortified with cigarettes and methamphetamine. Best friend F...

0 comments 0

Read story

“An Antique Scar ” by Victoria B.

Submitted to Contest #276

Content Warning: Mentions of disordered eating, body monitoring, and violence against trans women.We met at the start of lockdown in New Jersey.I remember being sick. Sick and tired. Sick and starving. Sick and self-assured I could get away with murder, or at least a good masquerade. Quarantine was barely a word yet, but Spring Break was edging into something unnaturally long. Twenty was a terrible age to be home alone. Fresh off my first heartbreak with none of the caloric intake to keep me sane, I was hysterical. The early morning quiet of...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Friends and Dates” by Marco Damiano

Submitted to Contest #276

“Let’s run away.” “Huh?” I said, looking up from the book in my hands. The bookstore surrounding us was new, built in the sunken basement level of a strip mall that had lain empty since I was a teenager. It was bright and well-lit however, with outdoor seating and a restaurant. We had come here to celebrate the waning days of Fall and reconnect since the Summer; when school ended and work had torn us away from our weekly meet-ups and nightly hang-outs. Being here reminded me of those cool afternoons on my porch, watching the sun go dow...

0 comments 0

Read story

“We Were Supposed To” by Laura Katie Elphee

Submitted to Contest #276

In college, my boyfriend and I broke up at one point because we thought we were supposed to. It felt like life was pulling us in different directions. We came from families that would never be able to merge cohesively. We were raised with different values and core beliefs. While reason told me we were better apart, I couldn’t shake my feelings for him. We used to take drives at night to escape the town that kept reminding us we weren’t compatible. He would drive, and I would exist happily beside him in the passenger seat. Sometimes we...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Starbucks Apple” by John Nichols

Submitted to Contest #276

You know how a song can relive a memory:yes, a vivid memory of me and her. I guess you could say it was our first date. We had met in church during my time farming with my aunt and uncle. It was the summer of 2006, and I had just graduated from community college—yes, I know, quite an accomplishment. My aunt and uncle come up from Hopkinsville, Kentucky to the upper peninsula of Michigan for a family reunion. Their visit was brief as usual: ten hour drive for a brief hour or two visit and a brief ten hour drive home. Yes, they took me c...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Chaos Among Calm Waters” by D.J. Schriefer

Submitted to Contest #276

My fiancée and I had been planning this trip for months. Nothing was going to stop me from going, not even getting fired two days beforehand (that's a different story). We checked, double checked, and checked again that we had everything and then some of what we would need on a week long vacation to the Outer Banks on the East coast of North Carolina. We had been watching the weather closely and determined Hurricane Helene would make land fall after we landed, so the trip was a go. Kristy had never flown before, and I had never flown as an a...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The worst date ever, that was indeed unexpected” by Deloise Gambrell

Submitted to Contest #276

I stumbled upon him in the vast realm of the internet about two months before our eagerly awaited in-person meeting. From that moment, I felt an electric connection as we engaged in daily conversations, sometimes even twice daily, deepening our bond. Our talks became a comforting ritual, rich with laughter and vulnerability, allowing us to peel back the layers of our lives and aspirations. Our relationship embarked on a slow yet thrilling journey, igniting a sense of excitement within me. Both of us were acutely aware, drawing from our datin...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Be Bold” by S Q

Submitted to Contest #276

[references casual sex, and surviving car accident] Once, in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm leaving work on a Friday night. That day being at a dungeon where I've had a notably fun session with a client. Kinda in the mood, I have this yearning for excitement and satisfaction—but figure I should just get to bed: I have six hours of physically demanding art modeling poses the next day starting 9am, and then plans for a date with a woman whom I've promised playtime with. So I bike to the nearest subway thinking, let it go....

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about an encounter with someone new to you who changed your life forever.

Nonfiction – 105 stories

Write about something you do now that has become routine, but that the old you — or friends and family from your past — would never believe if they couldn’t witness it today with their own eyes.

Nonfiction – 22 stories

Write about a relationship or friendship that was unexpected or so outside your usual type that you kept it a secret from your loved ones. (Bonus points if it didn’t stay secret for long!)

Nonfiction – 23 stories

Write about a time you approached a situation with one strong feeling or belief, only to have your perspective shift completely by the end.

Nonfiction – 42 stories

Contest #276

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Unlikely Encounters with Narratively

$250

Prize money

229

Contest entries

110

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 15, 2024 EST

Won by Maxwell Brooks 🏆

Title: They haven't even won my heart and mind

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write about a date you went on that took an unexpected turn.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 37 stories

“Crumbs of Love” by Laura Ethington

“Suddenly We” by Claudia Batiuk

“The Subtle Irk” by Anna Fothergill

“Slightly Charred” by Alex Kamczyc

“Stalking Over Grinds” by Tamara Lieberman

“So Far Away” by Marion Cohen

“A Little Evil” by Melissa Cote

“The Bermuda Triangle of California” by Tanya Humphreys

“An Antique Scar ” by Victoria B.

“Friends and Dates” by Marco Damiano

“We Were Supposed To” by Laura Katie Elphee

“Starbucks Apple” by John Nichols

“Chaos Among Calm Waters” by D.J. Schriefer

“The worst date ever, that was indeed unexpected” by Deloise Gambrell

“Be Bold” by S Q

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about an encounter with someone new to you who changed your life forever.

Write about something you do now that has become routine, but that the old you — or friends and family from your past — would never believe if they couldn’t witness it today with their own eyes.

Write about a relationship or friendship that was unexpected or so outside your usual type that you kept it a secret from your loved ones. (Bonus points if it didn’t stay secret for long!)

Write about a time you approached a situation with one strong feeling or belief, only to have your perspective shift completely by the end.

Contest #276

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

229

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: