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

Posted in Nonfiction on Nov 8, 2024

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✍️ 42 stories

“The Wooden Duck, the Flashlight, and the Chew Bone” by Regina Arnold

Submitted to Contest #276

My morning routine is simple. Before my feet hit the floor, I thank God for waking me up today. I thank Him for His love, another day of life, and whatever it may bring. I thank Him for my well-being and that of my family and friends. After that, I make my way to the kitchen and start the coffeemaker. I love my morning coffee! On my way to the kitchen, I pass two tall bookcases in the living room. It’s still dark, so the only light I see is the glow from a salt lamp, which I notice is slightly illuminating ...

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“The Encounter” by Kristine McCraw

Submitted to Contest #276

The EncounterI noticed the glassy eyes first, then her unsteady stance. Before she could speak, her son, William, rushed to the door to receive the box of food I was offering. She backed away demurely and unsure of my presence. I knew William from the mentor program, but this was the first time I met his mother. There was no father, only older siblings who had moved out of the apartment of this Title 8 housing complex. William thanked me and quickly bid me goodbye. I gave a cursory glance inside before leaving—two pieces of furniture and a s...

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“Milk Chocolate Summers” by Arora Gleans

Submitted to Contest #276

When I was younger I told my friends I liked dark chocolate—bitter dark chocolate, eighty-five percent cocoa. I found dark chocolate was sophisticated and elegant, so having an affinity for it decked me with maturity. Although I boldly conveyed my unique interest in the bitter and dry taste, somewhere buried inside, I truly loved milk chocolate. Not just any milk chocolate, but the most simple and effective kind. Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate. It was the very taste that imaginarily lingered on my tongue during the car ride Mummy and I took fr...

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“Devrishi” by Priyanjali Bhattacharyya

Submitted to Contest #276

Warning : Heartbreak, True factsI don’t remember anyone who wasn’t living in the slums, or getting orphaned at a young age or dealing with a congenital disease, telling me that their childhood was glum. I had none of these, I had great parents, and yet, my childhood was utterly depressing. I had no friends till I was in Class nine. I remember having a best friend when I was in Prep and Class one, but ultimately I had lost them. I barely spoke to anyone..So I won’t waste my time narrating my childhood days. I will just begin from the day I go...

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“Mother/Daughter relationship ” by Shermayne Webster

Submitted to Contest #276

It's that time. Time for my mom to give birth to me. A six-pound, twelve-ounce baby girl born to happy parents. My mom told me she had a hard time coming up with a name for a girl, so she named me after her uncle’s wife, Shermayne. As I look back on my baby photos, it was clear that I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up, whom I absolutely love and adore. She has her flaws, but that’s another story for another day. My parents ended up splitting when I was very young, around the ages of two to three, leaving my mom to become a s...

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“Valencia Street” by Michele Marsh

Submitted to Contest #276

This is a true story. We had literally just stepped in the doorway from our week-long vacation at Panama City, and I was already bored. My life was that of a typical teenager, where nothing riveting or sensational ever happened. After I put down my bags, my mom asked me to go pick up the mail from our next-door neighbor, Edie. She is a nice enough old lady, I thought, though I honestly did not know too much about her other than she was married (though her husband was rarely seen) and their adult son Abel, lived with th...

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“Willoughby” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #276

When you die, you die. Your once warm, pulsating heart putters out, your once ballooned lungs leak air, and the unit that had operated as a whole perfect machine of parts and pieces ceases to be. The blood inside your veins stops moving. The electricity in your brain fizzles. And then it’s just a matter of time until the rigor mortis, the decomposition, the “dust to dust” exit from Earth. It’s science. Or so I thought. I was raised Catholic, and brought up with the ideas of Heaven, Hell, angels, and the afterlife. If you were goo...

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“Forgiving Your Monster” by Zachary Roybal

Submitted to Contest #276

Forgiving your monster is something that is not new to those who have created one before. Yet, the experience is just the same I’ve learned and calculated. Experiments with different names but similar traits that make me think that I can cure any kind of illness, mental or otherwise, with time and my care. My most prized experiment that left me not only with the most amount of data was the one that also left me with the most amount of scars. My own Frankenstein… Frankenstein reached out to me after his last outburst that left me in shambles ...

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“Forgiving when you can't forget ” by Delaney Fairchild

Submitted to Contest #276

TW: mention of suicide, mental health, abuse I've questioned my existence in this life more times than I care to admit. I was born to teenage parents. I was the unwanted burden. I was the dream stealer and life ruiner. At least as far as my father is concerned. I've suffered a lot of trauma throughout my short time on this earth, mostly at my father's hands. Physical and emotional. It planted within me a seed of self doubt and a chip on my shoulder that only grew as the years passed and life dealt me more crappy cards. Resentment grew withi...

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“The Prometheum Pyramid and the Astronaut” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #276

In the year 2024, I went with Sally Padeira, an investigator with the Canadian Spacetime Agency, who led a research team to the Nazca region, tasked with documenting the apparently ancient Pyramid that had puzzled archaeologists and together we uncovered a statue within composed of a rare, meteorite-based alloy known only to a handful of scientists worldwide. She intended to bring back video footage and as much scientific data as possible on this unprecedented find.The statue stood in the heart of the Pyramid, so to speak, with its strange, ...

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“In Chicago” by Shi Shang

Submitted to Contest #276

I’d always despised my background. It wasn’t that life wasn’t peaceful. It was. The trouble was that along with peace came a sense of incurable boredom. Growing up in rural Illinois, I’d always envied the “city folk”. How perfect their lives seemed to be! A Michelin star restaurant a stone's throw away, luxury shops every corner, the 2.7 million people living in the beautiful city of Chicago that always made you feel a part of a larger community, that never made you feel lonely. And there was the money. All those jobs that people spo...

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“Once Upon A Time” by Betsy-Ann Toffler

Submitted to Contest #276

Once upon a time, when I was in my early 40s, after watching the running of the New York Marathon on television and witnessing the agony and ecstasy of those crossing the finish line, I was so moved that I promised myself I would run this fantastic thing someday before I was 60 years old. Years went by until one day in mid-December of 1999 when I was 58 years old, I realized that since I would be 59 the following October, if I was going to keep that promise to myself, I had to run the New York 2000 Marathon. I felt then that this ...

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“The Lingering Echo of Footsteps” by Jody Grawey

Submitted to Contest #276

The Lingering Echo of Footsteps It was a night I’ll never forget—my heart racing, my scream stuck in my throat, my entire body frozen in panic. The sound of those footsteps echo in my mind to this day. In the early 1970s, I was a carefree 21-year-old from the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, hungry for adventure. Much to my mother’s chagrin, it didn’t take much to entice me to explore Europe with just a backpack, tent, and the trusty 'Europe on $5 A Day' guidebook. So off I went. It felt like walking through the pages of a history book, only ev...

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“Greece, I will never forget you” by Filip Cucu

Submitted to Contest #276

It has always been rather tough for one like me, shy and often misplaced, always sitting gatherings out by the corner of everybody’s eyes, to get properly acquainted with strangers in a natural and fun way. I don’t know whether the impression I make on others is ever strong enough or too strong and I have always tried to be reserved and ‘play it safe’, so to speak. Whenever I choose to initiate a conversation or get to know someone else, I pick my words carefully and I make it through; however, if I am faced with an unexpectedly diffic...

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“Some Kid's Angst” by Fredrich TheFrogdrick

Submitted to Contest #276

What made you read this? It’s a stupid story. You should go back, choose something else, before you realize how silly this story is going to be. This is your last chance. I'm about to start droning on. … You’re still here? Why? Nevermind, I don’t want to know why. I don’t need to know that you’re only reading because you pity poor little me. I’ll pretend you’re reading because I’m good at writing. Even if you like my writing you might not like what I write about so I’ll warn you that this story isn’t worth the time it takes to read. Wh...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 42 stories

“The Wooden Duck, the Flashlight, and the Chew Bone” by Regina Arnold

“The Encounter” by Kristine McCraw

“Milk Chocolate Summers” by Arora Gleans

“Devrishi” by Priyanjali Bhattacharyya

“Mother/Daughter relationship ” by Shermayne Webster

“Valencia Street” by Michele Marsh

“Willoughby” by Nina H

“Forgiving Your Monster” by Zachary Roybal

“Forgiving when you can't forget ” by Delaney Fairchild

“The Prometheum Pyramid and the Astronaut” by David Dean

“In Chicago” by Shi Shang

“Once Upon A Time” by Betsy-Ann Toffler

“The Lingering Echo of Footsteps” by Jody Grawey

“Greece, I will never forget you” by Filip Cucu

“Some Kid's Angst” by Fredrich TheFrogdrick

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

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!)

Contest #276

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

110

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: