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

Posted in Nonfiction on Nov 8, 2024

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✍️ 104 stories

“The Missing Key to an Unlikely Door” by Sheri Dollin

Submitted to Contest #276

I waded in an ocean of bewildering thoughts about what plagued my fifty-eight-year-old sister. She became brittle, then, cracked. In a frantic race against time, I watched a loving vibrant woman transform into a grotesque, odorous, illogical, frail, homeless person. Always a character that moved to her own beat, years of resistance shrouded in secrecy to signs of life’s hiccups left questions for mysterious changes unanswered. After Beryl found her husband dead on the living room floor, the unsteadiness of her grief took on a darker pa...

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“I Was Only” by Katie Mobley

Submitted to Contest #276

I was only a baby when I first met my mother.The memories of that day never really stayed with me, but I can assume I was crying. Thick baby tears slipping down my chubby baby cheeks.Her holding me tight, whispering that she loved me as my father held her shoulders, murmuring his love and awe at me.My big doe eyes looking up at her charming face wondering,"Who is this person? Who am I?"Then her bringing my small, swaddled body up to her face, kissing my face all over until my cries turn to laughter."Katie" she would whisper, "Mama loves you....

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“Recess Friends” by Taylor Morden

Submitted to Contest #276

When I was growing up, I had a hard time making friends. My dad had passed away when I was five, leaving an empty hole and a strange little girl behind. Most of my days were spent playing and then forgetting, and I rarely seemed to live in the reality others did. The play structure in the middle of the yard seemed to be towering over all us little kids, and by grade two I only had about three friends to spend my time with. Although life was pretty simple, I had no way of knowing it was about to get a bit more dramatic. It was a bright sunny...

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“True Crime” by Natalie Mead

Submitted to Contest #276

In late October of 2019, I sat in the ER waiting room with a white plastic bracelet dangling around my wrist. I was two months into my first-ever migraine and I was waiting to be seen. I was also waiting for the arrival of someone I barely knew.The waiting room was much smaller than I’d imagined for serving San Francisco’s largest research hospital, with just enough space for a vending machine, a reception desk encased in glass, and a couple dozen chairs. Between the chairs and the desk was a swinging, screeching door that led back into the ...

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“Self-Improvement” by Jennifer Addison

Submitted to Contest #276

I’m finishing my last set of crunches at the gym, after a grueling training session, when one of my students, Courtney, texts me: “Well, we don’t have a way to shower tonight.” Damn. I don’t have time for this. I still have two miles to put in on the treadmill before I hit the steam room. The phone rings—incoming call from said student. Ignore. I only gave my fifth grade students my direct phone number because we lost a fellow teacher at school this year. The grief was abundant for all of us. I knew they would need an outlet. I didn’t expect...

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“Falling by Default” by Stevie Burges

Submitted to Contest #276

Sam had just received an email from Amy, the daughter of a recently deceased friend. Sam had never met the daughter and, frankly, was unlikely to. In the email, Amy, recently reaching her 50th year, wrote to tell Sam about rejoining the dating scene. After exchanging a dozen emails with Amy about the single life, she finally admitted that, at 70, finding romance wasn’t exactly on her agenda… or so she’d thought. Quite honestly, looking at the average 70-year-old male didn’t appeal. Not only was it unlikely that the experience ...

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“An act of Kindness” by Kristina Hopper

Submitted to Contest #276

Grief is such a difficult construct. One that a human layers with differing views of timelines, guidance, and social acceptance. When someone passes away in our culture, we bury them in the ground after a series of services preluding the burial and we try to find solace that our loved ones are in what we deem to be a better place. Grief has been a difficult construction for me. On January 3rd, every year, for the rest of my life that day will be a solemn remin...

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“I Guess You Could Call This a Love Letter” by Milly Orie

Submitted to Contest #276

My sister would laugh if she read this. I can see it now–her eyes crinkling up, her mouth wide, her white teeth showing. She would snort at the humor in it all. “Milly, that’s so dumb,” she might say, forgetting the number of unsent letters she’s written to boy after boy.I can’t say I blame her; she’s simply not in my head. She doesn’t know what you meant to me, once. It’s impossible for her to know.You might laugh, too, if you knew. Awkwardly, maybe, desperately trying to find a way out of the conversation, desperately trying to regain...

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“In the Footsteps of the White Rabbit” by Sophie Jackson

Submitted to Contest #276

The heavy door softly closed behind me, eliminating the sounds of the busy Parisian street beyond. The buzz of everyday life, the honking horns, the clatter of feet, the shouts of irate drivers as someone performed a near lethal manoeuvre on the cramped roads, disappeared in an instant.Around me the smoked glass, tall mirrors, and ornately decorated walls of the restaurant seemed to take me into another time, far removed from modern, twenty-first century Paris. The film crew were setting up in a small side room, hushed voices echoing the sil...

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“Adopted Grandparents” by Brittany James

Submitted to Contest #276

My mom called to me from our house, which stood on a hill surrounded by fifty miles of verdant forest in Pineville, Missouri. She couldn’t see where I was hiding at the base of an old pine tree. In my lap was a notebook filled with story ideas. I had been working on a story involving a princess who was captured in a prison. I closed it, thinking that I would never get to finish. My mom and dad were always calling me back into the house to clean something or to do my schoolwork, which was boring. All six of us homeschooled that year. As the e...

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“The Last Dolma” by Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #276

Note: many names have been changed because of privacy concerns. Ari died on July 5, 1976. He lived long enough for America to see its 200th birthday, but I doubt he was aware of it; he had been in a coma for two weeks.I cried during his funeral, as did his four brothers and sisters. His parents stared at the coffin being lowered into the ground, dry-eyed and, not surprisingly, seeming just a little bit smaller than they had been. The mom clung to her two youngest kids while the dad draped his two large arms around the eldest, squeezing their...

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“Christmas on the Ganges” by Daniel Ward

Submitted to Contest #276

I turned 21 awaitingMy Iran visaIn Istanbul “Go to Goa” mantraFilled my hopesAnd grabbed my soul The pie shops of Istanbul were full of backpackers. Listening. Speaking. Deciding. It’s not only a geographical crossroads, the gateway from Europe to Asia. On the Hippie Trail of the 1970s, Istanbul was the place to fish or cut bait: head overland to India or call it a gap year and go home. We’d linger over Turkish coffee or tea, playing games with matchsticks or folding paper swans out of gum wrappers as we listened to one colorful pilgrim or a...

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“From Andes to Amazon, How I Met Gil” by Alison Noni

Submitted to Contest #276

Yawar, our leader and guide, was undeniably drunk. The farewell party for the volunteer team we had traveled through the Andes with, ended on a sour note. Yawar had capitalized on his partner’s absence by flirting with the Australian girls. His behavior was entirely inappropriate. The young women were disgusted by his sloppy affections. I monitored him closely, ready to intervene if the girls needed me.Yawar’s girlfriend, Chaska, was also a certified guide. She had left Cusco that morning to deliver her son to his father’s house in another c...

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“Meeting Old Man Winter” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #276

As I sit here, like all writers do, hiding the truth within beautiful lies, I reach far back at your promptings; far back to the time when someone changed my life. It is hard as a writer of fiction, to tell the truth. We pretend to be so many people and when it comes to the truth, we get so good at burying it in our stories, that it is difficult to share it accurately. I find it hard even in church to share my testimony (my story of coming to Christ) because it requires me to be honest. So, I will pretend to tell you as a friend, the story o...

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“Sister” by Laura Zientek

Submitted to Contest #276

I don’t remember our first meeting but if family lore is to be believed, I was so taken by her that I offered up my most prized possession at our first encounter. The blanket was softened from repeated washings. It was covered on one side in the bright pastel emotions of the Care Bears and on the other with a soft silky fabric, a texture and feeling so ingrained in me that I will likely seek it out as a comfort for the rest of life. I have a good reason for not remembering this encounter as I was not even two at the time and m...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 104 stories

“The Missing Key to an Unlikely Door” by Sheri Dollin

“I Was Only” by Katie Mobley

“Recess Friends” by Taylor Morden

“True Crime” by Natalie Mead

“Self-Improvement” by Jennifer Addison

“Falling by Default” by Stevie Burges

“An act of Kindness” by Kristina Hopper

“I Guess You Could Call This a Love Letter” by Milly Orie

“In the Footsteps of the White Rabbit” by Sophie Jackson

“Adopted Grandparents” by Brittany James

“The Last Dolma” by Astrid Skarsgaard

“Christmas on the Ganges” by Daniel Ward

“From Andes to Amazon, How I Met Gil” by Alison Noni

“Meeting Old Man Winter” by KC Foster

“Sister” by Laura Zientek

🌟 Similar prompts

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!)

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

226

Contest entries

109

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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