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

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?

✍️ 104 stories

“Soul Connection ” by Maybri Boyle

Submitted to Contest #276

I had entered the room with an authenticity that I had only just acquired in myself. I was at a good place in my life where I was content, hopeful, and my future felt promising. I'm pretty sure it was happiness I was feeling. Throughout life I had felt it here and there, of course, as we all do, at birthdays, fun times with friends, and vacations, but now I was feeling it all the time, even when I was down. Happiness reminded me of my humanity and encouraged me to feel but not to dwell; it waited for me on the other side of sadness, holding ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Surfer Poet” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #276

What brought us together? We couldn’t have been more different when we first met.Even being female was not really something we had in common as we were at the opposite ends of that scale, as far apart as if we belonged to different species.She danced into the windowless classroom in the maze of Adams Humanities in a swirl of colourful clothing, already conversing with several other students as easily as breathing, even to the boys, maybe especially to them actually, reflecting back on it. From snatches of conversation, I understood that...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Thank you Henry!” by Bracy Ratcliff

Submitted to Contest #276

Any other night, Dad was at the table waiting for us, his four sons, when Mom called us in for supper. Tonight, Dad was on the phone so as we walked into the kitchen, Mom did that “shhh” thing with her finger in front of her lips. We quickly quieted down and found our seats at the table. We could hear Dad talk, but he wasn’t saying much, “Ok, sure, I understand. Ok, I’ll let them know. Ok, thanks.” He untangled the stretchy phone cord and hung the handset back in its cradle on the wall. He quickly settled i...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Even the lost can be found.” by Tammie Williams

Submitted to Contest #276

(Trigger warning: This story depicts mental issues, drug abuse and homelessness.)It was early evening when my phone rang. I answered to the frantic voice of my ex-girlfriend's current partner. "I need your help. Dee has been gone for three days." My heart sank.I knew before she told me Dee must be on a binge. Dee had a drug issue. When we dated it was alcohol, but after the break-up she turned to harder stuff. Of course she tried to blame me, the breakup, anything to not take accountability for her own actions. ...

3 comments 3

Read story

“High School Sweethearts” by Rene Grandon

Submitted to Contest #276

High School Sweethearts They say memory is an art, a blend of what we know and what we feel. Some details are as clear as yesterday; others soften with time. For us, the story began in February 1985, during our high school days in Canton, Texas. It was a chance encounter—or a series of them—that led to a connection we never expected. The Monday after Valentine’s Day, February 18, I went to tryouts for the UIL one-act play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Two of my best friends convinced me to leave my comfort zone. We’d always embraced our ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Echoes in the Café” by Alina Greta Olaru

Submitted to Contest #276

Echoes in the Café That small corner café had been my refuge for years. Since I began working for the local newspaper, I would come here whenever I needed inspiration or just a break from my mind. The café’s comforting familiarity - the rich aroma of coffee, the murmur of conversations, the worn wooden tables polished by years of hands resting idly on them - had always been a balm. But that day, for reasons I couldn't quite explain, the place felt different, charged with an indescribable energy. I sank into my usual corner by the window, inh...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Little Less Conversation” by Ed Kemplar

Submitted to Contest #276

I never got many opportunities to go out. Tammy hated me stepping outside the house at night, just in case I might do something heinous, like enjoy myself. I wasn't completely downtrodden, it was just easier to acquiesce to her demands than to fight against them. She was a terrible sulker and could hold grudges for months. She used them like a cosh to stop me in my tracks during arguments, of which there were plenty. The usual outcome saw me apologising for something I couldn´t remember saying or doing, followed by a...

5 comments 5

Read story

“I'll meet you at the Met” by Nico Rivera

Submitted to Contest #276

Forecasts had all claimed that Bostonians were likely to see their first snowfall of the year this October morning. As I stepped out the door onto the deserted streets of 4:30 AM, I was relieved to see that their predictions, at least so far, had been wrong. It was dark, freezing, and way too early to be conscious, but none of that mattered because today was the day I'd been waiting for. Today I’d make my first trip to New York City to see the tenor of all tenors in Verdi’s masterpiece at none other than the Metropolitan Opera House. I...

1 comment 1

Read story

“A Lifetime in Fifteen Minutes” by Teddy Kwan

Submitted to Contest #276

Lee looked at his watch before stepping into the airport's arrivals hall. It was midday exactly, and he noticed that the flight from Loas had just landed. Hence, the hall was full of travellers clearing passport control.‘Good,’ Lee said to himself, ‘time to check whether the officers on the morning shift and on duty were on the ball and processing the incoming tourists efficiently.Lee was scanning the hall full of incoming passengers and wondering if he needed to go into the staff room to get more of his people into arrivals to help with the...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The School With No Uniform” by Alex Marmalade

Submitted to Contest #276

It was a Monday morning in 1990, the year that Saddam Hussein invaded our home in The Gulf. I was 9 years old. My brother Ethan was 7. My sister Claire was 3. My older brother Gideon - who liked to be called Ronnie - was not with us, but he was 14. My mother was 36 years old and struggling with the weight of an 8-month pregnancy. We were newly arrived in England, the country I was born in after my parents escaped the regime of His Excellency, President for Life Idi Amin Dada, The Last King of Scotland, in order for my father to complete...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Sadie, Crystalline” by A.T. Westbrook

Submitted to Contest #276

I'm running on the least sleep I've had in years. For the past week, I've found myself drifting off for an hour or two each night before anxiety pries my eyelids open to scour the ceiling for answers, reading mysteries in the shadows and cracked wood. I'm not even sure about the question. In between my girl's dream-laden breaths beside me, phantoms whisper to me, taunting. Do something, they jeer, if you can figure out what it is you need to do. And so their derision sets the tone for my sleeplessness. And as my mind races around the darkene...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Camera's Favorite Vixen” by G S Martin

Submitted to Contest #276

It was a beautiful ceremony filled with love and light. Blanche was her Christian name, Blanche White Horse. The beloved matriarch of the tribe. 112 years old. Some say she’s a dozen years older than that. Mother, Grandmother, Great, and Great Great to scores of tribal members, living and dead. &...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Little Lord FIsh” by White Buffalo

Submitted to Contest #276

I first met Geo in the Fall of my last year of high school, when the promise of the future is guaranteed. I was jogging by the retention pond and he was fishing for treasure in it, using a net hauling garbage out of the water with intense professionality. I passed by him over a bridge when "STRACK!" He had hurled his net and impending trash out in front of me.My first thought was that he was going to ask me for money. I had been warned about vagrants in this park by my parents and teachers at the high school. I learned later that he was only...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Unforgettable” by Pamela Blair

Submitted to Contest #276

SOUTHERN SUDAN, APRIL, 1973 I was traveling overland from Cairo to Tanzania, now heading down to Sudan, finally “black Africa.” I used every means of transport available, on a boat across Lake Nasser, often on trains that died for hours each afternoon in the hot Saharan sun, or on overloaded lorries, standing in the rear with thirty Africans. Or, sitting atop overloaded cargo, some possibly boxes of weapons, empty beer bottles or whatever people needed to move. It was over a year and a half since I’d left the US, and at times I had wo...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Girl with the Ocean eyes” by Allison Roe

Submitted to Contest #276

I was a loser. I was a too-tall, overweight, closeted girl with no social skills. I had spent two years trapped inside the house with my family hiding from an illness that was killing millions of people. I spent those two years playing Minecraft, watching any people skills I had slowly crumple into nothing, and fighting with my sister. My parents decided it was time for a change so they packed up our home in the big city to move us across the country to a small town that was centered around its high school and middle school. I had long...

1 comment 1

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Nonfiction – 37 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 – 20 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

226

Contest entries

109

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 104 stories

“Soul Connection ” by Maybri Boyle

“Surfer Poet” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

“Thank you Henry!” by Bracy Ratcliff

“Even the lost can be found.” by Tammie Williams

“High School Sweethearts” by Rene Grandon

“Echoes in the Café” by Alina Greta Olaru

“A Little Less Conversation” by Ed Kemplar

“I'll meet you at the Met” by Nico Rivera

“A Lifetime in Fifteen Minutes” by Teddy Kwan

“The School With No Uniform” by Alex Marmalade

“Sadie, Crystalline” by A.T. Westbrook

“The Camera's Favorite Vixen” by G S Martin

“Little Lord FIsh” by White Buffalo

“Unforgettable” by Pamela Blair

“The Girl with the Ocean eyes” by Allison Roe

🌟 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 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: