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

“Spoiler alert” by Lady Kay

Submitted to Contest #276

I met Folagbade in the strangest of ways. And let me tell you, I am no stranger to meeting charming men in unexpected places and in unusual ways. But I digress. When I met Folagbade, I was on my way to Nairobi to attend a conference on behalf of my employers. My work hours were long and brutal, and the role was challenging, making me question my entire life and exciting in a way that made it impossible to turn down weekend assignments and after-hours tasks. I ended up in the airport lounge by chance. After I cleared security, I went o...

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“June 23rd” by Garrett McFarren

Submitted to Contest #276

I hate weddings. I’m just not a fan. Everything about them makes me nervous. What if he drops the ring? What if it doesn’t fit? Is that a rain cloud? Someone’s got to secure that giant piece of poster board that keeps flying away. I guess it’s beautiful, I get it. it signifies eternal unity, but I feel like that could be done without putting on a show that, if you fuck it up, will be the only thing talked about at the reception as your guests stuff their faces with grabcakes and champagne. That’s why seventeen-year-old me didn’t go to my gir...

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“How did it happen?” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #276

How did it happen? It was one of those bright spring mornings. You could almost hear the resin rising in the trunks of the trees overhanging the streets. I was on my way to shop at the local market. I had just turned down a narrow street when I noticed a young woman standing in a doorway. She appeared to be waiting for a taxi. I did no...

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“The talented guitarist ” by Joan Earley

Submitted to Contest #276

Hart was the cousin of our cousins, the Gunneys. Auntie Sylvie was my mom’s favorite sister and so we spent a lot of time in the summers with the Gunneys: swimming in their little circular pool, staying in their house in their scenic English coastal village. The Gunney kids were older than us and we were in awe of them. They had lots of friends, they went windsurfing, they stuck up for one another. In time, they even started drinking and smoking. They were demonstrably cooler than our other cousins. The main contact was Daisy, th...

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“Book, Club, Best friends” by Lillian Eason

Submitted to Contest #276

Walking down the 300 hallway at Dryden high school, my heavy backpack making my back ache and my tongue swiping over my teeth trying to dislodge the food stuck there from lunch, my eyes were roving over the new faces all around me. Why on planet earth did they put band class right after lunch?! My reeds are going to be made of mold, and my clarinet too! I thought angrily. I was a short freshman in Dryden high school. I had my straight, blonde hair back in a braid as usual, my gray, college sized backpack painfully hanging from my shoulders.&...

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“Method of Loci” by Silvestri Author

Submitted to Contest #276

Method of LociSilvestriMy palace has been gloomy as of late,It was left in a dark and dreary state.Stepping through my ego’s athenaeum,Art decorates the walls like a museum.Depictions of my conquests and follies,Including a few tragic volleys.There is one hall of particular note,To a single impetus I devote.The fire of my mind shines only here,A singular focus, I find queer.Paintings, mosaics, statues dedicated,A show too grand for what's delegated. Beneath dim light, these walls breathe and they sigh,A mausoleum for dreams gone awry.Each re...

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“I once knew a priest” by Laura Monsonis

Submitted to Contest #276

I once knew a priest. I remember when my mother told me that I would have to go to mass for two years to be confirmed. I instantly started complaining, to which I received a blunt response: “You will go.”With this, the conversation was settled and as usual, no debate arose. So, a few weeks later I found myself at the doors of the church. It was not a church like the others, large and solemn, in fact, if you did not pay attention you would pass it by. Small and rectangular, that church was swallowed up between two large buildings. As decorati...

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“working title and new emotions ” by Hillary Bejar

Submitted to Contest #276

One The air grew heavy at the nursing home. People come in and out. The sound of the wheelchairs being spread and folded, footsteps and chatter. This air of movement and chaos never bothered me before, but on this particular day it was unbearable. My head was spinning, my throat felt warm and I had never long for the pricking ice cold air from winter. I thought I was coming down with something; a virus, the appendix, my brain has finally exploded with all my thinking. I entered my boss's office and she greeted me with the usual a...

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“Haunted backpack” by Rodica Aculov

Submitted to Contest #276

In a small, secluded school on the edge of a misty village, a young boy named Michael was known for carrying around an old, battered backpack that seemed to be held together by hope and a few frayed threads. Inherited from his older brother, the backpack had seen far better days. The zipper dangled uselessly, one pocket was permanently jammed, and the fabric bore signs of countless journeys—yet Michael brought it with him every day, tucking his precious few books and crumpled notes inside as best he could. His family couldn’t afford a new on...

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“A Ray of Encouragement ” by Anthony Andrés

Submitted to Contest #276

I felt my heartbeat quicken as I heard the ringback tone. One hand was absentmindedly playing with the curly cord, while the other was holding a piece of paper with a number on it. I regretfully stared at the ten digits as the ringing continued. Making phone calls already stressed me out, and the fact that I was about to interview a famous stranger added to my anxiety. “Why am I making this call?” I mentally lamented, even though I knew exactly who was at fault for my current panic attack. A couple of weeks before I picked up the phone...

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“There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do” by Zeeshan Mahmud

Submitted to Contest #276

Note: Contains mention of drug use and mild reference of trauma and mental health issues and swear words"For with God nothing is ever impossible." -Luke 1:37"Anything is possible," I say around 2003 long before my hospitalization during my stint as a graveyard security guard at a pharma lab in Irvine. "I mean Beyonce can just walk right in."I mean theoretically it's not improbable. Just like the odds of being dealt a royal flush is 1 in 649,739, or 0.000154% or as much as statistically impossible it is, people do still get it you know.T...

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“The Premed” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #276

I remember her name, first and last, but I can’t write it because that would be a violation of patient privacy. Of course, she wasn’t my patient, because I didn’t have my own patients yet, but a violation nonetheless. There is a chance I only remember her name because I went on two dates with her son – an awkward first date lunch at a diner during which I felt no spark whatsoever and at the end of which we split the bill and inexplicably then a second date comprised of watching Pan’s Labyrinth in his musty apartment which I...

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“The Days We Met” by Qianna Li

Submitted to Contest #276

IWe met at a local wine bar on a quiet street, the windows aglow with warm light in the chilly autumn night.I was three minutes late. As per the Scandinavian stereotype, he was startlingly punctual, already seated at a cosy corner table by the time I arrived. He stood to greet me. Tall and slim, with shoulder-length blond hair, a well-kept beard and dark-framed glasses. I went in for a hug (I'd asked over text if that would be fine) and accidentally knocked my head against his.I hadn't felt nervous about a first date in a while. Back home, I...

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“My Rock” by Jaime Carroll

Submitted to Contest #276

I had just gone through a bad break up with an emotionally and mentally abusive ex and wanted to focus on myself. But my mom had other plans. She wanted me to meet the family friend’s nephew. You’d think this was the story but far from it. He was in town on break from his college in Orlando, Florida. I was messed up mentally, emotionally and made the poor decision to date this guy after not knowing him at all. But I looked at colleges in Orlando. I wanted to do something with video games for a while now and found a college in Orlando w...

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“What Friends Do” by Kayce Vale

Submitted to Contest #276

The water was screaming. Every inch of my body turned deep red and every scratch on my arms turned a pale white. Dead skin. I was wrapped in dead skin. I turned the shower off and let myself evaporate. “How long have I stood in this tub?”, I thought, “An hour? A year?” The towel was draped over the shower rod. I wrapped myself tightly. The towel bound my dead skin back into a working body. The towel was beige and scratchy. Flakes of skin latched to the fibres. I pulled the soggy curtain back a little. Cool air attacked my fingers and...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 104 stories

“Spoiler alert” by Lady Kay

“June 23rd” by Garrett McFarren

“How did it happen?” by David Nutt

“The talented guitarist ” by Joan Earley

“Book, Club, Best friends” by Lillian Eason

“Method of Loci” by Silvestri Author

“I once knew a priest” by Laura Monsonis

“working title and new emotions ” by Hillary Bejar

“Haunted backpack” by Rodica Aculov

“A Ray of Encouragement ” by Anthony Andrés

“There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do” by Zeeshan Mahmud

“The Premed” by Maria Avisal

“The Days We Met” by Qianna Li

“My Rock” by Jaime Carroll

“What Friends Do” by Kayce Vale

🌟 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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