Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted.

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 120 stories

“The End, Less Possibilities” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #66

Trigger warning: abuse “Where do you think you're gonna go?” her husband sputters, blindsided by his wife’s packed bags at the bottom of the stairs. “It doesn’t matter,” she replies, dead-eyed and somber. She puts on her coat, the black one, the one for special occasions. “The kids—” “The kids are thirty,” she says, turning away from him to gather her things. “They have their lives. Now you have yours.” Flummoxed, her husband racks his bourbon-soaked brain for anything—anything to stop this thing he cannot control. This is so un...

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“Triscin and Muz: A Duet :) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #66

Triscin sat on the porch of the Colorado cabin, his arms heavy inside the coat Eleanor had returned to him as he left the hospital. He stared down at the phone in his hands. He’d been scrolling through old pictures and thinking of deleting them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Every time his finger got close to that dreaded trash can, every time he got close to shredding another strip from the paper mache sculpture he’d become, he froze. It was impossible. Triscin was looking at a picture he and Eleanor had taken on their way to Colo...

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“teethfallingoutdream.org” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #66

I woke up stinking and sweaty, hot under my armpits and between my thighs, my mouth drained of moisture. It happened again, the teeth dream. I was climbing the stairs of a rickety lighthouse, talking to someone pretty. It’s a horrible feeling, putting your fingers in your mouth, your nails confirming what your tongue already knew: the hardest, most stable structure of your body is wobbling. You just want to get it over with then, and yank on the tooth. This time, a big chunk came out, a molar, blackened on the bottom. There...

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“Friction” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #66

Cate told him she was pregnant on a Saturday evening. She said it with glistening eyes and hands folded protectively over her stomach. She looked at him, expecting something but receiving nothing. John dabbed the napkin on his lips. “Excuse me,” he pardoned, and rose from his seat. Cate watched him walk towards the bathrooms. In the car, driving back to their apartment, Cate let her hand sit on John’s shoulder. “What do you think?” “What do you mean?” John asked carelessly, his eyes flying all over the road. Cate ...

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“Extraordinary ” by Palak Shah

Submitted to Contest #66

Happy is what I feel now, just being here makes me cry with joy. In life there are many lessons that you learn such as “be kind” or “live life to the fullest” and these are good life messages; but they weren’t mine that is because until the age of 14 I didn’t even have my own life. I grew up in the middle of Somalia: a destitute village with no mum just an inexorable dad. I can remember this day as vividly as anything else: it was the day that change my whole life. Walking home with the cattle, it caught my eye. A poster. As I walked...

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“Broken Verses” by Radhika Diksha

Submitted to Contest #66

His eyes spoke it all. The warmth, the lust, and the innocence in his feeling spoke everything. In all these 15 years, I was lying to myself. It's high time now, I have to break my life to complete my dreams.I called Tanya, she was my lawyer. She covered all the cases that were against me.My name was more on high profile cases rather than on educational degrees.And all I had done this was for Aryaman. I loved him 15 years back and I still love him now, but in all these years I forgot to love myself.Tanya, please pick up the phone, it ha...

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“The Little Girl Who Could” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #66

“I think I can. I think I can,” said the little train that could. “Whoo, whoo!” “I know I can. I know I can,” said the little girl and she did. This is the story of a train, a girl, a book, and time. Sometimes a person makes a dramatic life change in order to pursue a secret goal. Maybe the change was expected by people surrounding this person, but the reason leading up to it was not obvious. When we find out why somebody moves halfway around the planet or sells everything in order to live with very few material items, we ofte...

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“Irreconcilable Differences” by Amy St. Pierre

Submitted to Contest #66

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Logan asked, pen poised above the sheet of paper that he was about to sign. “Yes,” Kate replied. She stood leaning against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes fixated on the Trump 2020 banner hanging outside the house, blowing lightly in the breeze. She’d never been more sure of anything.*“Don’t blame yourself,” Jenn had said ...

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“Becoming” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #66

Spindle, shuttle, weft. Warp, woof, shaft. It never stops, the relentless clacking clack of the shuttle sailing forth and back. Factory work. The never ending weaving of tapestries on loom after loom as far down the mill as eyes may see. Endlessly busy, we have job security with a bullet. We start early and work our way down the line. The beginners, the newbies, called worms, are at one end. Old timers, OTs, tend the other. And then they’re gone. ‘Nuff said. But it’s a fact we’re all worms. Even the old timers don’t know what they’re doin...

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“The Three of Us” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #66

Our family has always liked to joke – except it’s not really a joke – that we were known as The Firm long years before the Royals took on that nickname. But of course it’s not said disrespectfully. We are all monarchists and heaven help anyone who says otherwise. It’s one of our traditions. One of the few I could talk about. And we use words like Prince and Princess about ourselves, too. I was always Dad’s little princess. Nothing was too good for me. He sent me to an expe...

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“THE JOURNEY ” by Taiwo Bello

Submitted to Contest #66

Melissa Effiong was on the verge of anger, seeing all the distant relatives at the reading of her mother's will. They were never there when her mum was struggling with the intense chemotherapy due to the advanced stage of her ovarian cancer. Was she in the position of questioning how her uncles, aunties, cousins, and numerous relatives were never there for her mum? She didn't exactly have a smooth relationship with her, but she was at least there for her during the advanced stage of her sickness. Or was she not? Of course, she was there, she...

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“The Script” by Iris Silverman

Submitted to Contest #66

“Mary Waverly! Supper’s ready!” My 5’1” blue eyed, platinum blonde-haired mother was standing at the bottom of the stairs with her apron on, every hair miraculously held in its place behind her pastel pink ribbon of a headband. Somehow, after making homemade macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, and sweet corn bread, her linen pants were spotless, and her pink button down was free of wrinkles or food stains. I shook my head at the memory of her attempts to teach me how to cook like her. Flashbacks of her reprimands played in my mind a...

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“Dear Future Me” by ℂ𝕁 𝕄.

Submitted to Contest #66

December 29th 2017 Dear future me, Sophie Bryant started writing, do things ever get easier? Friends, family, drama? Sophie has been through a lot and only being nine makes it even harder. When Sophie was three her parents got divorced, and still find a way to fight, when she was six her older sister died making her an only child, when she was seven she had cancer. When she makes friends not long after they disappear into a new life just leaving her in the dust with no one to go to. She filled the paper up with questions and quickly shove...

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“To be a Thespian” by ❤️✒️𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓔. 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮📝❤️

Submitted to Contest #66

*Author’s Note* Do NOT send emails to the address below! They belong to real people, apparently. Or rather, if you do choose to, don’t mention me, please! “My biggest accomplishment to this date is quitting my job,” said the random inspirational speaker I was watching on YouTube. My mother always tells me that these videos are “a great way to broaden my horizons.” Personally, I think that she just wants me out of her hair. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why. Observe: To: lyndsaydaniels13@gma...

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“The Sad Little Prince.” by Len Mooring

Submitted to Contest #66

Once upon a very long time ago, a very good but very mad macho king, with his beautiful queen, had a son. The son went full term, but at the popping-out time, weighed only 2 pounds, and 2 and one-quarter ounces. The king immediately decided against circumcision, because of the weight factor, his son needed that quarter ounce. It was bad enough his kingdom was the smallest kingdom that ever existed, but he now had a son that seemed to be tailor-made to eventually rule it. The king, had upon witnessing this tiny morsel of humanity,...

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Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 120 stories

“The End, Less Possibilities” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“Triscin and Muz: A Duet :) ” by Jubilee Forbess

“teethfallingoutdream.org” by Masha Kurbatova

“Friction” by Scout Tahoe

“Extraordinary ” by Palak Shah

“Broken Verses” by Radhika Diksha

“The Little Girl Who Could” by Kathleen March

“Irreconcilable Differences” by Amy St. Pierre

“Becoming” by John K Adams

“The Three of Us” by Deborah Mercer

“THE JOURNEY ” by Taiwo Bello

“The Script” by Iris Silverman

“Dear Future Me” by ℂ𝕁 𝕄.

“To be a Thespian” by ❤️✒️𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓔. 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮📝❤️

“The Sad Little Prince.” by Len Mooring

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with one character telling another, “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”

Halfway through a fierce competition, your character is given the opportunity to cheat their way to victory: do they take it?

Write about a contest with life or death stakes.

Write about a character who’s finally on the verge of achieving their lifelong dream.

Contest #66

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

584

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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