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

“A Message in Disguise - The Girl Who Wanted to Clean” by Isabella DJ

Submitted to Contest #66

“I didn’t do it because I didn’t love him. I mean, I didn’t love him, but that’s not why I did what I did. I did what I did because, well – actually, let me go back a bit. So, it was the year two-thousand-and-nineteen when it happened. See, I left my fiancé at my wedding. I know it seems like some cliché, corny movie, but it’s true. What happened is, as my dad walked me down the aisle, he whispered to me, “I’ll never stop loving you, my girl, but I’ll have something now that I’ve never had before: a court family.” See, both my parents worked...

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“Salt and Pepper” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

Billy Joel Salt and Pepper Having given up on life, humanity, because of its precipitous disdain for lost souls, he found himself once again stranded. Hitching was not what it once was, but then, what was. Nothing remains the same for a reason, he argued with himself, a means of distraction, as he continued his lonely existence on the outskirts of someplace along the route known as, the Coast Highway. Billy Joel believed there was opportunity everywhere he had not looked, and was convince...

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“BECOMING THE FORDS ” by Loud Paper

Submitted to Contest #66

The family house. Due to hardship and spiritual reasons most of the people in the family got married out of wedlock particulary the ladies, they settle in a small hut with their husband's together with their grandpa, he doesn't want them to disassociate themselves from each other. He's still wanna keep the family bond. Thoughtfully enough they all bought to his ideas but there's a hidden secret that holds their destiny in the house. The virtuous man He got everybody's back, he's head of the family though the youngest, he cares ...

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“I Hate Roses” by Kevin Schenk

Submitted to Contest #66

Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted. "Do you also have roses?" The man across me asks. If my eyes had the capability of rolling, they'd have been spinning. I answer this question so often each day, it drives me insane. "Yes, sir. To your right." I say in a cheery service voice, as I am accustomed to over the years. He gives me a smile of acknowledgement and starts perusing them. Roses, so uninspired but also our best seller. It is one of the only flowers that sells cons...

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“Stars In Her Eyes” by Cheryl Fulks

Submitted to Contest #66

Stars In Her Eyes Beatrice Cranapple spent most of her days entertaining her elderly mother. She was born late in her mother’s life with her childbearing years almost expired. Beatrice‘s father was absent from the time she was born. Some town folk gossiped that he was a traveling salesman, others stated he was forced to marry her mother by a shotgun wedding with an overbearing father. No one really knew of where he came from or where he went, even Beatrice. Her mother was no help in the identification of her father,...

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“The Soldier Queen” by Elizabeth Wenzel

Submitted to Contest #66

“Absolutely not! You are not going to war, Ari! I forbid it!” Queen Isodora protested, folding her arms in front of her chest. “So, you’re just going to discount my years and years of combat training?” I countered, leaning nonchalantly against her desk. “I’ve fought in countless wars before becoming a pillow princess. How is this one any different?” A crease formed between her brows as she tried to reason with m...

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“How loved I was. ” by Raza Adil

Submitted to Contest #66

"You want to be a what Dad?" Mirium eyed me as if I suddenly had three heads. The room was split between concern and confusion. It seemed as if everyone had just learned that I’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I let the silence fill the space and waited a while, until it became solid and the weight of it came crushing upon me. “An actor,” I looked outside the window at the waning sun, not wanting to meet their gazes yet. The tantalizing smell of kebabs and the sweet aroma of kheer wafted from the kitchen where the servants were b...

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“For a dream” by Adele Roman

Submitted to Contest #66

I wanted to read again. I’d forgotten what it was like to pick up a book and after a couple dull pages of introduction be swept up and sucked into a world that was not your own. A world of adventure. Escape. And when the book was over. Oh, when your eyes flittered down that last page. Drunk with impatience. When you read that last sentence. That last word. That final period and the book just about slipped from your hands. That feelingagain. That distinct feeling. I could not describe it to save my life. Fills you with wonder. Takes...

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“Somebody's home” by Carol Namorato

Submitted to Contest #66

He started acting suspicious a few weeks after the wedding. Friday nights were never spent at home. He told everyone he was sleeping alone. Too many job parties. A friend in common is all that it took. She found out the truth within a month. Her parents begged her not to say a word until the guilt was split from his own lips, until he regretted it all. But that never happened. So she remained in silence, not because she was forgiving, but because there was simply nothing to be said anymore. Because love was not even there anymore. ...

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“Living for Me” by Bernadette Beauchamp

Submitted to Contest #66

Alison was smiling as she let her mind wander. “I guess this is all part of work and getting along with coworkers,” she thought. This was her first real job in an office and she just wanted to make a good impression. She was prepared to work hard and keep track of deadlines, but listening to such rambling during lunch was something she had not thought about. She was sitting with Gloria and Rachel at the lunch table in the staff lounge of Roth and Roman's annex offices. They were part of the accounts receivable department that Alison was a pa...

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“A Whole New Life” by Naomi Spencer

Submitted to Contest #66

“And why didn’t you buy more beer?” Harmon asked for the third time, raising his eyebrows. His eyes had an unfocused look. He was drunk. “I told you. I’ve been too busy.” Michael and Amanda Rice, Harmon’s brother and sister-in-law, were watching the scene, embarrassed. “Busy doing what?” He said in his drunk voice, the words barely intelligible. “We have guests, and we don’t even have enough beer. It’s embarrassing, Emma,” he bayed, far too loudly for the deadly quietness of the room. “I feel embarrassed,” he insisted. An awkward pau...

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“Declaration of Independence” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #66

“I told you not to buy one!” “Sweetie, this is a good thing. We never have to work again.” “But I want to work! I don’t want to end up like her, you know that.” “This is insane. You’re the only person to ever complain about winning the lottery. Like, ever.” I virtually never argued with my husband. This was a very special case. For sure, he always acted like a bit of a gambler, overspending a little too much every time he went to the casino with his buddies; never enough for it to become problematic though. This time however, I speci...

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“Swine and Leghorn” by Madisson James

Submitted to Contest #66

The bell rang and Nan scooped up the books on the desk ready to charge for the door. She slipped clumsily and instead of charging through the door, she hooked her right foot around the leg of the lab stool. She went down. It wasn’t pretty. The books flew out from her arms to land noisily on the floor. The mid-term papers she had just collected from the class sprayed out across the front of the room. It was her own personal stage of embarrassment. And in case you were wondering-yes, the class was still in. Nan moved her neck slowly. She wa...

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“Crochet happiness” by Hana Alradai

Submitted to Contest #66

Everybody laughed. "You want to do what?" Logan the square face boy, like SpongeBob face pointed his finger to her. "What era you think you live in? Granny!" Logan's evil right hand friend Steve made a posture of an old woman with a stick. Melisa lowered her gaze and gathered her hands on her lap. Knuckles white, face red and legs tensed. "You poor thing. Did we hurt your feelings?" Logan glared at her. They were five and she was just an outsider. Kelly her friend or not, invited her to a study session. Mathematic...

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“Nel Mezzo Del Cammin di Nostra Vita/ Midway Along the Journey of Life’” by Brenda Liddy

Submitted to Contest #66

A Character Who Makes a Dramatic Life Change to Pursue a Goal They’ve Secretly Always Wanted Nel Mezzo Del Cammin di Nostra Vita/ Midway Along the Journey of Life’ Sarah was a middle aged woman and she was in a rut. She had attended a meditation retreat and she had been struck by the quotation from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy which was about waking up ‘midway along the journey of life’ and finding yourself in a dark wood, because the speaker had ‘wandered from the straight path’. As she was driving home to her apartment in Belfast, s...

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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

“A Message in Disguise - The Girl Who Wanted to Clean” by Isabella DJ

“Salt and Pepper” by Joe Swanson

“BECOMING THE FORDS ” by Loud Paper

“I Hate Roses” by Kevin Schenk

“Stars In Her Eyes” by Cheryl Fulks

“The Soldier Queen” by Elizabeth Wenzel

“How loved I was. ” by Raza Adil

“For a dream” by Adele Roman

“Somebody's home” by Carol Namorato

“Living for Me” by Bernadette Beauchamp

“A Whole New Life” by Naomi Spencer

“Declaration of Independence” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

“Swine and Leghorn” by Madisson James

“Crochet happiness” by Hana Alradai

“Nel Mezzo Del Cammin di Nostra Vita/ Midway Along the Journey of Life’” by Brenda Liddy

🌟 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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