Write a story about someone facing death for the first time in their life.

Posted in Sad on Nov 1, 2022

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?

✍️ 88 stories

“10 Ways to Explain Your Husband's Death to Your Son” by Zack Powell

🏆 Winner of Contest #163

Content warning: Themes of death***1. Tell the truthBe gentle but honest. This is your son's first time experiencing death, his only rodeo.He is five years old, wild-eyed and sugar-crazed and baby-toothed. A sweet boy. He doesn't complain about going to church or preschool. He picks up the toy cars in his room without being asked, lowers the seat after using the toilet. Some days you feel as though you've won the lottery.At night, he helps you say grace. Eyes closed, hands clasped over a plate of hot dog mac and cheese, he prays for God to w...

185 comments 185

Read story

“The Hummingbird” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #163

Roxanne hated black. She hated black licorice. She hated black pepper. She hated her coffee black. Black didn’t suit her. Roxanne was a colorful woman and therefore she always dressed vibrantly. So instead of wearing black to Henry’s viewing, she wore green. A green Badgley Mischka Mikado satin bow midi-dress that she was supposed to wear to a gala she was attending in Montreal with Henry in two weeks. But now, she’d be going to the gala solo. Now, Henry was dead.Henry had always told her green brought out her green eyes. “Green like the Bra...

45 comments 45

Read story

“Syriah Falls” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #163

It’s Syriah’s turn to fall, but she hasn’t gone yet. I made it just in time.The cold wind rips at me when I exit the labour elevator at the top floor, and I feel my balls shrivel into my body. It’s not just the chill. The top floor of the Meridian-Yamagawa Arcology is unfinished, a work in progress. It’s all beams and scaffolding, and precious few walls. A sobering thought at 1,257 metres in the air.But it’s a hell of a view.The smog clouds of the city are below us, glowing neon green and pink from all the pleb lights that poison the air. An...

29 comments 29

Read story

“Peace After the Storm” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #163

As I stood outside the front doors of the drone factory where I'd worked for over twenty years, I stared at the furious black sky threatening any moment to release it's pent up frustration. Should I dare make a run for it without my umbrella? I thought for almost a moment too long, but as the first sprinkles fell, I realized it didn't matter if I was drenched. No one at home would care how I looked when I dragged my exhausted body through that door anyway. Certainly not him, the man I had been married to for twenty two years now. I made a ru...

22 comments 22

Read story

“Fluoxetine” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #163

I never asked Ma about her favorite animal, but it was probably one of those birds that eats insects off the backs of sub-Saharan oxen. She had a neurotic desire to look after people, and if they swatted her away, she’d swoop right back in and start pruning again. After she retired from nursing, she bought a herd of bison and spent her days fluttering around them instead.Before the Big C took her, she used to say, without a lick of humor, that they were her kids. All fifteen of them were good as gold, she’d add, ‘cause they did nothing but c...

48 comments 48

Read story

“All Tied Up and Nowhere to Go” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #163

TW: Swearing and Ninja Sex Party references. Chords around Esmerelda’s wrists cut into her flesh. Her captor paced the basement, glancing at her intermittently. A single candle lit the space. The flame danced, threatening to quit at a moment’s notice. “What are you waiting for, fang face?” She asked. “Are you going to kiss me or not? Don’t leave me in suspense.” “I never kiss… girls,” said the vamp...

45 comments 45

Read story

“The Doll.” by Mel Dingwall

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #163

Contains a dead body, suggestions of murder and drug addiction.There was a plague of crickets the summer we found her body. They were everywhere. At the bus stop, hopping on the road, even sitting on the pump at the gas station. I remember the dead ones crunched under our sandals as we walked down to the creek.“My butt hurts.”“Then stop scratchin’ it.”“Candy, this grass won’t quit whippin’ me, it’s hurtin’ my legs.”“You didn’t have to come, Greg.”“Mom made me. Where are we goin’?“I’m goin’ to get tadpoles down at the creek.”“Why?”“For Billy....

15 comments 15

Read story

“Voicemail” by Elliot Moss

Submitted to Contest #163

“Hi Mama, hey Dad! I miss you guys! It’s been so long since I’ve been there to see you two, but I promise I’ll visit soon. I’m just having so much fun at school, meeting new people, learning so much. Dad, you were so right, the pizza here is horrible. We’ll have to go to Marienne’s when I get back to eat a proper pizza dinner! Oh, and Mom, how’s Pepper? I found this adorable bed for her, she’s just gonna love it! I miss my sweet puppy! Anyway, I should get going! I miss you guys, and I’ll see you soon! Love you!” The...

12 comments 12

Read story

“Color” by Jade Perkins

Submitted to Contest #163

I am simple. I am a simple woman who likes simple clothes and simple food. I find no significant meaning in people or objects, I simply just exist in this home of mine. My very simple home that holds no plants or fancy televisions or abstract art. No flower vases or pictures of my nieces and nephews on my walls; I like things simple. I am very peculiar about the colors in my home. I like simple colors. White carpets and white tile flooring, the walls and cabinets grey. I exist in almost no color at all. I dislike orange and violet...

7 comments 7

Read story

“That Must Have Hurt” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #163

I was in a tunnel falling backwards, away from a small round light rapidly shrinking at the other end. Shit… this is it… How did I let this happen? This is a mistake. No, it’s a series of regrettable events. Think quickly, Chris. Recount the lead-up to this moment. You must try to make some sense of it before it’s too late. Try and hold on to your conscious thought. Let’s see… I visited my regular haunt, the Harp Inn on a quiet night. Only a few people I know are there to chat with, so I talked short, drank long, and became inebriated quite...

9 comments 9

Read story

“The Infected Part Two” by Brendan Sanders

Submitted to Contest #163

FIVE YEARS LATER… The world has changed a lot since I watched my best friend Nick reanimate as one of the Lurkers. The Lurkers are what we’re calling the infected now. With everything that has happened to the world these past fifteen years, the Lurkers have made it somewhat easier to live in, but harder to survive. There are less living people to conten...

9 comments 9

Read story

“El Cerrajero” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #163

Of Miguel’s many talents, the one he liked least was his ability to be underestimated by everyone he met. He thought it would help in his career, but really it was just annoying. Of average height and weight, curling light brown hair with stooped shoulders and a paunch, he was not attractive, nor a threat. Always ready with a quick joke, he was remarkable only for being unmemorable. His light brown complexion could be of several nationalities, and his voice was lost in crowds. He was a cypher in more ways than one.The last morning ...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Eat What You Kill” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #163

Eugene sat on the dock and watched mayflies dance across the calm water’s surface. He’d never seen anything like it. They looked like fairytale figures, only real. ‘How fun to float so lightly. Not even a ripple.’ A disturbance from beneath and a mayfly vanished. It shocked Eugene. ‘Who knows what lurks down there?’ Of course, being seven, Eugene thought in emotions more than in carefully chosen words. This morning’s ‘never before’ experiences tracked mainly between awe and bliss. His father, Cal, was taking Eugene on his first fishing trip....

6 comments 6

Read story

“Damocles' Icicle” by Yulen JL

Submitted to Contest #163

TW: Violence, Stalking, Adult Language, Body Horror It was around two in the morning when Adam crept out of the shadows of the parking lot. Long, pale limbs reaching at the edges of concrete, pulling out the rest of his well-muscled, if gangly form. Other flesh-molders usually got fancy with their bodies, pushing at the limits of function for the fun of a stranger form. Anything to appear artistic, anything to stand out. Typical artist shit. But standing out wasn’t useful to Adam. Form for the sake of form was idiocy, no matter how advance...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Blessed One” by AS Hardin

Submitted to Contest #163

“Will it hurt?” Savia asked leaning into the soft, wrinkled palm cupping her face. Through her tear-laden lashes, she glanced at the heavy oak door expecting it to open at any moment and the dark-robed guides to come and take her away. Though this wouldn’t happen until dawn and in her windowless room, she couldn’t be sure of the time. “Only for a moment, I’m sure.” Her grandmother’s rheumy voice said attempting a confidence that it failed to convey. Savia shuddered at both the lie and the cold of the torch-lit room. The blankets on th...

7 comments 7

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone breaking an awkward silence at a family dinner.

Adults – 36 stories

Write about a character who is living through a major historical event — whether they know it or not.

Historical Fiction – 40 stories

Write about a character who risks everything to pursue their heart’s desires.

Romance – 19 stories

Write a story in which someone says “You'll never be content.”

Adults – 51 stories

Contest #163

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Leo Tolstoy

$250

Prize money

234

Contest entries

126

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 16, 2022 EST

Won by Zack Powell 🏆

Title: 10 Ways to Explain Your Husband's Death to Your Son

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 a story about someone facing death for the first time in their life.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 88 stories

“10 Ways to Explain Your Husband's Death to Your Son” by Zack Powell

“The Hummingbird” by Kathleen Fine

“Syriah Falls” by Michał Przywara

“Peace After the Storm” by Melony Beard

“Fluoxetine” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

“All Tied Up and Nowhere to Go” by Graham Kinross

“The Doll.” by Mel Dingwall

“Voicemail” by Elliot Moss

“Color” by Jade Perkins

“That Must Have Hurt” by Chris Campbell

“The Infected Part Two” by Brendan Sanders

“El Cerrajero” by Marty B

“Eat What You Kill” by John K Adams

“Damocles' Icicle” by Yulen JL

“The Blessed One” by AS Hardin

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone breaking an awkward silence at a family dinner.

Write about a character who is living through a major historical event — whether they know it or not.

Write about a character who risks everything to pursue their heart’s desires.

Write a story in which someone says “You'll never be content.”

Contest #163

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

234

Contest entries

126

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: