Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story inspired by this quote from Ally Condie: "Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that."

Posted in Sad on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 160 stories

Molly's Box

Submitted to Contest #40

           It had never happened before, but today, my mother called me by a different name. It was my tenth birthday and my mother was busy taking photos of everything that was going on during my birthday party. I was hovering around the cake with a few of my friends because we were too impatient to wait for my mother to come light the candles and cut the cake.           "Everybody smile," my mom yelled.     ...

177 likes 102 comments 102
Read story

Love

Winner of Contest #40 🏆

They fall in love in the slow way of people who are unconcerned with bodies. Some weekends they go away together and stay in hotels, they travel on buses through mountain passes, one of them watching the world through the window and listening to music, the other asleep on her shoulder. At some of the hotels, they share a bed, and at others, they don’t, it makes no difference to them. They choose different restaurants every night, because despite their constant companionship they live by the mantra of variety being the most important aspect o...

164 likes 62 comments 62
Read story

Lajoen Mūreid Jua

Submitted to Contest #40

Lajoen Mūreid Jua​By Xávier G. S. Ferguson​Far west of the mountains, past the armies of Nolim, and the barachs of Ovainia, lied the greatest forest in Pethusia: Kirthōrn. Very few ever dared to venture into its borders, and those who braved, seldom left; therefore leaving the contents of this forest a mystery to many. Now, to the many inhabitants of Pethusia, who had never voyaged past its shores, The trees were greater that any in existence, at least, that was all that the outsiders saw. Those wise, and fortunate enough to be invited ...

86 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Stalemate Shootout

Submitted to Contest #40

  Stalemate. One eye staring deep into the barrel of your rifle, the bayonet scratching away at my eyebrow. The other eye on the nozzle of my own weapon, pointed dead at your chest, aiming at the heart of my enemy.    Did I say enemy? I averted my gaze from my gun to you for a split second, and you did the same. I scanned the depths your eyes and you pierced back into mine. Yet neither one of us could find any trace of their enemy. Only the expressions of scared and confused boys seeking refuge amidst the chaos; given gun...

73 likes 42 comments 42
Read story

Stickers

Shortlisted for Contest #40 ⭐️

Timothy Morrison is standing in a room on a chair with a light bulb in his hand. It’s just past ten o’clock at night, and the light bulb is still warm through the faded yellow bandana. A bandana with nostalgic bloodstains on it from the time he was ten and stole it from the top drawer of his mother’s dresser. The blood is from a time he was on the river bank; a river bank his mother told him to stay away from countless times.  Find me a ten-year-old that listens and I’ll find you the next Dalai Lama. He was standing there watching for t...

61 likes 34 comments 34
Read story

Roots

Submitted to Contest #40

We started off as close as you could get. Sharing a house, a family, pets, and everything else. For years we lived like this; 11 to be exact. We annoyed each other nonstop, but it was fun. We got yelled at constantly at night to go to sleep by Mom or Dad when we stayed up to read. It's funny to think that instead of playing video games or watching TV when we were supposed to be sleeping, we read. Do you remember?Our eleventh birthday is when it happened. Well, at least around our eleventh birthday. Possibly a couple of days after. We both we...

59 likes 29 comments 29
Read story

7 Reasons Why I'm Glad We're Not Friends Anymore

Shortlisted for Contest #40 ⭐️

#1. You had the worst personal hygiene and cleaning habits of anyone I’ve ever met. You rarely showered, I never once saw you brush your teeth, and you thought spraying air freshener on your shirts made them “clean” again. Do you remember the day I snuck into your apartment and spent four hours cleaning it top-to-bottom, doing all your laundry, and throwing away the moldy food in your fridge? I told you I was trying to do something thoughtful for a friend, but, truthfully, I only did it to make myself more comfortable - the smell was startin...

38 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Remember?

Submitted to Contest #40

"Remember when it was the first day of pre-school? you were my first friend.""Remember when I fell from the slide and you were the one to help me up?"I choke on my spit trying to get all my thoughts out of my head before she leaves."Remember the time we pretended we were princesses who ruled the world?""Remember when we told everyone we were sisters?""That day my sister died from cancer you told me that I had one more sister left. At first, I didn't get what you meant but then I realized you were talking about yourself"Tears trail down my fa...

37 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Tangled Roots.

Submitted to Contest #40

Lauren came home sobbing. She ran into the house, threw down her bag, and sprinted to her room. She collapsed on her bed moaning,“Becca, Becca, Becca.” Her mother dashed in. “Honey, whatever is the matter!?” She looked at her mother, her face was red.“Becca.” Her mother frowned while stroking her hair. “What’s wrong with Becca?” Lauren cried harder. “Becca is gone.” Her mother gasped.“Oh dear, is she alright.” That made Lauren scream. “BECCA LEFT ME!” The she threw herself on the ground at her mother’s feet. Her mother smiled sadly, and bend...

35 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Doesn't make it any less real

Submitted to Contest #40

“Do you ever look at your art and just… just question whether this was really you, whether you are really capable of creating something so unusually aesthetic?” she seems confused by my question it probably sounds like an insult, that I think it’s not possible for her to create something so majestic. “I should probably get going.” Odette nods then goes back to dabbing her brush against the canvas.Hopefully one day Odette will see me as a sister again and not just another person who left her when she needed them. I was young and hated that ho...

32 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Guardian Angel

Submitted to Contest #40

There was something about a piano playing in a church that could really make a grown man cry. Mass could go on for what felt like hours, the boredom from a mumbling preacher could bring someone begging for it to be over so they can go get some lunch. It could be at a funeral where a loved one is lost, promises not to cry are made but ultimately fail as emotions spill out of every person touched by the lost one. Then there are weddings, oh how they can bring people to tears. A celebration of commitment and joy, nothing is more ...

30 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

the debut album

Submitted to Contest #40

I slip my phone into my pocket, vowing not to check it again until I get home. The bus is late, and I fiddle with a loose thread hanging from my shirt. I will not look at my phone. The thread snaps off. I take the hair tie from my wrist and twist it into various shapes. I will not look at my phone.After weeks of deliberation, I have sent a text to my former best friend. That makes it sound as though something awful happened. Something to make me hate her, or vice versa. Former. Prior. Ex. As if she stole my husband, or revealed my darkest se...

27 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

dying bond

Submitted to Contest #40

I stumbled into the coffee shop, peeling crunchy leaves from the soles of my shoes. Twinkling lights surrounded me. People filled chairs like the last bit of milk in the carton that fills your glass perfectly. The warm blast of air and bittersweet scent of coffee mid-brew greeted me like an old friend. Like the type of old friend you could fail to see for twenty years, but when you finally reunited, could continue the conversation you last shared with the same childish wonder. Same glimmer of familiarity in your eyes.Then, I woke up. Beep. B...

27 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

A Sublime Touch of Light

Submitted to Contest #40

I once knew a man, he reminded me of the sea. Calm, like the soothing sound of the waves hitting the sand. Tranquil and reassuring, like the foamy surface, bubbling across the rocks and seeping into the cracks.He propagated an aura of peacefulness and independence that I looked up to. And all you had to do was walk up to his shore. I remember sitting in the sinking yellow one day, watching the sunset. I remember looking out towards the contrasting blues: sky and sea. I remember sitting with him as he told me a story....

26 likes 23 comments 23
Read story

A Fool of a Friend

Submitted to Contest #40

No matter what, Rose's doe irises would always be the embodiment of innocence to the dark smoke-inspired make up clad eyes of Sam. Rose liked to workout but she was small and slim; her oversized sweaters, space buns and thin-rimmed glasses on a small nose definitely doing her cute nerd aesthetic justice. Sam barely did anything other than eat, sleep, tangle the methodologies of multiple sports, and of course, make effort to rock her looks while doing so.They were interesting. So I decided to make them the protagonists of ...

25 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about two people who meet and become instant friends.

Kids – 105 stories

Write a story about friends who wind up on a misadventure.

Adventure – 98 stories

Write a story about one event from the different perspectives of multiple friends.

Character – 122 stories

Write a story about someone turning to a friend in a time of need.

Fiction – 133 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel