Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.

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?

✍️ 230 stories

And Then There Were None

Submitted to Contest #59

Lonely.The colours of the next town remind me of children's toys. Every red is the exact same one, a brilliant cherry scarlet. Every blue is a bright royal hue, neither dark nor light. There are no trees, perhaps the foliage does not cooperate to be the same shade on every leaf. The street-lamps are the same canary yellow as the rain-slickers and the taxis. There is no pink, no grey, no orange or violet; but it is more than that. Nothing is sun-bleached, nothing scratched or chipped. The street is free of litter, the walls are unvandalized p...

143 likes 71 comments 71
Read story

My One

Submitted to Contest #59

I sip my steaming cup of coffee, as I look out from the window of the cafe. The backdrop of skyscrapers is artificial and comforting at the same time. Trying to touch the sky may be metaphorical for us puny humans, but for those huge buildings, it is their life choice. The people look like they are ready to become popsicles in this freezing winter. The tips of their noses are pink as they wrap their scarfs tighter around their necks and rub their mittened hands together in a desperate attempt for warmth. Children chatter wildly, maki...

84 likes 57 comments 57
Read story

Pianissississimo

Submitted to Contest #59

I pin lyrics up on my walls, even though I’ve never heard the music to go along with the words. Prisma says music used to be everywhere you turned and even when you were sitting completely still, the songs would still manage to find you. She says there were machines, all kinds of machines, that you could listen to whatever song you liked. There were these collections- she calls them playlists and her eyes get misty when she tells me about how Gray made over seventeen of them for her, one for each year they knew each other- that were all your...

77 likes 38 comments 38
Read story

She who Holds the Universe

Submitted to Contest #59

My feet stick out awkwardly from underneath the small blanket, trying desperately to get warm in the cold night. Frustrated, I get up and toss the blanket on the floor, comforting my feet with wool socks. It is useless to try and stop tomorrow from coming; it is the Star Child’s destiny or whatever. Anger bubbles up inside of me but immediately disappears to give room for the empty. The windows are drawn tight like they always have been, hiding me away from the people I am supposed to guide. But tonight, nobody will see me pull the curtains ...

74 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

The Opposite of Forever

Submitted to Contest #59

I wondered if they knew.They looked so happy, like in that moment, they were infinite. I wondered if they knew it wouldn't last for very long. If they did, they didn’t show it. They reveled in the moment. They were okay that something was going on now. Noisy children, dogs and laughter.Human beings don’t fascinate me. At least they don’t anymore. We’re predictable creatures, all of the time.I knew how this was going to end. I was too blind to accept it. Flickering images. Memories I should let go of are the ones I cling to the most.Is it lon...

69 likes 37 comments 37
Read story

My Mind Told Me To

Submitted to Contest #59

I kept my head down as I slowly walked through the cramped city of New York. I was walking back to my back alley behind the huge makeup sign, complete with a small cardboard box, which I used as a table for whatever food I could snag on from the streets. (I found the box in the giant dump) When I turned to go into my alley, no one looked at me. No one even took a small, quick glance at where this girl with a dirty brown coat was doing by strolling into a dark, frightening alley. No one takes interest in me. Maybe it’s because I’m homeless, m...

64 likes 37 comments 37
Read story

The Villager

Submitted to Contest #59

The paddy leaves were blowing in the soft, cool morning breeze, slightly bent from the weight of the now yellow grains which looked almost golden as Arun ran, with his sister trailing behind him giggling and pleading him to slow down. His sister's giggles and childish voice sounded almost angelic as it echoed through the field. He stopped abruptly and turned around to see she had stopped running as she stood there in the middle of the paddy field, bent, with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Her long loose hair blowing...

61 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

It didn't happen on a Monday

Submitted to Contest #59

As a teenager, I realized growing up wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, cliche; I know. It wasn’t so much the work that bothered me but more so, the deep, overwhelming, bitter feeling of loneliness, it crept up on me when I least expected it, and that included the safest place a person can be, their own home. I still remember the moment it happened. Though, admittedly, it is a bit of a blur. Bits and pieces remain of the memory. I think the mind works that way; it chooses what it wants to remember. And often, what remains of painful experie...

53 likes 39 comments 39
Read story

Dear Emmeline

Submitted to Contest #59

𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟿Dear Emmeline I don’t even know why I’m writing this as letters can’t be delivered to heaven. But I guess my daughter is the person I love the most. So, even if this isn’t going to send to you, I’ll be contented that the name after ‘Dear’ in this letter was yours. After moving here for work, I just haven’t felt the same. I guess you could call me lonely, but over time I have learned how to lessen the pain. For example, the cafe is my refuge, this place I can make believe that I am in a caring society. At the table...

51 likes 19 comments 19
Read story

Sisterhood

Submitted to Contest #59

She told me to wait here. Here, by the train station, where people in grey coats bustle out of the revolving doors. People with dark looks, with leather briefcases. It’s as if they’re all extras plucked from some London Documentary. Except, we’re in Shrewsbury, and this train station is a few metres away from a castle, the castle around which we took a guided tour. Me and you. My sister. And Dad, of course. Dad, who is off buying you some clothes. Bright pinks skirts with frills. His favourite as well as yours. You two like to play ...

41 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Who is it?

Submitted to Contest #59

The space, a vast network of stars, are constantly looming over us, looking as to see if we are doing everything we can. Once they go to bed the ever bright sun comes to take their day shift. I on the other hand, feel no use for either the moon or the stars, as the day just comes and goes and I just stay. Stay where I am weak and afraid. The tapping of the next victims’ head being smashed into the wall over and over again, only a brief reminder that I am indeed not alone.I look again out of the vast space where the need for a roof arises, ye...

39 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Truth of Being Me

Submitted to Contest #59

Friends and family, I don't want to scare you or to make you feel guilty. I just want you to hear me one last time. I want you to understand my fear of life, my fear of the world, my fear of existing. "But what to fear?" Many would ask me. Life is the most precious thing we have, so why fear it? Why disappear? So, I ask you: Why live if you're already dead? If you don't feel you deserve to have a life? If you don't feel like you're existing? For what? I feel this way every day. I wake up wishing to disappear; to go far from this life; thi...

38 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Awaken.

Submitted to Contest #59

Sleep.Alarm.The man switches it off.Eat.Work.Eat.Sleep.Alarm.The man switches it off.Eat.Work.Eat.Sleep.Alarm. The man sighs as he switches it off.Eat. A bowl of soggy flakes. Milk that’s almost expired.Work. A programmer. The job designed to “keep humanity running,” as the city deems it. He calls it the job designed to “keep humanity on loop.”Eat. This time, rice. Vegetables. Slightly wilted. Packaged chicken. Bland.Sleep. Eight hours exactly. He sleeps in bed number 472 on floor 7 in building 11.Alarm. The man switches it off. As does ever...

38 likes 32 comments 32
Read story

Lonely in the Big City

Submitted to Contest #59

Atlanta, Georgia has been called the ‘capital city’ of the south, and rightfully so. With a mosaic of buildings – skyscrapers, high rises, and others – lining the downtown streets, Atlanta is a busy city. It is the location of several city, county, state, and federal government facilities, sporting arenas, corporate headquarters, conference centers, and an array of tourist attractions.The downtown area – called the historic center – offers an urban atmosphere, well-known attractions and restaurants, and of course, the tourism department says...

37 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Gemma: A Pathetic Fallacy

Submitted to Contest #59

When I was seven, I requested my room be painted pink, the only valid colour to a 7 year old girl, with aspirations bigger than life itself. When I was thirteen, I decided to go with a crimson red to channel my inner scorpio and newfound ardor for astrology. When I was seventeen, I opted for a lemon yellow so I could always wake up to the sun.Now I’m twenty-two, and I’ve painted my four walls grey, so that they always reflect my mood.Today, the walls reflect the weather too. Grey clouds roll along the dull sheet of a sky, drizzle t...

35 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.

Romance – 135 stories

Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Novel – 198 stories

Set your story in a place with extreme weather, but don’t use any weather-related words to describe it.

High School – 68 stories

Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Teens – 135 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