Write about a character reminiscing over something they should have said, and how their life would be completely different had they said it.

Posted in Sad on Nov 11, 2022

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✍️ 63 stories

“Unexpected ” by Lisa Pulliam

Submitted to Contest #172

The sky was gray and cloudy. And the man hanging out under the pantheon wore a trench coat and hat. I was nervous to meet him. He would tell me what happened to Todd. The man I used to meet at the cafe with the lights that glowed warm like the sun. The man I was considering marrying if he said he wanted to. The one who replaced my memories and fears of past relationships with a gentle laugh and twinkling eyes. I had been setting aside the memories because Todd has been missing for a week. His mysterious two week long trip has...

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“A Simple Yes Would Have Done I, and It Did” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #172

Why did I not say ‘yes’ so long ago? Why did I say, ‘I don’t know’? It immediately took negative effect, causing Henry to turn and walk quickly away, cursing under his breath the words still discernible, and slamming the door once he had left the room. If I had said ‘yes,’ my life would have been so different from the way that it is now.. Instead of my finding and losing a long knotty string of commitment fearing boyfriends as I did in my late teens and in my t...

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“Warmth” by Jasz Garrett

Submitted to Contest #172

Rain pattered like a lullaby on the cabin's windows. Clara had woken up to grab a glass of water. She stumbled in the dark, leaving the lights off to stay sleepy. Coming into the living room, she dropped her cup, glass cutting her bare feet. A girl that looked identical to her sat on the couch. I'm half-asleep, she thought as she navigated broken shards. To her horror, even after she flipped the lights on, her doppelgänger didn't disappear. Clara scanned the clone up and down in a panic, searching for some sort of difference. The girl had r...

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“What if's” by Laurie Roy

Submitted to Contest #172

Aer Lingus flight EIU517 was on final approach coming into Boston. Home. Well, almost home, an hour and half drive north, but still New England, still home. As the landing gear clunked out of the belly of the plane I looked out the window, the familiar city scape of Boston getting closer. My heart hurt. My brain kept asking, what if? For Twenty-six years, almost to the day, I've wondered what if. If ‘what if’ was a cancer I'd be dead of it by now. If I had a nickel for every time I'd wondered ‘what if’, I'd be a millio...

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“One Simple Word” by Deni Bee

Submitted to Contest #172

Pushing past the wall of humanity leaving the coffee shop with their steaming cups of gourmet brew, I walked to the counter, ordered my simple hot chocolate, and found a seat in the back corner by the window. White swirls against the glass reminded me of another winter day, many years ago, when a question was asked, an answer was given, and one simple word changed my life.I began my journey blindly, not realizing when I heard the music, stepped into his room, and looked into those soft b...

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“Promise Me Something” by Anna Cogbill

Submitted to Contest #172

In almost every way, I have the life I’ve always dreamed about. I’m sitting in a house I own. It’s small, but big enough for me, and I have artwork I like on the walls; still-lifes of Tuscan streets and hanging flowers. I have food I like in the refrigerator – tapenade and marzipan and braunschweiger with fancy crackers – and beautiful wine glasses that I like in the cabinet, next to dusty bottles of wine. I’m...

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“Summer’s Grief” by Kalani Brown

Submitted to Contest #172

You told me that we would be together forever, but you lied. You said that you’d never lie to me and that you’d always be there for me, and now you’re gone. You’re in the ground, and I’ll never be able to speak to you, cry to you, or tell you how much I love you. I’m so mad at you Summer, but I forgive you. I just can’t forgive myself because I lied, I didn’t stay with you, and now you’re gone. There were so many things that I wanted to tell you. Our last conversation was so normal:Hey babes how are you?I’m doing fine, just swamped with...

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“Letters To Someone I Knew” by J.C. Marie

Submitted to Contest #172

When I first met him, I had absolutely no idea how big of a role he’d inevitably play in my life. He was innocent, in my eyes, at least. A college boy, who enjoyed college girls’ company. So, what was the harm in calling us over? I walked to his side of the car, he was in the passenger's seat. His face was so bright and happy. He was a little sweaty, but that was expected because he had just come from football practice. And I knew because of his jersey and the fact that I was waiting for practice to get out to look at college boys. (Don’t j...

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“Carolina” by AB Holden

Submitted to Contest #172

There were years when I had too much time with her. The first night we met in a crowd of hundreds. She appeared in the darkness with a smile that lit me up. I didn’t ask her to dance, but I wanted to. I watched as she bobbled through the others, floating in and out of my vision. I don’t remember how we started talking. It was cut short by the flashing blue lights, a stampede of teenagers acting older than we were. My heart raced, scanning the crowd as I jumped in my buddy’s truck, trying to find her face. A half mile down the road I found h...

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“The End of Glory ” by Aaliyah Hussain

Submitted to Contest #172

TW: depictions of gun violence and suicide For eight years I watched her sing. Her alluring voice, a force to be reckoned with, ranging from a low hum that strokes your ears to a cavernous powerhouse, causing every atom in your body to buzz with energy. For years, I tilted my head up towards the stage, my presence insignificant in a stadium sardined with worshippers, people who scheduled their lives around her moments of glory. Glory, she deserved, of course, because no voice like hers should have been confined to the walls of a ten-by-ten...

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“I Remember the Beauty of the Falling Leaves” by Villem Vercelli

Submitted to Contest #172

Story includes mentions of mental and physical abuse. A butterfly whose wings sported the dance of emerald and lapis lazuli floated from the ground into the cyan sky until it didn’t. It fluttered in place, between the green of the grass and blue of the sky, split in two by the horizon. There it stood. There are certain things in this world one can’t ever forget. Certain moments in our lives we never move past. There’s an afternoon like that for me. An afternoon whose image lingers in my mind despite the passage of time. A day that’s carv...

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“Please, Forgive Me” by Marissa Marie

Submitted to Contest #172

TW: Grief/Loss of a loved one. “I’m so sorry… I love you with all that I am, and I really didn’t mean what I said to you. Don’t go,” I plead with wholehearted regret. I desperately yearn for the words to resonate within your mind before you get the chance to slam the front door closed without a moment’s glance in my direction. By some miracle, of which I know I am entirely undeserving, you hesitate in the doorframe. My heartbeat races as you peer up at me with bloodshot eyes, tears cascading down your beautiful, solemn face. Gently...

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“Okay, then.” by Baxter Renfroe

Submitted to Contest #172

There were probably a lot of reasons why I said “okay” to Nell if I really stopped to think about them. If I was really honest with myself and with everyone else I told this story to, I would have all sorts of reasons for telling her “okay” even though…I should back up and tell you who Nell is. In those early days, I decided I would hitchhike from Spokane down as far as I could get, which happened to be around Sacramento way by how the crow flies or however it is the saying goes. There was a lot of work in Sacramento then – the orchards...

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“Death of a Smile ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #172

I should have said no: That would have been the end of it, but I needed the dough, and it seemed like such a simple job. If I knew then what would come to pass, I would have declined that job the second it left those pretty lips. She came to my office one dreary afternoon. She couldn’t have been more than a few years over twenty. She was a classy dame in a fine dress, with her hair piled on top of her head. When she smiled it was like a bit of spring... ...Suffice to say, she was out of place in my dingy office. I actuall...

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“DRUNKEN CONSEQUENCES” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #172

KATRINA LAYS IN a hospital bed, ruminating over what happened to her, how she got to be here, in this smothering room, connected to beeping machines, wrapped in bandages like an Egyptian Mummy. She is a completely different person from her former self, half the person she was a week or so ago. The tree outside scrapes the window, sounding like fingernails on a chalkboard. She remembers. It comes and goes. The memory of it. The taste of it. The stench of it. Being so cold, wishing for death to come. Blood: The smell will forever make her sick...

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Write about a character reminiscing over something they should have said, and how their life would be completely different had they said it.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“Unexpected ” by Lisa Pulliam

“A Simple Yes Would Have Done I, and It Did” by John Steckley

“Warmth” by Jasz Garrett

“What if's” by Laurie Roy

“One Simple Word” by Deni Bee

“Promise Me Something” by Anna Cogbill

“Summer’s Grief” by Kalani Brown

“Letters To Someone I Knew” by J.C. Marie

“Carolina” by AB Holden

“The End of Glory ” by Aaliyah Hussain

“I Remember the Beauty of the Falling Leaves” by Villem Vercelli

“Please, Forgive Me” by Marissa Marie

“Okay, then.” by Baxter Renfroe

“Death of a Smile ” by M B

“DRUNKEN CONSEQUENCES” by Del Gibson

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a world devoid of logic, where feelings govern all decision-making.

Write about a character who must confess their true feelings by midnight, or risk losing it all.

Set your story in an unfiltered world, where people are always honest about how they feel.

Write a story about a character who acts like they ‘don’t have feelings’ — except they’re just putting up a facade.

Contest #172

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

188

Contest entries

90

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: