Write a story featuring an element of time-travel or anachronism.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jul 8, 2022

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✍️ 68 stories

“The Gift of Time” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #154

“Dude, are you sure you don’t want to sleep in my room? You’re pretty wasted,” I asked Jai over the loud metal music blasting from the speakers in my hostel room. Three of my other friends were seated in my room — two on the single bed and one on the floor with glasses of whiskey and cigarettes in their hands — now tired of headbanging to the music and watching porn on mute for the past two hours. On the corner stove, instant noodles were simmering in a steel pan, the delicious aroma of Maggi displacing some of the cigarette fog. Jai scoffed...

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“Old Fishermen Never Die” by Katy B

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #154

Cold salt water laps the beach, baptizing the goose tongue and goldenrod with spray. It stings my hands in places that have met with sharp rock and lobster claws: a good clean sting like ointment. The motorboat I moor onshore sputters to life. I am soaked with sea and fog before I have even reached the Pemaquid, tied further out so as not to run its keel aground. The lobster traps clank as I push past them to the engine. I wince at the high-pitched squeal, a testament to its manufacture date. The orange rubber overalls transform me into a be...

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“The Endless Now” by Jon Casper

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #154

Lawrence “Nova” Novikov thought the slate-gray skies on Mount Mallett had conspired against him. Raindrops stung like bees. Hailstones threatened to shred his vinyl parka like buckshot. And the wind! Gusts from every direction tossed him on the narrow mountainside trail, threatening to fling him into the deep canyon at his side. But he persisted, planting each footfall with care in the lashing precipitation. Between slaps of thunder, he paused to fumble his GPS wayfinder from the pocket of his soaked trousers. Only a half a kilometer to...

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“Running on Time” by E Canafax

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time.” I felt the blood drain from my face. I knew all too well that one statement held the increasingly narrow key to everything. The deep voice who’d uttered the obvious statement came from a man sitting across from me. He was short in stature, at least eighty, and underwhelming with each feature. The only exception to this underwhelming presence was his eyes; they seemed wise and ancient which wasn’t exactly surprising in an older face but they seemed to have seen more than could possibly have been seen in anyone’s...

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“Bach to the Future” by Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #154

Moog Music Factory,Asheville, North Carolina,April 6th, 1980Demonstrating prototypes to money grubbing shareholders was never Steve Masakowski’s strong suit--but this product spoke for itself. It was radical. Audacious. Tubular, even. Today, he was introducing the Moog Liberation Keytar.'Pretty soon, pop stars will be wielding the Liberation onstage. It will provide keyboardists the freedom to move and dance while they play like never before.' Steve said.After tightening the final screws on the keytar's plastic casing, he stood back fro...

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“Blink” by Sherri Moorer

Submitted to Contest #154

How did I survive the apocalypse? Cindra stared into the endless black sky. The green and purple auroras were still flashing beneath the white anomaly illuminating the rocks from the rogue planet raining from the spatial anomaly above them. The ground had stopped shaking. She found that she could move again; she could breathe. She inhaled the metallic smell of the collapsing world and rose to her feet to study the dark ruins. What have I done? Cindra blinked, and she was standing in the sun. It was the day of her doctoral hooding. Her fa...

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“Every Father's Dream” by Hilary R. Glick

Submitted to Contest #154

“Remember,” she whispers into my neck, tightening the clasp on my gravity vest, “We only get one shot at this.”“I know.”“And don’t forget to keep an eye on your watch.” She straps the bulky device to my left wrist and flicks the dial until a neon green date and time hover above my arm.Date: 22nd of May 2056Time: 23:55“I know you don’t want to blink or look away for long, but if you aren’t diligently looking at your watch, you might miss your mark. I set the timer to go off in your prime window, but remember, no matter what happens, you ...

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“Jesus In the Now” by Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #154

“Well, hello, Jesus!” Jesus Christ of Nazareth blinked a couple of times and looked around. He was standing on an octagonal pedestal which resembled a teleport pad from a popular science fiction series. The man who had addressed Jesus was standing a few feet away, wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki slacks, with a name tag that read “Dr. Hershel Mankiewicz”. He had a big, goofy grin on his face. “I can’ believe… we brought… JESUS CHRIST… to the present day!!” This was said through the bubbling laughter of a nearby woman, also decked out in a...

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“The Time Traveler and The Immortal” by Kendra Lindholm

Submitted to Contest #154

"Something’s happening to me." I groaned. My body began to vibrate. It’s been 8 months since I jumped to 16th century Germany, the longest I’ve ever stayed in the past. Cassandra awoke and lifted her head from my bare chest. She sensed my panic and jumped out of bed. Candlelight glistened on her olive skin as she pulled on a nightdress. "I’ll get my equipment" she said as she left the room. My arms shook as I tried to leave the bed. Waves of weakness flowed over my body. Cassandra retuned with her medical supplies. She began her e...

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“Into The Mist” by Nevaeh Ryn

Submitted to Contest #154

1,003, 1,004, 1,005, 1,006, 1,007, 1,008 1,009, 1,010, 1,011, 1,012, 1,013…. So far, I’ve counted over 1,000 trees, a pretty fucking easy feat to conquer when you’re in a forest. Unfortunately, counting trees isn’t the most stimulating activity. However, when you’re being carried against your will by two strange men, you don’t have much choice in what activities you can and can’t do. I would much rather be wandering around these unknown woods with my sister, completely clueless as to what part of the U.K we’re in. However, my captors don’t ...

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“Been there, Done that” by N Martin

Submitted to Contest #154

(Possible offensive language)In a flash of bright green light, he stood eerily still. It’s not the first time Isaac had experienced this. It’s also not the first time that he begs for it to be his last.Barely a moment ago he was standing in front of Lorenzkirche with Mary in his arms. They just went to see the new romcom she was pestering him about, and he finally caved. Today was their second anniversary, just a couple they weren’t yet married. He didn’t care too much about it however, their anniversary. The celebration being more of ...

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“Killing Hitler and Other Clichés” by Angie Ayu

Submitted to Contest #154

„Why has no one used this technology to kill Hitler yet?” Cassian rolled his eyes and suppressed a sigh. There were people like this in every group. Annoying goody two shoes who thought they knew better than the professionals. And it was constantly the same thing. Killing Hitler. Always. Every damn time. As if there hadn’t been countless other dictators before and after him. “Because” The young man fought the urge to sound condescending “Time travel into the past is forbidden.” He tried to keep his answer as short as possible, bracing hims...

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“I Owe My Life To Susan” by Thomas Pascal

Submitted to Contest #154

I stop pushing the pram when it catches my eye. A blue t-shirt, the fabric being pulled by the current of the river. White shoes. Blue jeans. I see a glimpse of skin near the blue t-shirt and in seconds I realise I’m looking at a dead body. I freeze. My three-year-old girl, Olive, puts her hand through the top of the pram as she likes to do. “Mummy, hold my hand?” she says. My beautiful Olive. I hold her hand through the pram. Three rounds of IVF and the result is the most wonderful girl in the world. She’s way too big for the pram but i...

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“The Firefly” by Elizabeth VerBryck

Submitted to Contest #154

July 20, 1949The day of the discovery began with a muted sun and a balmy breeze, a rarity in July. Dillmont, the sleepy suburb I grew up in, awoke with the sun. Its bleary eyed residents emerged from their homes and soaked in the refreshing Saturday morning on their wicker porch furniture. As the sun rose above town, lawn mowers traced uniform lines across the primped front yards, tea kettles screamed, and the weekend seemed to be off to a pleasant start.Unbeknownst to us, the object sitting in the center of Sunday Road was prepared to chang...

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“Just in time.” by K.J. Dyer

Submitted to Contest #154

NOTE: This story contains suggestive content, foul language, adult subject matter. Penny paced back and forth across her living room as police officers took statements from friends and neighbors, trying to determine the where-bout’s of her mother. “Where have you been? My mother has been missing since yesterday. I came home from school and she was just gone. I waited up all night for her and called you several times. This morning I called the police, they said she had to be missing for 24 hours before they could do anything and that she ...

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Write a story featuring an element of time-travel or anachronism.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 68 stories

“The Gift of Time” by Kanika G

“Old Fishermen Never Die” by Katy B

“The Endless Now” by Jon Casper

“Running on Time” by E Canafax

“Bach to the Future” by Jim Firth

“Blink” by Sherri Moorer

“Every Father's Dream” by Hilary R. Glick

“Jesus In the Now” by Gary Wells

“The Time Traveler and The Immortal” by Kendra Lindholm

“Into The Mist” by Nevaeh Ryn

“Been there, Done that” by N Martin

“Killing Hitler and Other Clichés” by Angie Ayu

“I Owe My Life To Susan” by Thomas Pascal

“The Firefly” by Elizabeth VerBryck

“Just in time.” by K.J. Dyer

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone saying, “We’re running out of time.”

Write a story about someone who feels increasingly irrelevant.

Write a story — romantic or not — about two characters who can’t find the right timing.

Write a story about an object that has been around for centuries or passed down generations.

Contest #154

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

281

Contest entries

112

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: