Write a story about someone who must fit their entire life in a single suitcase.

Posted in Short Story on Jan 17, 2025

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✍️ 113 stories

“Elly's Future. ” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #286

It was a priceless situation. Elly was valiantly struggling to fit her entire range of supposedly necessary lifestyle choices for her fresh upcoming path in life into one brand new suitcase. Her birth father, Big Al, was slightly more than reluctant to engage in this feminine contest. Meanwhile, her stepmother, Cosmic Mystic Elke, occasionally interrupted her contemplation of her own second sight. Elke wandered into that mysterious environment of Elly's bedroom, her home away from home in Goodly Town by the seaside. "Are you winning there?' ...

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“Under David's Blanket” by Glenda Toews

Submitted to Contest #286

You were staring at me with those eyes again. It was the look you got when you were working out a puzzle, searching for the piece that would fit, finding it, turning it, flipping it, and when it wasn’t fitting in, that wave of confusion that drifted across your face like a vapour. You looked at me that way through my whole life. All I wanted you to do was to look at me like you looked at David. I didn’t know I was missing something before David existed. It was good then. You cooked me breakfasts and read me books like Milly Mo...

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“Life Isn't A Sickly 23kg” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #286

I wouldn’t have done it had she stayed of her own volition. Her legs don’t quite fit, and she lies crumpled like a ragdoll, her torso in the suitcase, her limbs hanging out like the petals of a flower opening at daybreak. I learned about nyctinasty on a walk home from high school once. I’d thought flowers were forever open once bloomed. Nope, said my classmate. I was wrong. Anyway, that’s beside the point. Gorgeous, she is, even in this state. Odd, though, to see Nora so weak. To have felt her wriggling beneath my grip like a fly buzzing wil...

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“The Lucky Ones” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #286

Tina’s shoes were too small. They were the wrong color, too, though that didn’t matter as much. Lauren could have coaxed her daughter back into the no-longer-sparkly pink Velcro shoes if not for her insistent cries of my toes huuurt.I should have paid more attention. Lauren reprimanded herself again as she pulled into the parking lot. Not that there had been much time to think. When the police knocked on her door last night, she’d had twenty minutes to gather up a few essentials and leave. She’d lugged the bulging red suitcase, its wheels cl...

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“A Journey From Grey to Radiance” by Reilly Stuber

Submitted to Contest #286

Collective dust settled in the dull room as Kenton sat in front of his laptop, and he hesitated to click the esc key and close out for the night. The screen blared in his face, even overriding the light coming from the window glass. Beams refracted onto his chin, and if his life were any more comical, it would dissolve a hole in his head like a centered sun ray through a magnifying glass.The home phone began to ring. He moved over a hand from the esc key, the blaring chime of it interrupting his compulsion with the computer screen.No words c...

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“Another Home” by Jennifer Luckett

Submitted to Contest #286

“...And they’ll have a choice, to stay here or go home to their country of origin, with their families. You’ll see, it’ll be good for them, great for everyone.”Mama said we’re leaving tonight, and I have no idea where we’ll end up. I’m so scared that I’ll leave behind something I really need. I adore this house. It’s kinda small and very old, with a crooked picket fence and a red brick chimney we never use anymore. I love the picture windows in the living room. On a snowy day, I look out, and the view reminds me of a page in a storybook...

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“Breaking the Rules” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #286

Meredith took another steadying breath as the train rumbled into Conway, giving her a view of the familiar estuary and the castle that held such a prominent place all during her childhood. Not long now. She toyed with her red silk scarf and relished the old-fashioned quiet of the carriage. That couple in the far corner quietly talking to each other, not lost in a pair of mobile phones. An old man reading a newspaper with evident pleasure, nodding to himself as he folded over to the next article. A woman turning another page of a pa...

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“The Immortal Words of a Teenage Malcontent” by Astrid Skarsgaard

Submitted to Contest #286

2028 – Page 1Uncle Roy and Luanne think it’s a good idea to chronicle the events of the past few years, and whatever is to come. He got me pencils and paper. Lots of paper.I asked him where I should start and he told me to start ...

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“The Blue Blanket” by Jessamine Norwood

Submitted to Contest #286

Trigger warning: themes of war and mild violence I was once gifted a blanket by my father. He got it from a street vendor on one of his business trips when I was young. The light blue knit reminded him of the baby blanket he wrapped me in when I first arrived in this world, and so he sent it home, so I could wrap myself in it again, remembering my father when he was in a far off place. He is now in a far off place, he has been for a while. My mother told me that an angel took him away, but I have grown too old to believe such stories....

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“The Unicorn Gang” by Deanna Decker

Submitted to Contest #286

“I told you, I don’t care!” The slam of my bedroom door sent a jolt through the cheap wood, leaving a satisfying smirk on my face. Maybe I’d given Dad one more thing to fix before we had to leave. If only my social life could be fixed as easily as the twisted hinges on another forgotten rental. Number ten, to be exact. The tenth time, Mom says, “You get to meet new friends,” and the tenth time she has to remind me, “Don’t forget to say goodbye to your friends.” There was a time when I believed her. When I thought being a military brat was co...

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“Echoes of a silent voice” by Sai Kumar Basaveswara

Submitted to Contest #286

I heard Alex’s muffled voice outside the room. He opened the door, scanned the room, and called out, “Peter! Where are you?” Turning to Jenny, he added, “Fetch him—we have to leave now!”. He rushed off, though I could see him clearly from my sneak-out place. I’m Peter, and this is my family. Margot adopted me twelve years ago. Our family includes Margot, her daughter Jenny, son-in-law Alex, and granddaughter Cindy. Oh! I forgot to mention Carl! He is Margot’s other foster child. We adopted him a few years after me. Like many foster kids, Car...

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“Suitcase to Freedom” by Kashira Argento

Submitted to Contest #286

CW: Contains themes of emotional abuse.The suitcase lay open on the bed like an empty promise. Margaret's hands trembled slightly as she began to fold her life into its confined space. Thirty-two years of marriage reduced to what could fit between two worn leather sides.She remembered how it began. Richard had swept her off her feet, since the first moment he laid eyes on her, during a college gathering on her final year of graduate studies. Tall, confident, with a charm that seemed to make the entire world bend to his will. He was so unlike...

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“Steps Toward the Spectrum” by LifeCycles Creative Media

Submitted to Contest #286

Content Note: This story explores themes of emotional resilience, personal transformation, and overcoming past struggles, which may resonate deeply with readers navigating their own challenges. The motorized stair lift hummed softly as Nadine descended the staircase of her eastern coastal home. Balanced on her lap was a black-and-white polka-dotted suitcase, meticulously packed with fragments of her life. Each item inside represented a piece of her journey-her struggles, triumphs, and the raw moments she had endured. It was more than just lu...

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“BLOOD OF THE DRAGON KING” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

Submitted to Contest #286

Nimue hissed and snarled—if any of her masters should come upon her at this juncture they were all dead men. She could snatch a knife and bury it in its owners throat before they knew they were dead. For ten long years she had languished under the Commorian yoke. One hundred-thirty Moons had seen her wrists chafed, and rubbed raw from the shackles she bore.They dedicated her to Nyx, daughter of Chaos, when she was but a child. Her people hid in the depths of the Earth, drawing close to its fires. And there in the darkness they rediscovered w...

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“The True Freemen of America” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #286

The concrete bridge of the six-lane highway towered over Peter, casting deep, dark shadows. Its enormous pillars passed him by as he ambled toward his new life, grinning from ear to ear. Walking beneath the bridge was like crossing into another world—a world of darkness and freedom.A man sat hunched over upon the angled rise at the edge of the bridge, concealed in the shadows, his green hoodie pulled up from beneath a rough-hewn denim jacket. Peter climbed the rise, dragging his suitcase with him, and sat beside him, relaxing against the wal...

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Write a story about someone who must fit their entire life in a single suitcase.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 113 stories

“Elly's Future. ” by Julie Grenness

“Under David's Blanket” by Glenda Toews

“Life Isn't A Sickly 23kg” by Carina Caccia

“The Lucky Ones” by A.Dot Ram

“A Journey From Grey to Radiance” by Reilly Stuber

“Another Home” by Jennifer Luckett

“Breaking the Rules” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

“The Immortal Words of a Teenage Malcontent” by Astrid Skarsgaard

“The Blue Blanket” by Jessamine Norwood

“The Unicorn Gang” by Deanna Decker

“Echoes of a silent voice” by Sai Kumar Basaveswara

“Suitcase to Freedom” by Kashira Argento

“Steps Toward the Spectrum” by LifeCycles Creative Media

“BLOOD OF THE DRAGON KING” by HAAKON RAGNSKJOLD

“The True Freemen of America” by KC Foster

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story around a character who’s struggling to let go.

Write a story about a cherished heirloom that has journeyed through multiple generations.

Center your story around a character who’s afraid of being forgotten.

Write a story with the line “You never know a good thing until it’s gone.”

Contest #286

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

368

Contest entries

146

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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