Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 214 stories

“Circle on Circle” by Debbie Stelzle

Submitted to Contest #42

Voice recorder on May 1, 2246. ID number 452151956. My name is Thea, and it has been a long time since I used that name. I'm unable to sleep, been dark and cold for such a long time. I have little food and water left used most of my wood. I can only keep the fireplace on for a day or two. I'm dictating this so to those who will come after learning from our mistakes. We played with nature; we believe we had a controlled over the environment but discovered nature will have no master. Let me go back into the past to detail our hubris toward nat...

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“Petrichor” by Sandeep T

Submitted to Contest #42

" You know the worst kind of imprisonment Alex? The door is wide open but we cannot move as if we're chained by invisible memory threads of the past. It is then that we see the future through that ajar door, Living off it's faint light."" Hmm Does it hurt mum? When we die? "" Not more than it hurts the ones who are living. " *****I wonder why mum said that, what might have she felt at that moment. I didn't get it back then at my father's f...

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“UNDER THE SHADOWS” by Emma Sangual

Submitted to Contest #42

It was my summers break and as always, we were all packed to spend yet another month in our farmhouse at Kashmir, as we always did. We had nowhere to go but there and though father always promised a new adventure, things always took the wrong road and the same boring days, greeted us. There wasn’t a place that hadn’t been explored by us, or as much as I could remember. As usual, it was quite a few days until all the others came (we always came early, as we did somehow enjoy the road trip), so it meant I was stuck all alone- and had to find s...

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“A DANCE WITH LUCIFER” by RADIUS HAVWAALA

Submitted to Contest #42

Pwinga tossed sleeplessly on a wooden plank, blinking the eerie night away, his whole body was aching like someone who had collided with a train. His troublesome companions, the Mosquitoes kept singing irritating tunes the whole night as if they did not know how to land and rest. The buzzing sounds of mosquitoes in the vicinity were punctuated eternally with painful jabs on his exposed skin as if the tiny legged creatures were trying to drain his blood supply. He had no defense against this sly enemy being several kilometers away from his ho...

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“sodden in the moonsoon....” by The Poetess

Submitted to Contest #42

I watched him walking away with his phone to his ear and never looking back. I just stood there “GOD! i am a fool” I thought to myself and took a deep breath. I felt cold and then found out that rain has started it is monsoon anyways, I look around the main street. Everyone running for shelter, trying not to get soaked and I was standing in the there mostly because today I wanted to feel something and I am just so tired and fed up from everything. I wish my heart would understand that but it won’t. A girl about my age yanked me out of her pa...

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“End(Beginn)ing” by Rebekah Christensen

Submitted to Contest #42

The bathroom was tiny, barely big enough for one person. Paint flaked off of the walls, the toilet was missing its lid, and rust smothered the sink’s metal faucet. Roseberry stood at the sink, staring into the mirror. A pair of dark gray eyes stared back at her, above a sharp nose dotted with freckles and a frowning mouth. A knock sounded at the door and someone called out, “You’ve been in there forever, Rosie! Other people have to use the bathroom too, you know!”Roseberry clenched her hands into fists. “My name is n...

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“Not My Life” by Sarah Grace

Submitted to Contest #42

The instant Natalie woke up, she knew something was wrong. Her familiar lumpy bed, with the too flat pillows was far too comfortable. The bed she had awoken in cradled her curves, firmly pushing back against her weight. A lead bar was pressing down on her chest, making her feel each breath she took. The lead bar moved. It was an arm. The arm pulled her closer, pinning her against a decidedly masculine body. A hand began to roam, and explore. This snapped her out of her dozy confusion, and she leapt out of the strange bed, panic rising ...

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“Catharsis” by Melany Uhrhammer

Submitted to Contest #42

The clouds were glued to one another. Stuck; filtering the woods a smokey and smooth grey. Chilly winds blew unsteadily; the aftermath from the night before’s wicked thunderstorm. A glimmer of hope streamed down a small crack of two unglued clouds, creating a stick of yellow light. It smelled of pre-rain. Slightly sweet and earthy. My arms were crossed in front of my bare breasts. Even alone I was afraid of someone seeing me naked. I picked up my anxious feet ‘till&nb...

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“Death By The River ” by Reya Attri

Submitted to Contest #42

DEATH BY THE RIVER“Lives are like rivers: Eventually they go where they must. Not where we want them to.”The cool afternoon breeze embraced her, rust green colored leaves furling in the dry barren land, the dead silence filled the thick air as she prowled with her head kept down. Everyone melancholy ambling behind her as though they were alien to Earth. Uncle Larry addressed the gathering with a rather poignant speech that left everyone grieving except one. Lena slowly walked towards the coffin remembering those wistful days…until all the co...

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“The Book of Dreams” by Barry Litherland

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #42

Erin slipped from between the leaves of her book and into the midnight street. She was late already - but for what, you must ask yourself - and she knew he would be waiting for her - but who was he, you must wonder - and they had little time left - but to do what?Erin knew that lives depended on her.Listen with her. You can hear a distant siren, the cry of a child in a tenement block, and the bark of a lonely dog. In the distance, weaving between the coal-stained factories, you hear a train rumble closer. Look now, where her eyes direct...

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“Bad, Bad Girl” by Charlotte Graham

Submitted to Contest #42

An atheist public health inspector at an allegedly haunted Catholic boarding school sounds like the start of a joke, but for the next week or so, it’s my life. I grab my dictation machine and hit record. “Patient’s name is Maria Williams. Female, age 14. Patient is presenting with acute sporadic paralysis of both legs, complaining of shooting pains from the hips down to the knees. Patient also is experiencing apparent psychosis. She claims to see visions of a woman in white bleeding from the mouth, haunting her at night.” I pause and s...

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“Peanut Butter Road” by Nick L.

Submitted to Contest #42

______ Mutually, over the weeks, everyone seemed to have agreed that if they simply didn’t discuss it, it would never come. But it did. Those clouds and the ticking clock, the hot stars sputtering to life with the gusto of a thousand old Harleys. That day, late January, when our time was finally up. Here it was: the epilogue of humanity. The final hours dwindle into hazy sundown, the sky turning to a nihilistic set of drapes, twisting and twirling. What will happen to it tomorrow? I wonder childishly if the gasses will just sepa...

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“A trip down memory lane” by Stella Elewa

Submitted to Contest #42

Summertime. It comes and goes but last summer was one to remember In that magical time at the lake we thought summer would last forever... And in some ways it has. After lizzy's funeral we learnt that Time doesn't stop for anything not even love and summer was only temporary but those moments we shared were eternal. The pain of losing a sister was a grief even love couldn't overcome. The pain was overwhelming for both of us and after a well overdued talk brad and I realised now wasn't the right time for us. There had to be distance, a much n...

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“Clever cereal companies, and other thoughts.” by Caroline G

Submitted to Contest #42

Signs I am not doing well:I notice that I am eating five, six, even seven consecutive bowls of cereal even though I, after the second or third bowl, do not want any more cereal. I think it is the crunchiness, particularly when you can get that perfect ratio to milk – not in the bowl, though yes in the bowl – but in your individual spoon bite, that I’m after. I’m not sure. I reopen the cabinets, unfold the cardboard top, uncrumple the plastic, pour, reopen fridge, open milk, pour, as if I’m chain smoking, compulsive, needless, gross. This is ...

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“Jerry Sonder Goes For a Wander” by Morgan Riley

Submitted to Contest #42

‘Good evening passengers, and welcome to Sydney airport,’ announced the avatar on the seatback screen.Jerry stood in the aisle, stretched and lifted his bag down from the overhead compartment. Just one bag, its contents deliberately minimal: three crew-neck t-shirts, one shirt and one sweater (both blue), two pairs of shorts, socks and underwear, essential toiletries, a small towel, a phone charger, flip flops. Everything else he carried in his pockets or the pouch tucked into his jeans. He flicked the hair tie off his wrist and pulled a han...

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Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 214 stories

“Circle on Circle” by Debbie Stelzle

“Petrichor” by Sandeep T

“UNDER THE SHADOWS” by Emma Sangual

“A DANCE WITH LUCIFER” by RADIUS HAVWAALA

“sodden in the moonsoon....” by The Poetess

“End(Beginn)ing” by Rebekah Christensen

“Not My Life” by Sarah Grace

“Catharsis” by Melany Uhrhammer

“Death By The River ” by Reya Attri

“The Book of Dreams” by Barry Litherland

“Bad, Bad Girl” by Charlotte Graham

“Peanut Butter Road” by Nick L.

“A trip down memory lane” by Stella Elewa

“Clever cereal companies, and other thoughts.” by Caroline G

“Jerry Sonder Goes For a Wander” by Morgan Riley

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that ends with the narrator revealing a secret.

Write a story that ends in the past.

Write a story that ends with a character asking a question.

Write a story that ends with one character waiting for the arrival of another.

Contest #42

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

903

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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