Write a story where a character relives the same event over and over again.

Posted in Short Story on Dec 20, 2024

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✍️ 35 stories

“The coffee shop loop ” by Rob Tredinnick

Submitted to Contest #282

The bell jingled as the door to the small coffee shop swung open. Daniel stepped inside, shivering from the morning cold, and shook droplets of rain from his jacket. It was a Tuesday—he was certain of that, though his mornings had started to blur together lately. Routine made everything predictable, almost monotonous. The smell of freshly brewed coffee wrapped around him like a warm blanket. He glanced around. The same red-and-white checkered floor tiles, the same overstuffed armchair by the window, the same soft jazz playing from the speake...

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“A Covert Moment” by Paul Hellyer

Submitted to Contest #282

The world has changed. The sun never comes out anymore, instead a brackish fog lingers and the world is painted in shades of grey. But it wasn’t always like this.I think again about what I saw in the forest that day. I was stepping slowly through autumnal leaf litter, surrounded by verdant bushes, as the sun peered through patches that the oaks did not cover. I lived on the edge of the woods, far on the outskirts of town, but I always made time to go on these walks. That day the forest was silent, as fireflies drifte...

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“The Champion” by William Smith

Submitted to Contest #282

Blink. Light. Sound. A feel of… sand? Beneath me. Open eyes. Bright light hurts. Cold. I look down. Yep, sand. Also, naked? I look around. Walls in every direction. Round. No roof. No sun, but bright everywhere. One door. Big door. Sound again, a loud banging. From the door. Door begins to open. Worry. Blinking again, I try to stand. My muscles are weak, it takes too long. I sway as I get to my feet. And shiver. The door opens wide. Darkness. Then, a creature! A massive creatu...

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“Life And Times.” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #282

It just will notvgo away all those years on nearly half a centuary aho. How vivid ones mind is from babe to adult. I can relive it and picture as if it where yesterday.My first car green a little 11,00 car with the cream leather seats and clocks inside on the dash board. It was a sheer joy at twenty one to polish that car.Oh, why did it have to happen to me ? The event stays always in the back of my mind. Imagining the terror. Seeing the people six of them drunk in a four seater Cortina. Said "They were out celebrating their engagement. Wher...

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“You Never Know What the Day Might Bring” by Tony Jones

Submitted to Contest #282

Mary Hamlin’s alarm went off. It was going to be another average day at Cushing High School where she was in her senior year. Mary was tired so she pressed the snooze button. Just as she was getting back to sleep, her mother came in and said, “Get up, Mary!” “Oh, Mom, I just need a little more rest before I get up.” “Mary, it’s time to get up and get going. You never know what the day might bring.” “Huh?” she thought to herself. “I never heard Mom say anything like, ‘You never know what the day might bring.’”She raised up enough to question ...

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“The Time of the Gathering” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #282

Mrs. Valentine pushed the front door open, her arms heavy with shopping bags and called for the girls with a shrill voice. Her blonde, substantial daughter Millie and her two waifish college friends Julia and Judith came running into the foyer after perming Millie’s hair in the dark and painting her nails for the talent show. Her long-suffering handyman James was up on a ladder painting the wall even though it was Nine O’clock at night. The three girls assembled in front of her as she put the bags down.“This floor needs to be waxed and you g...

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“My Morning Routine” by JOHN FERRIGNO

Submitted to Contest #282

People are always surprised that I still use an alarm clock. Once time travel became common place, getting anywhere on time was no longer a problem. You rarely saw anyone who wasn't well rested these days. Time Chambers were found in virtually any house, as standard as a television set or a microwave. Still, there was something about them that made me uneasy. All that shifting around, forwards and backwards in time. It never seemed like the kind of thing that should be taken for granted. It reminded me of math class, when the teacher would i...

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“Milton Flufferbear Figures it Out” by Cindy Miller

Submitted to Contest #282

Present Day, Toadstool Toys, Bath, EnglandMilton Flufferbear was having a day. Correction, he was having twelve days, and they all looked and acted exactly alike. Not just similar, and not just nuanced-alike. But exactly alike. Right down to the same drips from the same honey pot on the same plate at the same time of day (well, Milton finally looked at the clock on Day 3 and knew something was up. He realized the timing was precisely the same each and every day. Each and every drip.). He had the same conversations with the same stuffed anima...

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“On Loop” by Maverick Cotsen

Submitted to Contest #282

Maverick Cotsen12/27/24 On Loop It was less than an hour after my surgery that I realized I would never be able to forgive my surgeon. Merely a week prior, I had walked into my surgeon’s office to go over the final details leading up to the procedure: what to eat and drink beforehand, what to not do, and a reiteration of the risks in order to confirm that I really wanted the procedure. Ever since I had fallen off a rock swing and slammed my elbow into a rock, my right arm hadn’t been able to move or even bend, leading m...

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“And again” by Jo Freitag

Submitted to Contest #282

“This is all your fault!” Sir Bors yelled, looking up at Cloudbank Cabin and shaking his fist. “You people up there in the cabin! Every time someone writes this story, we are all forced to re-enact it.” Malory Tennyson had been the custodian of Cloudbank Cabin, which nestled on the shore of the Fog Lake, at the foot of the Many Mooded Mountain, for hundreds of years. He had seen a steady stream of authors, artists, and creatives coming to the cabin for their retreats. When the Light and the atmospheric conditions played with the mystical lan...

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“Morals and Crosswalks” by Fray Crowett

Submitted to Contest #282

I don’t have bad days, but despite that, I was having an awful day. I got stuck in traffic and my usual parking lot was full by the time I got there. Looking outside the parking lot I still couldn't find any parking near my work. And when I did find parking, it was 2 blocks away. This meant I had to walk from there just to get to work on time. And worst of all, at the final crosswalk to get to my work, I was next to some old bat of a woman. She has a tacky tan purse, a floral dress and a sun hat that is far too big. On top ...

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“Playing With Destiny” by Kavya Janani U

Submitted to Contest #282

Content warning: Injury, trauma, mental health strugglesStaring at my freshly bandaged fingers, I wished for only one thing. To go back in time and prevent the accident. Okay, maybe I wished for more too. To not sacrifice a bit of my flesh to a crazy metal as if it had a prophecy to fulfil. To not witness blood gushing like it had a mind of its own. To not holler, scream, and wail as if a whole finger had been amputated. To not think about everything I couldn’t do on my own, starting the next day. To not hear the echoes of my screams ricoche...

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“Spirit Blues” by Bohan Sun

Submitted to Contest #282

"It's a terrible feeling, isn't it?" said Rosa's dad. Rosa nodded her head. Her dad sighed. "It will pass, my dear, it will pass." Ten years later.... The door of the cafe jingled with a bell as the young woman, dressed crisply yet casually, walked in. She was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, all pressed and ironed, as to not leave a single wrinkle. She walked in inconspicuously, ordered a medium latte and an everything bagel, and sat down. That routine had been repeated meticulously every single day, without fail. Whether rain, hail,...

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“The Cherry Street Garage” by Jim Robison

Submitted to Contest #282

Contemporary folklore is filled with stories of international multi-billion-dollar corporations that got their start in a California garage or on a kitchen table, and some of these stories are actually true. But you have probably never heard of the Cherry Street Garage. This is not because you are ill informed or because the story is untrue. It is because nobody has heard of the Cherry Street Garage. Until now. It is April 10th, 1974. Maxwell Porter is working in his garage on Cherry Street in Menlo Park California.&...

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“Where Did I Go Wrong?” by Etya Krichmar

Submitted to Contest #282

Where Did I Go Wrong? Ten years later, the memory loops endlessly, like a melody I can’t forget but can no longer sing. The warmth of my granddaughters’ hugs lingers on my skin, the faint scent of their shampoo teasing my senses. Their laughter echoes in my ears, only to dissolve into a haunting silence that leaves me aching for what once was. Where did I go wrong? On that fateful crisp April morning in 2015, pale sunlight cast long shadows across the driveway. My grandchildren’s tiny arms wrapped tightly around me, and their embrace lingere...

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Write a story where a character relives the same event over and over again.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 35 stories

“The coffee shop loop ” by Rob Tredinnick

“A Covert Moment” by Paul Hellyer

“The Champion” by William Smith

“Life And Times.” by Christine LW

“You Never Know What the Day Might Bring” by Tony Jones

“The Time of the Gathering” by Len Rely

“My Morning Routine” by JOHN FERRIGNO

“Milton Flufferbear Figures it Out” by Cindy Miller

“On Loop” by Maverick Cotsen

“And again” by Jo Freitag

“Morals and Crosswalks” by Fray Crowett

“Playing With Destiny” by Kavya Janani U

“Spirit Blues” by Bohan Sun

“The Cherry Street Garage” by Jim Robison

“Where Did I Go Wrong?” by Etya Krichmar

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins with an apology.

Write a story where someone who has done something wrong seeks a fresh start.

Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.

Write a story that starts and ends in the same place.

Contest #282

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

267

Contest entries

124

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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