Write a story about a late bloomer.

Posted in Spring on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 12 stories

“Fix it” by Thomas Giorgione

Submitted to Contest #125

The boy stood in the center of the kitchen with a blue disposable razor in his mouth, and his father paced around him. He would fix the boy’s speech impediment at last. He worked on the device most of the previous night: he removed the blades, melted a small plastic block into strips, and arranged them to the speech therapist’s specifications.Mark looked at his five year old son, Jerry, whose red shorts sagged, and his white t-shirt hung down below his knees. Jerry was such a late bloomer that it was hard to find clothes in his size, but Mar...

18 comments 18

Read story

““New Mom at……40?!” ” by Kelly Stuhlmueller

Submitted to Contest #125

**this story contains explicit language regarding relations between a married couple. My first marriage ended in divorce after nine years. I like to say it was “mostly” my ex Ken’s fault but I must admit- my obsession with wanting and trying to have a baby, may have contributed to the demise of our marriage. As a new bride of age twenty-four, I had my life , rather our lives, planned out. I would graduate from business school at age twenty-five and we’d travel a little and get down to starting our family of two to three children and a Lab...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Summer Visit” by Michelle Nieweg

Submitted to Contest #125

-----------TW--------- Contains themes of self-harm, sex, and violence --------- Yellowish, purplish bruises covered my best friend's legs. The welts were like a watercolor patchwork overlain on the crisscross-y scars she had made years prior, from that darker and sadder place. The raised lines on her upper thighs were layered over themselves from many different sessions of slashing away at her own pale body. And perhaps what shocked me more than seeing the bruises now, was the fact that she chose to wear super short, black denim daisy duke...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Phoenix Rising: A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Title For Late Bloomers.” by Angel Vargas

Submitted to Contest #125

“You are what is known as a “late bloomer, son”At least, this is what your father tells you when you ask why the other fourth graders mistake you for a girl. It doesn’t help that you’re pale, your hair is past shoulder length, and you’ve got no “bad boy moustache” yet like some of the other boys. Your pecs are also large, but underdeveloped, so you have what the other boys call “bitch tits.”Of course, you’re also a sensitive soul honing an artistic talent for drawing! And you’re a romantic! How sweet! You watched a ton of soap operas with yo...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Peanut Boy” by Hamzah Malik

Submitted to Contest #125

Once upon a time there lived a boy known as Peanut Boy. This peculiar nickname had been given to him at birth, when people in his village had noticed his body was shaped like a small peanut, and that his skin was rough like its outer shell. Even though he looked different and was smaller compared to other children, Peanut Boy’s parents loved him very much, and never let him feel like he was unwanted. As Peanut Boy became a young boy, he ended up looking exactly like a peanut, waddling around the village and smiling warmly at everyone.&nbsp...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Facade” by Jack Coey

Submitted to Contest #125

Lester lived by himself, and it wasn’t so bad until the virus came. He quite his cashier job, and wore a mask, and followed the reports of a vaccine being developed. He was in his 70’s. His wife was hit by a bus three years ago during a heavy rainstorm. He moved to the cramped apartment above the hardware store that felt like a closet and was embarrassed to invite guests. He made time with Mildred at the market, and probably could have had some action if they had someplace to go. He thought about a hotel r...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Late Bloomer” by Carolyn Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #125

“My kids. They’re both late bloomers. What can I say?” Bev’s raspy voice sounds defeated, tired. She turns her head and gazes out the dirty, aluminum framed window. From her vantage point five floors up, her view is mostly of gray clouds. Her snow white hair, normally soft and fluffy, is flat from too many days on a hospital pillow and too many days without a proper shower and shampoo. She sighs, a deep heave that lifts her chest, moving the thin hospital gown and jumble of tubes and wires with it. Difficult...

6 comments 6

Read story

“The Sacred Bloom of Flesh and Flowers” by Scoop Rittersblock

Submitted to Contest #125

I was always a late bloomer in life, being for as long as I can remember content to hang back from the howling rush so I could better see, hear and feel the symphony of life playing all around me. From an early age I was given to a kind of absorbed dalliance, or festive reverie, which made me prone to a habitual tardiness, the type of which triggers noisy alarms and flashing, blood red warnings above firmly closed doors. I have many times stood on the sharp end of these occasions and played my part with loud, woo...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Grand Canyon: Rim to Rim Hike” by Leotie Review

Submitted to Contest #125

There’s a great deal of walking, almost without purpose, in the Bible, as though the function of the trek itself is a journey to bear witness to the beating heart of God. I’m not sure what it means, but it stirs my wonder. Albert Einstein advocated for ‘aimless’ walking as a means to regenerate the mind. He walked a mile and a half to and from work. Not because he had no means of transportation, but because he wanted to. The act to him was considered a sacred ritual. To others, it was another aspect to his strange quirkiness. It took m...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Never Too Late to Love...” by Olivia Jackson

Submitted to Contest #125

She got married at 40.Her family laughed. More specifically, Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike laughed because they simply were not pleased. Somehow Aunt Charlotte "butt dialed" her bride-to-be niece who heard her rather loud Aunt Charlotte telling her Uncle Mike that getting married at such an old age was just as much a mistake as her third marriage, and she had been married four times. Her niece shouldn't even have children at this age! Uncle Mike was heard replying that love did that to people, gave them illusions of grandeur that almost alwa...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Night School” by Daniel Hafertepe

Submitted to Contest #125

John Harper peeked into his assigned classroom. So this is night school: no desks, no chalkboard, no flag, not even a clock to watch?Instead, he counted five chairs on one side of a large table facing a single chair on the other. School had changed a lot in forty years. And John had sworn he’d never go back.But then he made that promise.John blamed Hennessy and hubris, the latter causing him to climb those stairs on weak knees and sore feet.The classroom occupied a third-floor corner of a recreation center. The local college extend...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Snowdrop Elegy ” by Mack Gage

Submitted to Contest #125

“Galanthus nivalis.” “Oh yeah? The common snowdrop. There’s a hundred freezing outside, so why is this one freezing in here?” “Common! Hardly.” February crept in through the windows, invaded gaps in the old, tumbling masonry. Thomas’s breath fogged the air, there was frost around the rim of Grandma Evie’s wine glass. Her bedroom's only fire burned at the end of her cigarette. But still, the old witch refused to die. Thomas took her hand; dry, cold cracked skin and age hollowed bones, stretched across the meanest bitch Eng...

1 comment 1

Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character who is always running late arriving somewhere just as it closes.

Thriller and Suspense – 19 stories

All clocks suddenly stop. Write about what happens next.

Science Fiction – 45 stories

Write a story including the phrase “Better late than never”.

Angst – 67 stories

Set your story in an airport, as someone rushes for a flight.

Thriller and Suspense – 21 stories

Contest #125

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Better Late Than Never

$250

Prize money

164

Contest entries

113

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 24, 2021 EST

Won by Shuvayon Mukherjee 🏆

Title: The Heart Specialist

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story about a late bloomer.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 12 stories

“Fix it” by Thomas Giorgione

““New Mom at……40?!” ” by Kelly Stuhlmueller

“The Summer Visit” by Michelle Nieweg

“Phoenix Rising: A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Title For Late Bloomers.” by Angel Vargas

“Peanut Boy” by Hamzah Malik

“Facade” by Jack Coey

“Late Bloomer” by Carolyn Jacobs

“The Sacred Bloom of Flesh and Flowers” by Scoop Rittersblock

“Grand Canyon: Rim to Rim Hike” by Leotie Review

“Never Too Late to Love...” by Olivia Jackson

“Night School” by Daniel Hafertepe

“The Snowdrop Elegy ” by Mack Gage

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character who is always running late arriving somewhere just as it closes.

All clocks suddenly stop. Write about what happens next.

Write a story including the phrase “Better late than never”.

Set your story in an airport, as someone rushes for a flight.

Contest #125

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

164

Contest entries

113

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: