Write about someone fighting to change their city neighborhood for the better.

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 44 stories

“Lena's Notebook” by Kayleigh Fraser

Submitted to Contest #85

Vince lay on the roof outside his window gazing into the clear night's sky. Despite the light pollution of Edinburgh city, it was still possible to see the hundreds of stars that glittered above his head. He closed his eyes and invited Lena to join him, feeling the soft caress of her hair as she cuddled into his chest. The warmth of her skin and how perfectly the curvature of her body fit against his was so deeply imprinted on him that it almost felt real. Lena's essence was still very much alive inside Vince's heart. Her love had been so vi...

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“CITY LIFE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #85

Meena was happy that her husband Krishna was now a healthy man. At times, a freak line of doubt would occur that he should not cancel the leave and go back to work at Delhi. Last year when he was transferred to Delhi, he felt very happy. He thought, he was blessed one and on top, a chosen one to be at the capital city. But his happiness did not last long. The high cost of living, long hours of commutation, heavy traffic jam, extreme weather conditions…. Nothing suited him. He simply wondered, how so many people, that too, lakhs and lakhs, ca...

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“Succor” by Testimony Odey

Submitted to Contest #85

I was not going to have it anymore. It was enough already, enough of the nonsense that everyone now thought of as acceptable. "They say it's my fault," Shira cried. I bent down and put my hands on her knees. "No, don't say that honey. It's not your fault. It's his fault." My heart bled for her. I stood and opened more windows. The weather was burning hot. The food was on fire and I rushed into the kitchen to check the Jollof rice. I thought of how Shira must have felt having her family turn her back on her. I thought of how betra...

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“Men, to Arms! (or Women, to Spray Bottles)” by Delphine Hintz

Submitted to Contest #85

“Is that what I think it is?” “. . . No?” A sigh. “That’s not supposed to be a question.” “It wasn’t?” The woman’s heels clacked upon the stark linoleum as she approached. The rumble of tracks behind them grew louder before hissing to a stop. Her jaw clenched as she refused to breathe in the smell of mundanity and piss. Urban development developed into this. Any further west and she’d need the two-dollar neon snorkel. “Don’t play dumb.” “I’m not playing.” “Clearly.” The near empty spray bottle clattered. It settled, rolling back an...

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“MAGIC FINGERS” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #85

.The city has its good side and its bad side. Kravan belonged to the latter. The good side was the mayor Marge who was constantly trying to change the city’s neighbourhood for the better. Kravan was the head of a mafia which was running rackets like smuggling, extortion and so on. He was about 40, was short, dark, bald, and had a bloated body. The only thing people initially noticed about him was his genial smile beneath his massive moustache which masked his real self. That morning, as he was at his desk, Riki dropped in. She was probably t...

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“The Community Page” by Julie Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #85

What Joe wanted to do for the neighborhood and what he was doing for the neighborhood were very different things. What he wanted was an online community, where empty-nesters could post hand-me-downs, pet owners could find dog walkers, neighbors could team up to build little libraries! He created the online group for Burnt Branch neighborhood on a whim after last Halloween, when kids sprinted from house to house, and adults mixed beverages, sheepishly admitting they should have introduced themselves earlier. Now the group was a cluster of ...

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“Not a lot is going on here ” by Daniel Brown

Submitted to Contest #85

This Sunday heat presses a reckless thumb against the bodies of wealthy and impoverished alike. Kids wrench open fire hydrants to prevent them from melting into the sidewalk like their defenseless popsicles and cones and sundaes. And parents and cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles, necks craned beneath the unity of an officer's bent knee perspiring through the uniform and the sizzling asphalt boiling their skin. Their cries melt into the sidewalk too and the streets, thinner and more fragile as the pressure compresses them into a flesh...

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“Finding a New Path: A Mission of Mental Health for the Homeless” by Jen Thilman

Submitted to Contest #85

Darla loved her adopted city, it breathed a life of its own...and a stench, she realized as she stepped over another body on her way to the corner market. She had lived in LA for over a decade, recently settling in a cute house in Los Feliz that she loved. It was close to a corner market and work; she could walk to both but it was often poxed with obstacles. “Hey! Get outta my house!” the body yelled. When was someone going to do something about the homeless population in this city? So she usually drove to work and only walked ...

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“Operation Clean-Sweep” by Craig Wood

Submitted to Contest #85

Am I crazy? That's what everyone says. Even my so-called friends, if you can call them that. They've avoided me like the plague ever since I told them. Why? What did I tell them? I can't remember.It might have something to do with my current predicament. Humph. Yup. I can hear the chorus of 'I told you so's' as I strain to see...wherever it is I am. Can't see much in the dark. Just a faint crack of light seeping in a tiny window. A basement window, I think. I'd go check it out, but I can't move. For some reason, I feel like laughing. Serious...

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“The Legend of Haku” by Shreenidhi Ramamurthi

Submitted to Contest #85

River Gaya spread her arms wide and embraced the City of Zora in a full circle before escaping into the Thunder Waterfall which marked the entrance of the city. The silver sword stood perched on a rock in the middle of the waterfall, undisturbed for many years. The sword, along with the Castle and the Statue Park that covered the perimeter of the river was a source of terror in the heart of every citizen of the city. In the past, many people had tried to rebel against their tyrant leader Zora but ended up being a statue in the Statue Park. R...

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“Terror from deep within” by Anes Nia

Submitted to Contest #85

I was gazing through the office’s window, which covers most of this city, giving me the perfect view over this doomed place. “I can see every moving, breathing creature from up here,” I said that out loud even though im the only one in the room. With the night drawing near and the dying sun making shadows all over this depressed city, instantly switching the mood from energetic and happy to gloomy and haunted. Concerned locals closed all their shops, leaving to their houses as early as any of them can. The cops gathered...

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“Next Time” by Laura Zielinski

Submitted to Contest #85

There is a dorm on campus decorated unlike the rest. It’s located in the gray three-story building with the curvy, shiny blue chimney-like topper on the right side of the flat roof. The décor of that dorm? Thrive Market containers, packaging, and boxes. Elegant, no? The large boxes with the green Thrive emblem are sturdy enough to construct a 12-foot long stretch of interlocking shelves—it completely fills the wall adjacent to the wall with the two windows. On the shelves are meticulously organized nut butter jars, syrup bottles, and glass...

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“Allentown” by Melody Petras

Submitted to Contest #85

AllentownWednesday evening, March 17, 2019, 8:30pm. I just moved in with my partner, Luke. We live in Pittsburgh in the slopes of Allentown. The balcony that hangs over our tiny backyard has a beautiful view of the city. From where we sit, we can see over the top of the notorious party-town of South Side and across the Monongahela River right into Oakland. The lights are very pretty at night. “Terra.” “Yes,” I j...

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“Empty” by Kay C

Submitted to Contest #85

“Get him on left lateral, clear the surroundings, siderails up!” Emma hears the orders before she registers the man lying on the bed violently jerking both arms and legs a foot from where she stands at the triage desk. The back of his head thumps on the bed repeatedly. The woman waiting her turn at the doorway lets out a scream that pierces the silence that befell the emergency room. Healthcare professionals and patients alike all stand with bated breath, waiting for the man’s seizure to end. A minute later the man’s muscles cease their ...

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Contest #85

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This week's theme: City Living

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Write about someone fighting to change their city neighborhood for the better.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 44 stories

“Lena's Notebook” by Kayleigh Fraser

“CITY LIFE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

“Succor” by Testimony Odey

“Men, to Arms! (or Women, to Spray Bottles)” by Delphine Hintz

“MAGIC FINGERS” by Sivaram Govindaraj

“The Community Page” by Julie Mitchell

“Not a lot is going on here ” by Daniel Brown

“Finding a New Path: A Mission of Mental Health for the Homeless” by Jen Thilman

“Operation Clean-Sweep” by Craig Wood

“The Legend of Haku” by Shreenidhi Ramamurthi

“Terror from deep within” by Anes Nia

“Next Time” by Laura Zielinski

“Allentown” by Melody Petras

“Empty” by Kay C

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a major city that your character has a love-hate relationship with.

Write a story that takes place in the same building but in two very different time periods.

Start your story with the line, “That’s the thing about this city…”

Write about someone fighting to keep their city neighborhood the same.

Contest #85

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

671

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: