On Halloween night, Zoey and her boyfriend, Ryan, were driving home from a party, flashing headlights and the sound of screeching tires cut their laughter short. The crash happened in an instant. Zoey woke up, saw Ryan bloody, and was in shock; she fainted. Zoey woke up the next morning, a headache running through her body, realizing what had happened to her last night. Looking around her room, she came across her calendar, marking October 31st. At first, she thought it was a cruel coincidence, but when the same night replayed again and again, she realized she was trapped in a loop, forced to relive that day of the accident.
Each day, wore her down more. No matter how she changed her routine, taking a different route, refusing to drive, even staying home, not going to that party. She did everything right and yet nothing changed. The day ended so cruelly, hauntingly. Broken glass, ears ringing, facing her way to Ryan, his lifeless eyes staring back at her, she was back again in square one.
Zoey woke up once again to the painful headache. This time she sat up, looked at her calendar, but this time with a smile, she let herself breathe, and she felt relieved. Zoey finally understood the truth on her own; the loop wasn’t a curse or a punishment; it was a chance to learn how to let go, not through resistance but through acceptance.
That morning, instead of rushing through her cruel fate, Zoey moved differently. She woke up to her parents' breakfast, and instead of rushing through them, she took both of her parents in and hugged them, letting them know that she was thankful for everything they had given her. She looked at her little sister and gave her a tight hug, reminding her that there are going to be challenges throughout her life, but to always be real to herself at the end. As she finished breakfast with her family, one last time, she went outside where Ryan was waiting for her. Telling how much she loved him, she made sure to make things right for them at the end.
When the night came and the familiar crash came to them. Zoey didn’t run. She held on to Ryan, heart steady, and whispered, “It’s okay, I’m ready,” with a tear slipping through her face, she closed them and accepted her fate. She had stopped running; there was no waking up to the same day, going through the same cruel loop. The nightmare was over. In the quietness of the moment, Zoey felt calm; she had finally chosen to let go.
I'm writing this story because the concept of reliving the same day fascinates me; it prompts reflection on all the things you have done and how you truly appreciate the way your life is going. A movie called “Before I Fall” inspired me to write this story. It has a similar plot, and I wanted to adapt it with my own characters and twist on the story.
My story reflects universal themes of loss, grief, and acceptance. Almost everyone goes through a moment where they want to “go back” and fix those moments, but can't. The loop also represents how people get stuck in their pain, while Zoey's choice to accept her fate reflects the universal truth that healing only comes through letting go.
One specific choice I made was using the calendar as a detail in the plot and setting. Each time Zoey wakes up, she notices Oct 31 marked again, which becomes a symbol of her trapped state. That small detail connects to the larger theme of grief and how people sometimes feel like they're stuck in one date or moment forever.
My writing process wasn't as hard as I thought. I had the plot, but coming up with my structure and how I wanted it to play out was what got to me. My biggest challenge was coming up with the ending for Zoey. I wanted a deep meaning in my story; I didn't want her to actually break the loop, but instead to overcome it by acceptance. For revision. I'd like to add more dialogue and more sensory details so the emotional connections with her family and Ryan feel even more vivid. I would also like to add more details about Zoey, what kind of person she actually is.
The passage I'd choose is, “When the night came, and the familiar crash came to them. Zoey didn’t run. She held on to Ryan, heart steady and whispered, “It’s okay, I’m ready”. The pacing here is slowed down with short, simple sentences to highlight how different this night is from the loops before. I made sure to stay in Zoey’s perspective, feeling her steady heart and hearing her whispered words that really make the reader feel for her.
I learned that writing about emotional themes like grief and acceptance requires more than just telling the reader what the character feels; I had to show it through action, details, and structure. I also learned how repetition can be storytelling, because every time the day resets, it carries more emotional weight. Overall, I learned that writing isn't just about plot twists, but about creating a deeper emotional journey for the characters and the reader