Along the way, you find a stranded suitcase. Could it be a journey interrupted? One just begun? Or the end of the line? You ponder what might be inside, who left the bag behind.

Such was the task for writers who penned stories about the stranded suitcase. Read on to discover what a stranded suitcase can hold.

The following is based on the July 26, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about what happens next to a stranded suitcase.

PART I (10-minute read)

Persephone by Jan Malique

Everyone thought they knew the true facts of her abduction by Hades. Only Hekate knew, and she vowed to keep the secret to herself. The Hidden One assisted in every way possible to enable the sacred rite to reach its conclusion

Persephone went as a willing sacrifice, carrying the symbol of her death and rebirth, the pomegranate. It was safely packed in a well used suitcase. her favourite. It took days to reach the mouth of the Underworld. Dark days.

The pomegranate was taken out and offered to Hades who stood at the entrance. The suitcase was left behind.

🥕🥕🥕

Three Sisters by D. Avery

Three sisters came upon a worn suitcase in their path.

“Unattended baggage!” the first cried.

“Abandoned,” lamented the second.

“Lost,” declared the third.

The first sister would not go near the suitcase.

The second sister found the suitcase too heavy to move.

The third sister found that she could manage the suitcase.

All three sisters gathered round to peer inside.

The first sister saw fear.

The second sister saw worry.

The third sister saw hopes, dreams and wishes.

She left the wishes. She took hope and her best dreams. Continuing their journey, her steps were lighter and more certain.

🥕🥕🥕

Suitcase by Anita Dawes

To some people, I am a simple suitcase, something to put your belongings in to travel.
I am lost and Sally cannot find me.
I have been in the dark hole of a plane, dropped from the cargo hold and left on the tarmac.

You would think my bright yellow colour would help unite me with my owner, but rain or shine, no one sees me. Sally waits for me to be found, to be reunited.
You see, I am her good luck charm, Sally will not travel without me.
Has my luck run out, will Sally find me…?

🥕🥕🥕

Luggage by floridaborne

My daughter laughs at an abused green suitcase. “I remember that thing!”

“You used it for a summer in Morocco. I trusted you…”

“I know, I know,” she chuckles at me. “You kept it in pristine condition and I returned it all beat up without the wheels, BlahBlahBlah… Why won’t you throw it away?”

“Together, we explored the world. I had a career… a life. I met your father…”

“Then you had me, so it’s all good!”

What if I’d told him no?

Too late…

Like this dusty attic, I hold the memories of a lifetime no one understands.

🥕🥕🥕

Life in a Nutshell by Deepa

There lies a suitcase deserted on the tracks of life.

On the top left corner rudiments of past are carefully lined at the bottom only to be taken out when there is a need.

The hidden secrets hide underneath the lustrous covers zipped tightly not to be stripped and found by anyone.

There are also some catastrophes packed into an airtight bag isolated from the colorful facades that occupy the most space.

Isn’t the world too big to be carried into this small suitcase?

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The Suit Case by Patrick O’Connor

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” asked the Judge.

“We have your honor.” replied the jurist.

“Please state the verdict.” followed the judge.

“We find the defendant, Maxwell Suit, on the sole count of fraud, guilty as charged.”

A shocking gasp came across those in the gallery.

Maxwell stood there, dumbfounded. How could anyone reasonably find him guilty?

Maxwell Suit, once a highly respected CEO would surely go down in history as a disgrace.

“Order! I’ll have order!” barked the judge.

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 90 days in jail and a fine of $1.5M. Court’s adjourned.”

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Abandoned Case by kate @ aroused

The suitcase lay abandoned on the line … would the owner have less clothes at the other end? Had staff been incompetent when loading the baggage? Or had someone tossed it off to be retrieved later?

In 1939 nobody considered bombs or sabotage. Odd things happened in times of war and extreme poverty.

People noticed the case but speculation was preferred as nobody approached it. Reluctance to get involved held them back. Everyone thought the other should investigate the contents yet nobody touched it!

What was in that suitcase and who had lost it … mystery and intrigue prevailed!

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The Suitcase by Shreya Punjabi

Since his childhood, the suitcase had been scared of the dark. He had traveled the world, but hotel rooms are comfortable in the dark. The only ghost he met was reasonably friendly.

When the suitcase fell out a train, he panicked. The wind was cold, the tunnel in front of him looked like it would never end. The sun was setting slowly, like it would never stop.

But it did.

There was nothing but the dark.

He heard the familiar horn of a train. The tunnel exploded with comforting light that came closer by the second. The suitcase smiled.

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Unopened by Jack Schuyler

I saw the old man down the street in the paper this morning. His obituary was short and assured me he’d left nobody to mourn his absence. I visited his abandoned hermitage on my walk today, either out of curiosity or respect for the forgotten, I don’t know which. I opened the door, stepped inside, and was met with the relics of a lonely past. There were torn doilies, stained armchairs, an astrolabe, and a hundred letters spilling out of an old suitcase. I picked one up. It was light and pale, sealed with a kiss, and never opened.

🥕🥕🥕

The Case by The Late Night Girl

This is the case of a man who walks the tracks, burdened with a bundle that life over time has loaded on his shoulders. He loves the stillness and the protective feel of the walls.

He carries his suitcase and the load on his shoulders as he reaches the threshold of a tunnel, not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the darkness at the end of his life.

He leaves his case on the tracks as he doesn’t need it anymore and walks into the tunnel. This is the case of a man who once lived.

🥕🥕🥕

A Case of the Unexpected by Norah Colvin

“I wonder what’s inside,” said Jamie.

“D’ya think we should open it?” Nicky asked.

They looked around. No one anywhere.

Jamie shrugged. “I guess.”

“Looks old,” said Nicky.

“Probably been here for years.”

“So dirty.”

The rusty catches were unyielding.

“Might be locked,” said Nicky, hopefully.

“Let’s see,” said Jamie.

They pried with sticks, battered with stones and willed with all their might. When the catches finally snapped open, they hesitated.

“Go on,” said Nicky.

“No, you.”

“Both.”

“Okay. One, two, three … open!”

The children’s eyes widened.

“What is it?” asked Nicky.

“Dunno,” said Jamie. “Looks like …”

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Keeping Secrets (from Rock Creek) by Charli Mills

Anabelle found the suitcase in the hayloft, upright as if ready to travel. She didn’t see the slim shadow of a boy slip out through the stalls below. She grabbed it and ran to the farmhouse where her uncle was frying supper.

“Uncle Henry! Look what I found.”

“That’s Grandma Mary’s old medicine bag.”

“It’s a suitcase.”

“It’s what she used to tend to the Ottawa. Been missing for thirty years.”

“It was in the hayloft, plain as day.”

“I’ll be. Someone brought it back.”

Annabelle open the latches. A single sketching of Cobb McCanles drifted to the floor.

🥕🥕🥕

Unfaithfully Yours by Anurag Bakhshi

Running away together had not been an easy decision, but they didn’t have a choice. His wife had started suspecting them, and their life could be destroyed any day now.

But right now, he was waiting for her, alone, with the suitcase. Maybe she too had abandoned him, left him stranded, like that suitcase.

His eyes teared up as his thoughts turned dark with despair. But then, someone patted him on the back. He turned swiftly.

“Let’s go,” she said breezily, “Hope you’ve checked the suitcase again. All the money from our last robbery is in there, right Dad?”

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Chaste Case by kate @ aroused

The old bus with no windows slowly wound it’s way up the twisty steep Himalayan road with barely enough space for traffic to pass. The journey was hot, dusty and arduous.

Our luggage had been tossed up with the market produce and locals who all rode on the roof. Well aware that we were overloaded and listing didn’t instil confidence.

Watching in disbelief I saw my suitcase fall from above to tumble down the mountainside. So I had no choice but to disembark and follow the windy road back to where I could see my case laying far below.

🥕🥕🥕

My Denied Destiny by Roger Shipp

My heart is lightened remembering the first time I had pulled this old thing from our attic. Its ebony wool was frayed and one of its brass corners had been removed. It had be Great-Aunt Gertrude’s carry-on for her train-ride to the West.

For me, it was my get-away bag. My denied destiny… the rodeo.

Girls weren’t to climb trees, bust horses, or chew…. according to Father. But I was better than brother at all three.

I was packed and gone – three whole hours- when Grandpa found me headed toward Tulsa.

We compromised.

But I never did unpack it.

🥕🥕🥕

Quantanelle: Stranded in Space by Saifun Hassam

The stranded suitcase glowered at the receding spaceship flying through the wormhole. Andromeda Alice was so excited about finding the Looking Glass, she jumped and forgot to activate the suitcase. But Quantanelle was no ordinary suitcase: she was an automaton, and that suitcase was a brain that worked at lightning speed.

Quantanelle was not one to sit and mope. She was a suitcase who had traveled vast interstellar spaces. She measured her existing activation energies.

The nearest spaceport was on the planet “Carrot Ranch”. Quantanelle beamed an SOS with her co-ordinates. She would follow Alice on the next spaceship.

🥕🥕🥕

The Suitcase by Colleen Chesebro ~ The Fairy Whisperer

The suitcase lay in the weeds at the side of the tracks. Today, the mischievous brownie had been discovered and tossed away like yesterday’s newspaper.

The satchel scrutinized the desolate landscape. The brownie, a shapeshifter who could change into a suitcase to mingle with the humans, waited. Someone would come along. They always did.

“Well, I’ll be darned,” the old man said. “Look Ethel. Isn’t that the bag you saw in the general store?”

“It is. You said we couldn’t afford it,” she pouted.

“Well, you can afford it now.”

The valise grinned. One man’s trash, another man’s treasure.

🥕🥕🥕

Rose’s Suitcase by Nanct Brady

Rose packed her bag as she was told. Underwear, socks, dresses, and, of course, her teddy bear Samuel, who knew everything. Sam listened, comforted, and kept secrets. Samuel was her best friend.

Her parents and Rose walked to the train station; she carried her whole world in that suitcase.

The men made Rose put her suitcase with the others. “They’ll be on the train,” they said, herding everyone into train cars.

As the train pulled away; Rose saw all the suitcases still on the platform. Her little suitcase was dumped, contents rifled, and the bear tossed onto the bonfire.

🥕🥕🥕

The Respite Suitcase by oneletterup

She is so very tired. Of walking and walking.
The sun blinding as she emerges from the woods.
Dirty. Legs scratched. Cotton dress torn.

Cars roar by. A motorcycle backfires.
She jumps, turning to go back.
Then she sees it. It looks kind of familiar.
Grimy and gouged, its rusty metal corners bent in.
An old suitcase stranded in the brush.

She stumbles over to it, considering.
“I’ll just rest here for now. It’s okay.”
She cleans a spot for sitting, picking off dead leaves.
Carefully lowering herself down, she sighs; eyelids closing.
As a truck pulls over. Unnoticed.

🥕🥕🥕

Matty Resists the Call by Ann Goodwin

Clark Gable is pinning a red rosette on the bodice of her second-hand dress when the maid shakes her none too gently by the shoulder. “I wasn’t asleep,” she lies. On the parquet beside her feet sits a battered brown suitcase. “Are you leaving us, dear?”

“No, but you are, they’ll be here any minute to escort you to Tuke House.”

“Tuke House?” Matty knows of the Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall. She knows of the Folies Bergère, despite its salacious reputation. She has never heard of Tuke.

“Thank you, dear, but the current arrangements are perfectly acceptable.”

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No Child Left Behind by Kerry E.B. Black

Melanie studied her students as they completed their exams. Threadbare clothing revealed malnourished limbs. Although clean, the children sniffled and coughed. Melanie bet most hadn’t visited a doctor in several years.

Poverty stunk of limited opportunities and unfair challenges. Concentration waned when stomachs growled. While choosing how to spend a small income, most opted for food and heat rather than school supplies. Melanie provided some for the kids, or they’d be without.

She’d experienced difficulties in her life, certainly, but they paled when compared to her charges’ life-threatening situations.

She’d give them skills to help them negotiate life’s perils.

🥕🥕🥕

PART II (10-minute read)

Takin’ It Easy by Liz Husebye Hartmann

I bin standing on this corner in Winslow Arizona since she tossed me out. Well…me, a half dozen t-shirts, some ragged jeans…

The wind blew them sideways –not so far as his nasty boxers, but not hard and vertical, like his Gameboy.

Gravity.

She’d smelled Lulabelle on him late last night. He left for work. She began hers. ‘Cept she treated me gently, even cried a little when she put me out here. I’d been his grampa’s suitcase.

And now, Lord! She drives up in her flatbed Ford.

She slows down, stops. I see she’s looking at me…smiling.

🥕🥕🥕

Recycled by JulesPaige

I am and will always be a ‘valise’. Of a rare heritage. Vintage large blue marble Samsonite.

I held the young wife’s Trousseau – and was passed on for her daughter to use. Though I am heavy, I held all of that little girls things as she was bounced around to different locations.

Until finally I was filled up with old things – Not as old as I. And donated to charity… After all age took its toll, my seams were coming undone and my lining frayed.

I am in an old house again. Filled with blankets, for a Mother cat.

🥕🥕🥕

Message in a …… Suitcase?? by Rosemary Carlson

It was twenty years ago. I was shopping the antique stores looking for unique things to furnish my house. In one store, hidden in a corner, was a leather suitcase. An old one with straps around it. I pulled it out and decided I loved it.

As I was cleaning it up, I felt a bump and heard a crunch under the inside liner. I worked the one-page note out the edge of the liner. Dated 1945, it said, “Meet me by the hickory tree. If you aren’t there, I’ll know you didn’t mean it.” It was a man’s writing.

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You Can’t Be Too Careful by Geoff Le Pard

‘What’s that?’

‘A suitcase.’

‘I know what it is…’

‘Why’d you ask?’

‘What are you doing with it.’

‘She asked me to watch it.’

‘Who?’

‘The woman who asked me.’

‘Are you nuts. It might be a bomb.’

‘She looked nice.’

‘Or a body…’

‘Green eyes…’

‘Or laundered money…’

‘Home-knitted cardigan…’

‘Or drugs…’

‘Though her shoes seemed ill-fitting…’

‘Cocaine…’

‘You know, like she got them cheap…’

‘Heroin…’

‘And wouldn’t admit she’d made a mistake…’

‘A mobile crystal meth lab…’

‘And it was too late to take them back…’

‘Blood diamonds… ill-fitting shoes?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘My mother?’

‘She’ll have a latte.’

🥕🥕🥕

Missing Luggage by Robbie Cheadle

The luggage conveyor belt went around and around. I felt dizzy watching the same bags come into view and then disappear. None of them were ours. Mom’s face flushed red. Her agitation at the missing bags grew by the second. Willy tried to climb onto the conveyor belt and Mom grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

The crowds of people claiming baggage thinned and soon we were the only ones left.

The empty conveyor belt stated the facts. Our luggage was missing. Dad sighed. “We’ll have to go to missing baggage,” he said.

“Oh no, more waiting.”

🥕🥕🥕

Abandoned Fountain of Youth by Paula Moyer

Be alert to unattended items. We learn this now. But here is a suitcase at the St. Paul Amtrak Station, the new Union Station with its vintage look. Made to look old. And there’s the train – headed points west, so far from the suitcase now. The night train.

The Amtrak employee removes it. The dog sniffs. The security guy opens with tongs and finds … curlers, cosmetics, anti-aging cream. Calls the number on the tag.

The train station tries to look old. The sleepy lady answering? She was peeling away the evidence, but left her accomplice on the track.

🥕🥕🥕

Stranded Suitcase by Miriam Hurdle

“The passengers picked up their suitcases. The one went around in the carousel is not mine.”

“The dark green color and the size look like yours.”

“Mine has a red and green stripe.”

“Let’s go to the customer services.”

~

“I couldn’t find my suitcase. This one has men’s clothes.”

“Let me check… Have a seat.”

“I need things when we get to the hotel.”

“Excuse me, Madam. A passenger has mistaken your suitcase as his. He lives two hours away and is driving home. We’ll exchange them and deliver to your hotel.”

“Oh, well… at least it’s found.”

🥕🥕🥕

Worrying Too Much by Reena Saxena

I wondered, or rather worried aloud why the train stopped between stations.

It was a bomb scare. All rail movement on the tracks was brought to a halt till a detection squad arrived. The sniffer dog ran towards the suitcase, as if eager to meet a long-lost friend. He sniffed and sniffed, and moved all around it. A team member in full armor came forward to open the dreadful case.

The dog stepped forward to partake of the feast, as dog biscuits tumbled out. Did somebody leave it for him, to deflect attention?

Maybe I was worrying too much.

🥕🥕🥕

The Suitcase by Michael Grogan

The calls for the next flight were met with mass movement. Beside us sat a black suitcase. We waited for the traveller to return but the longer it sat there all alone, the more on edge we became.

My sister alerted the airport security and immediate there was a clearing of the area. We were questioned to make sure it was not ours.

Within minutes the area was cordoned off, security barriers erected and everyone moved back. Then there was an explosion, and the suitcase was no more.

We often wondered if the man returned to retrieve his underwear.

🥕🥕🥕

In Brief by Sascha Darlington

“There’re two ways to approach this,” Joe says.

Emily shakes her head. “Nope. One. We got to make sure it’s not a bomb. Protocol, Joe, protocol.”

Joe presses his lips together. Thirty years ago, they would have checked to see who the suitcase belonged to. Now they got to check for a bomb. Who’d want to blow up the train station in Tuttle, a town without even a traffic light to its name?

He nods at Emily. “Do what you must.”

That’s how they end up with a blown-up suitcase full of $20 bills and a pissed-off FBI agent.

🥕🥕🥕

Other Peoples Stuff! by Bill Engleson

You see it often on country roads, goods left out at the top of driveways.

Sometimes there is a sign.

FREE!

I scored a nice office chair that way, once.

Well, it had a wobble.

But so did I.

Today, someone’s put out a non-descript hard suitcase, popular back in the day.

It is pale green.

My parents once told me about Jack Graham who blew up a plane with his mother and forty-three others back in ’55.

He put a bomb in her suitcase.

Their advice: “Always pack your own suitcase.”

These are great words to live by.

🥕🥕🥕

Perdu and Dod o Hyd by Chelsea Owens

Henri couldn’t believe his luck, stranded at Aberystwyth with only the clothes on his back.

“Don’t worry; you’ll only need your carry-on,” his wife had said. “You can even put your wallet and passport in there.”

He stared up at the station timetable, trying to make sense of the ridiculously long Welsh words, and sighed.

Gwilym, meanwhile, couldn’t believe his luck. As a pickpocket, he needed to be careful working the stations; and yet, he’d not lifted a single wallet for today’s find.

Once outside the Hereford station, he opened the battered suitcase. “Henri, eh? Merci, mon ami.”

🥕🥕🥕

Possession by Di @ pensitivity101

No more could he take the tormenting dictatorship of his life, the personal sleights, the ridicule.
He packed everything into a battered old suitcase. There was no connection to him and he could walk away.
The train was due in five minutes. This place was perfect and deserted when he tossed the case off the bridge, ignoring the voice from within screaming
‘Let me out! Let me out!’
The train smashed the case into a thousand pieces, the dummy inside with it.
The head landed at his feet, and the sinister smile said it all.
He’d never be free.

🥕🥕🥕

Suitcase by The Dark Netizen

The suitcase lay abandoned on the forsaken track.

The reason why this railroad was deserted and operations were abandoned was because people feared the cursed area. Anyone who ventured out on the track, would never return. Entire trains had disappeared, simply vanishing into thin air. People believed the abandoned suitcase was the only remaining sign of some poor soul who had joined the ranks of the missing people. However, there always remained some foolhardy bravehearts who would go looking for the suitcase.

They did not know that the suitcase had been placed there, by those living in the tunnel.

🥕🥕🥕

A Bereft Duffle by Susan Sleggs

My son returned from the war in person, but his mind never did. It took me years to understand why he refused to take off that dirty field jacket. I would beg him not to wear it. I even hid it once when he was in the shower and I don’t want to tell you the fight we had before I gave it back and he stormed out of the house to walk the streets, his mind encumbered with the scenes of war. The day I found him hanging, the coat was folded neatly on his full duffle bag.

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Flash Fiction by Pete Fanning

They played Three Little Birds at the funeral. Close enough I suppose. Time’s up and my suitcase is full. Not like most of us get a choice, anyway. Though my baggage is spare. stranded memories of work, tuna salad, regret, the real stuff I packed away for safekeeping. My first love’s smile. The kids. That dawn with Dad in the wet grass and the big moon. But you’d be surprised at what lingers for eternity. Mom’s death. The hot lash of her slap on my cheek. Lower back pain. The pulse of summer in the woods. Every little thing…

🥕🥕🥕

The Chase by Late Night Girl

In the stillness, a sudden noise from the horns of a train erupted in the tunnel, followed by a blinding light. Out came the man running for his life. About 20 meters into the tunnel he had second thoughts that were immediately confirmed by an oncoming train chasing the man back out of the tunnel.

But his case was gone already, while his life was found again. Exhausted, he sat by the side of the tracks, feeling the guilt of almost having involved an innocent train driver into an involuntary act. New hope and the chase for life begun.

🥕🥕🥕

Suitcase of Hope by Ritu Bhathal

Opening the bedroom door, the first thing I saw was the abandoned suitcase, open on the bed. Half packed, it had been left, bereft at not being full, zipped up, and off on another adventure.
I walked over, closed the lid, fastened it and placed it to one side. “Don’t worry, he’ll be better soon, then you can both go on your travels, with no worries at all.”
Pops appeared by my side, having taken a few moments longer to climb the stairs than me.
“It’s okay Pops, rest up. I’ll pack your case when the time is right.”

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Waiting For The Right Train by Teresa Grabs

“There’s rumors of this line,” the old man said, “they say all those lost eventually find their way home.”

“Nonsense!” Charlie knew this line. Who was this old tramp to tell him of this line — his line? “Been here over thirty years and never heard anything of the sort.”

“I would sure love to go home. Go all the way back to Ma, the farm, to Lucy. Back to the day I made the wrong decision.”

A suitcase fell from a train crossing the bridge overhead landing gently in the old man’s lap. He opened it and went home.

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Good Measure by D. Avery

“What’s in that case, Kid?”

“Hee hee, wouldn’tcha like ta know?”

“Yep, that’s why I asked ya. So?”

“Guess.”

“Bacon?”

“Ha! No. What’re ya wishin’ fer it ta be, Pal?”

“I dunno, I jist wondered is all.”

“Are ya worried ‘bout the contents, Pal?”

“Knowin’ you, yeah, a little.”

“Well Pal, I’ll tell ya, some say what’s in here is a treasure. The key ta yer success even.”

“My success? Kid, what in tarnation is in that case?”

“Ah, Pal, you’ve failed in yer quest ta guess. Ow! Okay, Pal. There’s 98 Ranch Yarns in here. An’ now 99!”

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