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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#1: Birthdays

The Reedsy writing prompts newsletter started almost three years ago, and over the past few years, the simple concept of sending out five weekly writing ideas has allowed us to connect with thousands of fantastic authors around the world. This week marks the 150th edition of our prompts newsletter, and to celebrate, we’re excited to launch our brand new Reedsy Prompts page which will host our writing contest moving forward! Also to celebrate our prompts newsletter turning 150 weeks old, the theme this week is — what else — birthdays!

This week's prompts

Write a story about a stressed parent planning their child's birthday.

Adults – 22 stories

Write a story about a sweet sixteen.

Short Story – 13 stories

Write a story about someone turning 100 years old.

Fiction – 47 stories

Write a story about someone trying to find the perfect birthday gift.

Short Story – 19 stories

Write a story about a birthday party with a major plot twist.

Funny – 38 stories

Stories

“I Love You Delilah” by Maddie H

Submitted to Contest #1

AndrewStop. Stop. Stop. Stop!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!!!I don’t want you. Stop texting me. STOP!!!!!!!!!!I don’t like you. That’s it, you’re getting blocked.“Hey sis, what’s up?”“Oh lord, Andrew won’t stop texting me, it’s like he still thinks I’m in love with him.”“Well Delilah you did date him for three years.”“Yeah but we’ve also been broken up for 5 months.”“So, It’s not that easy to get over someone like him, if you know what I mean…”“Whatever Kora. ugh”“Just saying.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Andrew Happy Birthday loveyyyy!!!!!! -read 1...

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“Cub Narian” by AniE. Grimaudo

Submitted to Contest #1

Narian walked a lot. He didn’t much enjoy the company of humans anymore, but the animals were a comfort to his weary soul. The donkeys brayed as he walked quickly by. He was more like an animal himself now. Quite old, yet light as a bird, he carried nothing excessive with him and that included bodyweight especially. He liked moving quickly, he always had in his youth. Now it seemed easier than ever to keep the weight off, because he moved with the herds, never ceasing until his day was done and he would fall happily into bed, wondering if th...

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“Whittling Confessions” by Kita Janzen

Submitted to Contest #1

It was a dark and stormy night… well, as stormy as a clear evening with absolutely no clouds in the sky could be. I was fiddling around with some streamers, wondering how I could put them in the rafters… only, the house didn’t have any rafters. “Tonight is going to be perfect!” I told my two year old golden retriever, Bella. She was always so happy, so I felt that I could tell her anything and she wouldn’t judge me, but I couldn’t say the same about my friends. I twirled my long, brown hair with my finger as I thought about how well the part...

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“Perfect gifts!” by Pooja Thube

Submitted to Contest #1

Lisa was so confused. It was her best friend’s birthday and she couldn’t find anything better for her.“Mom, can you help me?”“Yeah sure. What is it?”“It’s Bella’s birthday and I am not sure what to gift her.”“Oh, when is it dear?”“This Friday.”“Oh it’s soon. So do you have any ideas about gifts?”“Yeah…maybe like flowers or chocolates”Mom laughed.“Think outside the box. Gift her something that would remind her about you each time she sees it. What would Bella like? You know her better than me.” And mom went to the market.“Hmm… mom got a ...

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“Megan's Birthday Surprise” by Bianca Romero

Submitted to Contest #1

“Happy birthday to you…” I slowly began to open my eyes. “Happy birthday to you…” I turned my head toward the seductive whispering voice. It sounded so clear, but there was no one standing where the song was coming from. “Happy birthday… Mr. President…” I sat up. I was in an unfamiliar room. Everything was starkly white:...

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“The perfect gift” by Leslie Lozada

Submitted to Contest #1

“I have to get Asa something special.” Sandra looked down at her phone, the notification bubble that indicated that someone is writing was still active for the last ten minutes.“I don’t see the point, it’s just a birthday.” Cynthia finished the small designs on her nails. One of the hearts was lopsided, but she wasn’t worried about perfection. “If it falls on a weekday, you celebrate it on the weekend.”Sandra slightly parted her hair. “Some people would be happy with just that. It’s going to be Low-key anyway. That’s why I’m trying to g...

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“The Surprise Party” by Brooklyn Reilley

Submitted to Contest #1

They’d been planning this forever. From her birth, most likely. Mya’s mother, Helena loved hosting parties. And Aunt Beatrice loved birthdays. Together, they’d make her Sweet Sixteen a hundred times bigger, bolder, and brighter than it needed to be. They selected a theme every year and stuck to it religiously. Her fourteenth had been a sophisticated Garden Gala. Her ninth had been the Cindy Lauper song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. They never told her what the theme was prior to the day. She’d just wake up her birthday morning, a brand new ou...

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“Marjorie” by Meli Mangos

Submitted to Contest #1

Marjorie sat at the round table in front of the window in the kitchen of her small, quiet house at the end of Greenfield Street. She sat with her hands in her lap and back straight despite the hunch she developed with age. Her kitchen counters were cluttered with newspaper ads and credit card offer letters. The off-white fridge whirred in the silence of the stillness while the handle to the icebox hung slightly off kilter. Lightning flashed over a hill in the distance, though Marjorie paid it no mind. Marjorie pulled her cardigan tight...

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“The Perfect Birthday Gift” by Narender Bisht

Submitted to Contest #1

I can’t believe another year has passed and I am again at the point when I need to start thinking about my girlfriend’s birthday. Its three days away and being a procrastinator, I find myself in a quandary. What do you buy for a woman who asks for nothing, demands nothing and lives simply? What would make her happy, some jewelry, perfume, clothes or a quiet dinner for the two of us at her favorite spot? I start to think it might be easier with a demanding girlfriend and then stop. Do other men suffer this malad...

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“Fine like Wine” by Jackson Manley

Submitted to Contest #1

The snow had begun to melt, though it was only February, global warming had screwed with the seasons, causing winter to only last a few months.The insomnia had brought me awake just before three in the morning. Maybe it hadn’t been the insomnia, maybe it had simply been the nightmares, maybe a combination of both. Most of the nurses were still in the breakroom, using stupid ghost detector apps or playing cards for the spare change they kept in their purses and fanny packs. The nurses who were actually doing their job were trying to calm resi...

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“Mamma's Surprise Party” by JEANNE LENTINE

Submitted to Contest #1

Mamma’s Surprise Birthday Party Believe it or not, Dad was planning a surprise birthday party for Mamma, which we were all convinced was going to end up with “Damn it Luca.” This was not one of Dad’s strong suits, and we knew it would probably end in disaster, but we kept our fingers crossed and hoped for the best. Dad assigned each of us specific tasks to do for the party. For weeks Dad had been driving everyone crazy with his questions. Did we send out the invitations on time? Had we picked out the menu? Placed the order with the ca...

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“Maybe not such a complete disaster after all” by Nataly N

Submitted to Contest #1

This was a complete and total disaster. Nothing could possibly be worse than this, other than maybe an apocalypse. Anna was tiring of planning her best friend Eve’s sweet 16, but she had promised to make it special and she wasn’t going to let her down. Looking down at her list of supplies and things she needed to do she scowled, she really needed to start gathering supplies. If she didn’t the party may not even happen. Sighing, she slowly unfurled her aching body, wishing she hadn’t skipp...

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“A not so sweet sixteen.” by Amal Osman

Submitted to Contest #1

"Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this, all this pain and hatred. It's sad knowing that the people who I told my secrets to yesterday, are the furthest from me today. It's sad that they are too the people I most fear. We slowly fell apart, and let the distance widen between us, now looking back I wonder what we even were. You were like a beautiful rose I held on to, the more I kept you close, the more your thorns got sharper. Even though it hurt me I still held on, I still kept you close. But you didn't see that, and that's why you l...

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“Never Gets Old” by Joseph Gozum

Submitted to Contest #1

“Never thought I'd live to a hundred,” said Tristan. He was smoking a cigarette. “And there was a time when I thought this would send me to my grave.” A woman who wore a floor length dress gazed into his eyes as he spoke to her. She walked up to him with sultry in her gait. She pressed her body against his as she ran her fingers through his hair. “You don't look a day over twenty,” she said. Her lips glistened after she licked them. “That's really nice of you to say Emma,” said Tristan. “You never age a day yourself my love, but you already ...

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“Even A Five-Year-Old's Patience Is Limited” by Aleyna Altinors

Submitted to Contest #1

"I'm sorry, what?" Penelope paced around the kitchen island, biting down vigorously on her fingernails and her mobile phone held up to her left ear, her mind immediately running to the worst at that moment, "Ryo, it's Jouji's birthday tomorrow, what do you mean the flight got cancelled?"Jouji, the love of Penelope's life, was turning five today. Within those five years, Ryo had been taking flights in and out of Australia to Kyoto, Japan for continuous business trips, resulting in him having missed a total of two of Jouji's birthdays over the...

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$50

Prize money

139

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 09, 2019 EST

Won by Joseph McLaughlin 🏆

Title: To You

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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