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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#100: Breaking Bread

One of the most intimate things you can do with someone is sit down to eat together. The idea of friends and foes, families and strangers breaking bread has been a recurring theme in art and literature for a very long time. It’s something that can bring us together against the steepest of odds; to quote Oscar Wilde, “after a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations”. But things don’t always end quite so harmoniously — food fights, anyone?

This week, we’re reflecting on the joys (or pains) of eating together or making a meal. Whether the dinner table is a place for communion or conflict for your characters, I look forward to sitting down to a hearty portion of food-themed stories with you. Bon appétit!

This week's prompts

Start or end your story with two characters sitting down for a meal.

Middle School – 264 stories

Write a story where a meal or dinner goes horribly wrong.

Thanksgiving – 201 stories

Write about a group of strangers — or people who know each other, but may as well be strangers — eating together.

Fluff – 152 stories

Write about a character preparing a meal for somebody else.

Fluff – 157 stories

Write a story that involves a secret or magic ingredient.

Halloween – 116 stories

Stories

“Destination: Love” by Pranav N

Submitted to Contest #100

It’s a typical warm summer evening in Glendale. The summers are short, hot, arid, and clear, but winters are lengthy, cold, rainy, and partly cloudy. A city known not only for its offbeat galleries and museums but also for its beautiful scenic mountains. When the sun sets, one will discover live music and a variety of food options all across the city.In this lively town filled with interesting activities for anyone and everyone, a very curious turn was about to take place in the lives of two people namely, Lizzie and Paul. At about 2 pm...

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“Christmas Dinner” by Rose Tilly

Submitted to Contest #100

It was two weeks away until Christmas (2020). I told my step-dad that we are spending Christmas with him and mom. A week until Christmas, Franny texted me. She lives a hour away. Franny: IDK(I don't know) if there's a point in you and Jim coming up on Saturday next week. Cause I have to work 2-10pm and I'll probably have to work on Saturday too. So, if hes's leaving Sunday, I just see no point unless you want to visit the kids cause I won't be there.(Dec.16, 2:18pm) Me: I'm going to ask Dad if we can ce...

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“The Man Who Loved Me” by Andrea Magee

Submitted to Contest #100

I grabbed Mari from daycare and headed to the Publix on Riverdale Ave.I need to buy a money order and we needed some things for the house.Shopping done I drove home and brought Mari and the groceries inside.After loving on my 'noodle'(Mari's nickname of the week) I put her down for a nap. Bananas, self rising flour, egg, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, walnuts, big mixing bowl, spoon, loaf pan, Crisco.I put on my apron. I was ready to start measuring, pouring, and mixing. As I stirred all the ingrediants of my Banana Nut Bread together I fel...

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“Brunch with Grandma” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #100

This piece dives into a conversation surrounding Asian American racism I am driving to brunch with Grandma and Grandpa today. I am determined to fulfill my role as the household scheduler and get to know them better. The wedding band on my left finger still feels foreign. It’s November which means that it’s cold and grey out, but the hope of the holidays fills the air. As the old time carol says, “even stop lights blink a bright red and green.” My husband is in the passenger seat changing the radio stations absentmindedly searc...

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“Diners Delight” by Andrea Magee

Submitted to Contest #100

Anya and Jayce walked hand in hand through the streets of Naples invigorated by the warm and bright afternoon sun taking in the unfamiliar but exciting sights sounds and smells of the neighborhood they were exploring. It was 3 yrs ago they had gotten married and this was their first holiday travel together. Initially the problem was agreeing on where they should go.Anya had insisted on Italy while Jayce wanted to go to China to see The Great Wall. They went back and forth...haggling over the cost; the best time to go; where to stay; the best...

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“Anna and the Ogre” by Tom D

Submitted to Contest #100

Dusk, and he is hungry. Anna stumbles into the vast, cavernous kitchen, staggering under the weight of the two wooden pails she carries. Water sloshes from them onto the broad flagstones and runs in rivulets along the floor. Setting one down, she hefts the other between her tiny arms and, clambering onto a stool, reaches up to tip its contents into the iron cauldron which hangs above the open fire. Steam spurts up, hissing like a viper. Anna jumps, startled. That part always startles her. Gathering her strength, Anna heaves the second p...

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“The Art of Hospitality” by Angela Guthrie

Submitted to Contest #100

He had been taught that bread unshared is bread unblessed when someone else is hungry, whether man or beast, friend or stranger. The Wedding by Dorothy WestShe was an exemplary chef, a graduate of one of the finest cooking schools in France. In her spacious kitchen with its mosaic tiled floors and jewel toned backsplash, the delectable smell of duck a l' orange permeated the air. Green beans with almonds, crab salad, and chilled wine completed the menu. The oval shaped cherry oak table in the extensive dining room, covered with an ecru lace...

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“The Deviants” by Shoshana A

Submitted to Contest #100

“Anjali! Anjali!” Sheila shouted, sitting on her wheel chair.Anjali was washing dishes on ground floor. After listening her name, she glowed brighter than moon. With hastiness, she stretched her hand out to take the yellow towel hanging by side of the dish organizer. After wiping her hands, she lunged forward and rushed upstairs. With a thud, she opened the door of her bed room – there she was, sitting tightly on her wheel-chair with a bright smile on her face.“Has sun stopped rising, my dear?” Sheila asked.“No, it hasn’t,” Anjali planted a ...

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“Gram Lenn's Cornbread” by S.E. Reed

Submitted to Contest #100

There are various times throughout a woman’s life when she gets nostalgic. Like around the holidays or at the birth of a new baby or with the passing of a loved one. She can’t help it. She’s just wired that way. (I should know, I’m a Neurosurgeon). For me, the nostalgia is strongest when I smell cornbread. The savory-sweet perfume carries me home. Back to Savannah-- to nights at Gram Lenn’s house, sweet tea on the wrap-around porch, cousins laughing and racing around the yard, and her famous cornbread in the oven. I spent most...

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“Bank Heist ” by Retee Satish

Submitted to Contest #100

"Alright start talking" "Sonia I swear I don't know anything! I have nothing to do with it! Why won't you believe me!?" I slammed the table, "BECAUSE YOU DO! YOU DID ALL OF THIS. YOU were the freaking master player IN THAT HEIST ERIN. YOU KNOW THIS JUST AS MUCH AS I DO!" Erin fell back, "Okay FINE! Yes it was me! Yes I conducted the heist! You happy? Now what? Are you going to tell the cops? Throw me to jail? Please! As if anyone would believe a little cop like you over a damn billionaire." "Oh yes they will." I leaned in, "Because I...

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“ AN ABIDING AROMA” by Sharmishtha Saha

Submitted to Contest #100

The kitchen was a total mess but, in a good way. The multi-colored counter was not less than those festive streamers and confetti which Mrs. Suhani Khanna loved to decorate her house with during Diwali or any other festival. The yellow, orange, red and green bell peppers looked so vibrant and their rich aroma when Suhani tossed them in the pan with butter is mesmerizing. The chicken pieces which were resting overnight in the fridge getting an exclusive treatment with hung curd are now ready for the Big-day. A pot full of milk is kept on the ...

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“"Family" Dinner” by Taylah G

Submitted to Contest #100

TW: Domestic Violence/Abuse I carefully placed the final bunch of meat into the bowl with a thick splat. I contemplated whether to mix the spag bowl for Nick before he came home, but decided against it. I figured he would think I didn’t need him and ignore me for weeks. I’d be left alone with the kids for God knows how long, just like last time. Luckily, that was only four days, and he didn’t cut off his bank account like the time before. The slightest move I made was carefully measured by Nick, and if I showed too much independence, he’d ...

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“An invitation from Mr. C” by Santina Forlenza-Pihuličova

Submitted to Contest #100

There are two reasons why I cut milk out of my diet. The first one is that on the monthly magazine I subscribed to for free there was an article claiming that milk is an excellent meal for toddlers, but when coming to grownups things are not the same. 'Adults are lactose intolerant,' the first line of the second paragraph read. Finally something I agreed on, considering that I could finally stop inventing a second reason why I did not like milk, because the second reason was never the same and never true. The thing is that when you dislike s...

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“Secret crush ” by TomfliXA Ng’ang’a

Submitted to Contest #100

“Hey come on! No one in this country likes your comedy Fujimoto! And definitely no one likes your weird sexy lips either! “Kinuthia said to the tall slim Japanese girl. “Give me a break! Am trying my best but since you have some issues with yourself, you pour out your frustrations on me, “She replied almost in tears. She was a struggling Japanese comedian in Kenya. Not many people appreciated her comedy leave alone her yellow skin. I don’t mean Kenyans are racists. Her comedy was brilliant but lacked the confidence to aid her in gainin...

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“The Spouse Summoning Hat” by Amanda Fox

Submitted to Contest #100

“Put on the Hat, Macy.” I sighed heavily and gave one last puppy dog stare at my parents. My mom didn’t look even a little bit chagrined as she plopped the giant purple sombrero unceremoniously on my head. “Can’t we stop with this stupid hat?” My face burned with embarrassment, and I hadn’t even set foot outside of the house. My mother gasped. “It’s a family tradition!” I looked to my dad, but he was no help either. “A family tradition,” he echoed with a half-hearted shrug. “Yeah, but I’m too old for it.” “You k...

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$50

Prize money

891

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 02, 2021 EST

Won by Rayhan Hidayat 🏆

Title: mie goreng

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.

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