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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#102: To Kill a Mockingbird

This Sunday (July 11th) marks sixty-one years since To Kill A Mockingbird was first published. For over six decades now, Harper Lee’s groundbreaking Great American Novel has been taught in schools, stocked by the dozens in bookstores, and devoured by adults and children alike. And despite its age, many of its themes remain deeply relevant today: the damage done by judgment and discrimination, the loss of innocence as one grows up, and the vital importance of standing up for what’s right — even when everyone else is against you.

To commemorate this classic, this week’s prompts are inspired by its characters, plot devices, and most enduring lessons. Whether To Kill a Mockingbird is a distant English-class memory or your favorite book of all time, these prompts are sure to spark a few story ideas — one of which may even lead to your own literary masterpiece.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a metaphor about human nature.

Fiction – 109 stories

Frame your story as an adult recalling the events of their childhood.

Adults – 243 stories

Write about a character with an unassailable moral compass.

Character – 34 stories

Write a story about someone losing faith in an institution.

Angst – 119 stories

Write about a mysterious figure in one’s neighborhood.

Horror – 205 stories

Stories

“Jagged” by Katelynn McPhee

Submitted to Contest #102

I eat my cereal in a hurry, careful not to spill any milk. I had slept in: my baby brother had kept us up half the night crying and wailing. The news on the TV was no longer new. Jagged the serial killer was still on the loose somewhere in Maryland. Jagged got his name from the way he killed: jagged cuts of a knife along each of the victims' limbs. However, he was a quick killer: there was always evidence that the throat was cut first, quickly. He just liked to give his dead victims more cuts. He was described to have sandy brown hair and bl...

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“Memories of home” by Lina Khaert

Submitted to Contest #102

I could not reach for my phone to turn the alarm off which was mounted between the pillows of my bed. Feeling lethargic because I stayed up too late last night due to the pain in my stomach I let myself lay down. I was 6 months pregnant with a boy. Forcing myself out of bed, I reminded myself of the fact that I needed to feed my 5 year old child, who was already sitting in the living room and watching her American shows. Her name was Maria; we had chosen to give her a European name. My husband Ben had been working a night shift...

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“Mourning Time” by Tamara Shaffer

Submitted to Contest #102

The faces stare out at me from the big red scrapbook, faces of people no longer alive but who formed my history and paved my way into the world. I search for features that resemble my own and marvel at how older relatives looked before I ever saw them. Each recognized face summons memories, torn from the passing of time into segments, like a journal with pages missing. With a sense of eerie sadness, I touch my grandmother’s name. Mary Agnes Tierney. 1880-1960. I knew nothing about her life as a little girl or a young bride, although I know...

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“Where's my baby?” by Jazminn Bryant

Submitted to Contest #102

It was a regular day like any other day. I wake up, get myself and my son dressed and ready for work and daycare. My son was 11 months old at the time. I was 6 months pregnant with twin boys. I was in so much pain, I barely got myself out of bed. I was a single mom and the only source of income in our household, so I had no choice but to push through whatever pain I was going through. I dropped my son off at daycare. I gave him all the hugs and kisses I could. "Have a good day baby. I love you" I said to him. I left and headed to work. I wor...

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“EYES THAT DON'T SEE” by YASMEEN NAA KWALEY QUARTEY

Submitted to Contest #102

When Mum first told me we were moving, it did not sound as pleasing as she thought it. I was so mad about the whole lot of changes that were bound to take place – changing schools, making new friends, meeting new neighbors, you name it. And who ever moves to Hoodsville? I mean, the name sounds to creepy to be real. To set it straight, I had my qualms about it but Mum was way too frustrated to hear me out; she had barely been herself since Dad’s passing. I understood -or maybe not. All she has now is me, and I know she only wants w...

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“The Biggest Celtic Knot in the World” by C. Icarus

Submitted to Contest #102

They say that about twenty minutes walk from the village, deep out in the moor, there is a house where no one is supposed to go. The house is tiny, so small that every time it storms, someone brave goes up after to stand at a safe distance and see if it is still standing. It’s almost like a house made by a child for a doll; a construction of mud and straw that looks enough like a house but is, in truth, too cramped and unstable for anything to dwell there. The walls are short and the roof sags low and no one could live there. And yet...

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“The Body” by Sally Lotz

Submitted to Contest #102

That summer in 1970, the one I turned eleven, was the summer we found the body. The three of us, my cousins and I, have never talked of it since, as we swore we never would. When we’re together the secret we’d sworn to keep, lay there between us, pulled tight, ready to burst at any moment. I remember it all like yesterday, even though most days I can’t remember where I put my keys. Back then, on my Grandparent’s farm in the middle of nowhere Michigan, we were free to roam. Mostly. The only place off-limits - the Frank’s pond. T...

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“The other side” by Jane May

Submitted to Contest #102

The exact date or time when she moved next door I do not know. I never heard any of the noises that accompany the transportation of huge boxes and furniture. I did not hear the voices of excited neighbors welcoming a new tenant. I should have heard, the walls do not block out sound, especially human. She suddenly appeared one morning, by the door while I was spraying the garbage bags with a disinfectant and startled me. The door had been locked for over a year. I lowered my mask and smiled, said hello in a slightly surprised tone. “I am in ...

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“Sweet Innocence” by LeQuitta Randolph

Submitted to Contest #102

You know what's funny? Time. Well its more ironic than funny, but I've learned to laugh at it because it slips by you in what seems like the blink of an eye. I smile at my reflection, my reflection shows me that time, has caught up to me. The days have passed since I've been able to run up to my father and have him swoop me up in his arms and twirl me and dance with me as if there were music playing and and audience that cheered with admiration and awe. My smile becomes a laugh at the memory, however my gaze grows sad as the realization of t...

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“Hands” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #102

The children of the seaside town joyously ran around the hills holding out their handheld sparkler fireworks beaming bright red, green and yellow sparks of light. After a few hours of feasting, playing and watching the adults light the skies with colorful rainbow explosions, the children would run indoors for an enthralling story time session. Even some of the adults would join in, mainly my brother Johnny who would enjoy chiming in and creating a puffery of sorts."Aunt Aurora!" they endearingly called out. "When can we hear the story of Gra...

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“The Descent” by Babika Goel

Submitted to Contest #102

Authors musing-Arjun from Mahabharata was a warriorAnd faced a dilemma as a barrierTo do or not to do made him weakerWho else but Krishna stepped in as a preacherStages of life were explained deeperFrom duty-bound to being a renouncer All came in a particular order5000 years since then have passed in leisureFrom seeds to weeds, all are in disorder.I, an eternal seeker, asked why can’t all this be better?Why can’t Krishna and Arjun live among us as trendsetters?I let my thoughts run wilder And penned down their descent like a writer...

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“The Yellow Light from the House on the Corner” by Brittany Weaver

Submitted to Contest #102

I noticed it when I was eleven. My parents were getting a divorce and Mr. McGonnegy said they had been unhappy since I was born. Whenever they fought, Mr. McGonnegy would just look at me and shake his head and say, “They used to be happy, boy. All your fault.” McGonnegy’s cat was just as mean as he was and hissed at me as I ran past his yard. My parents didn’t even stop me; I just bolted out of the dining room and burst out the front door. I ran just to run, to feel my feet punch the hard pavement. It was near midnight, and the street was d...

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“Hero / Villain” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #102

There had been one too many this time. One too many absences of apologies, one too many warnings that went ignored, one too many evenings spent at home with a bleak view out of the window and a whiskey in his hand that he wasn’t sure he could even taste anymore. Those who knew him would have been surprised it hadn’t yet reached the One Too Many Stage where he handed in his badge quite dramatically, quit on the spot, and questioned instantly why he hadn’t done that a long time ago. As it was, this was the One Too Many Stage where he just bega...

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“The Tower” by Kaysie Davis

Submitted to Contest #102

What in the world had I been thinking? Why did I accept Naru and Ashanti’s dare? I swallowed, trying to keep my panic from overtaking me. Suppose one of the teachers caught me inside of Zatrix’s tower? There had to be a reason it was off-limits. It could be dangerous, maybe booby-trapped with forgotten magic. It was the home of one of the first mages; after all, there could be anything waiting for the first person to enter in hundreds of years. But I had accepted the dare my friends had given me, so the last thing I wanted to do was to chick...

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“When I met Courage ” by Isaiah Wilson

Submitted to Contest #102

I remember the day I met Jefferson. It was only a month or two into my senior year. The bell echoed through the empty hallways; each student and faculty member were already in their respective places in the classrooms or hiding out in a restroom somewhere. My class was rather empty with 5 Juniors taking their seats in Ms. Wheatley’s math class and 4 seniors back for another round of her endless formulas and conversions to kill our overall GPAs. After the screeching of the beginning bell Ms. Wheatley took the usual attendance with an all...

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$50

Prize money

710

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 16, 2021 EST

Won by Shane Ransom 🏆

Title: Favorites

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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