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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

“Finding You” by Kenley Ellis

Submitted to Contest #102

Love is a strange premonition. Love is like religion, I think. It hops from person to person, changing every time. Some people can say “I love you” after two months and some people choke trying to say it to their kids. People always like the idea of love. But the thing is, the truth that they don’t want to accept - the real thing only works for a select few. You wish for love, like everyone else. But what can you say? You haven’t found love. Not in scarlet-stamped letters, not in silver teardrops at the train station. Not under black um...

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“Bang Bang” by Saralyn Richard

Submitted to Contest #102

Bang Bang Not for the first time, I woke up in a sweat, covers wrapped around my torso and calves. I felt like an embryonic beast, trying to break out of a chrysalis, the vivid dream already fleeing away in all directions, leaving only trailing wisps. I latched onto one, an insubstantial puff, and held on as it went the way of deep sleep. I already knew this dream. It was the same recurring dream that had plagued me since childhood….            We called him “Bang ...

1 comment 1
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“Leela and Chanesar ” by Gn Memon

Submitted to Contest #102

Leela-Chanesar  Nearly seven hundred years ago when Ghyasuddin Balban ruled over the throne of Delhi, Chanesar the Dasro prince was the ruler of Dewal in Sind. His beloved queen was named Leela. Chanesar was the most handsome prince of the time. His manly beauty and exciting features fluttered the heart of even the most virtuous maidens while Leela had no rival in the whole area for her celestial beauty and feminine charms.  They were an ideal couple. Just as we would close the eyes and dream of much more to this, they wer...

1 comment 1
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““Her...No My….White Dove”” by Lena Martinez

Submitted to Contest #102

“We all have that one person in life that we could trust, protect, love, care for, even sacrifice ourself for. My person was a beautiful graceful kind white dove. My white Dove, that I was supposed to trust, protect, love, care for, and sacrifice for…..in the end I couldn’t do it but someone else did.”  My best friend (Loki) and I were like soul brothers when we were younger, we were both popular, smart, handsome looking, athletic, and social. Loki and I would tell each other everything and do everything together. We were inseparab...

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“God is Not Who You Think He is” by Tatiana Olin

Submitted to Contest #102

God lends no favor to the curious. He has no compassion for those who seek anything other than blind and dark solace. He does not look kindly upon those who would ask him why he burnt those Old Testament lands to the ground or why he allows his own men to harm the children they are meant to protect. He doesn’t like questions because he doesn’t have answers. But it would have been different if I had only been dealing with God. Would he have told me he was omni-benevolent? Would he have looked into my soul and called me only evil? Would God hi...

2 comments 2
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“Finding White Rabbit” by Kaori .

Submitted to Contest #102

Once upon a time, there was once a girl named Alice who lived in Wonderland. But along came the Red queen and destroyed the time-space. Making everything seemed faster and faster till all the people of wonderland had to learn how to catch up, or they will die.This includes Alice as well. She skipped the tea parties and brought her own keys, she baked her own cakes and created her own potions. All so she could survive this dreadful place. Or so that’s how the story goes anyway, for me.Hi, I’m Alice, and I’m looking for the ‘white rabbit.’ Wha...

10 comments 10
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“The Lemon Drop Man” by Mary R.

Submitted to Contest #102

I was way too young to have heard the words stranger danger when I first saw him. He was sitting on the curb in front of the old bookstore at the end of the block, sunshine streaming through his scruffy white hair, mischief dancing in his crystal blue eyes. He was eating candy while reading. Those little sugary lemon drops that kids love but adults think are repulsive. I was on my way to the park. Eight years old. The age when you begin to think that you have things figured out, yet everything is still new and different. The age when you hav...

2 comments 2
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“Handstands and Mystery Cans” by Summer Brooke

Submitted to Contest #102

"Higher! Higher!" Norah squealed with delight as her cousin pushed her toward the sunlight trickling through the clouds.Andrew and I reclined next to his stone fire pit, enjoying the fresh air and the sound of tiny giggles. "Thanks for coming down here, sis. I know a four-hour drive isn't easy with two kids.""It wasn't too bad, actually. The baby slept most of the way. Our SUV came preset with soothing sounds– knocks him right out.""That's good."I chuckled. "Yeah. Could've been way worse. Could've shoved four kids in the back of a beat-up se...

2 comments 2
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“The Forgotten Children” by Massiel Alberto

Submitted to Contest #102

When I was a nine-year-old boy, in my town, which was a small corner on the Earth where everybody knew each other and knew every tiny secret, the children started to disappear without a trace. Every week we heard of a new kidnapped kid in the neighborhood. The parents were so scared, they stopped sending their children to school. We weren’t allowed to look through the windows or to talk with anybody that wasn’t family. People distrusted each other. Everyone knew their neighbors, but the situation became so despairing that they didn’t know ...

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“Broken Nose” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #102

Through his shoes and into his knees, Jamie felt his skateboard vibrate as he slid across the top of a park bench in Greenhill Park. Upon landing, he turned against the grain of the asphalt, powersliding to a stop. “Yes!” he said. He removed his helmet, swooped his hair out of his face, and smiled. Jamie had been trying to land a railslide all summer without totally wrecking himself. Jamie looked ahead, just beyond the park, to Mr. Winwood’s house. In a neighborhood bridled by yellow and tan homes, Mr. Winwood’s dark mahogany haunt...

2 comments 2
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“Simple People” by Markeisha B

Submitted to Contest #102

My big brother, Adam, and I walked through the middle of the barren road toward the esteemed--by us-- “Pecan Forest, a few blocks from our home. “Do you think Joe will let us play outside later this evening?” I asked Adam in hopes that he’ll say yes.“Maggie, you know how he is.”I did know how our father was, all business and disapproving of anyone unlike him. Joe--our father is an up-and-coming journalist for our town’s newspaper; we call him Joe because he wants to only be seen as a serious businessman.“Maybe Big Bob can convince him,”...

3 comments 3
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“Someone New” by A. Smoak

Submitted to Contest #102

Jaime and Henry had picked the neighborhood because it seemed to be the idyllic suburban oasis that had eluded them when they were a childless couple living in the city. Jaime missed the city, it had always been her home and she had always felt such a strong connection to that place - but Henry had worn her down over these past few years. When she was pregnant and more than happy to take the subway everywhere, he seemed to find the urban lifestyle more and more unbearable. He had grown up in a neighborhood like this one - with wide, clean si...

2 comments 2
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“Hot cup of coffee!” by La Reine Margot

Submitted to Contest #102

Hot cup of coffee  When I was young, my mother worked all the time in the hospital as a doctor and I spent most of my time with my grandmother.  My grandmother had a small but very cozy apartment and I was particularly fascinated by the wallpaper covering all the walls in all the rooms; on which there were drawings of families outings in nature with the pets running here and there. The families had lunch and snacks with a cup of hot tea or coffee. I would contemplate on these drawings for long periods of time and let...

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“Days Well Spent” by Miruthulla Vaani

Submitted to Contest #102

" Days Spent Well " Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke . When I cast back to an event from my past , what needs to be explained more than the prettiest pictures ? Little moments creates big memories. Time runs too fast the place where I was born has become an food stall right now. Though I don’t remember most of them , I will try my best . Happiness in school life was cleaning the table with friend’s bag .We were a gang of 6 during the school days and all the 6 were of different types . We...

4 comments 4
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“Look Up” by Adam Wan

Submitted to Contest #102

Yuki came around a bend and descended the steps. A gust of the evening wind blew over her— the summer tepid, here still, the season only reaching its peak. The fireworks festival is coming; maybe that’s its peak. Arriving at the thought, she shook it away as she reached the final step, readying herself: there he was, waiting. “Ah,” she halted in her steps, not knowing what to say; she simply stood there. The sun was setting… Just then, he turned around, seeming to notice her. “Why’d you call me?” Their eyes met, and a breeze played a...

0 comments 0
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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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