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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#106: Periergia

Ever found yourself experiencing a newfound appreciation for something you see or do every day? Maybe you think fondly of how many people have stood on the same street corner as you, or appreciate the centuries of craftsmanship that it took to develop the humble coffee mug you hold in your hand.

When you feel like waxing lyrical about the everyday, you might call it periergia — using flowery language to describe something trivial. While this is usually a writing no-no (purple prose, anyone?), there's something irresistible about romanticizing the mundane once in a while. So this week, we’re looking for beauty in unexpected places, whether that’s a character, something they see, or anything in-between.

This week's prompts

Start or end your story with a character noticing the beauty in something they've seen hundreds of times.

Fluff – 74 stories

Write about a character who’s known to be a cynic, but secretly romanticizes everything.

Valentine's Day – 15 stories

A mundane ability suddenly becomes a superpower. Write about someone or something affected by this.

Middle School – 26 stories

Write a story about a character who takes nothing for granted.

Teens – 21 stories

Write a story about a character who’s secretly nobility.

Thriller and Suspense – 16 stories

Stories

“Her ” by Avalon Stevens

Submitted to Contest #106

When did it start? Was it the day when she went on her way to save a heart? Or when her frail hands that led me to feel or her eyes that were emotionless but had warmth if you dug deep enough. She knew me more than anyone else, she was just a girl like everyone else, so when did it start? When I decided to break her heart and even if I did it a thousand times she’ll stand by me until she’d waste any dimes. You are not just some girl I know, you are the same girl that made me grow in this place where I thought was cruel but it became beautifu...

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“Beauty of the Bench” by S Rose

Submitted to Contest #106

C/W: terminal illnessConsistency is a curious thing. Every molecule in the world is constantly changing. Change is our secure constant. So, when we have something consistent besides change, losing it can be absolutely life-changing. "Come on, Alex, we're gonna miss the sunrisee." I could hear Jenny singing out the second she walked through the door. "I shouldn't have given you a key." I sang back sarcastically from the bathroom. "I just have to get dressed. Would you allow me that courtesy, madam?" She disregarded me as I walked in...

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“Window Washing” by Sarah Duffey

Submitted to Contest #106

Trisha stuck her arm out the car window to let the summer sun fry her skin. Her mom was giving her a ride to the fast-food place where she worked. She asked Trisha when she was going to get a driver’s license, as was typical for her mom to do. “I don’t know, Mom, when I take the test.” She also asked about the interview at the daycare center, and Trisha responded that she hadn’t gotten a call yet. “No, Mom, I told you last night, I haven’t heard from the lady.” Her mom seemed exhausted. Maybe if she didn’t ask so many question...

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“Linda Lou” by Karen Lankford-Carnes

Submitted to Contest #106

Linda Lou By Karen Lankford-Carnes “Good morning, Ladies, it’s my turn to talk about a Godly woman that you have known. I wrote the whole story so I wouldn’t start crying. I think I might anyway. Grab some coffee and carbs and let’s settle in.I hope you enjoy this.” ~ If you’ve ever known someone who was so optimistic about everything. Optimistic ad nauseum, then I’ll see you and raise you my cousin Linda Lou. That was her honest to God, legal, given name. Her brother? Donnie Lee. I guess it’s a southern thing. Sure I like to see people h...

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“He Found Beauty in Everything” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #106

He found beauty in everything. Ever since she could remember he could look at a plain stone he had picked up from the sand and lovingly exclaim “Would you look at the colour in this one” as he held out his hand to me. I would of course agree with him and he would be happy. His bedroom was full of ‘stuff’ he had collected. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, and in the case of James, it was true. All along his window sill were sticks, small and large. Just plain old sticks to me but James insisted ,once dried out could be made into...

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“The Secret Prince of Monico” by Rebecca Hegarty

Submitted to Contest #106

It was a normal Tuesday morning and as usual I had woken up bright and early to start my day. After my coffee, I received a phone call from my best friend Kelsie Jones. “Morning Jane, have you heard the news? Apparently, Prince Louie from Monico is coming here to find his princess.” Not knowing who he was as I didn’t even know about the royal family from Monico, I replied with a who cares attitude. “So, who cares Kelsie, he is just a prince.” “Fair enough bestie I was just thinking that since you are single you could ...

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“The Cave” by Jeremy Cook

Submitted to Contest #106

The forms on the wall performed their march as they always do. The same left to right motion they seemed to adore so much. I didn’t know what they were, but I could only assume I was one of them. They never bothered to acknowledge me, meaning either that they couldn’t see me through the darkness or that they just didn’t care. Often I would move my face in different ways, that I thought they might take offense to, but still they would march. I made noise, loud and quiet, I certainly didn’t like it, but they paid no heed. For a while I pit...

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“The Truth About Waiting” by M.K. Hendri

Submitted to Contest #106

Heavy clouds looked ready to shed their weight against the window; the rain is a familiar arrival this time of year - though not equally welcome for all. As I watched the lane outside bustle with a rush of people from a coffeehouse window, an aroma filled with black tea leaves and honey pressed its sweetness to my nose. I hugged my thumbs into my mug to feel its radiant heat, kindly giving some strength to my shaking hands. The blackened sky shot all around me; violent bolts were on their way soon. My eyes were high along the...

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“Kate, The Storm and A Ute” by Linda Foot

Submitted to Contest #106

The earth, dimpled and baked hardtack brown by an Australian summer that had been riddled with blowflies and whining mosquitoes, melted when the first rains of autumn came. Light dimmed, filtered by the mottled, bruised cloud hanging low in the petulant sky. Crisp, cool winds stirred cracked leaves, brittle from a summer’s wrath, and replaced the hot breath that had licked trails of perspiration across Kate’s forehead just moments before. Breath that had at times, felt like a dragon’s; fetid and searing on the intake. Eye watering. Breath th...

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“Time Gives Everything” by Carrie Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #106

In physics, there a principle known as the observer effect. Simply put, the act of measuring something changes it. It should be noted that this is not the same as the uncertainty principle, which tells us that we can only know so much about a thing. That is, if you know exactly where you’re making the measurement, you can’t know anything about when you’re measuring it. Or something like that. It’s been a few years since I’ve been in a physics class. Nevertheless, the map had me thinking about both of these effects. To be precise, it wasn’...

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“Halo” by M. J. Riv

Submitted to Contest #106

I’m paralyzed.Swallowed by my couch, I open my eyes to blurry grades of light and shadow. I am warm and numb. Eventually, I see the horizontal beams, created by the sunlight passing through my blinds, striping my walls and highlighting the molecules in the air. I watch the the tiny specks falling like pixie dust. I had dozed off again, surrounded by a bunch of worn blankets and mismatched pillows. I can hear Jessica Fletcher. She had just solved another murder and was explaining the motive to a stunned acquaintance of the killer, while a per...

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“THE SUN SETS ON THE MEADOW” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #106

THE SUN SETS ON THE MEADOW I have been working in the Brothers Grimm and Associates architectural firm for almost twenty years. I have always been involved in the renovation , or refurbishment of bathrooms and kitchens. Never in all these years I have been asked to design a building. And when I say a building I don’t mean a public work (one), not a condominium or even a villa. No, I mean a single house, even a small one. Well, that morning , one of my bosses, A...

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“The stars are bright” by Edward Savage

Submitted to Contest #106

I sat atop the tower and watched wearily as stars appeared one by one, then in growing numbers until the dark sky above me was illuminated by a broad ribbon of bright pinpoints from horizon to horizon. It was beautiful. There was no doubt of that. The universe was a wonderful sight. The sky was a clear, cloudless, seemingly limitless expanse of darkness pierced only by those distant lights. Small lights, large lights, red and blue and achingly white lights, impossibly sharp and clear in the unpolluted air. I let my gaze wander across the r...

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“Powers to Me” by Christine Mendez

Submitted to Contest #106

Amy straightened her round glasses, brushed her overgrown strawberry-blond bangs out of her green eyes, and bent down to peer into the bottom left cabinet in her parents’ library. It was black and stormy outside--had been all weekend, and she wanted to spend the day reading. Since she had already finished all her homework (she was perhaps the only fifth grade student who felt she didn’t receive enough take-home assignments), she hoped she could find a book worthy of her time. She then knelt on the floor and p...

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“Warrior Woman” by Karen Lankford-Carnes

Submitted to Contest #106

Warrior Woman By Karen Lankford-Carnes Dorcas hated everything about her life. “Why would you ever name your child Dorcas?!!! It’s cruel!” “Honey, it’s from the Bible.” “Well so is Nimrod! Good thing you didn’t have twins! Honestly! Great idea. ‘I wanted a perfect baby instead of a crippled one, so I’ll name her Dork-Ass!’” “Now stop it! It means gazelle”. “They don’t know that. If you wanted to name me gazelle you should have just named me gazelle. Then they could have called me ‘Guzzle’ instead.” “'I don’t like you swearing like that.” ...

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$250

Prize money

152

Contest entries

205

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 13, 2021 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: I Was Always Good at Taboo

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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