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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

“Twenty Below” by Knox Whitney

Submitted to Contest #106

12Aug2021Word Count 2,340Twenty BelowbyKnox WhitneyOne “We could go snow camping.” He eyes her over his paper, over his reading glasses, over the round oak breakfast table he’d built just for her. “Where are you thinking?” “Haven’t thought. We’ll know it when we see it.” “It’ll take me a day to get the RV in shape.” “That’s not exactly what I have in mind.” She sips her latte and tries not to smile too big. “How about a rea...

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“I Promise” by Ema Fancher

Submitted to Contest #106

“I can’t...I won’t...I-I just can’t do it again!” The unusually dim, yellow lights, the insufferable small talk, the 3 hours of actual work, and 5 spent wasting precious time only to finally be free to go home absolutely exhausted. Jenn sat in her car and stared numbly at the concrete office building, mouth agape. Sure at one point, she had been excited to work here, but that time had long since passed. Now, every day she fought with herself to get out of bed, to put on the make-up, to drive the dark streets to purgatory. She eyed her car c...

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“New Year Lights” by Joshua Smith

Submitted to Contest #106

TW: murderThe ball, once again, rested at the top of the pole, illuminating the colors of false hope and broken promises to come. The blues reflecting on the buildings surrounding, light falling on glass rippling like the ocean waves in which you sail with no knowledge of what will come. The waves that cover the city’s soon to be new year, that can pull under all those who believe they are innocent. The blues shifted down the color spectrum, to the reds. My favorite color. The blood that would seep through lies and deceit like when a mo...

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“To be in a New Place” by Christa Cornelia

Submitted to Contest #106

Finally, a change of scenery I thought while unpacking my bags in my new apartment. I’d wanted to get out of my god forsaken town for years, but never acted upon it. That was until a friend from high school reached out about sharing a place in L.A. Now I immensely disliked living with other people, but thought it a favorable trade for moving someplace new. Olivia knocked on my door, “Wanna do some sight seeing later with me and some friends?” She asked. “There’s this cool podunk bar, with an exoctic grill.” I thou...

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“Speaker for Humanity” by Sorcha Wilde

Submitted to Contest #106

First came the illness; the electromagnetic pulse only crackpots believed was coming soon followed. And the earth fell silent, silent with death, with the near-simultaneous obliteration of humankind’s technology and its voice, all wrought by man’s own hand, by the initiation of another senseless and avoidable war by nations who had grown tired of talk, whose people bayed for blood and marched for action.Silence prevailed, brought about a dark night of the soul for humanity, a humanity accustomed to loudly and proudly expressing opinions, con...

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“Wordie” by Katarína Krigovská

Submitted to Contest #106

Something's different. I am different, more than usual. What happened? "Mr Toulouse, would you be kind to stop dreaming? We're in the middle of a crisis. And it's time for your presentation." Fatty growled in his direction. A man ignored him and walked to the laptop area. "What seems to be a problem, Mr Toulouse? Did you forget how to press start?" Fatty obviously picked on him today. Sevan Copolous, the man's colleague, sighed and helped the struggling man. He ignored Fatty's unprofessional behaviour and seated himself. "First of all, the...

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“Divine Bloodline Chapter 1” by Shannon McGill

Submitted to Contest #106

Chapter 1 An imaginary spring with accompanied animal chirps and the occasional ribbits played in Theadora’s worn Beats headphones as she lay on her back facing the ceiling, wishing she could control her anxiety so she could get some sleep. The blunt she rolled and planned to smoke in its entirety did little to ease her troubled heart, but she found amusement in the smoke rings she sent into the air. Her mother Antonia told her that she’d been listening to what she called ‘Nature Noises’ at bedtime since she was born, even before, as...

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“Fire in the Belly” by Patrick Otvos

Submitted to Contest #106

To give you a taste of where I come from, I have to tell you about how I got shot, before I was born. The fact Bradley Nowell, lead singer of Sublime, was my father, I just found it poetic. Honestly, as my mother put it, he was an asshole. She’d told me, after one of his concerts, Nowell had invited her backstage, and this was where I was conceived. What do you expect from a rock star? My mother, Martina, had been around the block once or twice, and she named me Destiny. I can’t tell you how long it took m...

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“Calypso Alone” by Ben Mears

Submitted to Contest #106

Why am I even here? The crisp summer wind dances across my face, its insensate yet delicate fingers dashing through my hair like so many horses in an overgrown field, their powerful legs cutting to and fro yet never breaking a strand. Much like the sea that stretches out to the red horizon before me, the gusts of air coil, crash, and tumble backwards and forwards, over and under, ever reaching yet never finding, ever grasping yet never holding. I take a deep breath through my mouth, the cool air filling my chest and slowing my anxious h...

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“The Ballad of Marie-Augustine” by Jude S. Walko

Submitted to Contest #106

Marie took nothing for granted, especially the love she felt for her family. The grey clouds of mist and steam slowly parted to reveal the clearest blue sky Marie-Augustine had ever seen, or would ever see again. And slowly, then suddenly, sound, consciousness and reality hit her as equally as hard as the masonry, in fact the train, that so violently had, just moments before. Her eyes began to scour the intricate detail of each brick that the masons had so delicately, and skillfully, carved onto each and every square inch of t...

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“To The Manor Born...” by Lisa Wentworth

Submitted to Contest #106

Write a story about a character who’s secretly nobility. Anna always knew she was different. She was raised in the 1970’s, but more more like the 1870’s, on how to be a Lady. Embroider samples, be musical, be graceful, hold your tea daintily, speak softly, walk with books on your head...ah yes, all important things for a girl to learn during the burgeoning feminist era that was the backdrop of her otherwise upper middle class upbringing in America. Anna dreamed of castles, and made her mother pull the car over for anything she perceive...

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“Reality Television” by McKeon Gardella

Submitted to Contest #106

The Hevnance cruise ship docked at its destination. The sixteen-deck ship was the operational center that filmed the reality television series called The Experiment. The filming location was a remote area known as Studio E-6. Inside the floating production ship, deck four, was the production boardroom. The show’s production staff rushed into the boardroom, settling around a long mahogany table. The staff, consisting of executives, writers, and producers, were speculating about the meeting. The meeting was scheduled last minute, which m...

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“Eastern White Pine” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #106

“Ugh, this chicken again?! Seriously? You always make the same two things, I’m so sick of them,” I whined as I strolled into the dining room, late for dinner. My mother sighed but didn’t respond, dropping a piece of baked chicken on her own plate. “So when are you going to try to tell us about Seattle?” my father asked, showing a rare awareness of where I had been recently. He didn’t irritate me nearly as much as my mother, pro...

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“creation” by Cola Cherry

Submitted to Contest #106

Gathering the fabric of her skirt, she stretches an upward arm Veins straining, she grasps a sturdy branch Red ankles on display. With a final heave, she clambers over Flimsy sandals scraping the surface of its bark She looks mournfully as a small shower of wood shavings float downwards- like bits of paper cast from a building It steals her sympathy for a moment Before she turns, And sees the whole world. Nestled atop the highest branches, she smiles. A strange feeling of vastness pools in her heart Silently, she searches for the...

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“TOUCH THE SKY” by Praise Olamotse

Submitted to Contest #106

‘Platinum books’. A publishing company presently in its prime as the public’s interest in their work grew hysterically after they released the best-selling book few months ago with the title “THE STORY” by Umoru Praise. Since the release and the public’s elation towards the book, Platinum books have been business with the creation of the Novel’s sequel, including numerous interviews that comes in, minor publishing books, magazines, articles and many more. Naomi was on her messy desk once again. She had two laptops she fixed her a...

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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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