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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#107: Liar, Liar

Oscar Wilde was right when he wrote that ‘The truth is rarely pure and never simple.’ The truth can be complicated, messy, liberating — and subjective! Which doesn't make it easy to draw a clean line between fact and fiction.

We’ve all been affected by someone telling a lie, and no doubt all told some ourselves — whether that’s swearing to our teacher that the dog ate our homework, or attempting to cover up for something much bigger. This week’s prompts encourage you to think about the ripple effects that telling the truth or a lie can have, and the gray area between the two.

🥇 Winner

“The Intrusive Demon” by K. Antonio

🏆 Winner of Contest #107

(Content Warning: Mental illness, gore, allusions to sexual abuse and violence)I gots a demon in me; that's what Mama used to say. Mama would always be telling me that demons are all over this world, that they sneak up on little boys and girls and plant evil seeds in their heads that sprout and grow, spreading around their souls like an infection. It kinda be like when you don't wash a part of open, scabby skin; the spot around it starts to turn an ugly shade of yellow, then it gets sticky, and then you gots to clean it with a smelly, burnin...

131 comments 131

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“A Good Man” by A. Smoak

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #107

TW: abuse, substance abuseIn the end, it was easier than he ever expected. In the end, it turned out to be inevitable, no matter how much he tried to talk himself out of it. He didn't think it would happen like this but here he was - sitting alone at the kitchen table late at night.The rain poured hard outside. The black velvet box sat on the tablecloth, the smooth gold ring safe inside. George had always wanted to be a good man. It wasn't always a given. Some boys grow up with fathers who were golden examples of beh...

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“The Eternal Mask of Tanya” by Charlie Bright

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #107

The Lady Chuprova Ioanna Yaroslavovna was an elegant woman. Highly regarded by her peers, the lady was well-known as generous and loving, having hosted countless charity balls in the past few years to fund projects all across the country. Despite being low-titled, she was known by every royal, peasant, and merchant. She was a high-quality woman. So high, in fact, that she was publicly known to be engaged to the second prince of the Empire. Tanya was not the Lady Ioanna. She just happened to share a face with her. It was a point...

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“Grama and the Wolf” by Lins E

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #107

Grama peered out between the closet doors, slightly ajar. She did her best to keep her breathing quiet and even despite the giggles that bubbled up in her every time she glimpsed the Wolf through the narrow opening. He'd pulled the flowered quilt up over his snout and was still wearing her lacy bonnet. He kept his head low, only peering out the tiniest bit.He looked ridiculous and sounded silly too, as he tried to keep Grama's youngest grandchild from coming any closer to him. "Not today, sweet girl," the Wolf imitated. "...

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This week's prompts

Write a story about a white lie which spirals out of control.

Angst – 27 stories

Write about a character pretending to be someone they’re not.

Angst – 43 stories

Write about a game of ‘truth or dare’ that goes horribly wrong.

Fluff – 20 stories

Write a story where a character finds out the truth about something they thought they’d known their whole life.

Horror – 30 stories

Write about a character who tells a lie which turns out to be true - or a truth which turns out to be a lie.

Dark – 30 stories

Stories

“The Intrusive Demon” by K. Antonio

🏆 Winner of Contest #107

(Content Warning: Mental illness, gore, allusions to sexual abuse and violence)I gots a demon in me; that's what Mama used to say. Mama would always be telling me that demons are all over this world, that they sneak up on little boys and girls and plant evil seeds in their heads that sprout and grow, spreading around their souls like an infection. It kinda be like when you don't wash a part of open, scabby skin; the spot around it starts to turn an ugly shade of yellow, then it gets sticky, and then you gots to clean it with a smelly, burnin...

131 comments 131

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“Motorcycles In The Sand” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #107

A long time ago, when I was about seventeen years old, in a place far, far away, I had a very unusual job. Five mornings a week I’d show up for make-up and shoot the breeze with Elena, the make-up girl, as she applied concealer, pancake, and finished up with a light touch of eyeliner and a hint of color here and there on my face. No, I wasn’t a cross-dressing performer in a burlesque show—for almost a year I was acting in a soap opera on a Brazilian TV show. I played a young American rock musician named Steve.I got the gig for two reasons. F...

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“So it ends this way” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

Submitted to Contest #107

It was midday when the police came to take Paul away. He did not fight them off or argue but he coiled his feet in the grass when I perched around the door. Our eyes met and he smiled, fleetingly. His smile was static, pressed against his face like an afterthought. It felt as though he wanted a show like the way curtains opened and closed. His eyes with their wicked glint were saying he would be back. For a short while, I broke my heart to believe the words he had so graciously allowed his eyes to whisper but after a while, I stopped believi...

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“The Abyss Gazes Back” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #107

Of course he was late. I’d been warned. When he finally arrived, he sauntered in, wearing an Italian double breasted deconstructed blazer in flecked wool. It looked luxurious, silk and cashmere with patch pockets. He could have paired the jacket with anything. He chose basketball shorts. The kind you find on the floor at Ross Dress for Less. “Are you Dr. Friedrich?” he asked, pronouncing my name in a German accent. His tone indicated neither an apology nor any amount of curiosity. Youthful decadence, entitled by a raw bea...

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“A Good Man” by A. Smoak

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #107

TW: abuse, substance abuseIn the end, it was easier than he ever expected. In the end, it turned out to be inevitable, no matter how much he tried to talk himself out of it. He didn't think it would happen like this but here he was - sitting alone at the kitchen table late at night.The rain poured hard outside. The black velvet box sat on the tablecloth, the smooth gold ring safe inside. George had always wanted to be a good man. It wasn't always a given. Some boys grow up with fathers who were golden examples of beh...

Read story

“The Ancient History of You and Me ” by Ryl J.

Submitted to Contest #107

The day I met you, I thought you were the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. Sadly, I never told you. When you pushed open the door of the café and I glanced up, my heart skipped a beat. Round glasses, green sweater, black pants, backpack slung on one shoulder and, in your grasp, two thick books that made me shudder. I watched as you placed your belongings on a table, took some deep breaths, and immediately looked away when you stepped forward. “Black coffee, please,” you said, low and dejected. I wanted to ask why black coffee a...

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“The Artist” by Shifra Steinberg

Submitted to Contest #107

The unbearable thing about living is not so much being but being oneself. God put billions of us into the world and gave us all, as a joke, our own life and morals. The universe never planned on me, or you, only some specimens based on the original model. Like a car, each made of the same essential central engineering. The only difference being the license plate. For a human, the license plate is their face, the accidental and unrepeatable accumulation and assortment of features which reflects neither character nor soul. My face is a ...

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“The Eternal Mask of Tanya” by Charlie Bright

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #107

The Lady Chuprova Ioanna Yaroslavovna was an elegant woman. Highly regarded by her peers, the lady was well-known as generous and loving, having hosted countless charity balls in the past few years to fund projects all across the country. Despite being low-titled, she was known by every royal, peasant, and merchant. She was a high-quality woman. So high, in fact, that she was publicly known to be engaged to the second prince of the Empire. Tanya was not the Lady Ioanna. She just happened to share a face with her. It was a point...

Read story

“The Lady” by Shifra Steinberg

Submitted to Contest #107

Mr. Verdome was one of those annoying characters who seemed to be good at almost everything. With an emphasis on almost, as he was not very good-natured, a characteristic which would have saved him on many an occasion, had he possessed it. He did have a talent for all kinds of useless things though: solving equations, painting, writing, poetry, and best of all, if he saw, lets say, a snail on the sidewalk, he was especially skilled at stepping on it with all his weight, and rubbing it flat down on the concrete floor. His bad character had al...

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“Liars Gonna Lie” by Sarah Kreiger

Submitted to Contest #107

"You're lying, you have to be lying right now." The disbelief in Hara's voice is unmistakable. The shrillness in pitch could break glass if she went any higher. Her face is tightly pinched and she is standing - looming, really - over her younger brother. The rest of the family are sitting in the small living room, three pairs of eyes staring intently at the scrawny man who was slouching so deeply under the disapproving glare of his sister that he was nearly inside the couch cushions. "I wish I was." Cody’s voice is weak but steady. H...

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“Reunited” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #107

“It’s for you, sir. They found Katie.”Special Agent John Lanton snatched the phone from the deputy’s hands. “Is she there? Is she at the barn?”A hesitant voice came through the line. “Yes, yes sir. She’s here, but she’s refusing to cooperate. She said she’ll only come out when her Daddy gets here.”A smile spread across John’s face without him realizing it. They’d found her. After all this time, they’re truly found her. Not only that, but she refused to see anyone but him. She was finally comi...

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“A Dare from Susie McAlister” by Amanda Fox

Submitted to Contest #107

The officer shoves me into the back seat of the police car while I’m still screaming and my pants are wet and my hands are cuffed and oh god Susie is going to tell everyone what happened and my parents are going to be so mad and - FREEZE FRAME I bet you’re wondering how I ended up in this situation. It all started with an innocent Truth or Dare game just a few hours ago. Let’s rewind. We’re all gathered around in my living room, right? Me and Chris and Maisey and Armand. And, somehow, I had managed to get THE cu...

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“You and me” by A. A. Yepiz

Submitted to Contest #107

You said that you love me. That was a lie.You said that you cared about me. That was a lie.You said that you knew me. That was a lie. I sit on the cool earth, touching soft soil with my hands, planting things that will grow in love. Thinking about you. And what your love is. And how it’s not truly love. And maybe you can’t discern love from anger. I am growing sage. I am replanting it from the container in my wind...

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“Morning Coffee” by Nicky Martin

Submitted to Contest #107

When I woke up that morning, I already wanted to die. I knew I needed to do something for myself. I had to wait at the train platform, hot and crowded, a steer amongst the crowd waiting for my turn on the conveyer belt. I could have jumped in front of the subway. Maybe I should have. When crammed into the train car, my face smashed against another man's elbow, I decided I needed something. Something just for me. I went to the coffee shop. No crime in that. Sure, I might be a few minutes late to work and probably get caught in the mor...

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“The Devil's Birthmark” by Amir Sher

Submitted to Contest #107

The forceful knock on the door woke me up from my daydreams. The business was slow nowadays, to put it mildly. It seems no one needed old-school private detectives anymore, not with those hotshots, young cyberpunks around. They could solve any case by hacking into phones and social media accounts, without ever leaving their stylized modern office, with their twenty-year-old Instagram model secretary and cappuccino machine. Most people don’t realize that nothing beats good old fashion leg work and stakeouts. Do you want to know if your...

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$250

Prize money

150

Contest entries

204

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 20, 2021 EST

Won by K. Antonio 🏆

Title: The Intrusive Demon

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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