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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#11: Childhood Meets Adulthood

Hello, writers! My name is Aja Pollock, and I’m a developmental editor and copy editor. If you’ve ever wondered what Neil Gaiman, Bruce Springsteen, Isabel Allende, and Ron Burgundy have in common, the answer is: me!

You can check out my Reedsy profile here.

My theme for this week is "childhood meets adulthood." Childhood often seems to me like a puzzle that could unlock your understanding of yourself — if only you could solve it. Whether it’s truly possible to solve that puzzle is an open question, but whenever we can fit a piece into place, there’s potential for big insights. Hopefully, these prompts will inspire you to explore what childhood can tell us about adulthood. Happy writing!

This week's prompts

Write about how a person’s perspective on an event from their childhood shifted in their adulthood.

Adults – 31 stories

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Adults – 83 stories

Write about an adult event or gathering from the point of view of a child.

Kids – 15 stories

Write about a parent who sees pieces of a family member’s (or their own) personality in their child — whether that brings them comfort, terror, or something in between.

Adults – 20 stories

Write about the moment a child (of any age) first comes to view a parent as a three-dimensional human being, and not just a parental figure.

Teens – 23 stories

Stories

“Whistle Band” by Maddi Roy

Submitted to Contest #11

How much fun could you possibly have in a run-down residential neighborhood in Lewiston, Maine? That’s the question my childhood friends and I tested ourselves with every day during the summers. The answer is more than you’d think. As soon as our mom left for work, my brother and I would hurry over to knock on the door of the white and green house across the street. One of five children would appear behind the screen door: Amil, Angelina, Victor, Anthony, or Star. That was everyone’s cue to spill out onto the street and begin another day of ...

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“First Funeral” by Pam Groff

Submitted to Contest #11

Mommy told me what a funeral was, but I don’t think that I get it. She told me that Grandpa is taking a really long sleep and we need to say our goodbyes to him. If that’s true, then why are having a whole day for him? And why is everyone so sad if he’s sleeping? I sleep a lot too; I’ve never seen anybody cry about it though. And I’ve definitely never had anyone say goodbye to me first. Grandma is especially upset. She’s got black streaks all down her face and she keeps hugging me for some reason, telling me that it’ll all be okay. Why would...

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“Ticklish Spots” by William Catkins

Submitted to Contest #11

When I was a small child, I spent two weeks during each summer vacation staying with my grandparents in Iowa. On Saturdays, I got to ride along with my grandfather in his ‘63 Chevy Impala as he went on errands. The car’s brilliant, sapphire-blue upholstery was a sharp contrast to its simple white exterior. Running errands with my grandfather all to myself in his Impala was always a special treat. Grandpa was half Blackfoot Indian and half French Canadian whose square-set jaw and high cheekbones gave his blue eyes a resolute quality. He ...

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“The Memory” by Penelope Swenor

Submitted to Contest #11

My father was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, so I’ve been reading articles about memory loss. Losing your memory seems to be a fearful thing. I read that a person’s memory of a past incident will remain strong if they experienced emotion at the time of the incident. When I consider a very clear memory I have of an incident that happened 40-odd years ago, I am unsure what emotions I experienced at the time. I was six years’ old. The incident, or perhaps I should call it the accident, was probably most emotional for my moth...

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“Significantly Insignificant” by D.K. Fair

Submitted to Contest #11

Gemma and her dad had never been close. Before she reached her teens, her parents divorced, and he was all but out of her life completely. Distant memories remained in her mind about him. She remembered his giant stereo set and R&B albums that no one was allowed to touch. There was one time that he threw a block party and he charged the guests $1 to use the bathrooms. Her fondest memory was the year that the Chicago Bears triumphantly won the Super Bowl. The entire family learned the lyrics to ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle.' Other memor...

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“Learning to Deliver an Award Winning Speech ” by Terry Huntingdon Tyd

Submitted to Contest #11

One day in late May, 1953, several of my friends and I disappeared into the bathroom after the last bell rang. I borrowed a tube of lipstick from one of them and we plastered bright red across our lips, some of the less experienced among us running a bit outside the lip-line — including me of course, looking a lot more like Cruella de Ville than Terry Lynn Huntingdon. Then, attempting to escape down the hall and make a b-line for the two block walk into town to share our favored banana splits — slices of ripe bananas on the sides, one scoo...

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“The Little Girl In the Grownup Me” by Angel Miller

Submitted to Contest #11

"It will get better." I hear the preacher say that, as I ride down the street listening to the YouTube video through the car stereo system. I wonder if life will really get better. As a child, I remember always hearing people say that and then seeing those same people were always the ones caught in a struggle. I wondered if that was said just to make them feel better about themselves or if they truly believed it. And if they truly believed it, then where was the proof in their lives. As a young girl, I was met with many obstacles. Many...

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“Susan's Perspective Change” by Kayla Kaye

Submitted to Contest #11

Susan had always gone to the Missouri State Fair as a child. She had not been to the State Fair in about 5 years, due to her going to college. She had just graduated, and she decided to go with her parents and a few childhood friends of hers. She expected it to be as fun as she remembered it, with some modifications that come along with her age. When she got there, she always remembered getting cotton candy and eating it all. So, she decided to try and recreate her childhood memories with her friends. She seen the line and waited for a littl...

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“Growing Pains” by Kelle AJ

Submitted to Contest #11

Daddy made Mommy cry all the time.Mommy sometimes tried to make it stop.Then Daddy made Mommy cry more. You learn once you’re older that people who love each other aren’t supposed to hurt each other. You learn that when your father hits your mother, it’s abuse. You learn that when your first girlfriend hits you, it isn’t love. You learn that sorry doesn’t mean sorry. You learn that gifts are blindfolds for bruises. Things broke a lot around the house. At first, Mommy cleaned up the glass.Then Mommy walked over it with bare feet.When my mothe...

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“Forgotten Playthings” by Dave Renton

Submitted to Contest #11

When he was a child, Devon had lots of toys. He would get new ones all the time, even when it wasn’t a birthday or Christmas. The toys he already had would end up on the floor or kicked under his bed, whenever a new one came along. Eventually his parents would make him clean his room and the toys would get tossed in a garbage bag. His Dad would drag them down to the basement where they sat, piled up next to the other bags of forgotten toys. Once, every year or two, a large garbage bin would get dropped off in the bac...

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“Now It Was” by Sophie Quinn

Submitted to Contest #11

It was twenty-one miles between the station and the house, so I had to forewarn them. I had attempted the journey once with a delightful ignorance, however my Smart Phone could now explained a lot as to why that heedless quest had been so testing. I also hadn’t made things any easier for myself by wearing flip flops, in October, during a rainstorm. I couldn’t blame only my choice of footwear, most of my time and energy was consumed by the rucksack I made from old sherbet coloured pillowcases, amateurly bound together with hemp thread. After ...

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“Heart Failure” by Mel Lewis

Submitted to Contest #11

The dog is lying on his side, his nostrils whistling as he struggles to get more air. We knew it was only a matter of time before his heart gave out. But it's too soon. He isn't even seven.That's how old I was when I learned that hearts can fail. The knowledge terrified me, as did the sight of my grandmother lying on the floor, a massive figure ghost-like in her nightdress and hairnet, a cake tin by her side in case she had to throw up."She has angina," said the grownups. For a while I believed it was a friend who came to stay. "Grandm...

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“Always Room for Jell-O?” by Michael Williams

Submitted to Contest #11

"Hadn’t you better get working on those peas?” Mildred advised her son, Michael. “No television tonight unless you’re a member of the ‘Clean Plate Club’. Look at how well your sister is doing. Her peas are gone!” Michael knew that his younger sister had tricks up her sleeve, and a few peas in her pocket, as well. Kathy had become an early master of the art. Why, she might grow up to be a magician! As big as they are, Kathy could make sliced carrots go away w...

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“Summer Rain” by CH Boord

Submitted to Contest #11

The rain poured down in straight lines, so big and heavy that even the summer wind sought shelter under trees and tin rooftops. Of course I begged for the dog, and when my parents finally gave in I assumed all responsibilities for him. But it was raining out, and I was a kid, and the idea of responsibility didn’t really mean anything to me. I looked at my older sister, pleadingly. My parents we’re putting up the dishes, their backs to us. She sneered at me but sweetly said “I’m going to finish my homework”. I was still learning the art...

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“The Distance ” by Retha Knight

Submitted to Contest #11

It was the ending of a typical day of battling mixed number fractions and the social horrors of the junior high lunchroom. As I got off the bus in front of my house, the sun blinded me and distracted me from the abnormality of Mrs. Christian not being in her front yard and waving as I walked up my driveway. That oddity was out weighed by the fact that I had to maneuver between my mother’s and father’s cars that were normally not there when I got home. I heard their strained voices, my father’s mostly, as I walked closer to the house. “How,” ...

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$50

Prize money

172

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 18, 2019 EST

Won by Lee Witkowski 🏆

Title: The Tree

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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