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#113: Dreams and Nightmares

Different cultures and civilizations have been pondering the meaning of dreams for centuries. Whether you believe dreams reflect real life, or real life reflects our dreams, it’s difficult not to be intrigued by the personalized movies our brain creates while we’re asleep. This week’s prompts encourage you to explore what happens when we enter this liminal space between fantasy and reality — and how dreams can be beautiful, terrible, and everything in between.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a character who believes their dreams predict the future.

Thriller and Suspense – 39 stories

Start or end your story with the line ‘This is my worst nightmare.’

Dialogue – 74 stories

Write about two people whose dreams are somehow connected.

Thriller and Suspense – 43 stories

Write a story about a character who interprets people’s dreams.

Adults – 18 stories

Write about a character whose dreams are portals to other worlds.

Science Fiction – 54 stories

Stories

“Snakes” by Delusional Poet

Submitted to Contest #113

"This is my worst nightmare" Max thought to himself. Completely alone Max was surrounded by hundreds of snakes. Even worse his fat body was backed into a corner. The sound of the snakes hissing sounded like someone was frying bacon. It crackled through the air. In the pile, the snakes wove under and over each-other. Cold bodies weaving in an almost endlessly hypnotic pattern. All of the snakes varied in size and color. Some reached lengths of six-seven feet. Some were all black, and some were orange with markings. The heap would've weighed m...

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“My pleasure is gone.” by Roy Harp

Submitted to Contest #113

"Pleasure is a gypsy- one night she is there, then the next day she is gone, and my anxiety and my worst nightmare is waking up knowing that she is gone forever."-Roy the DudderMy relationship with pleasure is an unusual one. I hold her hand, and I love her all together, but she is lethal, very sharp to the touch, never able to cuddle for too long, and on occasion, she draws blood, but that doesn't bother me none, its just a scratch; very superficial. And its all worth it in the end, for the prize and the end of her exitance is ple...

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“03.06.2019” by Linda Dorsett

Submitted to Contest #113

At 59 years old, Roger and I met via an online dating site. His mother still can't believe he actually used such a thing. First date was at an English pub named The Falconer. He gave me a picture of flowers he had painted. Rog was a contractor by trade and I was an administrative assistant. I was using my nickname, "Lacey". He shared with me about his late wife, Linda. I paused and told him my real name was also Linda. I was Linda once again. We had fish and chips with a few beers. After dinner, we walked around Market Night. He walked me to...

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“My Worst Nightmare” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #113

“Why am I doing this?” I ask myself. I have the instructions of how to get to the place scribbled on a piece of paper and I can’t even read my own handwriting. My friend was telling me over the phone but was obviously in a rush, and talking too quickly. It’s easy when you’re not the sleep deprived one trying to write it all down with a blunt pencil. “So that’s the address” she told me “Did you get it all ?” “Actually, what comes after 116 Brent Street?” “Not Brent Street, it is Bowen, B O W…” she started to spell it out for me. “I get ...

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“That One Night” by Travis Hatch

Submitted to Contest #113

This is my worst nightmare. I’m being chased by something and I don’t know what it is. I’m running as fast as I can but I can’t get away. I come to a cliff and I have to decide whether to jump or be killed by this thing. I jump and right before I hit the ground, I wake up. Sitting up on my bed, I look at Angie. She’s painting her toenails in a chair by the window. The breeze comes in and blows her hair into her face. She moves it, patiently, and continues to paint. “That doesn’t sound too bad,” she said. “Well, it is,” I said. “When I wake u...

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“Liar, Liar” by Crystal Porteous

Submitted to Contest #113

Reedsy Contest #262 Dreams and Nightmares C.B. Lee Liar, Liar I am a liar. I have been my whole life. But I'm not sure I am any good at it. I’ve lied about my grades, I’ve lied about my weight (I have the driver’s license to prove it), I’ve lied about who I have hung out with...and I’ve lied to protect someone's feelings. There are many things I have lied about, to cover up truths I didn’t want discovered. So yes, I am a liar. And I have been labeled as such for as long as I can remember. ...

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“An Expected and Unexpected Bad Day” by Grace Lee

Submitted to Contest #113

I knew when I woke up that morning that something was going to go wrong. Somehow I felt that in all the days of my life, today would be the worst. I stared at my ceiling, determined not to leave my bed until the last possible moment. I glanced at the clock. 7:18 am. My bus left at 7:30 and it took five minutes to walk to the bus stop. Well, five more minutes can’t hurt, I thought, turning over right as a knock sounded at my door. “Are you still in bed?!” My mother shouted at me th...

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“Notes of a Dream” by Caitlyn Cline

Submitted to Contest #113

Raul searches through the forest for the origin of that distorted yet beautiful soft tune. The melody hums like a long lost friend, yet he can’t understand the words sung by the feminine voice. Though Raul’s thoughts slip away with each second, he knows he’s been here before. He picks up his pace to a run attached to the rhythm of the song, realizing there’s only so much time he has left to find her before it’s too late. Some moments flow slower than others. It feels as though the dream song envelopes him in molasses within those instants. S...

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“Dreamwalkers” by G.S Rodson

Submitted to Contest #113

"Do you trust us, Sofie?" "Of course." "Then we need to know more about these dreams. Have they continued this last week?" "…" "Please Sofie, the cameras may not pick up every slight nod or shake of your head. Verbally, if you can." "Yes, they have." "And Daren. Has he been a recurring element again?" "Yes." "Are you still having conversations with the boy?" ".." "Verbally, Sofie." "Yes, we talk." "What do you talk about?" "I mean, they're just dreams. Does it matter?" "Yes…it does." "We just talk about life. Life here in the Straights. Life...

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“THE GOLDEN CAGE” by Mae Siu-Wai Stroshane

Submitted to Contest #113

Every day I seethe with throbbing heat. I can hardly breathe the stifling air that invades my lungs and fuels the desire that burns through my body day and night. The mere sight of his strong form makes my heart clench like a fistful of anger and frustration. His dark, gentle eyes serve my needs but never quite meet mine and his smile is correct and deferential, never shapes to fill the hollows of my hunger. What more can I expect from a Hebrew slave?This Yusuf is no ordinary slave like the dull-eyed minions who toil in the fields or sh...

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“Fork in the Road” by Yakov Grinshpun

Submitted to Contest #113

A Fork in the Road When you come to a fork in the road, take it. Yogi Berra Until it started, I lived a normal life --wife, two children, nice house, good job; nothing exciting. It brought a little excitement in the beginning, but when it continued night after night, I began to worry. Although I told myself, it’s a dream, just a dream, telling this didn’t help much. It seemed the day before the dreams began was the last day of happiness I would ever have. When I woke and opened my eyes, I immediately narrowed and then shut them. I didn...

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“A transparent life” by Laura Ros

Submitted to Contest #113

It's cold and rough, and his stride is hurried because he knows that at the end of the aisle, on the right, life awaits him. Barefoot on the tiles, he feels the cream streaks under every step. He never touched the wooden slats on the sides, but he knows they are fine and the wood should not be like this. Take a step to the side to avoid the wheelchair. His gaze is aimed at the final destination, which does not prevent him from noticing, with the corner of his eye, the round white clock on the wall: three thirty, as always. The white, sliding...

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“The Other Place” by Danielle Wagner

Submitted to Contest #113

Dear Diary, Captain’s Log… April 14, 2018: I traveled again last night. I can’t put a number to the times it’s now happened. But last night was significant. Or, at least, significant enough that I feel it’s finally time to start putting it all down. Regardless of how I feel about traveling, it keeps happening and I can’t continue to ignore it any longer. And who knows how many details I’ve missed out on over the years from not writing it all down. I should have started journaling the first time it happened. Oh well...I ca...

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“In Color” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #113

A dream is just a dream unless you are Esme Quatermain Brady than a dream is not a dream. A dream becomes the future. Esme knew she had what her grandmother, Misty, used to call “the gift” since she was a little girl. She didn’t want the gift at times. She didn’t want the gift when she had a dream that her grandmother, Misty, was calling her and she couldn’t find her. She could hear her grandmother’s voice and see her hands reaching out to her but she couldn’t see her face or the rest of her body. She tried and tried to see her grandmother’s...

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“After Eight” by Santhosh Gangadharan

Submitted to Contest #113

AFTER EIGHT SANTHOSH GANGADHARAN She stood by the window looking at the street sipping Horlicks. A healthy drink right after a nap in the afternoon on a holiday was her passion. That gave her time to reminisce the week that had gone by. The street was as busy as ever. The single storey long building had rows of shops. All were busy except the one at the far end – ‘After Eight’. As the name suggests it would open only after eight. Then it would be a maze of crowd in there. It was a restaur...

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$250

Prize money

228

Contest entries

139

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 01, 2021 EST

Won by Megan Lange 🏆

Title: Dream Weaver

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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