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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

“The Gamble” by Cody Cooper

Submitted to Contest #113

“Here’s 100,000 dollars for Jacksonville to beat Kansas City outright tonight,” Mark stated in a tone of self-satisfaction, his voice barely concealing his internal monologue. “I am a prophet. I can beat the system. Here in Vegas, the gambling Mecca of America, the odds were in my favor, not the casino’s,” he thought to himself. “Where the hell did you get 100G’s?” Samuel, Mark’s childhood friend, asked. He was almost yelling in shock, yet his voice was still drowned out by the sounds of electronic beeping and change dispensing at the ne...

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“Dream a Dream” by Rebecca Hackney

Submitted to Contest #113

Claire woke up with a jolt, sweating and breathing heavy. Not again, she thought. The dreams haven’t happened in a long time, they were supposed to be done and gone. Claire reached over to her night stand and grabbed her water bottle taking a big gulp. Maybe it wasn’t what she thought; maybe it was just a dream. Claire closed her eyes and went back to bed hoping for a decent nights sleep. The following morning Claire woke up feeling refreshed and she pushed the dream out of her mind. It was just a dream she kept telling herself. She made bre...

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“The Lost Weekend” by Norp Dee

Submitted to Contest #113

The coughing was deep and relentless. The huffing noises from the ventilators was hurting my head. I worked in a dermatology practice to avoid this kind of medical work. The covid ward was too much for me to handle. I wasn’t sure I could make it thru my shift. A long time ago, my granddaddy used to say something like, “the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be”. That old mare would be me right now. The noise and deaths are breaking me. I am working insane hours. It’s nine o’clock on Friday and I still have two hours left. This is m...

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“The Daily Grind” by V M

Submitted to Contest #113

“Hey!” She turns. Her face is pale, her eyes bloodshot, her tangled hair hangs over her face casting a shadow on her eyes. Staying home for over a year had taken its toll. Her brother, a young man, car keys in hand, approaches from the far end of the long apartment building hallway. “Are you ready to go?” She snaps back into reality, though her mind wasn’t ever wandering. She is standing in the doorway of her apartment, clutching half a doughnut tightly in her hand, strawberry filling trickling down her arm. She ...

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“The Forgotten Dream” by DS VACILLATION

Submitted to Contest #113

The girls are really very lovely, but for the life of me I don’t know why they’re here. I was just dozing off here in my recliner chair, so it confused me a bit when I woke up and saw them all standing around me like they’re expecting something. They’re here to see me? I look over at my friend, Jim. He’s standing by the door in the back, where he usually goes to watch the TV. He gets a better view of the screen over there, smart guy. Maybe he knows why these girls are here. “You’ve got visitors,” he says. He smiles at me. Really great guy...

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“Dreaming in Gray” by D F

Submitted to Contest #113

There was no rhyme or reason behind which dream I stepped into each night only that the door I was presented with was never my own. At times it was an intrusion to be the audience to a stranger's subconscious desires and memories that are set on repeat for eternity in hopes that the real-life outcome were to change from recorded history; at other times, a privilege to feel love in its purest form: unspoken and untainted by shame and self-doubt. I could recognize when I stepped into a dream of the same individual more than once as faces, th...

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“contest 113” by Lin Darroe

Submitted to Contest #113

Jagger Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne are interchangeable . This is the last thought that flowed through my mind as everything went black. Let me explain. Not about Jackson and Bruce but about me. There is nothing special about me. I know that we are not supposed to say that out loud or admit this , but it's true . I am twenty two, work full time at a local Pet Store chain, and live with my parents with our 90 pound white Lab , Big Boy and our newest addition, Jagger , an orange tabby ...

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“The end of the road” by Evelyn Sommer

Submitted to Contest #113

I think I died in a car crash. And I say “think” because I do not dare to express much certainty. It is the safest word, the truest word I can find. It’s like seeing it all played out through a blurry lens; I am in the dream, and I see myself, but I cannot do anything to stop what happens next. In the dream, I’m a kid again. I’m with my family in the car. We’re going to our countryside house. We always go there when the heat of the summer gets too hot to bear. It is always refreshing to feel the cool breeze kissing your skin. It’s ...

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“The Natural” by Wy Jung

Submitted to Contest #113

This is my worst nightmare. Tears of humiliation threatened to push through the slitted angry eyes looking back at her with surprise and horror from the mirror. Something inside her instructed *deep breaths jo* as she stared down the apparition before her, struggling to get a grip on this new tragic reality. With each deep breath, the darkness worked its way into her heart and filled her ribcage with unwelcomed rage and resentment. She never imagined this would be her. Fuckin Bo...

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“IN THE STRANGER'S DREAM” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #113

IN THE STRANGER’S DREAM Laura was walking barefoot down a long corridor. The corridor, rather narrow, seemed even without end , that is, she was not able to see the end of the corridor. The walls were bare, yet every now and then, as Laura kept on walking, something fell off the walls, sliding to the ground. Laura could just catch a glimpse, out of the corner of her eye, of that something falling off the bare walls. She thought it ( the something falling to the ground) had to be ...

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“In Dreams, I Walk With You” by Joshua Copus - Oxland

Submitted to Contest #113

Before Ezra entered the therapy room, he secured the headband that concealed his third eye. It was of utmost importance to hide that feature, for even children worldwide knew of the infamy of the dreamdivers. What they were capable of. What he was capable of. What he was born with. The observing agent, Delores, cleared her throat, waiting for him to open the door. He couldn’t dilly-dally any longer, despite his heart beating in his throat. Ezra took a deep breath and turned the handle. Inside was a family of three sitting next to a bed, ...

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“John's site” by Katrina Barrett

Submitted to Contest #113

John’s site John looked around as he walked through his home. Everything had a weird glow to it. He turned around and a man was standing in the door way. The man was dress in a black suit with dark glasses. John rube his eyes. He thought he had to be dreaming. The last thing he remember is sitting in front of the TV and thinking he was tired. The ma...

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“Message from a dream.” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #113

It seemed as if all the children in her circle of friends were born in the same month. Over the last week, she received as many as three invitations. She loved children, but three parties so close together was a bit much. She couldn´t explain why it made her so uneasy this year. Lately, her mind seemed to want to dive into unknown depths. It was familiar territory; she had been there a few times before. She had worked very hard to forget the darkness, but no matter how hard she tried; it kept creeping up. All kinds of strange ideas kept inva...

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“To Burn or to Live.” by Kay Lesley Reeves

Submitted to Contest #113

I was falling. The drop seemed to go on for ever. There was an old belief that, if you remembered hitting the ground, you would be dead. How would you know if you were dreaming? A paradox indeed. I was yet to experience even a bumpy landing but there was always an element of uncertainty. I was still falling, and the ground beneath me had a solidarity that I did not want to encounter. Gravity was suddenly the most important force in my existence. It began to appear that a grave was the most likely out...

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“The Dream of Eternal Joy” by V. S. Gerrans

Submitted to Contest #113

My father was but a humble farmer, and I knew nothing of my mother. I never took to farming, but the little reading and writing I was taught at the parish school quickly gave me a voracious taste for literature, extending my view of the world far beyond what I perceived anyone around me knew.It was a fateful coincidence then, that I was the one to discover a grimoire buried underneath the cellar, the distinct shape of which stuck out at me from the earth below as I was fixing the floorboards one day. My father advised me to dispose of the ho...

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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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