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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

“Night Visions” by Deborah Mosley

Submitted to Contest #113

We, Annie and Evvie, are sisters, 79 and 81, respectively. Our full names are Catherine Ann and Evelyn Lee, named after two spinster aunts. Our mother was the proper sort, and at each of our births, she declared there would be “no nicknames." “The girls will be called by their proper names, Catherine and Evelyn." However, our father, who was not the least bit proper, implored our mother to consider calling us Annie and Evvie as babies. Our father insisted that he felt like he was baby-talking two old spinsters whenev...

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“Deja you” by Gianina Vescovi-Chiordi

Submitted to Contest #113

“I am not a nice person in dreams. At least, that’s what my friends have been telling me for years. Remember being young and having sleepovers? Well, just as sure as you were to have a bowl of sugary cereal or a pop tart the next morning, you were guaranteed to discuss any dream you had, and in great detail, if you remembered it. No matter the friend, it was always the same. I am relentless in their dreams. I am rude, condescending, and manipulative. People see me coming, and they smell trouble. I am always the villain in their story. ...

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“Some Dreams Come True” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #113

I would never have thought when I was a young woman taking psychology courses at university that I would end up like this – the proprietor and only staff of Madam Brianna Rue’s Dream Schemes. Here I sit, dressed for the part, like you would see in a movie, with a crystal ball placed on a small circular table, my chair across from that of my client-believer. Psychology degree, no related work, long term employment as a cashier in a supermarket, replaced at 45 by self-service. My new ‘career’ began at a party. A drunken young w...

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“Mum” by Suzy Malseed

Submitted to Contest #113

"Mum, it happened again", I sobbed. "I was fast asleep.... and the end of my bed got lifted, really high, and then it was let go and I came crashing down". I was angry and a little scared. Why did this always happen to me? Why was I the weird one? All the other girls were normal, they brushed out their long hair, 100 times, slipped into their perfect pyjamas, kissed their parents’ good night and dreamed blissfully all night. 'Comparison is the death of joy", I heard my Nana say. So true. I was 'active', yep that's the word I heard every da...

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“A Chance For Us” by Shannon Haffely

Submitted to Contest #113

cw: violence She wants to kill him. Or, at least, she wants him dead. The silence has left us suspended in time. Javiera stares at me expectantly. I shift my position, retie the ribbon at the end of my braid, smooth the creases of my skirt; anything to avoid looking at her. If she was a paying customer, I’d have no issue delving into her dreams, send her on her way with the knowledge that her psyche lusts for murder. But Javi isn’t a paying customer and she isn’t just anyone. “So?” Javi chews on her lip, a hypnotizing tic ...

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“The Dream Doctor” by Dave Bolin

Submitted to Contest #113

“You’re listening to Z-102, and that was Dream Weaver, by Gary Wright. It’s 10pm, and that means you got the Dream Doctor in studio. Just like that dream weaver, I’m gonna get you through the night. The Ronnie Watkins Ford Studio Line is open, and you dreamers know how this works. You call in, tell me your dream, and I’ll tell you what it means. Lines are lighting up now, so we’ll get right to you, after The Eurythmics tell us what sweet dreams are made of. “ Danny Traylor cut the mic as Annie Lennox took over, and he pulled his coffee mug...

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“A Dreaming of Beyond” by Liam Murphy

Submitted to Contest #113

A Dreaming of BeyondI am not sure when it started for me, or perhaps it was just I became more aware of the phenomenon. I had begun to travel in my nightly dreams. My father, a phycologist, told me, “Emma, you have always possessed an extremely fertile imagination, and you recently suffered a couple of quite traumatic experiences.”I always hated when dear old papa attempted to psychoanalyze me as if a mere male could ever fully understand the totality of femaleness. I was aged sixteen and just starting to come to terms with how intensely sex...

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“Dreams Of Another World” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #113

What are dreams? What do they mean? Can dreams really take us to another world? Are dreams just part of our imagination? For Lucy, her dreams are nothing but real. I've been having the same recurring dream night after night after night. I don't know what it means. I've tried everything to get to the bottom of my dream. I've talk to literally everyone and they all told me the same thing, it's just a dream. I know it's not my imagination. There is something happening with my dreams. I just don't know what it is. Interpreting dreams is not ...

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“Delirium or Dream” by Richard Kroyer

Submitted to Contest #113

Kyle rests back into the hospital pillow and lets out a sigh. “The doctor wants to keep an eye on that temperature of yours.” his wife says. “How do you feel?” “I’m comfortable now, Sara. A little sleepy, I think or…” “Kyle, the nurse gave you something to help bring the fever down because it was so high. She said you might drift in and out before it comes down. The nurse told you all that before, but you just rest easy. I’ll be here when you wake.” “Okay, sounds good. I’ll just close my eyes for a bit then.” Kyle’s breathing soo...

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“Zaleria, Dreamwalker” by Nazira Ali

Submitted to Contest #113

I fell asleep again. I've been up for the past 3 days. The first day I was jittery from the obscene amounts of coffee I had drunk. The second I felt like I would fall over if anyone breathed on me. The third was when I started to see stars appear in the day, my hair greasy and unkempt, looking like a bird's nest, being the right color and everything. I'd seen how my eyes looked more red than caramel that they usually were. Everyone was worried for me but I’d appear crazy had I told anyone about the dreams. Normally when I walk in my dreams, ...

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“Emma's Best Nightmare” by Judith McRae

Submitted to Contest #113

Petunia Mae (Emma) Johnson was exhausted from yet another day of police interviews (a weekly event, now), trying to determine what had become of her only child, her son, Ryan, who had simply vanished from the care of his babysitter on Good Friday, April 2nd, at 2:47 pm, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Good Counsel, just five blocks away from the house. Their devoutly Catholic Filipina babysitter had taken him with her to their Good Friday service, hoping to transmit something of her faith to the boy. Emma didn’t mind this - she had no r...

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“Dreamer’s Dilemma” by Laura Holley

Submitted to Contest #113

I’ve changed a lot of lives in seventeen years, mostly for the better. So you’d think I’d be used to this. But today’s client was younger than usual, and I don’t even think she knew what she wanted. “So, tell me a little about yourself.”A piece of magenta hair fell forward from behind her ear as she fidgeted with a mood ring on her hand. “Well—not really much to tell. Name’s Shanty. Thirteen. I guess I’m pretty typical. Go to school, chill with friends, do some gaming, stuff like that.”“And how long have you been in foster care?”And—up—...

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“"—had to believe—"” by Zachary Bell

Submitted to Contest #113

May 10th. 2:19:55 PM EST. Leonard wiped the beads of sweat that had started to pool on his forehead. It was hot outside, almost unbearably so. He spat into the dirt and tugged up his shirt sleeve, cupping his hand over the silver watch he wore. It read 2:20.A cool breeze swept through the field, rustling the golden flowers together.Two more minutes.He measured the sun. It sat alone in its blue sea, separate from any cloud or plane. If it weren’t for the heat, he would’ve thought it was a nice day. Leonard checked his watch a...

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“The Dreamcatcher” by Pamela Berglund

Submitted to Contest #113

I found myself sitting idly in front of the large antique hope chest that my husband had given to me when we were first married, The chest was a history of all the memories and dreams that had fulfilled our fifty years of marriage,,,little things,,,,the little marzipan figurine from the top tier of our wedding cake; our daughter’s baby bracelet. There were other items that could preserve the test of time. I was merely reminiscing, for I would soon be moving from my ten room mansion in Connecticut to a one room apartment in ...

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“Subconscious Thoughts” by T.J McLaughlin

Submitted to Contest #113

The cool refreshing breeze blew across from some unknown region of the world to reach me here, as I sat outside a Paris restaurant drinking a cup of coffee. It had been a long time coming, but I’d finally got there. The sights and smells of the French capital were intoxicating and at the same time intimidating. The sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud around. A perfect summers day. A waiter walked by and placed some finely crafted cut glass tumblers on a nearby table. The sun caught one of the glasses and the blinding glint caught my eye. I...

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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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