Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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

“Do I Have To?” by Anonymous In The Triad

Submitted to Contest #113

It is what it is. There seems to be no rhyme or reason with it. I can see it with people I love and with people I hate. I wish I could control it but I can’t. “A dream is just a dream” pastor told me. Mama, papa and everybody else nodded in agreement. Two days later, pastor was dead after a massive cerebral hemorrhage, just like in my dream. Well, “massive cerebral hemorrhage” wasn’t in my dream. I just saw him grab his head and drop down to ground in pain. I sat straight up in a panic. It was too rea...

Read story

“Tsunami with a Smile” by LR Hunter

Submitted to Contest #113

Every time I open the door to my apartment building, I pray to get to my apartment door safely. Living in a big city at only twenty-years-old all by myself, with no close friends or family around for thousands of miles, puts me a little on edge. You’d think that once I got inside my building, things would be better than the street. Usually, it is, but there are some neighbors that have been here for centuries, it seems, smoking cigarettes in their ratty old nightgowns, hacking up a lung and staring you down as you walk by. The woman has a ...

Read story

“Premonition” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #113

It was a normal day when Zoe awoke. She got up, brushed her teeth, showered, and dressed for work as usual. Before heading out of her loft apartment, she stopped in the small kitchen for a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. It was while she was sipping the coffee that she remembered.The previous night, as she slept, she’d had a dream that she now suddenly recalled. She straightened where she stood as chills moved down the length of her spine. How odd that she’d had the dream, but even odder that now, where she stood, she was suddenly recall...

Read story

“Dream Maker” by Shaina Read

Submitted to Contest #113

“Mom, don’t take the highway home today.”Marcy Clyde was on her way out the door for an important work meeting, juggling a thermos of coffee, her car keys and a laptop bag. She looked at her daughter pleading. “Again, Sarah?” The near daily morning reports had been plaguing the Clyde family for months now. Sarah Clyde, a thirteen year old girl who up until this point in time had always been exceptionally ordinary had been having dreams. Lots of dreams.They started out innocently enough. First she had a dream that her father was going to pick...

Read story

“Scumbag” by Yan Mingzi

Submitted to Contest #113

This is my worst nightmare. The smell of wet paint, a tired moan, and a crying baby. My drunk brother, my sick mother, and my little sister. All in one place, no other familiar face, not even a hint of dad's trace. Life doesn't play jokes on me—— life flirts with me—— it takes me out to dinner just to spill juice on me, then buys me a bottle of wine after harassing me. Life's a scumbag. Life's a douche. Yet if you give me another 50 chances at life, I'd still fall head over heels every single time. Just like how brother got out of reh...

Read story

“Dream and Sleep Clinic” by Joyce Schook

Submitted to Contest #113

Luke shot straight up in his bed. He head and neck were drenched with sweat. He tried to adjust his eyes in the darkness of the room.Mia woke up to his heavy breathing. Luke faced her now."Baby what is it? Another nightmare?""This was the worst nightmare yet."Mia moved closer to his side of the bed. She took his hand .Gave it a gentle squeeze then laid her thick head of curls against her husbands arm. His breathing returned to normal."Baby, its alright. It wasn't real. Do you want to talk about it?""No, I just want to forget it."Luke leaned ...

Read story

“(II) CRUEL FATE” by Mo Ferdause

Submitted to Contest #113

“This is my worst nightmare!” glued to his computer screen on the desk Malik continued, “I feel like throwing up man!” He placed his arms over his braided hair, breathing heavily.“Relax dude.” Leaping over from the next cubicle Rob responded. “Go take a walk. It’s not over till the fat lady sings.” He peaked at the clock mounted on the wall. It was power hour. The bell would strike soon to close out the trading session for the day. “How deep in the south are you?”“Half a mill.”“Christ all mighty!” Rob was in disbelief.“No shit!” Malik sighed...

Read story

“Who Am I?” by Blakely Taylor

Submitted to Contest #113

It’s the most peculiar feeling in the world… Waking up and not knowing who you are or how you got to where you are, your own body betraying you as soon as it jolts awake, drowning out any attempt at recollective thought with the noise of your unforgetting heart steadily pounding in your chest with reckless abandon fueled by an instinctive sense of urgency. ‘Get out of here!’ The panicked organ screams out as it throws itself against your ribcage, still acting on the lingering emotion of utter fear from before your mind was transfor...

Read story

“Dream Connection ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #113

Her name was Dawn and we were connected for a time, but some connections are not meant to last. My name is Jerrod Yost and believe it or not, I never met Dawn, but I know more about her than any other living human being. This is not a love story either as I throw my suitcase on the bed at the Quality Inn in Peoria, IL. I am on the run, so you can't tell anyone where I am. Promise me. My connection with Dawn Hannihan started with a dream, an innocent dream that seemed very promising. I was sixteen when it started and I wa...

Read story

“New Growth” by J. Wilson Davis

Submitted to Contest #113

Hobbling hobbit. The words loop through my brain as I drag my sorry self along the worn path through spruce woods on this fresh spring day. Right foot forward a few inches—I think hobbling. Left foot drags to meet it—hobbit. Roots that frost heaved over the winter might as well be mountains. One step at a time. Hobbling...hobbit. Hobbling...hobbit. That’s what I now am. Bent, doughy and caped in a wool blanket because I am always freezing. And toxic. The wool hat that Lonnie knitted for me fo...

Read story

“Linked” by J.M. King

Submitted to Contest #113

She missed his warmth. Her days consisted of cold floors, cleaning and dancing around the masters’ feet. The saving grace was that she at least had the illustrious view of his posing figure, standing tall, in the center of all things, offering fresh cooked meals to the masters and their guests. It filled her with comfort, seeing him there, but it was not the same thermal river that swam through her as when they were alone, together. When things became quiet, when the time for sleep finally came, she would be rejoined with him. Tho...

Read story

“A Dream of Returning Home” by Peter Saydollar

Submitted to Contest #113

1 The thing that most surprised him was the lack of silence. Having grown accustomed to the constant hum of the city, this was different. The city was loud, of course, but this was a different kind of loud. There were plenty of noises. There were chirps. And there were twitters. The winds through the trees rustled leaves and bent them slightly, to where he could almost hear the creaking of the wood flexing as they swayed. Such an odd thing, that something so ephemeral could move a tree that he could sc...

Read story

“Vanishing Point” by Todd Crickmer

Submitted to Contest #113

Vanishing Point By Todd Crickmer The century-old boards creaked and groaned under the weight of Zeke’s boots. The sun bore down on the weathered brim of his cowboy hat as he brought his hand to his face to shield it from the noonday sun. Peering through the grime-incrusted station windows, he could hear the old railroad station clock ticking, but even straining, he still couldn’t see it. Stepping back from the window, he wondered why the haunting sound was even audible, as the old station had probably been abandoned more than ...

Read story

“Judge of the Underworld Household” by Chenchen Du

Submitted to Contest #113

Bao Si Ran’s dreams lead her into the underworld household. The underground household she goes to is not Hell, nor was it the Greek Underworld ruled by Hades. It is called 阴朝地府(Yin Chao Di Fu) in Chinese, which relatively translates to the Dynasty of Yin and the Underworld Court. Depending on if the person accumulated good or bad karma in life, one can either be send to their next life that would be filled with joy immediately, be promoted into a minor deity in the area or a guardian ancestor for their family so people can bu...

Read story

“Where the scary things are” by Ian Barrett

Submitted to Contest #113

Max had what you would call “episodes” or that’s what his mother had been calling them. They started when he was young and progressively got worse to the point where she considered having him committed. The things that happened to him even brought Child Welfare Services to their door. It wasn’t just the things he would say it was the physical marks all over his body. There were deep scratches and bruises, even some burns that perplexed the local physicians. This went on for years until Max learned that the more he told people ...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢