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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#114: So Fetch

October 3rd marks the much-beloved (if informal) holiday known as “Mean Girls Day”, based on a throwaway line from the cult film. While it’s remembered for its iconic jokes, Mean Girls isn’t just a great comedy — it also includes sharp social commentary on the intricacies of adolescent relationships. This week, we celebrate its hilarity and insights alike with five Mean Girls-themed prompts (which are pretty fetch, if we do say so ourselves).

🥇 Winner

“The Hallowed Ground” by Beth Jackson

🏆 Winner of Contest #114

“Karl told me about a playgroup in Maraetai. Why don’t you take her there?” My partner stares at me in the bathroom mirror.I look away, the unspoken words prickling. “They’re not really my cup of tea.”The baby stirs, sucking on her hand. She’ll need feeding soon.“How do you know? You’ve never been.”I watch my partner shaving, each pass exposing fresh, pink skin in a sea of white, and a stab of jealousy twists in my stomach.“They’re for older children,” I say, pulling my dressing gown across my chest. “Not for little babies.”“Think about it. ...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Pumpkin” by Amanda Lieser

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” he leans back and stares at the roof of the car, refusing to make eye contact with me. He has decided the fight is over. He loves me again. I can either go along or keep picking at it. “Like what?” I laugh. He sits up and starts the engine. He rolls down the windows and slowly pulls out of his driveway. “Where are we going?” I ask. “Trust me,” he replies. That’s the problem, I think to myself, I don’t. I shake my head and begin to roll up the window....

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“The Bake Sale” by Bettina Karpathian

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

I meant well when I invited Melanie to our church’s Ladies’ Social Group. She and her husband Paul had moved in next door to us. He sold insurance which involved lots of travel. She worked online from home. Small-town rural life was alien to her, as she confided to me over the fence one day, and she was lonely. “It’s not that people are unfriendly,” she said to me when I invited her for coffee. “It’s just that the conversations feel like an interrogation. How long have we been married? Do we have children? ...

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“Queen Slaying” by Stevie Allen

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

We squeeze our besties’ hands together to form…A circle. A group. A gang.A hive. Radiate love like heat from a lightbulb. Our eyes laughing ‘I love you. Stay with me, forever. You make me feel like I could do anything. I couldn’t do anything without you. Never leave. Please don’t ever leave me,’ and…‘Judas is going down; this will be actually hilarious.’Carly Morgan has betrayed us by taking a man who was not hers. As such, she will be sentenced, here, tonight, in front of everyone. The battle cry, some boy from Wickmoore mourns on stage. Ye...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with the line, “You wanna do something fun?”

Adventure – 42 stories

Write about a clique that dominates your story’s social scene.

Middle School – 17 stories

Write about someone grappling with an insecurity.

Narrative – 38 stories

Write a story that involves sabotage.

Dark – 19 stories

Set your story at a talent show.

Christmas – 7 stories

Stories

“The Hallowed Ground” by Beth Jackson

🏆 Winner of Contest #114

“Karl told me about a playgroup in Maraetai. Why don’t you take her there?” My partner stares at me in the bathroom mirror.I look away, the unspoken words prickling. “They’re not really my cup of tea.”The baby stirs, sucking on her hand. She’ll need feeding soon.“How do you know? You’ve never been.”I watch my partner shaving, each pass exposing fresh, pink skin in a sea of white, and a stab of jealousy twists in my stomach.“They’re for older children,” I say, pulling my dressing gown across my chest. “Not for little babies.”“Think about it. ...

129 comments 129

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“Waiting for Samuel Beckett” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” “No.”“You wanna do something fun?” “NO.”“Why not?”“Because your idea of fun isn’t.”“Isn’t what?”“Isn’t fun.” “C’mon.”“No.”“C’mon.”“NO.”“Really?”“Really. Whenever we go out, I end up regretting it.”“You don’t.”“I do.”“C’mon. Fun. Let’s go.” “I don’t want to do anything fun with you because you have the boundaries of a rabid dog.”“Thank you.”“Your idea of fun is breaking things. Rules. Society norms. Girls’ hearts. Curfew. On more than one occasion, windows.”“That’s not always true. Usually tru...

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“Arc” by Alex Sultan

Submitted to Contest #114

Kel could not spark his lightning. He snapped his fingers but could not amass a charge. He sat powerless atop a bell tower, sunset on the horizon, a horde of ghouls clawing at the stone down below. His finger hit his palm. He waited for the scratch of static within, the rumble in his hands and blue glow at the edges of his vision, yet his lightning would not spark.Hundreds of ghouls crowded below. Decayed hands grabbed at the stone. Their rotting bodies created a pyramid as they piled over one another, climbing halfway up the tower, fre...

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“Pumpkin” by Amanda Lieser

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” he leans back and stares at the roof of the car, refusing to make eye contact with me. He has decided the fight is over. He loves me again. I can either go along or keep picking at it. “Like what?” I laugh. He sits up and starts the engine. He rolls down the windows and slowly pulls out of his driveway. “Where are we going?” I ask. “Trust me,” he replies. That’s the problem, I think to myself, I don’t. I shake my head and begin to roll up the window....

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“You Wanna Do Something Fun? ” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #114

Then, attack Britney Spears. Except for Chris Crocker, just about almost everyone else has at one time or another. Go ahead—have at it—she’s an easy target. For the past thirty-nine years that she’s walked around on this big ball of fun that we lovingly refer to as planet Earth, our planet somewhere in a galaxy far, far away, you know, just like in that renowned Star War opening crawl that begins those movies says, she’s spent just as much time in the spotlight of the public’s eye for her achievements as for her downfalls; achievements and d...

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“The Bake Sale” by Bettina Karpathian

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

I meant well when I invited Melanie to our church’s Ladies’ Social Group. She and her husband Paul had moved in next door to us. He sold insurance which involved lots of travel. She worked online from home. Small-town rural life was alien to her, as she confided to me over the fence one day, and she was lonely. “It’s not that people are unfriendly,” she said to me when I invited her for coffee. “It’s just that the conversations feel like an interrogation. How long have we been married? Do we have children? ...

Read story

“No Jumping Off Bridge” by Megan Lange

Submitted to Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” Brandy asked, nudging Garret on the arm with her knobby elbow. “I think there’s a river nearby.” It was a hot and stormy summer day. Heavy gray clouds clung to each other in the sky. Fat raindrops steamed on the burning blacktop soothing it so that Garret Perkins and Brandy Hershaw could run barefoot down to the river. It was their last summer before they knew to feel shame for going around in only their bathing suits. Brandy and Garret met the evening prior around a fire pit where their parents stayed u...

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“Imposter syndrome” by Danny G

Submitted to Contest #114

When an idea forms, good or bad, it consumes you. And you can spend your entire existence working towards it. Training, practising, preparing. You feel confident. You feel like you can be the best. The Greatest of All Time. The GOAT.Then comes the day where you have to put it all on show and yourealise one thing: You know absolutely nothing.All that training, all those scenarios. It means nothing when youaren’t in front of the audience. Training with your best friend. Working withfamily. Testing out your act. They all laugh and say it’s grea...

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“Queen Slaying” by Stevie Allen

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #114

We squeeze our besties’ hands together to form…A circle. A group. A gang.A hive. Radiate love like heat from a lightbulb. Our eyes laughing ‘I love you. Stay with me, forever. You make me feel like I could do anything. I couldn’t do anything without you. Never leave. Please don’t ever leave me,’ and…‘Judas is going down; this will be actually hilarious.’Carly Morgan has betrayed us by taking a man who was not hers. As such, she will be sentenced, here, tonight, in front of everyone. The battle cry, some boy from Wickmoore mourns on stage. Ye...

Read story

“The Girl with No Face” by Chenchen Du

Submitted to Contest #114

CW: bullying, goreJia Si Ya started off with all the facial features a normal human would have. Two years, one mouth, two eyes and a nose. She was a normal sort of girl growing up in China. Quiet, artistic, most importantly, her grades are always among the top three in her class. She was left alone to her own devices, because you simply don’t mess with a girl who has good grades in China. The teachers would be on her side. She’s not close to most of her classmates but they look at her with some jealousy, but that was plenty made up by t...

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“The Loser” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?”I knew what fun meant to Dougie, but I still went along with it. Our shift was over and we would not have to clean up the garage floor until the weekend started. And I was bored.“What do you wanna do?”“You’ll see.”I had just finished my last coffee of the day (no more than three per; my girlfriend was proud of me when I dropped down from five) and we were technically allowed to leave. Most of the other staff was out and we had to close up and check for anyone trying to hang out and maybe even spend the night. Occ...

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“Eat the Cake” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #114

I always get sick the day before the talent show. Some think it’s the Ghost of What’s to Come, because you know you’ll be sick the next day. All over town, stomachs turn over and twist when February 8th is around the corner. Being the band-aid ripper that I am, I’m always the first to show up at town hall. Why prolong the inevitable? I put on my loosest jeans and my biggest sunglasses, and I report for duty. Crystal is waiting with the clipboard when I roll up to the folding table that gets trotted out once a year for this very purpose...

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“The Wall” by JanetthePlanet 66

Submitted to Contest #114

“Do you want to do something fun?” She said.It was never my suggestion, but June Lilly was tall with long, shiny hair that sat on her shoulders the colour of swaying wheat. We looked up to her sapphire-eyed smile, haloed by the late evening sun, and when she snapped her fingers, we followed along like runty puppies yelping for attention. Everything about her was rich, evoked the perfume and grace of a palace garden.June, her family, lived in a mansion. In the spinney next to the Common, discreetly surrounded by oaks and sycamores, the flower...

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“Hobos and Stuff ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #114

“You wanna do something fun?” Standing in the doorway, Tom looked at Jack, his new neighbor. Tom’s family moved here the previous week. They’d crossed paths and said hello a couple times. They’d be starting fourth grade in a few weeks. Being the new kid promised to be hard enough. He needed a friend. “Sure. It doesn’t have anything to do with coffee does it?” “Coffee? No… Oh, you talking about the Kaffe Fest? That was back in June.” “Never heard of a festival based on coffee.” “Yeah. I guess that’s what we’re known for. They have a parade w...

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“Perfect Girl.” by Mark Shoe

Submitted to Contest #114

My mother always told me: behind every strong man is an even stronger woman. Sarah’s alarm always went off at six am. She particularly struggled with Mondays, and this one was no exception. Dragging her feet across the carpeted floor, her memory of her home was proficient enough to navigate with her eyes closed, only opening them when she felt cold smooth tiles. Cracking her eyes open, she was greeted by a familiar mess of thick brown hair. Lovey knots bunched in several directions, courtesy of tossing and turning in bed. She set...

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$250

Prize money

123

Contest entries

114

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 08, 2021 EST

Won by Beth Jackson 🏆

Title: The Hallowed Ground

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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