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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#116: Permission vs Forgiveness

As the old saying goes, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.” It’s not a policy to adopt too often (if you want to keep your friends, that is). But there will probably be times when — whether out of expedience, impulsivity, or sheer laziness — you throw caution to the wind.

Whether your characters are seeking another’s blessing or begging their pardon, this week’s prompts focus on the complex dynamics between permission and forgiveness.

This week's prompts

Write about a character breaking a rule, but for good reason.

Teens – 38 stories

Write about a character seeking forgiveness for something that happened in the past.

Angst – 67 stories

Start your story with someone being forbidden from doing something.

Dark – 44 stories

Write about a character who is being asked for their blessing, but is reluctant to give it.

Angst – 14 stories

Write a story that centers around a parking permit.

Fluff – 11 stories

Stories

“Human Error” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #116

It's when I see the look on her face that I realize the mistake I’ve made. Ten days of hiding it, and every minute it was like I’d stabbed her in the back, and she just hadn’t felt it yet. But when we wake up from the first sleep cycle, alone on a spaceship hurtling through the void between stars, I can’t take it any longer. So, I tell her. Only it isn’t really ten days later. It’s nearly ten years. The first segment of our transport mission is 2,847 days. Then we come out of cryostasis, with seven days to perform maintenance. Then...

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“Because I Said So” by Barbara Mealer

Submitted to Contest #116

Eliza entered the living room. A place she normally avoided. But this was important. “Mom, may I go to the dance Friday evening. I did everything you wanted done. The oven is clean. So is the refrigerator. And the bathrooms. I scrubbed all the floors, vacuumed, dusted and all the other things on the list.” Eliza waited for her mother to answer. She needed to keep her end of the bargain. “No.” The one word, without her ever looking up at Eliza, felt like a asteroid had blasted into her. “You promised if I did everything I co...

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“The Heat Between the Clouds” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #116

Marina laid the large wicker basket of her hot-air balloon sideways as she held open the edges of her envelope bag with wide-open arms. The inflator fan began to gradually expand the red and yellow striped-bag with cold air while her mother prepared the burners and made sure Marina had packed everything she needed for her long journey East. Her nephew helped load the propane tanks and strapped them in on each corner to achieve the equilibrium she needed to steer safely. Marina carried in the ballasts and other necessities, she paused while p...

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“No Escape” by F.S Smithard

Submitted to Contest #116

CW: Some bloodshed and Violence. Alan was woken by a wave of icy water washing over his body. Jerking up from his bare bed frame, Alan shivered as a chilly breeze blew away all of his remaining warmth. Wiping the water and grogginess out of his eyes, a young Japanese soldier came into focus. Instinctively, Alan reached down for his trusty M1 Garand, when he remembered that he was in a concentration camp. Even though Alan had no weapon, he was determined to beat the living hell out of the Japanese fool for dumping water on him...

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“Over my Dead Body” by D.A. Cairns

Submitted to Contest #116

‘Would you like some pineapple, Michael?’ Am offered a plastic bag filled with chunky pieces of freshly cut pineapple to him with a smile which he failed to return. He was hungry but he didn’t like pineapple. That was how it started. Later she told him how rude she thought he was, and how serious and unfriendly, and he explained that he was unaware of the social convention which dictated a person take some of wh...

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“My Last Goodbye” by Lucy Barnes

Submitted to Contest #116

CW: Death, car accident Her eyes are what I noticed first. One eye a brilliant blue and the other an emerald green. Her eyes seemed to hold a secret, twinkling as if they knew something I didn’t, waiting for me figure it out. Her smile was the same, teasing me and beckoning me to approach her. I’d never seen a woman as beautiful as her. It was love at first sight and after three years of marriage, she still looked at me with the same expression. Each morning I would turn over and get lost in those eyes, still trying to learn their great s...

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“Happily Ever AfterLife” by Adelaide Jaques

Submitted to Contest #116

It’s amazing how we can wake up, starting a day with thoughts of what we had to do and thinking we know how the day will go. We walk around in genuine oblivion about all the possibilities, I was working at our family bar and grill, as it was any other day of work. Per usual the game was on, I was working the tables as a waitress, and I smiled although I was thinking of a school assignment due tonight. Laughing at a joke a regular customer made whilst pouring him a glass of water. &n...

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“When Fortunes Change” by Salvador Ulloa Jr.

Submitted to Contest #116

Ned searched frantically around the pool. Maybe he could find enough change to buy an ice cream, at this point anything would help. He stole a quick glance back to where his best friend was sitting wrapped in a towel. Asher was shaking despite the warmth of the day, it didn’t look like he was going to stay conscious much longer. Ned kept up his desperate search, wondering how things could have gone so wrong.****The morning had started just like dozens of other hot summer days. Ned rose from his bed a little past nine in the morning and found...

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“Follow The Rules” by Lin Darroe

Submitted to Contest #116

When I was nine years old we lived on a dead end street in rural New Jersey. My Mom worked full time as my Dad had passed away a few years before and was the sole breadwinner of the family. There were four of us and we spent quite alot of time on our own. Back in those days , circa 1965 four or five children was a pretty average number of kids to have in one family . As I can recall many families had 5 children , and in grammar school I can recall that the Turner family had seventeen children , I ki...

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“A Pencil or a Pen?” by Floyd Lee

Submitted to Contest #116

John sat alone by the monkey bars. He watched the other 8th graders laughing and running around the playground. They were playing tag. Knockout. Four square. That wasn’t for him. None of it felt like… him. “I’m my own man,” he thought to himself, and no sooner had he said than a mild wave of insecurity rippled through him. Everyone around him always told him to “open up.” He always “needed” to do something—needed to be more social, to be more exciting, to be less boring, to be more like so-and-so. He was sick of it. As a fourteen-y...

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“The Covid Gremlin” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #116

Phoebe came through the back door into the kitchen. The small figure at the table looked up at her with all the sadness in the world reflected in his hazel eyes, and the weight of a ten-ton boulder on his back. His small face was wet, a rivulet of snot glistened over his lips like clear, sticky, slug slime. Phoebe rushed to her brother’s side and took the little boy in her arms, wishing she could shield his trembling body like an umbrella protects from a downpour. “Is he doing it again?” She asked softly. Trevor dampl...

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“The Mansion on Harrow's Lane” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #116

“-and whatever you do, stay away from Harrow’s Lane,” finished the older boy emphatically. It was a saying all the children in White Lake knew by heart, and so it came as no surprise that the boy’s grisly story was met with a tired nod from his audience; they had all heard every type of story about Harrow’s Lane one could imagine, from the old man with the axe waiting to dismember you by the toolshed on house 114, to the ghoul that lurked the shores of the property at the end of the lane: White’s mansion. An outsider may have scoffed, and in...

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“Children Obey Your Parents” by Tiffy H

Submitted to Contest #116

Raphia Journey was forbidden from going into her neighbor’s, Roy’s, house, but she did anyways.Inside the house, Raphia found the missing woman, Keshia, tied, beaten and gagged in Roy’s basement.“I’m going to untie you, okay. Don’t panic I’m here to help you.” Raphia quickly untied the lady. You’re almost untied.” She assured her. Blood trickled down Keisha’s head from being hit repeatedly with a rifle. The lady groaned from her head injuries.“You don’t have to worry. I’ve been watching the house. He’s gone. You’re safe now.” Raphia said as...

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“A Very Coveted Parking Permit” by Catherine Hill

Submitted to Contest #116

Congressman Mark Ledbetter (D), MA was in trouble with the Virginia Department of Taxation and needed to sell his townhouse. He had bought it fifteen years ago and hadn’t spent more than twenty nights in his district since. The last time he’d laid his head in the poorest congressional district in the state was four years ago when his mother died. His job was actually in Washington, not Massachusetts, and he had staff to work in the local offices. But the Department of Revenue didn’t seem to think these were good enough excuses for him to cla...

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“The Convent” by Mason Mieczkowski

Submitted to Contest #116

Dawson woke up in the woods. Curled up like a coward under a fallen tree with brush around it. He was good for now. No one was keen to the woods, they hadn’t used them, they were forbidden territory. But for Dawson, right now, the woods were the safest place for him to be. He was exploring them, just in case he needed to run. He crawled through the pickers and picked a few berries off the bush. He had eaten these blackberries before and they were...

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$250

Prize money

174

Contest entries

112

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 22, 2021 EST

Won by Story Time 🏆

Title: Straw, Sticks, and Brick

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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