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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

“Counting Raindrops” by Christopher Stevens

Submitted to Contest #116

I did something horrible. Or at least, that is how it has been described to me. Horrible. Awful. Terrible. I don’t remember doing it. I don’t remember anything about it, to be honest. I have seen photos and videos from the incident many times, before the trial and many times during it. In the videos it appears to be me. The scenes are disturbing. I mean, who wouldn’t be disturbed after watching it? During some of the viewings I’d get these weird flashes, like a bright light pulsing ever so quickly it’s gone before I even knew it was ...

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“The Night is Shattered, and She is Not With Me” by Jesse Brown

Submitted to Contest #116

tw- mention of suicide“you’re not leaving, don’t ask me again.” My mother had uttered these words to me recently, though it felt like lifetimes had passed since. I remember her lips curling against her straight, white teeth in a warning snarl. It seems strange to describe a human as snarling, or growling even, but that is the only way to name it. What I was asking for was possible—I needed to leave. I needed to get out of this comfortable, horrible little bubble I ha...

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“For Faculty Only” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #116

“What do you mean, it’s private?” Under normal circumstances, Professor Kline never lost her temper. Unfortunately for the parking clerk, she was running late for her very first symposium at Clark University that day, her alma mater. The consequences of showing up late were potentially disastrous. Surely, she was bound to be a laughingstock among all of her former mentors in the chemistry department. New appointees do not just “skip” on their first symposium. In light of this, her response came out not so much like a mere annoyed complaint...

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“The Good Doctor” by Cadine Vernon

Submitted to Contest #116

WednesdayThe digital display on David’s dashboard said 5:43am. He smiled as he pulled into the small parking lot of Paediatric Cardiology Associates on Swan Ave. He veered the car to the left and onto the parking space right under the large cypress tree. Prime real estate. His plan worked perfectly, coming in early did the trick. He wasn’t about to waste his breathe arguing with that fossil. Old things should die and make way for youth. Looking in the rear-view mirror, he straightened his green striped tie and checked his reflection. Green c...

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“Silence is Golden ” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #116

Silence is Golden Once upon a time – A good beginning; warm and familiar you may say. Everything must have a beginning. Once upon a time; belonging to myth and fairy tales, does not seem to fit, but this phrasing will have to do. This was a time when the world seemed a ‘Noah’s Ark’ society and I am the single who didn’t fit. I might have documented a case of ‘survivor syndrome’ being the survivor of a broken marriage and working full-time shift work, supporting a child. I was burdened and fragmented. Somehow, someway the pieces needed ...

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“For an Old Friend” by Logan Wolf

Submitted to Contest #116

Anri stood in front of the coffin. The catacombs she was in was one where important citizens and heroes were buried. She read the words on the coffin again. The letters formed into a name. Dorman Kaz. Anri stared down, remembering Dorman’s tenacity, his unique way of living. She shuffled her feet, a feeling of nervousness washing over her. She glanced around the crypt, to reassure herself she was alone. Dim torchlight lit the stone room. The walls had slots carved deep into them, each with a casket planted firmly within. Each casket was beau...

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“Elysian” by Grace R

Submitted to Contest #116

My name is Alice. I stare down at the four words on the sheet of parchment I keep tucked under my pillow every night. The words are like eyes, staring at me, unblinking. I hold the parchment tightly, maybe too tightly, for it begins to wrinkle under my hold. My name is Alice. I thought if I wrote it down, and looked at it, and fell asleep with the words underneath my head, that it would help me remember. That I’d be able to remember myself as Alic...

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“The Fence” by Millie Kemp

Submitted to Contest #116

The sign read, “No visitors past 7pm, please be respectful of this. Thank you.” It’s pristine state was taunting me, daring me to disobey. “But.. It's already 8:00!” I cried out. I kicked my feet on the ground, acting like the stubborn kid I was. In doing so, I scuffed my favorite pair of shoes; my purple skechers. “No! Nonono!” I began to cry, big fat tears streaming down my face. I ran my small, pudgy hands through my brown hair as I threw a fit of sorts. I shook with anger and sorrow as I sat my backside down on the concrete with ...

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“Wonder” by Kathy Philpott

Submitted to Contest #116

Wonder Tia looked at the ten little toes and sweet tiny feet of her newborn baby girl. The baby appeared to be perfect in every way. Her birth was a reason for the village to celebrate. Tia was loved unconditionally, and this baby would find a welcome place within the family circle. Tia's mother took the baby to clean her up so Tia could rest. Soon, Tia would start nursing the baby, and then in eight days, the village would have a welcoming ceremony and give the baby a name. Their celebration would take place near the beach in the common gat...

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“If I could go back... I would.” by Luna Lionheart

Submitted to Contest #116

I can’t stop. No matter how hard I try. It’s everywhere. Taunting me. Like a fly you can’t get rid of. A sleep paralysis demon to an insomniac. A destroyed book to a bookworm. And I can't seem to stop thinking about it. It haunts me. It won't leave me alone. Every second of it replays in my head, tormenting me. Reminding me of how I screwed everything up. Reminding me how awful I am as a person. How I fucked up my relationship with him. Ruined everything we had built from childhood. Ruined everything to the point where we don’t speak as much...

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“All Is Forgiven” by Brenda Butler

Submitted to Contest #116

It wasn’t like Larry to worry but more than often he had to catch his mind from wondering. He’d lived with what he did for such a long time. He more than not had convinced himself all was forgiven, at least he thought so. He had never gotten up the nerves to ask. In his summation, time heals all wounds, but he wasn’t sure of that. Larry at the age of eighteen did the unthinkable, however for him it was because of fear. He and three of his school friends the summer before graduating high school went on s summer vacation. The...

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“BRINGING HOME, THE PRODIGAL SON” by William Snesrud

Submitted to Contest #116

By William Snesrud Driving along Interstate 80, heading east toward Iowa, I was thinking about how it is possible that someone could just walk away from family and friends for most of the past thirty years. After five weeks of tracking him down, it had now been three days since I located my old high school friend Charlie, who was currently sitting very quietly in the passenger seat of my Chevy S-10 pickup. Sitting quietly because he was either mad at me for making him come back to Iowa or he was just outright nervous or scared about faci...

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“What if...” by Eimantas Brundza

Submitted to Contest #116

I don't even remember the last time I had the pleasure of being blinded by the sun, no one does at this point. It's been fifty years of us traveling over this wasteland we used to call home... and it's all my fault. When I first joined the institute I was just a lad, spending nights playing lol, chasing girls and illegally speeding with my mom's Nissan. They took me as an apprentice, as an intern, which means shit money and shit hours and well...more realistically, I lived there and didn't get paid, but the food was free and...

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“Poor-Little-Girl (Non)Sense” by Elisabeth Radke

Submitted to Contest #116

I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Some white mucous stains were shimmering at the bottom of the tub. I tried throwing up, but that was all I came up with. It was some time after midnight on new years eve. “They shoot at us”, Michelle burst out, laughing hysterical. I knew what she meant, and just moments ago I shared her hysterical mood about us pretending to be shoot by the fireworks. For hours we have been running around the city center of our small town, drinking cheep champagne, partying with the crowd, dancing and kissing u...

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“How mother died” by Nik Lacolere

Submitted to Contest #116

Her general manner, at first, was a brutal mix of willed-efficiency and hasted-love. She was walking on the edge of a precipice, she said often, verging on the great escape. You must, she told me, Do things fully or not do them at all. There is no half-measure to living. No pause. No break or two-star-motel vacations. I’d asked her, once, where she’d categorise ‘napping’. Don’t be such a child, she said, We are not children. Are you a child, she said, Of course, no, of course, you aren't. Of course, I wasn't. So I killed my naps. My mother...

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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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