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#119 Listen

It’s November, and with that come some familiar sounds: the pitter-patter of rain, the rustling of leaves, and the hysterical typing of writers attempting NaNoWriMo. This week, let’s throw the windows open and listen closely. And if you need company while you write, join the Reedsy team for a live Write-In on November 10th!

🥇 Winner

Suzanne

Rachel Dzengelewski

Winner of Contest #119 🏆

Suzanne Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” I first saw her at a party sitting among the bohemian crowd, all skinny, all smoking, all intense with their words. She leaned forward with a glass of red wine in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She spoke as if in secret, telling them everything she knew of social injustice and political corruption, all the wrongs that they were certain in their hash-filled haze they could set right. Stewart came from his bedroom, hugged me, took my suitcase and ragged coat before sitting softly bes...

188 likes

⭐️ Shortlisted

My Grocery Store Hobby

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

Caution: Sexual references.On a recent morning, I was pushing my cart through the aisles of WeShop, a large grocery store near my home, and overheard a conversation between two employees who were stocking the shelves. One of them said: “The boss told me to be on the lookout for customers who are loitering.”The other replied: “Who cares how much time customers spend in the store? Aren’t longer visits better for sales?” The first replied: “Not necessarily. The boss thinks that some of them are waiting for an aisle to empty out. They ...

40 likes

1 A.M.

Zack Powell

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

Content warning: sensitive content“Listen, this isn’t a long story,” Tom said, nursing his sixth beer while the rest of us had yet to finish our second. He lifted his drink, polished it off, gestured to the bartender. A bottle clinked open behind me. When Tom returned to our table, fresh drink cradled in both hands, he looked first at Chet, then Vick, then me. Slurring, he said, “But it isn’t a happy one either, this story.”Tom was usually reserved, a speak-when-spoken-to kind of guy, but when he drank his voice got this wild, belligerent to...

35 likes

Legacy

Rob Ryter

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

“Listen,” urged Fiona. “Don’t you hear it?”Brian’s brow furrowed as he concentrated. “Sorry, no, I don’t hear anything.”Disharmony reigned, rare in Brian and Fiona Berriman’s year-old marriage. Whenever they disagreed, it always seemed to be about the damned phonograph. Apart from that, they were the perfect couple, insanely in love, lapping up every minute of each other’s company, filling the gnawing emptiness when they had to be apart by keeping busy and video calling whenever they could.The phonograph had been an impulse buy. On the secon...

19 likes

This week's prompts

Start your story with an unusual sound being heard.

Horror – 41 stories

Start your story with a character saying “Listen, …”

Valentine's Day – 57 stories

Write a story inspired by a piece of music (without using any lyrics).

Middle School – 39 stories

Write a story that involves eavesdropping.

Fluff – 34 stories

Set your story in a silent house by the sea.

Dystopian – 61 stories

Stories

Suzanne

Rachel Dzengelewski

Winner of Contest #119 🏆

Suzanne Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne” I first saw her at a party sitting among the bohemian crowd, all skinny, all smoking, all intense with their words. She leaned forward with a glass of red wine in one hand, a cigarette in the other. She spoke as if in secret, telling them everything she knew of social injustice and political corruption, all the wrongs that they were certain in their hash-filled haze they could set right. Stewart came from his bedroom, hugged me, took my suitcase and ragged coat before sitting softly bes...

188 likes

Listen the ears of my heart

Mercy Ineke

Submitted to Contest #119

Listen!!! I say to you, the ears of my heart; deciphering the loud sweet whispers of hope and faith from the many screams of troubles. Like a sieve filter from the screams of negativity the positivity and sound of victory.Amid the turbulent tides, raging storm, fierce battles ,confusing echoes and cries of despair just listen to the smoothing note that says you are loved, blessed and perfect. Be deaf to the other disturbing sounds and the many distractions to shift you from the right way. Shun that voice that ceases to try, and suggests...

65 likes

It was the quietest house, it was the darkest sea

Submitted to Contest #119

Mr. Roger Auclair heard nothing but the sound of his wheelchair for months, or maybe it was years. He was a lonely man; it was his own choice.It was a long time ago when he decided to move by the sea. It was a dream he and his wife, now long gone, had. A youth-filled dream that was fulfilled unfortunately too late for her to enjoy. He wished he did things differently, but that's human fate for most of us. Alone in his mansion, he came and went. He turned on and off the lights and stood by the window to watch the mysterious sea every mor...

48 likes

Ceiling/Floor

Submitted to Contest #119

Jason had heard it from his father, who probably heard it from his grandfather or someone else in the family that he never met: “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.” Maybe he really did not understand the meaning of that completely – is it about levels, achievement, success, he thought? No, he was not sure, but he was entertained by what he was hearing. And it all came to him just above his head. He had lived in the Gormand Towers building for a year now as a student and had noticed certain acoustic problems in the space. His apartment...

47 likes

My Grocery Store Hobby

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

Caution: Sexual references.On a recent morning, I was pushing my cart through the aisles of WeShop, a large grocery store near my home, and overheard a conversation between two employees who were stocking the shelves. One of them said: “The boss told me to be on the lookout for customers who are loitering.”The other replied: “Who cares how much time customers spend in the store? Aren’t longer visits better for sales?” The first replied: “Not necessarily. The boss thinks that some of them are waiting for an aisle to empty out. They ...

40 likes

Bloody Steel

Mark Shoe

Submitted to Contest #119

More blood.“Wake up you little shit!” A fat fist pounded on Aaron’s rickety door.Aaron’s eyes sprung open, sticky with exhaustion. The first trickling of morning light leaked through threadbare curtains. Aaron had overslept again. He jolted from slumber, and scrambled for a rag of a shirt. Panicked heartbeats mixed with Mr. Hubbard’s meaty knocking. When the door finally opened, a furious swollen red face stared down a thick nose at Aaron, standing two heads above him.“I’m sorry Mr. Hubbard. I was….” Aaron felt his hair tighten in an iron gr...

38 likes

1 A.M.

Zack Powell

Shortlisted for Contest #119 ⭐️

Content warning: sensitive content“Listen, this isn’t a long story,” Tom said, nursing his sixth beer while the rest of us had yet to finish our second. He lifted his drink, polished it off, gestured to the bartender. A bottle clinked open behind me. When Tom returned to our table, fresh drink cradled in both hands, he looked first at Chet, then Vick, then me. Slurring, he said, “But it isn’t a happy one either, this story.”Tom was usually reserved, a speak-when-spoken-to kind of guy, but when he drank his voice got this wild, belligerent to...

35 likes

No Roses In the Garden

Submitted to Contest #119

"Listen, you must remember, in her world, he's still alive. For her, time stands still." Dianna barely heard Dr. Sedah as she watched her younger sister, Lydie, walking on the garden path, chatting away to someone who wasn't really there. She was still striking in her middle age - long, red hair streaked with white, long, purple dress draping her curvy figure - but a glaze of madness caused by grief clouded her once bright blue eyes so they appeared almost navy, fine lines creasing her brow and the side of her mouth. Dianna choked back a ...

28 likes

Which Witch Is Which Witch?

Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen, guys, I think someone’s gotten the wrong idea about this whole ‘witch’ thing.” I’m zip tied to a metal chair in an abandoned building surrounded by four very large, very demanding, and very ugly men. The fading sunlight slants through the high-set broken windows, painting distorted shadows on the dusty, debris covered cement floor. “I know everybody thinks its all point-your-wand and say ‘Vera Verto’ or ‘Wingardiam Leviosa’ and all that good stuff. I mean, all props to my girl JK and all. At least there aren’t as many fundamentalist...

27 likes

The Intruder (Warning: Some parts contain graphic content).

Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #119

*THUD* *CRASH* Kelsey listened intently as she hid in the darkness above her attic hideaway. Something was happening in her house, and she was too afraid to leave her hiding spot to find out what it was. As a teenager, Kelsey was extremely outgoing and had an active social life, but one afternoon while playing with her friends at a nearby park, a ...

22 likes

Until Owen

Submitted to Contest #119

She was falling asleep. Again. These graveyard shifts pulling overtime were brutal. Sofie was beginning to question if earning that extra pay was worth it when her eyelids were drooping on the freeway as she headed home to her too-tiny, one-bedroom apartment. She really wanted to save for a decent down payment on a house, but at what cost? Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the hospital was short on ER nurses. To help keep any nurse working longer hours, they’d converted a larger r...

22 likes

Eternity

Mina Ramey

Submitted to Contest #119

CW: Dealing with subjects of death, light drug use, slight strong language.Inspired by World So Cold-Three Days GraceLightning danced across the sky, and rolls of thunder shook the ground as a pale and frazzled Zeke stumbled across the grass. His feet sank into the soft earth, and rain blurred his vision, but he refused to be deterred. Zeke struggled along his path until at last, he found her. Eva lay still as the grave, not a single sign of life to be seen. The deep color of her skin barely held its usual vibrant glow. Between the rain and ...

22 likes

Grocery List

Submitted to Contest #119

“Hey, look at them,” Justin points with his right hand, the one not holding the cigarette, at the couple walking through the black sliding door. “They’re a new couple.” he squints at the red headed man and woman with the chestnut braid down her back. “How can you tell?” I ask as I sit up straighter, pulling my sweatshirt around my shoulders. Then I notice she’s in the middle of a laugh, looking at the man like he hung the sun, moon, and the stars. “Oh, that’s how.” He takes a final drag of his cigarette, “Come on.” He stubs it out. I...

21 likes

I Know What I Heard

Story Time

Submitted to Contest #119

Gregg says you can’t hear anything in a hurricane. That is not true. I can hear anything. I’m like my mother. My mother could hear a mouse dancing on a snowflake in the middle of a symphony. The women in my family have tremendous ears. The men die young, but the women live forever and hear everything. Once, at a New Year’s Eve party, I heard someone disparaging my perm all the way from across the room. This big living room with a hundred people in it, and as everyone was counting down to midnight, all I could hear was Viv Olson saying I ...

21 likes

Obliterate Me

Devika G

Submitted to Contest #119

CW: Some mature content and strong language Song: "Every Little Thing" by Carly Pearce “God, baby, you’re so good,” he groaned out. “I’m gonna…” he trailed off. My eyes closed of their own accord, his words stoking the fire that was already out of control for him within me. I knew what was about to happen as he picked up the pace. And then, I was rewarded with my favourite groan as my own orgasm took hold of me. My body tensed as I dug my fingers into the defined muscles of his back. My breathing was erratic as I rode the high onl...

20 likes

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Contest #120

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$250

Prize money

232

Entries

160

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 12, 2021 EST

Won by Rachel Dzengelewski 🏆

Title: Suzanne

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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