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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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 ” by Rachel Dzengelewski

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...

84 comments 84 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“My Grocery Store Hobby” by Bruce Friedman

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 thi...

36 comments 36 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“1 A.M.” by Zack Powell

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 g...

11 comments 11 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Legacy” by Rob Ryter

“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 ha...

3 comments 3 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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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 – 58 stories

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

Middle School – 43 stories

Write a story that involves eavesdropping.

Fluff – 34 stories

Set your story in a silent house by the sea.

Dystopian – 62 stories

Stories

“Suzanne ” by Rachel Dzengelewski

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...

84 comments 84 WINNER 🏆
Read story

“[Ok.] ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

[Ok.]A text from you. You want to meet me. For coffee. Something quick—so when it doesn’t work out—we can both leave unscathed. Of course, I say. Why not?I try not to—but I start imagining a cozy cottage for us by the Baltic sea, like the one my Polish grandparents lived in. A garden to sunbathe in. A kitchenette to boil pierogis and make cabbage rolls and fry potato pancakes. A view of the blue that stretches to Sweden. How nice it would be to meet and have coffee there,...

62 comments 62
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“Listen the ears of my heart ” by Mercy Ineke

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 rig...

31 comments 31
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“It was the quietest house, it was the darkest sea” by Flore Lazcano

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 windo...

20 comments 20
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“Ceiling/Floor” by Kendall Defoe

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 live...

4 comments 4
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“My Grocery Store Hobby” by Bruce Friedman

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 thi...

36 comments 36 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Father And Son” by Jon Casper

“Listen, Cora. Can you hear it?” Julian Morgan clasps Cora’s hand and closes his eyes. The warm breeze combs the sage-green canopy of vines, their leaves rustling like applause from a distant stadium. “That’s the sound of change.”Cora’s voice clenches, as does her hand. “Why does anything have to change?”The sultry wind tosses a curtain of wavy, ginger hair over her eyes. When Julian pushes it behind her ear, he notices her freckled cheek is wet. “Hey,” he says. “Come on. You and I are fine. You know th...

34 comments 34
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“Bloody Steel” by Mark Shoe

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 sor...

6 comments 6
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“1 A.M.” by Zack Powell

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 g...

11 comments 11 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“No Roses In the Garden” by Lilith Colbert

"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 clou...

13 comments 13
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“Which Witch Is Which Witch?” by Elizabeth Fenley

“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 Vert...

13 comments 13
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“Grocery List” by Amanda Lieser

“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 ...

9 comments 9
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“The Intruder (Warning: Some parts contain graphic content).” by Greg Gillis

           *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 par...

9 comments 9
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“Eternity” by Mina Ramey

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 ...

4 comments 4
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“Until Owen” by Mariah Heller

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 converte...

15 comments 15
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$250

Prize money

238

Contest entries

163

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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