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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!

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

“The Cliff Edge” by Bettina Karpathian

Submitted to Contest #119

The condemned house crouches on the clifftop, hunkered low against the wind. It is a race between the local authority and the sea to see which will carry out the sentence. The water seethes below like a restless beast, swirling and eddying, worrying at the cliff walls. Chunks have already collapsed, leaving the top jutting out in places like a shelf. Inexorably the edge is inching closer and closer to the house. The local teenagers and tourists ignore the signs warning of danger on the cli...

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“My Perfect Home By The Sea, Chosen by Destiny” by GeeGee Gary

Submitted to Contest #119

CW: violence, sexual abuseMy Perfect Home by the Sea, Chosen by Destiny I always thought I would love living by the sea. I love the houses with all of the glass, the porches, the boats, the waves, and the animals. It seemed like the perfect place for me to relocate when my husband and daughter died. After two years of mourning with the comfort and support of my friends and parents, I had to do something. Thanks to the love, support, and anti-depressants, I was feeling some better. I needed to get on with my life, or so they all said. Al...

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“The voices without, the voices within” by Georgia Papp

Submitted to Contest #119

“It’s so quiet in here,” Tom always said when he came through the door. “You’d swear the world was ending out there, with the waves crashin’ and the wind blowin’, but in here not a peep.” I never answered, I only glanced at him and smiled. There was a lot to smile about back then. His head of thick blond hair, the smell of sweet lemon mint coming off him, those strong, reliable arms that used to carry me through each room of the house. I spent evenings just enjoying his presence, wondering how I got so lucky. I certainly didn’t deserve it. W...

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“Books for Swapping” by Ben Leatham

Submitted to Contest #119

He used to listen to Breakfast with Clive for an hour in the morning before flicking through the local paper, its corners speckled with sea spray and beginning to curl. Now he sits by the front door, waiting for the white and black to shoot through the letterbox and onto his stained cinnamon carpet. Sometimes thirty minutes, other times five. On days when the waves are tall and the windows leak, it may never arrive. A phantom rag. The analogue radio hasn’t moved. On the kitchen counter it chokes on dust, snug between the bread bin and t...

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“Salt on the Air” by E. J. Wilhelm

Submitted to Contest #119

CW: referenced child death Originally, Cheyenne came for the view. She came to stand at the edge of the cliff and watch the waves crash against the rocks below while smelling the salt on the air and listening to the rush of the water. Instead, she mostly wound up staring at the little cottage farther along the cliff. Her cousin hadn’t mentioned it. But she supposed it wasn’t that noteworthy to the locals. Cheyenne wasn’t sure when her feet started moving, but soon enough, she was standing on the faded path that led to the cottage’s front...

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“Graduation” by Lucy Barnes

Submitted to Contest #119

Ga Gong. . . Ga Gong. . . Ga Gong.My eyes flutter open at the sound. The gong only sounds one day a year and before it’s never really mattered to me. But today I shutter at the sound.Ga Gong. . . Ga Gong. . . Ga Gong.Todays the day I’ve been awaiting and dreading my whole life. My graduation.I stare blankly at the ceiling and recall learning about graduations on Earth. Kids walked across a stage wearing large robes, shaking hands, giving speeches, and getting diplomas.This graduation won’t be anything like that.My name is Tyler Scholes and t...

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“The Beasts in the Garage” by Emma Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #119

I’m blissfully taking my afternoon nap when I hear a noise I did not recognize. It was a high-pitched shriek. Or squeal. I couldn’t really tell. I lift my head, listening. I try to focus on the area I heard it from. What was that noise? I look around at my surroundings. The couch across from me seems normal. The pillow I like to chew on, still in the spot I last left it. My favorite stuffed animal, tucked in next to me. Was it a car? Are they home? I decide it’s worth it to investigate. Stretching my lengthy legs as I ris...

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“Breath of the Briefcase ” by Lyndon Jones

Submitted to Contest #119

It came from my dad’s old briefcase. Not much to say about the thing. It was an old, sleek, black leather-bound briefcase. One of the few things he left me after his death. Along with a bucket of questions. Such as: “Is that briefcase breathing?” Breathing, as if it is alive. Fear jumps from my legs, up my spine, to the base of my head. It’s just like him to leave me with a literal object of fear. It’s been 2 weeks since he passed, I’ve been ready to look through his belongings. I often wondered if he liked messing with me. There’s ...

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“The Whisperings of an Old House” by Keyleigh Perham

Submitted to Contest #119

I couldn’t figure out what that bloody noise was. Eek. Eek. Eeeek. It wasn’t quite a screech, nor a squeak, but some strange hybrid mix of the two. And it was driving me crazy. It had been exactly two weeks since the big move. The upheaval from the suburban life of London’s outskirts had been mostly my mother’s doing. “It’ll be good for us, Sam,” she had promised as she boxed up what little remained of our life back home. In all honesty, I knew she had moved us for purely selfish reasons. It meant she could have her fresh start with...

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“The Boathouse” by Tristan Ryan

Submitted to Contest #119

I woke up to a strange gurgling sound. Waves crashed into the boathouse and moved it from side to side. I assumed the noise was just normal sounds the water makes all the time. I decided to ignore it and go back to sleep. But I couldn’t. Now that I was awake, I realized how badly I had to use the bathroom. As the waves rocked the boat back and forth, I carefully made my way down the tiny spiral staircase. It was easy to lose your balance when the boat was moving so relentlessly. There must be a storm coming, I reasoned. I descended the sta...

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“Juns Guilt” by Holli Walsh

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen to me for once,” I said forcefully to the small bakeneko. Despite my frequent refusal to help the kid, they continued to follow me like a lost puppy. Kare, the young Bakeneko, was someone I chose to help when they happened to be injured, thanks to me. That was the only thing I wanted to do with this kid. However, ever since then, for an entire week, Kare kept following me. “I helped you out once, kid; now you need to go away.” Kare’s ears lowered, upset at my harsh words. The determined look never left their face, though, as ...

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“Roommates ” by Shevach Obahor

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen,” Charlie said quietly. A mere whisper. His head was bent to the floor. Focusing with such intensity that transformed his whole body. His eyes were squinted shut, his legs dangling to the rhythm of what seemed to explode from the floor beneath. His lips moved, trying to imitate what was being heard. He failed to carry a single note. The sound was loud enough yet it didn’t stir feelings of irritation or displeasure. Rather the opposite. If I was Charlie, I would do the same thing. I am not. I am Savanah. A woman whom I would say too...

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“I Wish I Had a River” by Steven Green

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen...” Mum grinned at me as she prepared to launch into her oft-repeated anecdote of my greatest embarrassment which simultaneously provided my sweetest memory of childhood: My parents,in addition to being two of the sweetest people on the planet,were naturists whose commitment to the cause of clothes-free living bordered on the fanatical.There was rarely a weekend or summer weekday when our doughty family caravan wasn’t parked in a field surrounded by similar vehicles,each of which had spilling from them naked people of all ages...

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“Or, Should I Say” by Chris Reed

Submitted to Contest #119

“Listen,” the old man said again. “They are talking to you.” Both boys could see the smug expressions on the two specifically pointed out faces easily. It wasn’t hard. They were less than a metre away from the glass cabinet that housed the ancient photographs of dead-stared students all in their pressed uniforms and the ubiquitous side part. ‘Seeing’ wasn’t the issue. Relevance was. The old man looming behind them like some Tolkensian giant was the principal of Hegley High. Apart from his ridiculous height he was the most unremarkable ma...

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“The Old Man” by Jay Ma

Submitted to Contest #119

Listen. I’m going to tell you a story. There once was an old man who lived by himself in a dark forest. He hated water in large quantities and so lived in a place where the only water came from shallow pans scattered around his property. Every morning he walked to the poplar tree and carried the blue tin bowl inside. After making a weak rust colored tea, he would splash the remaining water over his head and sprinkle a little bit over his armpits. At night, he walked to the spruce tree and carried the yellow plastic bowl inside. For f...

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$250

Prize money

232

Contest 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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