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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#120: Nostalgia

Do you ever get a warm, fuzzy feeling when eating a favorite childhood meal or meeting up with an old friend? On the other hand, maybe you’ve revisited something you were nostalgic for, only to find it wasn’t quite what you remembered. Or perhaps you’ve found yourself longing for a time before you were even born...


This week’s prompts encourage you to write around the bittersweet feeling of nostalgia, and imagine the different ways your characters might confront memories from the past.

🥇 Winner

“Meditation” by Rebecca Loften

[CW: eating disorders] Breathe in. Let your eyes close. Let your mind wander. Think back to a time when you were happy as a child. There must have been times when you were happy. Notice any tension in your forehead. Relax the muscles between your eyebrows. The time when you were three and your parents took you to a water par...

89 comments 89 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Grampa Owl and Grandfather Mouse” by Tanya Humphreys

“My father told me of the great massacre of Summer, 2020.” Randolf’s grandfather began.  Randolf looked over at his twelve siblings, they were all spitting images of Randolf- wee ash grey mice squatting comfortably like furry little pom-poms. All twenty-four of their shiny black bead eyes were wide with raptness, Randolf joined them in their gaze towards the elderly, somewhat scruffy mouse with one torn ear and a kink in his tail. Grandfather mouse continued when he had all thirteen children’s attention in full, ...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Searching For Sanctuary ” by Avery Conner

Searching for sanctuary Cough. She wheezed. She could hardly think. What would he do without her? The night grew cold. Sweat gathered in beads on her forehead and her face seared like a deadly sunburn. Cough. She tried to open her eyes. She felt him laying next to her and, with the last of her strength, she grabbed his sleeping hand. Then she, too, fell asleep. ∆∆∆ He woke to the sun beaming throug...

15 comments 15 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“something about the cold.” by Mira H

CW: mental health, disordered eating There was something about the cold. Perhaps it was the quiet, gentle whistling of wind dancing through the bitter air; the sky void of clouds and an imperceptible shade of blue (or was it simply blank after all?). The barren, bleak landscape with powder dusting weary branches. Miniature mountains standing proudly on every street corner, boxing in sidewalks and feeling oddly protective of the freezing pedestrians. A painful chill pinching the insides of your nose...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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This week's prompts

Write about a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.

Angst – 115 stories

Start your story with the line ‘Back in my day…’

Adults – 28 stories

Write about two characters’ different perspectives of the same past event.

Middle School – 38 stories

Start your story with a character looking through an old family photo album.

Fluff – 47 stories

Your character has always viewed the past with rose tinted glasses. Write about what happens when they’re finally confronted with the truth.

Angst – 25 stories

Stories

“Meditation” by Rebecca Loften

[CW: eating disorders] Breathe in. Let your eyes close. Let your mind wander. Think back to a time when you were happy as a child. There must have been times when you were happy. Notice any tension in your forehead. Relax the muscles between your eyebrows. The time when you were three and your parents took you to a water par...

89 comments 89 WINNER 🏆
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“Texting After A Funeral ” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

“Well, I thought mom’s memorial service went very well.” 😬 “It’s over. ⚰️ That’s all that matters.”“C’mon. Don’t be that way.” 🙄“What way?”“The way you always are ☣️—who you always are.”“All right. ❓ Who would you like me to be?”“Be happy . . .” 😊“You want me to be happy? Fine. ✨magic✨Ta da! I’m happy.”“Feels good, doesn’t it?”“Yes. 🙅I love ...

96 comments 96
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“Grampa Owl and Grandfather Mouse” by Tanya Humphreys

“My father told me of the great massacre of Summer, 2020.” Randolf’s grandfather began.  Randolf looked over at his twelve siblings, they were all spitting images of Randolf- wee ash grey mice squatting comfortably like furry little pom-poms. All twenty-four of their shiny black bead eyes were wide with raptness, Randolf joined them in their gaze towards the elderly, somewhat scruffy mouse with one torn ear and a kink in his tail. Grandfather mouse continued when he had all thirteen children’s attention in full, ...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Koffee ” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

CW: transphobiaWell, it turns out that I am hyper-fixated on background noises and want to feel them touching my skin and prickling my ears. I must have caught on to that thought or that realization while stuck in the rain one day but it does feel certain in a kind of morbid way. And, of course, I’d hate to admit that there has been a want in my heart for quite some time now; a want for something appealing like stranger’s hushed conversations on Friday nights. In admitting that thought, I become a vulnerable child and wh...

18 comments 18
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“Chris and her Daughters” by Stevie B

Standing in front of me in a dress I’d never before seen her wear, Chris, my wife, asked, “Does this make me look fat?” Being an old hand at fielding such questions I responded, “No dear, you look more lovely than usual, whom one would think, in and of itself, was unsurpassable!”

27 comments 27
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“Off the mark” by Boutat Driss

Girls dream of prince charming and they invented the rich, handsome, young and intelligent man. The guys took it as face value and were doing everything they can to get a resume meeting these four requirements. Once girls, grow up in their mind, become mature, revise their standards on perfect men, define their futures, stick to their goals, chart their way to achieve them and if it is possible to live with a balanced man who pays attention on her and maybe with certain requirements of their youthful dreams: The i...

10 comments 10
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“Like Father, Like Son” by Mister X

“Back in my day...” The words were barely out of my mouth when, as is common these days, I was rudely interrupted.“Back in your day? Geez Dad, you’re 50 not 500.”“That’s the whole point,” I said, attempting to win back a conversation I should never have lost in the first place. “How, in the space of 30 years did we go from there to here?”“From where to where?”“When I got out of college in 1981, there was one country, two genders, ten commandments and endless possibilities. Now there are just excuses. If this is...

11 comments 11
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“corroded stardust ” by Kelly Dennison

She looked relatively normal, he noted. Though, Alex had been doing this job long enough to know that his own preconceived notions surrounding appearance were typically dashed the moment they started telling their story if they chose to do so.  She was laying on her back, her shirt already off and her eyes closed, breathing deep.  “Hey there. I’m Alex. I’m the artist assigned to you as par...

10 comments 10
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“The Houseguest” by Melissa Balick

The first thing that struck Carole about the young woman who booked her guestroom on HomeBnB was that her name, Xaria Lemieux, both began and ended with an “X.” It made her lip curl. She'd had all types of people stay in the second room of her two-bedroom Ardmont, Pennsylvania rowhome since she put it on the site, but something about those bookend X’s gave her a bad feeling. This would definitely be a weird one. She clicked the guest’s profile. Shocker — Xaria Lemieux was from California. A hi...

25 comments 25
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“Captive Audience” by PJ Aitken

Back in my day it was much simpler, people were either alive or dead. When you’re alive, you’re alive and when you’re dead, you’re dead. It’s the Grand Old Duke of York of life and death. Every day is different and nothing stays still but you’d think those two things would remain the same whilst everything evolved around it. My entire life I’ve made a good living from these two facts being set in stone whilst I reaped the rewards. These days the world and its residents above and below have evolved to be cockier and ...

10 comments 10
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“A Time to Remember” by Howard Halsall

The recent lockdown gave me time at home and at last I’d run out of excuses. For over thirty years, I’d been meaning to sift through that box of paperwork and letters. It’s not that I procrastinate, you understand; I’ve always attended to my affairs and left no correspondence unanswered. However, blowing the dust off my family’s heirlooms was a daunting task. An ideal moment hadn’t happened, or maybe I’d avoided making the time. # So, being honest, I’d chosen to forget about the chore, given there were two hundred ...

17 comments 17
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“Jacob's hues of darkness” by Angela Govender

The reflection of the beautiful night sky made the lake glisten, and it appeared as if a million fireflies lit up the lake. The seductively beautiful night showed off a magically glowing lake with a starlit sky. This would have made the perfect romantic way to pop the question and get Anna to say yes. A wispy ambrosial smell was in the air, with the night sky having adorned herself with the richest of rich diamonds cov...

21 comments 21
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“✨ 👹 Mirrored Souls 😇 ✨” by Daniel R. Hayes

(Content Warning: Blood, Gore, Violence, Mild Language, and an overabundance of Emojis.)Authors note: The legendary Deidra Lovegren challenged me to write a tale with emojis, and this is what I came up with, so a huge shout out to her!! I also wanted to give special thanks to my dear friend Kelly, who enlightened me on the “Twin Flames” concept from which this story was born. Thanks for reading!!For the emoji free version, see (Bonus content) in the comments section below. ...

26 comments 26
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“Consensual? ” by Christina Reynolds

Trigger Warning: Sexual ContentVoluntary Statement: 11/24/1997Yes, I understand this is serious, but that’s not how it happened. Look. My roommate and I—we just heard about the party in the chem lab. We didn’t premeditate anything . . . We showed up around 10:00. Maybe 11:00. Look, I don’t know the exact time. But I was sober when I got there. I didn’t have any drugs or paraphernalia on me. I didn’t smoke marijuana in the dorms before we left. It wasn’t like that.&nbsp...

13 comments 13
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“Some Things Never Change” by Mark Shoe

“I’ll take this.” Tanner slid a worn parchment on the long counter top. A spindly bald man in a greasy apron eyed him.  “That there is a bounty for a night-terror.” he trailed off.  Tanner followed the man’s eyes to his dented artificial leg. Metal bones fused to his left leg’s stump. Tanner swung his cloak over it. “Never seen a cripple in your tavern before?” ...

3 comments 3
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$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

170

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 19, 2021 EST

Won by Rebecca Loften 🏆

Title: Meditation

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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