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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#121: Giving Thanks

Next Thursday marks American Thanksgiving: an occasion for people to come together, catch up, and enjoy large quantities of mashed potatoes. In keeping with the name, many also take this time to reflect on what they’re thankful for — whether that’s good friends, a great job, or the aforementioned potatoes.

This week’s prompts expand on the idea of thanks, exploring not just gratitude, but also recognition, perseverance, and shades of the phrase itself. Whether or not you’ll be celebrating on Thursday, we hope this theme gets you thinking (and in case we haven’t mentioned it lately, thank you for being a part of our amazing community!).

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone saying “Thanks a lot” (sarcastically or sincerely).

Fiction – 37 stories

Write about someone giving or receiving a gift.

Christmas – 50 stories

Write a story in which someone gets credit for something they didn’t do.

Thriller and Suspense – 13 stories

Write about a character who struggles to express their thanks.

Angst – 14 stories

Write about someone in a thankless job.

Teens – 33 stories

Stories

“The Shield” by Meghan Ferrara

Submitted to Contest #121

The bright auditorium lights reflected off the newly shined gold police shield carefully secured in the box where it had resided for the past four decades. Roland Kent Jr. glanced down at the gleaming parcel in his hand, remembering the last time it had been worn. Suddenly, the auditorium melted away, and instead of 2018, it was 1975. Roland was once more a young boy in his childhood home. The late afternoon autumn sunlight filled the comfortable kitchen with a warm glow as Roland observed his father, a New York City police officer, prepare ...

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“Imposter” by Isabela Maher

Submitted to Contest #121

“I am here today with someone who has done the impossible...someone who has given hope to millions of people throughout the world. Just last week, she defeated unthinkable odds. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know this woman’s name. So, without further ado, let’s give a warm welcome to Dr. Penelope Griffin - the cancer conqueror!” The host’s voice swelled towards the end and she began to sound more like a sports announcer than anything. Less than a second later, I watched myself as I stepped out from the hallway that led to back...

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“Sunflowers” by Kathryn Cobb

Submitted to Contest #121

Amelia D’Arcy: beautiful name; beautiful face; beautiful soul. She is the modern-day Snow White. Everyone in the office loves to be around her. Her laughter alone would repair the worst of moods and her presence lifts the atmosphere of everywhere she treads. She’s only been here for a few months, but I often ask myself how I managed the other eleven years without her? “You remembered!” she squealed, throwing her arms around my neck. I fumbled for a bit trying to yank my hands out of my pockets to return the hug, but by the time I’d managed...

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“Better a live doggerel than a dead Lake Poet” by Dawn Hurton

Submitted to Contest #121

Pa pushed another heft of carcass into my unripe arms. I staggered down to the cellar, burdened the bloody mass to the butchering table and turned about for the next.I tramped back and forth through that sawdust twenty times and more a day, carrying quartered animal parts. I helped him split the cuts, salt the joints and take the meat back upstairs to hook on the brass rail at the front of the shop.The regulars came in cheerfully to purchase their victuals, gesticulating at the counter and passing the time of day. After they headed home I'd ...

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“Gabriel” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #121

As soon as I felt the chill of the hard orange plastic seat through my paper-thin scrub pants, I wished I had changed back into my crumpled khaki pants and blouse, which were now squeezed in my backpack in front of the massive pathology textbook I hadn’t had a single free minute to study. It was my second year of medical school, our exam on dermatology was in three days, and I still had dozens of rashes to memorize, but I was too exhaust to wiggle the book out of my bag and open it.&nbsp...

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“"New beginnings" ” by Serena S

Submitted to Contest #121

In pain, grieving, love, hurt, and every emotion imaginable, he has been the one to stick beside me. Zane is single-handedly the reason I was able to get through the period of self-loathing I was in, for he stayed when no one else did. He listened. It was entirely unfamiliar to have someone to talk to, someone whom around, I was able to let down the walls guarding my heart. Of course, I am partly the reason I began to heal emotionally as well, for I did take that step to grow; however, it remains as clear as the sun on a peaceful afternoon t...

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“I don't want no Scrubs.....Hospital Scrubs, that is.” by Sarah Belcher

Submitted to Contest #121

I had already woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or late morning I should say. Groggy and sleepy eyed, I creep out of bed slowly as I sluggishly make my way down the hall and begin my mid morning routine. I started the coffee pot, just as I do every single day at this same time. While the sweet aroma of my vanilla bean coffee saturated the air around me, I fumble around in the cabinets and pull out my favorite coffee mug; the one I had bought at one of the campgrounds that I adore so much. I favor this cup greatly, even with...

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“Number 12” by Leah Murphy

Submitted to Contest #121

Miller flipped through the presentation binder without reading it, his anger evident. “These are the same results as last week, Number 12. What are you trying to accomplish again?” “I told you yesterday sir, at the meeting” he replied meekly. His boss stopped turning the pages and glanced up at the technician incredulously. He did his best to maintain eye contact, but as Miller’s stare grew harder he had to glance at the floor. There was no denying he was an intimidating presence, but really that’s all there is. He’s a military man, not a ...

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“A Day in the Life of a Retail Worker” by Hannah Foust

Submitted to Contest #121

Working in retail is a daily struggle, dealing with people of all kinds, and usually not the most pleasant, often the employees are overlooked as humans, and now with the current problems, there are those feeling underappreciated, and leaving because the job is just too stressful, of course there are also those who prefer government handouts rather than earning their way, but that’s another story altogether. Let me give you an inside to the retail life. Every day I rise early to go to work, scarf down breakfast if I have time, which is ...

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“The Lunch Lady” by Kendri Petersen

Submitted to Contest #121

I’ve watched these children file through this line for years now. I’ve fed them and seen them grow. Most of them don’t even know my name. To them, I am a joke, something to mock. They’ve never paid me a ‘thank you’ or even a thought after I give them their food. The vibration of a tray against the trashcan echoes in my ears. An untouched burger flops into the garbage can along with an unopened fruit cup and a serving of corn. The corn I came in early to perfect this morning. More trays bang. The line leading up to the trash cans dwindles a...

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“At Work the Whole Time” by Lin Macredie

Submitted to Contest #121

TW*** Gun Violence They wanted more than just getting by. It wasn’t supposed to become a career. They wanted to be able to afford a trip to New Zealand or to see the Parthenon. These jobs weren’t supposed to be their future. Acrylic nails that would have paid for a tub of ice cream several times clicked on the counter. Cassie kept a neutral, polite face while thinking a pair of pliers would take care of that obnoxious clicking and send a clear message. Nobody wants to deal with this kind of shit. She glanced down the line of people with ...

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“The Dispeller” by Michael Williams

Submitted to Contest #121

"Thanks a lot, Ridix. You have brought us where we need to be," says a dark armored rider atop a wet and glorious dark stead of the night. The horse tramples forward shattering mud in its wake. The rolling thunder echoes through the misty clouds. Lighting cracks and roars illuminate the sky against the dark and dank hallows of the baron forest. Skinny trees and dead thickets fill the muddy space. Bones and charms strung up like chimes to keep the evil spirits away hang from the limp rotted limbs and from the worn-down old shack that a cer...

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“Thanks A Lot” by Tina Miller

Submitted to Contest #121

Thanks A lot I wished I had never seen the message. I’ve had this nagging feeling these past few days that has been telling me that something just wasn’t right. Then this morning as I get on my face book account to just scan to see what has happened since my last visit early last night. And there it was....the words in my messages that my daughter’s father is dying. My first thoughts go back to when we were together. What a life we had. We were so young. I was 15 when we had our...

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“The Sleep House Dare” by Rowan Legend

Submitted to Contest #121

CW: Mentions Blood, slight physical violence and wood knocking. “Thanks a lot,” I said as sincerely as I could, my body couldn’t stop shaking at the face of another strange creature. But she made me feel safer by getting rid of another one that was trying to harm me. In all my years I never thought that a Vampire was standing beside me. Let alone, my friend. He was always a troublemaker but the adventure was always fun until that one night I decided to follow him. He wore a dark grey hooded jacket and dark jeans, his hair was always i...

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“Djinn Blossoms” by Maribeth Mundell

Submitted to Contest #121

“Thanks a lot, Katya.” Lana stared at the desk, piled high with large inter office envelopes and paperwork marked “to be filed”. The phone hadn’t stopped ringing since she’d arrived at 7:30, and Katya, the boss’ secretary, was away for a week. It might have been nice if she’d finished up a few things before she left, instead of assuming Lana would pick up the slack. Katya was enigmatic; at times, a racing ball of bubbly energy, at other times, dark, and quiet. Lana had lived in town all her life, like many of the people in the office. ...

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$250

Prize money

147

Contest entries

113

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 26, 2021 EST

Won by Deborah Elliott 🏆

Title: Onboard an Angel Flight

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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