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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#123: Showtime

It’s no secret that the colder months are the best time to grab tickets to see a show; it’s a festive tradition, and many of our favorite plays actually made their debuts during this time. (Fun fact! It was on this day 74 years ago that Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire was performed on Broadway for the first time.)

From the roar of the audience to the dazzling lights, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s that theater spirit, and a simple love of drama, that inspired us to create this week’s prompts. So let’s celebrate all things theatrical both on-stage and off, with stories that’ll get your audience crying, laughing, and (hopefully) giving a standing ovation.

🥇 Winner

“Southern Comfort and the Kindness of Strangers” by Patrick Samuel

🏆 Winner of Contest #123

(Warning: contains spoilers for A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie.)She stands proud and defiant, glass in hand. The tiara on her head sparkling, eyes burning with feverish gaiety. The stage lights blind her but that's the price you pay to dazzle. Though she can't see them, she feels the audience holding on to her every word, her every breath: the kind of communion you'd damn your soul for. She plays them like an instrument, modulating her performance on their response. It's like swimming every night on a constantly changing se...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Seventh of Seven” by Anne Sellers

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

Staring into the mirror, she knew what she would have to do. It would get done and she would be the one doing it, just as she had 10 years ago. The seventh of seven children and a decade younger than the rest, she had felt like an only child since birth. Born into a so-called Christian family. They claimed it out of convenience. As a family, they never attended any house of worship or prayed together in all her days. Her political views were more progressive her family, even early on. She lived a life apart, almost as if she had never ...

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“Sky At Night” by Max Harper

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

SKY AT NIGHT by Chris Fallon * “Well that was dramatic,” she said when she finally opened her eyes. Then she rolled over and threw up half the contents of the river. I flopped alongside her, trembling, my arms and wrists burning from the struggle to drag her from the water and the reeds. “What’s your name again?” she asked when she’d finally stopped coughing. “Toby,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Toby,” she said. “I need you to promise me something.” I nodded that I would promise her anything. “Don’t mention ...

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“Off Book” by Amanda Van Regenmorter

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

Pacing the empty street, she muttered to herself under the dim glow of a streetlamp. She looked sleek in her red dress and matching elbow-length gloves, her hair piled high in elegant curls, given any more than a cursory glance she was clearly little more than a girl. The dress had been cinched in the back, but the neckline was bunched and ill-fitting. Crimson-stained lips and slashes of dark blush only marred her pale, youthful skin and highlighted the panic in her eyes. &nb...

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This week's prompts

Start your story looking down from a stage.

Thriller and Suspense – 56 stories

Write about a character who always wears a mask (physical or metaphorical).

Angst – 48 stories

Begin or end your story with “Well, that was dramatic.”

Christmas – 40 stories

Write a story about a character practising a speech in front of the mirror. What are they preparing for?

Middle School – 38 stories

Set your story backstage at the theater.

Halloween – 30 stories

Stories

“Southern Comfort and the Kindness of Strangers” by Patrick Samuel

🏆 Winner of Contest #123

(Warning: contains spoilers for A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie.)She stands proud and defiant, glass in hand. The tiara on her head sparkling, eyes burning with feverish gaiety. The stage lights blind her but that's the price you pay to dazzle. Though she can't see them, she feels the audience holding on to her every word, her every breath: the kind of communion you'd damn your soul for. She plays them like an instrument, modulating her performance on their response. It's like swimming every night on a constantly changing se...

Read story

“While Dressed As An Owl” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #123

“Well, that was dramatic,” his father said. Tuesday’s meant something from the Katherine Hepburn canon, and this time, it was On Golden Pond. When Walter was done with his performance, his father could only muster that one bit of feedback and then he went back to his copy of The Atlantic. His mother sighed and asked him to go get ready for bed. It was past eleven, after all, and he had school the next day. If there was one thing Walter could do, it was memorize things other people had said. Not quotes so much, but dialogue. Movies. Tel...

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“Seventh of Seven” by Anne Sellers

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

Staring into the mirror, she knew what she would have to do. It would get done and she would be the one doing it, just as she had 10 years ago. The seventh of seven children and a decade younger than the rest, she had felt like an only child since birth. Born into a so-called Christian family. They claimed it out of convenience. As a family, they never attended any house of worship or prayed together in all her days. Her political views were more progressive her family, even early on. She lived a life apart, almost as if she had never ...

Read story

“Florida Man” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #123

Miami⛱⛱⛱“Well, that was dramatic.”“You know the drill. We had to put a hood on you. It's better you don't know where you are.”“You could have just beaten me up on the street.”“Where’s the fun in that? Now, look Ricky, we’re tired of waiting for our money.” “I got your money . . . it’s just tied up.”“No, you are tied up. Hit him again.”“That’s not necessary—Oof!”“C’mon, Ricky. Don’t make us mess up your pretty face. Well, maybe it’s not so pretty anymore, and maybe your girlfriend won’t like you as much anymore.”“Keep my girlfriend’s nam...

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“The last word” by Melissa Manzone

Submitted to Contest #123

She closes the door to her bedroom and flips on the light, the brightness revealing a room in disarray. A low dresser with a gilded mirror on top sits in the middle of the room, painted white and distressed in that shabby-chic way popular with Pinterest enthusiasts. She makes her way to the dresser, stepping over shoes, magazines, and sweatshirts, each strewn about like debris after a storm. She unfolds the sheet of paper and places it down on the dresser. Then, pressing her heels on the carpet, she feels the fluffy, woolly mounds embedding...

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“Loose Ends” by Antonio Jimenez

Submitted to Contest #123

All is fair in love and war. Love and war. Two of the most ancient of human endeavors inexplicably linked because of their essentiality to moving the human race forward. “Hold on, my mask is fogging up.”The man dressed entirely in black clipped the walkie-talkie he had been speaking into to the front of his vest and quickly removed his mask, wiping the clear visor with the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m good. Let’s move.”The man moved nimbly through the trees, finally bursting through a dead bush and coming to the edge of a cl...

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“Wunderbar!” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #123

I - SacramentoThe lights blared in Vivian’s eyes, distorting her reflection in the foil mirror. As she dabbed the empty make-up brush over her cheeks, already blushed backstage, she wondered if the audience could see the pallor beneath her mask of make-up. Would Conrad see it? He always saw right through her.She exaggerated her smile until her cheeks brushed the false lashes on her lower lids. It didn’t matter. The show must go on. She listened for the heavy stomp of Conrad's leather boots on the stage's wooden floorboards and ignored the wa...

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“Sky At Night” by Max Harper

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #123

SKY AT NIGHT by Chris Fallon * “Well that was dramatic,” she said when she finally opened her eyes. Then she rolled over and threw up half the contents of the river. I flopped alongside her, trembling, my arms and wrists burning from the struggle to drag her from the water and the reeds. “What’s your name again?” she asked when she’d finally stopped coughing. “Toby,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Toby,” she said. “I need you to promise me something.” I nodded that I would promise her anything. “Don’t mention ...

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“The Season of Grace” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #123

(Content Warning: Violence, Gore, Language, Crude humor.)Amongst the perils of evil, Grace Johnson stood defiantly with clenched fists ready to strike. The three-headed beast bellowed a deafening roar as it charged toward the twelve-year-old girl. A monstrosity of terror, the monster had the body of a lion, with the heads of a bear, dragon, wolf, and a serpent’s tail whipping back and forth like an animal tamer’s whip. Riding on top of this foul creature was Mrs. Claus, dressed in a black stitched battle-worn dress. Her white hair was n...

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“The Sandman Ball” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #123

The envelope sat at the edge of the large, wooden, dining room table. The seal depicting a crescent moon glistened gold in the warm kitchen light. Sarah returned from school to find her parents awaiting her. Her mother indicated the envelope and she took a seat. Sarah broke the seal by sliding one long, index finger along the front. Dear Ms. Shepard, We are so glad to invite you to the Sandman Ball. Please arrive at the estate by 5pm on Saturday, June 30th. We will be delighted to serve you a full supper before you dance. The Sandman would l...

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“Room at the Inn” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #123

George Hartley stared down at the rows of assorted parents, parent-governors, teachers and siblings and his stomach tightened like a boiled crustacean. He wiped a moist hand on his innkeeper’s shirt and disguised a dry cough with an acrid smelling palm. Mr Brewer queued George from the wings and directed him to take centre stage. George swallowed and stepped forward to hit his mark underneath sizzling spotlights. Two costumed classmates trudged towards him; one with a false beard and the other bearing a pillow stuffed inside her voluminous g...

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“Curtain Call” by Tatjana Bulovic

Submitted to Contest #123

“Tonight is Ana’s last night. She has been with us for forty-seven years. Thank you for everything, Ana! Ladies and gentlemen, Ana Jackson!” Ana stepped to the microphone and looked at the full theater below her. Her chest swelled as the whole theater stood up and started applauding. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” She wanted to say something clever, something touching, but nothing came out. She just stood there, listening to the applause getting louder and louder. She remembered the day she joined the theater, she was only a few y...

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“My Masquerading Mercantilism” by Kevin Marlow

Submitted to Contest #123

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!A grating alarm signals it is wakey time. Ugh. Mornings stab my mind like a shovel in gravel. Noisy, achy, I stumble to the bathroom for my first break. The sun is trying to find its way into my house from a window and stick me in the eye. “Where's my water?” I realize I'm talking to the refrigerator. A jenga puzzle of recyclables decorates the counter. My water bottle is hiding among its bitter enemies, coke and tea. Traitor.Agua makes the dropsy little pills go down, a reminder of pickled organs and annoying shit like insu...

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“Just a Random Rant” by Francis Daisy

Submitted to Contest #123

Dear Surgeon General Admiral Murthy, Reflecting upon recent events I feel the need to react to an article that was posted this morning in the Los Angeles Times. Or is it Las Angeles? I can never remember. Whatever. That’s not the point. The point is WTF. When is enough enough. The surgeon general is now warning of an “emerging” mental health crisis in our youth? You are seriously, just today, warning that there is a crisis that may or may not be starting in our young children. Are you joking? Do you think you are calling attention to this ...

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“Assemble” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #123

“Well, that was dramatic,” he thought. Here he was, in the middle of a winter wonderland with very little understanding of the language of this country in a car that just failed him as the day turned to night. Michael had been in the country for just under a week and had met all of his contacts except one, and he had been on his way to speak to the last one that very afternoon. He had noted how quickly the darkness settled after 4 pm, but he thought that he would have made it. Michael also thought that the car borrowed from the rental agency...

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$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

134

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 10, 2021 EST

Won by Patrick Samuel 🏆

Title: Southern Comfort and the Kindness of Strangers

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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