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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.

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

“Thirty-Nine ” by Jessica L 🦄

Submitted to Contest #123

Thirty-nine was the first year that age showed up on Ellen’s face. It had visited intermittently, before. After a sleepless night, an evening with an extra glass or two of wine. It showed up after a long day in the sun. Then it left as subtly as it had appeared. However, thirty-nine was the year that it settled in. It settled in between her eyebrows. It made itself known on her neck. It was fickle and etched on the left side of her mouth while not even visiting the right side. Standing in front of the mirror, ...

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“The Man With One Mask, But An Immortal Mask, Unless...” by Manolis Kokogiannakis

Submitted to Contest #123

Have you heard of the Man With One Mask? Here is his story.As I was scrolling through my class’s social media platform, we coded, called Classroom. Yes. Just Classroom. I was so annoyed when our teacher told us that we should call it Classroom, it is so trite. Anyways, today someone named the Man With One Mask, posted a comic, but it was a comic with no pictures, only words. Here is what it said.“Hi, I'm John.”“We know your name John!”“What did you say?”“WE SAID WE KNOW YOUR NAME IS JOHN!!”“What?!”COMMENTS:Harry: Who’s John???Robert: He used...

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“Home Again” by Gary Crawford

Submitted to Contest #123

Home Again It’s been years since I stood on this stage. So many memories. We had our kindergarten graduation on this very stage. The city used to allow the schools and other civic groups to use the stage, as long as it didn’t interfere with the regular programs. Then we had a Christmas pageant here when I was in the third grade. I got to play an elf. My big break into the world of showbiz! We came here to see Mary Poppins when I was about eight. The place was full of noisy kids. Same with the matinees we went to, at least a thousand ki...

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“The Foxy Footman” by Carole Penfield

Submitted to Contest #123

The Foxy Footman Copyright 2021, All rights reserved Carole Penfield Bart Just look at me, standing on this stage waiting for the curtain to open, dressed in a footman costume! If only poor Aunt Mary had lived to see this day, she would have been so proud. I remember her taking me to see my first play on her half-day off from work. She saved enough from her pittance wage as lady’s maid to get us each a standing place in the pit. I was awestruck by actors strutting across the boards. “One day, you’ll be a wunnerful actor, Bart,” she ha...

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“Batey Pending” by Nico Pengin

Submitted to Contest #123

Nico looked down from the stage. He was too excited listening to the crowd roar for him. He thought to himself, ”They love me, they really love me.” He performed at a level that surprised even himself in this new sport called Batey. A futuristic sport inspired by the Caribbean Taino Indian sport. It was created through the mixture of alien technology and human innovation. The sport is a mixture of Quidditch meeting hacky sack with some technology sprinkled in. Add a crowd of roaring and adoring fans that just saw a sensational play by a dead...

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“The Courier” by Chris Churilla

Submitted to Contest #123

AUTHOR NOTE: This story contains adult language, sexual content, and violence. The courier stopped their motorcycle several hundred yards from the fortress and activated the binocular feature on their helmet. The heavy rucksack on their back dug into their shoulders, but they ignored it; they would soon be free of it. The guard towers were manned with heavy machine guns, easily capable of piercing the courier’s helmet and riding leathers. The ground surrounding the fortress was littered with ruined vehicles, preventing any sort of straig...

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“Oscar's Final Bow” by Christopher Linehan

Submitted to Contest #123

The silent emptiness that now filled the room was deafening in comparison to the meager roars of the participatory and rowdy audience had offered only an hour or so before. Oscar, Clown No. 3 and Pirate No. 4 scanned the ornately dilapidated hall, taking in that emptiness and the ruin left by the participatory and rowdy audience mentioned above. “The patrons favored bananas this evening”, Oscar mumbled to himself. Half-dressed in the silky pantaloons of an oriental pirate and still donning the elaborate clown face of the penultimate and dram...

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“Masks Required” by Anne Sellers

Submitted to Contest #123

There had been winter storm warnings in Texas before, but they hadn't seen snow since 2010. There was a joke that a person could experience all four seasons in one day in Texas. Funny, but not really, considering most of the seasons were just varying degrees of summer. He didn’t give the storm warning a second thought. Sure, there may some flurries, maybe even sleet, or the roads may ice. But as soon as the sun came out it would all melt away. Or so he thought. By noon, the city would be back to normal. While others were panicked and ru...

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“Another Mercy” by Tedcor Obli

Submitted to Contest #123

Another hand movement, another subtle twist of the wrist, another mercy. The mind told the spine which told the wrist which moved the hand which held the bending and twisting fingers. Their arms and hands moved together in a quiet and precise concert that could only come with years of practice. There was speed, but not a twisting and jerking kind; it was a graceful movement. Each movement, another plunge of the needle. Each movement, another small line of silk tugging together two pieces of flesh torn asunder. The only sound was the barely...

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“The Cattle Call” by Mae Siu-Wai Stroshane

Submitted to Contest #123

“‘Tis true my form is something odd But blaming me is blaming God… Could I create myself anew I would not fail in pleasing you. If I could reach from pole to pole Or grasp the…” One steamy summer day in Boston, Jared Mann stared into the mirror and practiced a poem for his audition. He managed to sail through the first stanza, but for some reason, blanked out halfway through the second. “Damn!” He closed his eyes and tried again. If I could reach from pole to pole Or grasp the ocean with my span…” Good! He was home free. “I would...

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“Ovation ” by Peter Rosch

Submitted to Contest #123

I say my last line, "God bless us, Every One!"Then, just shy of the stage's apron, I look down and into the auditorium, trying my hardest to go evil eyes—eyes that scream, screw you all—upon what are supposed to be my victims.I wasn't expecting applause, but listen to it!Of course, it is the holidays... Their enthusiastic adoration could be for any number of reasons: the story itself, the typical up-tick in polite behavior around this time, the eggnog that had been served in the foyer prior to the performance.As the other actors make their w...

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“Stegatha and Al” by Rachel Stratton

Submitted to Contest #123

“And it’s showtime!” Stegatha, the stellar Stegosaurus stomped onto the stage. She was nervous to sing on a stage for the first time but was also confident in her musical ability. When she looked out at all the dinosaurs in the audience, down from the stage, she froze. “I don’t know if I can do this!” She thought and began to shake from nerves. Al the aggressive Allosaurus, growled, watching this unfold from the wings of the stage. He didn’t know how long he could watch Stegatha flounder out there. She looked positively petrified.&nb...

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“MOTHER” by Eva Haishun

Submitted to Contest #123

"Hey! I was wondering if you could help me tape the audition for tomorrow. I will practice the speech in the bedroom first, but I would not mind a bit of assistance after! It should not take long.""Yeah, I got you. Hit me up when you are ready.""Thanks! Will do."Maggy has been doing auditions for almost six years; nevertheless, the first take still troubles her. She needs to go over the script one last time before recording. They have lived with Aaron for more than four years now, and he knows perfectly well that it will take a lot more time...

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“The Mission” by John Atlas

Submitted to Contest #123

I’m beginning to forget what it feels like to be myself.For so long, I have pretended to be something other than my true self. The once clear lines of objective reality have been blurred. Where do the masks end and where do I begin? The real me. My true form. The concept of what once was me, seems so far away now- I fear I will never find it again.I worry I’ve become lost in the disguises. The lies. The deception. Necessary at first for the mission, I know, but it doesn’t make the concept easier to digest. Who would I be now, if not for the ...

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“FROM A STAGE” by John Minnaar

Submitted to Contest #123

FROM A STAGE I stood there stunned, not knowing what was expected of me, and I was shaking just from being goaded into something that I did not feel part of nor felt I had attained – I was just a good scholar. Isn’t that what everyone was doing here! When I looked down on all the people in front of me from that height I wasn’t sure what to do until the Headmaster shoved his hand in mine and presented me with a parcel wrapped festively with my name on it and an envelope. How that happened was a story worth the tale. I began my life in a...

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$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

133

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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