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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#126: The Night Before

Happy Christmas Eve! As this year draws to a close, many people will be reflecting on the past 365 days, as well as looking ahead and planning for the future.

This week’s contest ends, serendipitously, on the last day of the year. New Year’s Eve sees a whole host of celebrations around the world, but some of us are skipping the usual parties and staying home. For this week’s contest, I’ve put together some prompts centering on this exciting night, so you can get in the festive spirit no matter how you’re celebrating. Let the countdown begin!

🥇 Winner

“When The Sea Takes You, I Won't Come With” by Jerome Grafil-Carlos

🏆 Winner of Contest #126

“In my past life, I was a bird.”“How’d you know?”My little brother shrugged. “I just feel it.”Piles of debris painted where the houses used to be, torn-down walls and foundations mere remains of the structures that were there. We must have scavenged through all of them, finding nothing but rubbish and mud. The blue comet streaked across the sky. Cold winds blew onto my back, smelling of sand and cement and something else. A tinge of something bitter, something revolting. The water took four people from around these parts, but the way they po...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Amelia and the Beautiful Big Red Handbag” by Lisa Lange

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #126

Our first encounter was on New Year’s Eve. I was picking up a few last minute good-luck foods for the evening – black-eyed peas, cornbread, pickled herring, grapes – walking from my apartment to the grocer. It was cold. That’s what I remember first when I feel the memory in my senses, when I feel the depth of the memory. I feel how cold it was, how the sharp absence of smells in the air precipitated my noticing the details.I remember I noticed the last brown leaf hanging from ...

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“The First First” by John F. Duffy

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #126

Mouse wasn’t small. When they measured his body in the morgue, he was six foot two. Even though he could be quiet, I never called him Mouse, I called him Marty because that was his name, but it’s my name too which is why his mother started calling him Mouse after the divorce. When your son dies, everything becomes a first. The first Thanksgiving without him, the first birthday, even silly shit like the first time you go to the Chuck Box for a burger and he isn’t there next to you, stealing your onion rings and changin...

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This week's prompts

Start or end your story with one or more characters shouting “Happy new year!”

Holiday – 46 stories

Write about a character reflecting on the previous year.

Christmas – 19 stories

Write a story about two people who don’t know each other but bump into one other on New Year’s Eve (either once or every year).

Holiday – 39 stories

Write a story about someone seeking a fresh start after a difficult year.

Christmas – 32 stories

Write about a character setting an unusual New Year’s resolution.

Holiday – 26 stories

Stories

“When The Sea Takes You, I Won't Come With” by Jerome Grafil-Carlos

🏆 Winner of Contest #126

“In my past life, I was a bird.”“How’d you know?”My little brother shrugged. “I just feel it.”Piles of debris painted where the houses used to be, torn-down walls and foundations mere remains of the structures that were there. We must have scavenged through all of them, finding nothing but rubbish and mud. The blue comet streaked across the sky. Cold winds blew onto my back, smelling of sand and cement and something else. A tinge of something bitter, something revolting. The water took four people from around these parts, but the way they po...

Read story

“Happy Birthday, Jesus!” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #126

Well, you thought you've had a difficult year!People worry all about the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. For instance, take the Christmas Crusaders (yes, please take those Christmas Crusaders for a very long walk on a very short pier!). The folks who take umbrage if you commit the holiday faux pas of wishing them Happy Holidays! Come on now, the holidays are difficult enough as they are. I mean, with holiday shopping, attending holiday family affairs, watching as-stale-as-last-season’s-fruitcake holiday reruns on TV, the headaches of...

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“Drunk Death” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #126

“Death wasn’t a thing when I accepted the job. It’s not fair to trap someone in an eternal contract when they have no concept of what they’re being asked to do. The way I understood it was I was simply helping a soul pass from the mortal stage of their existence to the next. They got constructive feedback on their life choices, and it would help them be better people. Reality? No. I have to comfort more than ten thousand children starving to death every day. That’s hard ...

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“The 2nd Floor of the Circuit Court Building” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #126

“Stay off the 2nd floor of the Circuit Court building,” my older brother advises, lighting a cigarette directly under a No Smoking sign. “Why?” “Ain’t nothing good up here,” he replies, his cigarette ash falling on the paperwork declaring him my guardian. The clerk frowns at him while he signs, but he flashes her a dazzling smile when he hands the papers back to her. One look at his handsome face and all is forgiven. “What’s a ward?” I ask, squinting at the paper. “A dependent,” he replies, carefully writing out a c...

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“Ear, There And Everywhere” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #126

“Read the story, Daddy!” Poppy screamed from her room.Daddy Horse rolled his eyes wishing he could close the chat like on Zoom,“Which story is that my love?” said Daddy Horse under duress from his wife,Who was standing on one of his hooves and pointing towards his face with a knife,It was late on New Year’s Eve so Poppy wanted to celebrate in her own way before bed,With the book she’d heard her Mum and Dad read cover to cover echoing a million times in her head,“The one about the ears, silly!” Poppy enthusiastically responded sounding like s...

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“It Happens Once Every Year - But Then” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #126

It is December 31, five o’clock in the afternoon, and I’m riding the elevator up to the annual Office New Year’s Party. I know a few things about what the party will be like. The food will be good. The cafeteria cook is not involved in any of the cooking. She is just serving, as she does every year for this one particular meal. She doesn’t appear to be resentful. I guess she just has to swallow her feelings, like we have to do the meals that she cooks the rest of the year. The drink will be plentiful and ever flowin...

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“The Craft of Deception ” by Mary Sheehan

Submitted to Contest #126

We pull up in the driveway on a crisp New Year’s Eve morning. It's been two months since I ran away, two months since my failed fresh start.The social worker is watching me. I avoid her gaze.“I won’t be long.”“Take as long as you need, Emer. I’ll be here.” As I leave the car, I catch her gaping at the glass-enclosed terrace, the twin koi ponds that edge along the stone path to the front door, the lavish grounds with green shrubbery, dusted with a fine sprinkling of white ice. I wonder if she thinks I am mad for running away.We're o...

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“The Bell Keeper” by Santina Forlenza-Pihuličova

Submitted to Contest #126

** Capital punishment.** The paint was not of the most recent and neat, but the Tic-Tac-Toe’s Xs and Os staining it resembled fine embroidery. Flies found death in the old wall’s cracks and printed their last shadows on it, like stamps on a postcard nobody is pleased to receive.The four walls surrounding him had the night sky as a roof and dark stones as a floor. Handy was not sure it was night but if it was then that night was the longest the world could expect. Thirty years. Thirty years in the dim light of something that lo...

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“Amelia and the Beautiful Big Red Handbag” by Lisa Lange

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #126

Our first encounter was on New Year’s Eve. I was picking up a few last minute good-luck foods for the evening – black-eyed peas, cornbread, pickled herring, grapes – walking from my apartment to the grocer. It was cold. That’s what I remember first when I feel the memory in my senses, when I feel the depth of the memory. I feel how cold it was, how the sharp absence of smells in the air precipitated my noticing the details.I remember I noticed the last brown leaf hanging from ...

Read story

“Not So Happy Engagement Year” by Sarah Kreiger

Submitted to Contest #126

If you are looking for a happy New Years story, this isn't the story for you :)`````````````-----------------------------------------------------It was the eighth time the phone had rung since he woke up this morning and every time it rang, he felt himself closer to curling up in a ball and crying.Dishes piled in the sink, stacked almost as tall as he was. Large heaps of laundry accumulated in various parts of his dingy apartment, no rhyme or reason to their placements. You could argue a severe case of depression, but it was normal lifestyle...

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“The 100 Club” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #126

*Note: The following document was found taped to a lamppost in the middle of Times Square during the New Year’s Day festivities. The envelope had the words ‘Read Me’ and led to a tourist reading through the entire document and then handing it over to the local authorities. The material here is being released in case anyone can provide some information to prevent whomever wrote it from completing their plan. Although it seems harmless, this could cause many problems with the current quarantine rules and restrictions. - from the NYPD * Dear Ci...

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“Say "I'm Sorry", But Make It Naughty” by L.A. Ruel

Submitted to Contest #126

The ruckus in the reception room could compete with the sounds of the busy New York street underneath Sara’s window. Through her closed office door, she could clearly hear a man was gradually raising his voice at Vera. The poor receptionist was new but quite competent. Hardly any reason for anyone to bash her like this. Sara tore herself away from the supplies report needed for tonight’s Christmas party and came to see what it was all about.A guy stood perched on the front desk, a little too close for Vera’s comfort, and pointed God knows wh...

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“The First First” by John F. Duffy

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #126

Mouse wasn’t small. When they measured his body in the morgue, he was six foot two. Even though he could be quiet, I never called him Mouse, I called him Marty because that was his name, but it’s my name too which is why his mother started calling him Mouse after the divorce. When your son dies, everything becomes a first. The first Thanksgiving without him, the first birthday, even silly shit like the first time you go to the Chuck Box for a burger and he isn’t there next to you, stealing your onion rings and changin...

Read story

“Caroline’s Lover Has Cancer” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #126

This story discusses cancer and has quite a few swear words used to capture the familiarity experienced between two friends enjoying lunch. “Caroline’s lover has cancer,” the words left Maragaret’s red lipped mouth plainly. “Adian has cancer?” clarified Suzanne, a piece of green lettuce fell on her chin.“Aidan has cancer,” Margaret repeated her bosom buddy’s question as a statement.“Shit,” Suzanne took a sip of her white wine and bit into a chunk of grilled chicken breast.“Shit,” echoed Margaret calmly. Diners around them clucked l...

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“Monsters on New Year's” by Grace Gerrish

Submitted to Contest #126

“That’s it, I’m finished!” Calix announced as he entered the abandoned warehouse. Black blood dripped from his clothes onto the concrete floor. “I swear it, Allard. No more prophecies or monsters or fate. I’m done with it all!” Allard came rushing as fast as his ragged leg would allow. An injury he had sustained years ago from a similar beast Calix had bested tonight. A beast that had punctured his new armor within moments and ruined his celebration. &nbs...

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$250

Prize money

162

Contest entries

100

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 31, 2021 EST

Won by Jerome Grafil-Carlos 🏆

Title: When The Sea Takes You, I Won't Come With

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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