Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#127: Gut Feelings

Most people know December 31st as New Year’s Eve, but did you know it’s also Make Up Your Mind Day? Unfortunately for many of us, making your mind up is more easily said than done. I always want to make a considered decision, but oftentimes wind up relying on gut instinct alone.

This week's prompts are all about intuition, and the strange way we sometimes know what to do without understanding how we know it. Whether you believe intuition is a sign sent from the universe, or the workings of your own subconscious, it’s time to trust your creative instincts and get writing for the very first contest of 2022. Happy New Year!

This week's prompts

Begin your story with a character having a gut feeling they cannot explain.

Thriller and Suspense – 75 stories

Write about a character whose intuition is always right — until one day it isn’t.

Horror – 22 stories

Write a story about a problem with no good solutions.

Angst – 32 stories

Write about a character learning to trust their intuition.

Character – 27 stories

Your character makes a living faking psychic powers. One morning, they wake up with real ones.

Fantasy – 64 stories

Stories

“Where my Chase Ended” by K R Stanfield

Submitted to Contest #127

How many ways could a person be maimed by a peach? A man walked by eating one not long ago. He made a face. He was uncomfortable. So, I'm trying to work it out. I’m leaning against a concrete wall at the edge of a green-space. There’s a bench beside me connected to a footpath, but I don’t want to sit on it. My butt’ll get wet. On the other side of the wall, across a mat of dirt and drubbed weeds, cars roll by with perturbed patience. A lazy cop has his radar gun out a little down the way. He's hunched over his unmarked vehicle door, trawli...

Read story

“The Pattern” by Ami Henn

Submitted to Contest #127

Trigger warning: death of pet Janie woke as she always did. One minute before her alarm went off. No matter how early, or late, she went to sleep, she always woke one minute before. She laid in her bed. Listening, feeling and waiting for her alarm to sound. Janie was not sure when she first realized her routine, or how it set her up to achieve her day. She now knew that she should take a minute before getting out of bed. This morning, like all the ones before, she watched and waited. As her brain worked out how her day would go...

Read story

“The Trash Chute ” by Astrid A.

Submitted to Contest #127

The red ties of the trash bag dug into her index and pointer fingers as her pinky awkwardly wrapped around the metal ring of her keychain. Her right hand held open the trash chute and the keys came into contact with the metal slide resulting in a noisy clanging of metal on metal as she maneuvered the trash bag into place. She used her thumb to guide the red ties down over her fingers and watched the bag slide down the chute into the darkness. Her keys were still resting against the metal slide and she thought, as she did every time s...

Read story

“Too Late Now” by Monster Idiot

Submitted to Contest #127

Waking up on Monday is always hard. As I unenthusiastically get out of bed and start to get dressed, I hear a loud crashing noise coming from another room. “I live alone. I have no pets. No one would visit me this time of year. What made that noise? A robber. With a gun. Tall, wearing all black, but more scared of me than I am of him." I whisper to myself. I grab my phone and a fork from a bedside table, the nearest thing available to me that I can use as a makeshift weapon. I cautiously creep out of my bedroom and in...

Read story

“Pizza Gut” by Hana Lee

Submitted to Contest #127

Six years ago, I narrowly avoided death. An uncomfortable turning sensation made its way into my stomach abruptly. I didn’t even have time to question it—as soon as I felt my lunch coming up, I frantically flailed my arms at my brother, who veered off to the side just in time, barely scraping past a huge truck skidding across the road. Oddly, all sensations of hurling my lunch vanished at that moment. “What the hell was that?” Nate stammered, gazing in horror at the horrific damage the truck had caused. It was overwhelming to even take a g...

Read story

“I KNOW WHO YOU PRETEND I AM” by Sophia Marie Joseph

Submitted to Contest #127

Trigger Warning: The following work contains mentions of substance abuse and suicide. I KNOW WHO YOU PRETEND I AM BY: SOPHIA MARIE JOSEPH ———————————————————————— OCTOBER 27, 1952 The plumes of smoke rose from the Marlboro cigarette in the blonde woman’s hand. She took a drag of the cigarette as she shut her eyes, savoring this moment. She exhaled, letting the smell of the carcinogen fill the air. She leaned back onto the putrid green sofa. In all honesty, she hated this room. She hated this house, this neighborhood—this co...

Read story

“The Black Rabid” by Della Killeen

Submitted to Contest #127

The black rabbit showed up in their back yard the same week that the family of Gambel’s Quail started their tentative outings from the back gate to the lavender bush and from there to the safety of the wall on the west side. The Quail’s plumage, bobbing upright on their heads, like an ornate legionnaire’s plume or that of a Swiss Guard, gave them a slightly pompous look. Gambel’s Quail spend most of their time foraging on the dry ground leaving them especially vulnerable to cats, coyotes and raptors. They are amongst the first to call out ea...

Read story

“Peyton Runs” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #127

Peyton blamed herself for the predicament she was in. Had she trusted her gut feeling, she would not be now running for her life. She sensed someone running alongside of her, that someone called to her, “Peyton!”Intuition screamed ‘Keep running you fool!’ She would never doubt her intuition again if she got out of this alive. She recognized the voice of Cerci, the only other black female of the twenty people running for their lives. Individually, they were called ‘Runners’, collectively, ‘Running Game’. Mostly t...

Read story

“Guiding Voices” by Bernadette Beauchamp

Submitted to Contest #127

Dark, full clouds blanketed the sky, giving the street a somber personality. It did not help Oscar determine if his sister was feeling okay from his position on the street. Silent phone calls and silent texts were giving him no clues and it seemed as if the only way to get an answer was stop acting like her younger brother, ignore the lack of an invite and go inside. A couple of heavy knocks with no answer and his concern was starting to turn to fear. No more hesitation, it was time to use the spare key. "Lexi?" his voice was timid in the do...

Read story

“Apple Pie” by Su Ccint

Submitted to Contest #127

It is four in the morning, the smoky aroma of brewing coffee diffuses from the kitchen onto the dining room, where a stack of unopened envelopes sits on the center of a rectangular table along with other pieces of mail addressed to Clare Raggson; a letter from the unemployment agency and a pink slip. The most recent job - the second one in seven months - was supposed to be a front desk position. Instead, she ended up re-stocking paper towels and toilet paper, taking thirty-minute lunches, and throwing away the garbage. For over a week, Clare...

Read story

“The Psych Shack” by Ellen Oh

Submitted to Contest #127

Aislyn and Ella followed a meandering path back to the RV. The glow of whiskey lingered in their bellies making them smile as they counted the bills they’d brought in that day. “It’s too easy,” Ella shouted. Then quieter, “It should be harder. I’d feel bad except I know they leave happier than when they walked in.” Aislyn agreed, “We have to give the people what they want! I wonder if they know they all come looking for the same thing.” “Probably. I don’t know. Maybe not. Everybody’s the star of their own ...

Read story

“White lies, Green eyes ” by Bella Cole

Submitted to Contest #127

Third Person POV The people of Trinity square were squabbling through the streets. Swarms of bodies crowding about, bumping and juggling about. The smell of fried food and sickly sweet desserts wafted through the air, colliding the flavor of sweet and savory. Merchants shouted from their stands, advertising spices and clothes, banging on drums or playing flutes for people's attention. In the corner, a few rows back from the hustle and bustle. There was a quaint stand, with colorful beads and clothes hanging from every banister....

Read story

“Psychic” by The Profound

Submitted to Contest #127

Nearing the middle of town, stood the local bar known as The Raven. Around nine on a Friday night, The Raven would be the only business on main-street to be open. As the night sky dangled the stars upon the town and the clouds only partly covered the moon, I stood in a room, minutes before a performance. I studied my jotted notes and memorized the workings of my crew before the show. I needed to hype my nerves away. The key to any great performance is confidence. I allowed my pre-show chant to take control of my mind “1… 2… 3...

Read story

“The Hero” by Kaia Meredith

Submitted to Contest #127

The chain had finally broken. Snapped right apart and smashed her sign on the ground. It would have been surprising–by all means, it should have been surprising. The old rickety thing had been swinging on one chain for years and it damn well should have been swinging for many more. After all her foiled, painful attempts to fix the thing, it deserved it. Yet there it was, her namesake, shattered on the ground. The vexatious purple letters of Fortune Teller mocking her from the splinters. A piqued smirk curled a...

Read story

“is this your card?” by E. J. Wilhelm

Submitted to Contest #127

“Find something you’re good at and stick with it.” Wise words from his father, to be sure, though Kyle was pretty sure neither of his parents had ever intended for him to be … well, saying a con artist felt a bit harsh. He was giving people exactly what they paid him for, in a basement room he rented for cheap that smelled like even cheaper incense, drowning out the world outside with thick walls and a white noise generator. It was better than a lot of alternatives. It started with the tarot cards, in more ways than one. Kyle knew a ha...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

220

Contest entries

135

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 07, 2022 EST

Won by Dena Linn 🏆

Title: The Problem Is

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢