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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

“The Hidden Rooftop” by Lilly Blossom

Submitted to Contest #127

Go up on the rooftop. What? Go up on the rooftop, the inner voice repeated again...or was it a feeling? Either way, Mila knew that she needed to leave her small, Manhattan apartment and climb the skinny ladder that led up to the secret rooftop. Overlooking a breathtaking view, she tried to turn around and face the cold ladder she was climbing, as she shivered on the freezing, winter night. One wrong move and she was toast. She had climbed this ladder before when she first moved in, peaked by curiosity, but a security officer had quickly rep...

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“A Goddess Recruitment ” by Grace Gerrish

Submitted to Contest #127

Jasime laughed as another foolish, dimwitted customer left her wagon. Three women asking if they would find love, six mercenaries seeking answers about honor, and a young blacksmith searching for loopholes in destiny. Jasime had welcomed each of them into her ominous wagon, sat them in the dark, and told the truth… or her version of it. A twisted guessing game of playing what they wanted to hear- in return for an offering, of course. Jewels or weapons or gloriously delicious-smelling dis...

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“Fade to Grey” by Matthew Angelo

Submitted to Contest #127

“They’ll believe whatever I tell them.” Dominic walked through the door to the hotel and paused short of the mirror to check his hair. He smiled as he ran a hand through his dark, slicked-back hair. His brown eyes held a cunning few noticed, and few did. A deep sigh from the phone reached his ear. He shook his head. “Jack, don’t sigh at me. I’m only giving them what they want.” You are, but one of them will figure you out at some point. “It happens to all the best psychics out there. You don’t need to worry about me.” Dominic, I’m...

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“The Amethyst” by Andres Lauder

Submitted to Contest #127

Linda came from a long line of Psychics who ran a business of telling the fortunes of others. At a time when Europe was struggling between the powers of democracy and fascism, her great grandfather and grandmother moved from a little town just south of war-torn Poland, and to the Americas. They took with them their act of becoming Psychics through reading cards and forming a business by getting paid to tell anyone's fortune. Their Psychic acts were popular at a time where people sought out a good fortune in a world full of bloodshed a...

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“Font Follies” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #127

Warning: gore and some sexual innuendos.The world headquarters of Helvotica Fonts Inc. is located in a prestigious high-rise building in the Canary Wharf district of London. A very expensive address. On this particular day in July, the reception area for the company headquarters was filled with people, each of them with a proposal or problem to discuss with Bogdan Helvotica, the CEO and founder of the company. Marie, his executive assistant, was doing what she could to organize his day and maintain civility but it was a losing battle. The fo...

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“When I Fall, I Shall Arise” by Debby Goldsberry

Submitted to Contest #127

WHEN I FALL, I SHALL ARISEThe reign of terror had begun, and the greatest battle I've ever experienced with my "gut feelings" seemed to suck me into a vortex of evil. Was it just a feeling like eating the cold left-overs of the remembrance of a horror scene in one of my nightmares? Or was my gut feeling that my family was about to be attacked by a vicious predator valid? I had never felt this evil presence so intensely looming over me. Though the lights were on, I felt the darkness hover over me like the shadow of a vulture's ...

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“A Sunday Morning at Rosy Ruby's” by Alexis W.

Submitted to Contest #127

Extra large eggs for 77 cents a dozen and just over a dollar for that new instant coffee stuff he’d been so razzed about. Col scratched it off her list as she pulled a can from the shelf, deciding to save her improved omelet recipe for another morning. She sighed, eyeing the eggs as she passed the stacks of brown cartons. It was his Sunday off, after all. On the only day of the week he didn’t have to go into the office, she could surprise him with something he wanted. As she pushed the cart towards the TV DINNERS aisle at the front of the gr...

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“Subject D” by Daniel Hafertepe

Submitted to Contest #127

The clerk greeted her at the desk beside the conference room door. “Good morning, Lieutenant, please set your personal effects on the desk.”She laid her cover, handbag and laptop bag on the desk and then set her raincoat next to them.The clerk handed her a badge to pin on her uniform lapel.LT Ann Scarletti, USNOffice of Naval ResearchAnn noted the branches of service on the remaining badges: US Army, US Air Force and US Marines. Then she noticed the ranks: Colonel, Colonel, and Colonel.The clerk placed her effects into a locker. Then he&nbsp...

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“Swipe Right” by Anne Sellers

Submitted to Contest #127

I swipe right. I do so, mostly because of the abs, I will admit. His face isn't terrible, but it isn't one that I would consider handsome. His body is delicious in that shirtless pic, which on most profiles I despise, but not this one.I'm not looking for anything serious. To be honest, I'm not quite ready to let go of my boss. I know it's cliche, but yes, I am in a romantic relationship with my supervisor. You are probably thinking that it is motivated by the possibility of a promotion. If so, you are wrong. My boss is tall, dark, and h...

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“ONLY I CAN SEE THEM ” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #127

Three months ago, we moved into the house in Ascott Lane. When we pulled up to the house, I thought we had finally found somewhere nice to settle down. A tingle of anticipation coursed through me when I first lay eyes upon it. Our forever home, I thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong! My husband Dillon works 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and I look after our baby boy, Joey at home. Dillon got a promotion at an accounting firm he works for, so we had to move from Christchurch to Wellington; to a small quaint town called Newtown, out in the suburbs. I...

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“We Need a New Apartment” by L.J Sunwing

Submitted to Contest #127

“Allie, do you believe in ghosts?” Ripley walks up behind Alison, eating a jar of peanut butter, and intently staring at the back of her friend’s head. While the curious roommate could see Alison was working on something, she saw her philosophical question on the apparitions as a more pressing matter. Also, part of Ripley just enjoyed annoying her friend. Alison keeps her eyes on her computer and grunts in annoyance. “It’s Alison, and what do you mean by ghosts?” Ripley narrows her eyes at Alison’s reaction. Despite being friends for sever...

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“Potential ” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #127

What could I have put on the report? “Use dirty praise,” the school executive instructs. “Dirty praise” limits possibilities. But I can understand why we’ve been told this. After all, these final reports will be seen by potential employers. No point in making things difficult for the boys, or the school, with comments about unfinished homework, or their tendencies to talk back, or an obsession with I-Pads, games, or mobile phones. Attendance statistics will tell that employer about punctuality. It’s not my job to make that comment. Not some...

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“The Zebra” by Mike H

Submitted to Contest #127

I couldn’t explain it — I was determined to change my ways — but somehow I knew I would screw things all up. Even though she was the perfect girl: tall, blonde, sexy, I knew it would all go to shit. They say “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, and “A zebra never changes his stripes”… Well, I was that zebra. Everything was peaches and cream for the first three months, but the next three months were too boring to bear. I told her about my past: how I was with many women before I met her. And she was cool with it. I told her “I always like...

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“In The Dark Predawn” by Tay Mor

Submitted to Contest #127

I was awakened without warning in the dark predawn. It wasn’t the familiar slow ascent from Morpheus’ embrace, but rather a sharp jolt, similar to that of being torn by force from the depths of a nightmare. I was used to recollecting my dreams with vivid clarity, especially in the few seconds after waking up, but this time there were no leftover images from the Dreamscape. Only the unbroken darkness of deep sleep preceded my suddenly conscious state. Heart fluttering uneasily in my chest, my senses scrambled to life, reaching...

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“Rest Assured” by Adam El Nabli

Submitted to Contest #127

On a cold winter night in the middle of a deserted street walked a wrinkly-faced man emitting an eye-watering odor. His muddy black boots warmed the pair of overworked feet. The outline of his well-defined thigh was visible through a circular hole below the right pocket of his ragged jeans. A coal-colored filth hid a pair of hands previously holding no less than a smooth touch. Atop his elongated neck was a slim face, a slender nose, greasy black hair and an uncommonly calm gaze. But, one look at those glistening blue eyes revealed that this...

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$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!

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