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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 Spotted Fawn Law Firm” by Rachel Aubertin

Submitted to Contest #127

Larth Redbinder looked up at the green sign with a golden illustration of a snow freckled deer and letters reading: “Spotted Fawn Law Firm”It swayed slightly as the breeze pushed golden leaves past Larth’s boots. He had a feeling this place would be different than the others as he lifted the latch and pushed open the heavy oaken door. A brass bell rattled as he entered.Inside was a spree of parchments and scrolls bulging on shelves with placards announcing the province each section pertained and a mounted scroll on either wall stating that t...

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“Stranger Than Fiction” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #127

Often, I have found truth to be stranger than fiction and the following story happens to be one of those I experienced. The names have been changed and the dates are approximate, but beyond that, the story is true. Throughout my life, I have had flashes of premonitions, but there was one I had in 1985, that far surpassed the rest. I was twenty-nine-year-old white male, working at a 7-Eleven store in a run-down part of Dallas. A mix of customers would come through the doors, which included workers from Love Airfield and a few regulars, who s...

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“Forbidden Grace” by Sage Rosell

Submitted to Contest #127

I am happy here. There are trees, some tall and some small, some with fruit and some with flowers. There are flowers in so many bright and beautiful colors and...the sun, it feels so good on my face. I like to lay in the soft grass and feel the sun on my skin, warm and tingly. I watch the birds fly across the sky, and land in the trees. They talk to eachother in different sounds--loud, sharp, and quiet. I watch the squirrels and the rabbits and the foxes and the fish in the water, but most of the time, I watch the horses. They run so fast a...

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“Destination Unknown” by Kristin Gartner

Submitted to Contest #127

The feeling was overwhelming, like a sudden collision with a freight train. She'd had them before—these unexplained feelings. Panic, fear, grief, for no tangible reason. Through the years, she had come to trust them. They happened frequently enough to know that whatever came next would be dire. That surety always terrified her. Through most of her childhood, she wished she knew how to control them. How to eradicate them. She tried praying, but God never answered. Once, she sought an exorcism, but...

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“GOODBYE 2021” by Eve Whittall

Submitted to Contest #127

Christmas had been a joyous occasion at my family’s ranch in Eastern Washington. Winter had arrived and with it, the landscape had changed from the resemblance of nut-filled brownies to a cake covered with white frosting. An old year was ending, a door to the past shut.“Time for my 2 PM flight,” I said. It was an easy drive in a four-wheel-drive pickup. We passed through a blue-white tunnel of snow on the freeway. And then, a turn off to the small airport, past the parking lot full of cars that looked like flash-frozen fish left in the freez...

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“Destined to win ” by Anuthmee Senevirathne

Submitted to Contest #127

Destined to winAs my mom and I strolled through our favorite park, I slowly closed my eyes and breathed in the aroma of the blossoming flowers. Then, after a few minutes, I gradually opened my eyes to view the stunning scenery in front of me. Out of the blue, I heard a person gasping for breath not far. I turned around, startling my mother. ' What is the matter now, Belle? ' , my mother questioned with impatient eyes. ' M . . .mom, there they are, I've always told you they trained here. Oh mother, let me join. Please. ' ...

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“Déjà vu” by Wendy Petrillo

Submitted to Contest #127

OK – Here it is, Doc: I feel like I’m living my life over again. I can’t recall every moment exactly, but every now and then I get this incredibly strong gut feeling that I’m doing something again. Like right now, for example. I know I’ve been here before talking with you. I know this office. I know that plant in the corner. I don’t remember exactly what we talked about, but I know we have already done this. No, it’s not that I’ve been in similar situations – although I have been – or that I’m imagi...

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“Silence is suspicious.” by Correen Robinson

Submitted to Contest #127

Cat sat in her car drumming her fingers on the well-worn steering wheel in front of her as her travel coffee steamed in the black and silver mug just to the side of it. She was early, not ridiculously so but early enough to give herself time to think alone in her car parked outside the secondary school and she didn’t like being alone with her thoughts. Pulling out the keys, grabbing her bag and cup then strolling across to the entrance would be so easy, it’s what she did everyday but today there was a queasy feeling in her stomach that ...

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“The Case of Constance Livingston” by Olivia Snead

Submitted to Contest #127

Edgar Nikephoros Huntinger, private investigator, awoke to a rainy morning. He got up and washed and dressed. He went into the kitchen, and whisked an omelet, made toast, and a pot of coffee. As he ate, he thought of the unresolved case of Constance Livingston. What would have happened if he’d found her son’s father? Memory of the phone call rose in his mind as he recalled Constance Livingston telling him to end the investigation because there was no longer a reason to find the father. Was there something he missed? Would her son had lived? ...

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“Dad To The Rescue” by Yvette Bennett

Submitted to Contest #127

My father-in-law lives with us now. He was diagnosed with cancer and had become very weak and frail. He didn’t feel safe living alone anymore, so we brought him to Texas to live with us. He sits in his room all day, saying that he is too tired to get up or that he is too weak to do things for himself. So, I cook for him every day, my wife bathes him, we take him to all of his doctor’s appointments and wait on him hand and foot. I had a gut feeling that he just wants to be taken care of. I believe that he can do things for himself, but he...

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“Windchimes ” by Abbey Ayre

Submitted to Contest #127

The day started out bright but veiled – clouds forming a tattered gauzy curtain over a bluest sky. The air was clear; the pitch of the backyard dove more soprano than coo this time. It was an easy morning made for a Sunday. Popping prosecco felt like as natural a move as brewing coffee. Coffee came first though, the beans saturated deep enough to fill the house with its earthy, steamy scent. When Jason finally rustled out of the bedspread, he was greeted by visions of Stepford wives and shiny Cadillacs. Nellie stood over the sink; cup envelo...

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“The Sultan's Daughter” by Kon G

Submitted to Contest #127

There lived long ago a sultan of a great kingdom-on-the-mountain. But it happened that the kingdom entered war with another, and the tide of the conflict threatened to take everything from the sultan. In order to survive, the sultan sought help from three powerful princes. The sultan first sought help from the prince in the north, whose subjects called him the vain prince. The vain prince sent many beautiful cloaks, furs, and boots to warm the sultan’s soldiers. In return, the sultan promised the hand of his eldest daughter in marriage. ...

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“A Chance at Revival” by Reagan Athan

Submitted to Contest #127

As I awoke on this winter day, I had this feeling. Not just any feeling, but a prickling sense as one could describe it as, that something would change. To know whether or not it would be drastically different or minorly different was something that couldn’t be determined. Some call it a gut feeling, while others fancy the coined term “pure luck”. If you were to ask which I lean towards, I would stare at you with a blank face. I simply don’t know. I may never know. Intuition is a broad and deep subject that some discuss without a proper unde...

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“God Sucker-Punched Me in the Gut” by Rowland Grover

Submitted to Contest #127

Many years ago, I lived in Thailand. Instead of becoming closer to my heritage, I was a missionary trying to teach people about Jesus. Most people didn’t want to listen because they were happy being Buddhist, so we had to find creative ways to get them to hear our message. “Creative” often meant being sneaky, deceitful, and dishonest, but it was a necessary evil because we had souls to save. Every Tuesday evening, we held a free English class at the church. The only cost was sitting through a five-minute talk about Jesus and the Mormon relig...

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“And Then the Morning Came” by Lilly Blossom

Submitted to Contest #127

Abbie Carter was born in the heart of New Orleans, on a brutal August day, to a Gypsy mother without a father in the picture. Her entire life she watched her mother swindle men out of their money, and sell all of the fake, ritualistic charms that were popular in the French Quarter to foolish tourists passing by. Living on the move, changing names, fooling people, it was all just part of the business her mother would tell her. So one day, Abbie grew up, her mother grew old and succumbed to her sicknesses, and Abbie was on her own in the big...

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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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