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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

“Irony in Triplicate” by Chris Low

Submitted to Contest #127

The irony was mind-boggling. That was the only thought running through Marco 'Pool Cue' Sabino's head as the woman before him continued denying the obvious. “This can't be happening! You're not real! Ghosts aren't real!” “Oh, it's happening and I'm very much real. Well, at least in the intangible, ethereal spirit version of real,” Marco said, idly brushing back his gelled auburn hair. Tabitha was laying upon the kitchen floor in the cliché fetal position and staring a thousand feet beyond the boning knife she had tried and failed to use ...

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“The Mentalist” by Rafael Whiterock

Submitted to Contest #127

“Look, Jessica, I’m just a normal guy.” “Sure, a normal guy who parties with the Kardashians, frequently dines with Jeff Bezos, and has millions of adoring fans, not to mention being the brand ambassador for Maserati.” I smirk. All in all, the interview has been going well, though, at this point, they all feel a bit cookie-cutter. We’d covered all the usual topics: being a nerdy adolescent in Israel, joining the Israeli Society of Magicians, doing close-up magic and random gigs until my early twenties, and, of course, becoming a world-re...

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“A Close Call” by Alyssa Tsang

Submitted to Contest #127

Lena tingled with excitement as she placed her hands in his, feeling the coolness of his skin. His long spindly fingers closed around hers. This was the first time in 20 years she had touched a man other than her husband. She was even more excited that he was a tall, dark, and handsome young man.“Ok now close your eyes.” His voice loomed out of the dim candle-lit space across the velvet swathed table.Lena shut her eyes eagerly, trying not to giggle. She felt like a teenager again, disobeying the stifling restrictions of her conservative fami...

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“Gift Horse” by Holly James

Submitted to Contest #127

Rough edged black lines dance on old paper, released from its life sentence to the trunk. I correct my hunch, clear my throat, and perform an old oration. Inhale."Keep your wits about you: for your mind will play tricks." Pause for effect, smile coyly, bite lip. "Mine are better." And release breath. I dig out a couple more pieces of paper. I don't feel like writing a whole new routine. Turning around on the bed, I see a woman undressed, asleep since late this night. I consider waking her, but I just prepare to leave; it's more befitting of ...

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“Fugazi” by Ian Barrett

Submitted to Contest #127

Mystic Mordo’s is a local psychic shop tucked in between a nail salon and a shawarma shop. Most of the customers immediately notice the sharp contrast of acetone and roasted meat as they make their way through a doorway comprised of strands of glass beads that clank together announcing their arrival. The customer is met by a woman named Veruca. Her real name is Gina but she thought it sounded more Slavic and she loves the character in Roald Dahl’s book. She leads them through a small waiting room which is adorned with various items...

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“LISTEN CAREFULLY” by Cynthia Helton

Submitted to Contest #127

“You really should stop now.” That niggling voice is back in my head but I can’t walk away yet. Working as a psychic has never been more lucrative and I am really good at the game. Do I feel guilty about what I do? Sure, but I like being able to pay off my debts more. Today, I have two appointments lined up for the morning and one house call in the afternoon. Which means by three, my day will be done and my checking account will be a thousand dollars richer. Not too shabby for four hours of w...

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“Bad Feelings” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #127

EmmaLynn always knew she the power to feel people's feelings in her gut and in her heart, but this time something is different, this time she can't explain what is happening, this time her gut and her heart is telling her something is wrong. Since she was a little girl EmmaLynn knew she had the power to feel, the power to know when something is wrong. Her mother calls it a gift. EmmaLynn didn't understand what she was feeling or how far it would go until her grandmother passed away. She knew in her heart something was wrong. EmmaLynn t...

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“The Expiring of Emma Hollingsworth” by Susannah Meszynski

Submitted to Contest #127

New England, 1815Emma Hollingsworth was dead alright. The carriage door must not have been secured properly for it slipped open and Emma tumbled out and hit her head on a rock. She lay where she fell as limp as a boned-fish. When the doctor was rushed onto the scene to examine her battered body and bruised head, he pronounced her expired. Now she serenely lay under six-feet of spring soil and a heap of sympathetic flowers. All manner of folk in town came to cry over her grave. I tried very hard to cry like a dutiful mourner, but the tea...

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“Intimate Strangers” by Julia Abelsohn

Submitted to Contest #127

It was a morning like any other. After pushing the snooze button twice, I got out of bed and jumped into the shower. I let the steam and warm soapy water bring me back to life and even splurged on a couple of drops of lavender to wake up my senses. I got a fresh towel from the rack and lavished my dry skin with some rose fragranced olive oil. I brushed my teeth and applied moisturizer to my face. It was a morning like any other, but no amount of lavender oil or rose cream could relieve me of this feeling that something dark was brewing.&nbsp...

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“The Dream” by Bobby Bone

Submitted to Contest #127

The Dreamby Bobby BoneThomas looked up from his computer and gazed into the dimly lit room. As the sun went down the twilight created the dreary mood in which Thomas found himself. He had been engulfed in his informal internet research for so long that he was unsure of the time of day. The darkness that surrounded him indicated that he had lost track of time, but the intensity of his dream the night earlier led him to this compelling activity. Sliding his chair across the tiled floor caused a loud screeching sound that ec...

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“Fortunately, Charlotte Hamilton was hit by a car” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #127

When I regained consciousness, I was slightly startled to be lying on my back on damp, cool, rough cement, feeling mildly befuddled. Before even attempting to open my eyes to further assess my situation or see whose hands were resting on my shoulders, I paused to appreciate the absence of the mild but gnawing discomfort I had been having in my stomach recently, and the new presence of a feeling of satisfaction, as if something had been sorted out. I would have taken a few more moments...

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“Welcome to Apocalypse Burger, Would You Like to Try Our End of Days Combo Meal?” by Chris Churilla

Submitted to Contest #127

I’m bending down to pick up a brown present dropped by my seven-year-old corgi Buddy during our morning walk when I feel it–something I haven’t felt in fifteen years.Trouble.Danger, Will Robinson, danger!Buddy whines, so he must sense it too.Still in my half-bent position, I look around, trying to keep it casual. Nothing seems out of place, but what do you expect at 7AM on a Tuesday morning in suburbia?I realize I must look pretty silly, having been in that position for at least ten seconds, so anyone watching me with ill intent knows I made...

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“THE BLACK FIGURE COMING OUT OF THE SEWER” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #127

THE BLACK FIGURE COMING OUT OF THE SEWER The villa had been built about ten years earlier. So it was in a modern, if not postmodern style, although perhaps someone might prefer to speak of the eclectic style of the early 2000s . So it was all corners and edges….oh, but the great villa had also chimneys in a shape of a three sided prism. To access the large entrance door, of stained glass and enameled metal, you had to go up a long and very steep staircase of white marble. The villa did not have a harmo...

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“Unnatural Selection” by Rajiv Iyer

Submitted to Contest #127

[DISCLAIMER: SciFi, Sensitive/Polarizing topics, Dark Dystopia, Social Problems, Govt Tyranny, Violence. Heavy, dark stuff. Please DO NOT READ if you are sensitive, or Survivor of War/Genocide/Atrocities, or predisposed to Depression.][Note: It was difficult to somehow incorporate “intuition” with the idea I had in mind for “a problem with no good solutions”. I hope that my story is still given due consideration.]YEAR 2050: Gibson was the Chief of the top-secret facility, in-charge of the entire operation. He was heading back to his office a...

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“Right at Sundown” by Tersa Mathews

Submitted to Contest #127

There was the pond and there was I, the floating inbetween- the two legged stance in motion, tending my heart-my father, and a drowning memory. At any given moment I could be upended by Dad's passing; as he was passing, ever so slow, limboing amid oxygen and angst. Death represented itself in the water and in the waiting and all I could do was breathe, in a purgatory complete with well fed catfish rolling in the shallows.I had realized after a conversation with Dad only a month earlier- that he was in need of great love. That he was perhaps-...

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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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