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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#130: What's in a Name?

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about names: our names, and the names we give to stories, and the way they shape people’s expectations. So I’ve decided to try something new: as you’ll see, two of this week’s prompts let you play around with our Title Generator and Character Name Generator to spark ideas — and the rest explore what the implications of titles and names can be. Have fun!

This week's prompts

Create a title with our Title Generator, then write a story inspired by it.

Teens – 97 stories

Write about a character whose name you got from our Character Name Generator.

Character – 46 stories

Start your story with someone finding an object labeled with their name.

Horror – 37 stories

Set your story in a nameless world.

Kids – 27 stories

Write a story titled ‘The Locked Door.’

Dark – 77 stories

Stories

“Things My Mother Never Told Me” by Mike Henry

Submitted to Contest #130

It was a lovely funeral, as funerals go. Everything looked to be just right – enough floral tributes to fill a cathedral, glistening black limos (grandson Ted had his own dealership) and a decent throng of neighbours. There were parishioners and sundry nosey-parkers - all displaying doleful expressions and clutching soggy hankies but really just there not wanting to miss this send-off for someone who had been a stalwart churchgoer and parishioner for over sixty years. That would be my mother. Even the English weather had obliged – perfe...

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“Scott Moss ” by Lorna Bean

Submitted to Contest #130

The air was cool and calm at the first light of dawn, but the blameless empty skies spoke of the oppressive heat that was to come.Scott Moss was standing in the doorway of his shearing shed. Dust was dancing in the weak light, and he surveyed the scene with watery, red eyes. There had been no shearing for two years now. Dank, rotting wool gathered in the corners and around the chutes of the once pristine shed. Floorboards, polished to a burned amber by a thousand footfalls, both man and animal, now wore a thick coat of grease. Mouse dro...

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“The Song of the Beech Tree” by Brad Weatherley

Submitted to Contest #130

The wind whistled through the great maple tree that stood in the center of the front yard of the Davison Family Farmhouse. A little girl swung lazily and carefree in a tire swing tied to the tree. The house was pearl white with oxford blue shutters, there were hydrangeas planted in the front of the house and decorative flowerpots with pansies on both sides of the door. A long slate rock sidewalk led down to a rocky driveway with lanterns intermittently placed on the sides. The driveway curved in a long roundabout way that created a circle th...

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“What's In A Name” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #130

My Hero is dead, killed by the Beast thundering outside the door. I am just a Sidekick, Besnik the Loyal. I can only wait until a new Hero arrives to take up his sword and save me. Until then, I must hide from the terror that has taken control of the castle. The battle was fierce, the scaled and fire-breathing Beast, Sepheron, was victorious and defeated the courageous Hero Kane. The castle grounds are littered with the detritus of the epic clash. The once beautiful gardens are scorched, burnt to blackened crisps by Sephe...

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“GENEVIEVE” by Chidimma Ezeogbuka

Submitted to Contest #130

WRITE ABOUT A CHARACTER WHOSE NAME YOU GOT FROM OUR CHARACTER NAME GENERATOR TITLE: GENEVIEVE Genevieve turns repeatedly on her bed forcing herself to sleep but it seems sleep has left her eyes. She hisses and sits up on her bed wearing a long frown, she looks on top of the vanity set and sees a note. She stretches her hand and gets it, the note reads ‘’Hey my love, you were still in bed when I finished dressing for work, and I didn’t want to disturb you especially knowing that you haven’t slept up to three hours because of our babies. ...

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“The Lost Knight” by Dimarnae Deveau

Submitted to Contest #130

Jal springs awake, jumps to his feet and yells, “Back you fowl beast!” Striking a stone Lyon across its neck, knocking its head clean off. “Hey!” Yells the shop keeper, running at Jal broom in hand. Jal readies himself sword poised for strike, stunned that this man is brave enough to come at him with a piece of wood. He slashes the broomstick in half with one swoop, sending the shop keeper fleeing in the opposite direction. Sheathing his sword, he takes a look around and furrows his brow, confused. Not...

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“Change” by Marisa Vargas

Submitted to Contest #130

"Clarissa" was the name on the necklace she found while walking in the woods. How odd to think that she couldn't even find a bicyle license plate with her name on it! But here, her very own name appeared at the end of the delicate gold chain. It dangled between her fingers. She lovingly moved her fingers to trace each letter. She had always loved her name. Though obviously it was not common.This necklace piqued her curiousity. "What is she like?" She wondered to herself. "Is she like me?" A lover of nature, animals, and almost all humanity; ...

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“Little Touch of Heaven” by Sarah Lemke

Submitted to Contest #130

Thea Daniels. Thea didn’t think her mother had known her name, yet there it was, scrawled on the box of her mother’s belongings. It had taken Thea a while before she could even look at the box, let alone think about opening it. The mother who was in this box was a stranger to Thea, not her mom. No, Thea’s mom was downstairs reading in her favorite armchair, like she did every night after dinner. Thea knew none of the habits of the mother in this box, but she knew that would change as soon as she opened it. The box was packed neatly, though...

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“The Chambered Shepherd” by Francis Hill

Submitted to Contest #130

The shadow of Risteard’s cape cloaks me. ‘Lag Oscaid,’ freshly embroidered in Risteard’s black cape below the oxen family crest. I am to champion my crippled older brother. Accused of murdering and kidnapping a mariner’s daughter, Risteard rots shackled in a Pori labyrinth.Burly magistrate guards bust our hut and find blonde hairs in Risteard’s chamber. Hair of the missing girl. Chief Falltach’s wife shaves her own blonde hair to the scalp, days prior. A coincidence? Last summer scourge men cleave Risteard’s arms. A sacrifice defending Chief...

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“Taken from the other side” by Jarrod V

Submitted to Contest #130

“Sir, I believe yesterday’s experiment yielded some rather interesting results, the conditions within the containment cube have actually stabilised this time and so far it appears to be holding this state indefinitely”, Dr Aaron Yang said this as he handed a vacuum sealed glass cube to Dr Peter Mitsko.“Well that is surprising indeed, the new experimental parameters I proposed were not really based on much more than a hunch.” replied Mitsko.“Well your hunch must’ve been correct. Using human DNA as the pairing mechanism, meant we’d find anothe...

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“Magenta” by Tobi Summers

Submitted to Contest #130

Saena Wilkee had, historically, had some trouble finding things with her name monogrammed on them. If by “some trouble,” she meant that she had never, not once in the entirety of her thirty-five years on Earth, looked at an object and seen her name printed on it, unless she had written it herself. This had bothered her as a child. Okay, this had bothered her last week when she’d tried to buy something off Etsy and found out they were upcharging for “custom monograms.” All this to say, when she came face-to-face with something that said SAE...

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“Tombstone” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #130

I was taking my evening constitutional through a well-kept graveyard when I saw, at a distance, the tombstone bearing my name. The Hamilton marker stood there, gaunt and gray, like a foul-smelling intruder loitering at the edge of a convivial garden party, an intruder keeping an eye on someone who owed an impossible debt. I was already in a somber mood, what with constant news of the pandemic, and my recent heart irregularities, which had led my cardiologist, Brent, to recommend this daily walk. So yes, the tombstone gave me pause. I asked ...

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“I, woman” by Jasmine Perrine

Submitted to Contest #130

Woman looked at Man and they wept together. I, woman told man that he, man, was good. I, woman told man that he, man was beautiful. Man looked at me, woman and smiled. Man said I, woman was as beautiful as the moon. He, man said I, woman was luminescent. Man shrugged shoulders when I, woman suggested more. Man took my, woman’s hand and led me, woman to the door. Man said I, woman was good, but not good enough. Man said I, woman was clingy. Man said I, woman was too much. I, woman, cried when he, man shut the door. I, woman, fell on my, woman...

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“The Nameless Planet” by Sheila Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #130

Scientists discovered a New World where everybody was full of Love and highly intelligent. There were no Sickness and Diseases. There was no corruption, and Everybody lent a helping hand to one another and lived a happy, productive lifestyle until Scientists devised a plot to take over the world. On this nameless planet that they discovered, the air was clean and contamination-free, the grass was greener. There were no harsh weather conditions, and there was better technology. People were able to get around at high velocity. Everything...

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“The Nameless Lands” by Robson Williams

Submitted to Contest #130

(Contains brief moments of sensitive language and violence. Reader's discretion must advise.) The Nameless Lands Robson. W The pyromancer in red sat on a tall smooth block of moss stone over a valley of white blanket grass and pale dead trees. The flakes that fluttered freely like freezing stars were relentless. It had been going on for five months with so much as a minute of pause. The pyromancer had been killing his time by tossing a ball of small fire around from one gloved hand to another, both concealing black, charred skin and blo...

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$250

Prize money

284

Contest entries

179

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 28, 2022 EST

Won by Allie Erickson 🏆

Title: A Man's Man

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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