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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

“Aina's Reanimation” by L.A. Goff

Submitted to Contest #130

I believed you were an angel. Do you remember? The glow of the lanterns formed a halo around your white gown but their light was dim next to the copper glinting in your hair. When you leaned over my casket, the long curls brushed my skin and left behind the smell of roses. The fragrance was strong, as if petals were crushed into each strand. God created your face in the shape of a heart, an obvious choice for an angel. It floated inches above mine, green eyes searching my brown ones until I lost the strength to hold mine open. ...

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“The Locked Door” by Ken Davey

Submitted to Contest #130

Five people are in a locked room. There are no windows and no means of escape. In the room is a round table with six chairs. On the table is a telephone. There is nothing else in the room. ‘Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I’m Ned. I’m a salesman and I have no idea how I came to be in this locked room.’ ‘Hi, Ned. I’m Joe and like you, I don’t know how I got here either. Oh, yes, I’m a car mechanic.’ ‘As we seem to be going around the table in an anti-clockwise manner, I guess I’m next. I’m Bob, long-term unemployed, but a ca...

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“Paradise Bound ” by FabWritesStuff -

Submitted to Contest #130

Caitlin Hampton was already having a bad day. She had woken up late that morning after her alarm failed to go off, and in her morning rush she had ended up spilling an entire cup of iced coffee all over herself. Of course she hadn’t had time to shower so her best solution was to simply throw on the last dirty shirt that she had managed to fish out of the hamper of the clothes she had meant to wash last night. Now she was cold and sticky, and dealing with the absolute last person she wanted to see. Of all the diners in the city, Asher Hale...

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“Lavender & Merlot” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #130

There was a distinct and frosty chill in the late fall evening as Abigail made her way to the small Italian restaurant called La Pasta. The rustic, multi-colored leaves whispered in the breeze, blowing and scattering everywhere as her black heels clicked methodically with each step she took on the narrow sidewalk. Reaching up, she attempted to push back the loose wisps of russet-colored hair that flew about her face, but it was a futile endeavor. This evening, despite her best attempts to tame the thick, lustrous curls, her hair had a m...

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“The semantic conspiracy” by Ana Ribeiro

Submitted to Contest #130

I was in line waiting for my turn to pay my bill and there was this pair of people spamming the air with doubt and some crippled anger. They had bodies and their eyes were ignoring everything around them. Arguing is how people described what was happening. From the way the bank clerk felt that pair was more important than my bills, I supposed they were doing something that could put at risk the peace of the place. There wasn’t any physical action between them though, but somehow everyone was interested to hear their voices while trying to ma...

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“One Night In Nature Won't Kill Us” by Clay Harker

Submitted to Contest #130

“Just perfect.” “Dude, you’re only happy when you’re complaining. It’s probably why Jazz dumped you. You just need to be a little more like me, a real mellow fellow.” “Ouch! Jasmine wasn’t my type anyway. She digs guys with nothing more than vanity muscles, subterranean IQ's, and hot air. Chase Hunt is a prime example. Even the guy’s name screams “country club prestige to make up for a tiny—” “I get it.” “I’m just saying, it’s getting darker, we’re out of jerky, and I’m exhausted. My phone is dead, and we didn’t exactly leave a trail of ...

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“The Prophecy in the Stars” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #130

Greetings avid readers. Allow me to welcome you to another one of my unusual stories. This one is a bit different, which is why I am speaking unto you in this manner. The name was generated by their title generator. I found it quite appropriate considering my interests and the tea I stumbled onto a few days ago.This one is a mixture of fact and fiction. I have based the fact on past evidence. I will even give you a website address to do your own research at the end. Who knows that it may inspire you to become an amateur astrologist. The fict...

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“The Locked Door ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #130

My name is Zigfried Zanmori. Besides the cumbersome name I have lived with all my life, I was now standing in front of a locked door. I have no idea of where the key is or what secrets lie inside of the vault behind the large iron door. I’ve been warned that there are certain doors and portals that are better left locked. Pandora’s Box flashes through my mind, but my curiosity is a much stronger impulse at this moment in my life. This house belonged to my grandfather Zarkoff Zanmori who was as eccentric as ecc...

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“The Locked Door” by Gianluca Angelucci

Submitted to Contest #130

There is a locked door, at my place. Probably I had better not call it “my place”, it’s just the place where I am. Maybe it would be more correct to say that I am it’s dweller rather than it being my place… Doesn’t make much of a difference, does it? Whatever the case, there is that one door that doesn’t want me to go through. I roam, one room to the other, yet my path leads me back to that merciless obstacle, just one single locked door. Where are my manners, I should at least say my name, shouldn’t I? I am… actually… does that even mat...

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“CHIMP FEET” by CHIEF John West

Submitted to Contest #130

CHIMP FEET Sanders Theater at Harvard University in Boston is the venue for the Annual IG Nobel prize awards. These awards recognize important work done by various folk throughout the world in bringing the results of their improbable research to universal notice. In 2006, for example, one such prize was awarded to a researcher in the Nether...

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“The Prince of Spades” by John Werner

Submitted to Contest #130

The Prince of Spades The quiet tap of the cards stirred me from my own mind and memories. The shuffle-tap, shuffle-tap I had heard so many times before had become so commonplace that it was soothing. It evoked the same feelings as a warm blanket smelling of home or of the warmth of a hand entwined with mine. I looked up and smiled. The Prince of Spades had played me many times. Sometimes I won. Sometimes he won. But there was always a prize to be won and always a price to be paid. His thin smile stretched the saggy skin of his jowls so t...

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“The Thief's Guide to Thiefdom” by Patrick Borosky

Submitted to Contest #130

Rule #1 from the Thief’s Guide to ThiefdomNever steal more than you need. The world is filled with sycophants who prey upon the weak and the helpless. The thief does not steal to hurt or oppress; a true thief partakes in the art of thievery to make their life slightly better than it once was. ---Niko surveyed the building before her. She had followed the directions precisely and found the secluded place as instructed. She had climbed the Edrea mountains to discover that one of its peaks had collapsed into itself to reveal a hidden basin unkn...

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“The Locked Door” by Mandy Sayers

Submitted to Contest #130

The kids are small enough to fit together in the bathtub. They splash each other and try to stand up. I tell them over and over they need comfy butts in the tub. I have a recurring fear of them falling, swallowing water, and dry drowning hours later while asleep. I read about it in a mommy blog once. To keep them occupied, I wave a bubble wand over their heads. The opaque bubbles float down to pop in their outstretched hands. The glee something so simple can bring lifts my mouth into a smile. I bundle them in towels, swipe q-tips in t...

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“The Locked Door” by Anna Coon

Submitted to Contest #130

I’ve been stuck behind this locked door for 5 years. Moryen the elf captured me when I was just a dumb teenager going on a walk. I was clearing my head after a fight with my mother… I’m sorry, a disagreement. Royals aren’t allowed to have fights or even talk about our feelings. But what I wouldn’t give to have a fight with my mother now- a real fight. I miss my family; I miss my friends. Heck, I miss PEOPLE. I only see the elf when she visits once a week to drop off food. Behind her back I call her a goblin, ogre, witch- all the...

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“AT THE WATERING CLUB” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #130

AT THE WATERING CLUB The club, four rooms in all, three of which could be accessed even by people who were not members of the club, was located on the third floor on an old building, a building with stone stairs and no lift, that stood on one side of the largest square of the city. So that, like the palace ( building) that club, very original, and almost innovative, came to be right in front of what was known as the most infamous bar in the city. This bar, the Richard bar, was frequ...

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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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