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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

“Conjured Pandemic” by John Walsh

Submitted to Contest #130

The forbidden spells were always arduous to cast. Send Despair nearly killed Msia Yar’Adua. Now he only needed a few words and his atlas to make anyone in the world feel his pain. He flipped through the pages, pointed, said the words and imagined the sickness, the confusion, the tears. Merad Prewitt sat on the metal chair, at metal table in windowless room. &nbsp...

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“The Colossus in the Storm” by W.D. Pierce

Submitted to Contest #130

TW: Violence, Some Language, Mention of R*pe - So, as you all have probably gathered, my whole life has been shot to hell. But before I get to that, let me rewind to the afternoon my life fell apart. It was a Tuesday, so I was in my Art History 1040E class when I felt my phone vibrate twice. The first message was my dad, telling me "To the moon & back." It was our way of saying I love you, ever since I was little. It never failed to make me smile, and today was no exception. I opened the second text from an unknown number, and ...

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“A Girl Named Erika” by Tony Hall

Submitted to Contest #130

Erika Steel rounded the final turn of the quarter-mile race track, her short blonde hair whipping wildly in the wind. Standing six-foot-tall, her long, slender legs kicked her sprint into overdrive as she smoked her competitors by a full twenty yards!Erika's glistening arms raised high in victory - like her namesake's Norse Valkyrie ruler of old. She searched the stands and smiled at Aunt Charlie, her flamboyant legal guardian, jumping and waving her own pink poms-poms.The announcer sounded equally thrilled. "Ladies and gentlemen! Senior ath...

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“jar.” by Vivian Garroway

Submitted to Contest #130

It was a hot summer's day, and Katharine Bennett had been cleaning out a cluttered kitchen cupboard when she came across a jar that she had never seen before. It caught her eye, as there was a label on it, a white rectangular sticker that had her name neatly scrawled across it. It wasn't her mother's handwriting, her father's, nor was it her own. Clutching the jar in her hand, she slowly climbed down the step-stool that she had been precariously balancing on. The jar wasn't made of clear glass, it was yellow porcelain, with pink detailin...

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“The Skeleton Key” by Rebecca Stack

Submitted to Contest #130

The Skeleton Key Clearing out the attic of her late fathers’ house, Annie comes across a chest covered by a layer of dust, wiping it off with delicate strokes, her name becomes apparent in the brass on top. She carefully opens the lid, wondering what memories or treasures she may find inside. Peeking in she is surprised to find all it contains is a skeleton key which seems to be carved out of skeletal bone. `This is the strangest thing’ she contemplates to herself. Her name is intertwined into the bow of the key in a lo...

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“Order of the Cosmos” by Gini Swancy

Submitted to Contest #130

The growl from the guys, working in the backroom, likely means that they’ve discovered a donation that is more trash than charity. I’ve been working in this thrift store for the past few years, the one behind the Piggly Wiggly, that raises money for the no-kill animal shelter. It isn’t like this was my life aspiration, but when I visited the shelter in search of a canine companion, the sad, sweet faces of the too many dogs broke my heart. I started volunteering just one day a week, which quickly morphed into being offered a very low paying,...

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“Macy Blue” by Jessica Reese

Submitted to Contest #130

Macy Blue Macy picked up the rock sitting at her feet. It was a smooth one like the ones she would find at the beach in her hometown. She ran her soft fingers over the grey-blue stone and turned it over. The rock nearly melted in her hands when she read the inscription: Macy Blue. She hugged the smooth stone in her palms and plopped down on the nearest bench. Her chest moved in and out as she searched her mind for how this stone knew her name. The name her father called her. This park would have never known him. It lived in Brooklyn, New Yo...

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“Intimate Objects” by Thomas Graham

Submitted to Contest #130

I don’t usually pick up trash from the street. Maybe it was the newness of the little piece of cardboard that made me grab it. It wasn’t rumpled or soiled, and its corners were still sharp. That’s probably why I picked it up—unsullied, it begged to be rescued from the rubbish around it.The side that caught my attention was entirely blank, its color an unremarkable business-buff. It was slightly bigger than a business card—it would fit in a wallet. Unlike a business card, attached to one side was a small loop of elastic string.I flipped over ...

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“No Such Thing As Random” by Alim Kinte

Submitted to Contest #130

Every world is nameless when you don't know who made it. You think ants walk around saying this is earth, this is that lady's backyard?On the potato tree a hornets nest was fastened to a branch with bug spit and dirt; the hive itself was concrete grey with a spiraling design going all around it, similarly to a pinecone. The leaves held the last pieces of light from the sun as it collapsed below the horizon, and it made the leaves look enchanted like a spell was casted on them that only lasted as long as the witch was alive, the witch being t...

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“THE LOCKED DOOR” by Darrell Grant

Submitted to Contest #130

(Warning: May cause emotional response) Years of hiding in the shadows behind a locked door had become a way of life for Claus Snepps. It was the Germany he and his five-year-old grandchild had come to know. To them there was only darkness and fear surrounded by death and despair for his grandchild was Jewish. They had been living in a world of quietness for the past year on the first floor of his once proud beautiful building that had once vibrated with the sounds of life, the very sounds that could now lead to grief and death. For n...

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“The Locked Door by C.E. Metcalf” by Conrad M

Submitted to Contest #130

When I was a child, I lived with my grandmother why to this day I don't really know. Not that it really matters. Many years have gone by since then. But one thing I'll always remember was a locked door. I asked many times what was behind it and grandma would always say nothing for you to be concerned about. But of course, I was a curious boy like most boys my age. I wanted in the worst way to find out what was behind it. No matter how hard I begged grandma she never gave in. She caught me a couple of times trying to pick the lock on the door...

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“The Locked Door” by Cindy Joyner

Submitted to Contest #130

The Locked Door by Cynthia Joyner It was 1978. winter in the old steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was twelve and had just entered into that awkward preteen stage of life. It was hard enough being shy and so unsure of myself, but at this age, those qualities seemed to be magnified immensely by the fact that I was the oldest of three girls. I was a quiet girl, that pretty much kept to myself. Reading was my favorite pastime. I loved the escape a good book offered. To clean my...

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“The Locked Door ” by Louise Muller

Submitted to Contest #130

The key glistened as the afternoon sun kissed it lightly. It seemed to taunt me, whispering that this was what I had been waiting for, refusing to go unnoticed any longer. My sister, Mary, sat next to me. Her eyes, too, were fixed on the golden object that offered so many answers. The air around us seemed to change as expectation hung in the air. Was today the day we’d finally get to go into Dad’s locked door? For as long as I can remember, the door was forbidden. In fact, just a stare in the general direction of the room would be enough t...

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“The Locked Door” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #130

He gripped the doorknob, the cold brass sending a chill through his small hand. He turned his wrist, not surprised to hear the click that always accompanied the knob’s premature halt. Well, the door always clicked now. It didn't before... but he could hardly remember a time when the knob was able to rotate past this point.Was there ever a time when this door opened? The doorknob stopped at exactly the same spot when he rotated it left and when he rotated it to the right. He didn’t react; he no longer reacted. He no longer crie...

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“The Locked Door” by Angie N

Submitted to Contest #130

One step, two steps, three…. “No, this isn’t right!” screamed Kevin. He could not think about any other word but God or else he would have to go right back to the first step. He felt tension build up in his chest and could not let the intrusive thought come true. If he said any other word, he was going to burn in hell. As Kevin repeated the process, he felt his mind becoming bombarded with anxiety. It was like a scorching sensation in his heart. He then rushed to the kitchen and skimmed through his refrigerator for a bite to eat. There w...

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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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