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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#132: Time to Blume

On February 12th, Judy Blume turns 84 — and her bestselling book, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, is finally becoming a feature film this year. To celebrate, we’re featuring prompts based on the YA classic released over 50 years ago.

If you need a refresher, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret follows 6th grader Margaret Simon in her quest for a religious identity. Her mother was raised Christian, her father Jewish. They’ve decided not to impose one belief or the other on their daughter, but that leaves Margaret longing for a god of her own to talk to.

Dive into this blast-from-the-past and relive your childhood reading by writing a story based on one of our five Judy Blume prompts.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character saying “Are you there, God? It’s me…”

Dialogue – 108 stories

Write a story where a character is exploring their religious or spiritual identity.

Fiction – 59 stories

Write a story about a couple with fundamentally different beliefs.

Valentine's Day – 23 stories

End your story with a character saying “Thank you, God. Thanks an awful lot.” (sarcastically or not).

Dialogue – 44 stories

Write a story about a teenager whose family is moving.

Teens – 46 stories

Stories

“City Me, Suburb Me” by Deborah Hogenmiller

Submitted to Contest #132

This is NOT how I planned to spend my summer! I didn’t want to move. I liked the city, and my friends, and my dog, Spotty. He was better known as the “neighborhood mutt” because we couldn’t keep him in the yard. He always managed to dig his way out under the fence and wander around everywhere. “I don’t want you going to high school here,” Mom said. “Kids are bringing knives to school and I don’t want you to get hurt.” I was in sixth grade and felt I still had plenty of time before worrying about high school. But Mom had already made up her ...

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“Since then.” by Mort Michael Mortonson

Submitted to Contest #132

He had managed to put it off for a couple years now. He figured eventually he would hire someone to do it for him. Now, standing in that dingy basement of boxes, full of musty memories that no one cared to remember, he knew that eventually had come and gone. Maybe if I’d done things differently, he thought for a moment before shaking the thought from his head and focusing on the boxes. The contents of each was hand scrawled on the outside in magic marker. He saw they included things like X-MAS Stuff, X-MAS Ornaments, or XMAS etc. Then he sa...

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“How Margaret Became An Angel” by Emese TheBookAddict

Submitted to Contest #132

“Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret.” Margaret asked the sky. The sky said nothing back. There was silence. Margaret sat, cross-legged, on the usual marble slab in the centre of the graveyard. She tipped her head back and glared at the sky, her hands held cupped before her face. She blinked. And waited. And the sky kept its silence. Margaret let out a sigh. She’d come here nearly every day for the last two years. She stood up and looked down at her mother's tombstone. “Goodbye.” She whispered. She’d been here for t...

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“Are You Listening to Me God” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #132

“Are you there God? It’s me Jo. I need your help and I’ve asked you so many times. Do you hear me now, do you ever hear me? Or do you just ignore me like everyone else?” She sat upright on the old wooden pew. The familiar smell of wood somehow seemed to settle her. It reminded her of childhood times when she would go over to see her Grandma, the only person she could truly trust and open up to. Walking in through the front door she smelt the old wooden furniture, the beeswax pungent. As always the warm chubby arms would hug her tigh...

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“I Would Have Missed ” by Cindy Joyner

Submitted to Contest #132

Are You There? by Cynthia Joyner "Are you there, God? It's me..." You know this age stuff just kind of crept up on me. I look in the mirror and sometimes don't recognize the lady looking back at me. I wonder where the young woman went with so many hopes and dreams and exciting adventures in front of her. It's like I fell asleep one night young, strong, and spirited and awoke tired, lost, and sort of pushed off to the sidelines of my life. I once knew my purpose. I was a mother of five children, a wife, a nurse, and then a grandma and neede...

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“Throne Thrown” by Bryan Kost

Submitted to Contest #132

"Throne Thrown" by Bryan Kost -------------------- Are you there, God? It’s me, Satan. Just checking in. Sorry it’s been a while. Man I’ve been busy. Busy on man, I’ve been. Running a pandemic takes a lot! Sure you understand. Seriously, though, I’ve been thinking. I wanted to get your thoughts on something. On us. Our contention, the stakes, the score, the future of it all. Our relationship. Okay, I’ll just put it out there: Maybe we could hit a ‘...

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“We need eachotter” by Andrea Rivera

Submitted to Contest #132

We need eachotter Are you there, God? It's me, you know, just hanging out at the foot of my bed, drinking a glass of wine, and it's my first one all week, so don't get all judgy on me. It's been a long week, and it's Friday night, well almost, but I have a "nothing to do" Saturday morning tomorrow, so don't worry about it. Great, Amelia thought, I'm in my pj's, talking to myself out loud, like a crazy person, and sober. You already know all of this, right? I mean, you must know, given you're all omnipresent and stuff, I ...

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“Existentialist ” by Lisa Turlo

Submitted to Contest #132

1965 I wanted to be a saint when I was little. I watched a movie about Saint Bernadette, and I was up for the challenge. It was my greatest ambition at age five to be canonized. I did not understand the concept of martyrdom. I imagined myself performing miracles, healing the sick with a touch of my pure, sweet, intensely good hand. I could see the Pope bending down to me to look into my eyes and marvel at my virtue. I was unlike any other child in the world. I had an inner light, a goodness that came directly from God. I wore a beautiful win...

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“Bruised by Denial” by Hudson Lille Venn

Submitted to Contest #132

Nearly every year, I run into the basement, scrambling for some pretty sheets of construction paper and crayons to make a reasonably acceptable Christmas card for my grandparents. Winter 2010 was no different, except this year I decided to spice up the cards a bit. I had drawn nearly the same Christmas tree on green or red paper every year, and I wanted to do something new. I was an angsty thirteen, didn’t believe in God, and was in a hurry for some inspiration. So this year, I used yellow paper instead, I drew a candle, and I wrote “Merry C...

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“The Dying Synesthete” by Maria Avisal

Submitted to Contest #132

Just as I am dozing off, my previously toned body now emaciated from the calories the cancer consumed as it had evaded five types of chemotherapy and a course of radiation, I hear the faint notes of an Adele song from the nurses’ station outside my room. My vision fills with a deep velvety purple, which morphs to the color of a glass of merlot, which then becomes the red of a classic rose. If it was been any other artist, I would ignore the colors I see with the musical notes as I have do...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

127

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 11, 2022 EST

Won by Adam El Nabli 🏆

Title: Inshallah

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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