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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#135: I Wanna See You Be Brave

Looking at the children’s books I used to read, there’s a lot of emphasis on being courageous. It makes sense — growing up means facing one tough new thing after another. But in adulthood, we stop thinking about bravery so much, as if the concept is confined to the chivalrous men and misfit animals of fairy tales and picture books.

This week, let’s think about what bravery (or its opposite) really means, in an everyday context, a fantasy world, or a children’s story.

This week's prompts

Write about a hero or a villain deathly afraid of doing their job.

Adventure – 37 stories

Start your story with someone stepping outside their comfort zone.

Middle School – 60 stories

Set your story in a town full of cowards.

Fiction – 31 stories

Write a story where fortune doesn’t favor the brave.

Thriller and Suspense – 38 stories

Write about a casual act of bravery.

Narrative – 46 stories

Stories

“But You're A Man ” by A Naomee

Submitted to Contest #135

Based on a true story.Charlie swiped a swerved clearing from the steamed mirror as the shower ran hot. He didn’t look at himself at first. He stared down at his hands instead as they gripped the sink tight, keeping himself from trembling. He was afraid to look, afraid to see if it was as bad as it felt. Just man up already. He taunted himself and finally forced a glance. His right eye was already swelling and that sting on his lip gave true his expectations of a split. His beard could keep that discrete as it healed. But his eye, he knew it ...

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“Up in the Sky” by Margarita Escobar

Submitted to Contest #135

I’m 15, but I’ll be 16 in two months. Old enough to have some say in whether I want to see another stupid doctor. Not that they ever give me a choice. I'm sick and tired of my parents dragging me from place to place like this. My mother says, “We’re seeking someone to help us solve your problem.” What problem? I don’t have a problem. I like to be left alone to do my shit, but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me. Well, there was that suicide attempt, but that’s in the past. I’m okay now. But my parents don’t get it. If t...

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“Three By Three” by Doreen Shea

Submitted to Contest #135

Contains cancer-related words and emotional tolls. Three By Three The children walked down the cold tile squares, careful not to land in the “lava” or the odd gray ones. They were still children, after all. Some still played games, but mostly they were afraid, afraid of this building, afraid of tomorrow, and afraid of this new life. They were selected to be here by an unlucky spin on some unkind wheel of “unfortune”. It did not care if you were five, twelve, or forty years old. Today the youngest ones were...

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“Overstayed Its Welcome” by Tom Falconer

Submitted to Contest #135

Ashley and her father John had gained a lot of weight. It had been 5 years this day, since Ashley's mother had passed. Her mother used to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner; she would take care of the entire home and take Ashley to school.Ashley was too young to have learned how to provide healthy energy for her family and John, her father, was always exhausted from the mines. The depression hadn't got easier for him, and his age was starting to show, the mines took more and more of a toll on him these days. His pay was going down and down...

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“The River” by Zea MindWerl

Submitted to Contest #135

Trevan wasn’t what anyone would call special. The most exciting thing about him was where he lived. Trevan lived in the town at the edge of the river. This was no ordinary river, and so, it was no ordinary town. If the river had been anywhere else it would have been just like any other river, but it wasn’t. So. This was the Mida river, and it was the border between two very old, very tired countries. The town was named after the river, and in many ways, they were the same. Old and slow and sometimes very temperamental. However, the town...

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“Bravery to Repent” by L.J Sunwing

Submitted to Contest #135

Jesse marches to his truck with a black eye and a bruised ego, he never thought his girlfriend's skating partner would return a blow to his face. After seeing the muscular and lean man dance with Aelina he felt rage boil in the pit of his stomach. It aggravated him to know that the woman who touched him so gently did the same thing with someone else, not only in sport but what possibly may have been in a private relationship as well. Jesse slams the truck door on his side. Aelina sits on the other seat and looks out the window. “Do you kno...

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“A Casual Act of Bravery” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #135

My Opinion of the Event It happened in a matter of seconds. I behaved as I think anyone else would. The reporter called it an act of bravery. I don’t think that was 100 percent true. And I definitely wish that the picture had not been taken at that particular time, with me ending up appearing on the front page of the local newspaper. I looked ridiculous, almost obscene. Still, she took me out to dinner. Walking Along the Beach It was my first time at this beach, and I looked like an idiot. My brown sh...

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“Stronger ” by Hiren Dusara

Submitted to Contest #135

The bus doors opened with a hiss and children poured out onto the grey wet pavement. Zachery stepped out just as the bus doors closed again, he struggled to button up his worn blazer. He couldn’t wait to start Year 8 and finally get a new school uniform. A cold breeze whistled past him as he peered down the dimly lit road and saw barren trees lining his path ahead like scarecrows. Looking at an alleyway to his right, he gazed into the darkness and a chill crawled up his spine. He tightened his grip around the straps of his backpack and ...

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“All But One” by Trinity Chasey

Submitted to Contest #135

This story contains partly vague descriptions of transphobia, please take care of yourself while reading. There was a new family just down the road from Juni's house. From what he could tell it was a big family, with 2 brothers and 5 sisters, and a cat, and a dog. There was nothing out of the ordinary about said family, in fact, Juni thought it was a pretty cool family as far as families went. See, they had built a big treehouse in their front yard on their first week in the neighbourhood. Well, that is, there...

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“Someone has to...” by Ronald Sturm

Submitted to Contest #135

This story includes suicide, mental health, controversial theory The door is dark stained, three-panel Walnut. Kind of fancy for an office door, I think. The gold letters at eye level say Dr. Elizabeth Lewisky, M.D. My captain ordered me to come down here and have a session after the events of the last few months. A woman opens the door. She looks to be in her mid-forties, attractive, probably more so a few years ago, very studious-looking with her brown hair pulled back into a bun, reading glasses hanging by a gold chain around her neck. ...

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“Facing the fight, oh, and the monsters too” by Braden Porter

Submitted to Contest #135

There was once a young child playing out in a field one day when they stumbled across a trapdoor. Only the handle was sticking out and with a kick of dust and multiple pulls from the skinny little arms it finally cracked open. It tore through the roots and the small child couldn’t help but to think that it was opening all too slowly. Faster faster faster! The mind racing, the arms straining, the door creaking until it finally opened. Inside was the epitome of imagination. A whole new world to be explored lay beyond the small wooden f...

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“Certifiable Brilliance” by Yolonda Dahl

Submitted to Contest #135

For many other students at Crestpoint Academy, it was just another typical Monday morning full of redundancy and bore. But for 10 year-old Norman Everett, as he stepped through those large steel doors amongst a crowd of his (now very tall) peers, this marked a period of novelty and triumph. For as fast as his little heart was beating, it seemed his feet were moving even faster in order to keep from getting hip checked or trampled by his giant co-eds. As it was discussed with his dear mother and former guidance counselor of Kinsle...

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“SOMA Vamp” by Catherine Tripp

Submitted to Contest #135

She wants to die spectacularly, suddenly, explosively with bits of Beulah stuck in the hair of gawkers and bystanders. Or, grasp the life immortal laid out so enticingly in True Blood, and the movie made from Anne Rice’s book Interview with a Vampire. She pictures herself living in a warm decadence made up of handsome men with hair that never falls out, pony tails and puffy shirts and that pale, pale luminosity. Staring for eternity into the mesmerizing, dead-sexy ice-blue eyes of the yummy LeStat d...

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“Chivalrous Andy” by Kristine Bone

Submitted to Contest #135

Note about content: This story takes place approximately 60 or 70 years ago when a "whipping" for a child's misdeed seemed appropriate in most family circles. Also, animals (cats) were not valued as pets as they are today, and there is reference to their mistreatment. Chivalrous Andy Andy watched diligently as old lady Hawkins walked near the pond. His hiding place on the woodland floor allowed him to view her well, but of course, she wouldn't be looking for him. Her skinny arms tightly held the rush basket with two hands. Grunting as s...

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“The Super Scare was Just What I Needed” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #135

I wanted to be brave, with the thought of danger, being just that, a mere thought but I was just the opposite. I was brave in events that didn’t involve heights, ledges, confined spaces, strangers, crowds and anything new I had to start. I was brave about spiders too. What actually is ‘being brave? There are the people who have to be brave for a living, firemen, policemen (and women), soldiers and sometimes teachers too; when I was at high school you had to be really tough to work at the school I went to! New teachers soon le...

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$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

154

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 04, 2022 EST

Won by Thom With An H 🏆

Title: Home of the Brave

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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