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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

“Brazen, Brave, Bold” by Shelby Rose

Submitted to Contest #135

It a gorgeous August night. The heat has been tamped down with a cool breeze reminding us all that fall is right around the corner waiting for us. Tonight, our small town celebrates the children and teachers gearing up for the start of the school year. I always thought of it as a funeral for the last day of summer. Charlie steps up to the mic under the gazebo at the center of town. Sticky sweat gathering on the back of his neck and running away from his hairline. He’s not a public speaker. He has never had the urge to be the one in the spotl...

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“Southward to Fight” by James Grasham

Submitted to Contest #135

It was midday and the blazing summer sun beat down on Luthar’s bare back as Leyton came for him again, wooden training sword swirling. His muscles screamed in defiance as he blocked blow after blow, each falling faster than the last. The clack clack clack of the wooden swords meeting beat Luthar’s ears as much as any of the strikes he faced. He missed a high block and Leyton’s sword came crashing down onto his shoulder, pain lanced down his arm and exploded in his hand. He dropped his sword into the dirt and Leyton kicked it away, out of rea...

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“Do I Dare?” by Lavonne H.

Submitted to Contest #135

I want to do this. I need to do this. I can do this.He is hiding in a wooden shed that has been repurposed from wood taken from an old outhouse to now hold garden tools. In the summer heat, the smell of urine and fecal matter permeates the small space. He wants to puke.Is that strong enough to show what is happening or am I telling the story again? Why don’t I get what that means anyway---’show, don’t tell’?I miss my old Smith Corona typewriter. I would love to rip the page with these words from the platen and scrunch it up into a paper ball...

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“Water in Eden ” by Annasophia Pixton

Submitted to Contest #135

This was getting utterly ridiculous. Nobody here cared at all? Really? They were all just going to let this happen, essentially killing themselves off. I would never be able to understand this. I mean, come on! This town was in the middle of the desert; there was no other water for miles around, that is, besides the heart spring. The heart spring is a beautiful oasis which is, well was, fueled by some magical glowing crystal that gives their isolated tropical osis life. A glowing crystal that was unfortunately and mysteriously missing. Oh, d...

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“Light Feet” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #135

Jimmy Galapino looked out into the gallery as the verdict was passed to the judge.“On the count of murder in the first degree," Judge Smithfield hesitated for dramatic effect, “we find the defendant…not guilty.” His wild, wiry white eyebrows crept up his massive forehead like curious caterpillars. He strongly resembled Fred Gwynne, the actor who played Herman Munster. The victim’s family in the front rows howled and screamed. Reporters in the hallway swarmed like bees, their many voices buzzing in agitated impatience, ‘w...

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“Old Debts Paid Off” by Joseph Franklin

Submitted to Contest #135

CW: School shooting, violenceBailey walks into the classroom and is greeted with an assignment on the whiteboard. He dreads math class, especially the teacher, Mrs. Jenson. Bailey hates how she talks. She has a lisp and is loud and proud about it or so it seems. He is usually tired when he comes in then leaves with a pounding headache. He sits in the far back corner, farthest away from her desk, with a nice view of the front lawn, and gets to work on the assignment. Bailey is one of the top students in the class, so it doesn't take long for ...

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“Bittersweet Legacy” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #135

This story contains some references to the following: alcohol abuse, anger, marital discord, deathMarch 1894 - Watertown, NY“Are you expecting another child?… Answer me! ANSWER ME!”“Sshhh… Leo - please…”“NO! Get rid of it!”“Shh! The children will hear! I won’t! Leo - what’s happening? If you would just… we had a good marriage, at first - but your drinking has changed -”“I’m leaving!” The door slammed, punctuating Leo’s angry words. Jane, left standing in the kitchen, felt the developing baby flinch - the first detectable movement. She ...

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“Justin's Adventure” by Illania Edwards

Submitted to Contest #135

Justin scowls as he waits for the bus, arms folded across his skinny chest. It's not like he wanted to go to school anyway, but Mama promised to kick his behind if he didn't. The Number forty-seven lumbers into view and pulls to a stop, blinker on. Hoping for cool, Justin scans his card with a chin nod at the driver and makes his way down the aisle. He has to grab on to a seat back when the bus lurches back into traffic. The only empty seat is next to a big dude. The guy doesn't look too scary, so Justin eases himself in. Pulling his bac...

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“The Little Dancer” by Eric Ang

Submitted to Contest #135

That’s my little sister Reyna over there, but I call her ReyRey. My mom says it’s easier for me to say “ReyRey” than it is to say “Reyna.” That doesn’t make sense to me, and I just like to say ReyRey better, but that’s what mom says. Do you see her with the white and blue dress on? Yeah, that’s ReyRey with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail. And that’s my cousin Ligaya next to her in the yellow dress. No, not that one, the one with the white ribbons in her dark brown hair, dressed in the yellow ducky dre...

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“Water’s Edge” by Thomas Graham

Submitted to Contest #135

They walked from the car on a little winding path through trees and came out in a grassy area. The boy could see water ahead. His mother said look at how big the park is.They walked right to the water’s edge. Big clumps of reeds, taller than him, grew along the bank, but there was an opening along a curved bit of shoreline that formed a little cove, and he could see across the water to another grassy bank in the distance. It was a pond or a lake; he didn’t know which.His mother said there might be turtles. He looked but didn’t see any. The s...

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“Thomas” by Tauqeer Hussain

Submitted to Contest #135

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” - Friedrich Nietzsche I looked down the cave into my own unbecoming. A grown man jumps into a dark cave in the middle of the night, no one saw him, so it didn’t happen. I didn’t see myself in there, I saw my demon. The demon I possess. The flood lights scared the house bats away. I took away their light. I know how to lurk in my darkness, but they don...

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“An Angel With a Broken Wing” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #135

Mickey “Iceman” Monchelli was a hitman by trade, but most in the rundown Bronx neighborhood knew him as Mickey the florist. Icky Taborinni walked into his shop wearing a cheap suit and his hair slicked back by a handful of hair jell which was his trademark along with a scar that ran from his throat to his jaw. It made his face, that was once perfectly asymmetrical, a mass of facial scars that included a creepy, crooked smile. “Why are you here?” Mickey closed his eyes and put both his hands on the counter. “Big Gino is needing you...

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“Forever Is Far Too Long” by Isabela Maher

Submitted to Contest #135

No matter how often she told herself she was prepared, Aurora’s mind refused to believe it. Today was the day she proved herself to society - to her mother. She would be the thorn in the chancellor’s side no more. After a year of nothing but hushed tones and downcast eyes, Aurora would show everyone aboard the Vindicator just how capable she undoubtedly was. Her initial failure would serve as nothing but motivation. Aurora was ready. “You’re not ready,” Laurent blurted, breaking her focus entirely. “Really? Now?” Aurora grumbled. Cou...

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“Moral Fortitude” by Cindy Farrell

Submitted to Contest #135

NOTE: CONTAINS PROFANITY MORAL FORTITUDE BY CYNTHIA FARRELL Retching sounds emanated from the Men’s Room, echoes of misery bouncing off the marble walls. Anson Beckwith, Birmingham Civic Center’s Religious Programming Coordinator, headed in that direction when he felt a gentle touch on his right arm. “Don’t. He’ll be fine. He does this before every Revival meetin’.” Said Bobbie Jo Talmadge, a pretty blonde sporting an out-of-date bouffant hairdo (the higher the hair, t...

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“The Enochlaphobic Amnesiac Horse Park Bugler” by Scott Muka

Submitted to Contest #135

His brain regained function after six months of cognitive rehabilitation, but erratically.Lieutenant Jack Dawkin’s heroic actions saved the lives of his squad. But all Jack got in return was the presidential Medal of Honor, an honorable discharge from the army, intermittent amnesia, and a deathly fear of large, noisy crowds. The army psychologist said Jack’s fear was a result of reliving his traumatic escape from a prisoner-of-war camp, then brawling through a noisy throng of angry townsfolk outside the prison. Jack was an army bu...

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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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