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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#136: The Old College Try

Though its origins are debated, it looks likely that the phrase “the old college try” was first used in baseball. According to Babe Ruth, to “give something the old college try” is to keep going, even when the odds are stacked against you — like chasing a flyball out into foul territory, just in case you somehow make the impossible catch.

There’s a lot to be said for those who keep trying despite knowing that their chances are slim. This week’s prompts take a closer look at those determined (or perhaps foolhardy) folk among us. After all, as the saying goes, God loves a trier.

🥇 Winner

“Cigarettes: A Romance” by Howard Halsall

🏆 Winner of Contest #136

I remember our first cigarettes together were Rothmans, middle tar, with a filter, of course. It was ten o’clock on a Saturday night and we were attending a local church’s youth club disco. I recall that she’d gone outside for a breath of air.God, I could do with a gasper, she’d said, avoiding my gaze, as if we were on stage and I’d forgotten my lines while searching for a prop. I groped around inside my jacket for my pack of Rothmans. My awkward fumbling attracted her attention, and she smiled as I raised my head. She moved closer and ...

251 comments 251

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Hack” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

Your cursor blinks. Your cursor blinks ceaselessly. You delete ceaselessly. Adverbs are not your friend. Adverbs are indicative of weak diction, but you cannot think of a better verb to express the action just the way you want. Certainly you can use an adverb occasionally. You delete occasionally. You delete certainly.You can use an adverb on occasion. You close your laptop. Your writing session is not going well. None of the five prompts are particularly inspiring.You decide to take a break. Make a sandwi...

106 comments 106

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“Of glints, and collecting fireflies” by B. Oyewole

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

When Alice confessed to John that she felt empty, there was static on the other end. It had taken her every ounce of her being to admit that. It had surprised her too, to use that word.Although when she said empty, what she really meant was, I came close to ending it last night. In fact, I still have the blade by the edge of the tub, and the water, once warm, is now cold, and the tub isn’t drained yet. I have climbed in and out of it a few times, and felt the coldness of the blade on my wrist. But I can't do it, John, and I don’t know why."O...

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“Dead Man On Train” by Valerie Vince

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

Dying is easy, and yet how my weary spirit clings to the world of the living. This is my funeral and I am amazed to see that I had so many friends. Friends, humph. They have come to eat and drink of my wife’s hospitality – cheap wine, meager food. A poor wake for a poor man. I know poverty like my grandfather’s grandfather knew it. It was bred in our blood and we never expected more. But there once was a time, in my youth, I had the fantasy of going to the western l...

Read story

“The Last Hussar” by Chris Campbell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

A new day dawned on the wastelands of Europe, bringing with it increased radiation levels as the rising sun heated up the parched ground, and unhindered summer winds blew radioactive dust through open windows, doors, and bombed out walls that once sheltered their evacuated custodians from the elements outside.Hugo Borscht, a reluctant denizen of the night, sealed the doors and windows of one of the remaining liveable apartments located on the outskirts of Kyiv. Seven floors up, each stairwell was protected from unwanted intruders and scaveng...

Read story

“How to Play Shortstop” by Sarah Duffey

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

CW: teen pregnancy and allusions to abortion She told him she would meet him at the field after the game so they could talk about the baby. The baby they just found out they were going to have. While he waits in the dugout, he does the math and figures the baby will arrive in March. If things went normally, that is. In the spring, when it would be time to prune the rose bushes. Right before the beginning of another season. Evan is playing shortstop on the varsity baseball team. To play this position, he has to be vigilant. And fast. Th...

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This week's prompts

Start or end your story with someone saying “You’ll never know unless you try.”

Dialogue – 57 stories

Write about somebody who knows they’re probably going to fail at something, but does it anyway.

Narrative – 32 stories

Write about a character giving something one last shot.

Narrative – 51 stories

Set your story on a baseball field.

Middle School – 39 stories

Write a story where hard work doesn’t pay off.

Angst – 28 stories

Stories

“Cigarettes: A Romance” by Howard Halsall

🏆 Winner of Contest #136

I remember our first cigarettes together were Rothmans, middle tar, with a filter, of course. It was ten o’clock on a Saturday night and we were attending a local church’s youth club disco. I recall that she’d gone outside for a breath of air.God, I could do with a gasper, she’d said, avoiding my gaze, as if we were on stage and I’d forgotten my lines while searching for a prop. I groped around inside my jacket for my pack of Rothmans. My awkward fumbling attracted her attention, and she smiled as I raised my head. She moved closer and ...

251 comments 251

Read story

“Hack” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

Your cursor blinks. Your cursor blinks ceaselessly. You delete ceaselessly. Adverbs are not your friend. Adverbs are indicative of weak diction, but you cannot think of a better verb to express the action just the way you want. Certainly you can use an adverb occasionally. You delete occasionally. You delete certainly.You can use an adverb on occasion. You close your laptop. Your writing session is not going well. None of the five prompts are particularly inspiring.You decide to take a break. Make a sandwi...

106 comments 106

Read story

“Six Shades of Splendid” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #136

Saturday had already turned out to be six shades of splendid and it wasn’t even 9 A.M. yet. To begin with, he had rolled out of bed this morning with nary an ache or a pain throughout his entire body. Now that was a welcomed rarity at his age. Then there was the fact that he wasn’t feeling the least bit hung-over. Even after a fun-filled Friday night of heavy drinking and ingesting some cannabis edible in the form of a passion fruit flavored lollipop which purportedly contained a whopping 66 milligrams of THC. Next, after brushing his teeth ...

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“One Last Chance” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #136

“You need anything Mr. Abbott?” the nurse asked as she completed pumping nausea medicine and steroids into the bag that the chemo would drip from. “Michael,” Michael said with a warm smile as he retrieved a novel from his knapsack and placed it onto his lap. “Michael, I’m Mary,” the nurse corrected herself. “What book are you reading?” she asked, looking down at the novel that appeared on her patient’s lap. Michael glanced down at the novel and ran his hand along the front carefully, admiring the cover. “My granddaughter wrote thi...

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“The Curse of Adam” by Hannah P. Simmons

Submitted to Contest #136

We’re all fragile. Like glass. Delicate little bits of glass. Beautiful little bits of glass. And somewhere along the line, we get broken. Everyone does. It has to happen. How could it not happen? When you’re so beautiful, and delicate, and fragile? How can you hope to never break? It’s just part of life. At least, that’s what they tell me. But It doesn’t start off that way. We aren’t born broken. No. Just to be broken. And they call it ...

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“Coffee” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #136

“You’ll never know unless you try,” Tom places a wet kiss on my forehead. I feel my protests lodged in my throat, held back by the guilt of this brand new engagement ring that glitters in the sunlight and fills me with butterflies. “You could love her…” he trails off as he wanders into our kitchen and prepares his morning cup of coffee, “Or learn to.” His voice grows louder as he enters the room again. He chuckles when he sees me, poking—no, stabbing—no, annihilating—my pile of fluffy scrambled eggs. “That’s not Sam’s face,” he jokes and tak...

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“Of glints, and collecting fireflies” by B. Oyewole

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

When Alice confessed to John that she felt empty, there was static on the other end. It had taken her every ounce of her being to admit that. It had surprised her too, to use that word.Although when she said empty, what she really meant was, I came close to ending it last night. In fact, I still have the blade by the edge of the tub, and the water, once warm, is now cold, and the tub isn’t drained yet. I have climbed in and out of it a few times, and felt the coldness of the blade on my wrist. But I can't do it, John, and I don’t know why."O...

Read story

“Dead Man On Train” by Valerie Vince

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

Dying is easy, and yet how my weary spirit clings to the world of the living. This is my funeral and I am amazed to see that I had so many friends. Friends, humph. They have come to eat and drink of my wife’s hospitality – cheap wine, meager food. A poor wake for a poor man. I know poverty like my grandfather’s grandfather knew it. It was bred in our blood and we never expected more. But there once was a time, in my youth, I had the fantasy of going to the western l...

Read story

“On the Mound” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #136

Not one strike. That’s tough. Even one and you could walk out of here with your head held high. But the kind of failure you experienced today is a real chin-dropper. Can’t argue with that. Here’s a hot dog. Extra relish. I would judge you, but we both know an enjoyment of relish indicates sociopathic tendencies. You can be nice to puppies all you want, but slathering relish on a perfectly good wiener means I’ll probably have to have a therapist examine you before you reach adulthood just to make sure you don’t wind up stacking bodies...

Read story

“How to Play Shortstop” by Sarah Duffey

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

CW: teen pregnancy and allusions to abortion She told him she would meet him at the field after the game so they could talk about the baby. The baby they just found out they were going to have. While he waits in the dugout, he does the math and figures the baby will arrive in March. If things went normally, that is. In the spring, when it would be time to prune the rose bushes. Right before the beginning of another season. Evan is playing shortstop on the varsity baseball team. To play this position, he has to be vigilant. And fast. Th...

Read story

“The Last Hussar” by Chris Campbell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #136

A new day dawned on the wastelands of Europe, bringing with it increased radiation levels as the rising sun heated up the parched ground, and unhindered summer winds blew radioactive dust through open windows, doors, and bombed out walls that once sheltered their evacuated custodians from the elements outside.Hugo Borscht, a reluctant denizen of the night, sealed the doors and windows of one of the remaining liveable apartments located on the outskirts of Kyiv. Seven floors up, each stairwell was protected from unwanted intruders and scaveng...

Read story

“Ignorance Is Bliss” by Sachi Shah

Submitted to Contest #136

“You’ll never know unless you try! Just one pill will take all your problems away!” The incessant cries of the street vendors fell upon deaf ears as Adamu Otieno raced down the busy road on his rickety bicycle, feeling the warm Mombasa breeze brush past his face. The cobalt blue paintwork had faded long ago, but the good-natured twenty year old did not mind. His bicycle got him to all the places he needed to be, and for that he was grateful. He had one more stop to make before he could finally call it a day and head home. As Ada...

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“The Guide to Being Yourself” by Zack Powell

Submitted to Contest #136

"You'll never know unless you try." This coming from your friend Jorge, one of the lucky ones. Ever since he did it, you've quietly observed his metamorphosis from the sidelines: the bright fingernail polish, the rainbow pins decorating his backpack, the braces-bound smile that never takes a day off. He's emerged from his cocoon but forgot to take you with him. "Just look at me." You yearn to say those words too, breathe them in like your mother's perfume, taste them on your lips like warm horchata on a snowy day. Just look at me. ...

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“Employee of the Month” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #136

Employee of the Month “Thanks a lot!”, Brad muttered, dropping the receiver back on the cradle. “BZZZZZZ…” retorted the instrument, announcing that he hadn’t aligned it just right. He clicked it into place.“Oodle-oodle-oo, oodle-” Cutting it off in mid-crow, Brad answered, “HR, Brad speaking.”“a three-night stay for the price of two in our luxurious-”… He hung up on the shrill, poorly enunciated, nasal recording. How had that call reached his direct line? Must’ve been a fluke. A fluke was a type of flounder. He felt like ...

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“Dust to Dust” by Caroline Clausen

Submitted to Contest #136

Pain splintered throughout his body and turned his vision black. He blinked, trying to regain some of his composure, at least enough to see. He could hear the sounds of the struggle raging around him. Someone was screaming. Someone was calling for him. Someone was crying. Maybe it all came from the same person. He couldn't tell. He couldn't see. He let his eyes close. There was no point in pushing himself out of the dirt. He would just get hit and fall back down again. There was no point in trying. This was the end, he could feel it in his...

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$250

Prize money

207

Contest entries

100

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 11, 2022 EST

Won by Howard Halsall 🏆

Title: Cigarettes: A Romance

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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