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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.

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

“When Doves Try ” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #136

My husband, Sinclair, looked like a black lumberjack. He bounced into our room and took out my yellow suitcase and dragged it across the hardwood floor leaving stuff marks along the way. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched him piling his clothes inside. I knew that he was going to ask me if I wanted to go to the convention with him and he knew that my answer was going to be the same as it had been the ten hundred other times he had asked. “Do you want to go with me to the convention?” He asked me to fold his white tee shirt and...

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“ You’ll never know unless you try.” by Jesper Jee

Submitted to Contest #136

“You’ll never know unless you try.”Her eyes were as blue as the ocean behind her. As I stared into them I half wondered if someone was playing a trick on me. Like if someone had put a cardboard image of Sarah in front of me, with the eyeholes cut out. The waves rolled in over my toes, it felt nice but did little to wash my doubts away. As the water retracted all that left was the ground beneath my feet. ”What do you say?”, she continued, excited and sparkly. ”You should just go for it! It will be fun!”Her smile hovered above me like pia...

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“And Into The Light We Go ” by Ben Hulme

Submitted to Contest #136

‘You will never know unless you try.’ I had told myself this since the Hallows Eve service when I had first laid my eyes on her. She had walked in, one foot in front of the other. The soft leather of her shoes tapping upon the stone flagstones of the church floor. She had not seen me straight away; her eyes lost ahead of her, staring after the tall figures of her Pa and Ma. She had worn a dress of the finest wool, blue in shade, almost as bright as the light that fell from her eyes as I felt them on m...

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“My Aim” by Parshalla Wood

Submitted to Contest #136

WOW, a piercing light just burned my retinas, what was that? When I could open my eyes, it was the light in our garage, and I realized that Dad and I had made it home from our first hunting trip. We were hunting Turkey and Deer for 3 days and 3 nights. We had so much fun, but we came home empty handed this trip. It wasn’t that we didn’t try, but this was my first time, and I didn’t have the experience that would allow either one of us to get close enough to shoot at them. We were bow hunters, so one must be closer than someone with a rifl...

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“You'll Never Know Unless You try” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #136

John’s hand flapped around on top of the small side table until it made contact with the bedside lamp switch. He raised his head slightly off the pillow, opened one eye and looked at the clock 03.55. Glad he’d woken before the alarm went off, no need to disturb anyone this morning. Shoving his legs into his track suit bottoms he shivered slightly in the cold air but felt much warmer as he zipped up his fleece and pulled it around his neck. The torch app on his mobile phone afforded him some light as he crept downstairs, his kitbag slung ov...

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“A New Style” by James Grasham

Submitted to Contest #136

The sun was scorching as Luthar set foot on dry land. Five days he had been aboard the ship, and two of them were spent vomiting. The captain had set a fast course, and the winds had been kind, but the summer waves seemed intent on rocking Luthar’s guts overboard. Even the limestone dockside seemed to sway under his weight. The only joy he could take from coming ashore was the gentle breeze that licked his face. Men rushed this way and that, with tightly packed wagons of goods ready for shipping. Customs officials checked paperwork from ca...

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“Lightning strikes” by Alise Hart

Submitted to Contest #136

“You'll never know unless you try,” said Zoe. The sentence played over and over again in Katie’s mind. This incredibly intense pressure to take action and to take it now as if her very life depended on it. It was more than a pull. It was as though her very soul demanded it. Was she ever going to get this thought out of her mind? How had her life gone so suddenly into another dimension? She didn’t know what was real anymore. Her life felt like a movie. Katie sat in The Hit watching the rain hit the pavement outside. This was her happy place...

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“You'll Never Know, Unless You Try” by Carolyn Carter

Submitted to Contest #136

“You’ll never know unless you try.” These inspiring words by Sandy Morrison permeated the walls of the school gym at Bevin High. “Even if you fail, find satisfaction in knowing that you gave it all you had. Ok, class, see you Monday, have a great weekend.” Sandy picked up her exercise gear, turned off the lights, and headed back to her office. She had worked as the gym teacher for the school district for 25 years. In addition to teaching her students about health and fitness, she offered words of encouragement, especially to those who were...

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“Asteroid Vs Peggy” by Arun J

Submitted to Contest #136

It looked like someone left a slice of potato hanging in the sky. It was peering inside the atmosphere as if to snoop on Earth's inhabitants.Aptly named Apophis, after the ancient demon God of chaos, the planet-killer was on Earth's doorsteps, knocking.Well, It was the end of the world.NASA and everyone with a nuclear missile started emptying out their ammunitions on the uninvited foe. Earth shook with the explosions and the blinding light looked like another sun. They tormented the God of chaos, but to no avail. He stood right where he was ...

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“A Seance Goes Off the Rails” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #136

Warning: crime and gore.Lex Parker paced in front of the small frame house, mounting his courage to continue with the plan. A sign was attached to the mail box: Madame LaFarge; Guide to the Unknown; 1301 Poplar. He had double-checked the address to assure himself that he was at the right place.“This has got to work,” he muttered. “It’s my last chance to get back to a normal life. I owe more than fifty thousand from gambling debts and these bums are threatening to kill me if I don’t make good on it. I hope that Arthur LaFarge, a guy I met in ...

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“One Last Shot” by D.A. Dawal

Submitted to Contest #136

Hi, it’s Yaro. Can we talk? Please. After reading his message, I said SCREEN OFF to put my phone’s display in standby mode. Since he returned from the pilot colony on Mars last week, he kept calling and sending messages, expecting I would agree to meet. I lost count of how many times I blocked his number so he couldn’t bother me anymore. Maybe, it was thirty times. Maybe more. But he always had a new number to use for bothering me. A tiny ant on my dashboard tried to drag a cookie crumb, reminding me that my last visit to the car wash ...

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“THE LIGHT BEYOND HIS REACH” by Darrell Grant

Submitted to Contest #136

Palmer knew that he didn’t have much time left to reach the light, he could feel it. His mind was now preparing itself for what could be his last attempt, maybe his one last shot. Because of the blinding bright light, he couldn’t see what he believed to be was a wall, but he could feel its rugged surface when he had reached out to climb towards the light. He tried hard and it seemed to him like he had climbed high, but he didn’t make it. The light faded and he found himself back in the bed he had left. &nb...

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“Waiting for Stella” by Dave Bolin

Submitted to Contest #136

Arnie was up before his alarm, before sunrise. Today was the day.He rehearsed his speech in the mirror as he shaved. He answered all of her potential objections as he carefully tied his bow tie. He pressed down his fear as he buffed and polished his wing-tip shoes. He gave himself a final pep talk as he put on his suit jacket and straightened his pocket square. Today was Arnie’s 64 birthday, and his present to himself was proposing to Stella.One more time.Arnie proposed to Stella the first time he laid eyes on her, 32 years ago.&nb...

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“Smokes” by Cierra Lynn

Submitted to Contest #136

Long ago the sun had set. The orange rock and sand landscape was no longer illuminated by the sin-burning yellow-white of sun. It was dark in the desert, an anticipation hung in the air. The landscape was now blue and purple, and much more mysterious and sinister. There is a man, he walks with his hips, he walks forward, under a red rock arch, underneath the clear star-studded satin of the night sky. He has an outline of a face, a sharp jaw, stubble a day or two old. But as for the rest of his face…no one can quite say. Maybe it was the brim...

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“The Last Choice” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #136

Seth looked around the table at the test group gathered at Stanford University, their seven faces deep in thought. The task assigned was pointless but he would play along for two hours. He was good at this. This would be easy.Last month Professor Anderson called him into his office. Seth sat and listened to the ticking of the antique clock on the wall while the old professor composed himself.“Seth, I understand psychology is not the same as other scientific fields. The working of the human mind can be open to interpretation. But as things st...

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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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