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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#137: Albert Einstein

On March 14th, 1879 one of the greatest physicists of all time was born. Of course, Einstein is known for his theory of relativity and his Nobel Prize. But Einstein lived a full (and often dramatic) life outside of the world of physics.

He fell in love with a professor’s daughter while at school, and years later — while married to another woman — confessed his love for her, and the mistake he made not courting her when he had the chance. In 1933, he emigrated to the United States, knowing he’d not be able to return to Germany while Hitler was in power — he and his family were Jewish. After Einstein legally renounced his German citizenship, his Berlin cottage was turned into a Hitler’s Youth camp.

In light of his upcoming birthday, this week’s prompts are a reflection on the complex and storied life of this remarkable man.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a scientist.

Science Fiction – 40 stories

Write about a character who gets called an Einstein ironically.

Middle School – 18 stories

Write a story about somebody in love with someone from their past.

Romance – 79 stories

Write a story about a character forced to give up something important to stand up for what they believe in.

Character – 26 stories

Write a story about someone forced out of their home.

Narrative – 54 stories

Stories

“Tiger Man ” by Okashi Kashi

Submitted to Contest #137

The jungle is an amazing place. A humid, damp environment home to hundreds of animal species, ninety percent of which I knew nothing about. Thick, rough vines weaved together by Mother nature draped across towering trees. The ground was wet and crumbly, riddled with pawprints.“Dad,” my daughter, Layla, spoke to me. “Can you sing me a song?”“I don’t think your father likes singing,” my wife Kamilah tells her. “He’s not very good at it. Why don’t you ask me?”“That isn’t true,” I laugh, “I can do anything. Isn’t that right Layla?”The three of u...

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“Designation” by Danielle Burke

Submitted to Contest #137

It was an unfortunate time to be living, no matter what one’s designation was. The bombings had knocked the country off its feet and left it hanging by its fingertips to the edge of a cliff, like a hiker who was shocked to be pushed off the trail by a former friend. The fear that accompanied the dangling was too much; all that was desired was a firm foundation. Sasha was only twelve, but she knew what the “D” spray painted in bold black on the door meant. Still, it was shocking to see it staring back at her. She blinked. It was still th...

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“How I won the highest award but might have doomed the human race.” by David Adams

Submitted to Contest #137

Memoirs of a Scientist – Chapter 6There have been many significant points in my life and some memorable highs but it would be dishonest if I were not to record the most important failing, an incident that still gives me nightmares over what might have happened due to my unreasoning reaction to a new PhD student, if she had not reacted as she did.Despite that it is appropriate to start this chapter over twenty years later.“Professor Sokolov, congratulations on being awarded the Nobel Prize. How does it feel?”I smiled a little. “It is a great ...

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“More Scientist than Woman” by Niovi Tupay

Submitted to Contest #137

“I really like this tune,” said Marilyn“Me too, it just has a certain something doesn’t it?” replied Joanna.Chopin’s Waltz No.1 in A Minor (Op. Posth. 69) echoed through the small bedroom while the pair sat on opposite sides of Joanna’s bed. The only light source was her desk lamp which illuminated them softly and made their grey shadows on the wall overlap. The atmosphere was weirdly tense, the air full of uncertainty.“Who is it by?” asked Marilyn“Chopin. He is my favourite. He just has a way with harmonies that is, well, genius.”“I get wha...

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“A Day in the Life of a Scientist” by Aaron Falk

Submitted to Contest #137

A Day in the Life of a Scientist R. Aaron Falk The brakes squeaked as Thomas eased his fifteen-year-old Datsun pickup into an empty stall at his apartment complex. The engine stuttered and shook for half a minute after he turned off the key. He grabbed his daypack and slammed the door shut without bothering to lock up. Maybe someone would steal the rust bucket and force him to buy a new car. Then again, how would he get to work in the morning? He walked back and locked the door. His nose wrinkled as he entered his one-bedroom apart...

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“Better Late Than Never” by David Elkind

Submitted to Contest #137

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER By David L. Elkind About a Character Who Ironically Gets Called an EinsteinBill Jensen thought...

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“Regina” by George Young

Submitted to Contest #137

“Hey, wanna dance?” “Sure.” The pretty brunette winked at him. He tripped on his way to the dance floor. Sterling High School’s five year reunion for the class of ’75 and the band finally threw a slow dance out for anyone brave enough to dance with anyone else they had not seen in half a decade. George Young, fledgling freelance film coordinator i...

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“The wonder of Einstein” by Tina Morganella

Submitted to Contest #137

The Wonder of Einstein In the Museum of the History of Science, Charlie and Lucy both peered at a small rectangle of blackboard placed high up on the wall. On it was a scrap of maths. The theory of relativity. Incomprehensible to those with no numerical sensibilities. But Einstein, Albert Einstein, had held a piece of chalk, stood in front of the blackboard, and scribbled those symbols during a lecture in 1931, and someone wisely thought, ‘I might just keep that’, and whisked it away for safe keeping. Charlie, a quantum phys...

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“CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS” by Helen Betzenhauser

Submitted to Contest #137

They met in grade school. It was obvious that June and Daniel had a strong attraction. Each of them knew they were too young to do anything about it, but they stayed together as much as they could. Sitting next to each other in class seemed to work better than putting them in different classrooms. Together, their grades were excellent. Apart, their grades were normal and not as good. When next to each other, they knew the other was all right. They could see their friend. ...

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“Last Email” by Glyn Harding

Submitted to Contest #137

Last Email Dearest Long Lost, I think it was ordained in Heaven that your classmate gave you my address in HCMC and you decided to fly from California to Vietnam. Or was it simply magical that we instantly became a pair? (I mean Saigon, if you still prefer that to HCMC). My friends said some bad things about Vietnamese men living abroad who visit their former homeland as tourists – that they bring a pocketful of money in order to find and seduce single women, and then leave, and that I fell into that trap. I faced many...

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“My I Love You's” by Kylie Sammons

Submitted to Contest #137

Kylie M. Sammons 3/15/2022 4:40 PM When I got the call it felt like I had thrown myself off of a bridge into icy cold water. Like my insides had been crushed as he once crushed my soul, and as if I was sinking into a realm of nothingness, my life without him. The voice of a sweet mother who once cradled the boy in her arms slipped out the one syllable of “dead”, and I felt our hearts decaying together. I was teaching innocents, bright-eyed children who I could only wish never to have grief and loss swallow them whole, as mine did. I know ...

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“The Mirror” by Michael Isaac

Submitted to Contest #137

She looked in the mirror that extended from her hand, a past ripened fruit on a gnarled, knotted branch. Those eyes were once dark olive ovals, lips would press like deep red petals.It was summertime in a park, where children played and giggled and cried. She sat on the bench in the shade of a great oak. The smell of hotdogs wafted over from the stand a few feet away. A greasy man with greasy hands yelled out “Two for a dollah.” A happy couple passed and gave him a dollar.She sat with her hands on her lap, as the sun shone off her dress, foa...

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“Silent Masterpieces ” by Grace R

Submitted to Contest #137

My favourite photograph of myself is not the one that you might think. It’s not the one that a drunk photographer had taken of me just after I had sold Katherine for over five hundred thousand dollars, the picture dizzy and filled with sudden, fantastical movement, me grinning in a suit, hair dishevelled and eyes fanatic with the accomplishment. I felt like a Roman Emperor, a true Caesar on my throne of marble and blood. My mother has that photo framed and hung in her dining room, and not a dinner party goes by where she doesn’t nod at it wi...

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“Finding Love” by Sephora Hovington

Submitted to Contest #137

Messy raven black hair. Sky blue eyes. A smile that brightens your spirit like fireflies on a summer night. If only… but that was two years ago. Why was I still thinking of him? He’s probably forgotten all about me… “Lily.” But what if he hasn’t? “Lily!” I snapped out of my reverie. “Huh? Oh sorry, I’m listening.” I was thinking of Vincent again. I slowly come back to the present and review the situation. I was meeting a suitor, something that had become a much more often occurrence since my eighteenth birthday. I am the only daught...

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“My First Love” by Deb Broughton

Submitted to Contest #137

The tears streamed down my face, leaving tracks as I quickly packed my things. I hadn’t been here long, there wasn’t much. My heart lamented silently, “I’m not good enough.” My head wondered, “Would I ever be good enough? Would anyone ever love me?” I closed and locked the door. He would come home from work and I would be gone. My first love, my first heartbreak, and oh how it hurt. We hadn’t known each other long, were friends a couple of years, and were h...

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$250

Prize money

217

Contest entries

116

Stories

Ended on 00:59 - Mar 19, 2022 EST

Won by Story Time 🏆

Title: The Boy in the Pink Tuxedo

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.

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