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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#139: Growing Up

As March reaches its conclusion and nature comes into full bloom (at least in the Northern hemisphere), it’s a time to reflect on growth. While shoots are emerging and flowers start to bud, it’s inspiring to think how big things flourish from such small beginnings.

This week’s prompts are about just that. Whether your characters have already gone through big changes, or are just beginning them, it’s time to get growing. I’ll see you back here for the next contest, when we’ll all be one week older and, hopefully, one week wiser.

This week's prompts

Write a story that involves a character donating a box of clothes which have been outgrown.

Middle School – 49 stories

Start your story with someone having their height marked on a door frame.

Middle School – 36 stories

Format your story in the style of diary entries.

Middle School – 53 stories

Start your story with the words: “Grow up.”

Angst – 63 stories

Write about a character sowing seeds for the future (literally or figuratively).

Spring – 39 stories

Stories

“Spring Cleaning” by Sharon Hancock

Submitted to Contest #139

I should’ve known better. There is a fundamental, unspoken rule of household maintenance that every mother knows. I knew The Rule, but I broke it. My intentions were good, but since I ignored The Rule, I deserved and accepted the consequences. See, my family had a problem. Somehow over the years, our home had mysteriously accumulated an alarming amount of stuff that qualified us as prime candidates for a hoarding intervention. After perusing websites featuring supernaturally organized spaces where no human...

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“The Mystery of the Bread Bag Drawer” by Travis "John Bill" Peek

Submitted to Contest #139

Knowing my height was marked many times over on that dark, brown door frame; I can still recall my Grandma Louise’s kitchen quite vividly before my Uncle Carl did the remodel enclosing the old back porch. In Grandma’s kitchen; tucked in between the sink and the old electric stove, that may or may not have had all of its burners working at any given time, were three wooden drawers that us kids thought had been made outta wood straight off of Noah’s ark. The top drawer, the smallest of the three, was for silverware. Known by outsiders as fla...

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“The Box” by T.M. Kehoe

Submitted to Contest #139

He’s really gone. The thought rattles around in my mind, tumbles into meaninglessness. When he comes home for the holidays this Christmas, it will not be him. It will be a man, with experiences, a life I don’t know about, dressed in his skin. Looking almost the same, but so very different. What do I think of this unknown man? Resentment, for stealing my child from me. Fear, at the inevitable changes. But most of all, pride, at who he is becoming. In the room, we optimistically call the “laundry room,” is...

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“THE ETERNITY SEED CO.” by Annie R McEwen

Submitted to Contest #139

Maureen Patrick &nbs...

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“Deadline ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #139

“Grow up.” “No, you grow up.” Sebastian paused. ‘Maybe…’ he thought, Pen to paper, he wrote. Nancy said, “Shut up!” “No, you shut up.” Melissa stood her ground. ‘Better…’ Sebastian then shook his head, slashed a line through the second dialogue and circled the first. ‘First drafts always suck,’ he thought. ‘I’d rather be working at home.’ Writing a novel is hard enough without the distractions that come with sitting in a hospital bed, endless tests and hovering nurses. This defibrillation detour was no help. His deadline loomed. He needed f...

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“Dear Departed,” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #139

C.W: This story contains descriptions of the dead and death rituals.March 9th, 2022When the news of your passing finally arrived, I felt relieved. Of course, people will say that is how one would expect a daughter-in-law to feel. But they haven’t had a journey that you and I share. How the ticking clock had turned me from a cowering bride resentful of your possessiveness to the one who gently cradled your head in the crook of her arm and fed you the mashed food.I saw your boy-my husband, repeat the doctor’s words in a choked voice before sli...

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“An Unfamiliar Sound” by Jordan Caves-Callarman

Submitted to Contest #139

“Grow up,” he said to himself, standing just outside the kitchen. “It was nothing.” But still he didn’t move.It was late, and Alex didn’t want to be standing hesitantly near the darkened kitchen. He wanted to be asleep. He’d dozed off watching Netflix on the couch again, but tonight, instead of waking up around 2am and stumbling blearily to bed, he’d been pulled back to consciousness just before midnight by an unfamiliar sound. Alex lived alone, and his apartment was small - a bedroom and bathroom in the back, living room and small gall...

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“Twisted logic” by Bradon L

Submitted to Contest #139

Tuesday January 2ndDear diary,I did it! I got the job! All my hard work is finally paying off! There aren’t enough exclamation points in the world to describe how happy I am!!!!!! There is no time to celebrate however, because Im supposed to meet up with my first client next Friday. I have so much to do before then. I have to get new clothes(cause girls go crazy for a sharp dressed man), new equipment, and I think I need to register with the state. I’m not sure if I should be a corporation or an LLC? Does this mean I have to pay in quarterly...

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“The Tragedy of the Seed Sower” by Becca Ward

Submitted to Contest #139

"There you are," The woman One murmured as she bent down to sow her seed. Her chances were better with seeds than babies; fewer of them died after touching her. She thought maybe murmuring helped. "You'll be fine."His blade glinting in the sun, her male guard stepped closer. The stick in his hand also held promise, though not an immediate threat. Unlike some, he didn't seem to be the violent type. He'd never hit her for the fun of it, like some. Glancing into his face, she glimpsed his eyes observing her. Light brown, thickly lashed. Memory ...

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“Time” by Shelby B

Submitted to Contest #139

Grow up. Grow up. Grow up. That’s all we wanted to do when we were younger. We wanted to go out into the world on our own. We didn’t want to listen to our parents, teachers, or any other adult we came across. We wanted to make our own rules. We thought we were ready for it all. Bills. Work. Groceries. It all crept on us so quickly we barely had time to prepare. They tried to tell us, but we never listened. I think that’s because we thought we still had forever left. We thought a few years meant a lifetime, but we blinked and it was no...

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“Dear Diary” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #139

April 7, 1963Dear Diary,My name is Howard and I found you, hidden in the back of a closet. Mom said you used to belong to my grandpa. If you don’t mind, I would like to write in you.It is springtime here in West Eaton, New York. Dandelions have started to bloom, peppering the lawns. Leaves are sprouting from the surrounding maple trees. The weather is beautiful today. This morning, on my way to Sunday school, all I needed to wear was a light sweater to keep me warm. But you should know, Dear Diary. The weather may be nice, but Sunday school ...

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“Hurley Brown and the Steamboat Mystery” by Jesse Traynham

Submitted to Contest #139

“See you later, Mom! Me and Alfred are taking the steamboat up the Mississippi for an adventure!” Hurley said. “Hold on there, Lee. It’s your birthday; you know the drill.” Hurley slid his shoes off, kicked them across the kitchen, almost hitting his sister Marina. “Sorry,” he said as he stood in the door frame. His mother grabbed a pen from the junk drawer and walked over to the door. “Amazing! You’ve grown an inch and a half since last year. At this rate, you’ll be taller than both me and dad by the time you’re a teenager.” “You be...

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“Return to #7” by Mickey Carroll

Submitted to Contest #139

“Oh, my! Would you look at that?” Mary Thompson said, looking at the line she had just drawn on the door frame where the top of her son’s head had reached, putting her hands on her hips as if taking in a truly magnificent sight. “Look how much you've grown!" “I thought I felt bigger." Adam turned around to look for himself, "And I think I’m getting stronger, too. Look at this.” He pulled up the sleeve of his St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt and flexed his 10-year-o...

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“The Acorn” by Peyton Scheller

Submitted to Contest #139

The acorn jostled around in the bottom of a knapsack. Scooped up from the dark Illinois prairie soil, the acorn was on its way to the Palouse. Carried by a man with heavy eyes and a pioneering spirit, the small acorn would soon bear witness to hundreds of seasons, gatherings, and coming and goings of family farm life. Planted in a ground warmer and drier than where it came from, the white oak acorn shouldn’t have had a life after its cross-country expedition. Its planter, however, was a skilled farmer - a farmer that had a dream of a lush...

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“Dawn” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #139

When ten-year-old Dawn entered the Goodwill drop-off station in Madera, she dragged a garbage bag full of clothes behind her. She huffed and puffed as she made the haul. It didn’t help that the temperature was about to hit ninety degrees on this day in early June. “This weighs a ton!” she cried with exasperation. “Well, you wanted to do it by yourself,” her mother replied. She offered a smile that was really an I-told-you-so expression. Moms knew how to do that smile really well. Dawn ignored the look. “I should have put this on ...

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$250

Prize money

239

Contest entries

135

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 01, 2022 EST

Won by Alex Sultan 🏆

Title: buried in saipan

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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