Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#144: Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Whether you pose happily or are a serial camera dodger, there are probably some photographs you treasure. Photos are a way of connecting us with our past, capturing a special memory, or even giving us a peek into each other’s lives — albeit through a filter.

This week’s stories explore the unique art of photography, and how it impacts our lives in big ways, and tiny ones.

This week's prompts

Start your story with somebody taking a photo.

Adventure – 75 stories

Write a story about a wedding photographer.

Valentine's Day – 31 stories

A character finds an old roll of film, and takes it to be developed. What do they find?

Middle School – 45 stories

Write about a character who’s pathologically camera shy.

Character – 21 stories

Write a story that centres around an Instagram post.

High School – 20 stories

Stories

“Gone in a flash.” by Hannah Cooper

Submitted to Contest #144

Looking at my best friend, Jess, through the camera, I see her bright smile. "Hurry! We might be late!" She rushed me, still posing for the picture. "Alright Miss Diva, smile!" First a click and then a bright white light flashes. For a moment I'm blind like I was the one who was in front of the camera. When I finally look back up, Jess is no longer there. Quickly, I look around to see if she ran off. Searching around my car to see if she was just trying to scare me. Still unable to find her, I turn to Tessa. A friend of ours who we met shor...

Read story

“A Moment To Frame” by Interesting Ink

Submitted to Contest #144

Arpad Nagy Labbmwd@hotmail.com Word Count:2380 A Moment To Frame By Arpad Nagy Sandy De Luca was a sunshine girl. Cradling a mug of coffee in her small hands, Sandy stood, her eyes closed and a smile on her face basking in the heat of spring's first kiss. Like the tulip bulbs breaking the softened soil, Sandy felt the call to shed the sleep of hibernation and sprout into the new season. It was late April, and winter's chilly fingers had finally receded over the mountains. The morning sun beaming through the window warmed the room an...

Read story

“It All Clicked Together ” by Andrea Mariana

Submitted to Contest #144

Note: story contains brief use of coarse language Erica jolted at the bright flash in the cabin’s bedroom – was it lightning? She blinked around the dim, moonlit space, expecting a crash of thunder. Nothing; only the twittering of mountain bluebirds greeted her. She stole a quick glance at Barry, still slumbering beside her. Another quick glance went to her phone’s weather app: the skies over Three Bear Holler were utterly clear, no ominous red-and-yellow patches in sight. Erica sighed to herself, and shook her frowsy chestnut hair out o...

Read story

“Welcome To The Neighborhood” by Judi Wallower

Submitted to Contest #144

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD Molly Drake stepped out in the middle of the street to take a picture of her new house to email her family and friends back home. She doesn’t live far, but she is so excited to have a house of her own, she couldn’t wait to send them pictures. Molly moved into her new house yesterday and is excited to get things unpacked and in place so she can venture out and meet her new neighbors. This is the first time Molly is out on her own and feels b...

Read story

“Picture This” by Clara Candace Farr

Submitted to Contest #144

“Everyone in!” Darcy yelled to her family. They all lined up like little soldiers, with smiles on their faces. They knew the routine. It was Christmas and their ten-foot Christmas tree was proudly standing on a square table covered in a plaid holiday tree skirt. Darcy had set up her tripod and the countdown had already begun. Success! This was a well-rehearsed action the kids could perform without much thought. Darcy was a fan of capturing the family moments on film, along with the staged group pictur...

Read story

“Amanda” by Caroline Clausen

Submitted to Contest #144

There’s nothing like taking a picture. It’s like capturing a moment in time to hold onto forever. A smile, a twinkle in the eye, a heartfelt conversation, a long coming embrace. Weddings have always been my favorite. Emotions always run high. To immortalize the look on the groom’s face when his bride walks down the aisle, the tears of a father never really ready to let go of his daughter, the envious look of a childhood rival. To have that kind of power, to see things that no one else sees, to know things no one else knows. That’s what I lov...

Read story

“Broken Heart ” by Abigail Crowder

Submitted to Contest #144

“No,” a woman cried as she woke up. She looked around and saw that she was safe in her room. She stood up and saw that everything was in its place. The bed was in the middle of the room, and the tv was and the foot of the bed next to the wall. The woman's name was Autumn, and she had two children, a boy named Asher and a girl named Grace. The kids were staying with her mother, Ethel. Autumn could not sleep, so she drove out of town to an old house in the middle of the night. The house had been untouched for about a year. The sky was dark, an...

Read story

“Imagining me with you ” by Rai Batara

Submitted to Contest #144

”There he is.” “Who?” “The groom you, numbskull,” my Dad pointed. I surveyed around the reception room and squinted a bit. In the center of the room, the man of the hour sat on a chair, exhausted with a nagging mother-law. The bride was pacing around the room, while several family members were all over the reception. “Not how I expected my first gig as a wedding photographer would go,” I scowled. “ Well, you better suck it up Jaime, ‘cause another headache’s comin’ yer way,” Dad grinned. Out of nowhere, the spaw...

Read story

“Picture "Perfect"” by Joshua Lee

Submitted to Contest #144

“Jessica, you’ll be attending the Drucker wedding. Ben, you’ll be attending the Holt wedding. And George, you’ll be attending the Brita wedding. Now everyone listen up, I want you guys to take the family photos, food photos, the kiss, and the dance. Make sure to bring your F29 cameras and please make sure to be on time!” Even before my manager finished his speech, I was out the door and was ready to photograph the Brita wedding. During the whole drive, I kept on double checking to make sure I had all of my materials. After thirty min...

Read story

“Inky” by Riddhima G.

Submitted to Contest #144

TW: murder, mental health, implications of suicide 12:11 pm I stood at the banks of the Neva River, waiting for the moment I died to arrive. Safe to say, it never did. I stood like that for at least 20 minutes, just staring into the water with tears pouring down my face. The people watching me must have thought I was crazy as they quietly warned their kids to stay away from me. Nobody tried to stop me. The cold air had pretty much frozen my tears the second they started to slowly leak out of my eyes and drip into the river remi...

Read story

“Nana’s attic” by Karissa Polk

Submitted to Contest #144

Ever since I was a little girl , my paren I used to love it but now that I’m 17 I take the car and head to the beach. There’s literally never anything to do at my grandparents house . It’s the same ole same watching game shows or soaps. My mom sits and nods at everything my grandmother says. My grandmother was diagnosed with dementia five years ago. She calls me Zoelle even though my name is Danielle. I know that she can’t help it but it annoys me because I miss her. She use to bake the best desserts . listening to her childhood stories abou...

Read story

“The Weight” by Tom Davis

Submitted to Contest #144

“A little to the left.” Emily said to the moving men as they positioned her couch. Emily was excited as this was moving day into her new home. She had purchased it from her uncle who moved into a condo. Her uncle showed her the various aspects of the home and the little tricks to get certain things working. For instance, he showed her how to fidget with the lock on the front door to get it to snap and lock. “Uncle Bill how long has this be broken?” Emily asked “Never mind how long it’s been broken. Are you going to ...

Read story

“The last shot” by Minja Zupanjevac

Submitted to Contest #144

'Of course I'll do it for you', winked Madam Katarina at her only son in law. In a crafty voice and set of teeth that gleamed longer than it took her to slip his Kodak film in the slit of her mink coat. Although a sizable woman, added to by a fur hat and carry on, she at once spun on a high square heel and turned her beam to the check-in official.Zoran lingered at the sparkly international hall. Squinting at the nostalgia one always feels at Departures, but soon recalling that all its blinking lights and female voices and happy bustle, sweet...

Read story

“Life-Fed Scenes” by Lore Ax-Horton

Submitted to Contest #144

Peter stood in the circle taking his turn to enjoy a mighty pull on the joint before passing it on to the next guy, Parker. Parker swayed drunkenly. Peter was just sick of the whole mess of it all. He felt as though he were looking at Parker through the wrong end of binoculars. Parker seemed far away, swaying in the center of a hyper-focused circle. Black hair sticking out every possible direction, glasses broken and smudged, looking to be slipping down his narrow nose. Wine colored button up, unbuttoned. White not white shirt now seen betwe...

Read story

“Cuckoo Eggs” by Eoin Treanor

Submitted to Contest #144

Taking a photograph of an invisible dragon is proving to be more difficult than I expected. You would think that the invisibility aspect would be the glaring obstacle in this puzzle, but Daisy takes care of that issue herself, with the help of the vast, muddy bog she seems to use as a home, a playground and a bath. Daisy is the dragon’s name, or at least it that is the name I have given her. She hasn’t heard it. I know that Daisy is a ‘she’ because of the eggs. Five speckled turquoise eggs, basketball sized, lie far ...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

192

Contest entries

114

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 06, 2022 EST

Won by Rebekah Jordan 🏆

Title: Unseen

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢