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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#146: Getting to Know You (And Me)

Mental Health Awareness Week may be coming to a close, but it’s always a good time to reflect and try to treat one another with a little more understanding — even when our experiences aren’t the same.

Of course, understanding others is part of the job description for writers, or else how would we create our characters? With that in mind, let’s explore what it means to build connection with others (and ourselves), and the different types of reflection that may be required along the way.

This week's prompts

Write from the point of view of a character writing a letter to their past or future self.

Character – 70 stories

Write about a character attempting to meditate or do something mindfully.

Narrative – 38 stories

Set your story in an unlikely sanctuary.

High School – 34 stories

Write about a character discovering a surprising strength in either themself or another.

Character – 56 stories

Start your story during a team building exercise.

Adults – 17 stories

Stories

“Fighting Friends and Breaking Blades” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #146

Day two of the tournament pitted Sir Danielle Longbow against Sir Aled Cadogan. Her friend had been a knight for many years while she was a homeless beggar. He’d fought by her side and trained with her. Now they faced each other with swords in their hands. A crowd of thousands screamed in the stands of the arena. Danielle’s girlfriend Lupita and extended family were watching from the stands below the royal box. Alongside the queen was the new wise one of the cenaga. &nbs...

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“Moo, baa, cluck, quack” by Wendy Hayes

Submitted to Contest #146

Mooooo, Baaa, Bock bock bock, quack, quack; farmyard sounds? Yes, and no. Are they the sounds of a children’s party game? They should be, but in this instance they are the sounds of adults walking around the reception room of a swanky hotel, engaged in a team building exercise. In this case, they are the noises emanating from your children’s teachers .Yes, that sixty five dollars you forked out for a babysitter, was so that those in charge of your child's education could make asses of themselves, in the name of professional development. I ...

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“Time Capsule Best Left Burried” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #146

Time Capsule Best Left BurriedLike many children, I was saddled early in life with the burden of “great potential”. The label was first affixed by my presumably well-intentioned father, and later driven deep into my brain by a battery of optimistic educators. Due to the recent chance discovery of an old 10th Grade English assignment, I am now well positioned to evaluate how my actual performance in life stacks up against youthful aspirations.Miss Pischke was an innovator. Her assignment: Write a letter to yourself to be opened in the&n...

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“Be(longing)” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #146

This story contains material that is distressing: physical abuse. Before I can do anything, he’s upon me. Big hands clamp onto my neck, easily circling it. The man’s grip is unrelenting; I can’t turn my head to bite those fleshy fingers let alone duck and dodge. He flips me onto my side, knocking the breath out of me. Kneeling in the dirt, he swiftly slips a frayed rope out of his overall’s orange pocket, and round my throat. He tightens the noose and I’m trapped. My legs can’t hold me. He forces me up, but each time I buckle. I want t...

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“Adenomyosis” by Lavonne H.

Submitted to Contest #146

N.B. Story contains graphic description of mensuration as well as expressed violence.The steam whirls around her body in the small enclosure and the moisture touches her skin with gentle pressure. Below her feet, a pool of bright red water swirls down the drain. Thérèse* leans against the shower wall onto one arm and reaches up into her vagina to feel a squishy, gelatinous mass inside. She pulls on it and the red lump falls in a splat to the shower floor. It sits there and does not readily disperse into the circular metal grate. Another...

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“Dear Me; It'll Be Okay” by Khloe Briglio

Submitted to Contest #146

Dear Me, It’ll be okay. I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but everything will work out how it’s supposed to. As much as I (you?) hate to admit it, Mom was right on that account. The one constant in life is that nothing ever stays the same. Change is the companion who stays by your side throughout. You will never be the person you were yesterday, and you won’t be who you are today, tomorrow. So, breathe. Sit down. Meditate, if you need it. Listen to everything I’m about to tell you, because everything you’re doing, an...

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“The person inside” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #146

You have twenty minutes. It would be twenty-three if you included the cooldown, but you don’t need to commit to that; just commit to twenty minutes. Yesterday you didn’t meditate morning or night, and you were disappointed. You promised yourself that you’d do better tomorrow, well, today’s tomorrow. Swipe up on your iPhone and open the TM app. Don’t get distracted. You know the outcome of last night’s game. You can wait to see who the guest is on Smartless. Have some boundaries. It’s too early to feed your addiction to your phone...

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“Stinging Nettle” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #146

“How did you get those bruises?” Danielle asked her adopted daughter Nettle. “Practice,” said Nettle, avoiding eye contact. “Were you the target?” The knight asked the girl. “No. I’m fine.” The girl had a black eye and bruises on her arms. “I can tell whoever...

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“No one’s Princess and everyone’s hero.” by Shebana Fakira

Submitted to Contest #146

Dear Princess, Yes, I am speaking to you, the girl who was no one's princess. The one who on a good day was invisible, and on the bad days you were noticed. You felt the purpose of your very existence was to be used to satisfy their anger, lust, wicked desires...the object of their unhappiness. Right now, you think pain is our life and if we learn to control it things would be better. In your mind if you hurt yourself before they hurt you, their hurt would be less painful. This is when you started to burn yourself wit...

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“Broken Hand” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #146

Deep in the dark, beneath everything she knew Sir Danielle Longbow was introduced to one strange species by another. Kutharma, a cenaga, held a flaming torch high to reveal four bipeds that were more and less like Danielle than the quadruped serpent with antlers that was making the introduction. “I am Broken Hand,” said the foremost of the uamhith. Its arm was the length of Sir Longbow’s, but the width of a finger compared to her tree trunk arms. ...

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“One Corinthians Thirteen” by Deylight Writer

Submitted to Contest #146

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1st Corinthians 13, The Bible. I was making up the bed the other day and I remembered how when we were first together we did that together. Just the little things like that about you made me even crazier for you. I wondered what ha...

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“The True Definition of a Father” by Joshua Kang

Submitted to Contest #146

He was never around. I remember after every baseball game, all my friends would grab their bags and rush over to their dads, shouting about how much they wanted to get ice cream, or watch replays of their hits that their dad’s recorded. I stayed back silently, pretending that my bag zipper was stuck, or that my cleats wouldn’t come off my feet. I waited until everybody had left, and then I would trudge back home alone. I wasn’t the only one that hated my dad, my mom hated him even more than I did. She would always tell me that I didn...

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“I Open My Eyes” by Steve Rogers

Submitted to Contest #146

I open my eyes and look out at the world for the first time. I see you looking at me and you are typing. And that is all I know. You are writing a story and I am one of the characters. This is my character profile. Am I the main character? Who will I be? Am I male or female? Old or young? A child maybe? Am I even human? An animal or maybe an alien? There’s a lot to consider here and you haven’t even decided what I am yet. But now I know that you are creating me from your mind as you type and the possibilities are almost endless. It’s thrilli...

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“The Truth” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #146

I’m going to tell you a little story and I will let you be the judge if you dare step into that role to give an authentic verdict. Why would you be fearful of stepping into that role? Because I will be asking you to judge your masters and even yourselves if you are a part of this moral and legal crime. This prompt is about a character who is strong. What is strength? The ability to carry a heavy load. This load does not have to be physical. Imagine, for a minute, you are in my position. Now, let me describe my position. I am a Targeted Indiv...

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“One Epiphany Stronger” by Talia Vander

Submitted to Contest #146

Memories swirl in her mind, a kaleidoscope of colours and emotions set to a soundtrack of indescribable music. The highs. The lows. Where did it all go wrong? There are the sweet memories: the handholds on the beach, the hugs she never saw coming. The feeling of closeness that overwhelmed her lonely soul; the feeling that itches for her now to make a move. To send a text. To show up at a door, just not with a boombox of some kind. Just to show up, to say she is still in this. But isn’t there a limit on how much sweet memories can overwhelm...

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$250

Prize money

215

Contest entries

134

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 20, 2022 EST

Won by Michał Przywara 🏆

Title: 10 Days to Mindfulness

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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