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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

“Welcome to the Suds and Duds Team!” by Abby Stone

Submitted to Contest #146

“There’s no I in TEAM!” the perky woman with the bubblegum pink hair screams from the stage.If Henry had to hear that catch-all mantra from every “Ted Talk” wannabe one more time he was going to scream.“Less than five minutes to finish your spaghetti towers! Remember the winning team gets 10 extra points for their Team!” Pepto Head spouts as she tries to talk over room.Henry was dying inside, little by little, with every piece of tape he handed over to the Engineering genius in their group that took charge from the word GO. He kept looking a...

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“Dear Future Self,” by Larrissa Howard

Submitted to Contest #146

Dear future self, What a ride it's been, eh? You're probably much older now, well, you being in the future and all, but I'm sure you won't forget who you were before you grew up and went out into the world. I want to fill you in on everything that has happened, but you probably already know. Since it happened to you too. But I do have a lot of questions. I guess life is a little confusing right now. I guess life will always be a little bit confusing. I mean, I have loads of worries. Friends, family, sports, popularity, image, I could go on...

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“To Influence the Past and Save the Present” by Dayton Lavigne

Submitted to Contest #146

Dear Elliot Zion. I know that when this reaches you, it will not make sense. These words will only ignite your curiosity; that ambition to learn and discover is what will eventually make you become a master practitioner of the arcane arts. From the moment you found your latent power, both you and I recognized that you were destined to become a mage; I want to tell you how far you take that ambition and warn you of the darkness you may face. The elements of fire and ice are your tools of both destruction and creation. The earth you walk a...

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“The Best Wine Comes from Grapes that Struggle” by Lex Lockner

Submitted to Contest #146

Sensitive content: Sexual violence, mental health Kate sneezed as she dropped another cardboard box in the dusty basement of her childhood home. Every time she felt accomplished in loading up an entire box, the room seemed to spit more things out to sort through. She felt annoyed that the sole responsibility for organizing and cleaning up her parents house fell on her. The least Jason could do is step up for once in his life and be a good son. Then again, she really didn’t want to have to interact with her brother, they’ve never had much...

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“Set me free” by Sameen Azmat

Submitted to Contest #146

For the nth time, she crumpled the piece of paper and aimed to throw it in to the bin at the far end of the room. It wasn’t just a dream, she knew it. It was real. As real as her whole existence. When it happened for the first time, she had to pinch herself thrice in order to wake herself up. And then the same dream again. And again. It kept happening for a week until she realized the figure she saw wasn’t a dream and pinching herself or shouting for help wasn’t going to work. She would snap back to reality only wh...

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“How Are You Feeling Today? ” by Eunice Ross

Submitted to Contest #146

You knew that something was off. It was the opposite of harmony. You were playing with your brother and sister just a few feet away when you felt the energy of their conversation. Your palms become sweaty, you start feeling hot, and you are taken out of the imaginative play that you were in with your siblings. Your siblings were too young to notice what was going on. You, however, were old enough to pay attention. Your dad started talking, and you saw your mom storm off before finishing his sentence. She doesn't say anything back, but your d...

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“Dear Past” by Etya Krichmar

Submitted to Contest #146

Dear Past Dear Past, I write this letter to you not to complain about what happened in my life but to offer my words of gratitude. Even though you did not treat me kindly at times, you taught me valuable lessons, and for that, I am grateful. Thank you for letting me know that at seven, I was different, and for twenty-three years of my life inside the USSR, I would not fit in or belong. On my first day of school, inside a schoolyard in Kotovsk, Ukraine, alone and lonely, I expe...

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“The Time Tunnel” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #146

Just because an action may be outlawed, doesn’t mean it will never be carried out. For instance, detonating a neutron bomb maybe banned, but still, it is possible for someone to commit such a deadly act. Even if you ever heard someone even suggesting such an insane idea, you may say, “That’s ludicrous! Why would someone do something so dangerous?” And you’d be correct in your assumption if it was one’s intention to wreak havoc on the world. But what if you were wrong? What if this individual want to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity by ...

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“My Bitter Sweet Selves” by Valerie Vince

Submitted to Contest #146

Letter to my younger selves,No need for our covert operation anymore, boys, I’m shining the light on the whole damn story. This is my healing. It’s taken me three years to drudge this up from deep inside my cells and set it down on paper for the both of you. It’s written to you, Dave, as an infant, a child, a teen and a mature man. Dan won’t admit to reading it anyways. I might ramble and skip across decades but you’ll both follow. A scene that comes to mind is the first time Dan showed up at Mae’s place eight years ago, wrecked after a...

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“Dear Fifteen,” by Shawn Wier

Submitted to Contest #146

TW: implied death, suicidal ideation, depression, child sexualization, body dysphoria, disordered eating, implied abuse. Get ready for the beginning of every past-self letter ever written: If only you'd known. First: You're autistic and have ADHD. Read about how those things affect girls specifically. Talk with Mama and Daddy and Dr. Pat about it. I often wonder how much pain could have been avoided if I'd known why I felt so out of place; how much I wouldn't have had to give up on if I'd known to approach it from a different perspective...

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“This is how it ends ” by Adji Nene

Submitted to Contest #146

(This story contains depictions of substance abuse and suicide. Please read at viewers discretions.) Dear Me, younger me, What happened to us? To all the hopes and dreams that we held, as you got older I guess you lost a sense of what you wanted. Remember when we thought we could become an engineer, we always enjoyed looking at cars on the TV with Dad. After engineering we wanted to be doctors, yeah who would’ve thought, we wanted to be saving lives, I’ve lost all motivation to keep working, all motivation to stay alive and yet her...

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“Message In A Bottle” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #146

I’ve never been someone that was appreciative of advice or readily open to suggestions. My friends would say that I gave stubborn people a bad name, but I don’t know why. Friends and family expect this of me and I’m grateful that they still love and tolerate me, anyway. I was thinking about this particular trait, while digging up the driveway of my old family home. My parents still lived there, and they asked if I could help them fix their driveway, as they were both elderly and frail. I’ve had some experience with concrete and cement and ...

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“Still” by Ellison Edmond Everett

Submitted to Contest #146

Take the pink sponge rollers out of your hair quickly because it’s Sunday morning and everyone is already rushing toward the car to go to church. Slip the black Goody comb through your dense, hot combed, jet-black, Ultra Sheen-glazed hair and style your curls because it is important to look shiny, crisp, and coiffured at your church. When it doesn’t look good, keep combing it over and over, even when Mom is banging on the door. When you finally open it, angry because your hair is still a flat, lackluster mushroom-shape, do not give Mom any a...

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“Popcorn Kernel Tigers” by Hailey Gaar

Submitted to Contest #146

She lost it, that one thing everyone cared so very much about. People were like the last few kernels of popcorn, rolling over and over again in the microwave, always loud and always a surprise. Unexpected visits popping up at unexpected hours to express their concern with cheerful grief at her misfortunes. Polite conversation was all they were after. She wished they would all go away so she could search the house for the thing she had lost. They’d ask her about it, lean forward like crouching tigers—their eyes would glow and she thoug...

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“Moot Meditations” by Eric Jackson

Submitted to Contest #146

Hey it’s me again: What should I be doin’? more whining, more pining, more “trying” and “finding”? praisin’ my own pedestal, for a me I ain’t gone be(.)(?) On this hot typical Thursday, I’m staring at you…blinking cursor on the blank page. I should be wearing your favorite bracelet: translucent pearls of “today’s the day” but it popped when I wasn’t thinking about them. Now they’re litter somewhere on the floor with the rest of my unfulfilled promises and gaudy protestations. My Sanctuary. Home to an abandoned forest of mostly empty w...

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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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