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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#147: Yes I Cannes

Cannes Film Festival is one of the most prestigious events in the world of cinema, and is currently celebrating 75 years since it first opened its doors back in 1946. Every year, the crème de la crème of the industry travel to the French Riviera for two weeks of glitz and glamor, while the festival hands out a range of highly sought-after awards, like the Palme d’Or for best film of the year.

As A-list celebrities and movie mavens attend exclusive screenings and walk miles of red carpet, this week's prompts are all about awards and movie magic.

🥇 Winner

“Just Ask for Mercy” by Cecilia Maddison

🏆 Winner of Contest #147

*Content warning- some violence and gore*Something is eating the hostas.It’s a tricky section of the garden- shaded and north-facing- but the foliage thrives under my watchful eye. I ensure it grows lush and verdant, and only I can coax it from sulking in this hot, dry weather. I’m pleased to see the blue-green tones of sieboldiana flourishing beside the golden variegated undulates leaves.I‘m outraged by the pock-marked damage I’ve discovered, and search for the culprit amongst the ovate leaves. There! A snail clings to the underside of a le...

139 comments 139

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Night Shift” by Andi Hyland

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #147

I watched Edna Powell die last night. I sat at her bedside and held her thin hand as her breathing slowed. I watched as her eyes became fixed and glazed, and her skin became pale and waxy. I leant forward and put my ear to her lips as the remnants of her final breath whispered. The death rattle signified the end. I let go of her cool hand and put my stethoscope against her chest to listen for a heartbeat that I knew was not there. A life had been lived. I stood u...

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“You'll Never Be Alone” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #147

She holds her brother's sweaty hand tight as the credits fade. For a single breath, they sit in the void. Then the world is alight and reality resumes.Blinking, she stretches and looks around blearily. Faded grey seats of cheap foam; a metal bin overflowing with paper boxes and plastic cups; an overturned carton of popcorn, its contents strewn across the threadbare carpet; a neon green exit sign occasionally flickering. A sharp whiff of orange fizz from her brother’s half-finished soda. Undertones of stale popcorn, and the faint stink of unw...

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This week's prompts

Write about someone who has been nominated for a prestigious award, but isn’t sure they deserve it.

Sad – 25 stories

Start your story with two people sitting in a movie theater, waiting for the lights to come back on.

Sad – 72 stories

Start or end your story with someone realizing that life isn’t like the movies, for better or worse.

Kids – 35 stories

Write a story about someone who keeps being cast as the hero but is actually a villain (literally or metaphorically).

Adults – 21 stories

Write about a relationship that has been greatly impacted by a movie.

Kids – 26 stories

Stories

“Just Ask for Mercy” by Cecilia Maddison

🏆 Winner of Contest #147

*Content warning- some violence and gore*Something is eating the hostas.It’s a tricky section of the garden- shaded and north-facing- but the foliage thrives under my watchful eye. I ensure it grows lush and verdant, and only I can coax it from sulking in this hot, dry weather. I’m pleased to see the blue-green tones of sieboldiana flourishing beside the golden variegated undulates leaves.I‘m outraged by the pock-marked damage I’ve discovered, and search for the culprit amongst the ovate leaves. There! A snail clings to the underside of a le...

139 comments 139

Read story

“The Shortest Movie in the World” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #147

As the movie credits scrolled onto the screen, Lane clutched her arm rests as if her life depended on it and angst filled her abdomen. She turned and studied Charlie as he scooped a handful of buttery popcorn from the oversized bucket on his lap. She smiled as she watched him shove the kernels into his tiny mouth, several pieces landing on his Spiderman shirt. The last time she saw him he was obsessed with Pokémon. This time, it was Spiderman. She leaned her head against the seat, hoping there would be some sort...

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“Sam Kinison’s Ghost” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #147

Seated in a movie theater, I waited for the lights to come back on while the ending credit roll for “The Batman” film crawled up the screen. Sam Kinison, who had just returned from the refreshment stand with a jumbo bucket of hot-buttered popcorn and an extra-large coke, retook his seat beside me.“Did I miss anything?” he asked.“Sam, it’s the credit roll. What’s to miss?”“Well,” Sam said softly before screaming at the top of his lungs, “SOMEONE’S GOT A BIG FUCKING BUG UP HIS BIG FUCKING ASS THIS FUCKING DAY!”“Sorry, Sam, it’s not your f...

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“Fin” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #147

Maybe the lights won't come back on. Maybe you can sit in silence in the back of the community center next to your ex-wife for a little while. She’s been remarried for years. You try to remember where what’s-his-name works. You hold her hand. She squeezes your hand back.🜋 🜋 🜋You know the community center well. It is where you register your daughter for soccer every August. Heck, the athletic league even talked you into becoming a coach last season. What did you know about coaching soccer for 7-year-old girls? By the end of the...

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“Night Shift” by Andi Hyland

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #147

I watched Edna Powell die last night. I sat at her bedside and held her thin hand as her breathing slowed. I watched as her eyes became fixed and glazed, and her skin became pale and waxy. I leant forward and put my ear to her lips as the remnants of her final breath whispered. The death rattle signified the end. I let go of her cool hand and put my stethoscope against her chest to listen for a heartbeat that I knew was not there. A life had been lived. I stood u...

Read story

“The Big Break” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #147

Patricia’s not been the same since she shot that intruder a year ago. She’s not prone to violence, although she’s passionate. We’ve had heated exchanges, but they’ve never ended in bloodshed. This shooting was on cue, in the heat of the moment and in the name of art. It feels funny saying ‘in the name of art.’ I’ve always viewed films as commerce rather than art, but I’ve never been a movie buff, unlike Patricia. #When we got married, everyone said, how on earth did you pull her, Ted? No one thought we’d last. They said I was old enough...

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“Where the Heart Is” by Zack Powell

Submitted to Contest #147

Did you know India looks nothing like the city in Aladdin? I discovered that just now, a minute ago, as the wheels of the plane clapped the tarmac and the pilot's staticky voice rumbled above our heads like God himself, welcoming us to Delhi. When I finally summoned the courage to raise the window shade and look outside, there was no bazaar waiting to greet me, no kleptomaniacal monkeys in fezzes running amok. Just disillusionment.In my defense, my family emigrated from New Delhi to the United States when I was three, leaving me with nothing...

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“A Week in the Life of a Reedsy Writer” by J.C. Lovero

Submitted to Contest #147

(TW: swearing, sassiness, and schadenfreude)FridayYou read over the story one more time, checking for any rogue adverbs, split infinitives, comma splices, or anything that could violate the terms of service. Clock check: 10:59 PMCrap. One more hour, and you blink rapidly at the cursor on the screen. Does this even fit the prompt for this week? Too late to change. You’ve never been one of those prodigies that could whip out a story in the same day like Last-Minute Lacey. While you spend all week shining that one thousand nine h...

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“Visitors” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #147

“Looks like de Luca is making a new movie,” Brent said, face buried in his phone. Renee stared up at the moonroof and sighed. She put the car into park and leaned back. Not like traffic was going anywhere. “There’s a name I haven’t heard in years,” she said. “Is he really still directing?” “Ooh!” said Brent. “Looks like Adriana Mendoza’s in it.” Renee ran her hands over her face. Somewhere along the highway someone honked, which got a chorus going for a while before petering out. “You and your Mexican girls.” “Hey, she’s on my list.” Brent g...

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“Old Film - Chapter Four” by Clinton Ernest Murphy

Submitted to Contest #147

Like bars of a prison cell, shadows from the trees fell across the ground. A man sitting alone in the park held his hand in a half fist, hovering in front of his face. His face grew closer by the second and then violins played from the speakers on either side of the theater. The scene faded to black, casting the room into darkness for two seconds, until words scrolled white across the screen. The smell of buttered popcorn drifted through the theater and the distinct crack of theater seats snapping back to their upright positions gave me perm...

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“You'll Never Be Alone” by Shuvayon Mukherjee

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #147

She holds her brother's sweaty hand tight as the credits fade. For a single breath, they sit in the void. Then the world is alight and reality resumes.Blinking, she stretches and looks around blearily. Faded grey seats of cheap foam; a metal bin overflowing with paper boxes and plastic cups; an overturned carton of popcorn, its contents strewn across the threadbare carpet; a neon green exit sign occasionally flickering. A sharp whiff of orange fizz from her brother’s half-finished soda. Undertones of stale popcorn, and the faint stink of unw...

Read story

“Roll the Credits” by Mackenzie Littledale

Submitted to Contest #147

Contains sexually explicit language I sat in the dark next to my best friend, Dylan, in our favorite seats just a few rows behind dead center of our small town’s sole movie theater. We’d just slurped the last of our Cokes and nearly finished the popcorn and Goobers when the movie ended abruptly without a satisfactory landing. I suspected the romantic angle wedged into the story line made Dylan want to puke, but he sat quietly. French film - no plot, no tension, no explosions. “I heard a rumor that theaters across America were getti...

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“Wine is Fine but Liquor is Quicker” by Sharon Hancock

Submitted to Contest #147

WARNING: alcohol abuse James was barely out of diapers when he tried a sip of his mother’s wine. He spat it out and wiped his tongue with a napkin. The bitterness lingered in his mouth, keeping James alcohol-free for years. As a teenager, when his friends partied with drugs and booze, James declined to participate. While most kids his age spent their weekends getting wasted, James studied and worked. As a result of his efforts, he graduated Valedictorian of his high school and college classes. After...

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“Fragmented Reality ” by Alyssa Telgenhoff

Submitted to Contest #147

High school parties aren’t like the movies. I had imagined most of my junior class packed in a mansion, drinking from red solo cups, dancing around, carefree. Being young. Maybe being a little bit stupid. That’s not what I was met with that night. I was in my favorite worn jeans and had smeared pink lipgloss on my mouth. Five guys were sitting on stained red couches, passing around a blunt in a humid garage. I’d never seen any of them before, and they looked far too old to be in high school. A girl in my E...

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“A Lifetime of Love” by Aeris Walker

Submitted to Contest #147

His sticky hands snag my fur, but I don’t mind.Ben’s room has transformed into an island, and I am stranded at the base of an erupting volcano. The rug is lava, this cardboard box my vessel. I’ve been bound by the ruthless one-armed tyrannosaurus rex who has cast me in this shoddy boat and left me to fate. It is sinking, lower and lower into the molten rock.“Oh no!” My boy voices my need for rescue with a falsetto squeal. “Help me, someone help me!” Ben maneuvers my head so it appears I’m yelling.My boat is tipping; I am inches from the bubb...

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$250

Prize money

179

Contest entries

94

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 27, 2022 EST

Won by Cecilia Maddison 🏆

Title: Just Ask for Mercy

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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