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#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

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...

183 likes 139 comments 139
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⭐️ Shortlisted

Night Shift

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...

63 likes 46 comments 46
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You'll Never Be Alone

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...

34 likes 32 comments 32
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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 – 23 stories

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

Sad – 70 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 – 20 stories

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

Kids – 26 stories

Stories

Just Ask for Mercy

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...

183 likes 139 comments 139
Read story

The Shortest Movie in the World

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...

91 likes 48 comments 48
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Sam Kinison’s Ghost

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...

83 likes 47 comments 47
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Night Shift

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...

63 likes 46 comments 46
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The Big Break

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...

49 likes 17 comments 17
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Where the Heart Is

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...

45 likes 61 comments 61
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Visitors

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...

41 likes 35 comments 35
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Old Film - Chapter Four

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...

39 likes 20 comments 20
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Roll the Credits

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...

35 likes 16 comments 16
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You'll Never Be Alone

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...

34 likes 32 comments 32
Read story

Wine is Fine but Liquor is Quicker

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...

34 likes 15 comments 15
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Fragmented Reality

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...

32 likes 25 comments 25
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Boombox

Submitted to Contest #147

It was all Michael’s fault. After three weeks of dating, he really wanted to do something special for Sara. There were flowers (white roses; a favourite she mentioned in passing), candy (little Coke bottles; he liked them, too), and a dinner (home cooked when his parents were out and he finally learned how to make his own bread). It was all perfect; Sara told him so. And then, his first big mistake that felt like the perfect ending. It was her favourite movie. Sara talked about it all the time and he knew that he would have to watch it one d...

30 likes 16 comments 16
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Rome. By All Means. Rome.

Submitted to Contest #147

We were meant to divorce after Roman Holiday.As the credits rolled at the end of the film, I found myself sitting in the dark next to Rob wishing I could see his face. I’ve always found that turning to look at the person sitting next to you at a movie is a risk. Whether you know it or not, there’s something you’re expecting to see. What if you don’t see it? What if it’s something else? What if the person turns and looks at you as you’re looking at them and both of you are surprised by what’s there?A small puddle of dried Diet Coke had been i...

30 likes 21 comments 21
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A Lifetime of Love

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...

30 likes 24 comments 24
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