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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.

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

“Boombox” by Kendall Defoe

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...

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“Rome. By All Means. Rome.” by Story Time

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...

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“Driving Miss Quoted” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #147

“What did you think?”“It was alright. Not as scary as everyone made it out to be.”“Listen to the big brave boy. I felt you jump a few times during the creepiest parts.”“No, that was you clinging to me, making me sit up, that’s all. The 3D effects were good weren’t they... I’m keeping the glasses. Not sure how I’ll use them, but they’re cool.”“They should come free anyway with the exorbitant ticket prices. Here, put them in my purse.”“Keep your voice down, someone will hear.”“There’s no-one else left in here but us. Who’s going to know?”“I’ll...

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“Credits 🎬🍿” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #147

EXT. THE CABIN. STILL NIGHT LIKE THE REST OF THE MOVIE. MIKE DUCHESS covered in sweat and other people’s blood limps through the woods towards the doorway. INT. THE CABIN. MIKE DUCHESS limps into the living room leaving a blood trail behind him. He walks up to his favourite armchair and sits down with a slump.With his breathing becoming slower and strained MIKE pulls something out of the top pocket of his jacket. It was his favourite faded family photo of his ex wife next to the love of his life, his goldfish Dotty. MIKE (strugglin...

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“A Peaceful Outing” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #147

Detective Srini hated breaking hearts. Unless it was necessary.Maybe that’s why he was regularly assigned these cases.He sat two rows behind his client’s wife, trying to shield himself from the blows the antihero rained on his assailants sending them flying in all directions on the screen.There was just one thought that kept on playing in his mind as his teeth crunched the caramel popcorn- When did I lose the plot of my life? Ms. Goldilocks shifted in her seat. Maybe she too had her nerves jangled enough and sought respite.The airborne assai...

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“Front row at the Friday matinee” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #147

Straining her arm as close to her face as possible, Alice reads her watch in the occasional bursts of light from the big screen: 4.37pm. Her skirt is sticking to her legs, the coarse fabric of the cheap seat is rubbing into the sweaty folds of skin under her knees; even her palms feel damp, drumming the armrests in frustration. Did she really only check her watch two minutes ago? If there were a thermometer in the cinema the mercury would be rising, steadily, like the excitement of the young audience; but she can only sit here, perspiring an...

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“Bagheera and Me” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #147

Pa got his transfer order to move to Secunderabad Cantonment in the spring of 2016. I remember Ma breaking the news to me with a serving of chocolate cake, grinning from ear to ear. She was a city girl, and after two and a half years of being stationed at Dinjan which was nestled among the tea gardens interspersed with gigantic trees, with very rare trips to nearby Tinsukia, must have been relieved at the prospect of moving out. In the following months, she had packed her crockery with great care, placing everything that tinkled and sparkled...

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“In The Dark” by Rebekah Jordan

Submitted to Contest #147

The darkness was cool, almost startlingly so, as if the loss of light from the screen added to the atmosphere. Ashley shivered and curled inwards, rubbing the backs of her arms with the opposite hand. She bit her lip as the chill and anticipation worked their way simultaneously up her spine and she eyed him in the dark. Chris was still staring at the screen, watching the last few names scroll upwards from nothing and disappearing into just as much darkness. The faint leftover light illuminated his long blonde lashes and she wondered ...

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“Original Ending” by Kevin Coleman

Submitted to Contest #147

Noah had had enough of arguing with Maggie and the harder his step-daughter pushed things, the closer he got to the edge of losing his temper. Maggie had overslept and missed the bus. Now he was going to be late for work making sure she got to school on time.“Why won’t you just relax, Dad?” she said. “I don’t understand what the big deal is!”“The answer is still no, Maggie. You’ve already seen the movie twice.”“But I love the ending! Please! It’s just a couple hours on a Friday night!”Noah heaved a sigh and work...

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“War and Peas” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #147

TW: War, swearing.My country is screwed. Why? Chickpeas. I’ll get to that. The ground trembled beneath our feet. The screen went blank just as the film was reaching the climax. The lights went out. Some ran for the emergency exit. I didn’t see the point. You can’t outrun a missile. If we were being bombed and the ceiling hadn’t collapsed, we were as safe as anywhere we could run to. My wife’s tears glittered in the dark. White light poured in through the emergency exit. Dust and rubble in the world beyond were framed by the black cinema....

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“Stillbirth of a Nation” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #147

My hand reaches over the back of his seat. Chloroform sends his mind spinning before he can make a sound. When he’s unconscious I touch the bare skin of his neck and get to work. On a screen plays the 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation. Hint, it was first called The Clansman. My patient and his friends have a private screening. No one else would watch this shit, hopefully. That’s a lie, there are too many people who still idolise the lynch mobs too cowardly to show t...

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“Brotherly Love” by Yvonne Clarke

Submitted to Contest #147

Emily didn’t like going to Mass with her Mum every Sunday. It lasted too long – sometimes over an hour – and it was in Latin, which she didn’t understand. So, when her Mum took her to another church with a shorter service, in English, things started to look up, not least because there was a shop at the back of the church. Though she was only nine, she was a sucker for retail therapy, even if the items on sale only consisted of holy water, statues of saints, rosary beads, prayer books and holy pictures. Brother Eugene was the friar who ran t...

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“Five Red Flags” by Holly Guy

Submitted to Contest #147

Chapter One. A projector screen unravelled itself from the ceiling of the Bubble Six’s dining hall. It hugged the entirety of the back wall of the canteen and tumbled to the floor rather ungracefully. Silence pierced the canteen and the air hummed with anticipation. Then, as usual, two men dressed all in white, wheeled in the projector. The wheels shrieked as they came to a halt in front of the screen. On top of the projector, the button light flashed red. Then green. Opposite the projector screen, rows upon rows of smartly dressed Bubble...

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“Billy Jack to the Rescue” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #147

There she stood. How many thoughts crossed Kyle’s mind, in that moment? Daphne. He loved her. Everyone knew it. Their off and on friendship, over years, never kindled as he hoped. He gave up. Had it been a year since? Her complicated life wouldn’t accommodate him. He couldn’t bear her indecision. Not a stalker, he never expected to see her in the big box electronics store named Fries. They sold neither make-up, nor clothing. Why would Daphne go there? Kyle went in, grabbed the needed computer part, and meant to get on with his life. Go in....

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“Make America Grate Again” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #147

TW: Swearing. Is your cheese too blocky? Are your burgers hampered by the height of your halloumi? The solution is simple. For only $9.99 we can teach you how to turn a culinary faux pas into a fromage. *Soft white rind cheese sold separately. When I was a kid, I thought my life would be like the movies, specifically Spy Kids. Being a spy in real life is incredibly boring. Filling out a risk asse...

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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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