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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#148: The Lease I Can Do

Most of us at one time or another will live in an apartment building. Whether you live in a dorm while at college, or you live in a high-rise in Manhattan, sharing a wall or two with your neighbors certainly keeps things interesting. And living in such close proximity to other people has its pros and cons — you’re never too far from help if you need it, but you’re also never too far from the party your downstairs neighbors seem to throw every weekend.


What are some of your fondest (or least fond) memories of apartment living? Use these five prompts to explore what it’s really like to live in an apartment building — or just a little too close to your neighbors for comfort.

This week's prompts

Write about two neighbors who cannot stand each other.

Sad – 43 stories

Write a story involving a noise complaint.

Sad – 45 stories

Include a character in your story that is often in an apartment building, but doesn’t actually live there.

High School – 38 stories

Write about a couple touring an empty apartment they might rent.

Narrative – 27 stories

Write about an apartment building being demolished.

Sad – 42 stories

Stories

“The Mirror” by Daniel Leffert

Submitted to Contest #148

“Alright, what do you think?” “I don’t know…” I was looking around the single room apartment. There was a bed in one corner, at the foot of the bed was a T.V. On the far side of the room, right next to the door, was a kitchen which included a stove, a fridge, and a sink.  Sean stood behind me, his arms wrapped comfortingly around my waist. I rested my head on his shoulder and fingered his new wedding ring.  “Sammy, we’ve looked at about twenty different apartments, you have to have liked one of them.” “No, I don’t know. They ju...

1 comment 1
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“Why Doesn't Anyone Rent This Place?” by Bad CatZ

Submitted to Contest #148

The sky rips over us as we drive out of our old familiar, our parents’ neighborhood and their stuffy old ways and the beat-up old buildings that used to be something special and now lie as monuments to our society’s collective sense of neglect and waste. We make for the ocean, not to live there, but to make a day out of the experience like many others from more blue-collar zip codes. We packed few things; stood on the beach until we couldn’t take it anymore, as if we wanted to ‘get our monies worth’ out of the sun and sand; and then I chose...

2 comments 2
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“The Writing on the Old Man's Wall” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #148

The Writing on the Old Man’s Wall Hello fellow physicists. My name is Harry and my associate’s name is Sue. We are here to present to you how we were able to make our unbelievable discovery. We will begin with a story, in order that we can give credit where credit is truly due. In the language of baseball, we are the closers, not the one who pitched the first eight innings. Our story begins two years ago. Neither one of us could believe that it was on the marker. Not only that, but it was at a price that, be...

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“Ghosts and Rubble” by Jamie Gogocha

Submitted to Contest #148

The scent of dust and old wood still lingers in the air. At the bottom of a winding hill behind a hospital, a pile of rubble sits in the center of a chain link perimeter. That pile of shingles and siding was once an apartment building inhabited by nurses, students, young families, and old retirees. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the ghosts imprinted in the rooms and the memories that yet remain. Do you see the crumpled screen door front and center? That was the door to the manager’s office. Under the debris, you’ll see an oak desk wit...

2 comments 2
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“The Girl Next Door” by Cassidy Church

Submitted to Contest #148

Nobody could ever make out exactly what they were yelling, although, all of the neighbors in the quaint suburban neighborhood of southern North Carolina could hear them. At least twice a day, Abigail, or Abi, and Cody would be in their adjacent backyards yelling at each other so loudly, everyone in Woodland Park could hear them.  Woodland Park is the name of our neighborhood located in such a small town if you drive through it and you blink, you’d miss all of main street. Dividing the yards is a silver chain link fence with seven or e...

0 comments 0
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“Farewell” by Motaz Mohamed

Submitted to Contest #148

I quickly throw my laundry into the washing machine trying not to make much noise. I hit a few buttons hoping for the right settings. I’m trying to make my time in shared areas as brief as possible to avoid contact with my housemate. All of a sudden, I hear the steps. My stomach churns. She walks into our shared kitchen in all her glory: in her pajamas, messy hair, her eyes are half open and her face is a painting named “wrath”. “Ahmed, what are you doing?” blurts Kora, my housemate. “I’m just washing…” I reply as I point to the washing mac...

2 comments 2
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“Griffin Apartments East” by Melissa Woods

Submitted to Contest #148

“Mrs. Gleason! My favorite mediator!” The Griffin Apartments East landlord stood up from his desk and walked to her with a smile. “Good morning, Tom. Again, you can call me Tamara. We’re on the same side,” she said, returning his smile. “Thank you.” He led her out of the office and down a short hall. “I wasn’t sure you’d feel that way, knowing what’s coming: 1D and 1E.”  “Del Rey and Brown.” Grin in place, she closed her eyes and adjusted the strap of her leather satchel as they walked. “Again.” “Here you go. Conference Room Two. Go...

6 comments 6
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“A Tenuous Treaty” by Kira Carver

Submitted to Contest #148

 A Tenuous Treaty     The elevator started to close, but that shouldn’t have mattered. People held elevators all the time, especially when they noticed a straggler, red-faced and puffing with the exertion to make it in time.           It shouldn’t have mattered, even though there was only one person within it. It shouldn’t have mattered, since that person saw me. That person smiled, and of course it was malicious. Because it came from Melanie.  &nb...

1 comment 1
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“Maverick & Log Head ” by John Sammel

Submitted to Contest #148

“I have Blue Angle Pins, Hats, and Balloons. Get one for your kid. No kids…no worries! Grab one for your nephew.”  Dam This Guy! Get Out The Road! The pesky peddler in the middle of the median was slowing traffic down. I screamed out loud again. Get out the road….I want to go home! My damn temper was governing my thoughts! Why did I waste my breath? I knew better. The street salesman could care less, he kept moving from car to car as he hawked cheap souvenirs. Another year and another air show. We need to move! All I wante...

4 comments 4
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“Chiming In” by Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #148

Who buys wind chimes like that? I’ll tell you who. A white trash boomer. My neighbour has crammed her balcony full of pseudo-spiritual tat from Poundland. Buddha statues and lotus blossom fountains are bad enough, but the chimes—oh, the chimes. They sound about as soothing as the metallic groan the hull of the titanic made as it cleaved in two. Why do I give a hoot about what my neighbour decorates their balcony with? Well, it has to do with being a light sleeper and living on the seventh floor of a tower block in windy Britain. Th...

8 comments 8
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“Princess in the Woods” by Kimberly Santiago

Submitted to Contest #148

Once upon a time, deep within the woods, there lived two princesses. One of them, Marie Heatherton, was a pretty eighteen-year-old girl, with long strawberry blonde hair that reached just past her lower back, and big brown eyes.  She wanted to experience a bit of independence before settling down with a prince from a nearby town, so her father decided to build her a mini castle about two or three miles away, deep within the safest part of the woods that surrounded their town. She promised to live there for no more than two months befor...

2 comments 2
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“Taking a Bite Out of Danger” by Anna Gering

Submitted to Contest #148

 “Not again!” I picked up the empty mousetrap. “This was supposed to catch that pesky mouse!” It was morning and I was going to be late for work. “Why won’t you catch these mice?” I demanded to my cat, Prouncer. He looked at me serenely. He was orange with stripes, and a little fat. I sighed. There were several mice running around my new apartment, and I had been using mousetraps for several weeks with little luck. Prouncer just disregarded them. I gave him a little piece of the banana I was eating to go with his breakfast. I always mar...

2 comments 2
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“Night Shift” by Catrina Bowles

Submitted to Contest #148

Officer Miranda Walker enters the elevator at Riverside Heights at 2:32am, and presses the button for Floor 5. She rings the rain from her ponytail and pulls it tight. She checks her appearance in the reflective steel elevator doors; her dark circles are deep even under her concealer. She had been drinking her mid-shift coffee when dispatch sent her to check up on a noise complaint: “Probably just a couple’s quarrel; check it out anyway.” When she steps out of the elevator, the hallway is quiet. A few of the residents who had been woken by t...

1 comment 1
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“Kenmore Apartments” by Samantha J. Kise

Submitted to Contest #148

“Hey, Steve.” “Hey, Naomi. How are ya?” The conversation was mundane, as usual. Naomi had lived in the same apartment complex for the past three years, and Steve was the maintenance man that worked on her apartment building. It felt like there was something broken every day these days, but what can you expect from a cheap-ish apartment in New York City?  “I’m tired, as always. Any news on when the leak in my apartment is going to be fixed?” “Sorry, no clue. You know the management won’t pay for it unless they have to - leak’s not bi...

1 comment 1
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“I'd Take It If I Could” by Amanda Blackwood

Submitted to Contest #148

Oh, Mark. What has become of you? It was obvious that we were both incredibly happy to see one another. We were both terrified at the same time, and both terrified for the same reason. We didn’t want you to get sick. I’d spend every single day here at your apartment with you if I could. Already your neighbors know me by name. I spend more time in your apartment than I do in mine. Five days a week I'm with you. We watched TV for a long time yesterday. Binge watching a series with you is a new experience. At one point you laid d...

1 comment 1
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$250

Prize money

195

Contest entries

90

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 03, 2022 EST

Won by S.K. Wulf 🏆

Title: Two Stubborn Women

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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