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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#149: Of Stranger Things

After its much-awaited release last week, the fourth season of Stranger Things has taken the world by storm. First aired in 2016, this television show stars a group of D&D-loving kids and unlikely heroes in a topsy-turvy world. Its creators took inspiration from many classic thrillers, and the show has in turn been influencing writers to write Stranger Things books.

Whether you’ve been swept up by this sensational show or not, I hope my Stranger Things-inspired prompts can propel you into a story of your own this week:

This week's prompts

Write about a character who is trying to convince others to play a game.

Kids – 20 stories

Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Kids – 98 stories

Write about two people who form a bond with each other through music.

Middle School – 46 stories

Set your story in a town that’s teetering on the edge of something dark, literally or metaphorically.

Dystopian – 50 stories

Write a story about an unlikely group (or pair) of friends.

Middle School – 43 stories

Stories

“The End before the Beginning ” by Liv Howll

Submitted to Contest #149

The solitary lightbulb set into the ceiling of the small bunker flickers, threatening to cast us into complete darkness. The glinting causes the shadows cast across the cement walls to dance, the sight perhaps more chilling than darkness itself—at least in the dark you don’t see as death creeps up on you. Even after the decades of nuclear weapons looming over us like death itself—ever menacing, ever drawing nearer, but rarely paid heed to. Even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after the Cold War, after Yeltsin, after the Eastern con...

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“Inconvenient” by J Lindsay

Submitted to Contest #149

TW: Violence I watch mutely as the light suspended from the ceiling flickers. It swings from a long chain, casting a dim glow on the cracked walls of the small dining room. ‘Petite’, my grandmother might have called it. Or ‘cosy’. As if a kinder adjective might lend some warmth to this depressing, windowless box. She had been a master of such understatement: Crossing half the globe to escape Nazis? ‘Inconvenient.’ Presenting a Christmas dinner burnt beyond recognition? ‘Somewhat crispy.’ One of the last things she said to me was she felt ‘...

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“Tracks” by M Esp

Submitted to Contest #149

The room trembled as the train roared on by and caused the lights to flicker. Matt had left the light on when he headed for the tracks that night. He waited beneath the light post. The ground began to shake and he could hear the steel leviathan approaching. The beast let out an arbitrary blast of the horn as it neared. He stepped forward to greet it. His world had become smaller and suddenly everyone he knew disappeared. It can happen, just like that. He had nestled into his life at the bar and that bar. He had removed himself, pulling the p...

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“THAT FLICKERING OF LIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE HILL” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #149

THAT FLICKERING OF LIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE HILL “ Are you still here? Come on, it’s time to go to bed! Remember, you have to go to school at morning. You must be up at seven. I will certainly not let you lay in bed, if you are sleepy “ Diane spoke standing on the door, she did not move towards Emily, who was standing for more than an hour at the living room window, ( with) her elbows resting on the sill, her face between her hands. She seemed completely absorbed in what sh...

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“Leave the Dirge for the Birds and the Bees” by Cam McDermid

Submitted to Contest #149

Anna plays the piano, and looks outside for inspiration, hoping to find something strange, tragic, beautiful, interesting. Maybe a suicide? But when the depressed man jumps out of the window, he floats down gently. He is perplexed at the outcome, and walks to the nearby cafe, never to attempt suicide again. Instead, he orders an espresso and reads the newspaper. A new railroad is being built somewhere in the west. “Perhaps I'll move to the west” he thinks, “and take up farming. No man can be depressed while he has his nose to the soil and wo...

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“Love and Music” by Sheila Sarrett

Submitted to Contest #149

Pete Parker was a little boy who loved music. Whenever he heard his mom put on the radio Pete ran into the kitchen and started dancing. His parents gave him a small violin and although he did not have a violin teacher he started playing and moving the strings. When he turned five his parents gave him a regular violin and they hired a teacher to help him play. When he turned seven a music teacher came to his school and talked about many instruments. When the teacher spoke about the violin Pete was sitting very quietly and ...

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“The Rainy Day Dream” by Maria Levato

Submitted to Contest #149

It was only by chance that I walked into the bar where I met her, it wasn't my scene at all. You see, I'm an Investment Banker. That day I had worked later than usual, the stock market had crashed and we were in a lot of trouble. It was already ten P.M. Of course, I got caught in the rain on my way home. With no umbrella and not a taxi in sight, I rushed toward the nearest thing that was open. When I entered, it turned out to be a shabby, little place. However, I was stuck for a while and I couldn't deny that I needed a drink. I ordered a ...

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“Silent Melody” by Heather Peace

Submitted to Contest #149

Today was the day! I smiled as I marked the last X off my calendar. The room was all ready. I was as nervous as I was excited, but Jeff and I had taken all of the extra training and had gotten our house prepped and ready. We had taken the foster parents training in hopes of eventually adopting a little child, or even a baby but those were rare for new foster parents. Today, our first foster child was coming. Her new room was filled with all of my hope and love for her. I bought some toys I was hoping she’d love–...

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“A Melodic Chance” by Kayla Altagracia

Submitted to Contest #149

I saw her again. This is the third time we’ve seen each other. Walking in opposite directions on the escalator. She goes down towards the exit while I slowly move inside the train station. All three times she sees me move to my favorite All-Rock band, Discourage. The girls in that band hold a special place in my heart. Anyway, she saw me as I shook my head a bit to their song, “Broken Paradise .” These escalators used to be empty. It gave me some time to bob my head to my favorite group. Now, it’s always accompanied by someone I can'...

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“Mother of Sound, Give me a Form” by Johanna Parry

Submitted to Contest #149

They stood together within the vibrating light. Each cadence held a unique sound. Transfixed, they felt frozen in time. Perhaps because they were. Hands pressed together in prayer form, they held each other up. Juno tried to push them apart. Each movement caused a tinkling, a tingling and a shatter-like feeling. Crystals of light embedded within sound. Music, harmonics and vibration. For Juno it was like being immersed in water. For Syntha it was immersion in light. The two decided to try again. Lifting their attention to not only the ...

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“A Bright Blue Hue” by Jules Curtis

Submitted to Contest #149

People say we got it made Don’t they know we’re so afraid? Isolation We’re afraid to be alone Everybody got to have a home Isola- “Rae! Stop humming that damn song and come down for breakfast!” My mother doesn’t like when I sing what I’m not assigned. I put my ukulele back in her stand and kissed her on her neck. “I’ll see you later, Yoko,” I lovingly said to her as I trekked downstairs to the kitchen. My daily blueberry breakfast muffin is laid before me on a plastic plate as my mom greeted me with a look of disdain. "How do you think you’...

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“Let's Dance” by Shirley Brand

Submitted to Contest #149

"Come on Bry, it's only two nights a week. Please Honey we can learn the two-step, we'll have more fun when we go out, at weddings, at the Longhorn Fair. What do ya say?" "No." He slid his horse to a stop. "OK, you find me a partner. Taller than me, in good shape. How about Tuck, would be my first choice." Moved his horse closer to the fence, leaned in, and kissed her. "Love you, Darlin." "I'll call him, do another run down, mare looks good. What is Tuck's number?" "He recited it, sit there and call him, I'll talk to him when you're done, Da...

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“Broken Radio” by Hadley Thompson

Submitted to Contest #149

He creaked his old rocking chair back and forth as he watched stoically over the bleak expanse of beige grass and dirt. The tufts of golden blades hissed and rattled gently in the wind. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck and slithered uncomfortably under the rough fabric of his flannel until it was absorbed in the now damp cloth of his lower back. The covering of the porch did little to extinguish the heat. He tapped his finger anxiously against the arm of the wooden rocker. The fields in front of him were a patchwork of dead grass and ...

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“Different Is Good” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #149

I’d missed the last bus home from the club. I saw him in the park. It was very dark and frankly I felt a little scared. One minute the person was not that far away and the next whoever it was seemed to disappear. It was as if they felt me watching so scurried off – they were carrying something too. The only weapon I had to protect myself, if needed was my saxophone. Housed in its black case I gripped the handle tightly. I felt very protective towards this sax, because number one I needed it for my club nights and number two, it had co...

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“Rest” by D.C. Reed

Submitted to Contest #149

There were no two ways about it. This situation was the worst thing that could have happened. Fired from the tour, gear stolen, and with less than two dollars to her name. “I should have got the bus ticket… Went home.” That was all Victoria Ash could think to herself. With the benefit of hindsight, that course was obvious. After she was unceremoniously tossed from the band she founded, Victoria should have just gone home. Bought the bus ticket, went home to Omaha, and regrouped. Instead, she spent two days fighting to ge...

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$250

Prize money

256

Contest entries

123

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 10, 2022 EST

Won by Katy B 🏆

Title: How to Win a Game of Chess Without Really Trying

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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