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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#151: Back to the Reboot

This past week we’ve been inspired by Lightyear, Top Gun: Maverick, and all the prequels, sequels, and reboots hitting our screens lately. For many of us, reboots inspire a sense of nostalgia, or déjà vu. But how do you interpret them? Do you welcome new creatives and their reimaginings of the past, or do you crave something fresh in its own right?

Of course, repetition can be creepy — and it can even become boring — but it can also open the doorway to improvement and growth. However you feel about the ever-rebirthing media cycle surrounding us, we hope you’ll find inspiration in these week’s prompts:

This week's prompts

Write about a character who wakes up in their past life, or as a future reincarnation of themself.

Fantasy – 54 stories

Write about somebody breaking a cycle.

Narrative – 42 stories

Write about a character who keeps ending up in the same place.

Sad – 40 stories

Repeat the same line of dialogue, from the same character, three separate times.

Middle School – 58 stories

Write about a character who’s expected to follow in someone’s footsteps.

Kids – 38 stories

Stories

“Leap of Faith” by Samuel Kraus

Submitted to Contest #151

On this Sunday evening, Carter County’s impressive modern indoor swim facility was closed to the public because First Baptist Church was hosting their annual poorly named, “Wet for Christ” family pool party. The pulsing buzz of the facility’s lights was dampened by refrains of “How Great is our God” pouring out of the sound system. Dry parents talking about their wet children were occasionally interrupted by a “No running,” from either of the soft-faced lifeguards hired for this post-Vacation Bible School event. Above, standing at th...

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“Culinary Dreams” by Alexa O'Hare

Submitted to Contest #151

One of the hardest things that I had to face in culinary school wasn’t something you’d think. It wasn’t the struggle to learn how to break down a whole fish or language barriers introduced through french recipes. The hardest part of culinary school was telling my mother and dealing with her trying to run me down and attempt to convince me to drop out. My mother is the owner and founder of Diamond Coverage, an insurance company that’s made its way to the fourth best insurance in the country. It was founded when she was 25 and practically fr...

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“Stealing Fire” by Annabeth M

Submitted to Contest #151

His parents had to have known his name would curse him. Even he, admittedly not the not the most educated in the field, knew Greek Mythology had famously barbaric endings—suicide, torture, that one woman turning everyone to stone. But he’d been born soon after the death of his mom’s sister, and she loved myths. So when he came along, his parents paid her tribute, naming him Prometheus after the Titan that stole fire for humankind. “You know Prometheus gets his liver ripped out every night right?” He asked his mom one night when he’d h...

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“The power of words” by Ivana Scott

Submitted to Contest #151

My dads are always busy, leaving me home alone to my own devices which many may think that it’s great and you could go crazy, or the total opposite and it is more boring than going to watch a football game that your friend dragged you along to and you know nothing about; however for me it’s neither, I spend my time studying and working out, training to become a fire fighter like both of my dads. Whenever returning from station 37, which was the one they worked at, daddy ruffles my hair saying ‘How is my little firefighters day g...

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“ New Year's Eve Dinner was a Superb Affair ” by John Staley

Submitted to Contest #151

December 31, 1999— a new millennium would begin in a few hours. I finished my glass of wine and went through to the sitting room, cozied into my favorite chair near the fireplace, smiled at the mayhem surrounding me— and died. All of my living children, two daughters, and a son, along with thirteen grandkids and five great-grandchildren, accompanied by various spouses and significant others, were crowded into the dining room at two long tables. ...

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“Excelsior” by A M T P

Submitted to Contest #151

Another and another. Another day. Another slow drip of meaningless life, and he did not want it. It was acidic, the knowledge that there was no destiny waiting for him. There was no great end to justify all of the muddling around, waiting and paying attention, and all of the looking for signs when there were never any signs because there was nothing to indicate. Nothing was waiting just for him, and he could not stand it. All around, it seemed, there were great people with des...

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“Splitting Shadows” by Ouanessa Nana

Submitted to Contest #151

The blood stains on the bottom of my shoes refuse to fade. But I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, it’ll just match the new dark stain that’s blooming crimson on the front of my shoe. Today’s the thirteenth of May, one year since my aunt passed away. Six months since my boyfriend found out the truth and left me. Three months since my reputation was dissected and talked about by millions. And it's been two months since I’ve finally been able to say sorry without the words lingering and swelling inside my throat. ...

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“Bread Pudding: A Recipe to Remember ” by Dylan Lam

Submitted to Contest #151

Year of 2088 “Daniel, you’ve barely touched your plate. We have all this food yet you haven’t even glanced at the desserts,” Mother says. She waved over Sam, one of the maids that worked at my house, and asked her to start clearing the entrees. “I’m not hungry,” I replied, clutching my stomach to keep the growling locked inside my empty stomach. The dining room, where these dinners were hosted, echoed the noises of unbridled rants regarding the business industry. I absolutely hated Friday dinners. Around 20 businesspersons, a...

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“Circles” by Mary Agwu

Submitted to Contest #151

They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Does that make me insane? To look at me nobody wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. I’m a normal guy name Jake who grew up in a middle class family in Middle America. I had a very typical childhood catching frogs by the creek and playing peewee football. I was even voted “Best Hair” in my high school yearbook and now I have a standard career as a financial adviser. But I surprisingly have been caught up in the same pattern for the past two years....

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“Oak” by Ian Warren

Submitted to Contest #151

Oak A short story by Ian Warren As I sit in the valley and lean against the tree, by the river, next to the rock - I ponder. I’ve had a good life, a comfortable life. I’ve worked hard to achieve success in business and persevered and rolled with the punches to grow and maintain a (mostly) happy personal life. Martha may beg to differ but she eventually moved on and re-married. Fran and I still get along but I irritate her, which is natural when you’ve been together as long as we have. B...

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“None Rats on the Soup Man” by Richard A. Nads

Submitted to Contest #151

The creature’s mangled nails sunk deep into his belly. He could feel them splitting his intestines and then moving around to spread the carnage. They went deep enough to scrape some bones, creating one of the worst sounds imaginable- it was close to nails on a chalkboard, but it had more of a wet quality. Yet again, the creature had gotten him. When it decided that it had done enough internal damage, it slid its nails out. The creature smiled as the internal bleeding began to spread outside. The creature calmly went a few paces to the left o...

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“That Chair” by A.H Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #151

“You’ll sit there, young lady, and think about what you did.” Emily didn’t want to sit there, and she didn’t want to think about what she did. In fact, she wanted to go back for more. So, she slid off the little wooden chair, just her size and perpetually facing the corner of the living room and ran as fast as she could back to the huge bucket of paint. The top of the container came up to her belly button. She tried to pop off the lid again, but someone had put it on tightly. Her fingers weren’t strong enough to pry it off. She looked aroun...

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“The Woven Tablecloth” by B Littleyork

Submitted to Contest #151

There it sat, on a crowded shelf at the back of Miss Kane’s second-hand store in small, rural Truxton. Folded neatly over itself several times into the shape of a square, the warm orange and toasted butterscotch hues of the yarn sparkled in the sunlight pouring in from the window. The woven tablecloth ended up here because of the passing of the venerable Mrs. Johnson, matriarch of the Johnson Dairy Farm. Mrs. Johnson was known for her large family gatherings and overflowing tables of delicious, hearty food. Many Truxton-ites had the p...

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“Forgotten” by Andy Wirsz

Submitted to Contest #151

Lauren hurried down the street, almost tripping as she kept looking at her watch. It was almost 7 p.m. and she really wanted to be there. She made sure to visit her mom at least twice a week but she had gotten swamped with work. A bunch of days had passed since her last visit. It’s not like she had a lot of time on her hands. She had just recently started at her new job. Head media designer at a big company. All of a sudden, responsibilities got thrown her way, with which she hadn’t previously had experience. Expertise and talent weren’t any...

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“Nowheresville” by Kristine Bone

Submitted to Contest #151

“NOWHERESVILLE” “Please don’t do it! Mom, please don’t make me go!” “Katie Lynn, I’m sure you can survive spending a week at your grandmother’s house. She is so excited to have you!” “Mom, please.” Katie used her most pathetic tone. “You know I have nothing to do there! There is no WIFI, no cable t.v., no nothing! I just can’t live a week there in that old house.” “You can and you will.” Katie Lynn sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. Grandmother Violet’s house would be so boring! How would she survive spending a week ...

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$250

Prize money

232

Contest entries

108

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 24, 2022 EST

Won by Kelsey H 🏆

Title: The Lake

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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