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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#152: Miracles and Oracles

We have little control over what happens to us, though there’s nothing more human than trying to micro-manage what will come next. This week, I want us to think about both the expected, and the unexpected; times when life throws positive twists at us — miracles, some might call them — or times when we try to predict those turns, for better or worse.

This week's prompts

Write a story in which a miracle happens — or everyone thinks it did.

Middle School – 45 stories

Start your story with a character saying “I can see it now.”

Middle School – 37 stories

Write about a character whose life changes for the better.

Middle School – 47 stories

Set your story in an oracle or a fortune teller’s parlor.

Fantasy – 66 stories

Write a story about someone whose job is to make miracles happen, literally or figuratively.

Middle School – 42 stories

Stories

“Requiem at a Barber Shop ” by Charles Oppman

Submitted to Contest #152

Requiem at a Barber Shop I walked into our house and cried out for my wife, Mel. I needed to share something with her. Something that would blow her mind. “Why are your eyes all red and puffy, Charlie? You been cryin’? Dude, you took like a bat outta hell. What was that all about?” she asked. “I know, I know; sorry about that. It’s just that you were raggin’ on me about stuff you wanted done around the house and the kids were behavin’ like little shits. I needed a break and a haircut, so I went to the Blue Hen. Can we talk about that later...

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“Lucky” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

Submitted to Contest #152

I'd always wanted a baby for as long as I could remember.I loved the idea of taking care of and loving a beautiful creature that I made. It’s been that way since I was a kid. Just the constant longing and excitement knowing that one day, my turn would be here. Then the moment came when I met Nick, or so I thought.In high school, I was a popular cheerleader. The stereotype if you will. Everything was perfect and he made that even better.. He was also a bit of a stereotype a famous basketball player with his head in the clouds. We were oblivio...

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“Tripping up a God” by Fred .

Submitted to Contest #152

The following is set during the Wimbledon tennis championships in 2013. The match in question really happened and the score is accurate. There is no record of any locker room discussion prior to the match, this is only the author’s assumption. However given the extraordinary outcome, clearly something extraordinary must also have happened before the match began… Sergiy Stakhovsky strode into the Wimbledon men's locker room, standing artificially tall so as to project confidence he was struggling to decide if he actually had. The lo...

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“Defeat of the Mountain Curse” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #152

Defeat of the Mountain Curse Alpine darkness descended on Durkulin Castle like a death shroud wrapping a corpse. The subconscious thoughts of “temporary” castle resident John Stimpson and his recurring nightmares kept him from getting the rest he so desperately needed. John’s life recently had gone off the rails with no...

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“Healing” by Gillian Lyons

Submitted to Contest #152

When did I move on? How come I never noticed the pain diminish? How can I still be worthy of you when you don't consume me anymore, when I can mention your name and laugh in the same sentence? I wanted you to forever be the master of my thoughts, never relenting on your memory. I wanted you to cause me grief until the end so that I may never lose you. I would’ve gladly let obsession overtake my being, let your voice haunt me to no end. But I've let you go. I've let you rest and let myself be free from suffering. It’s true your picture ...

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“Overflow” by Aldrich Cooper

Submitted to Contest #152

He was a man the age of eighteen with hair down to his elbows, and he wore clothes torn by dogs. Of course, he had forgiven the dogs. They were hungry and he was a meal to them. James could never fault a creature for its hunger. He knew what hunger did to even the civilized among men, how it stole humanity and turned elders into fools and warriors into monsters. That is why he felt no anger or bitterness at the state of his clothes. Rips went down the legs of his pants, and he had patched them with scraps from the seamstress’ house...

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“you'll be fine” by Angel C

Submitted to Contest #152

(note: contains sensitive language, self harm) I first met you while working. Although it wasn’t a very good job. Neither for me, nor for you. I was delivering food, bland and tasteless, to customers, weary-eyed and pallid. You were at the counter of the restaurant, neon-signed and at the bottom of a city hill. I was sweaty when I first swung the door open. My hair stuck to my forehead like seaweed to a rock. I oozed in from the bottomless black of the Sydney night, into the hospital-white of your shop. You looked at me and said he...

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“Letting Go” by Shan Hart

Submitted to Contest #152

“I can’t believe you’re dragging me to this, Kai,” Said Emily with a look of annoyance and frustration, as they followed the mysterious woman to the back of the building. Kai was always up for a thrill or adventure and knew Emily would fuss about it, but she always tagged along eventually. So tonight wasn’t going to be any different. When they were both on their lunch breaks at work, they made plans via text to hang out this upcoming Friday Night. Emily has just got out of a relationship with the guy she had been dating since sophomo...

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“A Rainy Miracle” by Urooj Aslam

Submitted to Contest #152

Ever met someone who is not afraid of breaking barriers? A rule breaker perhaps. Well, I have. The day when my consciousness has learned the meaning of these instilled barriers. Barriers of our eastern society. Belonging to a country where social norms have a grip on the lives of people. It’s hard to survive with a thought of your own. She is a person with an independent thought. A person who is kind yet fierce as well. She has the elements of fire and ice in her. I have often met her. She is my inside, my best friend. She is my comfort zo...

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“The Unlabeled Gift” by Zoë Page

Submitted to Contest #152

I accidently skipped seventy years of my life, so I hosted a full-blown teenage-dream party at an old people’s home with only over 65s. Pretty epic, if you ask me. * It all started, really, when for my fourteenth birthday, I received this parcel. It was a Monday morning, so typically, an incredibly overwhelming and emotional time. Me complaining I had to go to school on my special day through mouthfuls of overly soggy cereal; my younger sister begging me to hurry up so she could open my presents; my mom shouting at nobody in particular becau...

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“Divine Intervention ” by Maja Samuelsson

Submitted to Contest #152

Divine intervention "Take a sip from the red cup Elaine." The Overseer says, walking toward her and the spectating devotees. The rusted cup is shaking in her hands. Elaine’s fingers feel the metal of the cup slowly heating up from its warm contents. Her gag reflex is becoming tough to control with the fumes and stench from the cup so close to her face. The Overseer has his embellished arms crossed, rubbing some of the paint and dirt off on his ceremonial clothing. With his dark and bushy eyebrows furrowed he turns his b...

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“The Oracle and Her Captors” by Kristina Campbell

Submitted to Contest #152

The squeaky wheels of the gurney served as a shrill omen of the day’s reading. The air of the sanctuary was cold with a tinge of sweetness which stung the sinus cavity. Père Abdon and Père Abraham wheeled Pythia to the center of the sanctuary, a barren room save for a lone, crimson, velvet throne, illuminated by a bright flood light. Her pères lifted her emaciated body from the gurney and lowered her gently on the throne. The chair wrapped around her like arms embracing her in a comforting hug. A golden shawl was placed over her legs and cas...

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“Fate of the Fateless” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #152

Not a whisper on the boots, thought Erica as her husband waved to her from the front door. Despite the blazing hot day, a scorcher even by South Carolina standards, his shirt was clean and his face just covered in a thin layer of sweat, almost like dew. Even when she kissed his slightly puffy, unshaven cheek and smiled, she saw the flicker of doubt in his blinding blue eyes - the doubt which originated from those boots. “Hi, honey,” he said softly, grabbing both her arms and returning her smile. “How was your day?” “Oh, ...

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“It Runs in the Family” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #152

It Runs in the Family When I see my mother playing the part of the fortune teller in her room/office in our house, it brings to mind her mother, who would completely charm me with her performance in the same role in the same place. I would sit quietly and motionlessly in the corner of the room, and would watch and listen to her as she did her show for her client/customer/believer. She wore a filmy black dress with long, bulgy sleeves. On her head was an orange wreathlike top that she wore like a crown. Somehow it glowed ...

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“Unlikely Story” by Sharon Williams

Submitted to Contest #152

‘Saz. What was the name of that medium that you and Bev went to see?’ ‘Antonio Butoni’ ‘I’ve got him here for a health check…I’ve had to come and hide in the kitchen in case he can read my mind.’ ‘What?’ ‘In case, he can see how hot I think he is.’ &nbs...

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$250

Prize money

237

Contest entries

101

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 01, 2022 EST

Won by Aeris Walker 🏆

Title: Foretold in Smoke

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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