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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

“I Met a Miracle Worker Once” by Robert Gilgoff

Submitted to Contest #152

I met a miracle worker once. I hadn’t planned to. I don’t think she knew she was a miracle worker. She was humble, kind, smart, maybe in her late thirties. She had long dark hair; spoke English with a lovely Portuguese accent. More than likely it doesn’t occur to most miracle workers that their presence, their being, along with whatever skill set they should have, impacts others so profoundly.I had been having dinner with my family, a beautiful June evening, when the phone rang. There are many paths one may take in life. That phone call alte...

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“I Have Few Words For This” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #152

“I can see it now,” Regina said right after she pulled up her bangs and looked at her forehead in the mirror. Jake, her boyfriend, had pointed out a pimple. She was irritated to be receiving negative advice again, she found it controlling. In the last few months, Jake had also been constantly complaining about her inability to open up about herself.**After dinner, he sent her a link for a Recovering from Setback seminar. Jake looked at her from over his laptop.“Do you see the seminar link yet?” Jake asked.“I can see it now”, she sa...

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“An Idiots Guide to Fortune Telling” by CoCo Lee

Submitted to Contest #152

Hello, I'm glad you've taken this book off the shelf (I'm not surprised or anything that you took it, I can see the type of character you are and why you would choose this book with such a title) welcome. DISCLAIMER: If whatever I mention as tips and tricks doesn't work for your personal experience, please don't sue, I'm running low on cash and I can no longer afford Diet Coke every week, thanks. Now, it may come off as I have no idea what I'm doing, but I know you're only thinking that because you have no idea what your doing, and you ...

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“The Teller's Tall Tale” by Justin Chalifoux

Submitted to Contest #152

The door hits the hanging bell, warning of her entry with a chime she’d have preferred muffled. She shuts the door, careful to hold the bell out of its way. Glancing through the window, she notices a few heads turned, some fingers pointing. I’ll pay for that later, she thinks, her back to the doorframe. If word gets out, those leeches will be here before I can bug out. She shrugs the thought away, drawn by the plethora of colors around her. Candles lit in every corner, flickering still from the breeze let it, cushions laying haphazard acros...

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“The True Believer” by Charlotte Morse

Submitted to Contest #152

For Ben, birthdays were always wonderful, Easter just too delicious, Halloween gloriously scary, but Christmas? Christmas was the highlight of his year! It always had been and probably always will be. His belief in Santa real and his long-held dream as one of Santa’s elves, remained ever true – but he was now 21!“You need to tell him Charlotte. He’s an adult now.” Ryan’s eyes were almost accusing as he spoke those words.His knowledge of leaning disability and judgement of their needs was far superior to my own and my belief in him had always...

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“KARISHMA” by Maham Fatima

Submitted to Contest #152

KARISHMA *PRESENT* &nbsp...

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“A Miracle for Momma” by Amy Jackson

Submitted to Contest #152

A Miracle for MommaBy Amy Lynn Jackson“I’m losing my mind, momma. Please help me!” The words rang through Amy’s mind as they pierced her heart and soul. Watching the despair in her daughter’s face and hearing the desperation in her voice was almost more than she could bear.“Please Dear God, teach me how to help my daughter.” This was a request sent upon a whisper and followed by a swig of hard liquor. Little did Amy realize that although her path was not straight, God heard her prayer. How He answered shook her to her core.It was a cold nigh...

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“Waltz” by R W Mack

Submitted to Contest #152

Twilight. Witching hour. Her favorite time. With no definitive arrival or duration, it blurred into reality until fading away as non-descript. No motif reflected her as genuine as dusk. That’s when she chose to do her work. He sat on a bench in the park he’d driven by for years. He’d never stepped in prior and wouldn’t again. He should’ve been home after a long day. Instead, he indulged in a needless moment rather than mai...

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“The Price of Miracles” by Ivy Hodges

Submitted to Contest #152

I live in wet city sidewalks, puddled with acidic rain. I live in clouds wrapping tenderly around grey-glass skyscrapers. I live in the sigh and bow of heavy tree limbs, hanging over residential streets. Where there is beauty in a city, I live. The timorous hopes of millions of humans close together allow me to be. I’m rarely corporeal. What little energy I still have after all these millennia, I rarely waste on occupying a body. Eating, sleeping, excreting - wastes. And time is one of a few things I now consider a scarce resource. D...

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“The Future Link” by Tony Coppo

Submitted to Contest #152

“Grimes! Grimes!” Elon listened to the clatter in the kitchen.“Here I am,” Grimes panted, she dried her wet hands on a tip of her apron. “Honey, I finally figured it out! I'm the inventor of the Future Link.”“Don't be difficult. What have you invented this time?”Elon looked at Grimes as if she were asking an alien for directions to church.“You can actually see your future. Just sit down here.”She sighed.“Just a minute, then, because my beans are on the stove.” She pointed to the kitchen.“Do you see this apparatus?”“Apparatus?” She laugh...

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“What Art is All About” by Carolyn Brown

Submitted to Contest #152

The contemplative woman was taking a long time looking at each painting. Longer than uninterested people usually looked. The artist, Adelaide, wondered what she was thinking. Maybe this one wasn’t pondering the usual, totally unique things that sprang into people’s heads at an art show. Why would anyone paint that? Does it match my couch? Why does it cost so much? How do I sneak out without making a donation? This woman seemed a little more earnest in her art appreciation. Adelaide dared to ho...

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“All in a Day's Work” by Tiffany Dugan

Submitted to Contest #152

Being the Saint of Missing Things is no easy job. The requests come in constantly, some in the form of letters and notes that drop through the old brass mail slot in the door and pile up in a huge mountain on the floor. The mail slot is necessary because there are still people who prefer to write down their thoughts, even in the Digital Age. Other requests come in through email and then there are the texts. There are even the requests that come in as people think about things they’re missing and want back. These thoughts flap around in the a...

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“Spheres of Fortune” by Sharon Hancock

Submitted to Contest #152

“The winds have changed, Valdor.” The girl reentered the wagon, squinting until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. “We must go.” His rumbling growl, barely audible, prickled the hairs on the back of Dove’s neck. A gnarled, tree-like finger popped and cracked out from the shadow. It uncurled, jittered and gestured toward the crystal ball. Dove sucked air through pursed lips, trying to conceal the dread. She did not want to touch that ball again. &nbs...

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“I Can See It Now” by Vickie Kap

Submitted to Contest #152

Warning: This story alludes to injustices towards women, sexual coercion and medical malpractice."I can see it now," I said, followed by a dark chuckle. Sarcasm. It's the only way to get through these days."Yeah soon they'll just be barging into hospitals and chaining us up. Keeping us nice and healthy so it all goes well." My friend replies. She's sitting next to me. We're at the park. Observing the playground."Hell, we probably don't even need to be conscious. If our hearts are beating and our brains aren't dead, we could have sh...

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“Déjà Vu” by Chelsey Blankenship

Submitted to Contest #152

I can see it now. The fire rated glass doors to the emergency room slide open. Swirling red lights flash in the black night sky. Rattly wheels of a gurney roll onto white linoleum tiles, white sheets are tinged red, pink and black, doused with blood and caked with ash. Melted skin mixed with coagulated blood drips from the patient and leaves a sticky trail down the hallway. Screams curdle my blood. I am not a psychic. I couldn’t predict what you’ll have for breakfast, or who will win the lottery or how many kids you and your husband might h...

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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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