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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

“The Newlywed Club” by Duncan McCain

Submitted to Contest #152

THE NEWLYWED CLUB. CONTENT WARNING: This story contains a healthy dose of swearing. Some real whoppers too, so I hope you're into that kind of stuff! Also contains: (SPOILER!) An allusion to grisly death. Enjoy! 1 “We have plenty of time.” Connie looked out the passenger's window, as a white whale of a cloud floated lazily across the sunny sky. “It’s our honeymoon, try to relax.” “Sure we do sugarbride, I know that. We’ve got the rest...

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“All in a Day's Work” by Robert Bennett

Submitted to Contest #152

Bzzzzzzzzzz. The constant droning hum made Gabby's neck and shoulders ache. It was this constant, incessant sound that just seemed to drill into her skull and set her teeth on edge. And, for whatever reason, it was absolutely atrocious today. "Guhhh!" she cried out in annoyance to no one in particular. "Problem?" Mike called from the other room. "No. It's nothing." she said with a deep sigh. She reached out to the small radio on her desk and fiddled wi...

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“The Angels Kissed Her Heart” by Esperanza Rivas

Submitted to Contest #152

She awoke to angels kissing her heart. A flutter of eyes, the peck of soft lips, a skip of a beat. Flutter, peck, skip. It sounded like a rhythm. A bird’s rhythm, perhaps. The birds outside Mila’s window didn’t have rhythm. They went about their lives, thinking bird thoughts, doing bird things. Nothing outside Mila’s window had rhythm, except the wind. Because even here, even now, even in the lone dessert, the barren oceans of nothingness that was this place called California, the wind came from Colombia. Mila felt it rattling through he...

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“Fighting an Impossible Fight” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #152

TW: Swearing and gore. Danielle had fought monsters before. Compared to the giant beast before her the rest were harmless flies. “I guess this is how I’ll die,” the knight said to herself. She inhaled deeply. Blood rained from the red sky. The breeze from the monster’s mighty wings flapping chilled her bones. Scorpion legs that could carry a castle scuttled towards her. &nbs...

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“DJ True Love” by Avery Mossop

Submitted to Contest #152

I have told exactly one person about my talent. My sister, Thea. She wasn’t always someone who you would think to trust with a secret. She made a game when we were kids of trailing me and my friends just so she could rat me out to our mom if (when) I broke any family rules. But we’ve both grown up, and these days I would trust her with my life. So, back to this secret talent. Actually first, maybe I’ll explain my not-secret talent. I’m a DJ. Disc jockey. A complete oversimplification of what I do. Like I’m just wrangling up old CDs to s...

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“The Seeing” by Margaret Savadas

Submitted to Contest #152

Cincia’s day of Seeing had come. Just as quickly as she had fallen asleep, she was awoken to hands guiding her into a white silken robe and ushering her by torchlight to the middle of the forest that surrounded her small fishing village. The darkness is enough to cloak her even in the bright robe she had been adorned in, save for the aid of the villagers torchlight accompanying her. She’d witnessed it before, had been a part of the ritual for years. She’d led countless individuals to the same spot since she was merely a child and had ...

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“Sauce of Anarchy” by Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #152

It was briefing week at Genie Alliance headquarters. Rows of new recruits hovered in the gymnasium, practicing their human-friendly forms for their mission to Earth. The blue planet in the Milky Way needed rescuing from a climate crisis.In the gymnasium, Commander Jennings pressed play on a training video. The cartoon from Earth featured a blue genie with a goatee and gold bangles. He had a human torso that tapered into a wispy blue tail.‘This,’ Commander Jennings said while pausing the video, ‘is the human perception of a genie.’The recruit...

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“Arballo Dr. B&E” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #152

We broke into her house through the kitchen window after James said, “I can see it now. There’s no one in there.” Inside, I learned that sounds are louder when you’re trespassing. I heard my blood moving; it raced all around my body and up into my head until my temples pounded to the beat of my rapid pulse; a hundred fists banging on taut drums. Thump. Thump. Thump. My mind, a place I’ve never understood, was always getting into accidents. James lit up the mustard yellow kitchen with a light fob as my thoughts crashed into each other. ...

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“Crisis on Delphi” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #152

Chloe almost runs into the large corridor, her heels echo on the marble floor. “This is madness” she mumbles as she keeps forward until she reaches the end of it. There are open spaces on both sides of the corridor, and she can hear upset voices coming from every direction. This is a nightmare. She opens the dark wooden door and enters the reception. It’s a total mess. People are running in every direction. Some are holding piles of papers that can barely see in front of them as they run. Others are talking on their phones barking orders ...

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“MANNA” by R. J. Garron

Submitted to Contest #152

The band of the galaxy seared through the starry canvas. The barrier of Base Central was as clear as if space itself was exposed. Even the internal lighting shone from underneath captured the image, rather the countenance, of the triumvirate seated in the stepped podiums. Their platforms floated above the ground plane, making them look far more imposing. Argon stood below; his decorum stiff with his head erect awaiting the first line of instructions. Despite his disciplined veneer, he was unab...

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“Dropout” by Richard Seven

Submitted to Contest #152

“I can see it now,” Derek told the stone He pounded hammer to chisel, slicing flanks from a refrigerator-sized Indiana limestone block. The rhythmic blows - chank, chank, chank – shot shards across his three-sided studio until they smacked against plastic-covered walls. A plume of rock dust that smelled like an oily beach, hung in the air, and slathered him from his work boots to his goggles. His chest heaved. His forearms throbbed. He was 48 years old, and his art felt more like work each day. He flexed his wrists. He was sturdy at 6...

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“Ni” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #152

“We want a shrubbery!” My eyes shot wide open at those words. My now wide open eyes were greeted with the sight of a forest canopy. Twas a beautiful sight, but one wasted on one such as I, at a moment such as this. Stop that, I told myself, you sound a tad pompous. I resolved to calm myself and my language down, but only to ratchet it down one whole tad. I knew no other way. I rubbed my head. The rubbing of my head was of little help. This action of mine was automatic and it was in response to a perceived hurting that seemed ce...

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“A Night Of Waking Dreams” by Esperanza Rivas

Submitted to Contest #152

“I can see it now,” She says nervously. Her big blue eyes stare over you, out the window. “I can see the rain now. It wasn’t raining before, was it?”You pretend to be asleep. Rise and fall. Rise and fall. You force yourself to take big, deep breaths, breaths like the ones Aria takes, the times she’s fallen asleep faster than you. You let out a little sigh, a sleeping sigh, and pray it wasn’t too dramatic.Aria is sitting up. She had been asleep—then the storm started. Probably woke up to the sound of the sky cracking in half and booming as it...

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“Upwards to a Better Life” by Deborah Elliott

Submitted to Contest #152

I wondered how long I could go without breathing? It was the summer of 1995, and California was in the middle of a blistering heatwave. The hot, dry air was suffocating and I was abundantly sorry that I hadn’t scraped together the money to get the air conditioning in the car fixed. As I drove Highway 50 up into the Sierras, my eyes fixed on the seductive heatwaves that danced on the road in front of my car. They flared, they rolled, and they wavered. They were interesting and mesmerizing.I had driven this road uncounted times;...

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“The Fatal Hand Reading by Madame Desiree” by Angie Ayu

Submitted to Contest #152

The skin of my palm tickled as the elderly lady sitting across from me gently stroked my hand with her callused fingers. “Let me see.”, she said. Her voice sounded as rough as her hands felt. I looked at her looking at my palms. My left one. Because it’s closer to the heart she had told me earlier. I sat at the edge of my seat, waiting for her to say something. Part of me felt sceptical about the whole thing. Letting some random woman read my hand? The old me would have laughed. Ridiculous. Nothing but a scam. Did I really turn into one ...

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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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