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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#153: Fighting Talk

Whether you’re hot headed by nature, or the thought of bad blood breaks you out in a rash, arguments are unavoidable. As we age, we all realize that confrontation is often necessary. This week’s prompts explore the world of conflict and resolution — and trying to find the positive in the negative.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a character learning to stand up for themselves.

Character – 48 stories

Write about a character trying to heal an old rift.

Sad – 42 stories

Write a story about two characters who have been fighting for so long, they can’t remember what started it.

Sad – 27 stories

Write a story that includes the line “I can’t believe we’re arguing over this.”

High School – 60 stories

Write about a character who settles disputes for a living (a judge, mediator, school counselor, etc).

Middle School – 36 stories

Stories

“The Witch’s Horse ” by Jen Digate

Submitted to Contest #153

I approached the stallion from the side to avoid surprising him. Last time I moved too fast he whirled to face me and charged a few steps in my direction. We were both grieving and missed Ebb. I was lost because I was nowhere near done with my studies when she died. He was lost because they had built a living language between them and now it was gone. It had been made of breath, magic, movement and touch, beautiful things. I had four years as Ebb’s student. The stallion, Gravity, had twenty. Now we had inherited one another in a c...

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“AN INCIDENT NEAR SAVANNAH” by GEORGE LEVY

Submitted to Contest #153

AN INCIDENT NEAR SAVANNAH. Word Count-1,111 U.S. HISTORY-CIVIL WAR. Fiction. Geo Lev. 320 Laurel Ave. DesPlaines. IL 60016. 773-218-1902. normandy6844@yahoo.com. Sergeant Preston did not feel optimistic. He fought Stuart’s cavalry all the way to Gettysburg last year, boxed him in, and smashed him up. Then, General Meade transferred his veteran cavalry regiment from...

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“HATCHETS and PEACE PIPES” by Brian Bywater

Submitted to Contest #153

HATCHETS and PEACE PIPES “Well well!! The last person I expected to see darkening the portals of my home was you. What brings you here after all the years? And before you ask the answer is no, I will not lend you any money. Actually from past experience the meaning of the word ‘lend’ is not within your grasp. It means you have to pay it back." “I’m not here to ask for money.” “What then?” “We are both getting to the twilight of our lives I think it is time to bury the hatchet.” “What do you mean we should ‘bury the hatch...

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“Druid's Curse” by Sarah Parker

Submitted to Contest #153

It was a peaceful evening. Birds were singing their young to sleep, and foxes were slipping away into their dens. Suddenly two women appeared out of nowhere. One appeared to be chasing the other and cursing under their breath. "Natalie! Natalie, stop!" the second figure shouted, racing after the other woman.She caught up and grabbed the woman's wrist. "Natalie, stop! You have no idea what you're doing!"Natalie glared at the other woman. "I don't care, Molly. I'm protecting my child.""The druids already made their decision! You coul...

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“Do You Love Me? ” by Bri Ébano

Submitted to Contest #153

I can’t believe we’re arguing over this… again. After three years of marriage, I thought we’d be past it by now. He always says that it’s never his intention to make me upset but every time he brings it up, I get in a way. I just wish he would believe me. Then we could leave it alone. But once again, here we are. Derek and I met ten years ago, shortly after I graduated college and started a job in a new city. I had no family and no friends in the area so I made it a point to make myself available. What started out as solo happy hou...

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“A School Fight” by Marie White

Submitted to Contest #153

Her chest caved when she saw the letter. From Brantley-Donovan University, to Haleigh. The sight of the school’s name conjured images she’d tried to shelve away—her and Haleigh huddled in the foyer of Gillian’s Diner, drizzle falling from a sky intent upon shoving its way through the wall-length windows. Police clustered around what they didn’t want to see, the remnants of a crime as senseless as it was shocking. A half-eaten chicken club on a chipped table streaked with scarl...

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“Helping Never Helped Myself” by Kurt Butler

Submitted to Contest #153

Every morning appears to be as anxious as the previous one. There's never a day I don't wake up discontent with the idea of going to work as a licensed marriage counselor. In the twelve years I've done this kind of work there has not been a time I don't stay awake at night wondering if things could've been different. My job was ironic in the sense that my wife had left me shortly after I had started. She stuck along side me throughout my education. I never would have foreseen my career to disengage my own marriage. As this thought cross...

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“The greater good ” by Maxwell Taylor

Submitted to Contest #153

I work for Hell. See, a lot of humans think Hell is just the entire ‘fire and brimstone’ part but there are a lot of people who make sure that it’s well regulated. There are a lot of different departments down here. I don’t deal with torture, that’d be the folks a couple layers down. I work in the more bureaucratic departments. I work in one of the very first levels of the afterlife, dealing with petty disputes over morality. I decide who goes up to heaven and who gets dragged down to hell. Most decisions are automated now but a few mor...

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“The Self-Styled Countess ” by D.G. Fitzgerald

Submitted to Contest #153

“So explain to me again who this woman is, exactly?” Magistrate Cornelius asked, his official robes billowing slightly in the morning breeze. “She claims to be the Countess of Waterfield, sir,” answered Thomas Tiller, a local landlord. “Claims to be?” Cornelius snorted. “Ridiculous. Count Grantworth died during the Uprising of the Nobility. The title can’t even be claimed through the female line.” “I’m aware, Magistrate but you try telling her that,” said Thomas in a tired voice. “I’ve tried to be accommodating sir, I really have. But ...

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“Justice is Blind” by Robin Ponder

Submitted to Contest #153

Warning: Contains mild language; allusions to violence; spousal abuse Lady Justice towered over the courtroom steps. Her slick white marble shined against the drab gray of the building that was all but swallowed by the overcast sky. The Lady’s tendons stood taught and proud, muscles tensed, shoulders bared. The scales were held out ahead of her, resolute and precise. She wielded a sword by her side, the tip barely resting on the ground, always at the ready. A blindfold covered her eyes. I basked in that for a moment. Under Justice, all sto...

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“The mediator” by J.T Scyre

Submitted to Contest #153

Deran's sword hits the helmet of the guard. Knocking the man out. Just enough damage to please his employer, but not to stain his soul. That part comes later. A knock from Deran to draw their attention. No one comes to the door. That's just part of the game. Deran rounds the house grabbing a stone, flinging it into the window. The sound of shattering glass. Only for Deran to continue walking past the next corner. He picks up another rock. He throws the rock through another window. Screams from the people within satisfies Daren. He breaks do...

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“Invincible” by Sanchita Khan

Submitted to Contest #153

The sun was about to rise. Its soft golden light had already bid farewell to the night and declared another day to begin. Some small birds were chirping from their nests. Chickens became restless to come out from the coops. Women in the village already got busy preparing the food since their husbands would go to the paddy fields and their children would attend school. Sonapur has only one school. During monsoon, sometimes this school becomes the emergency shelter for them. Throughout the night, Asma couldn’t sleep, and her pillow was soake...

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“Built up anger” by Katelin Montes

Submitted to Contest #153

The house gloomily glared in my direction. The walls glared at me as I passed by, burning holes into me. Now, don't get me wrong, I like this house. After all, this is the house I grew up with. Yet, after only a year of being gone, it seemed so...compact. I've never lived in a big neighborhood. Nothing fancy in the slightest. It was a small city, population: 150. Chances were, if I didn't personally know you, I knew about you. We never grew up with too much cash, never needed to. It was out small family of four, my mother, my father, my br...

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“Today’s not done” by J. Smith

Submitted to Contest #153

Looking back, through my childhood, is difficult. In fairness to all parties, it was a different time. For context, I was born in 1986 in southwest Louisiana. Lake Charles, Louisiana to be exact. It was the same town that my mother, aunt and uncle grew up in. In fact the Smith’s had lived in that area dating back to the 1700’s. Evidently my ancestors were removed from France. After refusing to fight a war against the British. They were relocated to modern day Nova Scotia, Canada then once again displaced in the mid eighteenth century to...

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“Light” by Kurtis Leong

Submitted to Contest #153

The hair that drops beneath the world tree all eventually reaches the soil where the metamorphosis of life occurs. All made under the Rune of All Creation, the people of clay and mud were left with only their individual thoughts…and their individual lights. Throughout the paradise that they were provided with, some formed communities, some traveled on their own throughout the realms of the paradise, and some wanted to break free. One child of Heaven and light was chosen to end the choices of the people of clay and mud, to restrict their deci...

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$250

Prize money

213

Contest entries

103

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 08, 2022 EST

Won by L. E. Scott 🏆

Title: Broken

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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