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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#154: The Right Timing

It has come to our attention that Backstreet Boys (you know, the famous boy band from the 90s) recently announced that they'll be releasing a Christmas album. Naturally, this week's prompts are all about timing.

In a rapidly changing world, it can be hard to keep up sometimes. The newest TikTok is old almost as soon as it has gone viral, and trends come and go quicker than the seasons. And yet, some things are timeless classics. Taking inspiration from the ebb and flow of time, here are this week’s prompts:

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone saying, “We’re running out of time.”

Middle School – 77 stories

Write a story about someone who feels increasingly irrelevant.

Sad – 57 stories

Write a story — romantic or not — about two characters who can’t find the right timing.

Romance – 32 stories

Write a story about an object that has been around for centuries or passed down generations.

Kids – 46 stories

Write a story featuring an element of time-travel or anachronism.

Science Fiction – 68 stories

Stories

“The silver rattle” by Kirthana S

Submitted to Contest #154

Nobody remembered who had brought the rattle home. They all came with platters of sweets and fruits, a tradition in their Indian hometown, to welcome the new arrival. A chubby face they said. A good sign for the family. They only remembered that it was unusual, a gift for a baby wrapped in shining blue paper. Who brought gifts for a baby? What did a baby need? When they had opened the gift, the children had run around with the blue paper that sparkled in the sun. The rattle was silver with three bells, set in a triangle. Made by someone wh...

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“Admission” by Kimberly Espeland

Submitted to Contest #154

Admission By Kimberly Espeland Eric stuffed the open envelope into his parka and trudged back to the farmhouse, slip-sliding on some black ice. Maybe they got it wrong. They probably mixed him up with someone else. The frigid air made him cough. No one was watching, so he used the doorframe to kick snow off his boots. Freya was in the kitchen, pouring oats into a sauce pot. Eric took off his scratchy hat, fluffed out his blond hair with his fingers, and blinked the morning mist out of his long eyelashes. “Mom, what if I apply to U-Dub?”...

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“The Porcelain Baby” by Riley H

Submitted to Contest #154

The chiming of the clock of my wall filled the silence. My eyes were too focused on the little figure I front of me to look at the time. I already knew it was late in the night. Stories and urban legends passed down from ancestor to ancestor swirled through my head, as I stared at the porcelain baby doll. It had an energy around it that could be explained, it almost felt as if it’s energy or soul was reaching out across the room, searching for something. My Grandmothers words flooded through mg head. Weird and crazy experiences that everyo...

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“The Glass Daffodil ” by Marie White

Submitted to Contest #154

Nothing had ever terrified him more than realizing, upon checking his safe and subsequently tearing apart the house, that the glass daffodil had vanished. He had put his own life, and, more importantly, those of his entire family, in jeopardy. He’d inherited the daffodil from his father, who’d inherited it from his father, who’d inherited it from his father, who’d received it from a rumored witch. He remembered, as a child, sitting beside his adopted brother on his grandfather...

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“Micah's Copper Scroll” by Scott Dutkus

Submitted to Contest #154

Micah rushed up the hills following the two sheep that escaped this morning, almost losing his left sandal several times. He tried avoiding loose light-orange sand while he jumped over larger rocks, baked beige by the sweltering sun and ragged enough to take chunks of skin and muscles should he fall on them. Almost no green shrubbery grew among these cliffs and, even while chasing the sheep, he wondered how the people living in the failed outpost of Qumran ever survived before the Roman Army swarmed the region, eventually leading t...

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“"Quiet Hustle"” by ♧Evella The Caramella♧ .

Submitted to Contest #154

In hindsight, I realized how foolish I was, and my calm became a noise that could not be heard at all. When you went and left me in a noisy calm, I don't know whether you will break it or not.Rosalia began preparing divorce papers from her husband, Victor, despite their love that lasted for 5 years, which they sealed in marriage.Rosalia was sitting beside her mother in the living room in front of the TV, sipping tea.Rosalia's mother spoke tenderly admonishing her daughter: "Rose, dear, you should think first. You've only been married for a y...

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“Transtemporal Temperance” by Ann Walker

Submitted to Contest #154

This story contains brief discriptions of violence. The lights brightened, revealing a light, lilac background and plain white floors. Around the set, there were two tables, one with chairs and one without. There was also a vacant area to the right for demonstrations. There were about one hundred seats on this television set, each one of them filled to see this fantastic new product that was just released. A tall, beautiful blonde woman walked out from behind one of the set walls in a pale orange pantsuit. It was perfect marketing, with t...

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“A STRANGER ON THE ISLAND” by R. J. Garron

Submitted to Contest #154

The sun slowly sank beneath the mountains and night fell into a hazy stillness, the stars bleary and fragile and the lunar crescent parting the milky skies like the Red Sea. Just beyond one of the plantations encroaching into the dwindling forests of mahogany and lime berry, a cold flash of light illuminated a patch of woods. A peasant farmer was aroused by the sight as he plodded back from the barn to shut down for the evening. Curious, he grabbed his lantern and lit the tallowed wax before heading into the ...

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“I Can't Stop” by T. S. Memory

Submitted to Contest #154

Hedy peered into the rear-view mirror; she could have sworn that wrinkle was not there seconds ago. She spends a small fortune to always look 10 years younger. Her forehead looked like a veritable rock strata, perhaps it was time to schedule another appointment with Dr. Navejureet. Hedy’s horror magnified when she saw the hands grasping the steering wheel, barely convinced they were hers. They were far more wrinkled than they should be, as if they were soaked in water for hours. Hedy sped up as the red light turn green before she reached ...

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“Car Crushing Canines ” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time!” Lee screamed as she grabbed her friend, Addy’s hand. The two young women ran as fast as they could through the city streets not looking behind them. They knew what was ahead of them and behind them. The morning air was full of what was happening and what was going to happen. In one day the world that they lived in changed. The air was thicker, the tree leaves were browner, the grass was wetter. People were running and screaming in the streets. There was a new enemy that nobody ever saw coming....

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“Career Day” by Danielle Jumper

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time, please continue,” Mrs. Finch said, while tapping her nonexistent wrist watch. I still knew what she meant by tapping her bare wrist, unlike these kids, who had never seen a wristwatch. They looked at their phones for the time and had no idea what the hands on the clock above Mrs. Finch meant. “Yes, Ashtyn, I’m a writer.” I said. I sat on a stool in front of a bunch of kids, one of them being my niece, telling them about my career as a writer, because my sister was too bothered to come to her daughter’s career da...

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“Keep Them In Fear” by Richard Morris

Submitted to Contest #154

Keep Them In Fear By Richard W. Morris 1,100 words “We’re running out of time.” Dark Elf held a steely and forbidding face as the picture morphed to a dark elf image, then faded to the network logo and bumper music. Dark Elf was the nickname of The Daily Disaster news anchor, Poisonella Undercoffin. “Clear,” the director said. The cameraman walked toward her. “Good show, Poison-Ella.” Her face grimaced with disgust. “My name is pronounced ‘Po-e-sone-eh-ya.’ I’m Hispanic on my mother’s side.” “That’s why I call yo...

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“Try Again” by Hope W

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time.” Sirens are blaring and red lights flash overhead. There’s a dead guard on the ground and blood on the walls. They’re nowhere close to the main room. Casey laughs wetly, the sound coming out more like choking than anything else. “Isn’t everyone?” The look Mel casts her is poisonous, deadly. Casey, fortunately or not, is plenty used to the look and just smiles at her. The intended charming effect is ruined a bit by the blood between her teeth. “Can you take this seriously for 30 seconds, please?” Mel spits ...

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“I Changed My Mind” by Mei Scott

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time.” the man whispered. “I know.” I whispered back. A choice that would change my life was being rushed by a man with no significance. Assinine if you’d ask me. He scooched his body towards me and said, “now.” “Fine, I pick the bird.” I said and pointed to it. A shark, squid, moth, and a bird. They were all there. Representing the transformations that I would have to go through depending on the creature I picked. “Step into the pod.” the man commanded. Reluctantly, I placed myself into it. The inside was soft a...

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“The Mercy of Joan” by Liz Sugar

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time,” Joan says, not exactly to me, but there is no one else in the car that she could be speaking to. I do not feel the need to respond. The digital clock on the dashboard reads 11:32. The red, geometric lines flicker as the clock clumsily readjusts itself, the minutes ticking closer and closer to when we’re supposed to arrive at the party. But Joan and I are not even close. We are on the freeway and traffic is at a standstill. A mass of cars stretches before me like dominos gathering potential energy, waiting for t...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

112

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 15, 2022 EST

Won by Suma Jayachandar 🏆

Title: Moonlight and Madness

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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