Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“Kelly's Day” by Sharon Zimmerman

Submitted to Contest #154

Kelly never knew how it happened, but it happened a lot. Every day she was behind and lost. 6:30 AM - She wakes up, blinks, and now it is 8:00 AM. Her make up was on, black eye liner with beige eye shadow and perfectly matte foundation, like she did in high school, except now she was running late for work.7:30 AM - She sat down for breakfast, except it was already 8:30 and she should be on the bus now.9:22 AM - On the bus heading to her job at the store, but she arrived there only to remember that she worked in an office now. Back ...

Read story

“A Blue Christmas” by Michael Danyluk

Submitted to Contest #154

Getting ready for his date, Mark puts a brush through his hair, scrubs a brush across his teeth, and thinks all the while of Sarah’s fine ass. Nothing is better at Christmas time than having a quiet dinner with a lady. He checks his phone for the time and sends her a text: Leaving in 20 He ties his hair back and puts on his nicest hat and leather jacket before cracking a beer and sitting down in his computer chair to listen to some Christmas music. “Christmas in Hollis” by Run DMC plays; he downs the beer; gets up, and leaves. After...

Read story

“THE gods have gone mad” by Octavius Geh

Submitted to Contest #154

My small village occupy 200sqmtrs north of the river Sambasa. We are a people of warriors and relatively farmers. Many of my people raised pigs,cows and rams. Others just produce grains and cocoa to sale to the white foreigners. The year was October of 1943. This was the year our people were hit by locusts and great famine had struck us so hard that food and water became scares. Every man became his own shadow and trust was lost among the people. The old were getting sicke and the children died of malnutrition. Those who could afford food ...

Read story

“The Shungite Pyramid and the Houndgeist's” by Destiny Pilon

Submitted to Contest #154

Whispers echoed throughout the Kingdom’s Garden as three large soldiers marched their way in anticipation. With the smell of evil within the air, they headed for the Throne Chamber where Queen Citrine was to be found. The Queen’s most trusted escort, Esgeif, led the soldiers to the Kingdoms heavy doors with nothing but determination within his bronze face. Hard, deep brown etes fuxated on the task at habd and nothing more. Gossip had already played a part, encouraging a war on the brink of release throughout Crescent Wan. The townspeople kne...

Read story

“Living for the Moment” by Jere Steiner

Submitted to Contest #154

“We’re running out of time,” the voice in her head kept saying. She lay there, longing. If only he were here. If only they could engage in the youthful desires that bedeviled them, to enjoy the luscious fruit of their lust. Life soared on the wings of frivolity and tranquility as it always did when their passions intertwined. Of course, family matters had tied up his weekend in another state. Though this annoying association occurred without fail, she learned to accept his familial loyalties, albeit with a grain of irony. He was a good man. ...

Read story

“Forging Her Own Path” by Mary Delaney

Submitted to Contest #154

Forging Her Own Path Funny how a simple text message could change the course of one’s life. That was the case for Eileen. After receiving a text from her former teacher saying there was a position open at her former elementary school, Eileen’s life as she knew it came to a halt once again. Almost 4 months after her father passed away, Eileen had a chance to come home. As she began thinking about leaving Oklahoma, she was sad. Norman had become her home. It was her community and she was going to miss her friend...

Read story

“The Letter” by Robert Willis

Submitted to Contest #154

Dear Fred; I am writing letter to you to say goodbye. I'm going to disappear, my friend. I wonder who will notice? If I do it right, the answer is "no one". If I know you, you've stopped reading this by now; tossing it aside with a snide laugh and thinking “what is he on about now?”. Tomorrow, you will have forgotten both this letter and me. I'm okay with that, now. I don't know why I seem to need to say goodbye to someone - maybe it will make things more real for me ... which is ironic since my purpose is to become less real to everyone ...

Read story

“No Longer Forgotten” by Meredith Mckee

Submitted to Contest #154

Looking out over the lake, she sighed, another day in the endless stretch of eternity dawning. A thin beam of light danced across the water, as the breath of her sister rippled the surface of the water. It was a greeting, equivalent to a soft smile from across a crowded room. High above, leaves rustled and branches creaked, an echoed hello of her beloved brother, tousling her hair playfully. In time, as her father rose across the sky, he would greet her with a silent warmth, just as he would all of his children, all of the gods and goddesse...

Read story

“Bojo” by Elizabeth Bishop

Submitted to Contest #154

TW: some strong language, brief mention of blood and execution I often think about the teachers and the nurses and the parents that I abandoned. The ones who didn’t have a say in what happened to them when I held all the power. I thought I was king of the world, the one person who could take charge of this and milk this unfortunate situation for all it was worth. I could lie, say that I stole all that money for my children. But it isn’t true. The web just gets more and more tangled. I would say that I’m just about finished with lies. ...

Read story

“The Race” by Sue Russell

Submitted to Contest #154

This story explores late term abortion.We’re running out of time; I remember my husband whispering as I shifted my bare feet in Dr. Randolph’s, or Dr. R’s -- as her patients referred to her -- cold steel stirrups. 26 weeks. Only two and a half months to go before we met our first, and probably only, baby boy.In our excitement, we chose his name before the end of the first trimester. Robert, because by now every other suggested male name conjured ugly memories of overbearing, insensitive or ladder climbing men. I love Drew, my husband’s name...

Read story

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢