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!

#156: The Mandela Effect

Nelson Mandela was an enormously influential figure in world history: the first president of a new democratic government, South Africa’s first Black head of state, and a global icon of democracy and activism.

This week, our prompts delve into a lesser-known phenomenon that his legacy also sparked. Despite the iconic leader dying in 2013 at the age of 95, many people worldwide vividly recall news coverage announcing Mandela’s death in the 1980s. This mystery led to the coining of the term “the Mandela Effect”, or a memory that is falsely shared by multiple people.

From famous quotes that were never spoken (Vader never actually said “Luke, I am your father”), to facts we swear have changed over time (many recall being taught there were 52 US states, not 50), there are countless examples of the Mandela Effect out there. This week’s prompts explore this weird world of false memories, alternate universes, and all things strange.

This week's prompts

Write about two characters arguing over how a past event happened.

Sad – 34 stories

Write a story where a character is experiencing parallel realities.

Science Fiction – 65 stories

Write about false news coverage of an important event.

Nonfiction – 17 stories

Start your story with a character or a narrator saying, “Don’t you remember?”

Middle School – 59 stories

Write a story about a pathological liar.

Dark – 37 stories

Stories

“Bury That Story” by Clementine Daisy

Submitted to Contest #156

My wife always thought that something utterly supernatural happened after her mother’s funeral. She always tried to convince us, telling her story with every chance; over and over. Until we couldn’t listen; we hadn’t seen anything. Salem and I hadn't at least. I am not sure about her sister. In any case, Violeta never got her sister to admit that she saw something strange or different.Once she got close to getting her admit it. It was a summer’s evening. We used to spend summers in her country. Especially after her parents passed away, we’d ...

Read story

“The Good Mother” by Geoffrey Saemann

Submitted to Contest #156

I woke up drenched in sweat. It seemed to be happening more and more often lately. I sat up in bed, gasping as if I’d just completed a half-marathon. “Another damned nightmare” I thought irritably. “Can’t get away from the jackass, even in my sleep.” I looked around at the dark bedroom, observing the whirlwind of clutter that obscured most of the hardwood floor from view. The small, dirt-streaked window only allowed a few rays of morning sunlight to penetrate the room. As the fog of sleepiness cleared from my brain, I realized my head was po...

Read story

“The finest line” by Juju Warbington

Submitted to Contest #156

The evening’s chores feel duller than usual when there are tears streaming down my cheeks. Grey, filthy water sloshes around in the sink and spills onto the counter with every mindless swipe of the sponge. The stack of dirty dishes has significantly gotten smaller, but my mind is everywhere but here in the kitchen. Blood stains and the smell of hydrogen peroxide cloud my senses and take me back a few hours. A dark studio apartment. Dingy furniture, a pile of dusty books, the feeling of a rough polyester jacket in my hands. My mind le...

Read story

“The Haunting” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #156

I should just ask Sue myself. But then what would I say?Do you remember Mike’s party?I can hear her voice now, the words slurred, but still strong. You mean the one you had in 2000-whatever? I’m lucky I can remember what I did last week. Why did you call me up out of the blue to ask me about this?Because my mother is insane, Sue. And I kinda need to know. I think I screwed up and big time. If I did, I need to apologize. After all, it was no way to treat one of my best friends, or the woman who took me in when I needed a place to stay.But I d...

Read story

“A Teddy Bear For Adults” by Marie Mckenzie

Submitted to Contest #156

***Warning: Contains explicit language, mentions suicide/self-harm and substance abuse***I really hate my job. I’m staring at the clock like a jailbird waiting for their cell to finally open, to taste the sweet nectar of freedom. It’s an odd sensation — a cocktail of relief and nauseating anxiety. Today’s the day I stick up for myself. Today’s the day I tell the dragon lady I refuse to work on my day off. She'll listen to me because I'll sound confident, stern, and oh my gosh, here she comes! My back straightens.In she walks w...

Read story

“The Witnesses” by S.T. Kit

Submitted to Contest #156

“He is a liar.” I say as I scowl at Mr. Neph, my newly-made enemy of the hour, who just gave a brief description of my ‘crime’. “No I am not, officer!” He shouted in a fit of anger. Mr. Neph was a plump middle-aged man with a wretched combover, dead set on framing me for a crime I most certainly didn’t commit. “Everyone needs to take it down a notch.” The Officer says in an American accent. “We need to hear all sides of this, Mr. Neph. Ms. Cartwright still needs to explain as well as the other witnesses.” “And you doubt my judgment? I, Ale...

Read story

“AN EARTHLY EXPERIENCE” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #156

I hear the humans say I’m in a coma. That is only partly true…this human vessel I’ve entered is lying on a bed, hooked up to beeping machines and devices I do not recognise. Fear grips me and I don’t want to be here. I need to return to my planet, Zoron. I fell into this world they call Earth, purely by accident. We were heading to another galaxy, on a mission to rescue one of our planet’s from an encroaching battle – when suddenly we took an unexpected turn, a disruption in the system sending us spiralling and pitching, and we ended up dive...

Read story

“The Faceless Figure ” by Ellzita Rochè

Submitted to Contest #156

CHAPTER ONEFrightened with sweat and tears dripping down my cheeks. Takingshort, sharp breaths with my eyes pinned to the path before me. I need to get out of here, it’s too quiet, unnaturally quiet, not even a cricket, only the thunderous pounding of my feet. I don’t even know what I’m running from, just that I need to get away from it. Suddenly I stumble over a broken branch, only now noticing the dirt, leaves and dried blood covering my feet. I frantically try to get up, glancing over my shoulder - the number one rule of what not to do wh...

Read story

“Secretly Hero” by J.J. Spurlock

Submitted to Contest #156

Nothing exciting ever happens to me. It is always the same mundane day every single day. I wake up, take a shower, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat a microwavable meal that's depressing but the packaging likes to say it's not, brush my teeth, then go to bed. That's it. That is my day-to-day activities during the week when I go to my nine to five jobs. Now, I know what you're thinking. My weekend is the time where I get all the 'exciting' stuff done. I go to the grocery store on Saturday morning to buy the same old groceries I have bee...

Read story

“To Soar” by Ryan Roarke

Submitted to Contest #156

Kestro would not simply walk. He grimaced as he entered yet another excessively long hallway. They seemed to be a trademark of the Palace of the Amethyst Court, as if the Queen wanted her subjects exhausted whenever they attended to her. Kestro pitied those shackled to the terrestrial; to never leave the soil, in his opinion, was no better than to lie beneath it. To be damned to eternal incarceration upon the ground, left to stare ever upward and long for the sky above. It seemed all too maddening. No, Kestro would not be mad, nor woul...

Read story

“Rise and Shine” by Jermaine Packer

Submitted to Contest #156

He stared at the circulating propellors that rotated opposite to the ticking clock prepared to awaken him from his trance. “I don’t want to get up,” he grumbles as he turns to view a beam pinpointing the very reason he desired to stay in bed. He smiles as his mind takes snapshots of the auburn angel sharing his realm. A constant gentle breeze was heard proceeding from her nostrils as the securely wrapped covering portrayed her impeccable anatomy. Her lips remained unlocked and arched in a position that enticed the gentleman to connect his li...

Read story

“The other 'Ana'” by Vedantee Padte

Submitted to Contest #156

She could smell the faint aroma floating through the air as she tried to clean the floor.She had bumped into Roger on her way into the bedroom. Roger’s fizzy drink had spilled all over his shirt and then some on the floor. Roger must be enraged, she thought. He had simply stared at her and had left the room without saying anything to her. Anything! But she thought that…“The muffins are ready!” exclaimed Laura. She is always this upbeat and overly enthusiastic person. Baking, cooking, caring, oversharing. She is as pure as a soul can be.Laura...

Read story

“Wazirs” by James Corson

Submitted to Contest #156

"Our wazir is gone too long from us, Muni." Muni gazed into the red earthen floor, knelt before the synod. "Lord Iluud's duty is here with us and we've had much need of him," the counselor woman pressed on. "What is it that so preoccupies your master?" Muni licked his lips to speak, and found he was shaking in fits before the small council. I must appear calm, he thought. Already he was too afraid to meet the counselors' eyes, his own still ruddy from the last bout of weeping. He knew the synod was in terrible want for their trusted wazir, a...

Read story

“A Mystery Best Left Unsolved” by Ethan Baggett

Submitted to Contest #156

Wreck of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Discovered "Shall we try and pursue the parties responsible for this? I can't even say that we truly desire to do so given what we now know." -- Anonymous Aeronautical Expert August 14, 2026. 9:30 PM EST. Updated: November 1, 2026. 3:19 EST. By Samuel K. Morrison A mixture of pride, fear and relief dominated the air as the last of the debris was finally hauled out of the ocean. The crew tasked with extracting the inf...

Read story

“No Fear” by Lorilyn Roberts

Submitted to Contest #156

The cemetery beckoned Deborah’s mother every year about this time, but Deborah didn’t know why. She suspected, but her mother wouldn’t tell her.“It’s enough that you know your nanny rests in peace here,” is all she would say, “until the right time comes to tell you.”Deborah reminisced. Her beloved grandmother was so intelligent, so beautiful, and so kind. She wouldn’t have hurt a fly.The weather was cold even in the noonday sun, and Deborah wondered why they couldn’t come to the cemetery in the summer when it was warmer. Her mother placed so...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

93

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 29, 2022 EST

Won by Sjan Evardsson 🏆

Title: We/I

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 ⭢