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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

“Spring Break-Out” by Beth Cheatham

Submitted to Contest #156

I read the words as big as life on the front page of my college magazine and sank back into my khaki green hammock: Spring Break-out Goes Paige Perfect.Oh God! No!It was anything but perfect. My roommate, Valerie, had left me with the chore of watching lab rats for the week while everyone else seemed to be on their way to Cancun for spring break. The job would be simple, she'd assured me, but she had lied."All you have to do is feed them a cube of "Magic.""What's 'Magic'?" I asked."It's a little treat that helps calm them so they don't go nu...

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“Honey Man Dan - Part 2 (2nd book in series ” by Jerell Potts

Submitted to Contest #156

Don’t you remember by Pat Shandy was playing outside. It was my favorite song when I was in 5th grade. I nodded my head slightly and so did she.Then something happened?! She told me to wait here as she got dressed in the other room. She and her sister have a flare for saying things and then leaving. I wasn’t going to stay because that would be weird. So I would wait for her to come back out, say goodbye, and leave knowing I safely returned someone’s phone. Plan and process! I’ve been here for two hours talking ...

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“Allen Baker” by Cloe Webb

Submitted to Contest #156

“Don’t you remember?” “I have no idea who the hell you’re talking about.” Duncan looked at me as if I’d just told him that The Princess Bride was mid-tier. I maintained quizzical eye contact, my diet Coke traveling up my straw in record time. “Allen Baker! The little fat kid that Macey had a crush on in the third grade! We had an entire assembly when he died, dude,” Duncan insisted. I just shrugged my shoulders. “I guess I wasn’t there that day, man.” It was true that I had skipped school regularly in third grade - Du...

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“Beyond the Meadow” by Jeannette Miller

Submitted to Contest #156

“Don’t you remember the afternoon we spent lying in the grass… looking up at the clouds…the one shaped like a pirate ship? How beautiful that day was? Just me and you…with the breeze caressing our bare skin while the sun warmed our bodies lying there…in the tall grass. I remember. I remember following you, carrying that enormous wicker picnic basket thinking its handles were going to break off any second because it was so heavy and feeling so relieved when we made it to our spot in the meadow with it completely intact. You laid out the blank...

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“Trivial Things” by Rhett Orrick

Submitted to Contest #156

“Don’t you remember?” The clock read 11:33 a.m. “Truthfully, I’ve noticed some discrepancies as of late. Now, before you go off thinking that I’m crazy, others have claimed to have similar experiences. I know for a fact that Kit Kat was Kit-Kat, with a hyphen in the middle, a few years ago. Same thing goes for the name of those bears from the children’s books, Mona Lisa’s smile, and the actual death date of that Mandela guy from Africa,” the man said as he fidgeted with his watch. The room they shared was cold compared to the temperatu...

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“What Now” by Fergus Roche

Submitted to Contest #156

(Mature content: graphic language used)We all got to eat, but some wanna make more than a meal out of it. I’m not talking about those special occasion meals, like your birthday or at your sister’s wedding. Mine threw a great bash. Shame she didn’t see what a waste of fucking space her fiancé was till too late. Could of told her if she listened to me, but that’s another story.No, I mean the posh, gotta-be-seen, gotta-get-dolled-up kind where the food is on smaller and smaller plates. That’s a thing now, small plate restaurants. And tables aro...

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“Spackle ” by Vivian Pollak

Submitted to Contest #156

(explicit sexual content. There is a bug in this submission page as I know for a fact I have over 1000 words but it keeps coming back telling me I do not have enough words... therefore, I am adding this lovely little bit of verbiage to put me over the top) Spackle “My former fiancé tried to shoot me.” They were naked and knackered wondering what to do after their introductory inaugural marathon sex. She was curled on her side, he was lying on his stomach across the width of the bed, his penis tucked under his left thigh. After, w...

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“Liar, Liar” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #156

What can I say? The guy’s my best friend—but he’s a pathological liar. This morning, for instance. We are at the indie coffee shop, in a line-up moving as slow as Saturday on a long weekend. Norman places his order, saying, “It’s a lovely day for a latte,” and the barista gives him a second look before she touches her order screen. She takes a cup and asks for his name. “Sam,” he says. His eyes flicker to her name badge as she marks the cup. Then he says, “Juliet, I forgot… could you make it almond milk instead of cow’s?” “Oh.” She glances a...

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“Pseudologia Fantastica” by Alexander Brotherton

Submitted to Contest #156

The city market is a great place for me. I thrive around people that have time to talk. Funny thing about areas with dense populations is that most people don’t have time to talk. At a city market though, on a Sunday, you’ve got time to talk. Know what I mean? Place is my sanctuary. Convinced some baristas at City Market Coffee that I’m related to Eminem and a secret millionaire who got his money while crypto was hot. Got some lady at the Bloom Baking Company to believe I was my high school quarterback and that I went to school with Patrick...

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“Gimme Shelter ” by Charles R. Bucklin

Submitted to Contest #156

"Remember the time when David Muller's Brother pantsed you and threw your underwear up into the tree?" said Matt after taking a sip of his Matte Black Latte. "Uh, no. You must be remembering someone else," I said looking around uncomfortably. "He did. We were living in Los Gatos at the time. I'll never forget how all the girls screamed when they saw you without your pants on. Ha! Ha! Ha!" "Oh God you're right, I now remember I was eight years old and that was…Glen or Don, right? I said. "You do remember! It was Don. Glenn was my best...

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“Should Have Listened to Static” by Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #156

Baz Patha was slouched down in the co-pilot seat in the poorly lit command center of Clear Runner, a cargo transfer ship. As a Gordelian, he was already short and pudgy. Slouching just enhanced his appearance as a dark gray, noxious blob of flesh only restricted from further spread via containment within a flight suit. He was glumly reviewing the data screen that monitored the environmental status of the various containment chambers. Everything was fine. Everything except his mood. “Don’t know why you can’t just consider it,” he grumbled. Hi...

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“That's wasn't how it happened” by Danielle Jumper

Submitted to Contest #156

“That wasn’t how it happened, Edgar,” Sam said. He was becoming more agitated. “It was,” Edgar insisted. “No, we buried her by the well,” Sam said. “No, we didn’t, because I clearly remember objecting to burying her near a water source, Sam.” It was dusk and the two men were old now, but not old enough to let themselves rot in prison for what remaining life they had left to live. “These damn mosquitoes,” Edgar mumbled, as he slapped his neck. “You see that tree?” Edgar pointed. “The one there with the crooked trunk? She’s a coup...

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“Kydd Komet: Interview with a Scout” by Terry Asla

Submitted to Contest #156

Kydd Komet: Interview with a Scout By Wilbur Michalowitz, Ph.D. Originally Published in The Journal of the Cine Industry, July 1958, Vol. 23, No. 7, pp. 68-75 [ Earth 4419/TS 7]. What follows is a rare find: an account of an encounter with an Inter-dimensional Scout written by a scholar from another dimension. It is doubly rare in that the Scout is none other than the famously successful Ajax Stottelmeyer. The British English spellings and punctuation of the original manuscript have been retained. However, the voluminous footnotes have ...

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“A Professor Named Cat” by Austin Baker

Submitted to Contest #156

I used to always wondered if those moments of déjà vu or the random chills you get down your spine meant anything. Or like those synchronicities that make you go ‘Huh, weird. That’s been everywhere lately,’ or whenever you have to stop and ask yourself ‘What was I doing?’ As if you’ve been plopped into a new body and a new reality with no clue what that version of yourself happened to be doing, but it’s close enough to what you were doing so you just keep at it. I’d been experiencing a lot of those. Almost every day, so really every other da...

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“The Heist” by Chris Holland

Submitted to Contest #156

I knew nothing of this. Why are you involving me? I have been set up by Mike. I want nothing to do with all of you, just let me go home.Whether you like or not young lady, you are guilty with everyone else and you will have to keep your trap shut about this or you will find yourself in serious trouble. No! You have no right to hold me just let me go, my Aunt and Uncle will be worried about me. You will have to take care of that, Joe replied, passing her the heavy black phone with the frayed cord and well worn dial. Tell them ...

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$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!

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