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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#157: The Green-Eyed Monster

Reality TV is a big guilty pleasure of mine, and the guiltiest of all those pleasures is probably Love Island. I've spent the last few weeks glued to my screen each night, chatting about it to anybody who's willing to listen — and a good few people who aren't.

One recurring theme of the show is jealousy; contestants break up and make up endlessly, and jealousy often has a hand in the drama that plays out between them. Of course, jealousy isn't always of the romantic variety, and envy over what we don't have can infiltrate our lives in strange and unexpected ways.

This week's prompts tackle the green-eyed monster, and how it can lead us astray — plus a tiny nod to Love Island. I couldn't resist.

This week's prompts

Write about a relationship, either romantic or platonic, that is being affected by jealousy.

Romance – 71 stories

Write about someone deliberately trying to make somebody else envious.

Dark – 25 stories

Write about a character who discovers the grass isn't actually greener on the other side.

Middle School – 44 stories

Write about two characters who both want what the other has, without knowing the feeling is mutual.

Adults – 27 stories

Write about somebody looking for love on a reality TV show.

Romance – 18 stories

Stories

“Tchau, Tchau Beena” by Gayathri Sampath

Submitted to Contest #157

Tchau, tchau Beena “Sheela, what is going on? Why did you sell all your investments without consulting me? Is it about that fucking citizenship again? You have gone insane, Sheela, completely mad!”“Ajay, mind your language. Beena was right. I am nothing but a doormat to you. The moment I stand for myself, you resort to swearing and calling me names.”“Sheela, come to your senses. Beena is a worthless witch who has cast a spell on you. Are you really going to leave me and take the kids and leave? Drop this madness and let's go back to how thin...

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“Floating—Free at Last” by Ron Davidson

Submitted to Contest #157

(T/W: Child Abuse, Spousal Abuse, Murder)My father’s fists were always charged with a dangerous blend of alcohol and emotion. His favorite alcohol—Jack Daniel’s. His favorite emotion—jealousy. My father wanted everything that he didn’t have, and when the whiskey mixed with his envious blood, he took his rage out on the things he did have, me and my mom.My mother had endured his tortures for longer than me, but she finally gave up the battle and just before my fourteenth birthday she disappeared. Sh...

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“How Green Is Your Love?” by Kate Kilbee

Submitted to Contest #157

The two people in our story were teenage sweethearts. In the beginning he loved her free spiritedness and she loved how their conversations were light and easy. In the end, after just three months, it wasn't enough. Their problems outlasted their love. He became jealous of the way other boys looked at her and of how she chatted to them. She found him to be dull and boring and dumped him after three months. There were no other parties involved though she found a new boyfriend in two weeks. He found a new girlfriend in a year. They met ag...

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“Shores of my Stringing Souls” by Sudarshan Varadhan

Submitted to Contest #157

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to ponder what she was wondering. Most evenings, she would gait across the green grass, politely smile at the other dawdling contestants, and sit by the swimming pool. Then, she would dip her legs into the clear transparent water, look ahead, and repeat the same words. I wish sometimes I could sit next to her by the pool, and ask her the simplest question. Why?Often, I have dreamt of sitting next to her by the pool, in those instances, I would take a deep breath, collect whatever little courage ...

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“Here Lies Promise” by Kennedy Yonce

Submitted to Contest #157

I will tell you my name. I will tell you my age. I will describe my appearance all the way from the color of my hair to the nail polish on my toes, but not yet. Right now, none of those things are important. They’re so very unimportant because this story isn’t about me, not really. This story is about someone who outshines me in every way; and that is precisely the problem. Her name is Promise. She has hair of liquid gold and eyes that shine like stars. Her smile is the envy of all who have very looked upon it, and her teeth are perfectly st...

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“I Want What You've Got” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #157

She was grateful that someone had stopped to see if she was alright. It was a dark and lonely road. If Anthony hadn’t said what he did at the cocktail party then she wouldn’t have stormed off, taking the car and not knowing how to get home from the country club. Whenever they went out together at night time he always drove. She never thought to look around and take in the surroundings. “I think it’s your battery” the other woman said to her “It’s happened to me before”. “Oh dear” she said anxiously “What should I do?” “Do you want t...

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“Silver Linings ” by Hayley F

Submitted to Contest #157

Trigger Warning: Emotional Abuse, Substance Abuse, Mention of Death (nothing graphic), and Mental HealthMy mother had wanted to be a star. Her father was Polish, her mother Ukrainian, and together they immigrated with their children to America in the twenties, just before the dust bowl hit and left the nation in one of its poorest states since its conception. Her family survived on a diet of canned vegetables and hodgepodge soups that they threw together from their pitiful excuse of a garden during that time. Mother insisted this was gr...

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“Jealousy and I are Now Separated” by Carol Waid

Submitted to Contest #157

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action. ~ John Dewey. I was 32 years old when my shattered heart thrust me into seeking help. At this time, I had lost the desire to eat, to get out of bed, to take care of my children – I was rudderless. At 40, I was two years sober, and I had a strong desire to look myself in the mirror with kindness, instead of feeling repulsion. At 64, as I reflect, I feel extreme gratitude and pleasurable relief that I said yes to the call for...

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“Still Beating” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #157

A sudden gust of wind tears through the empty bowels of the schoolhouse, whisking leaves and loose papers from their resting place along the bespeckled tiles, scattering them throughout the desolate halls. All that noise, that horrible rustling, it would’ve stirred me from my slumber if I’d been able to sleep. Nowadays, it appears sleep is a luxury only afforded to the dead. How long had I been hiding here? A few days? Weeks? It might as well have been years. The idea of time itself seems...

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“Sisterhood” by D. Robbins

Submitted to Contest #157

Jane and Eliza were born into the typical American family. They grew up in the perfect house and parents who loved them both deeply. That didn't stop the twins from wanting what the other had. Jane, a straight A student on the debate team, the pride of her father who was a professor at the University and Eliza, who excelled with the arts and took after her mother when it came to the creative side of things. Their mother owned a local pottery/Coffee shop, where the girls have spent many summers working. While Eliza loved to be in the t...

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“Just the three of us ” by James Bargent

Submitted to Contest #157

“The contestant that will be leaving tonight is….” After a short pause which felt like an eternity, host Kelly finally gives the results. “Teddy.” “Carli, you are now single.” Jake leaps up out of his armchair, wailing with joy. His half-empty can of lemonade flies, crashing hard into a large cabinet set neatly in the corner of the room. The remaining contents of the can splash over the walls and floor. “YES,” teddy screamed at the top of his voice. He throws a wild flurry of punches into the empty space around him, growling through clench...

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“Tea Parties and Cockroach Cults” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #157

Marcel crawled on his little elbows deeper into the crawlspace of the mayor’s house. “Do you see anything yet?” The mayor called down. Marcel grumbled. “Just a moment, please,” Marcel called back. There were very few jobs for possums and even fewer for possums who happened to be mages. He closed his eyes and sniffed. Ah, there you are. He turned down an alternate tunnel - one dug by the cockroaches themselves. Got you now you little... The little vermin had dug under the mayor’s house - starting in the basement, they had du...

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“Infinite Learning Curve” by Victoria MacDonald

Submitted to Contest #157

Infinite Learning Curve My bladder summons me out of a dream. I grumble at the familiar arthritic pain as I limp down the hall to do my business. Gazing out my picture window at another summer morning, I see a young couple, fresh and nimble, strolling hand in hand. I imagine morphing back to my twenties. There were euphoric, magic moments, but oh, so fleeting. My father often quoted the famous words, “Youth is wasted on the young.” So interesting how that truth has finally...

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“Can I even compare ” by Blueberry Pop

Submitted to Contest #157

Sapphira was walking arm in arm with her best friend named Verose. Verose turned to look at Sapphira, who has green eyes, chocolate skin, and curly hair, and then looked back at her phone. Sapphira has been friends with her since she was 4 years old. “How can you be so oblivious to your beauty? You are straight up gorgeous.” said Verose smiling and blushing at her phone. “Thanks, but I am oblivious because I think the best thing about me is my personality.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” “You are pretty too. You have hazel eyes and curly loos...

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“Beware the Envy of Gods” by Jessica Buford

Submitted to Contest #157

He set Fragile Things down on his stomach. The beach umbrella which had provided ample shade when they arrived at the beach at 10 o’clock that morning, was now only shielding his face from the sun’s intense summer rays. He worried for a minute that the book would leave a pale rectangular shape on his stomach, but the heat had soaked up any extra energy that would have gone toward relocating the beach blanket into the hexagon shadow. Staring up at the sky, eyelids growing heavier he felt heavy and the salt and sweat on his skin left a sticky ...

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$250

Prize money

185

Contest entries

88

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 05, 2022 EST

Won by Zack Powell 🏆

Title: Wish You Were Here

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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