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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#158: It's All Good, Man

With only a few episodes left to air, the legal drama Better Call Saul is coming to an end. Along with the Breaking Bad saga, this spin-off garnered dozens of nominations and countless fans around the world through excellent character development and storytelling. Saul Goodman’s colorful suits, elaborate scams, and wordplay (“It’S all Good, man”) will be hard to forget.

Whether you're familiar with the series, or this is your first time hearing about it, there'll be something for you in this week's prompts — inspired by the show's characters and themes.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a couple sharing a cigarette in a parking lot.

Adults – 66 stories

Write about a character with questionable morals.

Dark – 41 stories

Write a story where the law plays an important role.

High School – 24 stories

Write a story about a character who is trying to become a better person.

Middle School – 42 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “It’s not fair.”

Middle School – 72 stories

Stories

“Tropospheric Tryst” by Jim Firth

Submitted to Contest #158

Content warning: mentions of sex***A pair of disembodied genitals were frantically copulating on the wing of the plane. In the cabin, my fellow passengers were in hysterics. Mothers were shielding their children’s eyes. Perverts were enjoying the aeronautical erotica; filming it with their phones. An incensed mother, sitting in front of me, buzzed the flight attendant. ‘How could you be so irresponsible?’ She asked. ‘You allowed at least two passengers without Securi-pants onboard. Check for anyone who is sleeping and wake them up!’The fligh...

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“Last Minute Fadeaway to Win the Game” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #158

Back in high school, I was a player, a basketball star. In the sport of love though, I keep putting up bricks, it took until my last day at Vic’s to realize I was playing the wrong game. I had gotten to the store first that morning, with a little anxiety as I knew Lourdes was working too. She had a tempestuous relationship, she could make the day go quick with her stories, or terrible if she picked a fight. Most of the other shops in the strip mall were already open, and as usual the regulars at the Bean gave me a wave. The Co...

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“Life Isn't” by Jeannette Miller

Submitted to Contest #158

We thought we were so cool. Every Friday and Saturday night, we would park right here with my car facing toward the street so we could sit on the hood and watch other cars full of kids cruise back and forth yelling out their windows and playing music. It was kind of lame, but what else are you going to do as a teenager in a small town with nothing to do? We’d get all dolled up and wear what we thought would make us look cute but not too eager or desperate for the guys cruising who were trying to act cool themselves. We all knew each other a...

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“A Long and Winding Road” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #158

Long and Winding Road Excerpt from the diary of Daniel Bruback, 1978 Day 1 I promised Liz to keep track of the journey, not just the destination. She’s dead set against my plan, to skip one week of haying so I can show support for workers’ rights at the conference in the city. She’s always pulling rank on me. Fourteen months older but two grades ahead in school. Dad will have to show her how to drive the tractor while I’m gone. I hugged her and Lucky and then walked to Highway 11. I got a ride from Greenstone to Geraldton within ten minut...

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“Fresh Start” by Mofope Olaleye

Submitted to Contest #158

(Just so you know, this story has some terms from my Yoruba culture.) Brown, viscous water splashed on my face. My eyes dared to open in the sight of that seething ocean, making fitful creeps up its white, porcelain prison. Not even the plastic bristles of my brush could squelch its spirit, and my sinuses continued to strain from its fumes. What the hell, Dad? I thought. It’s Halloween. . . I could still hear the pops of my soaked feet as I rumbled down the stairs. There I stood, clad in dark blue vests, a goblin mask, and a ho...

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“On the Inhale” by Grae Michael

Submitted to Contest #158

“I only smoke when I’m drunk,” I said, passing back the cigarette. “You’re drunk?” She grinned up at me through the electric blue eyeliner she’d bought just for tonight. The angular wing at the corner of her left eye was slightly longer than the right. Mascara was beginning to smudge beneath her tear line. I shrugged. “Aren’t you?” “Yeah.” She snorted, hiccupped, and rested her arms on my shoulders. I was reasonably conscious of the lit cigarette hanging near my ear. “But you’re not acting drunk.” I didn’t know what to say t...

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“Dance of Sparks” by Elizabeth Castle

Submitted to Contest #158

5:30 am on a cool fall morning. A gust of wind swirls around two figures in the darkness. A trail of smoke is blown away as the tiny end butt of a cigarette light burns weakly. A woman's fingers shake from the cold as she passes off the last of the butt. The young man reaches for it but it drops to the floor, he looks down at it and stomps out the last few ashes with his boot. She says, “I’m sorry about that” with a look of worry on her face that quickly transforms into a single tear falling down her rosy cheeks. He stepped closer to her, wh...

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“Highs and Los ” by Dunbarin Fadairo

Submitted to Contest #158

Anna and Jack had almost nothing in common at the beginning of their relationship and that’s what brought them together, but the constant arguments and different viewpoints and backgrounds soon grew out of its cute phase. Much like their usual pattern, this odd couple finds themselves back in the deserted parking lot of a movie theater that closed down a few years back. “Remember when we attended your brother’s wedding?” Jack asked, took a puff of his cigarette and passed it to Anna. Anna placed the tiny cylinder between her lips and drew ...

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“Post-lunch Ritual” by Zi Poromon

Submitted to Contest #158

Wake up, eat, sleep, and repeat. Pick up the phone, greet customer, listen to complaint after complaint after complaint, fix problem, end call, and repeat. Do it over and over again, five days a week. Get paid a disappointing salary that is barely enough to buy gas for your cheap car, and keep butter and bread in the creaky fridge. Repeat until you retire at 65, or until you drop dead onto the cold, hard Earth. No time for a minute to breathe in oxygen peacefully, enjoy socialization with close friends and family --- not customers. Hung...

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“Death to the Fire” by TMK M

Submitted to Contest #158

It was a hot. She didn’t understand why he wanted to meet her in a parking lot. As always, she obliged and sighed as she walked over to him. He met her with a tight embrace and then invited her to share a cigarette. She agreed. He smiled and struck his match. She was mesmerized for a moment by the fire but quickly fixated her eyes on him. She was anxious waiting for it to be her turn. She watched has he exhaled the smoke pulled from their cigarette. As the smoke enveloped her face, she turned her head away and looked down at the pavement. He...

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“The Wilford Reading Room” by Kathryn Engelmann

Submitted to Contest #158

"Could you send me bank statements on behalf of your foundation? We're not seeing where the money's going." Greg took a long drag from his cigarette and let the smoke curl away from his lips. He hadn't considered that someone would look for a paper trail. He tapped his finger on the countertop, stared down at his phone, and stirred his mind for an answer. He heard an uncomfortable cough come through the speaker. "Look-- Irma, was it?" "No, my name's--" "Sure. Irma, Charles Wilford Literary Foundation is a cornerstone of this communit...

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“THE MISANTHROPE” by Nick Wynne

Submitted to Contest #158

Osgood Feeney was a miserable cuss. Everybody who had ever had any contact with him agreed with that conclusion. He was cruel in his speech, slovenly in his dress, dishonest in his business dealings, and was generally avoided by all the residents of my hometown. He was also an inveterate funeral goer, carrying a little black book in his pocket that listed everyone he hated or was feuding with. He would approach the casket, look at the face of the deceased, and then take out his black book, flip through the pages, and with...

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“Deer Season” by Jim Holley

Submitted to Contest #158

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“Cocaine Blues” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #158

WARNING: Almost certainly contains the abuse and misuse of commas. (Sorry Deidra)Luckily, I’m not cursed by an irrational desire to justify my decisions. I know when I’m right. Which, I’m not ashamed to say, is always.It was so tiny when it finally came. It often is. Most people in the room, I assume, would have been oblivious to it. Not me. One might be forgiven for assuming it would be a dramatic, more obvious detail that convinced me. As always, I had to be patient. It’s rather a crude expression, but I always trust my guts. They’ve not b...

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“Secrets to the Grave ” by Abigail Rae

Submitted to Contest #158

He wiped the sweat off his forehead. The back of his shirt was damp and clinging to his skin. He paused what he was doing to take a long drag from his cigarette. God he was getting old. He glanced at his work, satisfied that he would make it home for before Cherie woke up. The dirt hole was large, at least 7 feet deep and 3 feet wide. It had taken him a few hours to get to this location and to dig it up. It was going to be the home of his latest capture. The man stared back at the pleading eyes of the gagged individual in the ...

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$250

Prize money

245

Contest entries

103

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 12, 2022 EST

Won by Scott Christenson 🏆

Title: Your Cat™️ Customer Service

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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