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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

“Getting Better” by Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #158

Triggers: mention of mental health, drug abuse, child abuse Jean reached into her clutch purse and pulled out a box of Pall Mall cigarettes. Aside from the occasional alcoholic drink, cigarettes were the only “bad” thing that she allowed herself to have since she completed a stint in rehab. From the front pocket of her purse, she retrieved her favorite lighter – a little metal horse that shot a flame from the end where its tail should be. After lighting up and taking a drag, she offered a smoke to her estranged husband Doug. Unlike Jean,...

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“The Kensington Killer, Episode 1” by Dale Bird

Submitted to Contest #158

The corn loomed tall and emerald green over Brett’s beat up Ford F-150 as the smoke of two cigarettes twirled toward nothing. Jolene started smoking to impress him but began to like the feeling it gave her and how it always made her calm. Or maybe it was Brett that made her calm, but she didn’t know because she only smoked around him.“Are we gonna stay together, Brett?” Brett knew the question would come like the smell of the summer air before rain. They spent the day driving down the country roads neither of them would see much of soon...

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“The Statistics of Morality” by Karen C

Submitted to Contest #158

He flinched in surprise when it was cold instead of hot. His eyes flicked from the words “empirical methodology” to the partially-full mug of coffee which he had subconsciously set down in disgust. The black liquid, no longer steaming, looked like a miniature oil spill in the white ceramic.He rubbed his eyes. Gotta be at least 2am. Refusing to look at the nightstand clock as he passed it, he refilled the mug with burned coffee from the too-hot coffee pot. Half an inch of utter darkness, mirroring the bedroom window, still remained at the bot...

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“Annihilating The Bridge Transient” by Seth NoLastName

Submitted to Contest #158

Annihilating The Bridge Transient Going under the bridge is the best part of my daily run. This morning as I approached the entrance, I saw a figure in the middle of the path. He was a pale-skinned hobo who appeared to have taken up residence underneath the bridge. This worthless pile of filth & disease was sitting inside of a stolen shopping cart, cradling his mucous soaked chicken legs with a set of nimble looking hands. His fingernails were long, black, & un...

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“Cornelius Clemens” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #158

Pearce, Arizona, is a small mining town just southeast of Tucson. The year is 1895, and it’s late August. The sun is blazing hot as a small traveling cabana rolls into town. The driver pulls to a stop at the far end of the main street and climbs down to look around. He’s a little disappointed because he had figured a gold mining town would look more prosperous. His name is Cornelius Clemens, and his trade is to sell snake oil to the unsuspecting. He is a flimflam artist, a con-man, and a swindler. Corneli...

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“Woebegone Miracles” by SJ Latrice

Submitted to Contest #158

It's only by the grace of the gods that Francis doesn’t laugh at her mother-in-law’s bellowing wails. Davith’s funeral had ended three hours ago but Maryanne Warthwood had always been dedicated to her dramatics. It was no secret that Maryanne hated her eldest son; he wouldn’t like the foods she wanted him to like, wouldn’t go to the university she wanted, and refused to marry the woman she’d prepared for him since he was six. Everything Davith did was a crime after that last slight, but now the woman of sixty-five years cries bucket...

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“Nightmare in the Library” by Jamie Schacher

Submitted to Contest #158

Allison Danvers stood in between the stacks of books in the library on campus of the University of Washington. She took in the smell of the old books, a musty smell that wasn’t too strong. Her fingertips grazed the spines of the books on the shelf in front of her, feeling the texture of all the different kinds of book covers. She enjoyed the covers that almost felt like fabric and were older than most on the shelves. Allison preferred these books more because they had so much more history to them than just writing inside of them. Most of the...

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“The Girl” by Elena Semones

Submitted to Contest #158

It was early October. The high school was hosting the homecoming dance in the gym. After the homecoming dance, the students got together to keep the party going in the woods behind the high school where an old mansion sits. The old mansion belonged to the founding family of this small town. It has been abandoned for years. It has been kept up by the historical society at the high school, which is run by a descendant of the original founding family. This year was different. It was usually warm, with the high 80s during the day and mid-...

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“Diet Right” by ER Castaneda

Submitted to Contest #158

TW: eating disorders In 2057 in America, with the introduction of “Diet Rite,” obesity was proclaimed illegal for anyone over 18. Anyone deemed obese under current guidelines was arrested, convicted, and placed in jail until they were starved, force fed “Diet Rite,” or a version of the two. Because obesity and the associated health care risks became a huge burden on the healthcare system, Congress voted to make obesity a crime. It wasn’t lost on the American people that many members of Congress held a stake in the Di...

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“No Contest” by Gloria Bartone

Submitted to Contest #158

"No contest, Your Honor."Whoa! Hold on! No contest can have a multitude of interpretations. Does it mean there is no question that I did it? Or does it mean I didn't really do it but don't want the hassle of an argument with the police? Or does it mean well, I probably did do it but you can't prove it. Of course, I equally can't prove I didn't,so we both lose here. Or maybe we both just win. Does it mean I just don't want to be embarassed by a write up in the local paper, especially when I just started a job with corrections ? There are so m...

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“Ian and Suzanna” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #158

The faint trail in the monotony of the landscape seemed weaker than ever. The wind picked up and brought a cloud of dust with it. -"Suzanna!" a man's voice called. She shielded her eyes and peered down the deserted path. -"Suzanna! Why don't you answer me? Are you sleeping?" -"I thought I saw something on the road." she replied without turning her head. Her voice delivered something of a sadness. She had a nice figure, irregular features, but not without a certain piquant outline. Suzanne had lived there since she was a young girl, and...

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“Climbing Up to the Bottom” by Jim Wilkerson

Submitted to Contest #158

NOTE: THIS STORY CONTAINS A COUPLE OF MENTIONS OF VIOLENT ACTS. Pat O’Grady had to do something. He’d worked for too many years and hurdled too many obstacles in getting his bar on Pittston Avenue in Scranton up and running only to lose customers now to some newcomer bar a block away. Paddy’s on Pittston was Pat’s dream come true. He had learned a lot about the beer and liquor wholesale business when he worked for a local distributorship during the six years he wasted his time and money trying to earn a college degree at Pen...

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“What a Night to Go Dancing” by Anna W

Submitted to Contest #158

Ned’s was the only bar in town that played music good enough to dance to. There was the Kensington downtown, but they only boasted a piano player who acted as background noise for diners.Ned’s was nothing to write home about, and occasionally there was a suspicious character or two, but generally it provided a place for the local couples to go and press up against each other.It was just outside the main drag of town. Far enough to be respectable but close enough that driving home a bit tipsy wouldn’t be an issue.Charlie had decided he wanted...

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“The Community Pot of Ideas and Why I’ll Never be Original” by I.M. Carney

Submitted to Contest #158

The sound of the kettle whistling in the kitchen interrupted Bonnie’s lecture to me on the ever-depressing state of my self-confidence. Her long, floral bathrobe floated behind her as she disappeared into the kitchen. I wrapped my legs under the knitted blue blanket on her couch and glanced lazily at all the trinkets she collected from decades of travel; a green, cloisonné vase from a flea market in Arles, a tapestry from Istanbul, postcards taped to the wall from her study-abroad semester in Czech. Bonnie came back into the living r...

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“Lucas” by Francesca Zanoni

Submitted to Contest #158

Lucas loved his life. He hadn’t been around for a very long time but he simply adored the way life was treating him. He felt the luckiest creature. For as long as he could remember, he had been loved and pampered. He didn’t have to ask for anything: life was giving him everything he wanted even before he could express a wish. He felt content and quiet. The sound of peaceful waves soothed him whenever he felt little discomfort and the placid waters were warm and gentle whenever they caressed his delicate skin. Even darkness rocked him and was...

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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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