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!

#16: Once Upon a Time

Earlier this week, we published a blog post about modern fairy tales, and it got us thinking about the fact that no genre of literature is without its own set of tropes — and that certain literary tropes we still see commonly today are rooted centuries back.

This week's prompts are all elements pulled from fairy tales — both modern and old. You can feel free to play them straight: in other words, using the trope traditionally. Or you can feel free to twist the trope on its head. That's the great thing about tropes: they might provide you with a foundation that's already well-worn, but the opportunities to make it your own are endless.

This week's prompts

Write a story around the theme: Be careful what you wish for.

Novel – 79 stories

Write a story that involves love at first sight.

Romance – 87 stories

Write a rags-to-riches story.

Novel – 20 stories

Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.

Mystery – 98 stories

Write a story about a character on a quest, trying to "prove themselves."

Adventure – 30 stories

Stories

“What Lurks Outside the Forest” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #16

“Hey, do you ever wonder what’s out there. In the forest?” “Emma!” I hushed. “You know we’re not allowed in there! Sister Scarlett warned us, remember? It’s dangerous!” “But what makes it dangerous?” Emma questioned. “My granny said out there, are our god’s enemies. Monsters that will kill anyone who steps foot inside.” I firmly replied. “Wow.” Emma turned away from the looming forest to me. Her blue eyes peering at me. “It’s getting dark, we should head back.” Agreeing with a nod, I still took a few steps closer to the woods. Amongst ...

Read story

“Happily Ever After” by Kaitlynn Flint

Submitted to Contest #16

Happily Ever After 11/21/19 Once upon a time, in a magical land called New York City, there was a teenage girl who had to bail her best friend out of jail for 'vandalizing a building'. It's not the best fairytale, but what do you expect? Castles and knights? Or maybe you were hoping for some flowers and gowns. Well, sorry- you're reading the wrong fairytale. There is no castle or crown. There ain't no talking animals or evil stepmothers. And there certainly is no damsel in distress! I was sitting at home, reading a good ...

Read story

“Homeless” by Melody Davidson

Submitted to Contest #16

The old man sat with his dog, the warm wind tickling his skin. Wearing only denim shorts he looked out at the waves and waited for the next ship to come. Beside him, his dog rested by his side and whimpered. The man rubbed his ears giving the dog a look only it could understand. The man then stood up and walked around, picking up scraps of fish and chips along the peer. Sitting back down he smelled the food and tried to remember the last time he ate, but instead of feeding his starving body, he fed it to the dog. They sat there together unti...

Read story

“The Plan” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #16

There was once a little girl called Sharon who wanted nothing so much as to be a princess. Nobody could quite say (herself included) where and how she first heard about princesses, or who put the notion in her head, but long before she went to school she was determined and would not be shaken. “Of course you’re our princess,” her parents assured her, or at least they did most of the time, when they hadn’t (because they were only human) had enough of princesses for one day. “Every littl...

Read story

“Lean on me” by Renée Chatelain

Submitted to Contest #16

I couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much for me. Why did things like this happen?What did I do to deserve this? Out of pure anger and exasperation, I picked up a nearby vase and hurled it at the wall. It shattered into a million fragments. Just like my heart. The fragments flew through the air, and I heard them pelt against the cabinets and the floor. I sunk to my knees and cried. It wasn’t the pretty cry you see in movies, when the characters are hit with peril and are at the end of their rope. It was a real cry....

Read story

“Don’t Go Into The Woods” by Barbara Eustace

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #16

You were told, weren’t you? Don’t go into the woods they said. Ah, but the confidence of ignorant youth that ignores the wisdom of knowledgeable age.When you first came to the place, you were told, your parents were told, don’t go into the woods. Don’t go into the woods because it’s easy to get lost. People have gone missing.You look on a map. How silly. The woods are not huge, a scant mile wide at their widest point. How could anyone get lost? Just walk in a straight line, you’d come out somewhere.The...

Read story

“Opposites” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #16

He sits by his mother, watching shadows flicker on the floor, forming patterns because of the clouds and the starlight. It's snowing outside, it always is, and it's cold.He peers out the window. The moon is dark, but the stars aren't, and he marvels at their brightness, their beauty. He knows that they could form constellations, tell stories, but to him, they are just a handful of glitter scattered across the sky.Even so, he can feel their meaning and he watches them glimmer in wonder.he turns to his mother."Tell me the story of why it's alw...

Read story

“Mango and Leif” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #16

An earthy aroma of hibiscus and chamomile filled Kodiak’s lungs. The insight civil servant observed the cafe and the peculiar characters within. Mango and Leif’s was a simple tea cafe, aligned in trinkets and an abundance of teacups. There was a quaint warmth within the walls, as if the whole room were a blanket. Everything seems too at peace, Kodiak despised, folding his arms. Mango and Leif’s would be the last place Kodiak, House of Caspian, imagined to be. But nevertheless, Kodiak arrived. He sat down. The cafe was timid and reserve...

Read story

“Christmas Wish” by Karen Jones

Submitted to Contest #16

It’s hard to get in the mood for Christmas when it's 80 degrees instead of 30, sand instead of snow, and palms instead of pines. All I've ever wished for the holidays is snow, a warm fire, and friends to share it with. Even the robins, our usual harbingers of winter, haven't arrived yet and even if it was cold, my fireplace isn't working right. No one wants smoke billowing inside their living room instead of picturesquely curling out the chimney.Still musing about my string of rotten Christmas luck, I hear the mailman’s truck pull up outside...

Read story

“The Escapist Society” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #16

The spotless lamb slumbered into silence. A pale blue teacup had pricked the pure lamb red. Gushing blood soon followed, streaking through the evening, bleak sky, and pitter-pattering down the cobble road. The little, pretty dying one did bleed, and never before had his shepherdess which it had been her own. Eloise Clary, the shepherdess, would have stained the countryside black if given the choice. In curses and tears, she cried out to the skies for her own life to be taken. The winds were her sole answer. If she had not loved the lam...

Read story

“Homeward Flight” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #16

It might not quite be on a par with “The cheque’s in the post” or “You look lovely in that outfit”, but it’s fair to say that the phrase “You have nothing to prove” is not always uttered with a surfeit of sincerity. Still, I don’t have anything to prove, thought Joan Hayden, as she sat in the little lounge that was so carefully designed to stop people feeling nervous and uneasy that it had the opposite effect. All of the soft grey furnishing and rounded corners and pictures of not quite abstract autumn...

Read story

“The Man Who Got Away. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Submitted to Contest #16

Trigger Warning: This story depicts strong language and self induced suffering. She sits in a stupor, her hand dangling limp from her position on the sofa. She looks lifeless, the Vodka bottle lying empty on the floor, with a pack of cigarettes, already used and discarded. A snore permeates the room from her flaring nostrils and half open mouth – the only sign that she is still alive. It is not a pretty sight, especially now that she doesn’t have all the recommendations of youth to benefit from. She had once been beautiful. Now she was a cha...

Read story

“Rags-to-Riches, Imagined. ” by Rima ElBoustani

Submitted to Contest #16

Trigger Warning: Depicts insanity. Many days past, I became trapped in my very own mind. I transgressed from the real world, where reality was constant to everyone, into a life only I knew – it was like living in a film of my own creation, one that I alone could see. I went from not having anything much at all to being one of the richest people in the world. I went from being a rudimentary intellect and a normal person to a genius who was odd. I went from average looks to exotically hot or tragically ugly, depending on the day. Of course, it...

Read story

“The brave little tailor.” by Len Mooring

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time, there was a tailor of very small stature, named Abraham. He seemed to be very brave, but could also be very stupid. His biggest wish was to be tall. Being small, he tended to compensate for his lack of height and girth in being cursed by a large mouth and lungs which he used sometimes in inappropriate ways. A casual glance from some Adonis-like male would often cause him to immediately challenge him to a duel, or the equivalent thereof, because of some imagined sleight. Most of the Adonises would smile and move on, but...

Read story

“Perfectly Pickled” by Debra Clewer

Submitted to Contest #16

PERFECTLY PICKLED. Hi, I’m fourteen-year-old Alex Graham, and I have to tell you yesterday was the weirdest day of my whole life. While I was at Grandma’s house with my little brother Mitchell. Gran has a television installed in her kitchen, which she watches when she’s cooking. She was following her favourite cooking show, Backwoods Homestyle Delights, when an ad break came on. There I was, standing by the kitchen door, listening to my grandmother laughing loudly at the ad for pickles. You know the one, where a genie appears to two people ...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

314

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 22:59 - Nov 22, 2019 EST

Won by Vivien Leanne Saunders 🏆

Title: The Sackcloth Liar

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 ⭢