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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#161: Digging Deep

Released to much critical acclaim, Jennette McCurdy’s recent memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died is one of the most talked-about books of the summer (and potentially the year), not least because of its provocative title. But behind the clickbait-y headline, the book is a masterclass in memoir writing — digging deep into McCurdy’s life and deftly handling sensitive material, including her time as a child actress and an abusive childhood.

This week’s prompts are inspired by some of the themes in McCurdy’s memoir — the pressure of stardom at a young age, finally speaking one's truth, and starting a process of healing — encouraging you to explore the complex and often gritty nature of human relationships and emotions.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone sharing a secret that has a big impact on everyone.

High School – 39 stories

Write a story where someone finds comfort in an unexpected event, place, or person.

Adults – 56 stories

Write about a character who lives a seemingly charmed life.

Teens – 25 stories

Write a story where a character has to take on heavy responsibilities (perhaps beyond their age).

Kids – 48 stories

Write about someone who needs to face their past in order to move forward.

Adults – 73 stories

Stories

“Madame Desrosiers’s Flower Shop” by Elaine March

Submitted to Contest #161

CW: Contains mentions of dismemberment. The crush of bodies pressed in on Julia from all sides, threatening to sweep her down the city streets on and on forever like a leaf in a current. It could be worse she thought, negotiating around another puddle and nearly crashing into a man with a leather briefcase. The smell of wet pavement was better than the odor of sickness that infiltrated every nook of their flat. Likewise the light patter of rain was musical compared to her mother’s wet coughing. She rounded the corner and c...

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“The Girl Who Would Be Queen” by Anna-Marie Hayward

Submitted to Contest #161

Crown Princess Irun of Edessa was embroidering tablecloths with her handmaidens when she learned that her twin brother Henfrey and king of Edessa had been blinded.It came in the form of a letter delivered by a messenger bird from Literra, the kingdom that Henfrey had recently traveled to for a state visit.Irun was laughing at a story Jevelyn was telling the group involving a cousin of hers and a hive of angry bees he accidentally stirred when the doors to the drawing room opened and one of her guards stationed outside poked his head in.“Your...

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“Set Free” by Savier Silva

Submitted to Contest #161

Can we talk? Those three words were like a bomb set into his lap as Alyx looked upon them on the screen of his phone. The number was unlisted, but he had long before memorized that string of numbers and the person that they belonged to. He didn’t expect to ever hear from her again and as such Alyx could only bring himself to look at the words that listlessly hung on his screen. He had options of course, simply delete the message and let the words eventually fade from his mind as all things would. Alyx wasn’t cursed with a photographic m...

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“I'm Ok by C.E. Metcalf” by Conrad M

Submitted to Contest #161

There are some of us out there that were called heroes. The ones that came home from war. And there are some of us that the war is still going on in our minds. We are sometimes called the lucky ones. And some of us don't feel that way. I myself am a disabled vet. I was blinded in a fire fight in Desert Storm. My self and two other men were taken cover behind an old junk vehicle trying to keep from getting shot. And then came the mortar blast. It destroyed the rest of it. The two men I was with died. and I ended up in a coma because of a TMI ...

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“Beautiful” by Jennifer Sadera

Submitted to Contest #161

Gwen’s office looked appropriately generic. Beige walls, gray tweed sofa, and dark wooden chairs. No family photos or interesting artwork to distract clients. She indicated the couch with a head bob, and I hurried toward it, pausing only when I saw the box of tissues on the glass end table, a puffy white sheet protruding from the gray cardboard top like an outstretched hand, offering to absorb and conceal my outpourings within its velvety folds. I pressed my lips together. Pitiful that a mere symbol of comfort could t...

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“Beyond Betrayal” by Kathleen Waterous

Submitted to Contest #161

Beyond Betrayal I am learning to be alone again. It has been almost a year since Brian got married. My friends and family are annoyed with me for “not getting over it.” It is the strangest thing and there is no way I could make up a story such as this. My “boyfriend,” he dubbed himself, of seven years, abruptly left me without saying goodbye, or even ending our relationship and married someone from his deep dark past. She was someone he knew almost 30 years ago. Brian did prison time for smuggling rare bird eggs out...

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“Jeff's Meth” by Tristan [GRUB] Cook

Submitted to Contest #161

JEFF’S METH I crawl within the assless assless chaps. Inside: nothing. His name was Jeff. He had short, scruffy grey hair with a crop circle on the back of his skull. The air that surrounded him whispered to me who he was: he had somehow managed to maintain his inner child into the middle of his life. No wife. No kids. A virtual reality headset that he liked to watch porn on. A keyboard he used to browse his massive T.V. A mind that did not adhere to time. Wandering from one room to the next, searching, searching, for a phone or cock...

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“My Texas Drought Part 3” by Laura Eliz

Submitted to Contest #161

“The ex?”. “I’m 38 and broke up with someone who mind as well be a middleschooler". “Sounds like my ex girlfriend”. “Is that the ex you broke up with before moving here?”. “No. The ex before this ex. The recent ex is a 39-year-old man who lived with me like a child." “Was that a reason for the breakup?” “It was. I was raised to believe a relationship should be a partnership. “Sounds frustrating”. “It was”. “So are you bi?”. “I am.” “Cool”. We sat eating and chatting. “ This is heaven”. “I’m glad. When we were done eating, set up in his ...

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“Reflection” by Caxton Shokunbi

Submitted to Contest #161

By Caxton Shokunbi I knew it was time to face my past before it was too late. I ventured off to the water fountain on Chelsea Avenue, which flooded my mind with memories of my mother. I remember it like it was yesterday. We had not gotten along for years since I refused to marry the woman my mom was dead set on me being with forever. That day my mom and I spoke at the fountain. I remember the warm air and the water pouring from the fountain. “James, Clarissa is the one for you.” she sternly said. “She treats you well and ...

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“Á Mortelle Décés (A Mortal Dies)” by Lea Wade

Submitted to Contest #161

Mary Martin Stewart recalls with nightmarish acuity the moment she heard the news. The phone rang differently. Didn’t it? She’s sure it did. It always does when being the harbinger of bad news. It was 7:05 pm on Wednesday, the 21st of February, 1980. She was in the bathroom washing the ash mark from her forehead from the morning’s blessing when the telephone screamed at her from its place on the wall in the kitchen of her small Wichita, Kansas apartment. Every time she played the conversation over in her head, it came to her in slow motion; ...

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“My Name is Sharon” by Andrea Murray

Submitted to Contest #161

THIS STORY CONTAINS SWEARING, VIOLENCE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE The clanging of heavy doors and raised voices woke Sharon, my head; she whispered bringing her hands to her ears. The room slowly came into focus and all of a sudden she was wide awake despite the throbbing of her head and the ringing in her ears, oh shit not again she said swinging her legs over the edge of the bunk until her feet touched the cold cement floor. The ugly faded green walls and the thick grey door with the tiny window had not changed since she woke up in the same roo...

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“Bye, Dad” by Tracy Mitchelle

Submitted to Contest #161

She pulled down her shirt sleeves and adjusted the collar before she went inside the school. She was already sweaty and thankful that there was air conditioning in her classroom. She hoped no one would ask her why she had a high-collared, long sleeve shirt on when it was so warm out. She walked stiffly through the halls on the way to her class. The rushing of the other students worried her because if they bumped into her, she would hurt. She quietly stepped into her classroom and her friend, Stacey, waved at her. She walked over and sat down...

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“Mother. ” by C Wang

Submitted to Contest #161

“Ring, ring.” “Ring, ring.” “Ring, ring, rrringggg!” Mary stared sullenly at her phone. It kept vibrating on the dining table in front of her, with the third ring increasing in both intensity and volume. She held it up in her hand, looking intently at the name displayed on the phone. “Mum and Dad” flashed on the screen, with a sliding bar at the bottom. Fidem looked up from her laptop on the couch. “Is that Grandma?”. Mary looked up at her daughter, eyes and expression conveying what she was not saying in words. Fidem nodded sagely, ad...

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“STOLEN LOVE” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #161

My life was great – everything, chugging together perfectly. The gymnastics team I’d been with since I was five years old were two months away from try-outs for the Olympic Games team. I was on top form, the fittest and strongest I’d ever been – I knew I was definitely going to qualify for the New Zealand team – it had been my dream come true when I was chosen to represent our Gym, and I had worked so hard. My parents were proud of me. This made my life fairly busy for a 16-year-old, and I was very driven and focused. My grades were good and...

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“Come and Get Your Love” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #161

Arvin Wurlie watches with idle curiosity as the man brooding at the end of the bar downs his third scotch in as many minutes. Arvin knows he’s a fellow warrior because Grumman’s Tavern only attracts servicemen. Grabbing his beer, the sturdy sixty-six-year-old navy veteran decides he has to know what destroyed the man. “You’re really accomplished at being a sponge, friend. Don’t you ever ease up?” The dark-haired, thirty-ish man looks up at him. The black circles under his puffy eyes and his dark stubble make him look utterly defeated. “I...

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$250

Prize money

241

Contest entries

125

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 02, 2022 EST

Won by Marty B 🏆

Title: Long Distance Phone Call

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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