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!

#166: Game, set, match

Lately, my sporting news feed has been taken over by the retirement of two legendary tennis players — Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Whenever sports stars end their careers, it leaves me wondering what it must feel like to start something new after dedicating so much time and effort into performing at top level.

Of course, retiring, quitting, or changing careers are life-changing events whether you’re a professional athlete or not, and the prompts this week are inspired by the bevy of emotions this can bring to the surface — from trepidation to excitement, to regret or even nostalgia.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone saying “I quit!”

Adults – 55 stories

Write a story about someone who knows it’s time to retire or change jobs, but is hesitating.

Adults – 43 stories

Write about a rivalry between two coworkers that has unforeseen consequences.

Adults – 26 stories

Set your story at a retirement or leaving party.

Adults – 19 stories

Write about someone who has long since quit but decides to go another round for old time’s sake.

Adults – 37 stories

Stories

“Going Back to You” by Noura Alsuwaidi

Submitted to Contest #166

The laptop screen is open, your old profile is there staring at me. There’s a fear in my chest. I feel like you don’t want to hear from me. I’ve done nothing wrong but leave, which might be the biggest infraction. Your eyes glimmer with a boyish touch. I told you how much loved that picture years ago. I can’t help but think it’s why you’ve left it all this time. My small message sits there, and I almost think you won’t respond. I’ve sat here for half an hour, the laptop open, terrified to close it, with my eyes trained on the television, on...

Read story

“Of Three” by Dan Kirshtein

Submitted to Contest #166

The banner hung above the bar, in front of him: Good Luck Alice! The party was a bit much: an effigy of Alice’s tendency to overcompensate. The appearance of her newfangled–somewhat legendary–fiance, who was dragging her away to some no-name town in the midwest, was the cherry on top. Raymond hated cherries. Over the music, over the clinking of the glasses, over the mind-numbing small talk of others, he listened to her laugh from her table behind him. Her voice was distinct and familiar: a favorite song played in the background of a film...

Read story

“Serendipitous” by Brenda Wilson

Submitted to Contest #166

“Fine.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Then I quit.” I set his coffee down on the Mahogany table and pretend my insides haven’t just turned to jello. The two caterpillar-sized eyebrows on Rob’s head knit into one. “You can’t quit, Keira. Because you’re fired!” I spin around and rush out of the corner office of my long-time boss, Robert Stoop. I only make it halfway to my thin, wooden, scratched desk that someone probably dug out of the trash before I have to grab hold of a desk to steady myself. It hardly helps. I think I’m goin...

Read story

“Brother and Sister” by Danny G

Submitted to Contest #166

“I quit!” he said.It was so sudden and so unexpected that she didn’t know what to say. She just stared at him, mouth open so wide the wind almost blew one of her blonde pigtails in.“What– what do you mean ‘you quit’,” she said, finally finding her voice. “You can’t quit. We’re a team. We’re Maggie and Jake. Peter and Jane. Luke and bloody Leia!”He snorted and shook his head. “Not anymore. You can take on the Death Star. I can’t take it anymore. It’s too much. All that singing. All the walking. The climbing. The falling. The broken bones. No....

Read story

“Fall Guy” by Donavan Barrier

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #166

Is this what you wanted? Huh? Is this what you sought to accomplish? All that hard work, all that good shit, all that talking about it. Is this what you've been looking for? Well, you got it. Man, do you got it! I hope you're happy, you son of a bitch. At least one of us will be getting out of this shit alive. But, hey, it's what I signed up for, right? It's what we knew was going to happen. I mean, come on, let's not kid ourselves. We knew our fate when we decided to pull this off. I must be stupid. I thought we'd get out of this alive. Oh,...

Read story

“Old Dogs” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #166

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but in Bill’s mind, most of the new dogs could learn a trick or two from him. Bill Baxter, a thirty-six-year veteran with the school board, worked most of his later years as a school custodian. Now, at the age of seventy-eight, his supervisors are asking him to pack it in and retire. While most of hi...

Read story

“Karoshi” by Daniel Legare

Submitted to Contest #166

Suneer’s eyes opened at 5am as they did everyday, his internal clock tuned to the schedule he’s followed for nearly 27 years. With long slow blinks he pulled himself from the lull of dreaming and wriggled his way up to a seating position, pausing every few seconds to wait for the ache in his joints to subside. He spends the next minute coughing a dry painful cough, the unmistakable hacking of a smoker’s lungs. It had been two years since he quit, since his doctors told him the coughing would become easier to bear. Have you thought of retirin...

Read story

“Lawyer” by O. Ben-Abou

Submitted to Contest #166

Rayna Abril sat up in her cramped seat. Her heart was beating. Hard. She looked around, confused. Why was she on a plane? Slowly, she remembered. Yesterday was the court case. Her dark brown eyes watered, but not from the rancid smell of the person next to her. ... Rayna had graduated from law school just a year ago, but she was already the most sought-after lawyer in the field. Every single case she got, she would win by a landslide. Today should be no different. Still, this case was tricky. About a month ago, her best...

Read story

“The Kitchen” by Kimberly Pienkawa

Submitted to Contest #166

The Kitchen In the kitchen. You know the one: stale loaf of bread, crinkling plastic, spilled orange juice, napkins with the mouths of angels. The fluorescent light buzz-buzz-buzzed. The investigator cradled a cup of tea, spice and lemon. No matter how many times she brushed her hair, it perpetually frizzed and fled from her scalp, a little shelter for all the twigs and branches and gravel. She spoke softly but intently, eyes trained to the hands of Eve. “Do you have a story to tell?” Eve twisted the watch on her wrist. The inv...

Read story

“Fanfare” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #166

What first hit me was the cold. What I first hit was the printer. Daft to leave the tray poking out over the bin everyone was discarding their cupcake cases in. There were fans on every desk. As well as overhead fans. The flapping of neon post-it notes forming the disco lights of the party. All the windows were wide open, the sounds of gulls and sirens added to the mix of the whirring of the blades and the hens’ clucking going into overdrive as they welcomed me, the new chick. I would like to say it was all in celebration of my arrival bu...

Read story

“The Life Of A Con Man” by Ruby Pix

Submitted to Contest #166

Jack Whisk was known as the greatest con artist. He had the looks of a charming middle-aged man, with a reddish hue to his natural orange hair combed to the side of his face so as to not hang over his eyes. He would be dressed in a dark blue sweater over his white shirt and khaki pants. He had acquired skills in knife handling and could easily take down someone twice his size by aiming for their joints and where they were weakest at. But that all changed when he met Lizzy. Lizzy was a young woman in her late 20s with golden wavy hair. S...

Read story

“The Lamplighter” by Ann Martin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #166

The Lamplighter Carol Ann Martin “Well, that was very nice, I must say.” Ethel Hardy pulled the pins out of her best velour hat and laid it gently as a baby on the parlour table. “I think they did Dad proud.” “Bloody think so,” grunted Arthur. “How many years has he given ‘em? Sixty, is it?” “Well, he seems happy anyway,” Ethel smiled fondly at the old man who shuffled into the room behind them. It was only the second time that any of them had seen Albie in his suit, the first time being at his wife’s funeral twenty yea...

Read story

“All the little things” by Lily Bourke

Submitted to Contest #166

Sensitive content: themes of deathJohn checked his watch. 5:04pm. 182 days, 60 minutes to go. He wondered when he would stop counting the minutes. He wandered when there wouldn’t be any more minutes to count. The Goodbye and Good Luck banner hung lopsided above a table laden with cupcakes and pastries. He picked at the apple turnover on his plate. It tasted like cardboard. He hoped his sense of taste would return. “Urgh, trust it to rain when I forgot my brolly!” Louise smoothed her wet hair from her face, her glasses spotted with rain...

Read story

“Mimi's Clothing Dilemma” by Charlie Murphy

Submitted to Contest #166

“I quit!” Mimi said and ripped her pants off. Cool air rushed through her thighs. “Much better!” She patted her pink panties. She walked to the mirror and looked. She smiled, admiring herself. She wore a green blouse. She brushed her long, black hair, then put her yellow earrings in.I’m ready to go to Lori’s.Mimi left her room and walked to the front door. Here goes nothing. She opened the door and stepped out of her house. The only sound Mimi heard was birds chirping. She walked into the driveway. Excitement rushed through her body. Sh...

Read story

“Attorney Alfred Dunchen” by Lunny Muffin

Submitted to Contest #166

Ring! Ring! Ring!The phone cried with a resonating intense that actively and intently showered the room. There was a silent pause before each new ring that sat and lodged itself only to amplify the next ring. A quiet soft gap in between like it was perfectly spaced to be not too short and not too long. It was made such that every new ring become more intense. It existed for the sole purpose to be interrupted by the ring. Alfred raised his short stocky hand, looking at the phone only to notice his ring finger had a callous that irritated...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

180

Contest entries

73

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 07, 2022 EST

Won by Rebecca Miles 🏆

Title: Letting go

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 ⭢