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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#167: Mind Yourself

Do you sometimes feel like you spend a lot of your time in a fictional reality that has little to do with the real world? From cooking up imaginary scenarios about what we could, should, or would have said,’ to overthinking the smallest of incidents that happened years ago, our minds can make us feel incredibly powerful one minute, and equally helpless the next. These tricks our minds play can change our perceptions of both ourselves and the people around us.

This week’s prompts are inspired by the creativity of the mind — and the worlds we construct in our own heads (with both positive and negative consequences).

🥇 Winner

“Adelaide's Cemetery ” by Lucy Joyce

🏆 Winner of Contest #167

Death was accompanied by the patter of nurses’ rubber-soled shoes marching briskly along linoleum floors. The smell of antiseptic solution. A gurney wheel, in need of oil, squeaking rhythmically as another patient was rushed past. Starchy white sheets, and the sharp and angular shapes of nurses headdresses. My body revolted against the crisp order in violent expulsions of browns, greens, and yellows against the bleached hospital whites. Veins stood out on my small, pale neck and spittle flew from my mouth as I screamed. The cool bed ...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Canceling The Thumbs Up Emoji” by AnneMarie Miles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

I’d been fighting with my delete button for forty-five minutes, until I finally found the right arrangement of words.There! I think to myself. I’ve complimented his contribution; made my own contribution without making a slight towards his, and I’ve included my thoughts about how to progress for next quarter. All in less than three sentences! I mentally pat myself on the back for successfully compiling what I feel is personally an even better response to my boss than my last. I hit the send button.Closing my messages app, I eagerly open my P...

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“Meet Cute” by Beth Elliott

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

Beep beep beep. The alarm clock on your bedside table goes off, and your hand shoots out from beneath your mountain of comforters and pillows to smack it into silence. You shoot up in bed, already smiling, and the day begins. Katy Perry’s “Eye of the Tiger” plays as you roll your morning montage. The steps are always the same: hot shower (don’t forget to shampoo your hair into a tall spike and laugh in that carefree way you do), brush teeth and write your morning affirmations in the steam on the mirror (follow it with a kiss that leaves a ...

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“Second Opinion” by Shawn Forno

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

Brett’s carbon fiber ice ax slams into the translucent frozen waves of the icefall. Flecks and shards of brittle blue ice tinkle against his polarized goggles and the frozen rivulets of breath that coat his impressive beard. He kicks spiked crampon-covered boots into the uneven ice, anchoring him to the frozen waterfall hundreds of feet above the valley floor. In the spring, this icy cliff will be a deafening waterfall. But for now, the landscape is silent except for Brett’s ragged breathing as he climbs. Brett lifts his left foot and ...

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“I Won't Be Long” by Haide McRay

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

I Won’t Be Long Yolan’s weathered hands are clasped in front of his head, which rests on Geta’s bed. A light blanket covers Geta, her hands open and motionless at her sides. Yolan does not pray. He simply rests. The aches in his legs and back never cease. He raises his head and looks across Geta’s bed to the window, where bare black branches of an ornamental tree shiver in the early March afternoon. A red bird with a black mask and yellow beak sits on a branch. “He has a sweetheart, Geta. I have seen her on that same branch. Her feathers ...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with a daydream sequence, before snapping back to reality.

High School – 63 stories

Write a story about someone who overthinks every single thing, blowing the tiniest incidents out of proportion.

High School – 16 stories

Set your story inside a character’s mind, literally.

Fantasy – 58 stories

Write a story about someone who thinks their life is a romcom and they’re the protagonist.

High School – 15 stories

Write a story about a character who can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.

Horror – 80 stories

Stories

“Adelaide's Cemetery ” by Lucy Joyce

🏆 Winner of Contest #167

Death was accompanied by the patter of nurses’ rubber-soled shoes marching briskly along linoleum floors. The smell of antiseptic solution. A gurney wheel, in need of oil, squeaking rhythmically as another patient was rushed past. Starchy white sheets, and the sharp and angular shapes of nurses headdresses. My body revolted against the crisp order in violent expulsions of browns, greens, and yellows against the bleached hospital whites. Veins stood out on my small, pale neck and spittle flew from my mouth as I screamed. The cool bed ...

Read story

“Canceling The Thumbs Up Emoji” by AnneMarie Miles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

I’d been fighting with my delete button for forty-five minutes, until I finally found the right arrangement of words.There! I think to myself. I’ve complimented his contribution; made my own contribution without making a slight towards his, and I’ve included my thoughts about how to progress for next quarter. All in less than three sentences! I mentally pat myself on the back for successfully compiling what I feel is personally an even better response to my boss than my last. I hit the send button.Closing my messages app, I eagerly open my P...

Read story

“The One” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #167

“Howdy, ma’am," he said, sitting down on the barstool next to her. “My name is Charlie and before the night is over I’ll have your attention, your name, and your phone number.” “Excuse me, what?”“I said, Howdy…” “I heard you the first time Cowboy,” she replied crisply, taking a sip of what looked like whiskey. “I come here every Friday night, and I have for more than two years. You aren’t the first to try and fail. I always arrive by myself and always go home alone.”“Well, first of all, I don’t plan on taking you home. Secondly, yo...

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“Man with Hat” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #167

Everything went downhill after I murdered Vic Tornado, and then it all got worse when he came back to life.I’m reminded of it every time I see that dunce’s name, like right now, fluttering on a banner across the street. They’re opening the Hilldale Mall today, with an old-fashioned ribbon cutting ceremony. “With Special Guest: Vic Tornado!” the banner reads. I bet the audience didn’t know that. I bet they came here expecting to see a spectacle, and they got hoodwinked at the last moment, saddled with the likes of Vic. I can’t help but sigh. ...

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“Dandelion Surrender” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #167

Once when I was a child, I spent an entire afternoon in the kitchen doing nothing, but feeling warm. I watched people come and go out the back door. Every time they would open it, a cool gust of wind would blow through, and I’d feel this relief. This subterranean relief. I think that might have been the first time in my entire life I’d felt that sensation. That something was wrong and then something was right. I didn’t even know the word for it. I’d open my mouth to try and name it, and the door would close again. Back to the heat. Back to t...

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“Meet Cute” by Beth Elliott

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

Beep beep beep. The alarm clock on your bedside table goes off, and your hand shoots out from beneath your mountain of comforters and pillows to smack it into silence. You shoot up in bed, already smiling, and the day begins. Katy Perry’s “Eye of the Tiger” plays as you roll your morning montage. The steps are always the same: hot shower (don’t forget to shampoo your hair into a tall spike and laugh in that carefree way you do), brush teeth and write your morning affirmations in the steam on the mirror (follow it with a kiss that leaves a ...

Read story

“Racing Conditions” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #167

Day 2A rabbit runs along a trail watched from above. I am the rabbit. A rabbit who runs faster and faster from a hawk I can't see but can feel closing in on me. I search for shelter but cannot find a hiding place...The vibration of the mobile phone on my right shoulder snaps me out of the daydream. I pull it out of its pocket in my running vest, and answer while jogging along the trail etched into the high western slope of Mt Fuji.“Hi Mom. Sorry. I’m running right now.” “We,” my parents always speak using the plural pronoun, “just wante...

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“The Winning Story” by Kate Winchester

Submitted to Contest #167

Around and around and around, Kate spun in her office chair. A child at heart but adult in body, she stopped spinning as she had succumbed to dizziness. I should check my second email, she convinced herself. I never check that one enough. Her second email was the same as her first, except this one sported a number two. Her creativity couldn’t be wasted on trivial matters. It’ll only take a minute, and then I’ll get back to work. She pulled up the browser and typed in her login information. This email ...

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“Written on Rob's Mind” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #167

TW: Death, war. “How did Robert get caught. He’s always so careful.” Agent Paul Summers looked at his colleague and friend of twelve years, laying on a slab. “They got lucky, or they were tipped off. Doesn’t matter how they got him if they didn’t get the information,” said Agent Lana Scully. “They put a whacking great hole in it,” Paul said. He wiped a tear on his shirt sleeve as he gestured to the...

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“Second Opinion” by Shawn Forno

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

Brett’s carbon fiber ice ax slams into the translucent frozen waves of the icefall. Flecks and shards of brittle blue ice tinkle against his polarized goggles and the frozen rivulets of breath that coat his impressive beard. He kicks spiked crampon-covered boots into the uneven ice, anchoring him to the frozen waterfall hundreds of feet above the valley floor. In the spring, this icy cliff will be a deafening waterfall. But for now, the landscape is silent except for Brett’s ragged breathing as he climbs. Brett lifts his left foot and ...

Read story

“Daydreaming of Love” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #167

My cheeks flush. My heart hammers in my chest as she sits down on my lap. Every word that might come up to comment gets stuck in my dry throat. Her soft fingers dig into my sandy hair. She asks how I wash it that it smells so sweet and feels so soft. I stutter through telling her about the shampoo I make myself with citrus fruits. She smells of mint and honey from the tea cart. Melanie is the goddess of my wildest dreams. How is this happening? Pink-brown lips curve in a...

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“I Won't Be Long” by Haide McRay

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #167

I Won’t Be Long Yolan’s weathered hands are clasped in front of his head, which rests on Geta’s bed. A light blanket covers Geta, her hands open and motionless at her sides. Yolan does not pray. He simply rests. The aches in his legs and back never cease. He raises his head and looks across Geta’s bed to the window, where bare black branches of an ornamental tree shiver in the early March afternoon. A red bird with a black mask and yellow beak sits on a branch. “He has a sweetheart, Geta. I have seen her on that same branch. Her feathers ...

Read story

“The Einstein Proof” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #167

My wife made it so easy to plan her murder. She drank heavily, she occasionally used a cane to walk, and our live-in housekeeper had a boyfriend. That was all I needed to commit the perfect capital crime. Other factors played into it, factors that would deflect suspicion from me. Whoever investigated the “accident” would see it as a true accident. I had science on my side. I am very good with science. Very, very good. Seven years of marriage served to shatter our relationship rather than strengthen it. We slipped slowly, irrevocably, into co...

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“Walmart” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #167

Dave Maddison pulled his coat collar up to warm his neck as he walked down rain-sodden Oxford Street in London’s West End. It was Halloween and under his raincoat, he was dressed as Superman on his way to a Singles fancy dress party. His satin cape fluttered in the early evening breeze, draped outside his coat to prevent it from creasing and looking cheap, as he ignored the snickering of passers-by - unaware of the effect the rain had on his exposed cape. What had started as a light flapping of the blue cape, had transformed into the drag of...

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“About Time” by Brynn Hadler

Submitted to Contest #167

For an instant, she saw him again. Strong, muscular, but with slender copper arms gleaming from his T-shirt. He smiled at her, and she felt her heart race. “Martha!” She jumped and turned away from the window towards the voice. “You’re going to miss the party, love! What? Aren’t you dressed? Come on, I’ll help you choose something sexy.” Martha laughed. “How about we just try for decent?”, she replied. She glanced back at the window. Outside a single large willow tree swayed in the breeze on its hilly bed of grass. There was nothing else t...

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$250

Prize money

232

Contest entries

96

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 14, 2022 EST

Won by Lucy Joyce 🏆

Title: Adelaide's Cemetery

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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