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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).

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

“A Big Imagination and Far Too Much Free Time” by Blair Dilmore

Submitted to Contest #167

Years ago, when I first started this job I was on night shift. I live down the road from my parents who retired the same month I got this job. One day I was sleeping and I woke up with severe abdominal pain. It was right under my breasts and it was intense and it seemed to move. In my mind I could see a round shaped, organ colored blob that was in between two fists and they were squeezing the heck out of it. It eventually went away and I went back to sleep. I told my mother about it and she said nothing because she thinks I am a hypochondria...

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“Wide Awake” by Ava Bonsall

Submitted to Contest #167

“You’re wide awake.” I stood in front of a woman clad in clouds and white silk. Her pale feet hovered just above the grass, blowing the earth slightly away by an invisible force. Her face was kind and forgiving as she looked at me with interest. It was as if I had done something to upset her, and she was a guardian angel who came to fix my problems. “I know,” I said in response with a deadpan look. It wasn’t as if she impressed me. In my line of work, it was commonplace to see creatures like her. Just another weird day as usual. Her...

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“The Man from Austin” by Nicholas Coma

Submitted to Contest #167

////Drugs & Language You need to think. Where is the man you met in Austin?The club bass was blaring. Drum beats hit the concrete walls of the tunnel as I stumbled through the cinderblock hallway.Leaning onto the walls as I went. Grabbing at anything that could give me support. My fingers scraped against the coarse edges.My hands were raw and in pain, I looked down and let the throbbing go from my fingertips to my palms. Slowly the skin of my hands drooped and fell between my bones as it melted like a Dali painting. The skin spread like ...

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“And Your Meet Cute Is...” by Kristin Johnson

Submitted to Contest #167

Ms. Loren studies the questionnaire. “Where would you like your meet cute to happen?” “Oh, definitely someplace unusual.” Ms. Loren glances at a menu of options. “Accidental crashing into each other at the coffee shop is our most popular option.” Emmy shakes her head. “Then everyone will be bumping into each other in my favorite coffee shop. Think of the craziness. Hard to get to the counter and order a latte.” “Well, no, because everyone will choose their favorite coffee shop.” “True. Is that really the most popular option...

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“Turing Test” by Brie S.

Submitted to Contest #167

The velvet armchair opposite me cries out in protest when the strangely clad, unfairly symmetrical man finally collapses into it.His too small button up shirt rides up a little on his stomach, exposing tan, bruised skin and stitches, which my gaze can’t help but linger on. After a moment of stillness, he shifts to fold his one knee over the other, leaning back into the plush red fabric as if he’s been here a million times before.The smoke from his alabaster cigarette has already spread to become part of the air, blanketing my expensive Europ...

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“Tricks of the Mind” by Caroline Conner

Submitted to Contest #167

*This story contains references to mental health, substance abuse, and suicide. * It was nearly midnight when Crystal stepped out of work that night, exhausted both physically and mentally. She had not been serving at the steakhouse for long now, but the hatred for the position had seeped in before the interview had even begun. Falling from the top of one’s dreams is never an easy thing to endure she supposed. Pickings were slim, though, and the bills did not stop rolling in just because her life was not going the way she had planned. For ...

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“Retrograde” by Lucy Bergholtz

Submitted to Contest #167

“You’re not real.” I stared daggers into its gaping black eyes. It stared back, emptily. This thing couldn’t stare daggers if it tried. There’s nothing inside it. “Aren’t I?” I felt cold inside. I couldn’t say anything more, I was simply too afraid to blink. Too afraid to breathe…but I did. I was panting. As cold as I felt inside of my body, my mind, my lungs, I was sweating on the outside. I was terrified. The next thing I could comprehend was waking up. I know I wasn’t dreaming. My pillow was drenched in sweat, how could a dream ha...

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“Expectation” by Andrew Andrews

Submitted to Contest #167

Thursday, September 15thGive up any expectation of today. Of tomorrow. Or the day after.I gave up my expectation of tomorrow to empower my intentions for today.Little did I know, my expectations for today would also go quite wrong.But that’s okay.I hope she’s somewhere right now, experiencing some super cool worthwhile experience valuable enough to be absent from work today. In the bigger picture, the unexpected sometimes happens for good reasons. And bad moments hopefully come and go.Life is poetry, and God a harsh editor. Clutchi...

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“Something is Coming” by Sarah Rich

Submitted to Contest #167

He was running as fast as his legs could take him. His arms ached from their sway, and his calves throbbed from exhaustion, but he couldn’t stop. There were too many lives to be saved, he swore. Something is coming. Yet, despite his will, he stumbled into the overgrowth under himself and instantly tasted the earthy musk of soil between his teeth. The thicker patches always made it difficult to run smoothly, and he hadn’t the time to tread carefully. They needed to know. Something is coming. Quell dug his nails deep into the loosened...

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“Now and then” by James Woods

Submitted to Contest #167

Now and then We’re sitting in the upstairs room at Camden Palace. The music up here’s ambient, low pulsing techno. Dim lights match the vibe. Our crowd’s managed to bag a couple of sofas wedged in a corner. Folk sprawl, taking a breather from the funky-frantic melee downstairs. I’m next to Millie, her head’s on my shoulder and the coconut of her shampoo cuts through the room's hum of sweat, cigarettes and spilled beer. ‘Where’ve you been?’ she asks. ...

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“One, two, three” by Elouise Parker

Submitted to Contest #167

She’s late. You were supposed to meet for lunch at 1 o’clock but it’s ten minutes past and she still isn’t here. You check your phone again – no messages from her, no missed calls. You were able to rationalise her being five minutes late - maybe the traffic was bad. Maybe she got caught up chatting to a neighbour, or she couldn’t get the dog in from the garden. After ten minutes though, you know something awful has happened. Her car crashed on the way here. She fell down the stairs. She had a heart attack. She had a stroke. Y...

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“When the Hollow Man Visits” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #167

I get kind of shaky when the hollow man visits. Mama told me he is one of those ghostly beings that haunts the Appalachians around where we live. When you live in these parts, you hear stories about entities that can test your timbre and make you quake in your boots, if you choose to wear such things. When I was just ten years old, my mama took me to Charlotte to have Dr. Weston checked me over since she claimed I wasn’t quite right in the head. As it turned out, he concluded that I, Marlin Pakachance, was living ins...

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“Acorns” by Brett B

Submitted to Contest #167

Kate Spencer felt odd behind the steering wheel of a stranger’s car. With everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, this was the culmination of her transformation––she was now as much a stranger to herself as she was to this car.The feeling lasted for only a moment as the tsunami of her real troubles rose back up to their towering heights, before crashing down and obliterating her capacity to hold any other thought. The black Acura TL wasn’t stolen; but if she were to get pulled over and the cop did even a little digging, g...

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“Shut Up, Please” by Sera Lun

Submitted to Contest #167

Doctor Simone's catchphrase, at least as far as Marie could tell, was 'why would anyone want to be anything other than themselves?', which was hilarious, since Marie could think of plenty of reasons. Striding into the clinic for her weekly appointment, she had settled on “Doc, if I was someone else, maybe I'd have someone in my life who cared.” For starters, Marie knew that the receptionist didn't like her. Any bored middle-aged woman who just shoved a clipboard at her and instructed her to “please fill out this form and wait until your nam...

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“Breakfast” by Jim Ahearn

Submitted to Contest #167

The grumbling of my stomach woke me up. I should have had something to eat before going to bed, but I was trying to lose weight. I hadn’t eaten early enough and didn’t want to eat late, and now I was paying the price. A cramp and rumble sounded, and I thought my stomach was paying close attention to what I was thinking. I kicked off the sheets and stumbled to the bathroom. What could I eat for breakfast? I was mentally running down the list of things in the cabinet as I brushed my teeth. Did I want cold or hot. Or maybe I wanted a pop tart...

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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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