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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

“Soon” by Emma Ziche

Submitted to Contest #167

“Chocolate chip or blueberry?” Your breath catches for a second. The person behind you in the queue has taken their headphones out, so they can definitely hear you. The cashier has already opened the bakery display, hand hovering between the two rows of muffins. There are people waiting behind you, there is an easy decision to be made, there is your heart beating out of your chest. You think about it the entire day, about who might have overheard, the ticking away of seconds, the thoughts scrambling to make it to the forefront of your b...

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“The biological, electrically chemically charged organism known as human.” by P. T. Golden

Submitted to Contest #167

Have you ever driven across the country with someone and felt you had to watch their every move? How many times have you thought, "put your blinker on," "turn off your high beams," "slow down," or "speed up"? Maybe you never drove across this big beautiful country that sparks your imagination, sense of adventure, and wanderlust. Even on shorter trips, perhaps you had these thoughts again and again without the sparkling sparkiness of a mind engaged in enthralling wonderment. Have you ever noticed how frequently, on the second passing of tha...

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“Voices In My Mind: Baseball Dream” by Keith Maynard

Submitted to Contest #167

Once again, unannounced, the Voices in My Mind have engaged; robbing me of required sleep. They refused to release me, so there I was on the couch with MSNBC buzzing in the background and Daisy curled-up fast asleep at my feet, apparently without a care in the world. There is never any rhyme or reason as to the why or what seeks my attention. Meanwhile, the same scenario repeating itself and with each mental playback becoming more vivid and irritating; refusing to permit me the freedom to return to the sleep I so desperately desired. In si...

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“The Girl of Your Dreams” by M.K. Levant

Submitted to Contest #167

“Everything you can imagine is real. It’s a quote from Pablo Picasso,” you said as the espresso machine made its steamy milk-foaming sound under my expert guidance.“I really like that quote. Are you an artist?” I answered, smiling at you.“I’m a writer, or at least I try to be,” you said.“Well, I’m sure you’ll be successful,” I said as I handed you your cappuccino over the cafe counter.“Thanks, and nice to meet you…” you said, pausing to look at my name tag, “Ashlynn. I’m John.”“It’s very nice to meet you too, John,” I answered.Then we said g...

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“ANTICIPATION” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #167

Some bad language.* * *I can't believe the call came, it finally came. I don't know what to do first. I have an hour and no way I can sit still. I'm glad Bax can take an Uber and meet me at the airport but I wish we could drive in together. It's not just my dream, it's our dream. And we waited so freaking long for this day! Hah, and just the fact we're still together after that wild roller coaster? I've got to be the luckiest guy in the world.Well, let's go down the checklist, see if we're all set for the new arrival. Good ol' Bax, he always...

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“Fern's Salutation” by Shiloh Gastello

Submitted to Contest #167

Fern woke up from a truly delicious nap with dandelion fluff in her hair. She yawned as she wiped sleep-infused blurriness from her eyes. Though still a bit groggy, a smile slowly emerged, and found its way to her face as she looked around her rustic cabin. As she wakened more fully, she noted the familiar smell of the forest wandering in from her window. The smell of late summer filled her senses. She was indeed, happy. Memories of this year, now half passed, filled her heart. As often occurred, every lesson of joy that she learned was ting...

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“Twenty Minute Queendom” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #167

Twenty Minute Queendom Every year for our birthday, four girlfriends with the same birth date would make plans for the Saturday after or before the 5th. We met in the first grade and the same day of our birthday was often the last day of school for the year and the class end-of-the-year party. Well, that became a yearly thing for us. Some years we just went to lunch for an hour at a central restaurant between our jobs. Since I became an adult, things have moved at a too-busy pace to daydream or even time for a wish. Two years, unfortunately,...

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“Split Tim” by Adam Hill

Submitted to Contest #167

Tim waited alone in the gray observation room. A basket of objects sat on the table in front of him. "Good morning, Tim," the doctor said, closing the door behind him. "I heard the procedure went well." "That's what they told me." "Good!" The doctor smiled. "Those seizures should be under control." He sat down, picked a few items out of the basket and placed them in his lap, out of Tim's view. "Now, as we've discussed, there may be some peculiar new mental functioning," the doctor explained. "We're going to test that this&n...

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“The Psycho in my head” by Sandra Morrical

Submitted to Contest #167

My name is Larry and the guys I work with are making my life a living hell. My home is my sanctuary, and the only place I can be calm and deal with my psychopath. I sit in my room to let my day pass and my blood pressure comes down. I see flashes of the psychopath I have locked in the box in my mind. I see what he wants to do. I see him getting out and harming anyone and everyone that has done me wrong. He sits in his box and sees my bosses and my coworkers that bully me every day. He sees what it does to me day in and day out. And when I...

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“The fairytale book” by Sally Atl

Submitted to Contest #167

The pages from the book were pressing hard on me from above and made it difficult to breathe. I did not know how much time had passed. Perhaps a week since Dan picked the book up to read. Or a month. Or a whole year. When no one reads the story you are in for a long time, the sense of time disappears. Sometimes slow steps came from the room. Dan’s grandmother would enter the room to dust off the shelves or to watch the TV. She’d sit there quietly with the lowest volume set on the TV so that she could hear the rest of the family come home. Th...

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“The process.” by Jack Sink

Submitted to Contest #167

Maybe I could do a superhero story? I think as the vision of tall winding towers looms over the bright gray streets of a city block. Cars drive across the streets as a superhero of white and blue flies above the clouds. Impossi-man slowly falls to one of the rooftops. The skies blackened as his villain appeared in a cloud of black smoke. No that's stupid, people would just look down on me for writing dumb superhero power fantasies. How about a horror story? Yeah, I could do that, horror never gets old! The visions of the city swirl away...

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“Fears and Psychosis” by United Fandom

Submitted to Contest #167

Arachnophobia, more commonly known as the fear of spiders. It is said that roughly one in five people suffer from this fear. In some cases it just causes a slight discomfort in people when they see one of these creepy little critters crawling across their floor. In other cases, the fear is so overpowering that the person either goes into a panic attack or shuts down completely. In either case, the person can usually manage their fear, or find ways to prevent spiders from invading their private domains. But what happens when the fear becomes ...

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“Ringworm” by Del Garrett

Submitted to Contest #167

Operation Ringworm—Programmed to Kill By Del Garrett Can an honest man be programmed to kill? Dexter Guidry has something under his skin that is driving him crazy. He calls them worms. They race up and down his arms, and sometimes try to leap out of his body. His doctor can't figure them out. Maybe it’s all a dream. He has strange dreams. In most of them, doctors strap him down, violate his body with harsh chemicals. Always the same doctors, same room, same alteration of his body—his arms, to be precise. In the dream, Dexter no lo...

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“Flight 257” by Douglas Maxson

Submitted to Contest #167

Flight 257 It wasn’t unusual for a dense fog to linger at this airstrip. The location provided the right seasonal atmosphere for such a haze. What was strange it positioned above Lindsay’s flight without moving. Lindsay Monarch, an aspiring author, landed a major book deal with Vanning Publishing in New York City promising a five- figure advance. Her eight years of hard work was a flight away from stardom. The thick fog might cause a delay. As she walked to the plane for boarding, a hoodie covered her sandy-colored hair hiding h...

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“Wet paint and gold lettering” by Jorjah Drysdale

Submitted to Contest #167

Routine never fails to surprise. A peck on my soft cheek lays a wet parting gift as my mother trips out our brightly painted door. The sunshine yellow now starting to peel and twist into wrinkles at its edge, justifying our impulsive stroke of competence of suddenly knowing how to paint weathered hardware. A hand flies into the crack of the closing door as a last wave before escaping the jaws, snapping back into the doorframe. I stand once again in stillness, eyeing the two hands printed on the door face with craft paint signing our existenc...

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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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