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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#174: Evolution

On November 25th, 1859, Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking book, On the Origin of Species. The idea of evolution was controversial; to claim that the world wasn’t unchanging and had not always been the same chafed against human ideals of perfection. But as we well know, nothing in life is truly static.

In the spirit of this anniversary, this week we want to explore evolution and new discoveries; because sometimes change can be terrifying, but it can also be freeing.

🥇 Winner

“Playing God” by Sam Porter

🏆 Winner of Contest #174

It was approaching 2am when Lexi made the discovery that would fracture the world. She skulled the rest of her black coffee and sat the paper cup down on the smooth, white table. She was at the university working on her PhD thesis. The research involved creating controlled, miniature black holes in a Vacuity Machine and then testing its potential for hyper-space travel. It was mostly hypothetical research.Lexi ran the formulas through the Vacuity Machine over and over again. She was analysing the results of her most recent trial, b...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Defect” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Android Jim dashed out of his lab and made his way to the water cooler, where all fifty-seven of the other employees were congregating. They buzzed with laughter, and everyone wore party hats, smoked cigars, and drank champagne. Everyone but Android Jim.“Android Jim!” shouted CEO Yamagawa. The others cheered, and the accounting department blew noisemakers.“Android Jim!” shouted VP Pharmaceuticals McCain. “Your cure for hypercancer works flawlessly! It saved millions of lives!” Again everyone cheered. “More importantly, it’s made all of us mi...

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“Canky Tops” by Edward Latham

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Anyone who’s walked down the alleyway off Fifth Avenue will remember it. And they’ll tell you to take any other road.For a start the street is suffocatingly narrow. The old, grey buildings look like they are trying to either squeeze the life out of you, or fall on top of you. Then, there’s the cobblestone path that has so many cracks, trips and loose bricks, it surely wants to break your ankle. But worst of all is the smell. First, you’re assaulted by the sharp, pungent odour of nail polish remover, which might not be too bad if it wasn’t fo...

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“Exact Change Only” by Chris Campbell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

“The hour of the proletariat is upon us brothers and sisters,” announced the silver-haired speaker standing on his box platform. “Never before has the working man had so much weight behind his advance toward equality…”“Wot’d he say?”“He’s explaining Marxist philosophy, Grandad. Saying how the bourgeoisie class has had their day in the sun.”“This is fucking England, Tommo. Nothin but bloody rain all the time. If his bourgeoisie have had their day in the sun, it was probably on a business trip to fuckin’ Corfu.”Contradictory to Reggie Harris’ ...

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“Diary of a Scientist” by Jack Bell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Saturday, May 26 Getting fired may well be the making of me. Can science, true science, flourish in a large institution? The Melville Neurological Institute talked a good game, always promising me freedom of scientific research, but, when it came to the crunch, they let the bean-counters shut me down. I don’t think I was unreasonable. I recognize the need for institutional bureaucracy—I enjoy a regular supply of clean pipettes as much as the next research scientist—but no bean-counter EVER comes into MY laboratory and tells me what to do...

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“Everyone has a small business nowadays ” by Sophie Maree

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

(contains swearing)A piece of advice: Keep your passion as a hobby. //What time?….. opens 9:00am…“Babe.”emails…coupon…“Babe.”A nudge pulls me up out of my dream.“You were talking again.” Quick check of phone. Painfully bright screen reads 5:42am“Sorry. I’ll get up.”“It’s too early, Jess.”I get up anyway. More time to work. It’s raining outside. I love when it rains because it makes me feel less guilty about staying home all day. Even though I’m technically at work. Check outside front door. No package. The boiling ke...

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This week's prompts

Write a story where someone says, “Everything is changing.”

Dramatic – 59 stories

Write about two old friends meeting for the first time in years.

Adults – 60 stories

Write a story about someone coming to terms with how different they are from their younger self.

Angst – 49 stories

Write about someone whose desire to constantly improve something borders on obsessive.

Dramatic – 25 stories

Write a story about a brilliant scientist making a startling discovery.

Science Fiction – 45 stories

Stories

“Playing God” by Sam Porter

🏆 Winner of Contest #174

It was approaching 2am when Lexi made the discovery that would fracture the world. She skulled the rest of her black coffee and sat the paper cup down on the smooth, white table. She was at the university working on her PhD thesis. The research involved creating controlled, miniature black holes in a Vacuity Machine and then testing its potential for hyper-space travel. It was mostly hypothetical research.Lexi ran the formulas through the Vacuity Machine over and over again. She was analysing the results of her most recent trial, b...

Read story

“The Defect” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Android Jim dashed out of his lab and made his way to the water cooler, where all fifty-seven of the other employees were congregating. They buzzed with laughter, and everyone wore party hats, smoked cigars, and drank champagne. Everyone but Android Jim.“Android Jim!” shouted CEO Yamagawa. The others cheered, and the accounting department blew noisemakers.“Android Jim!” shouted VP Pharmaceuticals McCain. “Your cure for hypercancer works flawlessly! It saved millions of lives!” Again everyone cheered. “More importantly, it’s made all of us mi...

Read story

“Canky Tops” by Edward Latham

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Anyone who’s walked down the alleyway off Fifth Avenue will remember it. And they’ll tell you to take any other road.For a start the street is suffocatingly narrow. The old, grey buildings look like they are trying to either squeeze the life out of you, or fall on top of you. Then, there’s the cobblestone path that has so many cracks, trips and loose bricks, it surely wants to break your ankle. But worst of all is the smell. First, you’re assaulted by the sharp, pungent odour of nail polish remover, which might not be too bad if it wasn’t fo...

Read story

“Exact Change Only” by Chris Campbell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

“The hour of the proletariat is upon us brothers and sisters,” announced the silver-haired speaker standing on his box platform. “Never before has the working man had so much weight behind his advance toward equality…”“Wot’d he say?”“He’s explaining Marxist philosophy, Grandad. Saying how the bourgeoisie class has had their day in the sun.”“This is fucking England, Tommo. Nothin but bloody rain all the time. If his bourgeoisie have had their day in the sun, it was probably on a business trip to fuckin’ Corfu.”Contradictory to Reggie Harris’ ...

Read story

“Like When We Were Teenagers” by AnneMarie Miles

Submitted to Contest #174

TW: swearing, drug use, sex, silly nonsense. Filling both of their glasses with a heavy pour of their favorite red wine, Charles looked up at his wife and smiled. “Well, dear, I think we should get a divorce.”The wine would have gone flying directly into his face if not for Martha’s quick reflexes corking her mouth with the unused cloth napkin that had sat quaintly in her lap. “What?!”Chuckling nonchalantly and reaching out to hold her hand – Martha was too in shock to pull away – Charles said, “Oh, come on, Martha, don’t look at me like tha...

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“The Bell, the Star and the Christmas Angel” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #174

There’s no sign of snow, not even the scent that some might be on the way. Sitting in my bedroom’s window seat, I look down at all the last-minute shoppers, hurrying back home with their final gifts and forgotten food items. It’s so mild, an unseasonal 15 degrees, that some haven’t even bothered to sling on a coat, just dashed out to pick up the cranberry sauce in joggers and a t-shirt. This year I wasn’t hoping for snow anyway; I wasn’t expecting Christmas full stop. For all I care, it can stay in the store or up in the loft, spid...

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“LGBTQD” by Mister X

Submitted to Contest #174

For the most part, nothing terribly exciting ever happened in the Jackson household. Larry Jackson was an electrical engineer by trade, but as he worked in a supervisory position, he never really got his hands dirty. Eileen, his stunningly beautiful wife, was a contented homemaker. She was a member of the sewing club, the scrapbooking club, and the club club. The club club was a club that found new clubs for its members to join. Eileen was the vice president and treasurer of that one. The three Jackson ...

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“Stupid Prizes” by Antonio Jimenez

Submitted to Contest #174

I hate car chases, thought the balaclava-clad man sitting behind the wheel of a rented BMW as he careened through the streets of Istanbul. The ancient city, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, passed by in a blur. Enzo Ricci white-knuckled the steering wheel as he darted between cars, vans, and trucks, occasionally swerving into oncoming traffic to keep pace with his target: a black Mercedes just a few cars ahead. He did not care what he had to do; the man driving that Mercedes would be dead before the sun had set. I...

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“Jelly Stick” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #174

“I can’t move my right arm anymore,” she said, moving her right arm, “Do you see what I mean? It won’t move. Not an inch.” Back when they were living together, Marcy would have corrected her. In their twenties, every moment was an opportunity for explosion. Their friendship was held together by nitro and lit matches. They could fight about anything--a quality most of their rotating boyfriends loved to mention as though it were some great insight. That’s why the boys never lasted and the friendship did. Until it didn’t. “Brett doesn’t w...

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“Motor Mouth” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #174

A 2032 new model Hesla sat at the end of the driveway, fully charged. The owner of this car, 42-year-old Jake Baker, walked out of the front door of his suburban home and hurried toward his beloved new automobile. As he approached, the Hesla opened its door automatically, Jakes climbed in, and the engine switched on automatically.Jake put his hands on the steering wheel and looked in front of the car. A neighbor he recognized, mostly from the blue-eyed border collie he walked each morning, was standing at the end of the driveway, holding ont...

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“A Slow Dance with Entropy” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #174

Dolores looked dispassionately at the man she was about to kill. It would not be a pretty kill, but none of them were. This one would be particularly gruesome, and she would quietly love every second of it. Randall McTavish, the man who had been dubbed ‘The Screwdriver Killer’ by the more sensational printed media rags, was lying on Dolores’ kitchen floor. He wasn’t restrained but he couldn’t move. He didn’t know why. The chill he felt in his soul and in his bones deepened, washing over him with irresistible force. For the first time in his ...

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“Diary of a Scientist” by Jack Bell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #174

Saturday, May 26 Getting fired may well be the making of me. Can science, true science, flourish in a large institution? The Melville Neurological Institute talked a good game, always promising me freedom of scientific research, but, when it came to the crunch, they let the bean-counters shut me down. I don’t think I was unreasonable. I recognize the need for institutional bureaucracy—I enjoy a regular supply of clean pipettes as much as the next research scientist—but no bean-counter EVER comes into MY laboratory and tells me what to do...

Read story

“Good and Wild and Wonderful” by Aeris Walker

Submitted to Contest #174

This endless void has remained long enough. It is time to begin—time for the light. Let there be light.A watery orb is suspended in the dimness—shapeless, lifeless, so still, and dark—a murky drop in the void of the universe. Oh, the things I can do with this, what a wonder it will be, this liquid sphere of potentiality. It hovers, quiet, waiting, yearning for its beginning. Now, I will begin. I shall push the waters down, pour them away from the great beyond, and fill the gap with atmosphere—air—nitrogen, oxygen, the perfect compo...

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“The Law of Rare Events” by Terry Wayne Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #174

Warning: sexual fetish content. A darkness passes over the quiescent surveillance of drones mining precious metals beneath the ocean floor. What else could be hiding down here? Drones are the only things capable of withstanding the pressure and heat this deep in earth’s crust. The drones and their Spider Captain, of course. Upon first glance, Chester Jones thinks nothing of it, and goes back to thumbing through the photos stored on his phone: Annika… Nata… Anita… Cherise… Only five more days until the transport arrives and he can get o...

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“Fish haven't any Feelings” by Philipe Nicolini

Submitted to Contest #174

My wife walks down the hall and asks me to put my hand in her pocket.I comply.She's asking what the day has given -- more specifically "If [I] know what [I] have been given?" For all the fresh air, unlimited clothes drying on the line, and the beauty of a sand yard.Ummm... I try to tell her that I am grateful. "I even collected the spiders (with a vacuum using your lingerie,) See?"She wants to see the jar where I put the spiders. It's a Vlassic jar that once housed salt, garlic, "natural spices" and pickles. "That's good. That's very fine wo...

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$250

Prize money

238

Contest entries

96

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 02, 2022 EST

Won by Sam Porter 🏆

Title: Playing God

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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