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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.

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

“Let it Snow!” by Ali Rose

Submitted to Contest #174

I was never much of a skier, in fact, I had only been once in my life. I did, however, fall in love with being in the mountains during winter. The crisp air, the pristine snow, and the warmth of a fire after a cold trek in nature. I arrived at the small mountain chalet B&B just as the sun was going down behind the mountain peaks. As the driver unloaded my bags, I breathed in the fresh mountain air, grateful to have arrived safely and just in time to see the first sunset of my stay. &...

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“You & I” by Nera James

Submitted to Contest #174

I watch as you bring the mug to your lips. The steaming liquid emits from the top as you bring your lips to an “O”, cooling down the hot liquid before taking that first glorious sip of the velvet latte; with almond milk-just how you like it.You look different, somehow. There’s a sort of serenity surrounding you, a calm air that makes you seem like the most relaxed person in the room.It’s been four years since I’ve seen you last. Four long years. And I still can’t take my eyes off of you while you’re in my vicinity. My stomach skips as you tu...

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“Nighttime from Where I Am” by Iking Lopez

Submitted to Contest #174

His video was against the light, and he looked like an angel.“Let me just draw the curtains.” He got up from his seat.I expected to see his Eraserheads posters on the wall, electric and acoustic guitars strewn on the floor. Instead, I squinted, noticing an eye chart, trying my best to make out most of the letters. Failing, I scanned the rest of the room, finding on a shelf above his bed, a bonsai tree in between two sets of books, a few I recognize as his favorites and a few looking encyclopedic.The room darkened, and I checked to see my own...

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“Good Friendship Never Dies” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #174

The ravages of time affect us all. There have been lots of times when I’ve seen someone from the past and thought how old they look, and then I’ve realised that when I look in the mirror, I look just as bad! Walking through the park I crunch on the crinkled dry leaves and think that my arms look a bit like them. High above me, hanging from a branch are new leaves, soft and supple. I just sigh. When Susan and I first met it was in Primary school. From the minute she smiled at me, warmth radiating from her face, I liked her. “Hello” she said t...

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“Twelve years” by Erin Magee

Submitted to Contest #174

Everytime I receive a new gig, my guy calls me before I talk directly to the client. I had just finished my vacation after dealing with a long case involving a teenage boy and his friends. I really needed the time off, so I went to my cabin for a couple weeks to unwind. After two weeks I was definitely ready to take on a new case. When I got home ,I had three new messages on my answering machine. “First message, Chaz this is bonnie, where have you been i miss… *bleeep* message deleted, ...

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“Pianos, Wenches, and Anvils ” by Ethan Jarmush

Submitted to Contest #174

The saloon was crowded that summer night. Hot too. I sweat all over the keys of that beat up piano while my fingers raced side to side, playing the jiggyest of jigs the town of Old Water had ever heard. Perhaps even the best the world had heard, if they listened to it. Men and women danced till their heart's gave out, literally. Some folks died right there on the saloon floor. It was how God wanted them to go I would like to think. Once I finished, and received my endless applause, I took my last swig of whiskey and began to le...

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“Change Is Not a Curse” by Eris Blight

Submitted to Contest #174

Everyone changes many times within their lifetime. This is a story of a girl who tried to submit to the ways of her younger self even though she had changed. Her name is Diyala Wittebane. Diyala had been friends with a group of people a couple of years older than her for a few years by now. They are the type of teens that sneak out, do drugs, and disobey authority. Ever since Diyala started to hang out with these people, she had started to get peer pressured into doing the same things as them. They had become bad influences on her. Over the...

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“Til Dusk Do Us Part” by Samuel Bowen

Submitted to Contest #174

The elegant and noble gaze of Caul Ebb remained transfixed on the smatter of blood and gore that coated his hands. A corpse lay at his feet drooling bile onto his well polished shoes. The face was unrecognizable and barely attached to the shredded remnants of the body. The grey flesh hung limp and bloodless, fluttering like flags in the wind. Caul watched as liquid trailed down his fingers and dropped like rain watering the corpse beneath him. The night’s wind gifted him the putrid pungency of death in a vile breath of a breeze. At the horri...

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“The Mother's Curse” by Mandi Schrader

Submitted to Contest #174

“I couldn’t believe it, Mom,” Ella said. “She's done the all things you expect at her age—picky eating, backtalk, drawing on the walls with crayons—but this was a whole new level. I walked into Charlotte's room, and her clothes were in rags—all of them. She’d got her hands on a pair of scissors and cut holes in all her jeans. She cut the sleeves off her t-shirts and—why are you laughing?” The breathless laughter through the phone grated on Ella’s nerves. “This isn’t funny. Do you know how much we spend on clothes for her? She outgrows them...

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“Reuniting With Yourself” by D.C. Reed

Submitted to Contest #174

“I can’t believe that you made it. Girl. I mean, I just can’t.”“I know… I know, isn’t it amazing!!!” Is what Claire meant to say with a bounce as her childhood bestie, Gail, smothered her in a hug. Instead, Claire’s arms barely warped around her friend as she rocked with Gail. Awkwardly accepting the hug like she was playing dead in front of a bear. “Well, we’ll have to do something more. You don’t escape. I will be right back.”Gail weaved through the crowd, leaving Claire alone in a sea of doppelgangers a decade older than her graduati...

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“Bixby” by Ruthie Nicklaus

Submitted to Contest #174

Life was so much easier when I was a kid, before I turned nine. Back then, there was no Bixby. Oh, I wanted Bixby. I’d begged for him. “Joey has a dog, can’t we have a pet?” That was me, pretty much every day. “Not a dog, honey,” said Mom, “You have school and your dad and I work. Dogs need a yard, or someone who can take them on a walk. They get lonely when they have no one to play with.” She picked up her purse. I knew what that was like, to have no one to play with. “Pets are a lot of work, you know. Don’t st...

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“Century” by Russ Hussain

Submitted to Contest #174

Victor was no match for the huge machines that hurtled past, sending a shock wave that ripped through his knees, making him stagger. Thick, black smoke gagged him, stinging his eyes. The huge aftershock made the lens in his spectacles crack such had been the vibrations from the giant machines that had now receded into the horizon. He steadied himself, a pebble in the barren landscape, caught in a gloom of black and grey. As if it would still be here in a million years. He was about to wretch again, realisin...

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“A brilliant Scientist” by Aymen Rani

Submitted to Contest #174

The man who regarded as the “father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb” was, Dr. Abdul Qadeer khan a famous Pakistani nuclear scientist and a metallurgical engineer. Dr. A.Q khan was hailed as a national hero for transforming his country in to world’s first Islamic nuclear power. But elsewhere he was remembered as a dangerous proponent of nuclear proliferation. He is widely regarded as the founder of gas centrifuge enrichment technology for Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent program. As its “father” A.Q khan, who headed Pakistan’s nuclear program for some...

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“It Ain't Everyday” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #174

“The lab gets cold at night,” I said, wrapping the girl with a quilted blanket. She had fallen asleep at the lab bench, again, and her brown hair was splayed out around her like sun-beams. Checking the wall clock, I sighed heavily. “Tess. It’s three in the morning! Why are you still here?” “Mmm?” She moaned, smacking her lips and lifting her head slowly. “Who?” She sounded half-panicked, confused until she saw me, her big blue eyes meeting my soft green ones. “Oh. It’s just you.” I took a spot at the bench next to her, crossing my arms and...

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“dIve~IN dArKness” by Sri Vi S

Submitted to Contest #174

In that Cenote of darkness Plenty of answers it is just One Whole!! “I” had to stop thinking For I would be answered from Within the echelons of the Cenote! From deep within the Cenote - You are a seed, Bearing many lives, Wearing many forms!! “Grass, Worm, snake Tree ~~ Fish, Bird, animal, demon, the mystic Then where am I? Then who am I? The movable and/or the immovable” Nothing, nothing yet the whole of everything!!! For, The Infinitesimal Universe just extended one of its arm – to disperse the multitude. Tzec came out the r...

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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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