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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

“4 years” by Qiyi Lin

Submitted to Contest #174

The fabric beneath my fingers is silky smooth and cool to the touch. My dress is nearly restored to its former glory; the thought makes my mind go numb with joy. Soon. The day is soon. I examine the pearls lining the waistline and resew them with an iridescent silver thread, fingers shaking in excitement. The dusty, neglected telephone starts to shriek, begging for my attention. I turn a deaf ear to the rancoring machine, finishing off the pearls. Light starts ...

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“Redesigning people” by Laura Tensen

Submitted to Contest #174

Redesigning people A lot of people say stupid things. Possibly because they don’t think before they talk, but more likely because they just can’t think that well. Stupidity takes a heavy toll on our economy and slows down scientific progress, because a lot of time has to be invested in trying to explain these concepts to people. Stupidity might even be increasing in numbers, because anybody can breed as much as they like. Stupid people are equally good at survival as smart people, and they often have more babies because they can’t think ab...

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“The Next Step” by Emily Nghiem

Submitted to Contest #174

The house was exactly as he left it. When Uncle Steven moved to hospice last spring, he had already transferred all the rights to his books and published articles to his nonprofit foundation, the Lamont Library. After he died in August, he left his house to me, his only niece, since he never married and had no children of his own. Months had passed, but nothing had been touched. Even his last two case studies he had planned to archive for the library were scattered in boxes stacked to the ceiling in the study. No one had shown much...

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“The Price” by Roxanne Ward

Submitted to Contest #174

The shop was not intended to be inviting or profitable, and its host was anything but welcoming. It was a ruse, an entrance, that a very select few even entered. The solemn man walked in the run-down coffee shop and nodded at the stocky barista behind the counter. The small dive at the bottom of a skyscraper had escaped the meteorite storm of several decades ago that rained absolute devastation upon the Earth. The oversized man behind the counter eyed him while reaching for something out of sight. He studied the visitor long enough to r...

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“The Apex Theory” by Stary Knight

Submitted to Contest #174

Before the sun rose, Avery was getting ready for her first day of class. She dreamed of attending the university all her life. Her father was an alumni, and his father, and his father too! She felt it was only right to assume the tradition, despite her mother urging her to go in a different direction. “That’s too far from home, Ave, you won’t know a soul,” her mother spouted right after receiving her acceptance letter. However, the long-distance was what thrilled her. It was going to be like visiting a foreign country, where no one...

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“On the Head of a Pin” by Brian Perez

Submitted to Contest #174

“A needless war in Ukraine, the Chinese people protesting, crypto is crap, the red wave that never came, insurrections and impeachments, music isn’t music anymore. No one is courteous. No one cares about anyone but themselves. What the hell is happening?” The woman with the dark skin and bunned-up hair, whose skin glistened in the reflection of the colossal LCD monitors above Times Square, didn’t look at her interlocutor, she just grimaced in the glow, staring at the sky, as she proclaimed, “Everything is changing. Wh...

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“Replacement Theory” by Frederic Aurelien

Submitted to Contest #174

Heads up: this story contains profane language The funny thing about change is that it always seems to move slowly at first, sometimes too slowly. The days become so ordinary you stop really paying attention to them, but days become months after a while, and then months become years... You look at yourself in the mirror for the first time in a long time (and I mean really look at yourself), and you notice that your face has aged. You get anxious and ask yourself “Where did all of the time go?” Like, one day you’re in high school, drinking...

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“Balancing Act” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #174

Balancing Act “You’re all so insular here!” Zinnia fumed. “City people are much more open minded!” Darius pushed back. Jumping to his feet, he slapped his palms against the horseshoe-shaped table. “This is an outrage!” He glared around at the other Councilmembers in turn, his mutton-chop side whiskers trembling. “Great-Grandpa would spin in his grave if he heard about this!” There was an immediate hum of agreement, all eyes instinctively turning to the portraits of the town’s founding fathers. Darius W...

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“Karma” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #174

Karma Ivy could feel the waistband of her nylons digging into her stomach and it was all she could think about. So, every time the waiter came by with a tray of nibblies she would be tempted but then change her mind, her pudgy hand hovering over a mini sausage roll before retreating once again. She sipped on her soda and lime wishing to the good lord above that it had a double shot of vodka in it. Her eyes scanned the crowd and with each gray or bald head they landed on she wondered again what she was doing here. Tapping her feet to ...

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“The Holiday” by Linz Munro

Submitted to Contest #174

The fog hung thick in the cold autumn air, so that everything more than a few feet away was reduced to eerie silhouettes. With it came an uneasy silence, penetrated by the muted whisper of the occasional car that dared to venture out in such weather or the murmurs of our group. Empty bird feeders hung from trees in gardens like miniature 18th century gibbets. We huddled together, hands shoved under armpits, suitcases at our feet, as we waited for the coach to arrive. “Wish the driver would hurry up,” grumbled Jack.&nbs...

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“A Meditation, In Two-Parts, on an Encounter at Trader Joe's ” by Michael Weber

Submitted to Contest #174

Part-One: My Thoughts Upon Encountering an Old Friend at Trader Joe's Did somebody just call my name? That guy walking over to me looks exceptionally comfortable here. He carries himself with a sense of belonging that I’ve always imagined having myself. I'll probably never achieve it. I’m useless. Why isn’t he carrying anything? No cart? No basket? Why do I always feel the need to shop while I’m here? Why can’t I just be? I have so much to learn from him. He looks so much like… is that Itchy? From high school? Why is Itchy we...

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“Change is Beautiful” by Ella Bennett

Submitted to Contest #174

Story contains themes of substance abuse, self-harm, mental health and violence.Nothing stays the same, I know that now. But I wasn't always so aware of the ideology that life must change to be lived healthily and safely. Instead, I pushed this truth further away and it left me lost and alone in an abyss that I didn't know could exist. I thought there was no coming back. Is this what my younger self would've wanted? At the young age of fourteen, my obedience to my mother started to dwindle. I started staying out later than I was supposed t...

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“The Door Closes” by Maliha Naveed

Submitted to Contest #174

“I can’t believe I heard those toxic words coming out of your mouth!” This sentence has been bugging me since yesterday. True, the Emily of five years ago could never have behaved as she did a day ago, but then she also could have been in a better place now, couldn’t she? But James would never get that. After all, it was his mother. How could he put up with the fact that his wife was humiliating his GOD-LIKE Mother? He was mortified. And it was justifiable too. But wasn’t it also his responsibility to protect me from his mother’s poisonous w...

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“The Worker Bee Song” by Violet Waters

Submitted to Contest #174

Two kinds of people make apiaries. Bee farms, honeyholes, whatever people called them they stayed the same, and their founding. Either the founder loved bees, or he loved money. My father was the first kind. As a young child in the country, he was obsessed with the creatures. On chubby hands and knees he would crawl across the grass and sit in silence, peering at a flowered bush covered in the singing bees. Clint Denvers watched them dance and sing for as long as his parents would allow, as sooner than later they would swoop him up a...

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“Frankenstein 2.0 ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #174

I ran his fingers over the naked skin of his subject lying on the table. His fingers told him his specimen was perfect. The skin was like the skin on his own hands. I was warned not to play God with the double helix, but once you taste the sweet juice of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, it's hard not to eat it right down to the core like Adam did when it was offered to him by Eve. There was a strong heartbeat and his breathing seemed normal with a high percentage of oxygen filling his lungs. His eyes fluttered and then ...

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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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