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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#176: Magic in the Air

Do you feel that? That almost imperceptible shift you can’t quite place?

Maybe it’s magic. Forces at work right under our noses. Powers we just don’t have the senses to detect — outside what scientists call our “umwelt,” or the slice of the world we’re able to see, hear, and feel.

This week, let your stories be guided by this question: what if, alongside things like electrical fields and infrared waves, there are magical forces in the world that we just can’t perceive?

This week's prompts

Write a story involving a magical potion — which may or may not work.

Fantasy – 58 stories

Start your story with someone witnessing magic from a hiding place.

Fantasy – 52 stories

Cast a magician (a real one, or a party entertainer) as your story’s protagonist.

Adventure – 26 stories

Write a story told from the point of view of an animal.

Kids – 49 stories

Set your story in a magical bookshop.

Fluff – 46 stories

Stories

“Hypothetical Marriage” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #176

Sara hid in the bedroom closet of her boyfriend, Trevor, wearing his sunglasses, hoodie and sweatpants. He lied face down on his mattress, wearing only a t-shirt and boxers. Sara watched from the slight opening of the closet door as he wiggled his cute little tush in Sara’s direction. He played the innocent coed studying for final exams, while she played the creepy stranger out to have her way with him. But just before she pounced on her prey like a lion on an antelope, smoke burst in the middle of the room. When it dissipated, there s...

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“Can You Feel The Magic?” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #176

All book shops are magical. This is an incontrovertible fact that is often discarded in a ditch, on the road to ignorance. Books contain worlds. Books contain life, but not always as we know it. They also contain a whole lot of stuff as yet undiscovered, even by the authors who vomited the words down on the pages in a frenzied fit of creativity that possessed them for as long as it took for the story to come alive and enter this world of ours, and our world expands in exciting and unpredictable ways every time a new book is born. The uni...

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“The Slings and Arrows of a Mage's Gig Work” by Eric De Roulet

Submitted to Contest #176

There was ample distance between Marasher and the explosion, but he felt its heat singing the hairs on his arms and prickling his skin anyway. Still, he came out mostly unscathed. His party’s arquebusier, not so much. And to think that just hours ago, they thought their expedition inside this ancient ziggurat would’ve been a relief from the oppressive desert heat. From the other side of the massive chamber, the opposing party responded with a mix of gasps and cheers. They could hardly believe their luck. Among their ranks were three assi...

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“REAL MAGIC” by Josiah Mporampora

Submitted to Contest #176

At this point in my life, there is very little that brings me any real joy. In my younger years, I was always so optimistic and filled with hope. Time on this Earth, however, would prove to wear those naïve feelings down and cast them into the wind. They say people usually find happiness in things like family, money, love and passion. With all of my family at peace, my wife gone in the wind and already quitting my miserable IT job, my only source of happiness is my passion. My passion…as a magician. “Is…this ...

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“The History of Leaves as Told by a Squirrel” by Chad Eastwood

Submitted to Contest #176

A long time ago, before pug dogs and Siamese cats, before the domestication of humans by cows and geese, I mean, a really, really long time ago, just after the Earth shook under the pounding crash of dinosaur feet, the leaves of the trees were not symmetrical. You might say that is hard to believe, but then I can just show you some mouse-hole geometry and let’s see if you understand that. No, it’s true. Leaves had no reason to look the same on both sides. Leaves just grew to wherever the sunlight was. That is, in fact, the purpose of a ...

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“Magic In the Air- By Laksh Pagaria” by Laksh Pagaria

Submitted to Contest #176

MAGIC IN THE AIR Hi guys, my name is Leo, I am a cat, and you know that cats are sympathetic, kind and obviously extraordinary and so on. I lived with an owner who was very rich, & wealthy but he was not sympathetic. Whenever he was free, he always watched his humongous television and never played with me or fed me well. As I lived in miserable conditions, I thought of running away from the repulsive circumstances. The same thing happened every day like if you´re stuck in an infinite time loop. One day, I waited till it got dark and w...

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“Clarence and His Books” by Sharon Farnsworth

Submitted to Contest #176

CLARENCE AND HIS BOOKS Clarence turned the lights off in the main room and slowly walked down the hallway, tired from the day’s work. It was exactly 9:00 PM, and his cleaning for today was finished. Well past retirement age, he worked only three hours a day, three days a week, keeping the books dusted and performing general maintenance duties - a far cry from his former high school physics teaching career. He was l...

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“The Magic Book and Toy Shop” by Emmah Prather

Submitted to Contest #176

One day a little 7 year old girl named Luna went into the bookstore just down the street. The bookstore was for everyone, young or old, short or tall, skinny or not. The bookstore allowed everyone and everything to come in. When Luna came in everything started moving, the floor started moving, and more. When Luna saw the toys and books move she was in awe but as soon as the floor started moving she got scared. A man who looked like he was around 25 came out of nowhere. Luna got scared and started crying. The man went up to Luna and sai...

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“70 Simmery Axe” by Chuck Sears

Submitted to Contest #176

James Wells finished adjusting the last items on the shelves, then lit three candles placed strategically throughout the floor space. He then checked the wards, reinforcing them to make sure that all who entered gained a sense of calm and peace. Looking around, he dusted his hands together and said to himself, “Well, that’s that. Ready as ever!” He walked over, raised the front blind, turned the sign to OPEN and unlocked the door. It was the one-month ...

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“Bitter Concoction” by Mitchel Hamm

Submitted to Contest #176

A vial filled with dragon's blood and blessed by Arch Wizard Antonius Septum, himself. This product has only been given to Septum’s most trusted and honorable disciples. To which, there is only one receiver: Robert Penn. This tiny concoction can turn a lanky man into three times the size, all within a moment’s notice The potion is only to be used in times of great danger. When taken, all primal instincts takeover and the individual cannot possibly have control over themselves, or even remember their time under the influence. This magic is t...

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“The Purple Scourge” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #176

Colette, Calisto’s seventeen-year-old apprentice, straddles Mazie, Castle Hogue’s prize pig. “Hold her steady,” the young magician says, waving a bowl in front of Mazie. Grunting, the oversized pig licks at the contents of the bowl. “All right, release her.” Colette steps away from Mazie, giggling as the pig wanders drunkenly around her pen. “Looks like your potion packs a punch,” the attractive brunette says. “The question is, will it work?” Mazie suddenly nosedives into the mud, dead. “Well, we know it kills,” Calisto says. The pai...

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“Amon the Legend” by Mona Bunnie

Submitted to Contest #176

It was raining that night. The smoggy gray sky thundered and bellowed with a fury, soaking all those unfortunate enough to find themselves void of shelter and alone. Filth had embedded itself in our clothing; remnants of blood were stained on our faces, yet as the skies continued on with its melancholic display, we laughed uncontrollably. You see, he always spoke of destiny—his personal legend. A calling that led him right to a miracle in the form of a seed. One that would grow to become the tree of life. I’d never heard of such a story befo...

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“A Full Eight Fingers” by Ron Davidson

Submitted to Contest #176

(T/W: Substance Abuse, Torture)The combined layers of multiple conversations muted the treble and mid-tones of the loud music, leaving only the invisible waves of its bass to gently vibrate the large mirror behind the bar top of the small Irish pub. However, this calamitous atmosphere was not distracting Al Schneider from his mission to “get soused.” He pawed his thumbless hands at the straight sides of the sweating beverage in front of him, wrapping his eight fingers around the tight curvature of the glass, squeezing its body betw...

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“A Royal Revelation” by Latina Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #176

The sounds of swords clashing against each other is what drew my attention. It was midday, and I was taking a stroll through town. Some farmers had their posts set up for the market, with fresh fruits on display. I was conversing with one of them when I heard the sounds of metal clashing with metal. It wasn’t unusual for people, knights and villagers alike, to spar at random hours of the day - whether that be friendly or not. So it was of no surprise that anyone didn’t seem in the slightest concerned. But what took me by surp...

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“The Wizard And The Rat” by Kit Gordon

Submitted to Contest #176

Running from the law, he couldn’t believe it. His old man wouldn’t even tell him what he did, why he had had to load the saddle so heavy with his winter furs and canvas tent and leave in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter, with nothing more than a sneaky kiss on the forehead of his child as a goodbye. Maybe he’d robbed a bank, or banks, or maybe his criminal activity was worse, and there had been blood. On his way to the dark wood line he said to himself, “But I wouldn’t really care one way or the other, just so long...

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$250

Prize money

231

Contest entries

111

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 16, 2022 EST

Won by Kylah Adams 🏆

Title: I Knew Better

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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