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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

“Alfie, The Great” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #176

“My Dad says you’re shit!” The forthright ten-year-old boy defiantly stood in front of the birthday party magician, passing on the self-qualified negative review of his father. Not sure of what to say to the little primary school-grade upstart, the magician returned a silent momentary glare before reaching behind the boy’s right ear and producing a gold coin from thin air. The boy’s eyes widened with surprise at the parlour trick, then faster than he was impressed, he became equally unimpressed. “Is that all?” He pertinently asked. “Is not m...

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“A Squirrel’s Tale (Based on a true story)” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #176

‘Furry tailed rat.’ He called me that. To my face. The nerve. Doesn’t know me from a rat? Rats aren’t even the same genus. What a dope. What a tailless freak. He should be so lucky. I showed him. Yes, I did. Look! A squirrel! Oh, that’s Squiggy. What a name. My nephew. Next tree over. Missus and I’ve got babies. Up our tree top home. Always hungry. Feed ‘em. Up in the nest. Hidden atop the ancient oak. Acorns everywhere. Never enough. Eat some myself. Tasty! Humans look down on squirrels. We’re not dumb. They’re dumb. Oh, because my atten...

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“Whimsy and the Missing Chair” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #176

The point is that I enjoyed sitting on the chair. I enjoyed it and I don’t get to enjoy many things in this life--or any of the other eight, for that matter. Nature has made me the greatest predator on the planet only to place me in a tiny body from which I can do no real harm to anyone other than a mouse. The last time we had a mouse, I wasn’t even allowed to chase it. Patricia caught it in a shoebox and then made a comment to Hudson that if he didn’t leave food lying around all over the place, we wouldn’t have an infestation. I wish I ...

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“BELIEVE” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #176

I was there when the attack occurred. I saw everything, though it took a passage of time before I could acknowledge the magic in what happened and what was to follow.Will had just gotten out of his car and was walking toward the front door with his keys out. He looked utterly exhausted. It was the end of another long day of counseling. Will Dyer, my husband, was a psychologist in a busy mental health clinic and, with the holidays coming up, was working overtime nearly every night due to the annual onslaught of depressed a...

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“Buyer's Remorse” by Dan Coglianese

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #176

A good magician never reveals their secrets. But, today as I lie in my deathbed, I am prepared to tell you mine. As a child, I took things more literally than most. My mother once asked me if the man in the moon stole a shoe I lost at a friend’s house. I peered at the full moon that night, searching for this unknown “man”. Never found him. When I was five years old, I heard my uncle tell my mother that it was “raining cats and dogs”. I wanted a puppy so bad that I ran ou...

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“The Dollhouse” by April Mattson

Submitted to Contest #176

Jane was bored. She and her sisters, Lizzie and Flora, stayed with their grandparents every summer while her parents went on vacation. She’d spent the day moping about until she discovered the attic up on the third floor and toiled away looking through old boxes. There wasn’t a window and it felt airless and hot, and she was about to leave when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a small door. A door for a child! She had to tug and pull at it until it opened, and she sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, and then decided it was to ...

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“The Shadow Guild” by Paul Michael Winters

Submitted to Contest #176

Victor knew entering the Great Citadel Library was forbidden. But he saw that boy again. The one who had met his gaze in the Citadel gardens and held it just a little too long. Before the boy looked away, with flushed cheeks and the hint of a smile. After weeks of returning to the gardens, and searching every face in the crowd, Victor finally saw him again. Saw those captivating eyes and that serene smile. He had to follow.The library was restricted to highborn, and Victor was only a lowly merchant’s son. He scoffed at the caste system enfor...

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“My Little Girl” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #176

My Little Girl Chapter 1I’ve had a pretty good life. I really can’t complain. It’s just a little sad to reflect back on everything when you get old. I didn’t even know I was old until someone told me. This would have been a lot easier if I had kept a diary, but I’ll do the best I can from memory. I never even met my father. I have no idea what the deal was between him and my mother. She never talked about it. I had seven brothers and sisters! There were the usual family squabbles, especially at mealtime, and there was some rough play, b...

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“Flowers in Bloom” by Daniel Allen

Submitted to Contest #176

‘And what seems to be the problem, Mrs…?’‘Whittemore. Devona Whittemore, of the Lancashire Whittemore’s. Perhaps you’ve heard of my family. We’re rather big in the automotive industry.’Mr Shikhandi shrugged in apology. ‘I can’t say I have, though I don’t get out much.’ He waved a hand, gesturing to the dimly lit workshop around them. ‘As you can see, my work keeps me rather busy.’Violet peered out from behind her aunt to take a look around. She’d heard much about Mr Shikhandi, or ‘The Alchemist,’ as he was usually known. Several tables were ...

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“Santa Drives A Red Cadillac” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #176

---discussion of drugs and sex, cursing--- The short, fat man in the red velvet suit with white fur trim put the marijuana cigarette up to his huge white beard. “How much longer until we are done with this Christmas shit?” The snow falling behind the large neon signs for the shopping mall reflected reds, blues, greens and purples, showering the three people standing in the alley with sparkling confetti of colored lights. The ripe, sweet smell of restaurant trash from the dumpster next to them in the alley mingled with the smell of th...

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“Nino” by Mike Panasitti

Submitted to Contest #176

I remember the days I used to smite the females with reckless abandon. Despite my having French origins, Becca, my bubbly owner, had a penchant for double-syllabic Italian appellations. She named me Nino, after a poem-composing boyfriend she once had, but who had drowned in the ocean seeking the poetry of a watery death. She kept his memory alive through me. Humans can be sentimental that way. Before I was four years old, Becca had me inseminate half a dozen French Bulldog bitch-dykes with my potent sperm. The dames...

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“Painting Her Dreams” by Susan Williams

Submitted to Contest #176

Brock stared at her throughout history class. Why does she dress like that? Her clothes hang on her, badly soiled and worn out. And those shoes! They’re men’s shoes! He was sure his uncle had a pair. His father called his uncle a deadbeat, whatever that was. All Brock knew was he stunk like smoke. But at least he never stayed long, his dad always ushered him out after he asked for money. Anyway, why would a ten-year old girl want to wear men’s shoes? &n...

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“Suffer to Sip” by S N

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #176

Of course, it would be painful. My mother has often said that life is not a playground of fairness, and this has served to ground me at every turn. If I have ever wanted anything, especially as much as I want this, it has come at a cost. Discomfort is a fact of life. Watching the girl across from me, hand in bowl and inattentive to the small pink cup next to her, I wait as her pudgy hands plunge in for another hollow round. Will this torture ever end? Just as I think she is about to pull out and slowly devour her last sweet smelling, pea siz...

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“Smoke and Mirrors” by Laurel Hanson

Submitted to Contest #176

Sheltered in the shadows of the forest, we peered past the agro spears and blue fronds of stillbing to watch the magicians. They stood out in the badlands in front of a large object that made me think of the plated armor of the battlebeetles. They wore clothing from head to toe and face masks of some material, clear as air, but shiny. Sometimes, the Villagers found sharp pieces of that same air-that-is-hard substance in the dirt around the Council Ring. The tall one moved awkwardly over the rocky ground, as if he was a mere ta...

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“With Care” by Sav Lightwood

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #176

You treat me with such care. When you’re on the stage, you’re nothing short of magical. A miracle worker with a smart suit and astronomic cape. By your side, a bar table and suitcase, caked with assorted gimmicks and uncanny knickknacks. Within your pockets, decks of cards and technicolour handkerchiefs all knotted together into a centipede of fantastical origin. Atop of you, tucked snugly beneath and within your patented top hat, sits your humble assistant. I’m quite small. I usually have good balance. I don’t have fingers or claws or...

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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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