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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

“The Pipe Mage” by Elise Volkman

Submitted to Contest #176

Gran Marion would have made a perfect healing mage because she cried all the time. Everyone knew healing magic only worked with the power of tears. She’d told the story of the boy who fell in the well dozens of times, and every time she got to the part where the farmer saved him, she’d choke on her words and get teary-eyed. And yet, when Grand-Da died, she didn’t cry at all. She came into Ming’s room to tell her she’d found him on the porch. He’d been smoking. Gran said he probably froze to death. She tossed his pipe onto Ming’s bed and le...

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“1979” by Bronwyn Henry

Submitted to Contest #176

I couldn't feel my hands in the slightest, my fingers were utterly frozen numb. Why didnt I bring gloves? I am an Idiot, that's why. My legs were moments away from giving up entirely. They'd been asleep for the past twenty minutes. But still, I crouched. The sagebrush made me itch and the cold fog froze my skin, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was maybe ten yards away, standing completely still over the rotting corpse of a magnificent elk. She just stood there, breathing so heavily I could match her breaths from where I hid. I h...

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“The Knight and His Lady” by C. J. Peters

Submitted to Contest #176

The first time he saw her, he was tucked up in the branches of an old oak. On clear, cool nights like these, after a day spent working away under the scorch of sun, he found himself drawn to the ancient forest, climbing up into the rough arms of trees to see the stars.On this night, he ventured deeper into the woods than he had on any other, as if some invisible thread was gently tugging, tugging him in. The air was sweet with late summer blooms and damp earth, the soft buzzings of nocturnal life the only sound accompanying his footfall. He ...

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“We Also Make Thunder” by Luke Melvin

Submitted to Contest #176

Hannah had known two indisputable truths about lightning: it required broody clouds to be formed and a quick eye to be seen. An indisputable truth challenged without proof inspired laughter. An indisputable truth challenged indisputably simply inspired. So it was with Hannah when, having hidden herself in the old haven from her childhood, she spied a Starry One in the near clearing. Creeping forward in the forest brush, Hannah crouched in the loam soil and fragrant scent and watched, a woodland creature whose den had been intruded upon. The ...

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“Metaphorical Kaleidoscope ” by Reve Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #176

I’ve never been one for dark spaces. Something about the way sound is swallowed up, how the only sensation to go by is that of trembling hands, how every corner likes to press in towards me; it's a suffocating feeling. With a sigh, I turn uncomfortably over on my side. These are the types of thoughts my brain likes to pick apart and swallow, rationalising every previous twitch of muscle into the light hours of the night. When the sun knocks its watery fists on my window, it’s with bloodshot eyes I stare the day in the face. Stu...

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“The Ritual” by Emma Herbst

Submitted to Contest #176

It is hard to remember a time when I felt truly free. When my every action was not tied to the whims of a cold, uncaring captor. I could have been so much more; I should have been. But, apparently it was not meant to be. Stopped in my tracks as I made a life for myself, I entered my eternal prison, under lock and key of one who delights in my torture. Sometimes I think there may be some great scheme, some monumental reason for my capture and imprisonment. Perhaps this is simply how I fool myself. If it were meaningless, a fully thoughtless ...

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“Graydar--A Magician.....” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #176

Graydar was a magician in time. He awoke to a sunny morning, a good omen. Graydar ate a simple, humble breakfast of toast, hold the jam. His tummy had butterflies today, he felt a tad nervous. Quite an understatement, that. Graydar was totally excited and nervous. Graydar--also a pilgrim--washed and dressed head to foot in his magician gear, including the hood. His couture was quite colorful, all ritual, as he was a symbol for his tribe. At the appointed hour, Graydar set off. He had fixed onto his garb some of his sorcerer's charms, like ...

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“Ghost Radio” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #176

There was a radio at the bottom of the shipping boxes. Mandy hadn’t known it was there. She certainly hadn’t ordered it. She’d ordered some pendants. They were supposed to help vampires go out during the day. There were vials in the center. When the vial ran out of liquid, it would no longer work. Mandy had opened the boxes, and regretted leaving open space for the pendants near the top of the wall. That was a few trips up and down a ladder. But she’d given herself no choice. The lower area was occupied with some magical smoke bombs, some im...

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“The Dark Dancer” by Kang Lee

Submitted to Contest #176

“Are you sure this is the right place, Dresvale?” Jane demanded, casting a wary eye at the decaying tangle of vines. “You have to see beyond what your eyes are telling you,” I confirmed, and snapped my fingers. “Ostendere!” A cobalt rune burned in the air in front of me, and a shockwave radiated outwards. The greenery flickered, before vanishing. In its place was a monumental castle constructed from maroon bricks. We glanced at each other, before plodding forward toward the ancient, wooden door. The door was shriveled up, and it fel...

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“Journey Begins” by Ruby Fink

Submitted to Contest #176

Dawn rose over Frogville the way it always did. The mist and gloom of the swamp lightened, from pitch black to grey, and marsh birds began singing their morning songs from their nests. Lily awoke, feeling strange and out of sorts as she stretched. Something seemed different today. Her bed seemed larger for some reason, and she was surrounded by moss. And why was her furniture so huge? Lily reached out a hand to rub her eyes and was confronted by a small, green palm...

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“Dog Kingdom: The Wayward Princess” by Kristin Johnson

Submitted to Contest #176

NOTE: This is a chapter in a longer work. Berna Longtail, puppy-in-waiting and royal tutor to Princess Flora, never ventured into the human world. The moment her paws touched the sidewalk, she stood and sniffed the air. So many different scents! Her nose wiggled all over in confusion and she couldn’t sort out one smell from the other. Too many! The human food with its aromas that went right to her tongue and her stomach until she panted with hunger and lunged at one of the morsels of food held by a human on the grass. She t...

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“THE CAPTIVES” by BRUCE MARTIN

Submitted to Contest #176

I have been a prisoner in this camp for more than one year. Many of us have died, mostly at the hands of our captors, but some from disease and trauma. Somehow, I have survived, but it hasn’t been easy.They beat us mercilessly today with leather straps. At least four men surrounded us and whipped us. They yelled at us, “Move, you stinking beasts!” They made us run into a wooden structure, then locked us in. I was afraid they would light the structure on fire with us locked inside.But whipping is not the worst. One of the men used a red hot i...

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“Perrito” by MaryJo Powrozek Rosso

Submitted to Contest #176

Hey! The name is Perrito. It’s Spanish for “Little Dog” which is a pretty dumb name when you live in a Spanish speaking country. But some lady gave it to me when she was traveling and I guess it stuck. In her head. My name is really Hector, but don’t tell her that. She seems really into the whole “Perrito” thing and we’ll get into this in a minute, but I want this lady to be happy. I don’t think she is. She met me during a vacation and she hasn’t stopped thinking about me ever since. I was out, making my round...

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“My new Job in a Magic Show” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #176

Today it all happened. I didn’t know it yet, but soon the most exciting day in my life would begin. Let me explain.My name is Lily, and I live with my Mum, Vikki. One day a girl called Daisy came to visit us with her dad. I am always very excited and run around when visitors come in, but Mum told me to sit down and behave. I’m good at sitting too. Daisy looked impressed.“Good girl, so obedient and so pretty,” she said and sat beside me. I liked her. I tried to stand up, but Mum told me to sit down again. I just wanted to play.Daisy’s dad tal...

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“Passionate Pages” by Meredith Lindsey

Submitted to Contest #176

The first thing Jack noticed was the cat clock on the wall. It was one of those black and white models you’d expect to find in a housewife’s kitchen in the 60’s, its tail swinging in time to the eyes that swept the room from left to right. The shop was quiet enough that he could hear the ticking all the way across the room, past the crowded shelves of books that caught his eye next. The shelves towered above him, nearly reaching the ceiling that must have been three stories high, although Jack didn’t see any ladders that would make obtaini...

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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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