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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

“Why I Sold the Bookstore” by Drew Bridges

Submitted to Contest #176

Retired and financially secure, I decided to open a bookstore. "Sounds like a good way to waste your daughter's inheritance," said several of my friends and family. But the point was not to make money. Since the country was in the "great recession" and "e-readers" were the wave of the future, making a profit in a small, old fashioned independent book store seemed unlikely at best. What I wanted was to wallow in books, reread old favorites, find new ones, and hang out with writers and readers. I would return to my "English major" days of the...

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“The Discount” by Angie Brocker

Submitted to Contest #176

Avalon's breath blurred the glass door with dark purple trim as she turned the sign from "closed" to "open". She smoothed her favorite sage green dress after turning toward her cat. "This is it, Daryl, our moment of truth! It's our time to shine...to rise to the top...to glow!" Avalon's arms spread open as though welcoming every talking, cartooned forest animal into her warm embrace. "Daryl! Daryl? I thought you would help me greet our first customers, after all, you're essentially my partner in this venture! I see your tail behind the thi...

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“Darcy Vari, I’m putting a deadly hex on you” by Kaili Colford

Submitted to Contest #176

The Victorian-style shop lurks behind the thick fog which oozes endlessly along Main Street. The morning sun remains cloaked by the murky horizon. I squint at the carved shop sign: Mallory’s Magical Incantations. It’s my first week as its sales associate. Clumps of snow slip off my coat sleeves as I unlock the bulky wooden door. No more job shadowing. Here we go, the first time I get to open up the shop alone. Well, technically I have done this thousands of times before. But that was another lifetime ago. Goal for week on...

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“A Magical Bookshop Moment” by Katie DeShane

Submitted to Contest #176

Josie roamed the cobblestone streets of Victoria alone, looking for the perfect cozy nook to duck into to escape the gloom and doom of the rain. As quaint as the town was, the weather wasn’t holding up its end of the bargain. Her eyes lit up as she noticed a shop window filled to the brim with vintage books. Bingo, she thought and made her way across the street. Her fingers tingled with excitement as she pushed open the heavy wooden door, or perhaps it was simply the initial exposure to the warmth within. Whatever it was, there was nothing...

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“A Tale of Endings” by Lena Amendt

Submitted to Contest #176

Cierra would have given anything to avoid going to the magical bookshop. Elodie had cornered her earlier and spilled a drink all over her uniform. The fellow student liked to pick on the late bloomers, like the girl who she had accosted. The ones whose magic had come in later than most. Cierra had only been transferred to the class for magical students two weeks ago. Yet, her uniform was already in need of replacement. Honestly, she was running out of excuses to tell her mother. Her tights had holes because she had slipped - not because she ...

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“Bookshipped” by Emma Cooper

Submitted to Contest #176

A windchime sort of noise filled the room. I keep my eyes glued to the page before me and call out the route greeting. “Welcome to Book Blanks, let us find your book for you. Feel free to look around.” The vague sense of a customer’s presence approaching me was the only thing to break me from my focus. I sigh. It always happens when the book just starts to get good. I paste on a smile and my customer service voice and flip my hair over my shoulder to assess the customer. Broad shoulders, dark eyes, and lips turned down into a frown. He ...

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“Between the Pages” by Anna E. Walters

Submitted to Contest #176

It was nearly three a.m. when Edith decided that sleep wasn’t coming, and there was no point in staying in bed. She had hardly slept at all in the past week and was starting to wonder if the ability to fall asleep was a skill a body could simply forget. It was the sort of silly notion that made perfect sense when she was alone in bed, staring at the ceiling in a house that was far too quiet, and that seemed to get smaller with every passing day, as if her breath by itself was not enough to keep it from collapsing. She threw off the quilt an...

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“The Elixir of Strength” by Stian Blikberg

Submitted to Contest #176

One more addition and my brew were finished. The simple, topped spoon of ivory-colored dust should do the trick. I bought it earlier this winter a few streets from here, and so far, I think it works. I was unsure at first, but it has done exactly what it was supposed to. I cupped the bottle and shook it with force until the powder was mixed with the fluids that were already there. With ease, I had mixed an elixir of spirited awareness. It was the potion of future champions, heroes, or other such grandiose titles. I licked my palm and got a t...

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“BabyVizion” by Jasmine Brooks

Submitted to Contest #176

“Good Morning, Washington D.C.! We join you live here on this sunny, but chilly morning in the Nation’s Capital. Are you enjoying that fresh, March weather as we slowly transition into Spring? I know I sure am.” “Well, Kathy, I know I’m ready for it to feel more like Spring, that’s for sure.” “It’s not Spring yet, Tom. Ha, so uh...gonna have to keep waiting...ha ha.” “...” “We have breaking news on the ongoing legal battle between Big Pharma and Corporate America against the small, but booming new business BabyVizion, created by owne...

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“Potion Fail” by Ralph Emery Barhydt

Submitted to Contest #176

Hubert was a very bright boy, charming, gifted and ugly. It’s really hard to say that someone is ugly. You can call them “unattractive,” “a little rough,” “kind of plain,” any number of euphemisms; but, Hubert was ugly. The other kids called him “Hubie” and laughed at him whenever he came around, but they liked him. They laughed at him and he took it in stride. He did nothing to encourage it and he just let it roll off his back. Kids started feeling guilty. The girls all stood up for him and, eventually, only the most insecure boys still lau...

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“Let's Get Invisible” by Kimberly McFetridge

Submitted to Contest #176

Nancy loads the potion into the syringe, then paces back and forth in front of the cage. “I wish Freddie was in his hammock. I could detect him easier.” “You’ve got this, Nance. Think about all the times you practiced injecting him on the exercise wheel while you were blindfolded. After a few tries, you always find the lower right quadrant of his abdomen,” Maggie says. “Thanks for your vote of confidence.” Nancy stops pacing, stands facing the cage, and inhales deeply into her belly to calm herself. Then, she injects Freddie.The two scientis...

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“Love Sick” by L Boogie

Submitted to Contest #176

Nadine stood next to her new red 1984 Porsche 944 keeping an eye out for anyone who may be scoping her out. She thought the island people inhabiting the Low Country were thieves and crooks but wasn't scared since she had her gun in the glove box. The gun, unfortunately, could not protect her from the mosquitos, love bugs, and all other insects that were seemingly trying to devour her that summer. Nadine didn't want to leave too soon. Not without getting what she drove all the way out to the country for. Finally, Nadi...

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“The Dance” by Kathleen Spencer

Submitted to Contest #176

The love potion went down the throat of its intended victim, but it didn’t work quite the way Margery intended. The little frog had been sitting on his lily pad for most of the afternoon. The sunshine hit his back warming him. He had just eaten a fly, so his belly was full. The unexpected find of pink lemonade in a nearby lotus flower had promised to be a more than satisfactory drink. It had a surprising punch to it. Henry the third went from one stunted toad to one tall handsome prince in two point five secon...

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“Withchless ” by Ayy Dee

Submitted to Contest #176

Witchless As soon as Ashlee’s mind became conscious; before her eyes even opened that warm Saturday morning, she could tell it was going to be one of those weird days. She felt it. Without skipping a beat, she turned on her zoning music and laid in bed for a few more minutes assessing her dreams, allowing her brain and body to catch up. “Ahhh,” she sighed, gently ripping the blanket off her to get up and start her day, “So what’s it gonna be this time?” She stretched her entire body right before it’s breaking point ...

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“THE MAGIC IN THE BOX” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #176

THE MAGIC IN THE BOX ( MAGIC IS IN THE BOX) The cellar was the coolest room ( zone) in the house. It wasn’t certainly a room where to stay in winter. But however, there was a sheltered place there in the cellar which, besides being suitable for hiding, was almost warm. It was not a warmth for heating, it was rather the warmth of the hot drinks in winter . It was in fact the old vat, no longer used now for years, where her grandfather had crushed the grapes and fermented the wine. That afternoon __it was a Friday in February___ Nicholas was...

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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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