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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#177: Found in Translation

“Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.”

– Ken Liu, The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Communication is the cornerstone of all relationships. A complex combination of sounds, words, gestures, and written symbols help us navigate the world and get our intentions and feelings across. It’s remarkably efficient, but sometimes, regardless of how clearly you thinkyou’re expressing yourself, things get lost between sender and receiver.

Inspired by the act of translating thoughts and feelings into words and actions — and the things that can get lost (or found) in the process — here are this week’s prompts:

This week's prompts

Write a story about two or more characters who don't speak each other's language (literally or metaphorically), but still find a way to communicate.

Dialogue – 54 stories

Set your story in a meeting where a professional interpreter takes some liberties, with major consequences.

Funny – 12 stories

Write about someone who is slowly forgetting their mother tongue or losing their language.

Character – 22 stories

Lost in a foreign city where they don’t speak the language, your character uses a translation app to get around, but constantly runs into problems.

Adventure – 9 stories

Write a story about a character who struggles to translate their thoughts and feelings into words and action.

Angst – 53 stories

Stories

“Fragments” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #177

I am… Sod it! I’m… How old am I? I know I’m not very old, not very old at all. I also know that this… …should… …not… …be… HAPPENING TO ME! It’s come early to me. How lucky am I? I jumped the queue and now I get to fall apart little by little, and bit by bit before everyone else. I can’t even remember what it is that is doing this to me. How funny is that!? It’s leprosy of the brain is what it is. No one can see what is happening to me until I open my mouth. In the end they’ll see the ravages of this horrible basta...

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“The City of Shadows” by Nisha Ramakrishnan

Submitted to Contest #177

Something sinister infused the air. It oozed out of cracks on the pavement, dispersed from the generic, flickering-tube-light lit shops – Raju Xerox, Prabheem Dry Fruits – and gathered momentum with the rapidly fading light, which cast a gloom over the whole city of Chhayapur, India (noteworthy attractions: non-existent), marking the end of another disillusioning day, indistinguishable from yesterday. The stranger walked on, wearier with each footstep. The road looked just like the one before. A `'Stick No Bills' sign on an empty wal...

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“Isern Amore” by Jack Thomas

Submitted to Contest #177

It was late December, she was boarding a flight to return home. She had spent the last year in France, studying at an international college. She sits in a plastic chair next to a window, scrolling through her phone lazily. A girl about 19 years of age, she has a very slender frame, black hair, shoulder length, and unkempt. She wears a worn down gray softball sweater as well as blue jeans with red and gray sneakers. Not the kind of person to stick out much, especially not in the diverse crowds of an airport. “Pagin...

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“Fucking feelings” by Alexander Valdem

Submitted to Contest #177

“Tell me how you feel.” How should I answer that question? I knew I needed help with all the feelings in me. I had to tell someone, but as I sat in that plush and deep chair at the therapists’ office, I could not get anything out. Where to start? What to tell him? I could tell him I dropped out of one of my classes. My ex is taking that class, and I could not stand to watch his smug face every day, standing there with our friends, his friends now, and talking shit about me. Telling them it is my fault that we broke up, instead of being a...

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“The Universal Language” by Linda Haley

Submitted to Contest #177

+ The Universal Language! This is basically a true story, in that it happened to me many years ago. I was young and used to work in a factory that made all kinds of shirts. (T-shirts, football shirts, baseball and hockey shirts). A lot of Italian people worked there. I, myself, am not Italian. I knew very few words of the language but could not speak in Italian. Now there was a new lady that had just started working in the factory. I cannot remember her name so I will call her A...

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“For Every Star in the Sky” by Angela Taylor

Submitted to Contest #177

It's been three months since I first met Brandon at his magic show. There have been several dates, late night phone calls, and endless texts, confirming our feelings and plans. There was even a conversation about where we stand. This is the conversation I have always dreaded with any relationship, but this one seemed even more daunting. You see, I very much care for Brandon. I have grown to love nearly every aspect of him. His laugh, his sense of humor, his touch, his silent reluctance to let me help him with hi...

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“I Won't Close It This Time” by Katherine Meyer

Submitted to Contest #177

I stood at the end of my bed, completely lost in my thoughts. I've only been at Newbury High for a week, but I can't get Jane out of my mind. Even when I work on my homework, her bright smile fills my chest with warmth. My body flopped onto the bed, and I rolled over to face the ceiling. Today she asked me to go to Chiles with her and her friends, but I declined her offer. I've never been social, and it's not hard for me to say no, but something about her clouds my judgment. Earlier, when she asked me, I held my stance and made the right dec...

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“This May Destroy Us” by Cora Weaver

Submitted to Contest #177

My reflection stares back at me. The only imperfection is my dark hair, which has the stubborn habit of sticking up, but I manage. I always must appear to the public as the well-groomed prince they know, clean-shaven with round, amber eyes and a strong jaw. My father, King Montgomery of Yiyiroth, made a point of telling me that rather excessively when I was a young boy. Now, at age seventeen, I am expected to appear at the side of my parents on all formal occasions, training for the day I inherit the throne. The obligations that come with be...

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“Overwhelmed” by Benjamin Okojie

Submitted to Contest #177

Dear Diary, Today was really annoying, my friend was being a jerk. Also, I started this diary because other than my mom I have no one to talk to but she’s busy with work. Anyways, jack was really pissing me off. Today at lunch he said I’m a right-footed player with two left feet. Everyone laughed at me, and so did Claire. I really like Claire but now she probably thinks I’m a joke cause of jack. I should tell him but what if he gets upset at me, or I hurt his feelings. Well I’m going to try tomorrow so he doesn’t do it again. That’s al...

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“The Story of I and U” by Eugenette Morin

Submitted to Contest #177

This is the story of I and U and how they managed to communicate and become tentative friends. It has taken many years, iterations, repetitions, and trials to bring them together. Sometimes, there are still situations that exacerbate the jagged edges of their hookups. There are many hangups involved as well. Think about it, I and U? Think those two are well-known by all? Really? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't - but they are not the most comfortable bedfellows. These are two of the most important English letters, in their meanings, symbols...

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“From The Forest, It Calls” by Leighton Jeffy

Submitted to Contest #177

I walk forward at a steady crouch, the carpet of leaves below me barely making a sound from the soft footsteps I leave. The night air is biting and cold, and the awareness that something is watching surrounds me. Even without light, and with grasses and shrubs blocking the trail in front of me, I know the path I follow. I’ve come out here every night since I was 8. My parents caught me the first time. They’d kept me up all night drilling into me the dangers of the forest at night. “There are vicious animals out there,” they told me...

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“Dear Jacques” by Cameron Lawrence

Submitted to Contest #177

Dear Jacques, You will already be on your way by the time you read this letter. A new start for you; another relocation. I’ve lost count of the amount of farewell letters I’ve penned to you in the past. Written words have always been easier for me than a heartfelt speech. Remember when I messed up the groom speech at my own wedding? Melissa grimacing next to me, whilst we both couldn’t contain our laughter. How that should have been a sign for the marriage to come. My most worldly of friends. In the sixteen years since our first meeti...

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“Eddie Baker's Desperate Journey” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #177

Eddie Baker was in big trouble as he made his way past a farmyard in the darkness of a crescent moon. He had been separated from his unit during the firefight with a group of goat herders who turned out to be al Qaeda operatives. Now he was all alone as his unit had abandoned the area at sunset. Private Baker had been in Afghanistan for five months. Originally from Brooklyn, Eddie was accustomed to wandering in and out of dark places without any trepidation, but this was different. His field commander, L...

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“Realm of the Unknown” by Paul Grayson

Submitted to Contest #177

It was a bright, sunny day. Clarence peered out the window. All that could be perceived from his eyes was a blank sky reflecting the black face looking out at the vast expanse. His parents called from downstairs. He turned and went through the threshold. He walked down the stairs into the living room where his parents had been waiting. They were impatient and demanded him to get his bags, annoyed that he was not ready. The family had been planning a vacation to Stony Ridge Nat...

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“Put us on repeat” by Alex Layme

Submitted to Contest #177

Before the morning sun could sweep through the basement floor windows of the shared household, to be in a mutual understanding of solitude and environment of private room and space among the other two friends of Seresa(they/them), they turn over and check the time in silence. With understanding that the background noise would be the same friends mentioned earlier who happen to have just made dinner and will soon send an offer for Seresa to swing by. But days have been a struggle, it was in fact the very end of a confusing heartbreak with the...

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$250

Prize money

150

Contest entries

70

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 23, 2022 EST

Won by Laurel Hanson 🏆

Title: Colonel Mustard in the Kitchen Without a Hearing Aid

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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