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#179: Levelling Up

New Year's Eve is a time for celebration, but it also marks a watershed. If there's something you've been wanting to achieve, but haven't quite found the time (or willpower) to make happen, the start of a new year can be the perfect moment to turn over a new leaf.

This week's prompts are all in the spirit of progress. Whether your characters are starting an entirely new life, or are making a tiny shift in the pursuit of happiness, it's time for change. And if your New Year's resolution involves getting back into your writing routine after the holiday haze, we hope they'll provide ample inspiration to jumpstart your creativity. We'll see you in 2023!

🥇 Winner

“Resolute” by Saeda Rose

🏆 Winner of Contest #179

1: Exercise More!Buy the shoes. It’s okay, screw the budget, that’s not this year’s resolution. You deserve this. When the saleswoman asks you if you’ve done much running, laugh and gesture to your mid-section. The woman will blink, force out a half-baked hah. It’s a reaction of discomfort, not cruelty; you made it weird. You don’t know why you feel the need to shame your own body in front of a stranger, but you blame it on her lululemon leggings and air-hostess smile. She makes you nervous. Most people do.When you go outside, sit next to a ...

111 comments 111

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Resolutions for the Great Full” by Zack Powell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Content warning: Mentions/themes of death and mental health issues***Name: Timmy CalhounGrade: 1stDate: Friday, Decimbur 15, 1995Resolution #1: Be more great fullPlease explain: That's what my aunt Lola tells me all the time. That I should be more great full. That means when some one does some thing nice for you, you should say Thank You.I do say it some times. Like when Suzy Brown holded the door for me yesturday after lunch. And also last Krismus when Santa got me a new toy car. It was brite blue, like the one on the TV comershul, and it m...

106 comments 106

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“Cinderella Respun” by Rebecca Miles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

TW: sinister...When he put the slipper on my foot, beaming up at me from the crimson cushion on which his knee was resting, the thought did pass through my mind: where did he get that other matching shoe from? For I’d left him only the one on the palace steps, that momentous midnight; yet, here he was, on the eve of our wedding, slipping a second identical one onto the foot he claimed had won his heart.“Don’t say anything Cindy, my love,” he said, putting a finger to my lips, “this is my little gift; to say thank you for dancing into my life...

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“Dawn-lit, Forever” by Suma Jayachandar

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Like a camphor box closed with a cracked lid. That’s how I feel right now. An amorphous lump at the core.There are strangers in the living room. They have not stopped coming since morning. Brother is dealing with them. All I care about is our baby in my arms.“Men from the plains are nothing but trouble,” Ma had warned me while she combed my hair.“Even the ones in uniform, like Brother?” I had countered.“Especially the ones in uniform,” she had pulled my hair tight and tied it into a bun.It didn’t stop me from offering you red tea when my bro...

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“Whelmed” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

It’s been five years since Tabitha totally and completely finished with school, but tonight she has homework. It’s due tomorrow. She’s put it off all week.She places a piece of plain, white letter-size printer paper on her coffee table, in landscape orientation. She sits tall, smooths out the paper, and then smooths out her shirt. And then, smooths out the paper again. She rotates it to the left just a bit, because it’s not centred, and then to the right again. And then she smooths it out once more. Satisfied, she gets up and pours herself w...

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“A Midnight Silence” by V. S. Rose

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

The home was dimly lit. Lamp shades spilled a muted light over a navy and white oriental rug in the living room. A television screen flickered a faint glow into the darkness.A woman sat on a shabby couch. Her summery auburn hair hung like a flowing river across her shoulders. Deep blue eyes flecked with emerald were fixed on the screen ahead. A countdown timer sat in the corner; 11:52 PM it read. In a purple bowler hat and a green tie, an aged gentleman — with a jesting crowd behind him — filled the screen. A large sphere, lighted and sparkl...

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“Suicide or Cilantro” by Tara Leigh Parks

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Note: This story contains substance abuse, language, and thoughts about suicide.***Toward the end of the evening, I like to take a drink. The longer I work at the taco truck, the earlier the end of the evening becomes. You know, there’s that saying about it being five o’clock somewhere, a saying that a lot of people use as an excuse to get drunk before dinner. I always say it’s five o’clock somewhere, too, which irritates the hell out of me. I want to sound more refined than that. The gourmands I once starved to impress say they drink at 17:...

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“A Witch's Word” by Prithviraj Suryawanshi

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Now, Tinny wasn’t a procrastinator; it was Time who was always in a hurry. It was only yesterday when the year had begun, and somehow Time had managed to squeeze a lot more than a day in the twenty-four hours since then. And now Tinny was left playing catch-up. Her own fault that there was even a game to play, really. A resolution list, she had made! As if dreams were docile enough to agree to spend a year confined to the page. But the notion had seemed appealing when Milya told her about it, in Milya’s house exactly a year ago. “Oh, i...

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“New Year, New Brackk” by William Simon

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Resolutions for a New Year Resolution One: Total Rebrand No more Brackk the Terrible! I’ve got get my act together. Every year I say “no more impaling people just because I skipped breakfast” but then a week into the new year I’m having a rough Monday and some pleb doesn’t bow low enough and I’m right back to square one. Not this year. I might never work my way up to Brackk the Great, or Brackk the Merciful, but Brackk the Reasonable? Brackk the ok if you get him on the right day? That seems possible. I’ve read the trick is to come ...

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“A Beaut's Room for Survival ” by David Lontok

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

1) Start fresh and carry onCongratulations, you beautiful breathing thing. Stray bullets from the celebratory gunshots missed your skin on New Year’s Eve. The curfew applauds your compliance, and as promised, you’ve reaped safety.Now, put out that cigarette. You know he despises the sting of your bitter breath—as if his strikes anyone like a wreath of roses. Those “welcome home” kisses bring about the exchange, and his demand repeated through time builds up in volume. This year, don’t wait till his actions speak ...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with someone making a vision board.

Adults – 18 stories

Write a story in the form of a list of New Year's resolutions.

Holiday – 38 stories

Your character always makes the same promise; to change. Will they finally make it happen this time?

Angst – 44 stories

Write a story about someone scrambling on New Year's Eve to fulfil their resolutions for the entire year before the clock strikes twelve.

Funny – 29 stories

End your story with a kiss at midnight.

Romance – 73 stories

Stories

“Resolute” by Saeda Rose

🏆 Winner of Contest #179

1: Exercise More!Buy the shoes. It’s okay, screw the budget, that’s not this year’s resolution. You deserve this. When the saleswoman asks you if you’ve done much running, laugh and gesture to your mid-section. The woman will blink, force out a half-baked hah. It’s a reaction of discomfort, not cruelty; you made it weird. You don’t know why you feel the need to shame your own body in front of a stranger, but you blame it on her lululemon leggings and air-hostess smile. She makes you nervous. Most people do.When you go outside, sit next to a ...

111 comments 111

Read story

“Resolutions for the Great Full” by Zack Powell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Content warning: Mentions/themes of death and mental health issues***Name: Timmy CalhounGrade: 1stDate: Friday, Decimbur 15, 1995Resolution #1: Be more great fullPlease explain: That's what my aunt Lola tells me all the time. That I should be more great full. That means when some one does some thing nice for you, you should say Thank You.I do say it some times. Like when Suzy Brown holded the door for me yesturday after lunch. And also last Krismus when Santa got me a new toy car. It was brite blue, like the one on the TV comershul, and it m...

106 comments 106

Read story

“Rural Route 12: The Beverly Meeks Clinical Research Facility” by Wendy Kaminski

Submitted to Contest #179

Beverly Meeks determined long ago that if she couldn’t find Mr. Wonderful, by God she was going to create him, and she even had the vision boards from over the years which proved her lifelong devotion to the cause.Beverly had first dreamt of marrying the perfect man as a little girl pretending to wed the tux-clad family dog. The years of her youth were spent plotting out her elaborate wedding and her dream life, but as a teen and 20-something, she had hit a wall. However, despite a constant volley of first-and-only-dates and failed relations...

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“You and Me” by Daniel Allen

Submitted to Contest #179

Why can’t I just say how I feel? It shouldn’t be hard. It should be natural. The most natural thing on earth. Everyone does it, right? Everyone’s always done it. It’s nothing. Just one small step. A few words. A few taps of a keyboard, even. I reach for my phone. I’m gonna do it. I could call you, or… no. I’ll text. It’s less stressful that way, for me and for you. It lets us make sure we say precisely what we mean. Less chance for misunderstandings.I open up my messages and scroll to your name. It’s not hard to find. I could pick your ...

Read story

“Cinderella Respun” by Rebecca Miles

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

TW: sinister...When he put the slipper on my foot, beaming up at me from the crimson cushion on which his knee was resting, the thought did pass through my mind: where did he get that other matching shoe from? For I’d left him only the one on the palace steps, that momentous midnight; yet, here he was, on the eve of our wedding, slipping a second identical one onto the foot he claimed had won his heart.“Don’t say anything Cindy, my love,” he said, putting a finger to my lips, “this is my little gift; to say thank you for dancing into my life...

Read story

“Chester & Luna's New Year's Resolutions” by Wally Schmidt

Submitted to Contest #179

“Do you know what day it is?” asks Luna.“Uh-hmm,” Chester dismisses the intrusion.“Betcha don’t.”“I do. Now leave me alone. You’re almost as pesky as the neighbor’s cat,” says Chester.“Okay then what day is it?” says Luna needling him.“God, you’re annoying. But to humor you, it’s New Year’s Eve.”“Yeah.”“Did you think I didn’t notice that he was wearing a tux when they left the house?”“He wouldn’t even let you sniff his crotch,” says Luna.“He just didn’t want any of my hair to rub off on his black pants.”“And what about her?”“A real knock-out...

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“Who Will Clean Out My Sister's Tent Now That She Is Gone?” by AnneMarie Miles

Submitted to Contest #179

TW: drug use, addiction, death.Having risen several inches since the recent storm, the river’s level is high. Its rushing stream should be sonorous, but instead it is just a hushed drone mumbling in the back of my mind as I watch it bustling by, silenced by the overwhelming odiferous wave of decay and manure. They pulled out one thousand tires, tens of mattresses, car parts, animal carcasses, batteries, and other debris from the brown sludge last year in their efforts to “clean up the city”, yet standing here, I cannot tell. "Clean" is certa...

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“Dawn-lit, Forever” by Suma Jayachandar

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

Like a camphor box closed with a cracked lid. That’s how I feel right now. An amorphous lump at the core.There are strangers in the living room. They have not stopped coming since morning. Brother is dealing with them. All I care about is our baby in my arms.“Men from the plains are nothing but trouble,” Ma had warned me while she combed my hair.“Even the ones in uniform, like Brother?” I had countered.“Especially the ones in uniform,” she had pulled my hair tight and tied it into a bun.It didn’t stop me from offering you red tea when my bro...

Read story

“Whelmed” by Michał Przywara

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

It’s been five years since Tabitha totally and completely finished with school, but tonight she has homework. It’s due tomorrow. She’s put it off all week.She places a piece of plain, white letter-size printer paper on her coffee table, in landscape orientation. She sits tall, smooths out the paper, and then smooths out her shirt. And then, smooths out the paper again. She rotates it to the left just a bit, because it’s not centred, and then to the right again. And then she smooths it out once more. Satisfied, she gets up and pours herself w...

Read story

“Bernard (The Saint’s) 2023 New Year's Resolutions” by Kathleen Fine

Submitted to Contest #179

1. Worry about feeling good, not about being thinner.You are not the number on Dr. Collie, the vet’s, scale. You are done with obsessing over what the “normal” weight is for your breed and are going to focus on what the “normal” weight is for your soul.2. Stop gossiping about other dogs.Just because Lucky, the Doberman next door, may or may not have ruined Mrs. Robbin’s flower bushes, it’s not your business. Don't be that dog. Spread positivity only.3. Giv...

Read story

“A Midnight Silence” by V. S. Rose

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #179

The home was dimly lit. Lamp shades spilled a muted light over a navy and white oriental rug in the living room. A television screen flickered a faint glow into the darkness.A woman sat on a shabby couch. Her summery auburn hair hung like a flowing river across her shoulders. Deep blue eyes flecked with emerald were fixed on the screen ahead. A countdown timer sat in the corner; 11:52 PM it read. In a purple bowler hat and a green tie, an aged gentleman — with a jesting crowd behind him — filled the screen. A large sphere, lighted and sparkl...

Read story

“What's in a Name?” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #179

New Year's Eve had arrived. The day we scroll social media to find a gazillion posts of soon to be broken promises, outright lies and ploys for attention. Thats right, it's the whole new year, new me thing. I don't hate New Year's Eve, but you have to admit, it's likely the best day of the year to post certain things on Facebook especially in the marketplace, such as all the exercise equipment, self help books and organization supplies you purchased last year. Personally, I don't own any of those things. I do, however, have something I need ...

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“I Wonder” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #179

I met you when I was sixteen years old while at a small general store in our town. It was my first job.On day one, our manager brought me over to you. You were stocking colorful, fall napkins. “James, this is Lyla. She’ll be joining us part time after school. Help her feel welcome,” said Mark. He smiled and you grimaced. You motioned to the large cardboard box with the backstock. I reached into the box and handed you a pack of napkins decorated with fall leaves. You pushed the ones on the shelf back slightly so you could add this pack. “So, ...

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“Escapee on Mars” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #179

TW: Swearing.Detective Arthas Jacques’ swipes moved images from the network to his visual explanation of Marvel’s character, Vision. “He was created by Tony Stark, who is Iron Man,” said the grown man with the tangible excitement of a toddler who’s heard the ice cream truck. “Why are they hand drawn when you showed me video?” asked Agent Belle Nguyen of the Mars Security Agency. “They’re from the comics, the video you saw was from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He typed in the air. Words appeared amongst the holographic mess of his eclectic ...

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“Emeline, Resolved” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #179

Resolutions for the New Year That Are Manageable and Doable and Stick-To-Able So Help Me God or May My Hair Fall OutDo not give yourself more than ten resolutions, Emeline. Last year you gave yourself eighty-seven resolutions and finished three of them, and one didn’t count. Let’s keep it to ten, shall we? That’s more than enough. If you do all ten, then next year, you can make more resolutions. Although, hopefully, you won’t have to, because you’ll have less wrong with your life. Won’t that be nice?Return all those books about bathroom reno...

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$250

Prize money

202

Contest entries

104

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 06, 2023 EST

Won by Saeda Rose 🏆

Title: Resolute

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.

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