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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#18: Pocketful of Sunshine

Pockets are where we keep items of importance: our keys, cellphone, wallet, or, if you're Bilbo Baggins, the One Ring. (And if you're Natasha Bedingfield, the sun.)

Losing or finding such items can be a strong starting point for a story. Which is why this week, we're challenging you to write a pocket-sized (aka "short") story based on a pocket-themed prompt.

🥇 Winner

“The Price of a Nice Guy” by Sam Lauren

🏆 Winner of Contest #18

The worst part about a flat tire is the men. You'd think it would be the lug wrench. It's so cold that it hurts your fingers to touch it but if you don't hold on tight the lugs will never come off. It's gangly, like you, but it's got four long limbs and you're the shortest woman in your family. It's awkward to handle. Sometimes when your fingers slip you crack your knuckles against the metal and it hurts enough to make you curse aloud. It's not the worst part though. Neither is the rain. It soaks through your sweater and the Save...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“A Million Ancient Bees” by Zilla Babbitt

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

The tears dripped off my nose, down, falling to the ground until they hit the floor and disappeared into the reaching embrace of the ground. I wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to swallow my sobs. My body shook. Outside, the sky was turning a purple-blue sunset, like a bruise filling the sky. I could hear the whining of the bees outside, pulling the shrill scream of the bees out of the sky like a whirling vortex. I hurt. The sobs racked my body as I tried to quell them. I was cold. The little house that I had found on this abandoned ...

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“Enchanting” by Tim Law

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

I wish I could have told you it was a dark and stormy night. I wish I could stand before you and swear that the lightning flashed and the thunder crashed, igniting the night’s sky with a furious cacophony that blinded and deafened those that witnessed it. But no, to state such a thing would be a lie that would sour this tale. To begin with truth means that I the storyteller can be trusted and believed by you the reader. And so I will inform you that the day was unbelievably plain, a touch overcast perhaps but by no means a memorable Spring m...

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“The Sunshine Pocket” by Grace Noel

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

Mama calls it her sunshine pocket. It’s sewed on a big tweed coat, frayed strings poking out every which way like dead bug legs. The fabric’s brown as dirt with buttons as shiny as beetle backs. It’s too big for Mama, cause she got herself so skinny. I lay on it sometimes. I lay on it a lot at night while Mama works. My head goes right next to the sunshine pocket on Mama’s lap while she tippy taps away at a keyboard. There’s a big window on the wall of the apartment, so big you can see the city lights get all awake when ...

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“Odd Naphthalene” by Mike Garrigan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

Walking through the thrift store, I ran my fingers along the secondhand jackets. A navy blue wool jacket hid matching slacks inside its cover. A subdued flannel blazer reminded me of Christmas. A gray herringbone sport jacket whispered undisclosed panache.I bought the herringbone. While it diminished this morning’s t-shirt coffee stains, the jacket smelled like an odd naphthalene, like moth balls. As I rambled home, I admired the jacket’s meticulous weave. I peeked inside the jacket’s front chest pocket. For a moment, I thought the prev...

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“Melody of the Hunt” by Maddie Logemann

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

Quiver and hunting bow were his most prized possessions, one slung over his shoulder, the other held tight with stained wood smooth under calloused fingertips. An arrow nocked in careful decision, he stalked silent through the lush forest growth. It was with a thrill in his blood, a trapped butterfly pulse beating beneath his skin, that he tracked the snapped ferns. The white catches of fur, the spare spottings of blood, they led him after the frenzied hare with an arrow shaft sticking splintered from its haunch. It was a dead thing walking,...

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“Retail Therapy” by Miki Reilly-Howe

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

“I like it.” He smiles at her with his crinkly blue eyes. Miranda walks over to the mirror by the register to evaluate the coat. She looks at herself squarely, then twists back and forth, watching the gentle folds of emerald green wool drape from her shoulders and swirl around her. “I like it, too.”The elderly lady behind the register smiles. “It fits you perfectly.”“It does!” Miranda smiles. “It reminds me of…something.” Her husband walks up behind her, fingers her auburn hair back off her shoulders. Their eyes meet in the mirror. “Reminds ...

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“The Fate of Fashion” by Unknown User

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

It was an impulse buy. The blazer on the mannequin caught Celia’s eye from the window of the thrift shop; her feet veered into the doorway before she even had time to think. The clerk was busy with someone at the check-out counter in the back of the store. Celia looked at her watch and frowned. She could tell that if she waited to ask to try on the blazer, it would make her late to work and not just a few forgivable minutes late, not that her boss ever forgave anything. She hesitated a moment and then squeezed past the rack of purses ...

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“The Marble Collector” by Lauren Ford

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

The dust particles looked like tiny insects, whose wings were sparkling in the afternoon light filtering in through the window. The one that hadn’t been opened in more than thirty years. It would have been almost a beautiful sight had the room not been quite so suffocating. Walt pushed the door further inwards and felt the dust already begin to irritate the sensitive hairs in his nose. His right hand reached out to the wall beside him, groping for the light switch. When his fingers failed to land on anything but dry wall, he sighed, an...

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“Lock away compass, Lock away Mom” by Isabella Stein

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

"Mom, look at this!" I called, pulling the dress out of the large bin in front of me. Initially, when my Mom brought up the idea of going through the attic, I was opposed, but with a little chocolate and ten bucks, I was kneeling on the cracked, wooden floors, rummaging through an old chest. "It looks victorian to me," she replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. The chemotherapy took a toll on her physically. Her skin was a shade paler than it used to be, and her hair was thinning rapidly. I glanced down at the dress that lay in my ...

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“The Memory Ticket” by Mary Waters

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

It was no good, I’d wallowed enough. Time to sort myself out. Since long before Matt died, I promised myself I’d one day reach the attic. Today was to be the day. I paused before placing my foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. The last time I’d been up there was ten years ago, when we moved here. Matt laughed at my fear of the attic and I tried to join in, but I felt terrified. ‘My big sisters told me there were bats in out attic when I was a kid,’ I told him. ‘I think it scared me so much that I’ve never built up the nerve to go an...

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“Jade's Jewelry ” by Gabrielle Marie

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

Jade tucked both hands into her pockets, making small hops on the porch hoping it would warm her up. Why hadn’t she worn a heavier jacket? “Take a jacket, you never know when you might need it. The car could break down, you could get stuck in the snow…blah, blah, blah” Jackson’s words, muttered from her lips. She knocked again. Three rapid taps. This last-minute stop was going to give her pneumonia. “It’s open!” Came the call from inside. She quickly opened the door and stepped inside. “You know you can just walk in!” Her mom walke...

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This week's prompts

Write a story about a character who buys a secondhand coat and then discovers something in the pocket.

Thriller and Suspense – 99 stories

Your fingers tensed around the object in your pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

Science Fiction – 44 stories

Write a story about someone cleaning out their attic. They find an old piece of clothing, and inside of its pocket is an old keepsake.

Adults – 52 stories

"It was just here!" you shout, frantically searching your pockets for the missing thing.

Funny – 31 stories

Write a story about a very skilled pickpocket.

Character – 65 stories

Stories

“The Price of a Nice Guy” by Sam Lauren

🏆 Winner of Contest #18

The worst part about a flat tire is the men. You'd think it would be the lug wrench. It's so cold that it hurts your fingers to touch it but if you don't hold on tight the lugs will never come off. It's gangly, like you, but it's got four long limbs and you're the shortest woman in your family. It's awkward to handle. Sometimes when your fingers slip you crack your knuckles against the metal and it hurts enough to make you curse aloud. It's not the worst part though. Neither is the rain. It soaks through your sweater and the Save...

Read story

“Attic” by Cam Croz

Submitted to Contest #18

The attic.A place of dust, of things, long forgotten. Some people don’t know they have an attic. Some just don’t acknowledge it. Several forget they own an attic all together. Very few actually use theirs. It’s too fragile up there to keep all sorts of things like in movies, right? I for one didn’t even have an attic at all. Or at least, that what I’d thought. ---Our house (us being my mother, father and baby sister) was a very, very old cabin. My grandparents had passed it down to us after their parents ha...

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“A Million Ancient Bees” by Zilla Babbitt

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

The tears dripped off my nose, down, falling to the ground until they hit the floor and disappeared into the reaching embrace of the ground. I wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to swallow my sobs. My body shook. Outside, the sky was turning a purple-blue sunset, like a bruise filling the sky. I could hear the whining of the bees outside, pulling the shrill scream of the bees out of the sky like a whirling vortex. I hurt. The sobs racked my body as I tried to quell them. I was cold. The little house that I had found on this abandoned ...

Read story

“Fanboys” by Miles Gatling

Submitted to Contest #18

Francis pushed down on the crowbar, putting all his weight into it. The window swiftly rose accompanied by the sound of splitting timber. His heart skipped. He remained motionless, head ducted between his shoulders, listening for any sign of movement. Nothing came from inside the house. Francis tucked the crowbar in his backpack, and gently pulled himself up. Closing the window behind him, he felt there was no room inside his chest for air. The space was filled by his heart, that pumped furiously. He feared the banging would wake up anyone l...

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“Enchanting” by Tim Law

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

I wish I could have told you it was a dark and stormy night. I wish I could stand before you and swear that the lightning flashed and the thunder crashed, igniting the night’s sky with a furious cacophony that blinded and deafened those that witnessed it. But no, to state such a thing would be a lie that would sour this tale. To begin with truth means that I the storyteller can be trusted and believed by you the reader. And so I will inform you that the day was unbelievably plain, a touch overcast perhaps but by no means a memorable Spring m...

Read story

“Magic Music Box” by Leya Newi

Submitted to Contest #18

Lily pushed on the hatch, then climbed up into the attic and looked around. This was going to be a big job. She grabbed four nearly empty boxes and combined them into one box. Lily labeled the other three boxes TRASH, KEEP, and DONATE. Lily slowly went through the boxes, many filled with dust-covered photos. These she put in the KEEP box, thinking she would go through them all later. Lily put some old books into the DONATE box, and a moldy toy duck into the TRASH box.As Lily cleaned out the attic, she began to remember. Remembered all the go...

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“Picked The Wrong Pocket” by M.D. Smith

Submitted to Contest #18

It used to be his profession until he spent some time in prison. That was years ago, now he had a good job, wife and two kids. Frankie Valoucci was a changed man, except he loved the skill he practiced for years, slipping a wallet out of a man’s pocket or woman’s purse. Some never noticed until they tried to retrieve it and found it missing. It had been years since he exercised his skills except to play with his kids putting things in their pockets or taking stuff out without their knowledge. His wife Doris frowned on even these ‘play’ acti...

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“Ring In The Changes.” by Jenny Cook

Submitted to Contest #18

Claire rummaged through the rack of coats in the charity shop.Money was tight and her old coat was falling apart.A royal blue woollen coat caught her eye.It was a fairly modern style and the pearlescent buttons gleamed prettily." Mummaaa,Mummaaa!" wailed her two year old from the pram.The tot's windblown hair and snotty nose added to the look of absolute misery on her face.She had been sick all week with a cold and now badly needed a nap.Claire quickly paid for the coat and wheeled the grizzling toddler home. Katie was soon fast asleep after...

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“Night Shift” by Arthur Tiberio

Submitted to Contest #18

It was almost three stations later when he finally noticed. To be fair, his new purchase had the most outrageously irritating collar, which had absorbed his attention for no small period of time, but the sheer bulk of the rod should have alerted him to its presence sooner, he thought. When he first touched it in a creased alcove of the deep pockets, he felt a shiver of nervous electricity race up his spine. He thought it was a gun. Only guns made you feel like that, like you could take on the very stars, and snuff them out one at a time. A r...

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“The Sunshine Pocket” by Grace Noel

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #18

Mama calls it her sunshine pocket. It’s sewed on a big tweed coat, frayed strings poking out every which way like dead bug legs. The fabric’s brown as dirt with buttons as shiny as beetle backs. It’s too big for Mama, cause she got herself so skinny. I lay on it sometimes. I lay on it a lot at night while Mama works. My head goes right next to the sunshine pocket on Mama’s lap while she tippy taps away at a keyboard. There’s a big window on the wall of the apartment, so big you can see the city lights get all awake when ...

Read story

“The Opal of My Eye” by Bree Kokiri

Submitted to Contest #18

“Navia Rio… help… Navia Rio PLEASE HELP US” The screams echo but I can’t find their source. I’m running, but I’m so out of breath, and this forest seems endless. “I’m here!” I scream into the nothing. “Where are you?” What are you? I think. It doesn’t matter. I’m close… I clutch the opal around my neck. It’s glowing so brightly it’s illuminating my path. “Sálvanos a todos!” The voices call back in a desperately plea. I’m frantically scraping through the brush, trying to do just that, save them all, when I am hit over the head. A man wit...

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“Timebomb” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #18

NowThere were too many to fight. He was outnumbered ten thousand to one. He watched as they all raced towards him, vengeance in their eyes and murder on their lips. They came in a mob, clamouring for his blood, each wanting to say, “I helped kill him. I was part of it.”He stood perfectly still, hands in his pockets, not flinching or recoiling in the slightest. His hand brushed against the thing in his pocket, and his fingers clutched at it; ready, waiting.The throng thundered down on him, not knowing what was to come. He grinned. Even after ...

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“Caramel” by Agnes Sharan

Submitted to Contest #18

They say our instincts act in a split second.“Arrrrthhhuurrrr!” My head was ringing, my jaw clenched. It was a cold windy night, the alley not any kinder. I pulled my coat tighter around myself. My body was fighting the cold, but the fear coursing through seemed to warm it enough to make my clenched fists sweat. I wanted to put my hand into my pocket but knew that won’t do me any good at this point.“Arrrrthhhurrrr!”I kept seeing him out of the corner of my eyes, grinning, his eyes lit up like he’s happy right where he is. He looked bett...

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“Persephone's Coin” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #18

Huddled beside a radiator at the cinema, there were only two things on your mind: Joaquin Phoenix and a taxi cab. Your hands scurried in your pockets, pushing past the lint and left over nibbles of cookie dough. It always seemed like you had just the right amount of change. There was just enough change to get you a taxi to Grand Central Station, where you could take the Q32 to Harlem. And there maybe, just maybe, some bright-eyed Harlem girl would take interest in you and bring you inside. Harlem girls were always the pursuers. You’re ...

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“Ghost Strum” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #18

Jane pointed. “Where did that come from?”Molly followed her mother’s gaze to the milk glass picture frame standing atop a shelf beneath the window. It captured the sunlight and seemed to glow. But Jane didn’t see the frame. She only saw the black and white photo of her teenaged self, arm in arm with a handsome kid in uniform. Molly answered carefully. “I found it in a box of old frames at the thrift store. Who’s the guy?”Her mother moved toward the picture. “It needs to go into the trash. Now.”Molly grabbed it and held it close. “I bought it...

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$50

Prize money

291

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 06, 2019 EST

Won by Sam Lauren 🏆

Title: The Price of a Nice Guy

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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