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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.

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

“Ladybug” by Deanna Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #18

Charlie stormed out of the apartment pushing the door open with so much force that the door unhinged from the fame leaving it hanging in an awkward position.Frantic, Athena followed behind him."I'm so sorry Charlie, I was jus-" "Sorry? You're Sorry? You think that's gonna bring the jacket back? My granddad's broach was in the pocket, Athena! You're so selfish! So insensitive! I can't believe you did this. I don't know why you're so worried about aesthetics, Athena. Who the fuck cares! I'm so done. We're done!" "I was just trying to...

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“Return to Sender” by Sam DuBois

Submitted to Contest #18

Return to Sender! (for Prompts Round #167, no. 1, something in the second-hand pocket)Dorina was in tears when I went to her office, for HER to solve a problem for ME!I know the best thing is just to listen, so I did!She told me:“You know that my job is to switch people’s records over to local coverage here, when they come to town. That’s easy, and there are hardly ever ANY complications or confusion. I just show them how it works here, what they’ve got, and ask what else they need!“...

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“The Green Coat” by Monalisa Singh

Submitted to Contest #18

It was fifteen past ten in the morning and Sam was going at an unprecedented speed, blow-drying her hair. She was running awfully behind time. She was expected at her friend’s house for Thanksgiving lunch at 11 o’ clock. For once, she wanted to surprise everyone by being at some place she was invited to on time. Last night, she finished watching Netflix shows at 10:30 and was on bed at eleven. With plans to get up early, she closed her eyes not giving in to her Instagram temptation. Her phone started ringing at 11:15pm and her mom’s face was...

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“The Scavenger” by Rebecca Shipp

Submitted to Contest #18

Jack walked through the field, the stench of dead bodies floating up through the air and into his nose, despite the handkerchief he wore over his face. Bodies were everywhere. They went for miles in every direction, and were a couple of feet deep. Deeper in some places. Broken, bloody, and completely lifeless. Most of them were naked--already picked clean ages ago. Jack walked through the bodies quickly, only giving them a quick glance before moving on. They weren’t what he was looking for. It seemed a lifetime ago that Jack was a preacher i...

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“The Corduroy Goodbye” by Autumn Easter

Submitted to Contest #18

It was nothing special. A jacket. A simple, old, used-- jacket. Faye had always enjoyed thrift shopping. Doing so, made her feel like she was living in someone else's life. Each piece of clothing seemed to have it's own story. And she was determined to figure them out, or perhaps create her own. But this heavy jacket, hardly her size, caught her racing attention.Corduroy and cozy. Old, like new. It had seen better days, perhaps years ago. Worn, it was. Torn even. Faye brought it, gingerly, to her thin nose, it's smoky fragrance, burning. A s...

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“Thompson and Thompson ” by Gladys Teo

Submitted to Contest #18

“Have a good day, sir!” The guy at the cashier said as Charlie left the secondhand store with his newly bought second hand coat. Charlie wasn’t one to usually buy secondhand things but the coat was a singular exception. It bore too much of a resemblance to the coat he remembered his father wearing to work, as a kid for him to resist the urge to buy it. The fact that his father was now gone only further promoted him to purchase the coat. Along with the fact that most of his memories of his father often featured that coat of his. His father wa...

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“To Luscious” by C. Freshour

Submitted to Contest #18

The sun shown warm through the old-smelling window by the storefront. Rachel was glad the rack of clothes she was glued to was so close to the window; she had been so cold that day and the sun felt so good. Even though it was May there was still a chill in the air. Maybe that's why it wasn't odd that Rachel was looking through a rack of mostly coats, even though summer was well on its way. She loved visiting that little thrift store; it was situated on the street where her mom used to take her to get her hair cut when...

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“Through the eyes of the damned.” by Sana Mansoor

Submitted to Contest #18

I was sifting through my attic for wearable warm clothes as the thin white layers of snow had started covering the roads, houses and cars. Amidst the dusty old cardboard boxes, I found an old book bound in surprisingly clean and dazzling red velvet. There was nothing written on the cover so I opened the book and discovered that it was a diary. Unlike the neat cover, the writing inside was rather peculiar and crooked. Each letter written by the author screamed apprehension and fear, written in dark black, seemingly with a charcoal pencil, it ...

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“The old jacket with a secret” by Kobus Taljaard

Submitted to Contest #18

The old jacket with a secretA story of the relentless power in forgiveness. Chapter 1Bill has already lost almost 20kg since his wife died in 2016 and he has no warm clothes. He has been on the streets already for nearly a year since his eviction in January 2019 after. Bill’s emotional journey began with the death of his best friend and business partner Cyril and then two years later his wife Rebecca, who died during childbirth. Rebecca developed Preeclampsia in the sixth month of pregnancy, but it was not detected by the doctors and wh...

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“Recipies of Aldershot” by Wendalynn Donnan

Submitted to Contest #18

Tabitha folded the letter and placed it in her jacket pocket – the secret zippered pocket for the things to be hidden. She looked around the attic and noticed the same things that had been here the last time but with an added odd feeling. She knew she would not be back for a little while. 1957 was supposed to be a good year, not one in which her father would remarry that woman that we all hear about on those radio programs. In the far corner of the attic was a broken sewing machine - the one she broke when she was attempting to sew a jacket ...

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“Midnight Ride in Time” by Michael Lacey

Submitted to Contest #18

I stumble out of the haberdashery. They said the coat I picked up had just been donated, abandoned in a local alley or a similar story of the sort. I didn’t care to hear the story. I just needed something to help conceal my person. I will say this coat may not do the trick. It’s certainly an odd style. It seems to be made of dyed leather—better black than my usual red— and there’s is actual metal built into it with the buckles. As I try to button it closed, I only find a few buttons—metal as well—but they’re hardly enough to keep it closed. ...

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“Life Change in a Second-hand Pocket” by Renee Ferrell

Submitted to Contest #18

Jasper reached over and dragged the upside-down black bowler hat towards him. The edges of the hat were becoming a little frayed and tiny black threads poked out from the rim in various places. Scooping the money out of the hat, he quickly counted the bills and change and stuffed it in his pants pocket, the left one, the right one had a hole in it and he had worked too hard to lose his money that way. His reward after banging on a bongo drum for four hours, twelve dollars and fifteen cents. A kid about his age had thrown in a chocolate bar e...

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“The Key” by Gwen Davis

Submitted to Contest #18

Kara loved cosplay. It was the perfect hobby to take her away from a dull corporate world. Her cosplay endeavours often led her to thrift shops for cheap supplies and clothes she could alter. Luck seemed to always be in her favor at a little thrift shop known as “The Attic.” There, Kara always found exactly what she was after in her size. On a particularly rainy Winter day, Kara stopped in to search for her latest design. Her work week had ended and the freedom to create over the weekend was beginning. She found the perfect princess st...

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“Santa’s Bell” by Rantia Ravi

Submitted to Contest #18

Ding! Goes the sound of the bell as it chimes when you open the creaky door, entering the little shop called, “Polar Gifts”.You peer around, glancing at old music boxes and snow globes, blowing away the dust from old books, and observing worn nutcrackers. This tiny shop really is a wonderland of antiques! It wasn’t until you sifted through the clothing rack, that your eyes caught glimpse of a peculiar navy blue robe. You examine it further, holding it in your arms and feeling how surprisingly soft it is, even though it looks so torn up and w...

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“Hand Me Down Princess” by Rebecca Vargo

Submitted to Contest #18

When I was a little girl my favorite part of living in Hollywood was sitting on the boulevards and watching the rich and famous in their fancy clothes walk here and there. The youngest child in a litter of seven, and the only girl, my clothing were always what my older brothers grew out of. I never minded, or complained, because I knew there were families that had even less than we had. My mother and father worked hard to support our family, but in all fairness, being from a small little no named county in southern Alabama, I don’t think eit...

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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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