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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

“Under Lock and Key” by Jack Kelleher

Submitted to Contest #18

George pulled the battered old duffle coat up and flipped his collar to shield himself from the harsh November wind, cutting through the air into his exposed skin. With the collar so close to his face, George could smell the must that still lingered, despite him airing it for the whole weekend. He always aired clothes he picked up from charity shops. He felt like he could smell the history on them. The person before; their thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams. And then the stagnation of them all as they sit on a rack in the corner of a shop,...

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“The Talisman ” by Kat Paulick

Submitted to Contest #18

“Man, where did that chill come from?” Alex pulled her cardigan tight around her torso as they walked. The sun had dipped beneath the horizon and a fierce wind had picked up, the temperature having dropped twenty degrees in minutes. Trevor shrugged. “You know what they say about Colorado. If you don’t like the weather, just wait ten minutes.” “Okay, dad,” Alex said, rolling her eyes, her teeth beginning to chatter. “But I am not walking all the way to Joey’s freezing to death. Let’s stop in that thrift store and see if there’s a ra...

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“The Answer” by Kaitlyn DeMetro

Submitted to Contest #18

The worst about living in Brunswick, Maine are the blizzards, or rather, how we destroy what lies in its wake. A consuming atmosphere of exquisite, sparkling ice swept away by snowplows and salt trucks. Within minutes, our picturesque winter wonderland was reduced to grey slush. The crunch beneath my boots was loud and inelegant in contrast to the gentle leisure of the falling snow. The storm had cleared and left behind a slow fall like ashes after an erupting volcano. A bell dinged above my head as I entered Second Best Thrift. The rush o...

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“Letter Home” by Amanda Raynor

Submitted to Contest #18

“So how does it feel?” she asked.The two had, for the past twenty minutes or so, been strolling hand-in-hand almost wordlessly through a beautifully Victorian city park, legacy of the English amateur botanist-entrepreneur turned philanthropist Henry Shaw. Fingers intertwined, arms swinging sometimes madly at her infectious insistence, they soaked in the gorgeously crisp and vibrant early-spring day. Sweet tender infant grass and sprouting daffodils gently enticed. Come, they said softly, stop and breathe in our new life, invigorate in ...

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“A second chance” by Lea -

Submitted to Contest #18

My feet pounded the pavement, puffs of smoke emanated from between my frost bitten lips as I began to tighten my fist around the crumpled bills that a good Samaritan gave me earlier in the day. I needed to get to the store on Lenox before they closed up shop for Christmas. It was rare when I came into ownership of such a large sum of money. Well, large for me. I needed something to wear that would keep the winter chill at bay. The shop came into view, it’s glass window spattered with handwritten signs. The hardwood front door had seen ...

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“Christmas Without.....” by Abbie Burchell

Submitted to Contest #18

Friday Evening. “But mom, for once I'd like something new. I don't want anything from a thrift store. People are going to notice a Calvin Klein knock off!” She doesn't say anything, just looks at me with anger and disgust. I meet her with the same look, trying to muster all my rage into it. As the youngest child and going to middle school, there's not much you can do to about getting new things. A) No one is willing to give u enough money to spend it for yourself and b) you always get ‘hand me downs’ from your older siblings – it’s like this...

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“The Notice” by Nora Sheppard

Submitted to Contest #18

Bennet Mason Jr. was born in 1902, at the turn of a century barreling towards industrialization. The small local merchant was soon passé. Goods could now be made at factories and shipped by railroad. Who needed a horse and buggy when Henry Ford’s model T could ferry you from place to place? Bennet was born in a mansion on 5th Avenue in New York City. Nannies and butlers saw to his every need. His parents, though often absent as they flitted from party to party, fawned over him. Bennet’s father made his fort...

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“Coffee Shop Meetings” by Margo Harris

Submitted to Contest #18

As Danny stood in front of me, talking about who knows what, my heart raced. I ached for him to realize he loved me, pull me closer, and lay the most passionate kiss on my lips that anyone had ever experienced in their life. My hands were buried deep in my pockets, one clenching a note exposing everything that I was never able to tell him. God, how I wished I wasn’t so scared. We could’ve been together already, but every time I want to say something meaningful, nothing comes out of my mouth. “And that’s how we ended up meeting Paul McCart...

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“Orange Gin” by Cindy Marabito

Submitted to Contest #18

I’d almost forgotten about Paris until I reached into my coat pocket and found it. That old rosary of hers. And, she hadn’t used it for secular reasons, either. I almost laughed out loud. Nobody who wasn’t from Beaumont would even get the joke. There’d been a headband with a black net bow and a bunch of bracelets, too, but the rosary and cross was all I’d kept. It was plastic.I could walk through pretty much anything and had. I thought about that time I’d gone all the way to Beaumont when Paris had died. There hadn’t been anybody else to go ...

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“A Mother's Love” by Nicole Rook

Submitted to Contest #18

The cold wind beat hard against her thin worn hoodie, stinging the exposed flesh of her face. “I was so stupid.” Janie huddled against the cold hard brick wall of the Salvation Army Store. The small overhang provided little shelter through out the night. A beat-up aging minivan pulled into the parking lot. The worn-out blue paint was barely discernable through the snow.A plump woman with dark skin and kind bright hazel eyes hopped out of the Van and hurried to the door.“I’m sorry Miss, we are not opening today.”&nbsp...

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“Talisman” by Emilie Conroy

Submitted to Contest #18

Ian Evelake had never really believed he would die at seventeen. The way the night was shaping up, dying had almost become an absolute. Idiot! Why had he come out here at night without telling anyone? His mother didn’t know, his cousins didn’t know. This was the one time he hadn’t gone to his regular haunt at Hatchery Bluff, the cliffs overlooking Summertide Bay. No. Tonight he’d felt like walking the paths in the woods behind Grayfall High. And tonight&nb...

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“Hunter Street” by Anisha Sahni

Submitted to Contest #18

Hunter Street was empty on this brisk Sunday evening— apart from two souls, a man and a woman, walking toward each other. It was 6 PM, just as the sun was setting— painting the sky with its glorious mural as it fell out of sight. He gazed up, excited by the sunset. ‘It’s perfect!’ He thought, as his eyes shifted from the sky to the landscape of autumnal leaves covering the ground where they walked. A gust of wind seemed like his perfect excuse to reach into the pocket of his w...

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“The flight of the Heron” by Corey Bynum

Submitted to Contest #18

Miranda was led barefoot into the great hall by her mother and father. They dressed her in white and atop her head was a crown of daisies and myrtle. It had been two days since Mirandas first blood. In those two days, the news had spread throughout the town and a feast was prepared. Tonight, Miranda and her family would dine at the head table while the langors sung songs of her victory. Miranda remembered going to her friend Erin’s feast-night. She helped pick the flowers for her crown. The langors sung, people drank and had their way with t...

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“The Coyotes” by Sarcastic Kate

Submitted to Contest #18

The twelve year old girl, barefoot, walked through the streets that evening alone. Her friend was supposed to meet her at Deflune Way but Jules ended up getting sick at the last minute. This is the first time she ever had to break the two-by-two rule that was put in place for their neighborhood. Always, always travel in twos. The sun set quickly on this side of town, as the layer of dust and smog that filled the skies welcomed darkness and invited it to descend earlier than intended. The buildings were all 5 stories at least, with 12 being t...

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“Winding the Family Cuckoo Clock” by Karen Waugh

Submitted to Contest #18

So there I was on the edge of a cliff hanger and time abruptly stopped to have a nervous breakdown on me. It was Monday and we all know how Monday's can be! I think I forgot to wind the cuckoo clock! Life is like a soap opera cliff hanger and nervous breakdowns are insane. All I know is that I heard the telephone ring and I woke up way too fast. The clock read 5:25 a.m. and the caller was chattering away a mile a minute. It looks like "the voice" was back in my life. The voice, being my mother's landlord and best friend, needed a little he...

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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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