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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

“A Crime for a Penance” by Matt Erlacher

Submitted to Contest #18

Lucas Goodman’s cup clinked as he set it down. It felt good to be in the sunlight again after dodging rain for the past three days. The room at the Trois Chevaux was indeed a place to sleep, but it lacked space one needs to think. Here, by the docks, there was plenty of space under a Caribbean sky. And plenty of seagulls. The seagulls cawed and flew into a cloud of Holy Cain every time a person or dog came within twenty feet of them. And, since this was the main pedestrian and pushcart thoroughfare between the fishmongers’ huts and the docks...

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“The Pickpocket and the Protege” by Nathan Friedman

Submitted to Contest #18

The most important thing, the pickpocket had told the protege, is the misdirection. Your mark will only protect what he thinks you want. The protege had nodded understandingly, had carefully narrowed his eyes in an expression of intense concentration, and then he had taken another long swallow of his drink and signalled the bartender for another. You’re not listening, the pickpocket had said. He was an old man, and his eyes had a layer of cataract so thick the protege imagined he could skim it off like cream from a fresh pail of milk. ...

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“Competition” by Anie Doe

Submitted to Contest #18

Martin was walking calmly in the crowd of people. He knew that any unprecedented or suspiciously quick movement could give him away. He imagined that he was going home from work, tired after the whole day, hoping to find some rest on the sofa but at the same time worried that he will be flooded by the tasks at home. With this picture in his mind, he could easy adopt the right mindset, the right speed and the right expression, so that he would blend in and people would never suspect anything. Being able to pickpocket successfully always depen...

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“The Secret” by Bianca Covarrubias

Submitted to Contest #18

Roundsview was a small neighborhood in the shape of a cul-de-sac which contained ten homes, all but one big empty house on the corner was filled with families. The buildings were tall, sleek, and colorfully painted. The people were wealthy, sophisticated, and bright. It was the sort of place where nothing was kept a secret because everyone knew everything about one another. One sunny afternoon a moving truck caused a commotion of excitement in Roundview. Someone was moving into the empty house on the corner. The families gathered outsid...

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“The 14th Magician” by Rachele L.

Submitted to Contest #18

On a cold night in New York, my mother taught me how to steal sunlight for warmth. It was the first and last time I would ever see her do such powerful magic. “The sun,” she had explained, “Is always there even when we cannot see it. It is always open to us.” She held her hands out of the open window. “When you open yourself to the reality of it, it will in turn respond to you.” When our little apartment was flooded with light and heat, I, in my ignorance and excitement instinctively acted. The magic that ran through my veins sought my...

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“A Thief's Love. ” by Doni Tomos

Submitted to Contest #18

For Paragon, life as a professional thief was more than repayment for his debts. He truly enjoyed the thrill of the art itself. He loved that alluring call of danger attached to every heist, the bubbling sense of uneasiness in his stomach as he wondered if this was the time he would finally be caught; meticulously spending long hours laboring over his plans, sometimes over months, all on a thief's hope that his careful planning would lead him to the treasure he desired.No matter how high the risk was with every job, nothing could ever compar...

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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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