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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#180: A Roll of the Dice

Despite all our skill and effort, sometimes life simply comes down to luck. Whether you’re trying to win a game, land a job, or find a significant other, there’s no sure way to know how it’ll work out — or how good your luck will be. A twist of fate could send you catapulting into happiness, or your luck could sour in the blink of an eye. But if you can push through bad luck, you might just find you can change it.


So this week, you’ll want to get your rabbits’ feet and four leaf clovers ready. Are you feeling lucky?

This week's prompts

Write a story that hinges on the outcome of a coin flip.

Adventure – 72 stories

Start your story with someone having a run of bad luck.

Angst – 42 stories

Write about someone losing their lucky charm.

Mystery – 27 stories

Set your story in a casino.

Adults – 34 stories

Write about someone whose luck is running out.

Character – 44 stories

Stories

“Our Lot in War” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #180

[TW: pg-13 WW2 battle scene]In 1942 my father was lucky. He studied anthropology in university—even published a paper on the Minahasan people of Indonesia—and when the draft came he was enlisted into US Army Intelligence rather than being called up for combat.During the war he shuttled around the Pacific collecting information on local populations, providing weapons to resistance movements, and helping negotiate problems locals had with US military bases.On one such journey, on a troop...

20 comments 20
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“Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #180

Heads I win, tails you lose.I toss the coin over and over, it spins in the air to land in my palm before I slap it over onto the back of my other hand. When I remove my hand, Heads!- ‘May you Rest in Peace Your Majesty’, I think, then flip it again, heads-Her Majesty’s serene profile again. Flip, the silver spins and glints in the artificial light- tails, a little platypus swimming, frozen in time, the monotreme memorialised forever on the tail side of the coin. Growing up, my dad us...

18 comments 18
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“The Turning of the Wheel” by Laurel Hanson

Submitted to Contest #180

Dance stood there, mouth hanging open. He stared at the grey-faced old man who had delivered the verdict, attempting to form words out of the maelstrom of confusion, hurt, and disbelief in his head.“But, I am…” he faltered, not sure how to proceed. If he was to claim he had been the best in the trials, he would sound arrogant on the one hand while insulting to the other applicants on the other. Even though it was true.The maester finished for him. “The best in your level.”“Yes!” D...

23 comments 23
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“The Ringer” by Rachel Belville

Submitted to Contest #180

“Congratulations, you’re in luck!” Fredrick suddenly appears behind me with a slap to my back. The new batch of flour I just made coughs from the bag and sprays me with its powder. Luck. As if that were a real thing. I’ve learned to leave Fredrick to his wild attempts of a better life, always in and out of jobs while trying to drag me along with him. Truth be told, my ‘so-called’ luck couldn’...

6 comments 6
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“Indifference” by ROBERT Ellis

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #180

Eduardo and I sat on the bluff, overlooking the factory complex in the valley below. The gritty sand beneath us was a dusty buff color, matching our sweat-encrusted camouflage clothing. The air was warm from the day-long bright sun, now moving behind the Lliama Volcano in the southern Andes, and particles of dust swirled in the air. As the sun descended, the vents and air conditioning units on the rooftops of the Chilean...

6 comments 6
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“Tilt-a-Whirl” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #180

CW: Wrestling with mortality. Flipping a coin in zero gravity is useless. Floating, it will spin until stopped. Classic indecision. The Commander knew that. No time to waste. Protocols demanded he bring his crew to safety. No time to think or debate. Sounding alarms roused us and all hands jumped to. Redundant systems were failing. The station was shutting down. No one knew why. Meteorite dam...

10 comments 10
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“Maladie” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #180

“It’s either heads or tails, mister…. Heads we fight… tails… well, I guess it’s yer lucky day. Whatever you call don’t matter none to me, coz, if we draw, you die…” Chance Petersen was an ornery, two-faced, back-shooting son-of-a-bitch that wasn’t happy until he picked at least one fight with someone before supper time. The misfortune today, just happened to fall upon the head of a lonely drifter who wandered dry and thirsty into the aptly named, The Last Drink Saloon, in a temporary makeshift railroad town in Arizona cal...

17 comments 17
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“Schweissfuss Rebuffed” by Mary Lehnert

Submitted to Contest #180

 Schlumping a pile of books, trinkets and a very good cashmere twinset, she barged into Mrs.McGillicuddy’s always-open front door and wrenched aside the flimsy opening to my makeshift study. Shocked, I turned just in time to receive the full brunt of the load aimed at my head. Every gift I’d given her including the ruby ring without the stone.“.......... Don’t try to contact me ever again” she snapped..............Don’t worry, I won’t” yelling as she left in high dudgeon. ●But I didn’t mean ...

26 comments 26
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“The Lord Hath Taken Away” by Alexey Williams

Submitted to Contest #180

The sound of the horse hooves clopping on the dead earth helped me forget the ranch. I followed the horses to the scrapyard where the animals weaved through the burnt-out husks of Nissan Maximas and Scania trucks. The horses trod more lightly in this constrained space. They neighed when they struck their shanks against the metal. They neighed when they were confused which way to turn to be free of the cars. I thought I'd follow the horses wherever they led as I had no place to be. They were wild horses.But before I knew ...

9 comments 9
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“Thanks Bitch” by Daniel Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #180

The author has placed a warning on this post for language. This also mentions suicide. So this is where shit lead to? Moving on with life welding pain onto my wall of memories I had of you. Months of talking yet years of being friends. Visions of the perfect duo. Only now I know your senseless. Drifting sorry Pat Briscoe I have to with the loss of affection. I did my part. Where's...

13 comments 13
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“Transparent Lives Pt 1 Father's Prospective” by Daniel Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #180

Language Warning: Lots of curse/swear words. Fuck! I am stuck within the loop. A Ferris wheel of blame for not expressing the truth. A foot on thorns while biting the forbidden fruit. Oblivious to the pain like a kid with cartoons.Broke and ashamed, assuming I could work my way out of it. Doesn't do shit, and the stress is getting me sick. When a dream fades, the thoughts flourish. You hate yourself in ways you never expected.Managing money as if I know how. Investing i...

8 comments 8
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“Dead Cert.” by Katharine Widdows

Submitted to Contest #180

Billy Blue Heart can’t lose, not this time, grand old nag. I say nag, he’s a chestnut four year old with clean legs and near perfect thoroughbred conformation. He’s also got the best jockey of the decade on his back and 200 quid of my hard-earned cash in an each-way bet on his 3 o’clock at Kempton.But just to be sure. . .“Alright Charlie, lager top and a packet o’ pork scratchin’s?” I shout over the crowd to the corner table.“You know it.” Charlie winks at me and flashes that gold toot...

20 comments 20
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“Playing Alone” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #180

PLAYING ALONE    She was half my age wrapped in a gold dress. She sat beside me, buying into the game with five hundred dollars. My blackjack table had nine empty stools and she picked the one that put her thigh against mine. I tapped for another card and busted out. She patted my back in sympathy.    She waved off the dealer ignoring the game. “You’re in here a lot.” She s...

2 comments 2
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“Burn” by Sherri Moorer

Submitted to Contest #180

“I can’t believe our credit card got hacked,” Kyra said. “Thanks for picking up the tab. The bank said we should get a new card soon, but until then we’re on a budget.”“It’s no problem,” Cinia said, sipping her white wine and studying the people bustling about the elegant restaurant. “I wouldn’t miss our monthly dinner over a trifle like money.”Kyra drank her wine and stared at Cinia. “I heard that everybody who got gas at the station outside of the neighborhood was hacked in the past six weeks, except you and Harlan. We’ve ...

4 comments 4
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“Losing Lucky” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #180

“What have you got in your mouth!”It’s not a game! Not this time! Bloody hell! Who the hell knew that owning a Labrador was like owning a vacuum cleaner with teeth? I dart around one side of the table, and he, like a black shadow with eyes, a maniacal grin, and what can only be described as an evil genius doggy laugh- mwhahaha, you think you can catch me! Foolish human!- darts the other way.“Stop! You bloody-” ooof! Nope. Slipperier than a greased pig- I wonder what a greased pig feel...

14 comments 14
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$250

Prize money

219

Contest entries

101

Stories

Ended on 22:59 - Jan 13, 2023 EST

Won by Marilyn Filewood 🏆

Title: Come In Spinner

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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