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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#183: Opposite Day

January 25th was National Opposite Day — the day when topsy-turviness rules, and nothing is as it seems. On Opposite Day, you’re supposed to say the exact opposite of what you mean. And while this holiday is probably just one for kids, it’s a fun excuse to think about the ways we communicate, and about the concept of “opposites” more generally.


Opposites are a frequent source of inspiration for writing; whether your opposing forces provide balance, or are at odds with one another. With that in mind, this week’s prompts are all about obfuscation, contrast, and swapping between extremes.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone who is cursed to always say the opposite of what they mean.

Dialogue – 26 stories

Write a story about two opposites finding themselves surprisingly attracted to one another.

Romance – 48 stories

Write about a character who uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism.

Character – 14 stories

Write a story that includes the line “We’re just too different.”

Angst – 67 stories

Write a story about two characters whose paths briefly cross, but are actually going in opposite directions — whether literally or figuratively.

Dramatic – 93 stories

Stories

“Alternatives” by Matthew Goldstein

Submitted to Contest #183

I’m going to kill her. Feet pounding down the pavement, his hand slid along the bulge in his overcoat for the thousandth time, tracing the solid bulk of the gun within. She did it for the last time. The last goddamn time. The bitter wind tugged at his hair, billowing it out into a sea of black tentacles. The bare trees and cloudy sky passed unseen overhead, the rumble of traffic an unregistered background hum. He had never been a violent person, had never harmed anyone, not even an animal. The gun had been locked away since he had bo...

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“Speed Dating” by James Beamish

Submitted to Contest #183

There she was, just ahead. He’d been staring at her for half the morning but hadn’t quite found the right thing to say.  He’d wanted to act calm and casual, to look like he hadn’t a care. He felt like he’d basically achieved that. He’d been leaning back, stretching out, pretty much the image of a relaxed guy. Wearing the sunglasses indoors had probably not been the best move as he had probably missed some of the visual part of the briefing. He’d been so busy trying to act cool that, to be honest, he had missed some of what had bee...

2 comments 2
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“The Never-ending Journey” by Jessie Squires

Submitted to Contest #183

Can I sit here? His eyes plead as I look up. A man stands in front of me where there was once no one. I look at his clean, white sneakers on the grubby, worn carpet, then follow the line of his slim legs and grey sweater until I find his kind face. It is the same man I have been watching for the past half hour. I press my lips together, trying to form a smile. I adjust how I am sitting, though nothing about the space between us changes. I tuck my tote bag further underneath my legs, also changing nothing. Regardless, I hear him whisper “than...

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“Fortune” by Daniel Nixon

Submitted to Contest #183

Ulysses Thrash, a man of Fortune, rode north on his black Andalusian. The sun reflected off every silver stud on his belt and saddle. The shadows had grown long on his right when Thrash spotted another rider coming south. A much younger man. He sat on a dirty draft horse. He wore no hat, nor even boots. His bare feet were easily spotted as the horse bore no saddle or stirrups. The rider stopped in the middle of the road under the shade of an oak and sat looking south.  As he approached, Thrash tipped his hat to the young man with a ...

6 comments 6
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“Anywhere ” by Elizabeth Benton

Submitted to Contest #183

Addy groaned when she felt her watch buzz on her wrist. An alert of an hour passed, meaning that it was now three in the morning. She turned over yet again and tried to force herself to sleep. It worked as well as it had the last three hours. The previous day's events pushed themselves into her mind. Every little thing. The ache in her chest got deeper every hour. Everything hurts worse at night. She had just started to drift when a ding coming from her nightstand made her aware that she still wasn't asleep. She resisted it, knowing that n...

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“Hitting a rainbow” by Peter Naughton

Submitted to Contest #183

The Lady said many kind things to Bernadette. She told Bernadette, "dear Bernadette, This is going to happen in the world. There will come a day in the future when all humans, animals, and all living creatures including insects will think the same thought at exactly the same moment. This will happen all across the world. And at that moment something beautiful will happen and it will bring happiness to all of us." "But", Bernadette wanted to ask a question but to her amazement, the lady disappeared. She went and tol...

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“Contrary” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #183

“I’ve not had enough! You’ve not had your fun yet! You absolutely must keep me imprisoned here!” I laugh and that laughter is joyful and it is merry. Even my laughter? No! It is not my laughter. Inside I am wailing and gnashing my teeth and crying out for a release from this hell, but increasingly I feel those words that are not my own, the very opposite of my own, exerting an awful power over me. Those words are changing me and I don’t know whether I can stop that.  Words are my prison and I don’t know how much more...

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“The Careful Curse” by Julia Urrutia

Submitted to Contest #183

The Careful Curse In a town of the Californian Central Valley located at the base of a dense forest system, there lived a young man named Jake. Jake was a kind and honest person, but he had a curse placed upon him right before his twentieth birthday that changed his life--twice. It so happened Jake liked to go fishing at a lake up in the forest. One day, when he was walking towards the small fishing boat he had stashed under a pile of branches, he saw an old woman gathering firewood. A donkey was tied to a tree near her, its back heaped wi...

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“The Grasp” by Steve Rogers

Submitted to Contest #183

King Leo, sat gloomily in his Palace’s long breakfast room waiting to start breakfast. He always liked to have breakfast with his only son and heir, Prince Chris, who finally slouched in at the far end of the room. King Leo noted that Prince Chris’s finely embroidered clothes, made of the best cloth with impressive puffy shoulders, were crumpled and stained. The King said. “This is late, even for you.” Standing, now at the walnut sideboard, helping himself to generous portions of bacon, eggs, sausage and tomatoes, the prince mumbled. “You kn...

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“The Duchess and The Knight” by Tyhesia Watson

Submitted to Contest #183

The townspeople bustling around the town try to make a living modestly and are content with not being able to grow their stature. They are content with the Northern Autumn winds keeping the burglars and bad people away. They are content with Duchess Zahra looking over the land and its people for she is wise, strong, and capable. That is what this Knight is telling me as we ride through the capital to get to the Northern Lands. “Her grace is also a very understanding and kind person.” I cut off the older knight, “I mean no disrespect but if h...

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“All Blunders” by Esme Rose

Submitted to Contest #183

"Where are you going?" The taxi driver asks. Downtown. "Uptown." I mutter as he starts to drive. Uptown. "Downtown..." I correct myself. The taxi driver nods and goes downtown. "Doing anything special?" The driver asks. I sigh, I've always hated small talk. You're avoiding your ex-boyfriend. "I'm meeting my boyfriend." I think over these eighteen years that I could talk. I've gotten the hang of my curse. Then again just a few minutes ago I said uptown because I thought I'd say downtown. My thoughts and sentences don't form the way th...

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“Double Minus ” by Tom Merison

Submitted to Contest #183

“Jesus Hannah, You’re looking fat” Jakob comments as he passes her in the lift. “You what?” She replies with appalled shock. Suddenly, to break the silence, he pushes out a forced laugh, to gesture as if he was joking. He signs to her that she is looking better than fine in-fact.  Hannah laughs with recognition to his supposed joke, as the lift doors closed abruptly on her, eliminating the awkwardness. ‘Poor Hannah’, Jakob thought to himself, he actually believed post pregnancy had gone well for her body. He slaps himself with ir...

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“You Have it Backward” by Al Cassidy

Submitted to Contest #183

She said: “I’m still in love with you and I’m staying for good.” It hurt. More than anything I’d ever felt before. This backward speak had worn us both down to nothing, emotionally and physically. What made it even more painful was the look. She hides her emotions as well as a billboard on the highway, and this billboard advertised exhaustion and a tinge of frustration, but mostly defeat. It wasn’t that long ago that things were normal as could be. Alarm once. Snooze once. Pull the covers off at the second alarm beeping incessantly. For...

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“Reversed Fate” by Noon Moon

Submitted to Contest #183

 Content Warning: Topics of drug and alcohol use, as well as profanity.                    Woah, I am so buzzed right now… actually, she stumbled, feeling the room spin, and realized she had too much to drink. The next thing she knew, she was running for the bathroom, and then she was vomiting into the toilet. Yea, I am definitely wasted.Someone bursts in the door, “Vega-Lynn, Vega-Lynn, were doing shots!!! Come on!”She sits up from ...

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“Emma & Lars” by Esther Andrews

Submitted to Contest #183

“You gonna stab me with those scissors?”“Yes. Yes I am,” I quipped. “I’m going to puncture your flesh with dozens of wounds. I’m thinking I’ll fashion a very large and extremely conspicuous pattern on your torso. Maybe a pentagram. Maybe a peace sign. I haven’t decided yet. Then I’m going to cut you up into tiny little pieces with these very same scissors. I’ll do it slowly. One tiny hair or fragment at a time. I’ll really relish the process. Then I’ll dispose of each individual specimen in a solitary and extremely isolated location. A ...

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$250

Prize money

248

Contest entries

125

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 03, 2023 EST

Won by Laurel Hanson 🏆

Title: Of Harpers and Heroes

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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