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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

“Unexpected Love” by Lara Baron

Submitted to Contest #183

Love is a force that cannot be controlled. Sometimes two people fall in love easily and quickly, other times two people live parallel lives that eventually cross paths. I think that the love me and Elizabeth share is the most meaningful kind. The kind that no one could have possibly seen coming. The kind that no one can seem to understand. The kind that belongs only to us. The world cannot accept our love because we are complete opposites. I grew up in a home with crystal chandeliers dangling from ten-foot-tall ceilings, butlers and...

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“But Soft, Sad Little Boy” by Graci Melbourne

Submitted to Contest #183

Trigger warnings: cursing, light drug use, attempted suicide, light violence.I thought it was hot when you paid off the theatre teacher.“They spelled it wrong,” you said, when we were necking on the hood of my dad’s Pontiac Phoenix. You were yanking on the beads poorly applied in my hair, biting my collarbone with your vampire teeth, and I was like hot damn.“Theatre is spelled with an ‘re,’” you said. I said I didn’t care, and you slipped your hands up my shirt and I put mine down your pants.Sometimes, I take the Julius Caesar playbill from ...

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“Jack and the Elephant” by Kelly McCluskey

Submitted to Contest #183

Rachel was not excited to vote. She had not missed any elections since she was eighteen and she was not going to miss the presidential election this year. It was important to her. Rachel could not understand anyone who said, ‘I don’t do politics.’ She felt that line was such a cop out and how you could not “do” politics in some way. And by “doing” did not mean running for anything to her it just meant following news and politics regularly and being engaged to make a good voting decision. She was taught by her mother a...

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“Salad Bar Dating ” by Bonnie Sanders

Submitted to Contest #183

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“The Dance” by Judith Blevins

Submitted to Contest #183

I step into the shadows of this dark, putrid alleyway anticipating her arrival. The night creatures that scavenge about in this filthy, garbage strewn thoroughfare skitter in all directions when their survival instincts detect the danger of my presence. After a few moments, utter silence surrounds me. Alone in the darkness and barely breathing, I wait. She always accompanies me for collections of this sort and I long to see her, feel her luminous energy. I learned eons ago to thrive in her light. Now, I yearn for the warmth of her presence. ...

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“Good Life” by Emma Martin

Submitted to Contest #183

“First off, no one has any proof whatsoever that I robbed that bank.” I said, trying my hardest to sweet-talk the officers out of my incredibly unreasonable arrest. It was just not fair. I needed that money. I lived on the streets in a cardboard box for Pete’s sake! “But I’ll plea guilty! Please, Anything! I cannot go back there again.” I couldn’t help it anymore. I was starting to panic just a little bit. “Save it, kid.” The woman officer barked as she wrenched my arms around my back into a pair of cold, steal han...

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“Sticks and Stones” by Robert Radcliff

Submitted to Contest #183

While in his neighborhood bar, Charlie Westworth-Brownlow admired himself in the restroom mirror.Physically robust and sturdy he thought his curly handlebar mustache made him look exceptionally distinguished. At age 60, he believed he was unquestionably handsome and charming.But with such an inflated ego he was in fact very delusional.He washed his hands before returning to the bar counter.After downing his gin and tonic in a single drink, the female bar attendant asked if he wanted another. "No, my beauty," Charlie said, "as much as I would...

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“The Beer Sitter” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #183

“Man, even the I.R.S. would laugh at my bank account,” Casey Cassidy laments as he checks The Mean Fiddler’s receipts for a second time. The forty-three-year-old restaurant owner runs his hand through his generous mop of dark hair, worrying how much longer it will be before it starts falling out. Wiping his sauce-covered hands on his smock, Cisco Soto comes out of the kitchen. The wall-eyed cook looks at Casey apprehensively. “We makin’ any money, boss?” “We’re so far in the red I should be callin’ you comrade.” “So, no?” “We’re an Irish...

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“Using Sarcasm As a Defense Mechanism” by Judith Robinson

Submitted to Contest #183

Using Sarcasm As A Defense Mechanism Using sarcasm is a defense mechanism that protects against vulnerability. These barbs are smoke screens and prevent open and honest communication in relationships. Sarcasm is a defense mechanism used because of experiences in the family's early years and social settings. Young men, Teenagers use sarcasm as a way to get accepted into peer groups. Cynics feel that this is a great defense mechanism: ...

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“Press Relations” by Greg Surdel

Submitted to Contest #183

Mary Elizabeth I was heading to an awards dinner that could decide my fate with the New York Sentinel, a news source for hundreds of thousands of readers. If I won best reporting for my piece, it could catapult me to a position of prominence where I was allowed more creative freedom and increased resources. If I did not, I’d likely retain my status as a reliable reporter who could deliver enjoyable puff pieces and solid coverage of small-time crime. There was one man standing in my way - Everett Whitcomb. A man bestowed a douchey name, lik...

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“"We're just too different"” by Odile Glatz

Submitted to Contest #183

“We’re just too different” Chantal and Joe met on an Ash Wednesday in college back in the nineties. From the moment Joe saw Chantal at a table still wearing the ashes on her forehead, he was intrigued. Joe had been palling around with a girl named Mena, who he was trying hard not to suspect of liking him more than as a friend. Joe also had a girlfriend Sabrina at a distant college who he visited once or twice a semester. Chantal was different from the other...

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“Upon Reflection” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #183

“We’re just too different.” I stand there and watch his lips move and I hear the words, but the words don’t come from his mouth, they come from mine. I stand there and I stare into those eyes of his. We remain like that for the longest of times and then I cry. And so does he. Eventually, I shake myself and splash cold water onto my face and I leave him there, in the bathroom. I know I’ll see him every morning, same time and same place. That’s our arrangement. He’s always waiting for me. He thinks he’s me, but that’s...

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“Cracks in My Reflection in the Mirror ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #183

So, have you ever looked into a mirror and say to your reflection, “We are just too different?” Well, that’s where I am at right now. I can’t describe it, but something gets into my head and just like that I am no longer in control. That’s what I’m going to tell them when my lawyer comes in with some social worker to find out why I killed my boss, Mr. Saunders. There are things we cannot explain. This social worker will try to claim it was a fit of rage, but I know better. Yes sir, I know better. ...

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“We are just too different” by Aleksandra Aubay

Submitted to Contest #183

The dust of centuries is dancing in the rays of the morning sun. If silence could take any shape, that would be it: golden dust, swirling in the air. I wonder if it has ever occurred to you to compare silence with dust? I would bet everything I don’t possess – and believe me, that is a plethora of things! – that this idea has never visited your always-occupied mind. And then dust has never been invited to your perfectly decluttered home. At my place, dust is more than welcome. And I’m happy with it. Dust is dancing, and a brittle stac...

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“Going home ” by Brandon Summers

Submitted to Contest #183

“We could stay here, how much money you got left?” My friend Kevin says as we walk down under the Venice sign in Venice Beach. Sedate, he looks around taking in his first time in Los Angeles, but not California. The heroin has something to do with his leisurely manner. “I don’t have much, a few hundred.” I speak. “I have about the same, but we could make it work. Stay here?” He says this in a joking manner but with a hint of seriousness. I scoff first and then say, “Eh, these fucking desert people, sometimes I think we’re just too different....

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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!

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