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#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.

🥇 Winner

“Of Harpers and Heroes” by Laurel Hanson

A smattering of applause dappled the last notes of his song. He let it die out in the darkening tavern before rising, joints stiff from the long performance.“Play the one about the Hero of Faron,” a voice slurred from a dim recess.“Aye, that’s a good ‘un,” Harrow acknowledged agreeably, hoping to collect his dinner without a confrontation with yet another inebriated villager. Slinging his guitar over his shoulder, he called out, “mayhap tomorrow night.”The drunk set up a complaint cut ...

133 comments 133 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The End of the Line” by Rebecca Miles

The waveYour lips are telling me you love me and that you’ll be home tomorrow. I watch your legs briskly walking away. With decisive steps, you mount the train steps and the doors slide shut. When you sit at the window, I think perhaps it is so you can see me one last time; but when the train pulls away, you are already checking your messages. I raise a hand and wave to your bowed head. Is this gesture to catch your attention? Look at this tableau: your wife waiting on the platform, hand half rais...

46 comments 46 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“A Matter of Life and Death” by Nona Yobis

At the edge of a dying forest stood Death, a shadow, tall and gray, mysterious and ominous. The forest had recently been the victim of fire, which ravaged its plant and animal life. Death moved along slowly, touching trees as he went, causing them to lose their remaining leaves and fall to ashes. He came across a fallen sparrow whose feathers had been scorched by the flames. Bending down gently, Death whispered, “Come with me and be free.” The little sparrow raised its weary head, looked up at him and sang a weak song, as...

28 comments 28 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“An Aye for a Legg and a Legg for an Aye” by Mister X

If Lucky Chances wasn't the worst singles bar in South Florida, it's only because the Board of Health had closed down the others. There were just so many hepatitis cases one county could handle at a time.Woodrow Aye arrived at happy hour promptly at 6:07 p.m., just after clocking out from the big box retailer that kept him gainfully employed, assuming wearing a blue vest and bitching about the Miami sports teams constituted work. After a few spritzes of Drakkar Noir and a drive-thru dinner at BurgerFace, Woodrow walked int...

22 comments 22 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Self-Discovery ” by Beth Jackson

“We’re just too different,” I say, and shoot him. Point blank. One to the head. Bang.He collapses in on himself, folding and contorting into a crumpled heap of offal, leaching his blood onto the thirsty ground.I toss the gun on the grass beside him and jog through the summer flowers towards the trail down to the beach.#And here I am. Choking in the city. Assaulted by the cacophony of nighttime suburbia, scuttling through the light, creeping through the darkness. Stagg...

25 comments 25 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Have I Got a House for You” by David B Fraser

Harris Prince sat in his car in front of a dilapidated albatross of a house, resenting that he had to wait around to meet his new real estate agent to tell her this is not what he wanted in his retirement.    He was startled by a tap on his driver’s window. He stepped out to meet a small elf of a girl in sweat shirt and pants, but she was already ahead of him to the house.    “Let me open it up.” She ...

7 comments 7 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Not A Nice Girl ” by Rissa Bee

****Triggers: Mental HealthSubstance AbuseSuicideThe boardwalk was moving. Side to side as if it was timed with the ocean. At least that’s what my brain was telling me, as it went through motions of a very outdated tab of acid that I was pretty sure didn’t fully dissolve on my tongue. It was a cool night for June, but I was starting to sweat bullets, while trying to tell my mind not to panic. I don’t know how enjoyable it could have been, considering what I was doing in the first place. Drugs weren’t the ri...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Gladstone Bags” by Amanda Ellison

First to notice that their bags were identical was the velvet-clad bundle of menopausal flush, all feathered turban, red lipstick and suede winkle-pickers. In no other way were the two adjacent passengers similar. Is it even possible that this iPhone-clutching, business-suit-wearing wunderkind by her side would choose the exact same artfully- battered brown Gladstone bag as herself? You know, the type ...

11 comments 11 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Dad's Different” by Danielle Savage Hobbs

It didn’t matter that their down payments were non-refundable or that their parents were splitting a VRBO; Chelsea had to call it off before she exploded. Her wedding had been planned with the best of intentions, but she watched Eddy with a more critical eye than before. What had been harmless jokes, a comfortably laid-back attitude, and a deference to her opinion while they dated had been painted crimson in the...

6 comments 6 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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This week's prompts

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

Dialogue – 27 stories

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

Romance – 53 stories

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

Character – 16 stories

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

Angst – 70 stories

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

Dramatic – 97 stories

Stories

“Of Harpers and Heroes” by Laurel Hanson

A smattering of applause dappled the last notes of his song. He let it die out in the darkening tavern before rising, joints stiff from the long performance.“Play the one about the Hero of Faron,” a voice slurred from a dim recess.“Aye, that’s a good ‘un,” Harrow acknowledged agreeably, hoping to collect his dinner without a confrontation with yet another inebriated villager. Slinging his guitar over his shoulder, he called out, “mayhap tomorrow night.”The drunk set up a complaint cut ...

133 comments 133 WINNER 🏆
Read story

“Snapshot Holmes” by Wendy Kaminski

I'm pregnant, and I'm desperate to have my father be a part of her life, read the Facebook message. Mom refused to tell me anything about him, but I found this in her nightstand drawer. I'm hoping it might help. I reviewed the digital attachment, then messaged the sender – Carmen – to drop by my place that night after work with the original. Carmen had come to the right gal: I advertise on Facebook as Snapshot Holmes, Crack Image Detective, but my small following of fans just ...

100 comments 100
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“Ghost of a Chance” by Stevie B

I always thought when I’d die I might return to haunt one of my old haunts. You know, like the Court Street Restaurant and Bar, The Madd Hatter, or perhaps Moran’s (that Irish bar where I used to savor sips of Writer’s Tears Irish Whiskey while chatting up their cute Latina waitress who was always so nice to me). But lo and behold, here I am, haunting the Hobohemian Public Library, located right across the street from Church Square Park. I mean I did visit that facility frequently over the years to borrow books. But I rarely stayed there ...

30 comments 30
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“The End of the Line” by Rebecca Miles

The waveYour lips are telling me you love me and that you’ll be home tomorrow. I watch your legs briskly walking away. With decisive steps, you mount the train steps and the doors slide shut. When you sit at the window, I think perhaps it is so you can see me one last time; but when the train pulls away, you are already checking your messages. I raise a hand and wave to your bowed head. Is this gesture to catch your attention? Look at this tableau: your wife waiting on the platform, hand half rais...

46 comments 46 SHORTLIST ⭐️
Read story

“Dancing by Moonlight” by Zack Powell

It started with that damn plié.And look. Let's get something clear right off the bat: I am not a bigot. I'm not one of those guys who's angry at the world just because his son has a little sugar in the tank. I knew what was up a few years ago, when we were on the couch watching a Toys-R-Us commercial and Jesse pointed to the screen, begging me for that atomic-blonde Holiday Barbie. Right then I saw he wouldn't follow in my footsteps. I knew he'd never join the varsity football team or get his championship photo superglue...

22 comments 22
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“Coming Home” by Thom Brodkin

George didn’t know the dictionary definition of marriage, but he liked to think of it as two people, one of whom sleeps every night in a room that’s too hot lying in bed next to another who sleeps in a room that’s too cold. This was undoubtedly the case with him and Maggie. George was a city boy through and through. He was born in Brooklyn and had the accent to prove it. He'd never actually said fuhgeddaboudit but, if he had, no one would've batted an eye. Maggie, on the other hand, was a southern belle fro...

24 comments 24
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“Mirror Mirror” by Michał Przywara

So about the last thing I expected to find at Walmart was a haunted mirror. I wouldn’t have even gone, but Molly broke all of my mirrors when we parted ways, only she screamed about me breaking her heart or something, but let’s be honest, that’s a little dramatic. I didn’t have to spend three hours carefully sweeping shards of heart off my apartment floor. Mirrors break – hearts don’t. And the thing is, she knows ...

34 comments 34
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“Present and Beyond” by Corey Melin

      After reading the text, I had to sit down before I collapsed in shock. The one friend I spent much of my younger life with has suddenly died.           “Too young to have died,” I thought as many memories as possible of us together came to mind. Memories of us before we went our separate ways.           We just started middle school when we met for the first time. We sat next to ea...

15 comments 15
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“An Aye for a Legg and a Legg for an Aye” by Mister X

If Lucky Chances wasn't the worst singles bar in South Florida, it's only because the Board of Health had closed down the others. There were just so many hepatitis cases one county could handle at a time.Woodrow Aye arrived at happy hour promptly at 6:07 p.m., just after clocking out from the big box retailer that kept him gainfully employed, assuming wearing a blue vest and bitching about the Miami sports teams constituted work. After a few spritzes of Drakkar Noir and a drive-thru dinner at BurgerFace, Woodrow walked int...

22 comments 22 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Yellow Line” by Nina Chyll

She was just a dark floater at the very edge of his lashes. Dressed all in black, she could have been a speck of dust being sucked into the train’s wind. And then she became red, nothing but red, and everywhere, everywhere. He pulled on the handbrake and stared, but all he could see was red, only red. The shell of her body exploded and spilled all over his field of vision.He couldn’t remember much after, only that he sat there until somebody came to get him, someone who whispered that no amount of training could prepare a person fo...

23 comments 23
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“A Matter of Life and Death” by Nona Yobis

At the edge of a dying forest stood Death, a shadow, tall and gray, mysterious and ominous. The forest had recently been the victim of fire, which ravaged its plant and animal life. Death moved along slowly, touching trees as he went, causing them to lose their remaining leaves and fall to ashes. He came across a fallen sparrow whose feathers had been scorched by the flames. Bending down gently, Death whispered, “Come with me and be free.” The little sparrow raised its weary head, looked up at him and sang a weak song, as...

28 comments 28 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“A Clone in Need is a Son in Deed?” by Graham Kinross

Contains traces of: swearing, daddy issues, singular use of the word mangosteen. Detective Arthas Jacques of Mars’ Off World Crime Division raised his hands to surrender to Earth’s police officers. His droid did likewise, having to hold what was left of one hand in the other. The stub of its other black arm rose to show it wasn’t hiding anything. “Well, mate. Looks like you’ve been busy,” sai...

40 comments 40
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“Ending and Beginning: a Camino de Santiago Story” by Samsara Lind

Nadia was navigating the GPS route on her app while holding Michi, her 2-year old labrador on lead as they zigzagged their way through rush hour traffic in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, the start of their Camino de Santiago[1]. It had been quite a whirlwind year for her and she was just glad that she managed to get there safely, and with the pup in tow too...

13 comments 13
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“Self-Discovery ” by Beth Jackson

“We’re just too different,” I say, and shoot him. Point blank. One to the head. Bang.He collapses in on himself, folding and contorting into a crumpled heap of offal, leaching his blood onto the thirsty ground.I toss the gun on the grass beside him and jog through the summer flowers towards the trail down to the beach.#And here I am. Choking in the city. Assaulted by the cacophony of nighttime suburbia, scuttling through the light, creeping through the darkness. Stagg...

25 comments 25 SHORTLIST ⭐️
Read story

“Have I Got a House for You” by David B Fraser

Harris Prince sat in his car in front of a dilapidated albatross of a house, resenting that he had to wait around to meet his new real estate agent to tell her this is not what he wanted in his retirement.    He was startled by a tap on his driver’s window. He stepped out to meet a small elf of a girl in sweat shirt and pants, but she was already ahead of him to the house.    “Let me open it up.” She ...

7 comments 7 SHORTLIST ⭐️
Read story

$250

Prize money

263

Contest entries

130

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.

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