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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#185: Hoarding Away

Much like dragons, people love a good hoard. Whether it’s money, objects, or even people, collecting can be a hobby — or an obsession. Our collections might be a maximalist hodge-podge shoved into every nook and cranny, a meticulously organized catalog with every item neatly labeled, or they may not even be tangible at all. Junk or riches, thoughts or feelings, even if we don’t know it, we might be unconsciously clinging on to something.

This week’s prompts evoke treasure troves, keepsakes, and whatever it is that compels us to hold on tightly.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone who doesn’t know how to let go.

Dramatic – 121 stories

Someone’s beloved collection is destroyed. How do they react?

Adults – 25 stories

Start a story with someone saying, “It’s mine, and you can’t have it!”

Dialogue – 25 stories

Write about a dragon who doesn’t know what to do with their hoard anymore.

Fantasy – 63 stories

Set all or part of your story in a jam-packed storage unit.

Mystery – 46 stories

Stories

“BELOVED TREASURES” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #185

I have the key in my hand. The key has been in my family since my great grandparents. The key holds many valuable treasures dating back to my great grandparents. It's up to me to decide what to do with these treasures. I don't know how to let go of these beloved treasures. My heart is telling me to keep my treasures but my mind is telling me Genesis it's time you let them go. My problem is letting go of my beloved treasures is going to be extremely difficult because of the promise I made. My attic is filled with so many beautiful antique...

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“The Pyre” by Jill Johansson

Submitted to Contest #185

Sam looks around at the people invading his house and he can feel his nerves already starting to fray. It doesn't matter what Debbie says dear, we've talked about this having the people come to you gives the impression of being magnanimous they come here to see you as much as your collection all these strangers makes him want to hide in his office and never come out. Is this the way things are gonna be like now? Just people walking into his home for 7 hours every day? We have to be open on the weekend as well, dear, some people work for a ...

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“Candy Hearts ” by Sabrina Rose

Submitted to Contest #185

Jane spent her Friday night in front of the screen doing side missions for her newest game Badlands. She particularly grew annoyed with the current one, where you had to take out a horde of nomadic zombies just to retrieve some canned beans for some rando NPCs for another basic side quest. She wanted to throw the controller against the wall when the screen flashed DEFEATED, but they weren't exactly cheap and she already had to replace her first one. She just bit her lip in frustration and continued, what else was there to do...

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“Outdoor Café” by Kylie Connolly

Submitted to Contest #185

I squinted my eyes as I looked at him, making sure it’s actually him that I see. What are the chances he would be here on a Sunday afternoon, at an outdoor café, 20 minutes from his house? The café that just so happens to be on the same street he knows I work at. Doesn’t he realize that the thoughts of him don’t just disappear and the words he said don’t just go away? Even as I step into my office, I can still picture him sitting at the table, slowly drinking his caramel latte that he gets every day. The picture of him doesn’t leave my ...

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“By Any Other Name” by Jessica Argyle

Submitted to Contest #185

“So why did you ask me to come to Sawaki,” Rose asked, knowing he had tried to discourage her from coming. But she also knew he was too much of a coward to admit it out loud. “You were warned when you married me, Rose, that this is a man’s world,” he said, making a sweeping gesture that took in their luxurious hut and steaming windows, choked with vines and the impenetrable dark jungle beyond. James Lobb moved his considerable nose back to his work and the pile of charts and ledgers. He was twenty-three years her senior and fi...

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“Best Served Cold” by Douglas Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #185

“Two million is a large claim. You do realize the insurance company will be investigating?” “Friggin Censors. No way they would allow my collection to debut. It was nearly fully edited into a montage composed to lay bare their conspiracy. Secrets long lost would have resurfaced. The Censors could not allow that. I suppose I closed my eyes to my darkest fear.” “So you expect arson?” “KABOOM. Yes, I should have seen it coming. I cringe as I remember black-and-white ghosts dancing in those white-yellow-orange flames. The celluloid f...

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“Long-Term Storage” by James Beamish

Submitted to Contest #185

“It’s mine and you can’t have it!” He awoke with a start as the words echoed around the storage unit. But there was no one else there to hear them. Talking in his sleep again, he realised. The nightmares of a troubled mind. Shaking the grogginess away, he saw he must have fallen asleep on his gilded throne. Again. Plenty of people talked in their sleep, of course. But he wasn’t like ‘plenty of people’. Other people might hide their true self from others – but not in a literal sense. He looked around him, taking ...

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“The Ivy Castle In The Weeds. ” by M.W Morganson

Submitted to Contest #185

"It's mine and you can't have it!" yelled the orc warlock from his balcony perch. Baron William and the five young adventurers stood in the castle bailey's centre. The orc lord’s keep towered high above them, creeping ivy had climbed the gray stone walls all the way to the top. “Your army is defeated. We have survived the labyrinth. We are here to return the world’s heart before its power destroys the everything!” yelled Percival.“I will never give away my riches. It's all mine! The heart of the earth is mine! All mine” he laughed mania...

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“A Card For You” by Edward Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #185

"It’s mine, and you can't have it" as she banged on my ankles with her walking cane. I laugh when I think back..my goodness I need help. It's 8pm as I sit at my desk looking at a credit card charge notification on my phone from Macy's while Cheeseburger my dog stares at me with a dumb grin, mustard still on his face. I only chuckle as I put the ice pack down and gently touch the lump on my forehead to see how big it was. I then placed my hands on the keyboard and thought..."I sure hope my customer appreciates this" and started to type D...

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“The Storage Unit” by Kimberlie Luster

Submitted to Contest #185

“Is this it?” I stop in front of the storage unit and check the number against the letter I am holding. “Yep, number 5309.” My brother says from behind me. “So what do you think we should do now?” I ask with a frown. I didn’t want to do this in the first place. When I received the letter from my grandmothers’ attorney I almost trashed it. She made her feelings very clear the last time we spoke 2 years ago and I had no desire to hear or have anything to do with her since then. “I guess we open it and see what the old coot thought you needed t...

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“The Collector” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #185

I make a list of all the things I want to buy. A night splint for my sore foot, a bottle of wine, a pack of sharpies in all colors to while the hours away, stimulate the creative part of my brain somehow. Then I add up the dollar signs, and I don’t add them to my Amazon cart. Because I’m being adult and responsible this year. With Money. With Dollars. With the zeroes and ones, tens and hundreds and thousands in my bank account, written there in plain black ink, unt...

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“Fatal Habits” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #185

From the outside the 15-room mansion looked like a Victorian edifice that should have graced the cover of House and Garden. It stood completely out of character with most of the surrounding homes, which also were upscale but much more modest. Inside the 10-foot fence that encircled the home, stood a remote-controlled gate and a kennel housing vicious guard dogs. A long, circular driveway led to the mansion’s majestic front entrance. The area leading up to the mansion tol...

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“Defusion” by Kat Davis

Submitted to Contest #185

Ever since Michael moved into his beach house, he became gradually obsessed with scuba diving. It started off with just some goggles and a tube so he could skim tide pools and collect shells. But now, he had a collection of different colored wetsuits, an oxygen tank, and a marina membership so he could rent a boat whenever he pleased. His girlfriend, concerned about his newfound obsession, made him go to counseling twice a week, where a woman in a long black skirt, a white blouse, and an almost tantalizing calming voice, guided him through m...

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“Am I Ready?” by Bianca Bee

Submitted to Contest #185

"Please, Mom, just let me get rid of it,", I said imploringly as I looked deep into my Mother's fading blue eyes. Throughout my life my parents both liked to unofficially collect things and would always have a great justification why that would be a great thing to hold onto "just in case". Most of those things ended up broken or decayed, but that didn't stop them from holding onto most things they bought or were gifted in their lives. Over time, age and disease took over any rational thought patterns and abilities. We had reached a point i...

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“Hoarding away” by Alex Allan

Submitted to Contest #185

The door opens with a creak and you are greeted with a half smile from the lady clutching at the inside handle. She opens the door further and ushers you inside. Approaching the doorway, you are further greeted by the rancid, mildewy ferment of death. Second thoughts race your mind as the lady closes the door behind her. The door leads to a corridor, unlit, bleak and devoid of character, colour or lightbulbs. Following the lady further into the house, she settles in an armchair in what was one day the main room of the house. Sunlight barely ...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

138

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 17, 2023 EST

Won by Lynda Williams 🏆

Title: Jesus and Jockeys

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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