Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#187: Cat People

I love cats. Independent, sassy, badass, unbothered, adorable, playful, and cuddlier than popular culture makes them out to be, they’re one of life’s everyday miracles.

They live with us, but they are mysteries to us, and it can be incredibly fun to imagine their secret lives — and all the parts of their realities we aren’t privy to. This week, let’s think about ordinary and unusual cats alike, and take a moment to appreciate the magic they bring to our lives.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character being led somewhere by a stray cat.

Adventure – 109 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a big cat — whether that’s a lion, cheetah, etc., or just a chunky pet.

Funny – 48 stories

Write about a cat living in an ancient temple, like the Acropolis.

Fiction – 17 stories

Set your story in a cat shelter.

Fiction – 24 stories

Write about a human and a cat that come to some kind of mutual understanding.

Character – 126 stories

Stories

“An Ephemeral Smile” by Kang Lee

Submitted to Contest #187

Notice: this serves as a sequel to "The Dark Dancer", available on my profile The frigid bonds remained adamant in locking my hands and feet together, while the grimy window filtered in decaying grey light. Bats scurried about the mouldy ceiling. All the while, the iridescent black rune Laqueum–trap–burned tauntingly in the air in front of me. In summation, it was not a great experience to be a prisoner of a diabolical queen. The world was split into four kingdoms, namely the North Kingdom, of the Necromancy Magicians, So...

Read story

“Molly” by Anita M Shaw

Submitted to Contest #187

Molly showed up at our house the day her owner died. She belonged to our neighbor, Mae Hurley. An older lady who passed in her sleep. We found her on the porch, all comfy, like she belonged there. Not sure why she picked us. There were many other families on our block she could’ve chosen. People more likely to warm up to a small gray and white tiger cat.Dad attempted to shoo her away, but she never went far. Partway across the lawn, she’d turn back to look at him. “Get!” He’d holler as he strode into the house.He tried tossing tennis balls a...

Read story

“Meeting of the PTSF: Pandemic Therapy Support Felines. ” by Lari Levey

Submitted to Contest #187

Meeting of the PTSF: Pandemic Therapy Support Felines. "Welcome, and thank you for coming to the first PSTF meeting today to discuss the distressing changes in our humans. I'm glad you could all make it. I was able to send my human away to replace a few things around the house that I peed on. Gratefully she took the dog. Please find a spot to curl up in, and for those of you who don't know me, my name is Fritz. We're all facing issues with downtime from our charges. They are moody, irritable, and bored. Rather than running around and d...

Read story

“Mr. Shoes or How a Cat Healed My Broken Heart” by Kaila Flickinger

Submitted to Contest #187

Mr. Shoes or How A Cat Healed My Broken Heart "You know, I don't even like cats," I mutter to the four-legged creature sitting in my usual spot. He looks at me and I hear a low growl begin in his throat. I roll my eyes and lift him into my arms, gently tossing him to the floor. He growls at me and saunters away. I plop into the chair and wipe my face. I had been crying. Again. "I really don't. I only took you in because I know Michelle would have hated for you to go to a shelter," I told the black and white cat. He watched me now from ...

Read story

“I hate cats, but” by Tweety Promo

Submitted to Contest #187

Warning :May contain trigger sensitive context When I was younger, I remember having a cat around the age of 9. One thing I remembered about her was her puffy white fur. I called her fluffy. This cat was always attacking things that moves. Fluffy would chase a bag that would fall on floor or a ball moving. That day she was on her normal chasing mood as I was watching television. It was march, the weather was not perfect but good enough to enjoy and keep the window open. Normally we had good heat so strong it would be hot, so it was ...

Read story

“The Cat Lady in the Yellow House” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #187

Jeanette was already late for her shift at the Giant Killer Coffee House when she spotted the stray. It was grey calico sniffing the snow beside the plowed sidewalk. It gave a cry to her. Jeanette squatted, balancing herself and her over loaded knapsack. She made kissing noises and took off her mittens to offer the back of her hand for a sniff. The stray approached. “Hey, Dusty. Are you Dusty? Is that your name?” she asked. Of course, it probably wasn’t her name, but it was somewhere to start a f...

Read story

“Gravitational Meow.” by Emanuel Diaz

Submitted to Contest #187

Calis Dafelis, a female laboratory animal science researcher, loved felines and was currently studying the behavior and abilities of her favorite suborder of animals in California. She was particularly interested in the myth that cats always fall on their feet and land straight. One day, after a long day of research, Calis experienced an earthquake and found a strange black and yellow cat with a fur marking that looked like a spiraling cinnamon roll. The cat seemed to be a stray and led Calis to a hole in the ground, which they entered. The ...

Read story

“Foregone” by Kyle Helker

Submitted to Contest #187

It was the cat. That damn cat. If only he could find that damn cat again, maybe he could make some sense of all of this. Then again, none of it made any sense to begin with, did it? All that he knew was the cat was the key. The cat knew the way. He should have known, why had he been so foolish and not seen the signs? The writing was there on the wall as plain as day if he had only had the eyes to read it. Just follow the damn cat. So simple, an imbecile could have figured it out, why hadn’t he? He had to go back. Back to where he had first s...

Read story

“My Little Snowball ” by Bloom Jay

Submitted to Contest #187

I respond hesitantly, "hello," after a few seconds pass with neither a response from myself nor the feline creature watching me. "My name is Kaitlyn."In the dim light given by the setting moon, which has just started to descend behind the treetops in front of us, her white fur gleams like silver. Her ears slightly pricked forward into a triangle form. Despite being so close to where I am frozen in place, she seems quite at ease. Her large, round, emerald eyes almost appear luminous against her pale face.She doesn't do anything more than turn...

Read story

“The Twin Stray Cats” by Joice Njeru

Submitted to Contest #187

If ever you hear a stray cat meowing at night, never, ever try to follow it. That sounded like a stern warning. But coming from my grandpa Nalo, you would never tell if it was one of his “in our time” stories or if he was being serious. We had learned to laugh off grandpa’s stories and warnings. That would make him awfully pissed off sometimes. And not just him. When my brother and I laughed about something, it would make anyone hate themselves for what they had said or done. And grandpa was not an exception. But we were kids then. Turne...

Read story

“Tabby Matchmaker” by Odile Glatz

Submitted to Contest #187

“If you don’t like spanish guitar, you’re just not cool.” The recipient of this warning was a green-eyed tabby with an outrageously innocent expression on her face. She gazed steadily back at him, supremely unconcerned. The guitar enthusiast chuckled softly, now I’m talking to dumb animals, he thought. He sat on a nearby bench, doubled over with frustration and amusement in equal parts. The tabby climbed up and extended a striped limb to the shoulder of the suffere...

Read story

“I am not Superstitious, but...” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #187

I’m Not Superstitious But… I’m not superstitious but this situation had me thinking right from the very beginning in such a way. There was a black cat, and it did cross my path. I hope that people don’t call such superstitious stories ‘old wives’ tales’ anymore, especially as ‘on-line conspiracy theories’ would be much a more accurate a term. I might not have seen it if it weren’t for the sound ...

Read story

“Salvation Armie” by Staci Troilo

Submitted to Contest #187

Carrie’s heart juddered. One unopened email sat in her inbox, the message she’d been praying for since she sent in her materials. After being downsized from the antiquities department at the museum six months ago, she’d applied for any job remotely related to her field—which, admittedly, weren’t many—and even several entry-level positions requiring no experience at all. Most of the time, she didn’t hear back. Not even a form letter. Being ignored stung more than officially being rejected. This email, though, would be different. It had to b...

Read story

“One Way To Do It” by Kristen Jacobson

Submitted to Contest #187

“Take a daily walk,” my therapist told me. A daily walk would help manage my weight and might improve my mood. Sure, I thought. A walk would make all the stuff in my head disappear. I nodded politely with a smile that rivaled the Mona Lisa and waited patiently for my session to be over. Yet another fruitless attempt at combatting an issue so ingrained that it successfully dodged all attempts at destruction. I pitied my therapist and her feckless attempts. The only real solution might have to be amputation. Thankfully, the hour ended, and...

Read story

“The Calling ” by Simone J Fry

Submitted to Contest #187

Shabby, dirty, wretched, tabby creature won’t let me be.It had been following me since before dark morphed into dawn. I caught its creepy white eyes glowing from behind a tree, its wild dusty fur ruffled like a weedy lawn, as I ran past it with my head torch on. Now it is bounding and weaving a few meters ahead, down through the open grasses, and juniper shrubs. It stops, turns every few minutes to make sure I’m still behind. We were on the path not long ago. Like a spell it led me off the beaten track. How? And more to the point why? My leg...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

324

Contest entries

117

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 03, 2023 EST

Won by Michelle Oliver 🏆

Title: Mitzee’s Moment

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢