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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

“A Dollar for God” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #187

Rance Jenkins arrived in Muleshoe, Texas around 1:00 P.M. He was hoping to kill a man before the sun hit the horizon.Sweat and tobacco juice stained his dusty clothes, his blue eyes narrowed and searching. He spotted a pump handle by the horse trough and immediately took himself there. With a little effort, Rance had clear, cold water gushing out, splattering the dry street. He doused his head under the water before slaking his thirst. The July heat had settled in and was going to stick around for the duration of the summer.A cat sat on one ...

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“Alize” by Marisa Billions

Submitted to Contest #187

It’s been a year to the day. Our last interaction was not a nice one. I screamed at her. I told her I was done. She kissed me goodbye, and she was gone. Not a day goes by that I’m not spending time reenacting our last moments together in my head. Our shouts and angry words reverberate in my head. I will never not be sorry, and the hole in my heart and the empty place in my bed and my life will never be filled. Every day since then, I see something I never noticed until the day after she was gone. Paw prints on wet concrete. A...

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“Blacktop and the Bucket Babies” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #187

Blacktop and the Bucket BabiesName's Blacktop. Gender neutral 'cause who could tell when you're five weeks old. Right? Not all that original or cutesy for a kitten but that is what I am. White on the bottom...now you understand. Could have been 'Boots' for my white paws or maybe 'Stache' for my milky mustache but you get the picture. Oh, and that is also where I picked out my people - on a blacktop road. I had spent the hot August day wandering way too far from my birth barn and mom. Had this forlorn, bedraggled look about me. Could have bec...

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“Schrödinger’s Kitty” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #187

“Good morning my friend! Up, up, up. Now!”“Mmffumplemuff!”“I do beg your pardon, but it’s morning and I’m hungry. And I’m hungry now and it’s morning!” “Phdtts. Stop it you mangy mongrel, get off my face!”“Mongrel? Indeed! I’m no cur, no slavering, slavish mutt. ‘We are not impressed, We are not amused,’ now get up you lazy piece of no good human.”“Kitty!”“Schrödinger!”“Get off!”“My God, you don’t need to be rude about it, and throwing me off the bed is just spiteful. Now hurry up, I’m waiting… the longer you take, the louder ...

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“Selected Lives of Fenwick Fogpaws” by RJ Holmquist

Submitted to Contest #187

1My first life was a disappointment when compared to all my others. It was short, and I spent most of it a lot wetter than any cat would like. I never found out exactly how it ended because whatever got me came at me from behind. Of course, the Fenwick Fogpaws of later lives would never be snuck up on, but first lives are pretty tough on a lot of cats. My “number one” is only worth a mention because that’s when I made my first attempt at understanding.I was a little orange tabby street cat, never even got to be full sized. I thought rain was...

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“Talulah” by Kathy Trevelyan

Submitted to Contest #187

Talulah Fat? Oh, the indignity of it. Sometimes I think these humans actually don’t realise that I understand everything they say. They clearly don’t understand me, so I suppose they think ignorance is a two way thing. But to call me fat…. I am nicely rounded and my fur is thick and lustrous. I am altogether a very beautiful girl. They tell me that all the time, usually punctuated with ridiculous chirpy sounds and cooing. I stalk over to the mirror, I’m rather good at stalking, if I do say so myself. In the mirror I see my perfectly symmet...

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“A Night Stroll” by Jaymie Jacobson

Submitted to Contest #187

So this is what it was like to go batshit crazy. Catie always assumed it would be more dramatic. Like running up to people saying you're the president, or hearing voices in your head that seeded your mind with ideas of hurting people. Or building a spaceship out of parts you find in the trash. The thoughts scrolled across her mind like a parade of text written in comic sans, mocking her. But, nope, that wasn’t the case for her. Instead, she was walking down the most dangerous alleys of her city following a cat. Granted, it wasn't every day t...

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“Staring at the Lawn Muffins” by Beth Jackson

Submitted to Contest #187

CW: Swearing, a fat cat, drop-kick ex, some defecation, frogs...“I can’t take any more of this shit,” The Man says and walks out the door, slamming it behind him so hard the windows rattle and several of The Hellions begin to cry.The Lady gathers The Hellions into a pile, and they weep and wail, holding onto each other in a heaving heap of misery.While I don’t desire to exit as dramatically as The Man, I too cannot cope with the level of negative emotion in the room, and I flop off the couch and saunter outside to stare at the lawn muffins.#...

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“Superstition” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #187

“Why in the hell did I ever move to Chicago?” I mutter to myself as I cross the open-air parking lot. I’ve worked late, and it’s about five minutes before midnight. It’s Friday the thirteenth in February, and I can barely keep my eyes open because the wind is sandblasting snow into my face at about forty miles an hour! On top of that, I parked my car at the end of the lot. All the other cars are gone. Only shallow squares in the snow mark the spot where they were parked. Clutching my top coat tightly at my throa...

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“Did You Hear the One About the Woman Who Hates Cats?” by KT George

Submitted to Contest #187

Jenn’s thirty-two-year-old husband, Jaret, passed away three months ago from throat cancer. It shocked everyone, for no one knew he was sick. Especially Jaret, who had gone to the dentist for his annual checkup when the doctor noticed unusual growths on his enlarged tonsils. A trip to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and an oncologist confirmed the professionals’ opinions. From there, it went all downhill. Jenn was understandably devasted that at twenty-nine, she was a wi...

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“Cat GPT” by Andrew Fruchtman

Submitted to Contest #187

Oh c’mon, really? Another one? I am not supporting this, I’m just not. I didn’t complain, at least not too much, when you brought home Cooper, that fat lug of a cat, I even grew to like him, well at least his body heat when we snuggled. I accepted Humphrey, that big goofball of a labradoodle, didn't I? I did. You know I did, even though my water bowl smells of dog. Labradoodle, hah, how trendy are you with your hybrid, breeder bought animals? Don’t you know that a rescue animal is the new “it” pet? I guess ...

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“Felinious” by Dan Coglianese

Submitted to Contest #187

Ben took the same path to and from work every day. From the door to his trailer, he walked on the loose gravel parking lot to the bike path through Mechant Lake Forest Preserve. The path was a four mile loop, but Ben only used a mile long stretch along the east side. Once he got as far south on the path as he could, he trudged through some wild grass and low shrubs for about fifty feet until he emerged on the back lot of Cletus’ Auto Shop. Ben did oil changes and a few other basic services, but was not allowed to operate the hydraulic jacks....

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“Delphine of the Tombs” by Christopher Kelley

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #187

The last twilight tour ended, and the cemetery hushed to its nightly mystique, scored by the distant echo of tavern trumpets and jazz drummers.The gate closed and locked. And the moon-dipped monuments were, once more, ruled by the dead.Then…a crunch of footsteps.A warm body strolled the walled-in city of graves. A tour guide named Rocco. He whistled past the oven vaults and above-ground tombs, pausing only to huff and snuff the raised candles along the shell-paved pathways. He also broke his tune to chat with Delphine—another warm body. But ...

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“What the Orange Cat Knew” by T C Milton

Submitted to Contest #187

She wasn’t supposed to be there. Not that late at night, not that part of town, and definitely not the combination of the two. How many times had she been told—lectured, really, and for good reason—by her parents, her former college roommate, and even, especially even, really, the guy that had taught her self-awareness class just two months prior. Yet there she was, skulking about like a common criminal, tiptoe-dashing from dumpster to doorway, following the little fluff of orange that had first caught her attention all the way back at Llyod...

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“Skip the Life Fantastic” by Stevie Burges

Submitted to Contest #187

Skip the Life FantasticMy friend Sheila asked me if she could write my life story and post it on the Reception’s notice board. She thinks it’s a beautiful story and should be shared with potential adoptees or foster parents to know how life was before I was rescued and brought to the Shelter. Sheila apologises for any inconsistencies that may have occurred in the translation between my feline communication and Sheila’s human language.My life started on the damp streets; they always felt wet, even on a dry day. I’m honestly not...

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$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!

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