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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

“The World According to Cats” by Bettina Karpathian

Submitted to Contest #187

You would like to interview me about life with my people? A guide for young cats on how to co-exist with humans? I must be getting old. Hmm. I really do have better things to do with my time, but this might be an interesting opportunity to educate humans as well as young cats. First, for full disclosure, I would like to say that my own life is quite tolerable. It took a while, but I now have my folks trained to an acceptable level. I came into their home at a very young age which helped. All kittens are cute, but I’d say I was in the extra-c...

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“Nameless” by Shannon Haffely

Submitted to Contest #187

Cinders glowed, a dim orange tinging the darkness around her. Snow fluttered, kissing her cheeks, her nose, her lips—kissing her where no one else would. Once more, the Nameless Woman—because that’s what she was now—brought the poorly-rolled joint to her mouth. Inhaling deeply, she relished the scorch in her lungs, the heady taste of herbal smoke coating her tongue, sticking to the back of her throat. Her nose ran, and her eyes watered. One…two…three… Release. Plumes of smoke coalesced in the frigid air. She used to fight back her co...

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“Wild Pete” by Brad Heald

Submitted to Contest #187

Wild PeteStories originate with each soul, Even the soul of cats. My Grandad’s raven sharp barn cat’s soul came with an abundance of independence. Although within Wild Pete’s physical dimension, he operated as a somewhat muddy and manuery (if that’s a word) barn cat. In 1953 my family called me Butch and I’m compelled to tell this brief story that belongs lovingly to my Grandad, me and Wild Pete. I met Pete at age five on a snowy, bitter cold November morning,. Let’s look back .My parents had gone to...

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“Rescue of Calgor” by Delina Roberts

Submitted to Contest #187

I pulled open the weighty door of the coffee shop on the corner. Pausing for a second, I look around. Where am I? What am I doing here? Confused, I try to remember what I was previously doing and how I got to this coffee shop. All of a sudden, a cat emerges from the side of the building. Just the cats head is poking out. I don’t see a collar around its neck. Must be a stray. Is he hungry? We made eye contact for a minute. Time somehow stood still in that moment. I suddenly felt a bump on my shoulder as someone bolted past me into the ...

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“Sunrise Glitch” by K. B. Johnson

Submitted to Contest #187

Remote work. Preston found it advantageous at the onset, especially for a job which amounted to nothing more than data entry. Coding, in fact. Though he wished it were for some ISP or a startup’s website. It was just medical coding. An easy nine-to-five, with benefits to boot. An entry-level job into the workforce as it were, as he was fresh out of school. Just starting out, he also was grateful for the roof over his head; rent was more affordable than most. His parents had hooked him up with a nicely furnished basement. From a therapeutic m...

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“Saving the Stray Cat” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #187

Light rain fell on the city pavement, as a black cat with white paws brushed by Sandra, outside Hampton’s Drug Store. “Here kitty, you look just like my old Tinkerbell.” Magnetized by the cat’s topaz eyes, Sandra held out her palm, but the cat turned its head and sniffed the air, and ran off, past a skinny boy juggling, and an old man in a tartan skirt playing a harmonica. Sandra pulled her baseball cap over her eyes, and fitted her N-95 mask over her face and entered the store, checking for security, and headed to the snack ai...

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“The Bat and the Cat” by Jennifer Jones

Submitted to Contest #187

Frowning inwardly, tail twitching, I watched as my owner walked in with yet another stray. Four was already too many, now there would be five of us? This lady was obsessed. She had to stop bringing home every sad, mewling sap she came across on her way home from work. Dumping a lunch bag, a purse, and her keys on the table, she began to pet and soothe the wide-eyed, fluff ball she held under one arm.This cat's white fur had seen better days, and the lady set to work filling the sink with warm water and Dawn dish soap. The matted cat reeked o...

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“Spring is in the Air!” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #187

Hilary came away from consulting her clinic nurse more than slightly deflated. The good news was that Hilary, aka Hilaria, had reduced her morbid obesity, well done. The bad news was that she now needed a walking stick, as she dodged the knee reconstruction with the orthopedic surgeon. Hilaria accentuated the positives, and adopted some new exercises, largely seated. Her flexible routine now included lifting weights, while seated in a chair. She was resolved to tone up her flabby tuck shop arms, sagging like bat wings. Appealing, not. Over ...

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“Imprints” by Tom Baldwin

Submitted to Contest #187

Imprints By Tom Baldwin Maggie first spotted a trail of footprints stretching across the snow-bound pond while searching the edges of the forest for signs of deer grazing. Perhaps deer, a moose, too late for bears—the snowshoe tracks of a wandering hunter? Was the solace she sought now fractured by a roving presence that now threatened her calm? A chill crept through her, causing a shudder. She had to know. She went downhill to the pond to identify her visitor. Paw...

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“Furry Comfort” by HM Schierloh

Submitted to Contest #187

Although “cancer” is no longer automatically synonymous with “hopelessness,” it still seems to embody a similar threat. A lot of people tend to shy away from facing humanity’s predestined end station in life as much as they prefer to avoid the very idea of “cancer.” Somehow, the same fears keeping them from coming to grips with the fact that none of us will live forever also cause them to ignore the possibility of becoming a “cancer victim.” Victim?—That label alone implies illness, helplessness, powerlessness, and even hopelessness—all co...

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“Conversations With The Cat” by Anna Rogers

Submitted to Contest #187

Marcia the cat and I once flatted together in the capital . When her person Chrissie moved out she swore it’d take her ages to recover. At the time I’d found that a bit harsh. After all no one told her to bring her over sensitive cat into the household.Watching now as she padded gracefully through the open French doors that seemed a lifetime away. From the way she was eyeing me it was as if we’d never met.“It’s me Marcia.”, I whispered. “Surely you remember me?”The expression she fixed on me said otherwise. “Traitor.”; I mouthed hoping my fo...

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“CAT” by Valerie Church

Submitted to Contest #187

CAT. Deep in the Herefordshire countryside, a small village baked under a midsummer sun. A woman strolled past the shop, the pub and the church, turned towards a cluster of houses that backed on to a large area of natural woodland, and stopped at the last house in the row. Frances knew her friend would be in the back garden, so made her way through the wrought iron gate next to the house. Jocelyn’s garden was what she described as a riot of colour. Not everyone’s taste, Frances thought, ...

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“Cigar, Carmichael?” by David Beeson

Submitted to Contest #187

Cigar, Carmichael? Like many baby boomers, my parents saw the new suburbs as utopia. The open spaces beckoned those suffering from the crush of the concrete jungle. What my parents apparently forgot was that just a few decades prior, cities provided safety from the wild things that roam open spaces like wolves and mountain lions. However, as a kid and dedicated viewer of Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, and Davey Crockett, I was acutely aware of the dangers. Hey, don’t laugh. Davey Crockett killed a bear when he was only three. They were out there and ...

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“The Man” by Gregg Punger

Submitted to Contest #187

Daniel was happy, very happy. He spent his days sleeping on his feeder’s luxurious bed or stretching out in the number of ideal sunny spots sprinkled throughout their house, and his nights were spent curled up in his feeder’s lap on their couch getting the best rubbies. But then, the man started coming over. Daniel knew about men. He had seen them outside and occasionally one would come over, but never for very long and never more than a handful of times. But, this man just kept showing up ruining his nightly rubby session, and when he didn’...

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“A Buddy’s Life” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #187

Buster was eighty-seven years old and his wife Georgie had rescued me from the shelter to keep him company. Buster and I sat in the sunroom watching the backyard for hours. A perfectly fine use of time in my opinion. We both turned our heads to the conversation in the kitchen, and then, with dignified scorn, we returned to watching. “Ma, why did you get him a cat?” Thomas said. “He needs company. He sits out there alone all day.” Georgie said. “He’s got stag...

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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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