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

“It Wasn't me... It was the Normal Sized Cat” by Leanne Dymond

Submitted to Contest #187

“It wasn’t me!” Charlie said. “It was the cat!” A roar rang through the hall and chased a chill up the spine of every adult in the room. “Not you, Stanley. I mean Mr Mittens.” The elephant took that moment to step on a cashier desk crumbling it to the ground. The monkeys cheered as they removed the pens from those little chains attached to the desks. The parrots swooped and swirled near the top of the decorated dome. A parrot pooped high in the sky and it fell down, down, down to the shoulder of one of the many gaping bank workers enterin...

Read story

“Turbo Tiger Billy ” by Antonia Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #187

He is a gray-black tabby with no remarkable features to set him apart from any other tabbies. He is plump, squat and somehow makes me think of a tank. His eyes are lackluster. He does not appear mangy. He looks clean. He is a stray cat. I spot him at the foot of the steps to my back porch this late summer afternoon. My hands hold two heavy sacks of groceries which I nearly drop at the unexpected sight of him. In fact, it takes me a moment to even register that this furry, whining thing is a cat. ...

Read story

“Carl's Catwalk” by Samantha McWilliams

Submitted to Contest #187

The crackling sensation of Jack’s hangover radiated through his body as he opened his eyes to a clear blue sky encircled by the pointed tops of corn stalks. The cold Earth had seeped into his joints, causing a groan to lift from his chapped lips. He rolled to his side but the motion had him yacking into the pile of burnt ash next to him. He used his callous denim sleeve to wipe his mouth as he tried to catch his breath. A brush of fur rushed against Jack’s ankles and he turned to look around the open space they had carved into the cornfield ...

Read story

“The Orange Tabby” by Elizabeth Clark

Submitted to Contest #187

Henry doesn’t remember how he ended up here, walking in a forest at night, without a phone or anything. Being led by an orange tabby cat, with the sense he should follow it. He was going somewhere; he knew that much. Where or why, he has no clue only that he needs to get there, urgently. He scans his surroundings, pine trees stretching over him menacing, their branches giving off shadows that resemble hands reaching out. No moon in sight, but the shining stars in the midnight blue sky, with enough light that he's not walking blindly in the...

Read story

“A Simply Extraordinary Encounter” by Cora Anne

Submitted to Contest #187

Sometimes it was fun to tease the humans who crossed her path. Her cat-life was very full, but she also appreciated fun and intrigue. It helped keep her comfortable routine interesting. With silent paws she jumped from her perch to escort these two compelling creatures into her curious world. Mimi’s feet hurt. From 1000 feet up this valley looked friendly, spreading out in waving fields. There were soft forest edges and a dirt tractor path that played hide and seek through the grass. It beckoned gently to be explored. The placid app...

Read story

“Finished by a whisker” by David Drake

Submitted to Contest #187

“Roger, slow down!”Now Brent Kenton had to admit that taking a desk job was the worst thing he’s ever done. When his uncle, the personal trainer, admonished him for taking a job that required sitting all day, he said he would be just fine.“Just fine”, he panted.Now, here he was racing after a black-haired cat with subtle orange stripes through city streets just because of a key on his collar. “A note. All this…..because….of a….key…collar.” At last! Roger slowed down, just due to figuring out how to jump to a window over some boxes…...

Read story

“The Compass” by Nathan Clift

Submitted to Contest #187

"Guys... I thought we said no pets on the site." The archeologists stopped what they were doing and looked up at a stray cat. Miles into the desert, in the beating sun, stood a cat on a rock. Just an average, orange, fluffy tabby cat. In the middle of the desert. In the beating sun. Without a drop of water for miles. Licking her paws. On a rock. The crew was puzzled. One of them suggested it was a mirage, but then the cat meowed. Surely they all couldn't imagine the same thing. The captain decided to approach the cat. She poured...

Read story

“THE CAT CALLS” by Monica Lewis-Schmidt

Submitted to Contest #187

Noemi was always a loner. Growing up, she loved animals, and her best friend was a little cat she named Timmy. Timmy the Tabby. He was a beautiful, bright, spirited tabby kitten she adored. Usually, her parents were strictly against stray animals coming into the house. But they never saw Noemi so open and playful, so they allowed it, this once. Years passed, and the two were inseparable. Timmy followed her to elementary school most days and was at the front door with a welcome home happy kitty greeting whenever she returned. Sometimes her mo...

Read story

“Surprise Gifts From the Forest” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #187

Mother nature has more surprises in her bag of tricks than we give her credit for. I interviewed Mike for a school assignment after he'd received an eagle (a dead one) which is a high honor to use in ceremonies. Mike is a Chippewa who helped me use nature as a form of therapy.I walk a short distance on our country road and into the woods each morning. I stand quietly in the same spot, and wait, as Mike taught me how nature would help and present me with a gift of knowledge or sometimes a surprise. My gifts included watching a herd of deer re...

Read story

“The Green Chapel” by Jacob Weber

Submitted to Contest #187

Sir Bertilak was no normal cat, of this the girl was certain. The scruffy stray, so named for the bright green moss that often clung like discarded Christmas ornaments to his disheveled fur, did mostly cat things — he chased butterflies and birds around the periphery of her manicured back lawn, he drank long and slow from her father’s prized koi pond in the heat of summer, he rolled around in the decaying leaves of autumn with the carelessness of a kitten. To the casual observer, the charismatic Main Coon was just another stray in a world fu...

Read story

“Maev and the Search for Power ” by Daniel Rosas

Submitted to Contest #187

Maev let out a sigh. Magic was simple. She knew the correct sequencing, conjugations and permutations. She prided herself on having the appropriate level of intonations and movements from wand-craft to reading spell books and even advanced arts with a staff. All were child's play to her. But what she couldn’t do was cast a spell. Nothing. Not one iota of a spell that would help her pass her eleven plus exams allowing her to be on the mage path. A movement to her left caused her to look over. A cat had found its way onto her windo...

Read story

“Hugh's Adventure” by Bee Loertscher

Submitted to Contest #187

Once upon a time, a little boy was walking down the street. The sun was shining and the heat radiating off the cement sidewalk was making him sweat. He was getting so hot, he knew he needed a drink, and he needed a drink right then. The only problem was, the little boy was lost. He’d gone too far when he chased his ball and couldn’t find his way home. The other thing you have to know is that this boy is curious. Some would say the most curious boy in the whole wide world. So this boy, sweaty, thirsty, and curious, needed to make a d...

Read story

“Mystery” by Tracey Mack

Submitted to Contest #187

Hannah swore under her breath. "Every time! Every damn time there you are!" Today was the fourth day in a row she had seen the same cat. Almost all black except for pale yellow eyes. The cat was always in the same spot, outside her apartment building, underneath the rusted, abandoned car in the parking lot. The cat was never around in the morning when she left for work, but upon returning home that cat sat in the same spot, tail wagging, staring at her with those pale, pale eyes. Every time she approached the cat, it would turn around, da...

Read story

“Anything But the Cat.” by Sam Patel

Submitted to Contest #187

I can’t believe I made it before the sun went down. Jane, you did it! Three hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean, the sun casting an orange hue through the rainforest, and not a soul to be found. Perfect. Couple quick selfies and time to head back for a well deserved drink. Hmm,...this place didn’t seem so creepy earlier. Ok enough of that Jane, let’s get outta here. “Come on, come on.” No way, really? This car is like a year old. Ok deep breath, check the vitals. Gas is quarter tank, lights were off, no blink...

Read story

“Lion's Story” by M.D. Smith

Submitted to Contest #187

The lioness, Seba, sniffed the air for any scent of danger. She watched her cubs play with rounded stones and bits of twigs as she sat and purred with contentment. Both paws were neatly tucked under her so that the knuckles touched. The cubs played in the shade of a few scraggly trees and rocks, not far from the den where they’d been born a few weeks earlier. A boy and a girl cub, they still rough-housed with each other as two brothers might in playtime. They instinctively knew to keep their claws retracted. Seba felt her empty stomach ch...

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 ⭢