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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#190: Eras

To quote Brooklyn 99, Taylor Swift “makes all of us feel things.” With her honest and reflective accounts of growing up and searching for yourself and your place in the world, she’s managed to trace her remarkable coming-of-age arc in a way that millions of people can still relate to.

This week, let’s remember what growing up feels like, or take inspiration from Taylor Swift’s master storytelling to come up with a new story. But remember — using lyrics isn’t allowed!

This week's prompts

Start a story that begins with a character saying “Speak now.”

Dialogue – 86 stories

Write about someone who decides to make their own version of something old.

Character – 36 stories

Set your story in New York, where someone’s been waiting for your character.

Adventure – 39 stories

Write a story about a fandom

Funny – 27 stories

Start your story with someone vowing to take revenge.

Dark – 62 stories

Stories

“Waiting on Gerome” by R W Mack

Submitted to Contest #190

The coffee was already cold. Herb stared into the mug, no longer steaming, with another sigh. He didn't bother keeping his glasses on his nose anymore as they hung on his chest from the cord around his collar. It was the nature of the industry; dealing with journalists on the run. Not busy, per se. That would make more sense. He couldn't fathom the pernicious elements scaredy-cat writers imagined sniffing their trails. They saw the work as revelatory truths. Herb saw it for what it was: words on paper. Short-lived, ignorable and inevit...

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“Army with love” by Javiera Gallo

Submitted to Contest #190

Music has a way of saving a soul. It comes to you at the right time, and if you listen closely, you can find in its notes the answers that you need. I was in pieces when they found me. My husband had decided he could no longer tolerate my addiction, and one day he grabbed a suitcase and our sons and left me alone in a broken home. I started taking even more pills and I was unable to get out of my bed. I got fired from my job through a phone call loaded with yells and insults. A week had passed, and I hadn’t even noticed. My only friend t...

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“Somebody Else’s Shoes” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #190

Somebody Else’s Shoes We’re both short, with wide feet. Other than that, Gigi and I have nothing in common. Dad jokes that the wide feet should give us “good understanding”. It doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love her. But it’s like we’re from two different worlds! Oh, sure, technically we’re from the same bloodline, but we’re like night and day. Honestly, she’s a little loony. “If I were you, Girl, I’d…” “No. You wouldn’t. Whatever it is, Gigi, if you were me, you’d do exactly what I’d do.” I’m all about logic. Scienc...

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“Grandpa's Cat” by Sideritis Scardica

Submitted to Contest #190

My grandpa Atanas doesn’t like cats. “I’m just not a fan! I am not a cat-lover!” He would say on better days. Better days, meaning the days when there are no cats around, when he doesn’t come across them and they don’t come up his way. Better for both him and them. Living in the countryside, however, meant that he would unwittingly have to dwell in a cat-infested parish and it soon became clear that the aforementioned better days would be fewer than the worse days. When it comes to cats, that is. His house is an old, wooden one with a tall...

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“The Life of She Known as Seraphina” by Cassandra Fan

Submitted to Contest #190

To the community that made me, well, me, thank you. I would not be here without you. So, I guess the best place to start would be here. Fun fact about my life: there are these carpeted stairs in my house that go up to the second floor. One of those ones that turns in the middle with a wider step, one large enough to lay on. My mom says it's like my second bedroom. When I was little, small enough to squeeze onto the stair lengthwise, I would fall asleep there, basking in the ray of sunlight that peeks through the window. I’m too big now but ...

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“The perfect murder” by Lady Beth

Submitted to Contest #190

I hate him. I hate everything about him. I hate the way his chocolate brown eyes sit so far apart. I hate the way, his nose, bulbous and wide, takes up a majority of the well-crafted mask he calls a face. I hate his broad shoulders. His shoulders that turned me away, that ignores me despite my regular attempts at getting to know him. He acts as if his stain glass windows can’t clearly see the opportunity, I am bestowing upon him. I am giving him the opportunity to be my friend, but he has the audacity to turn it down, as if I am to...

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“Childhood again” by Becca Kay

Submitted to Contest #190

Now It comes to her easily. She would usually see revenge as unnecessary. The best revenge is a good life lived, so they say, but this time her anger is so fierce, so close to her mind that she has to do something direct. There is no hurry. She can call on her anger whenever she wants. All she has to do is let herself live the memory of what happened. Before By four years old she could read. She was a smart and chubby kid. She was loving as well. Famously her family didn't like physical contact, or any show of emotion but she hug...

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“LEAVING IRELAND” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #190

My dearest love, Niamh The first thing I want to say to you my love is how much I miss you. I miss your smile. I miss seeing your beautiful green eyes but most of all I miss talking to you. Writing to you is not the same. New York has been good to me. I got a job working in a restaurant. It's not much but I love it. I made new friends. I told them all about you. They can't wait to meet you. I'm writing this letter to you from my favorite spot overlooking the water. This spot helps me think about a lot of things, mostly about you. I love New ...

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“The Result of Revenge” by Vedika Mote

Submitted to Contest #190

A little girl calmly stood in front of a clear, closet mirror. Her dark chocolate-coloured hair stretched down to her waist. She slowly balled her hands into two tiny fists and shouted, “I will get my revenge!” When kids are mad at their parents, most of them do either one of two things: one, they throw a temper tantrum. Or two, they get revenge but it’s something small like putting salt into their parent’s coffee. This primary school-aged kid was different though. She had a plan so grand that even Arsene Lupin wouldn’t be able to handle it....

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“To Right a Wrong” by Beth Peterson

Submitted to Contest #190

The day Mary Anne stopped coming to book club meetings, we all knew what had happened to her. But none of us wanted to say it out loud. Not when the missing posters started popping up around town. Not when the police started asking questions. Not even when her poor mother, bless her heart, went on the local news to beg for Mary Anne to come home.We all knew she was dead. We knew who’d done it, too. But that no good, double-dealing, drunk-as-a-skunk father of hers was a former cop. He knew how to get rid of evidence and clean up a crime ...

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“Beast in the Cattails” by Kevin Ventocilla

Submitted to Contest #190

A curtain of clouds rolled in from the east that plagued the evening sky. Kenneth knew there would be no outrunning nature today, especially in the condition of his worn F-150. Without a glance at the slumped woman in his passenger seat, Kenneth turned on the radio that welcomed static into the vehicle. The wearied man turned the dial steadily until he found the channel with the ever-repeating EAS message. The message ale...

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“Maternal Grief” by Shawn Wier

Submitted to Contest #190

"You will rue this day–I swear it." With that, the shell of my mother ducked her head as officers pushed her into an armored SUV. They don't know that the being chained and caged behind them is not just a monster in name. I alone know the truth, and nobody else would believe it. The only other living witness has already requested a psychiatric evaluation. Perhaps I should, too. … My sister is gone. My mother is gone, but not in the same way. Seventeen days ago, I noticed Mom's shadow was …wrong. We were taking a sunset walk and ...

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“The adventure of a time.” by Deven O'Brien

Submitted to Contest #190

“I vowed to take revenge, this mother fucker is going to pay.” I was repeating over and over to myself…out loud. In my mind I knew I was going crazy but I had to keep going.I could smell the fresh sweet air as I traversed down the stone cobble path. The exotic birds chirped and the waves crashed along the coast. The pleasant sounds trying to cool and calm my temper. It wasn’t working, “what am I doing here!?” I asked myself. The coast stretched as far as the eye could see into the setting sun and the beauty was around me, but my mind was clo...

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“A Writer's Lament” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #190

A Writer’s Lament “Speak now or forever hold your peace.” Am I dreaming or am I getting married to Bev again? I have this choking feeling and seem to be in a semiconscious state. Wait a minute! I am dreaming. I am trying to commit suicide. Yup, that’s me hanging from the ceiling fan with a sheet around my neck. I can’t seem to do anything original. Even the note pinned to my tee-shi...

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“Speak Truth!” by Tricia Cundiff

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now.” I heard the voice: I could hear it quite clearly. But what to say? I was blindfolded, hands tied behind me, and feet tied to the legs of a chair. “I don’t know what to say,” I began. “Speak only truth,” the voice said. Male voice, I was pretty certain. The expectation of rape or worse. Was there worse? Of course, there was. There was . . . nothing. Death. “I will tell the truth. But I don’t know what you want me to say.” “Not what I want! Truth. Say what think.” English must not be native to whoever this was. I...

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$250

Prize money

250

Contest entries

114

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 24, 2023 EST

Won by Éan Bird 🏆

Title: Dear Coldplay, I Love You. Wait. Scratch That.

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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