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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

“Dear Reader” by Clementine Herold

Submitted to Contest #190

Dear Reader,If you’re reading this, then that means I am dead. You will probably find a stack of these in my desk drawer as I have always written one before flying to make sure that each important person in my life knows how I felt about them and how much I love them and how much I hope they loved me just as much as I loved them. But this one is different. This one I’m going to tell you about my friend’s car.One of my closest friends, Matthew Johnson, has this super cool car. It’s a blue 1968 convertible Ford Mustang. The blue is less of a b...

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“Disguises” by Delaney Howard

Submitted to Contest #190

Disguises He chose me to ghostwrite. Eight months ago, when his agent contacted me, he’d warned—Thomas Stroud, although extremely well-known, was hard to know. So now, as I did thrice weekly, I sat outside his dressing room in the Barrymore Theater. Waiting. The hallway was lit with dim sconces, making it seem like the 1920s rather than the 2020s. So many of these old Broadway houses had never been modernized. The chill of the air surrounded me. The old theater was also drafty as hell. He summoned me. I could ...

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“The Green Blood Moon” by Charlotte Hamlett

Submitted to Contest #190

“Let me go!” shouted the man. “Don’t worry, we’re just trying to help you. We have been looking for you for the past thirty-two years.” Suddenly it all went black. It was around midnight in Manhattan, and the lights were shining bright and glimmering on the wet pavement as traffic finally started to die down for the evening. Jack Harding was walking in and out of shops and restaurants that looked interesting. He walked out of a fancy sneaker store, and a group of people in black clothing held a cloth with toxic poison in his mouth, making ...

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“Bird Brain” by Jennifer Chan

Submitted to Contest #190

I reach Rockaway Beach at first light. Even though I’ve been coming down here every year for the past two years, seeing the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean never gets old. The way the sky slowly turns golden and gradually tinges the water flaxen is like watching a master painter at work. I have no words.I only wish that you were here to witness it with me.Does it surprise you how much I’ve been thinking about you? You should know me by now. As soon as the weather turned, I unleashed all 15 inches of wingspan and flew out. I tore throug...

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“Treasure Lost in Harlem” by LaSasha Robinson

Submitted to Contest #190

Treasure Lost in Harlem By: Sasha Robinson Grape Lifesavers. We have a lot in common. Nobody really likes grape lifesavers, yet they were an acquired taste to those who adored them. If someone asked for a lifesaver and you only had two left, green or grape, the person would most likely choose green. I was often overlooked, always the black sheep or the last resort. Grape was my nickname in high school. They called me that because my skin was so dark in the sunlight, I looked purple. I remember the first time I got my nickname grape. Ju...

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“Soup or Salad” by Anthony Beska

Submitted to Contest #190

Soup or Salad You’ll never be short on Italian restaurants in New York. Even with plenty of them foolishly abandoning ship and heading down to Jersey, there’s still far more of them than grains of sand on the beach or pieces of trash in the subway. Regardless of how dime a dozen the joints can be, everyone has their favorite. From a crummy little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint nestled between a handful of other dying businesses in a strip mall to the more upscale Italian bistros always bustling with business. David Callader sat somewhere in th...

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“The Devil's Disciple” by Mark El-Ayat

Submitted to Contest #190

*This story contains sexual violence, physical violence, gore, or abuse.* Fortune and fame. Love and lust. Revenge and redemption. Humans would sell their souls for these visions, not realizing how temporary life would be. When the end is near, dread, panic, and anguish follow. Pleading and begging, hands held in the air regretting their decisions, voices wailing out for a second chance. But God was not there. He never was and He never will. Forsaken by the wicked, the selfishness and the greed of human nature are unlimited. There is never...

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“The Unliving” by Theresa Anna

Submitted to Contest #190

There is a black metal door standing alone in the mist. The sound from within makes the stones tremble at her feet. Insects scuttle away and under her boots. The grass is already dead. Her heart is tight and hard like a fruit. Ready to burst, ready to pour out of her chest and leak from her skin. She should not have come–not without telling anyone. She didn’t even leave a note. If she never comes back, they might wonder. They might search. But what will they find? She takes one last look behind her. The wheatfields. The...

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“Borderline” by C. R. Lukische

Submitted to Contest #190

“She’ll hang by her freakin’ balls!”The sixteen mercenaries she’d sent to kill him met that fate too, so it wasn’t an idle threat when Lance swore that his own mother would perish.He chugged his ale and slammed the tankard onto the table, forming a crack across its wood. His sword stood unsheathed beside him, blood dripping from its edges onto the open wounds of his latest kill.She was growing more desperate to finish him off. He still didn’t understand, but he understood enough as he stared down all the faces gawking back at him. To send a ...

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“Snowdream” by Stephanie Stevens

Submitted to Contest #190

Snowdream A benevolent King and his wife, the Queen Consort, reigned in a far country. But the Queen died from a mysterious illness. Their daughter, Princess Snowdream, was blessed with great beauty of sleek raven hair, violet eyes and a heart-shaped face. The young woman also had a gentle, caring nature. She spent many hours working in a shelter for the homeless and returned as dusk fell. Her limbs were heavy but her heart light. The King’s subjects admired her, cheering as she passed by. &nbs...

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“Speak Now or What?” by Christine Cameron

Submitted to Contest #190

Speak now! The words are screaming in my head but will not conjugate onto my tongue. Speak now! What can I say that will make any difference? She didn’t burn the house down. Just because the fire alarm blasted me into cognizance at 6 AM doesn’t mean she’s trying to drive me totally insane. She was just warming a bagel in a small cast iron pan on the stovetop and forgot to turn on the ...

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“Speak Now” by Sandy Stewart

Submitted to Contest #190

“Speak now.” “Speak now!” I said to myself again. “Hello folks! My name is Ada Thomas. Thanks so much for joining me today!” One year prior, on this same stage, I turned and walked off after my second ‘speak now’ prompt to myself. And that day was the second time I had done so in as many months. I vowed then to never put myself in such an embarrassing position again. No, not ever! But here I was. And to my great surprise and delight, the auditorium was once again filled with lovely folks. Some, most certainly, curious to see if I wou...

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“The Wedding Shhhh” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #190

“’Speak now.’” Arlene pointed at me on her way up the stairs to bed, and then held her finger to her lips to make the shush face. “’Speak now.’” I smiled, pointing and shush facing. Our grandson, Jeremy, looked up from some game he was playing on his cell phone. “Your grandmother and I have been saying that since our wedding day. Well, one of our wedding days. “You know, your great grandfather, my father, was a judge, and he told me before I married anyone I should go down to the courthouse and s...

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“Home at last ” by Corina P

Submitted to Contest #190

Home at last cw: foul language, swearing “Speak now.” “Mary, please... Don’t look at me like that...” “Who the hell is this??” “Her name is Lucy.” “Really Andy?!” “Mary… I can explain…” “After I specifically told you not to!” “Yeah but..." "No buts." “I promise, I’ll make this right!” "Only if you kick her out." "Okay, okay..." “Geez, on our counter too? Disgusting.” “Mary, wait!” Andy dashed out the kitchen, his mouth running faster than his feet as he chased Mary down the hall of ridiculously expensive artwork. Mary typed and t...

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“Just climb the tree” by Flower Queens Adventures

Submitted to Contest #190

"Speak now." The command echoes in the spaces between my thoughts. Blinking, trying to wet my eyes and refocus on the figure in front of me. "Do you... do you think that the fish knows that the bears the enemy?" "Christ! We're not doing this again. Always these dumb questions and hypotheticals. Did you even hear a single thing I said?" "Right, because you're so considerate and comprehensible while you're yelling at me." I did hear him. I always hear him. I always strive to do exactly what he says but for some reason I always fall short. If...

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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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