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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#197: Fate and Free Will

It’s an eternal question. Are our lives governed by our own actions, or subject to the powers of destiny? Religions, philosophers, writers, and everyday folk have been arguing about it for centuries, and we still don’t have a definitive answer. Stories of heroes locked into tragic fates they can’t escape make up a large portion of our oldest myths and legends. Yet modern stories tend to paint their protagonists as free will incarnate. Even so, there are still plenty that play with destiny.

This week, we want to explore the age-old conundrum of heroes. Are we in charge of our fate? Or is it all in the hands of some unknowable power laying out our path forward?

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone successfully — or unsuccessfully — escaping their fate.

Angst – 107 stories

Write about a god desperately trying to get their chosen hero to follow the path they set out for them.

Fantasy – 61 stories

Write a story that includes the phrase “I’m free!”

Dialogue – 60 stories

Write about somebody who wholeheartedly believes in fate, and views every little thing through the lens of predestiny.

Character – 22 stories

Set your story in a world where everyone’s decisions are made for them. One morning, your character wakes up, and chooses not to go to work. Wait…chooses?!

Thriller and Suspense – 18 stories

Stories

“The Heist” by Julian Tenorio

Submitted to Contest #197

32,000 dollars, that’s how much Mr. Torres, the economics and English teacher made a year. Approximately 2600 a month, when you took out taxes, healthcare, retirement, and fees it was down to $1600. He had studied psychology and minored in kinesiology in college, his mother badgered him to study engineering or maybe become a doctor, doctors made a ton of money and are recession proof, that was her go to line. She would deliver it snidely whenever he asked for gas money. But he wanted to study something that made him happy, anyways, was...

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“September 7, 1969” by •Bubble _ Tea •

Submitted to Contest #197

This is 1969 my seventh-grade year Stage left the windows glaze from Tappan register to acoustic tile ceiling. Venetian blinds truncate halfway to the register. The lower course of windows vent October morning up your rolled sleeve when you turn to the window automatically. Two tracks of florescence cede this bright morning. Our desks are modern aluminum frame sliding on squat conical feet that make a hollow hiss when they skate. We stow our extra books in the basket under our seats, and we lay our pencils in the shallow...

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“Destiny Saved Me” by Debra Koffski

Submitted to Contest #197

Destiny Saved Me As I walked down the street, towards the bakery, I heard an explosion. Then I heard screaming, and sirens. I thought maybe I could help in a small way, so I started back to the noise. And I was horrified by what I saw! Not twenty feet from the bus station I was at this morning, there was the bus I was going to be on, to go to my mom’s house. Until free will and destiny stepped in, and told me to go to the bakery first. My mom loved their apple scones, so I thought I’ll go get her some, and take a later bus. Now the bus I was...

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“The Fan” by Louie J Eaton

Submitted to Contest #197

I did not mean to drop my fan. By that, I mean, I did not mean to drop it for him - the duke of York, Edward. My sights were not set so high - I had politely resisted any and all interest he had shown and I had witnesses who would testify in my favour. But would they, now? I did not mean for him to jump in and pick it up, to inspect it, to slowly hand it back, for my awkwardness and embarrassment to be taken for more than just that, and for her to be watching in that moment - she who hated me for being my father's daughter, his illegitimate...

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“The Unread Book” by Anthea Harris

Submitted to Contest #197

The Unread Book Agonising boredom savaged her whole being like a pit bull. Geraldine looked at her client across the desk, banging on about “that bastard Gordon”, and his deficiencies as a husband. Leaving his clothes on the floor like roadkill was hardly ‘unreasonable behaviour’. Get a grip woman, at least you have a husband. She tried to picture Gordon, but those thoughts were displaced by the announcement that ‘he farts in the car’. Geraldine fought to suppress a smirk, as this glimmer of mirth bounced across the desk into her vacant brai...

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“A Gift” by E Gauvin

Submitted to Contest #197

“Yea sure fine we can escape fate” the words leave my breath in a hot labored way. I am so sick of having this conversation with my wife who read the prompt on some writing website. I am not a writer and so for the life of me I just can’t bring myself to grapple with these ideas she brings to my attention at least weekly. “But honey you don’t seem to be too convinced” she coos at me. I just don’t understand how she can see how worked up I am and still poke and prod me for a different answer than the one I just gave her. I mostly just answer ...

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“Those Delicate Moments” by Paola Andriotaki

Submitted to Contest #197

I had never seen a dead person up close before. Let alone someone I knew, someone who had shaped my life. I stood over her for half an hour since she took her last breath, meticulously observing the colors fading away one by one from the garment that had dressed her soul for seventy-six years.Everyone around me thinks I am calm and composed. That's how I appear, I suppose. However, no one can feel the beats of my heart and the swirling fear provoked by her image. It's a fear that extends far beyond the present moment. As I look at her, I see...

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“Escape!” by Freedom Leigh

Submitted to Contest #197

The day was hot and dusty, but Johnny knew that it would cool down during the night. Southern Arizona’s nights could freeze a body’s bones sometimes, but he would be moving. Moving as he never had before. Just twenty minutes more. Twenty more minutes and most of the guards would turn in for the night. Only Hopkins would be lift on duty, and Johnny had observed Hopkins for two nights. He was lazy. Why they used him for guard duty Johnny had no idea, but no matter. He was glad they did. With Hopkins on guard, Johnny could escape the prison cel...

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“The Cardinal's Fortuity” by William Gabrenya

Submitted to Contest #197

The Cardinal’s FortuityCONTENT WARNING: violence, terminal illness, suicide mentions.What are you so afraid of?Battles are fought in classic legends of good and evil. In movies in a compact theater, filled with the smell of popcorn and sweaty feet. Battles are sword fights and fire-breathing dragons.Battles are fiction.I shouldn’t have been sitting in a hospital bed at nineteen years old, my life barely begun — I shouldn’t have been paralyzed out of fear from the inside out. Absolutely terrified for the doctor’s return, where I would receive...

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“Fit for Purpose” by Chris Savage

Submitted to Contest #197

Your death has been scheduled for 3 P.M. Eastern Standard Time today. Damn, and I haven’t even gotten to my morning coffee yet. My AI generated life algorithm, or The Thread as social media lovingly dubbed it, hadn’t scheduled it for me yet. Glancing at the time I noted it wouldn’t be for another 30 minutes as The Thread had deemed that the optimal time for my body to make use of the caffeine. The suddenness of my expected death invaded my thoughts so deeply I didn’t realize it was time for my scheduled shower until my watch buzzed. I found ...

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“A Letters Calling” by Andrew Spangler

Submitted to Contest #197

The council chambers feel small as I pace the length of the podium. I was unprepared for the revelation that came this morning, as a rider knocked on my cabin door, bearing a letter with the personal seal of the late Queen…of my true Mother. I look to the chambers high rafters, seeking a sign from above. My whole life has been a lie, from my earliest memories until this day. I draw the letter from my tunic pocket, reading the words once more… I pray this letter is never read, for my greatest secret should be free to live a life of freedom,...

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“Blowing out the torch” by Alisher Kulzhabayev

Submitted to Contest #197

I bend my knees to lower myself onto the concrete floor, hearing the squeaking of my joints as I descend. I’d need to fix those if I plan on moving later. On my right lie the skeletal remains of an adult human male. I forget about my joints as I ease onto the floor and relax my frame. “I suppose you would not know this information, but they safeguarded a capsule for you,” I say, nudging the shoulder of the deceased human. “It is held in a bunker similar to this one-” I look at the walls of the room, lined with shelves filled with an asso...

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“Another Brick In The Wall” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #197

Katy looked around her ugly gray cubical, and the walls started to grow taller, then they turned to brick. She closed her eyes; the twelve-hour work days, caring for her dying father, and being dumped by her fiance made her edgy and tired, or like a machine. Four people worked with her in the advertising department of a city newspaper, and companies paying for the operation by buying ad space dwindled more daily. Her staff was laid off permanently, and Katy had to tell them. She had to look into their shocked sad eyes and listen to the co...

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“Another Hero's Journey” by Christian Sica

Submitted to Contest #197

There he is. Man…. An ordinary primitive man, furs and pelts covering his body. A vast open plain lay before him with all sorts of fauna dotted across the landscape; antelope, buffalo, stag, mammoth, numerous other horned and hooved animals that called this place home. He stood under the hot sun, stone spear in hand. Gazing out onto the land, he studied, looking for his next meal. It had to be something small as he was alone. The tribe he was once apart of had all but disappeared, having lost them in a bad snowstorm the winter prior. He ...

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“Susan Saves a Life (No Thanks to Bryce)” by Hannah Leigh

Submitted to Contest #197

The day was young and bright when God set in motion his plan to save the life of John Lucas. He had no intention of John dying today and he knew that it lay in John’s destiny to lead America to a better and brighter tomorrow as a future president, but that wouldn't happen if he died at Target. Granted, a lot of people would prefer to die at Target (as opposed to Walmart or their obstetrician’s office), but God didn’t mean for John to die today. He would live, he would thrive, and he would work hard to make lives better for so many people. T...

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$250

Prize money

268

Contest entries

100

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 12, 2023 EST

Won by HR Pinches 🏆

Title: The Fate of Customer 12

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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