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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

“Always Check The Pockets” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #197

Nobody liked her and everyone cheered when she died. Or would have done if she had ever taken the time to get to know anyone. I only knew her by way of being related to her. I am Mary Veronica Findlay’s granddaughter and it has fallen on me to do her house clearance. It’s not like people haven’t tried over the years. I wrote her a letter when I was 18, saying my mother wouldn’t disclose why she fell out with her, but I bore her no ill will and would she like me to come and visit. “I’m too old to be entertaining young guests” was her reply...

14 comments 14
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“The Gods We Were” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #197

“Your car doesn’t talk to you all the time?” asked Noah. “Mine does.” He just had to comment like that while we were in line waiting to use the chattering Canadian Tire self-checkout.Liam sighed. Everything was a production. Noah couldn’t just get something for work, he had to make discoveries and have revelations.“You know Noah!” A lame play on his name, not funny anymore.“You’re coming with me, Liam?” Noah said as he neared his car.“What does it look like?”“Then put up with me for a bit longer. Listen to this!”Hello Noah and Liam. I’ve sen...

6 comments 6
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“Defiance ” by N.V. Duke

Submitted to Contest #197

The 6.00 AM alarm screeched as it always did, the tone manufactured to wake the workers up as quickly and efficiently as possible. 'Good morning William, it is 6.00AM on Sunday, 10th of May 2043. Get dressed for garbage inspection duty, you are rostered between 8AM to 4PM at the lower Eastern suburbs of Sydney.’ William laid in his bed with his eyes open, his dream of the open ocean fleeting. Each day felt like the last only broken up by his ever changing work schedule and the occasional unexpected rain. He stood up and made his way to t...

4 comments 4
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“The Terror of Amberglen” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #197

The Wilds. Eder. The Game of Fate. The Aevalorn Wilds existed as an untamed forest to the south of Gaelwyn. It stretched inland from the western shore of the Fathoms for six hundred miles to meet a hilly plain dotted by steep, rocky mountain peaks. A rhododendron forest, most of its trees hugged the earth, and their trunks grew twisted, curled, and knotted, as their limbs were prone to creep sideways, horizontally to the ground. Seen from a distance, its rolling green canopy was marred by ruddy patches of rust-colored blossoms, and over the ...

13 comments 13
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“Sharing Shakespeare's Birthday: A Five-Paragraph Essay” by Éan Bird

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #197

Have you ever tried to write on Shakespeare’s birthday? It sucks. Do not recommend it. I’ve tried for decades. If you're wondering how one becomes called to such a task (without ever asking for the assignment), here's what happens: The stars align by order of some complicated celestial coordinates. Dates are predetermined. Circumstances overlap, and suddenly I'm unable to escape the fate of having to write on William Shakespeare's birthday. In the beginning of this preordained kismet, I vowed to compose with religious ceremony. And for the f...

12 comments 12
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“Playing The Game” by Alexandra Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #197

Choice: Press Play or Press Exit.You Press Play.Note: Warning, Choices made are Choices kept. Future Choices do not override past ones. No matter how hard you try to forget, your memories may never fade. It is The Game that controls your destiny from here on out. Choose wisely. You're laying in a bed of wildflowers, the dewey morning grass soaking you through. The sky above you is a pale orange, quickly fading to blue. No clouds in sight, the sun is blinding at first but slowly decides to show you kindness. You sit up to find the field ...

12 comments 12
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“This Will Be My Life” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #197

Eight years old and I never knew I had ADHD. Neither did my parents. It hadn’t been invented yet. Skipping. I skipped everywhere, my poor parents yanked by my hand, my life bobbling to a beat I only knew. I never saw other children, faces all blurry. Then I grew up, like a dandelion, gangly and free. Not too much on the ball, still remember that grade 5 pitch, the only time my bat was my friend. Sailing, sailing so high over second base, past mean Kevin and jughead Derek. Around I went, not skipping, too out of breath to make home plate. “G...

10 comments 10
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“LET THERE BE CHAOS” by Thorn Paige

Submitted to Contest #197

In the beginning there was order.And order was such a horrendous thing. Not a molecule was out of whack. Never did a bad moon rise. Nothing exciting happened. Light was neatly separated from dark. The planets, the sun they merrily circled in circular circles. Never one misbehaved, took off on an eccentric curvy ellipse. Every day was sunny and beautiful. Terribly beautiful, day after day, never a cloud, never a change of temperature or temperament. God saw that it was far too good. Things ought to be a tad more interesting.&nb...

1 comment 1
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“The Antichrist and All Her Friends” by Alex Alaimo

Submitted to Contest #197

           Dorothea's right hand still twitched and shook at her side long after the sedatives had taken effect in her bloodstream. The blue pendant had burned into the skin of her palm. The small muscles in her hands cramped, having lost feeling in her fingers hours prior. She feared that if she loosened her grip, she might lose her only chance of seeing tomorrow. The gravity of the realization weighed upon her chest, giving her a comparison to what it might feel like to be crushed und...

1 comment 1
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“Virgil’s Aeneas and the Founding of Rome” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #197

“Is it fate, or us, ending the world?” The admiral asked the question, but to him the answer would not come from the doctor, but the bright star to the west where the sun had just set. The night sky opened as a stage, and there, Venus, a false star, beckoned. The admiral listened. What did his god mother ask of him now? And would he listen?The doctor dismissed the admiral’s question, to him an enquiry to a deaf heaven. To ask a star, even the brightest, where their fate was headed, seemed the logic of a child from what he could tell. “W...

10 comments 10
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“The Goddess Must Have Her Way ” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #197

Her gaze lingered on the muscular men working on the plains of Oklahoma. She desired them all, but there was something about the power in his shoulders, the way he carried himself, his easy smile when he cajoled the others, that made her think this one was her choice. Her hero. The Goddess of Stone sent messengers.ↂↂUnder the roaring heat of the natural gas flaring off above, Avrel hauled the next pipe segment into place, sweat exuded from all his pores while his rippling muscles worked to place the 35 foot of steel that hanging from the boo...

5 comments 5
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“Re-righting the Future” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #197

Most people live their lives in the present: looking back on the past; trying to anticipate the future. My gift – my curse – is that I was fated to foretell what will be. But the gods have a cruel sense of humour, for they decreed that no one would believe me when I spoke of things to come.Back then, I was Cassandra: daughter of Priam; sister of Paris. To be honest, I didn’t need the gift of prophecy to see that my brother’s desire for Helen would end in tears. She was beautiful – “the face that launched a thousand ships” is how one of the p...

4 comments 4
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“Couch-Deep Roots” by Elizabeth Schomburg

Submitted to Contest #197

Rich people always seem to think the best kind of couches are the leather ones with those knobby tufts, or the ones with electric recliners in every seat and cupholders and cell phone chargers in between; the ones with the contoured seats that make you feel like you’re getting ready to launch into space or something. But they’re wrong. I can tell you right now, the best kind of couch is one with a deep seat and two long cushions, none of that three cushion business. Two long cushions, at least 80 inches total, and a high back. Nothing ru...

6 comments 6
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“Strange and Wings ” by Theresa Amante

Submitted to Contest #197

If you ask me what I am — what sort of gears and clock hands make me tick — I’m not sure I could accurately tell you. Heck, I don't even know if I have a mind or a heart, but I know I've been stuck here a long while now.I remember when magic breathed in these woods, and many a Spirit floated through the air like gossamer wind. It's embarrassing to say, but I’m not sure how I got stuck here; in this hollow tree. I mean I can leave every once and a while—do what I'm supposed to do (as a Spirit does), but recently I've found myself not really d...

2 comments 2
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“Rising Wind” by J.C. Vayda

Submitted to Contest #197

The wind whipped across the surface of the ocean, and the waves crashed upon the rigid rocks of the bluff down below. The tree line that was standing tall behind him cut off the rest of the world, and they swayed like a recently closed stage curtain after a long play. Nobody stood up and applauded. Nobody laughed. There would be no congratulations. There would be no reward. Instead, there would be only silence, sorrow, and regret once again. He fell to his knees at the edge of the world and screamed into the wind, but his voice got lost lik...

7 comments 7
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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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