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!

#199: Strangers in the Night

I’m always surprised when I feel naturally at ease with someone new. It feels like falling in step with one another, dancing to the same track in the half-light, an imperceptible puzzle piece clicking into place. It’s both exhilarating and dizzying.


This week, I want us to spend some time thinking about that feeling, and explore those moments in our lives when we meet new people in either boring or serendipitous ways — be it making eye contact with someone on public transport, going on a first date, or meeting in a way that feels like destiny has intervened.

This week's prompts

Set your story on a warm summer evening with a full moon, when everything feels magnetic and your character’s about to meet someone important.

Romance – 75 stories

Write about a character having a spiritual experience at a concert or a nightclub.

Dramatic – 27 stories

Your protagonist walks past an intriguing stranger, then turns around to take another look at them. The stranger turns around, too. Write about what happens next.

Character – 61 stories

Write a story about someone who finds someone’s diary, and tries to reunite it with its owner. It’s up to you whether they read it or not!

Mystery – 52 stories

Write a story about a character who returns home changed by someone they met on a trip.

Summer – 41 stories

Stories

“The Ritual ” by Kendreia Collins

Submitted to Contest #199

The kettle whistles pulling me out of my almost meditative reading. I rise out of my oversized chair left to me by my father and walk to my kitchen to make my grandma’s recipe for “nerve soothing” tea. Between you and me it’s just green tea with a splash of honey Jack Daniels. In any case, no matter what the materials magic happens in your heart, I believe that my grandma’s unique recipe is in fact, nerve soothing. I settle back in my oversized chair and begin to think about how I’ve been feeling off for weeks now. I thought that maybe takin...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Very Good” by David Andrew

Submitted to Contest #199

The party is loud, and full of people. Noise and people - neither among my favorite things.Yet another person opens the door to come in. They have flung the door wide, gesticulating enormously and bleating out a Fonzish greeting: “Ayyyy!”As several others cheer in reply, I take the opportunity to slink outside into the relative darkness. The world smells of dirt, grass, and the radiating heat of the bark of the douglas firs nearby. And as I hurry out, a quick whip of warm breeze carries the scents of the lake to me as well: dancing bugs, hid...

11 comments 11
Read story

“Refugees” by R W Mack

Submitted to Contest #199

 I still remember drywall snapping in the shape of my body. There's a crumbling crisp note followed by soft whispers of dust snowing down. It almost twinkled in my ear as she berated me, blaming me for the busted wall she'd thrown me into. People said it's strange that's what I remember about being a kid, but therapists found it pretty banal. We'll fixate on anything to deflect trauma as much as possible.Connecticut is a shit place to fall in love with. Ignore the inhumane cost of living and you've still got weather as stable as our mot...

7 comments 7
Read story

“Or So I Herd...” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #199

I assumed it was a typo. But then I’m paid not to make assumptions, so I shelved that badly educated guess of mine and fiddled with something that might resemble an open mind, rereading the note that had been written in headache-inducing handwriting that was not at all helped by the gaudy red ink. The ink was from a fountain pen, smudged here and there just in case I wasn’t finding the spiderlike scrawl difficult enough to decipher as it was. We need you to find the owner of this dairy. That was what the note said. Then it gave an ad...

22 comments 22
Read story

“He’s Here.” by Matthew Guerrero

Submitted to Contest #199

Maddy’s journal Madelyn’s entry #1 I’ve decided to use my full name instead of the goto that everyone calls me, I mean my sister did tell me I should use it at my full disposal, so why not use it. It’s the name I use in my head when talking about myself or making up conversations when I’m watching others. Trust me I’m always watching (cue the eerie violins, or maybe the X-files theme?) but yeah, Madelyn sounds so much more mature, like Madelyn has her shit together, but Maddy is pouring her feelings out in a journal because she’s havin...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Man proposes, God disposes” by Ifeoma Igwe

Submitted to Contest #199

 Her whole life, Oluchi watched as different family members transitioned through her home in Lagos. These cousins and uncles and aunties were dream chasers who came from the village to the land of opportunities. They were the children of old relatives who had finished from university and exhausted all the support their parents could afford. But sometimes, they were younger and needed help with even their secondary education. All the same, her parents provided for these people who in turn looked after Oluchi and her brother. When Oluchi ...

9 comments 9
Read story

“Three Hours to Liverpool Street” by Jesse Neethling

Submitted to Contest #199

Trains had always fascinated Tyler. From the time he was four years old, he would take apart and build little toy models of trains. His favorite part was the interior. The chairs, carpets, the little metal poles he would glue from the floor to the ceiling. At the age of twelve, Tyler’s parents got a divorce. A nasty kind, where the only interaction between them revolved Tyler and their commitment to him. Each month they would hop on a train with him and take him to the other parents’ house. Tyler was getting older however and his parents tho...

8 comments 8
Read story

“The Insomniac - Part 2” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #199

Every night it’s the same thing. I go to bed exhausted but toss and turn all night long. It feels like my eyes are burning out of my head but have forgotten how to close. My legs are fidgety and jumpy.  Maybe I’ll sleep a little by daybreak, but this is usually filled with nightmares, so I wake up unrefreshed.It all started after the car accident. I hit a small child that had run out into traffic between two parked cars. He was running away from his friends. I slammed on my brakes immediately, but it a...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Falling in Love” by Kate Winchester

Submitted to Contest #199

***Author’s note*** this story can be read as a stand-alone, but it is part of my Falling series. A combination of fire and alcohol had warmed Jenny flushing her face. She took another sip of her hard lemonade and threw a penny into the fire. Hints of blue-green flame danced with the orange and red hues.  “Jenny!” Aurora chided. “We’re not children, and besides, this isn’t a wishing well.” “What difference does it make, Aurora? It’s one cent. It’s cheap entertainment if you ask me.” Evelyn said. ...

18 comments 18
Read story

“Sandcastle of Desire” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #199

As if the sun shines only on her, all eyes fall on ‘the woman’ as she strolls across the classic Italian city square. A flock of pigeons parts before her. Dressed simply, she looks better than those watching. In awe, they stare. She’s perfect. ‘The man,’ distracted, almost collides with ‘the woman,’ crossing her path. As if receiving an angel’s tap, he turns and sees the woman he’s been trying to meet. Their eyes lock. One can almost hear music swell with their emotions. A team of laborers pass between them, oblivious to their role in this ...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Finding Etherealle ” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #199

This one is basically a first draft of a chapter for a larger story. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!Finding EtherealleThe falling leaves of autumn decorated the campus of Ministry College as the students began their after mid term activities. Jennifer Hayden, a sophomore of almost 20 with wavy dark hair traveled across the campus to the science building for her morning classestrying not to think of the date she had the previous weekend.  Her roommate, Melanie had set her up on a blind date with a friend of a friend from one...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Team Building” by Webb Johnson

Submitted to Contest #199

Team Building An hour after I got his text message I sat in front of the big man’s desk. He informed me that the selection committee had recommended Clara North for Regional Sales Coordinator. “It was a tough call, Bob. It came down to team building, and they think she has the edge over you. You’ll have other chances.” He walked me to the door with a hand on my shoulder then dashed back to pick up a humming phone. He gave me a thumbs-up send-off while saying, “Hi, Clara. Good news.” I dreaded the inescapable, mortifying talk with my...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Illuminated Society” by Alessandro Dell'Anno

Submitted to Contest #199

It was a beautiful May afternoon. The sun shone and birds sang from the trees as I returned home from work one Friday evening. As I was about to turn off Wardlow Road onto my street, I noticed a battered old book on the corner. It was brown, cracked, not too thick, with a leather binding. I thought it must be important to someone, so I picked it up and went through the garden gate leading up to my house. My wife, Elly, was already home from her job and was making a start on tonight’s dinner. ‘Hello sweety.’ She kissed me on the cheek, barel...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Robin D.” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #199

Robin D.Twice a month, my weekends began the same. Friday evening was hectic; I rushed back to the group home for a shower, a meeting with the counselor, and a ride to Greyhound. I had a small window of time, I got off work at 3 PM, and the early bus left at 5:15. You’re probably saying 2 hours and 15 minutes is, wow…lots of time. Not when you’re a teen who works 25-35 minutes away, a two-transfer required bus ride, and a 10-minute brisk walk to get to my front door. Of course, you must factor in Friday evening traffic in a college town. Eac...

13 comments 13
Read story

“Heart Attack at Camp Chapawonga” by Robin Owens

Submitted to Contest #199

I slap my thigh in a futile attempt to murder a mosquito. It survives and moves on to suck the blood of another unsuspecting camper. Chatty teens line the hand-carved—so they say—wooden benches that face the lake. Everyone nervously introduces themselves to each other in this first hour of the first day of our high school summer camp. The two campers on either side of me have their backs to me, finding intrigue elsewhere, I guess. For the first time ever in my life, I envy the buzzcut on the guy sitting next to me, as I peel my thick black...

9 comments 9
Read story

$250

Prize money

256

Contest entries

143

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 26, 2023 EST

Won by Anne Delfosse 🏆

Title: Hazel

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

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

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 ⭢

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.