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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#2: Toni Morrison

This week, we mourn the loss of an incredible figure in American literature: Toni Morrison. A Nobel Laureate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Morrison penned eleven novels in her lifetime, including Beloved, Song of Solomon, and The Bluest Eye. We hope to honor her with this edition of our competition, featuring prompts based on the resounding themes of these and other works in her remarkable oeuvre.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Narrative – 69 stories

Write a story about someone trying to escape their situation.

Novel – 47 stories

Write a story in which someone experiences discrimination.

Novel – 18 stories

Write a story about someone who defies social conventions.

Narrative – 15 stories

Write a story in which something seemingly innocent symbolizes something much darker.

Novel – 22 stories

Stories

“Together” by Ben Kauffman

Submitted to Contest #2

Author’s note: This story is taking place is a person’s mind. This story will at first seem confusing, perhaps even abrupt. This character will be doing their best to process what’s going on and to you they may seem to be asking weird questions. Before you start reading though, I have a question for you to think about as you learn what’s going on. “What would you do in this character’s situation?”......................................................................................................................................Darkness...

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“Not My Hips” by Ruby Ballantyne

Submitted to Contest #2

I thought that after seven years, the fear would have faded.I thought that after seven years, I could be as everyone else without pain or discomfort.I thought after seven years, I would be me again.After all, it was so long ago.I remember being eight years old and waking to the feeling of another's presence in my bed. He draped his arm around me and whispered Stay calm, everything is okay, go back to sleep.The sleep I fell back into was anything but calm.The world around me had changed from being kind and happy to scary and big. I woke and i...

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“Concealed Candor” by Inez Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #2

I sit on the wooden bench in the foyer, and stare at the picture frame that has been clenched in my hands for quite some time. The late night is revealed by the sharp moonlight bursting through the oversized window. The black laced veil remains clipped to my hair. It drapes over my shoulders down to my black dress. A fleeting flicker interrupts the moonlight. Was that the shadow of a man that I just saw? Could that be what caused the flicker? I turn around to check behind...

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“Emerson Does Not Care” by Patricia Stefaniw

Submitted to Contest #2

Emerson was once again experiencing the tactical sensation on the back of his neck, that felt like his hairs were charged by static. He often felt this sensation when he thought of his past and the mistakes he has made. His mistakes had patterns; patterns that pointed to him wasting his eighty plus years, on the foolish dream of making a quick buck and doing as little work as he need do.He was not lazy, far from it, he'd put in hours and days to try to land a deal. He'd drive hundreds of miles, just to shake a hand if he had too. Putting thi...

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“The Turtle Proposal” by Austin Queener

Submitted to Contest #2

The saying goes “hindsight is 20/20”, but really hindsight is just a cruel reminder of the fact that we never quite understand that everything we do inevitably comes back to bite us in the ass. Hey my name is Ted and this is the story of how I learned a pretty painful lesson about hindsight. It was a normal Saturday, the breeze felt good against my skin, the coffee in my hand was more cream and sugar than anything else, and the neighbors were seemingly fighting with a race of aliens made entirely out of all the loudest items in the uni...

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“Kauai” by Andrea Lollo

Submitted to Contest #2

We left the shop satisfied, strolling away, his tiny hand in mine and a paper bag of groceries balanced on my hip. My timepiece started vibrating outside a cafe so I set down the bundle on an iron table and laid my thumbprint on the screen to answer, shifting the three-year-old to the other hand. "Hello?" I sang, bringing the piece up to my face. Sergey's handsome eyes looked back at me from the screen. I smiled. "We just left," I said. "Do you want us to meet you at the beach?" Kaspar looked up at me expectantly. I knelt down and wrap...

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“Scars” by Jack2131 Walter

Submitted to Contest #2

…As I ran my fingers through my wet, dark hair, I saw the long-forgotten scar on my hand. The way I got it still, even today, gives me goose bumps. It was always covered by the dark gloves I wore, but it seems that I forgot to wear them after having to make the birthday cake for my dear younger sibling. Time does indeed fly really fast if you enjoy the things you have around you. The peace, the quiet. It was once too much to ask, but now, I wish I could have it all back.“Big brother!” She used ...

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“Leveling the Score” by Rudy Uribe

Submitted to Contest #2

Our character is shaped by how we respond to specific events in our life. Everyone is challenged at one point or another to choose between right and wrong. I realize now I should have stopped the car when I hit the dog – but I didn’t. I was sixteen, and the ink on my driver’s license wasn’t even dry yet. Little did I know the events of that day would eventually dole out their punishment. The canine ran out in front of me, so I don’t feel guilty about hit...

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“Forgiveness is far to sweet a taste.” by Elise Henry

Submitted to Contest #2

You ask me if I can forgive myself. That is a question I feel not fair as no sir, I will never and can never forgive myself. How could I ever justify forgiveness when I allowed such havoc to breed and fester, until my own flesh and blood knew not what was right and good. It seeped through us all until his badness became quite the norm.I could offer you my reasoning, but they be just my own utterances trying to justify why I stayed with such a man. I see all to clearly now that it was in fact my lack of fortitude that a...

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“The Ghost She Loved The Most ” by Guadalupe Palma

Submitted to Contest #2

By Guadalupe Palma She used to think sunsets were the greatest thing ever, until She met him. And not to be cliché about It or anything. The only love she had was for the sunsets as she thought it was gods masterpiece. But he came along and changed her life forever. A lonely girl who was just 19 and never learned how to live. But she once found love; it was disguised as a man with an angel smile but with a fist flaming fire. Tall man with brown dreamy eyes that can hypnotize anyone. An old soul with a broken smile and a tor...

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“The Mask” by Priya Swaminathan

Submitted to Contest #2

He looked at himself in the mirror. The make-up was intact. Chalky, gaudy and colorful. As he started peeling off its layers, his face was revealed, slowly, painstakingly. In glorious, tell-tale detail. First he could see the cheeks, heavily lined and sallow. Then the chin, a strong one with a deep cleft. Yes, the same one that had been an unending source of wonder and amusement to his sister and friends in his childhood days. That seemed so very long ago! Back then, all of them would take turns to touch his chin and feel his cleft. &n...

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“Left in Death's Wake ” by Kaeli Swaggerty

Submitted to Contest #2

Johnny nudged forward a bucket with the toe of his boot, dumping the head of the mop into the soapy water a little harder than he’d intended. Some of it spilled over the lip of the bucket and onto the marbled floor. Most of it, down his socks. Cold water and ocean breeze made for a nasty combination, but the shattered windows did little to help with the dropping temperature. Nearby seagulls perched on the railing laughed at his misfortune, flying away before the bad luck could become tangible. Johnny missed them already. Their voices were th...

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“Haunted.” by Judy Li

Submitted to Contest #2

“Another day, Bill.” The figure under the tree spoke to the air in front of him. The breeze cooled the afternoon air, but not by much. It was a hot day, but the speaker did not seem to mind. He was wearing semi-formal attire. Though this time, he settled for a T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Normally, he would wear a jacket—that jacket. From time to time, a few people would walk by glancing towards his direction, avert their eyes, then lower their heads and walk away solemnly. Not that he would notice, “Mark said hi, Jesse too. They got ...

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“Body Suits” by Sam Pollak

Submitted to Contest #2

Young hands, scarred and calloused from years of training kept a white-knuckled grip on a phone. Twitter was open, the feed filled with the quickly unfolding news. The newest headline “Molly Nielson first gymnast to report abuse by team doctor to USA Gymnastics” followed by “Five weeks since Nielson statement, FBI launches investigation” and “Over a year after investigation, doctor put on trial” New stories continued appearing. Gymnasts, dancers, swimmers, softball players, more and more women speaking up. “How do they do it?” Leah whispered...

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“Wally, is that you?” by Gail S Kibby White

Submitted to Contest #2

The day started out like a normal Monday workday. Not being a morning person, when my alarm went off at six a.m., I reached over and punched the snooze button. Ten minutes later, I punched it again. At six-twenty, I forced myself to shut off the alarm, got out of bed, and began the mundane ritual of getting ready for work.Half asleep, barefoot, wearing the lacy pink nightgown Wally loved, I meandered from the bedroom, down the hall to the kitchen. I filled a coffee cup with water, added an Earl Grey tea bag and placed the cup in the microwav...

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$50

Prize money

171

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 16, 2019 EST

Won by Amy St. Pierre 🏆

Title: Kids

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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