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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#20: Quite the Character

Between 1887 and 1927, Sherlock Holmes appeared in a total of four novels and 56 short stories penned by Arthur Conan Doyle. Since then, the stories have been adapted countless times, earning Holmes a Guinness World Record for "most portrayed movie character." And while Doyle's mysteries were widely lauded, it was the character of Holmes that had readers coming back time and again.

This week, your challenge is to write a story that highlights a single character. The premise is up to you — just give us some small understanding of this character by the end of the story.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a character who starts out as a pessimist and ends as an optimist. (Or vice versa.)

Character – 46 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing anxiety.

Character – 83 stories

Write a story about a character who would be described above all else as "logical."

Character – 31 stories

Write a story about a day in the life of a mother.

Narrative – 55 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing independence for the first time.

Teens – 59 stories

Stories

“Look Closer” by Terry R Barca

Submitted to Contest #20

It was one of those jobs that you really hate; clearing out a dead person’s house. That’s where we come in; we specialise. We get a call from some rich bozo who’s grandma just died, and he's going to sell her house, but he wants to make sure that he also gets to sell anything of value. He can’t be bothered doing it himself, so he hires us.Big Bill, who never leaves the offices these days, started the company just after the war with two of his army mates. In those days they would do most anything that was required, and some of ...

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“The Sun Will Rise Again” by Christina O'Connell

Submitted to Contest #20

Wesley’s alarm was rude enough to wake him up at 5 a.m.—such an ungodly hour. The sun hadn’t even broken through the clouds yet, his room still bathed in darkness. Wesley rolled over, pressing one of his pillows to his ear. It did nothing to drown out the incessant, high-pitched beeping of the alarm. He checked his phone, and groaned. Why wasn’t it Friday yet? The weeks always seemed to drag—it was as though Wesley was slugging through honey, his footsteps agonisingly slow. He rolled out of bed—it was closer to 6 a.m. at this time—...

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“The Creature” by Nina Zhang

Submitted to Contest #20

Deep breath. In and out. In and out. Take a step, Leena, take a step. Don’t fall on your face. Smile. Sharp needles piercing my heart. Deep breath. Something fluttering in my stomach. Deep breath. The crowd is watching, silent as ever as they wait for me to trip or fall. I clench my paper harder in my fist. Time seems to slow and I hear my own heavy breaths as I make my way to the front. One step. Two steps. Stop. Deep breath. I open my mouth to speak until the sight of all those pe...

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“Stressed Finnley is not best Finnley ” by Millie Spence

Submitted to Contest #20

Finnley poked his head of the red velvet curtain and was greeted with a sight that horrified him. There was hundreds of people, looking as though they were prepared to eat him alive with sharp, malicious teeth. He felt his heart start to race. Knees weak, his palms were sweaty. He tried to catch his breath but he couldn’t. Was he dying? He couldn’t be dying; he’s been really healthy lately. But there was that cold lately. He felt his throat become scratchy and dry. He coughed. And coughed. And coughed. Yep, he was dying. He can’t perform, he...

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“Logical Genius” by Yihan Wang

Submitted to Contest #20

It was the first day of Grade five in his boarding school, and Ethan was walking silently towards the front gates of the school. He didn't get why people sometimes talked while walking. It wasted your energy, you could breathe in cold air, and sometimes talking distracted some people form focusing on where they walked, causing them to bump into things. No one in Ethan's family bumped into things. They were a logical family, they said. They didn't make fools of themselves. They did not make friends with other people, although they made sure e...

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“The Mission” by Shannon Meyers

Submitted to Contest #20

It was the middle of the night when they attached the human town. Bertamuth looked on as he had his followers burn, kill, and loot the town. He scowled. It would be a long day. As a general, he need not fight. Just monitor but every so often, one would try to escape and he would slash them down with his axe or stamp them out with his foot. He did not like violence, but it was in his blood and even he could not deny the stir of excitement as he walked the screams and ash filled the air. He reached the largest dwelling in the town. The le...

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“No Need to Escape” by Ester Johnson-Lopez

Submitted to Contest #20

The children huddled under the small canopy, breath on each others backs, sheltering from the rain. The children lived a big camp, filled with many waterproof tents, but these children were treated like slaves, and therefore weren't given a place to keep safe. The group of children was amassed from all the families in the camp, taken forcefully from their home tents, and hidden inside the circle of the leader's tents. The children were collected at the beginning of spring, as soon as the frost that collected all over the country defrosted an...

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“THE ALIENS” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #20

THE ALIENS It was pitch black that night so the lights we saw from our campsite glared brightly. At first, we thought they could be aliens since a beacon formed each head of the three bodies that stood atop the mountain, divining rods held tightly in their hands to feel their way and perhaps paralyze their prey. It brought to mind what my mother used to tell me. Don’t go into the woods after dark… &...

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“A Day in the life of me” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #20

I had just gotten played. By a sixteen-year-old. “What do you mean he’s failing all his classes?” Then I remembered I was at work and it was a small office. Even at the best of times I have a loud voice. “Wait. Let me go outside.” Behind our building is a small yard enclosed by a chain link fence. I paced, probably resembling a bear in a cage. An angry bear in a cage. “You didn’t check the online school app?” asked his caseworker. Whatever her name was. Mrs. Burnett. The caseworkers tend to blend over the years. Although I r...

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“All in a Day’s Work” by Breanna Leslie

Submitted to Contest #20

1961Every day in Miriam Ford’s life is the same. Or at least it has been since she married Hank at the tender age nineteen. Sure, they’ve added a couple babies since then, which livened things for a bit. First came Jimmy, then Ethel three years later. Still, each day is the same. Get upBreakfast Pack the lunchesKiss the husband.GoodbyeWashScrubLunchScrubWashDinnerWashGoodnightAnd repeat. Of course, Ethel offers up some rogue diaper changes and atomic tantrums to liven up the day. It’s exciting enough for the average housewife. Miriam’s life ...

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“A Visit at the Unicologist's” by PASCALE DENANCE

Submitted to Contest #20

It was a cold night and I was brooding. One childhood memory in particular kept coming back. Everything was white. The snow was oppressive, like a sinister white omen. (‘In some countries, white is the color of mourning’, I thought…). My father was driving. He braked too suddenly. The car hit a tree, an apple tree. My mother went through the windscreen. Suddenly there was blood on the snow. I still don’t want to drive. Just can’t. Nobody listened to me, to my feelings. Then as before as later…I don’t know why I can’t shake this memory, or an...

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“Duck” by Vivien Leanne Saunders

Submitted to Contest #20

Someone decided to replace the klaxon with music.I wish I could meet that asshole and shake him by the throat. I used to love music, but now it makes my skin crawl. The sound of blaring horns and ringing bells should warn us, not the sweet harmony of a string quartet. But that’s just how it is these days. You wake up, the neighbours are scattered in bloody pieces over your nicely mown lawn, and some ratbag is playing Mozart on the radio.It must have been eight generations back when the sirens were loud. Back then, the sound was telling you t...

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“Saying Goodbye To An Alarm” by Katt Ester

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #20

He died two days ago. The time was 7:32 AM, and he died. He was alive for 16 years, 2 months, 5 days, 7 hours and 12 minutes. Don’t worry, I counted. His mom told me his exact time of birth the day before he turned 13 so I could annoy him right then. He was alive for 16 years, 2 months, 5 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes and it was very close to 13 minutes. He was alive though, I know he was. And then, just like that, after so long, he was gone. But life goes on, and that’s the way things are meant to be. Time do...

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“Coralie” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #20

Baby:The house is empty and quiet. I sit at the coffee table, sipping a cup of too sweet coffee, savoring the quiet and the peace, which is so uncommon. My husband, Leo, is shopping for groceries, and the sun has just begun to set, painting the room golden with its last rays.Coralie, the baby, is napping in her room. I smile, thinking about her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and yet also so exhausting. Her bright, hazel eyes are nearly always full of tears, and her mouth is always chewing something it isn't supposed to.Even ...

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“Cadence” by Christine Johnson

Submitted to Contest #20

The quiet Sunday morning loomed on Luz’s mind. Her bedroom relaxation shifted from restful and promising to a sweat pod dampening her cotton nightshirt. Her breath escaped her, fingers going numb. She held her shaking hands in front of her, grabbing one hand with the other to make the shaking stop. The blankets suffocated her. Luz violently flung the blankets three feet in the air nearly knocking over a lamp and a framed Warhol print. Her angst supercharged her strength to protect her unhinged mind.This wave came out...

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$50

Prize money

274

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 20, 2019 EST

Won by Amy St. Pierre 🏆

Title: At Home

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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