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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

“Lone Ranger ” by Meli Mangos

Submitted to Contest #20

“Bye, love you, thanks for helping!” Carla shut the door shut behind her parents and brother as they left her new apartment, cutting her dad’s goodbye off. Carla turned to face the mountain of boxes she forbade her mom to help unpack. Her mattress leaned against the far wall of the studio apartment next to the purple dresser she took from her childhood bedroom. Next step will be to paint that black. Her mom had placed the boxes to their respective rooms, rather, corners of the apartment. She was on the fourth floor with a bay win...

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“PERSEVERANCE PAYS” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #20

Dr. Kandasaami was travelling to Paalayankottai with six boys. Another teacher, Lopamudra, was escorting four girls. All students were in the range of 5 to 10 years of age. It was one of their routine annual features. The number of boys and girls might vary year to year. But their visit to various jails in the state was a routine affair. During the journey itself, he guided them on what they should speak. Very little time would be given for conversation between the parent and the child. Every minute being precious should be spent on telling ...

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“Inside out Backward colorfull” by Debbie Stelzle

Submitted to Contest #20

Audrey stood, with her hands on her hips, focusing on what was at the foot of her bed. She was contemplating the feat before her, putting on her clothes by herself."I am doing this today! I want to show my mom that I am being a big girl." thought Audrey. Audrey first had to face her first challenge taking the PJ top off. She pulled on the left sleeve pulling her arm back through the sleeve. “One arm free” Audrey said "Good" The right sleeve was a little easier to take off. Next was the most cha...

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“Puppet” by Grace R.

Submitted to Contest #20

Puppet. That’s all I am to everyone. Just a pretty little puppet waiting to do their bidding. They don't bother to search beyond my perfect face. They don’t see the cracks beneath the surface. They don’t know the strings that tangle themselves around my mind. Or the voices I hear. Commands that breathe into my ear, engraving themselves in my skull. No matter how hard I try, I can’t find a pair of scissors to cut the strings free. Puppet.All I was meant to be and all I will ever be. All right Drama Queen. That’s enough. A ...

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“A Night For Change” by Kai Sharpley

Submitted to Contest #20

Once I was able to fully comprehend what I had committed myself to, I wanted to go back out. Then I looked and people had looked at it already, and suddenly I had a promise to keep. It’s quite annoying having to talk about something that you haven't truly dealt with. For me, there are many things I have yet to deal with. There are a few questions that I have faced though and I guess what you know tends to be the best place to start, even when you don’t want to talk about it. I truly still don’t know how to begin this story. Most of the...

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“Don't be Roadkill” by Kendi Stoneberg

Submitted to Contest #20

Allaby Treemontan was having a very, very bad day—but he was all right with it. There was nothing in the world that seemed to get Allaby down. His smile was for everyone who crossed his path. His step never once faltered with negative hesitation. He was Santa Clause without the beard and the belly, and his Ho-Ho-Ho’s were continuous “Hello’s!” and “How do you do’s!” Today was no different, even when it seemed the world was against him. The power went out in his apartment complex, which meant that his alarm didn’t go off when it was suppose...

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“Into the Light” by Ellyn Quiggle

Submitted to Contest #20

I wondered if there would ever be peace. People joke that you have peace when you're dead. Maybe so. Leaving the house was against the rules between 1 and 1:15pm, on option expiration days. Maybe this time he would not notice. "I told you I am losing money and cannot be distracted, so here you are again. Why can't you stay out if my way?" I meekly replied, "I have a doctor's appointment and must walk the dogs before leaving." "You're an asshole." At what point did I give up my self worth to be with a man who had nothing nice to say or do? I ...

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“Hydroplaning” by Stella B James

Submitted to Contest #20

This rain is going to kill you. That’s what you think to yourself as you squint at your windshield, willing the white-gray blur to let up. The rain drops harder, pounding a rhythm a marching band would struggle to match, and you turn the wipers on high speed. If you die in this, will they even notice?Shaking your head, you press yourself into the back of your seat as the car hits another deep puddle. The edges of this back road are flooding, the road a narrow squiggle of cement that you struggle to keep on. Hitting another deep patch of wate...

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“Bogman 2” by Felix Twingrin

Submitted to Contest #20

For most people, life begins in warmth. He however, cannot imagine what that must have been like, he was born in cold.Sometimes he dwells on it, the strangeness of it all. How others don’t remember coming into this world. They don’t shudder with thoughts of that hideous gasping first breath. They don’t recall the people that pulled them to the bright light and wiped the muck from their eyes. Their first screams of indignation at being pulled into an existence all too foreign to them. They pulled him from the bog fully formed and screaming. H...

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“Mixed Signals” by Reira Nell

Submitted to Contest #20

“What?” she asked furrowing her eyebrows, worried. “What do you mean?”“There are no mixed signals,” The guy repeated taking his hands that were resting idly in his pockets. “If I was interested, I would text you, ‘Hey do you want to meet up for dinner?’, if I was interested…” he pointed both of his hands at her as if trying to explain something that was plain as day to a child, “…I would take you out to dinner. “Her heart thumped against her ribcage. Her breathing now faster, shorter. And with each breath she could swear her lungs ...

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“Nobody Home ” by Peter Vickland

Submitted to Contest #20

Wyatt Foster could walk past the dog in the Jenkins’s yard—the dog that snarled and snapped at the chain link fence with viscous spittle spewing through the spaces and gnashing teeth gleaming wicked in the sunshine—without blinking, without flinching. Perhaps it was because he moved to the neighborhood when he was twelve, had not grown up with that angry Rottweiler as the “monster under the bed” in all his childhood nightmares. Maybe he had lived somewhere without vicious dogs, so had never learned to fear them. If that wa...

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“Survival in Hell or High Water” by Nurani Illahi

Submitted to Contest #20

FlanGreeb sighed. Why couldn’t he have been born a wolf-human hybrid? Wolf-humans were so esteemed that they earned their own shorthand nickname, the “werewolf”. How neat is that? They were storied, mighty, and even in their reckless bouts of rage, were admired for their strength. And what about lion-humans? Majestic. Dog-humans? A fan favorite, known for their loyalty and freakish friendliness to even the worst hypocrites in the world. Hell, he would have even happily occupied an incarnation of the mantis-human. Even if a bit green around t...

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“Smiling” by Sophia Almeida

Submitted to Contest #20

Christine smiled up at the vast, blue, cloudless, sky and breathed. Today is going to be a good day. She leveled her head and continued walking, her simple black heels clacking against the cement as she walked along the sidewalk of the street heading towards the Dunkin Donuts to get her coffee before she headed to work. Which, luckily, was in walking distance of her small apartment in New York. She continued along, contemplating what she could accomplish today. Christine worked at an advertisement company for candy, she was especially excite...

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“Burning Love” by Adelaide Prochazka

Submitted to Contest #20

The fire had to be a blessing in disguise, it brought me to this house and to the boy next door. In all honesty the years had blurred since I lost my parents. The foster care system was lacking at best and no one wanted the toddler. My family had burned in a fire that started in the kitchen and I was the only one who was spared. Still I remembered everything like it was engraved in my mind. My childhood was not sweet nor kind. “Why can’t you behave like a normal little girl,” my father yelled, I didn’t understand what...

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“Head Held High” by Lindsey Buck

Submitted to Contest #20

She walked the school hall with her head high and a smile on her face. Or, she always tried her best. She could feel herself slow down sometimes, she could feel the urge to watch her feet, she could feel her smile sag but even on her worst days she could keep her head high and smile on her face. She only ever dropped her mask when she was alone. If you knew about the tears she shed, she trusted you. If you saw her tears, she’s not okay.Many people told her that she was incredibly kind and she was ridiculously smart. The day her mask fell off...

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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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