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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#200: Heard it Through the Grapevine

It’s perhaps not our most virtuous impulse, but it’s a very human one. The desire to gossip, tell tales, and share stories we’ve heard about others doesn’t always win us friends, but it’s born from a real evolutionary need. Psychologists speculate that the original purpose of gossip was to keep us safe, helping our ancestors identify potential threats, build bonds, and learn what behavior was deemed acceptable or unacceptable by their peers. And, for better or worse, that habit has stuck.

Of course, gossip can (and often does) go too far. It’s up to you how it plays out in this week’s stories; will your characters face consequences for their loose lips, or will gossiping actually save the day?

🥇 Winner

“Three Questions” by Katharine Widdows

🏆 Winner of Contest #200

“Right, you stinking mutt, into your cell and keep quiet.” The gaoler manhandled Edmond Barker into a cold, damp room then clanged an iron-barred gate behind him and turned a key in the lock. His rancid beer breath rattled in Edmond’s nose. “Now both of you listen up! The man in the cell next to you could be your saviour or your downfall. The secret to your release is somewhere in the cell next to yours, so only your companion can find it. High tide is in one hour and will completely fill both your cells. Be out or be drowned.”“Hey! You next...

141 comments 141

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Gossapp_Girl” by Derrick M Domican

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

**Connecting to Server.**Initiating Application.**Gossapp V.1.0 installed.**GOSSAPP_GIRL has entered the chat.**Cindy_Ford has entered the chat.**Accessing contact list for AndroidAP55E7.**Chat invitation sent to Jenny_Reynolds.**Chat invitation sent to Louise_McLaughlin.**Chat invitation sent to Taylor_Doyle.CindyF: Helllooo GossappGirl. Not sure how this works. Is this like ChatGPT or do you just randomly make shit up and throw it out there?GOSSAPP_GIRL: Hi CindyF, thanks for joining my chat! I’m Gossapp_Girl. I have lots of juicy gossip f...

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“Monday's Child” by Mary Black

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

Monday’s Child Monday's child is fair of face/ Tuesday's child is full of grace/Wednesday's child is full of woe/ Thursday's child has far to go/Friday's child is loving and giving/ Saturday's child works hard for a living/And the child that is born on the Sabbath day/Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay. (19th Century English Nursery Rhyme) On a Monday, you wake up in your lonely bed to the tang of aircraft fuel and the roar of yet another early morning jet. You adjust your ineffective earplugs and wish you were Beyoncé...

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“A Rumor of Oilheads” by Mark VanTassel

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

A Rumor of Oilheads A Legend from the Strength of Old By Mark VanTassel Erde Date: 960 (Earth 1940) Breach hung head down, face to the darkness. His heart thudded, and between beats he listened. It was quiet tonight, and moonlight filtered down in streaks. He saw a fish hurry past, then a great tailfish followed. He wondered which would get what they wanted tonight--a meal, or another day. A crack from a nearby mountain rumbled through him, telling him that the firestone would hit the water again soon. When the news came, it was ...

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“The Slingshot” by Glenda Toews

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

“I tink I saw one in the attic, Da.” Bobby said.“Aye, go on up dare, and have a look will yer? One more should do it then.” Patrick instructed his eldest son. A chair pushed against the linoleum scratched black beneath the feet, freeing Bobby to the attic for a suitcase hidden under a hundred years of dust. They were packing for America.“Da, are we going to leave everyting else?” Mikey asked. His eyes wandered around the sitting room. The ratted carpet he and Bobby rolled around on, bare in the spot where some feet, shoved in shoes and other...

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“Sammy, Tammy, and Pearl” by Ava Black

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

“You sure you don’t want to meet for a drink?” The greasy man asks, his raspy voice muffled as he lays belly-down on the massage table. “I’m only here for one night. Let’s make it a fun one, yeah?”Aileen pulls her oily hands away from her massage client, wincing as her carpal tunnel flares up.“Well?” he demands. “I’m a bit older, but I’m still fun! Hell, you can even call me Daddy if you want.”“You’re all done!” Aileen says cheerfully. “Jasmin can take your payment outside.”“I’ll pay you for the night. How about that?”“Jasmin can take your p...

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This week's prompts

Write a story that includes the line “my lips are sealed.”

Adults – 96 stories

Write a story about a piece of gossip that becomes more and more distorted as it passes from person to person.

Adults – 33 stories

Your character is known as the town gossip. One day, it comes back to bite them.

Adults – 22 stories

Write a story about someone trying to track down the source of a rumor.

Adults – 35 stories

Your main character has a secret superpower; the gossip they spread always comes true.

Adults – 24 stories

Stories

“Three Questions” by Katharine Widdows

🏆 Winner of Contest #200

“Right, you stinking mutt, into your cell and keep quiet.” The gaoler manhandled Edmond Barker into a cold, damp room then clanged an iron-barred gate behind him and turned a key in the lock. His rancid beer breath rattled in Edmond’s nose. “Now both of you listen up! The man in the cell next to you could be your saviour or your downfall. The secret to your release is somewhere in the cell next to yours, so only your companion can find it. High tide is in one hour and will completely fill both your cells. Be out or be drowned.”“Hey! You next...

141 comments 141

Read story

“Gossapp_Girl” by Derrick M Domican

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

**Connecting to Server.**Initiating Application.**Gossapp V.1.0 installed.**GOSSAPP_GIRL has entered the chat.**Cindy_Ford has entered the chat.**Accessing contact list for AndroidAP55E7.**Chat invitation sent to Jenny_Reynolds.**Chat invitation sent to Louise_McLaughlin.**Chat invitation sent to Taylor_Doyle.CindyF: Helllooo GossappGirl. Not sure how this works. Is this like ChatGPT or do you just randomly make shit up and throw it out there?GOSSAPP_GIRL: Hi CindyF, thanks for joining my chat! I’m Gossapp_Girl. I have lots of juicy gossip f...

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“A Labyrinth of Silence” by Wally Schmidt

Submitted to Contest #200

Marie groped her way along the tunnel walls longing for just a sliver of light to help her find her way to the exit. A labyrinth of passageways criss-crossed the old town of Lyon, France providing silk workers with a way to transport their bolts of fabric without getting them wet. The silk trade had long ago flamed out, but the locals continued to use the passageways to get from one part of town to another.It was in one of these tunnels that Marie found herself now. She understood the necessity for lights out and curfews, but most of the pas...

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“The Haunting of 555 Maple Avenue” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #200

Eloise Fish pulled back her drapes a hand’s breadth, took a sip of wine, and watched the circus unfolding down the street. Night was settling on Maple Avenue, but the old house four-doors down was bathed in the lights of half a dozen full-sized vans, each honking at the others. The crew of the National Ghost Hunters had been embroiled with the cast of Paranormal Sightings Unlimited, and just now the whole production team for Spectre Collective rolled up, with their tour bus in tow.When Snuffles – her pet tarantula – shimmied down the drape, ...

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“A Little Birdie Told Me...” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #200

A Little Birdie Told Me...Two long time neighbors met over the backyard fence.“So how's things down at the mill?”“Oh, you know how we millers are. We keep grinding them down and spitting them out. What about at the winery? Any good news there?”“Heard some good ones through the grapevine just yesterday.”“I can't wait to hear but I'll let you tell all of us at once when we get together over at the park. We plan on meeting between the telephone poles. We'll have a bird's eye view of the lay of the land and won't get our wires crossed.”“Sure, ev...

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“Noah's Shark” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #200

Martha, if I knew more than what I was telling you, I would tell you more. I’m telling you what I know, and all I know is what Gosha told me after Saresha told her after Saresha talked to Noah’s wife Na’amah spoke to her about it and told her to bring the turtles. I don’t know what Noah needs turtles for, but somebody told me--and I can’t say who--that Noah might be building a turtle farm. All turtles moving forward. The occasional salamander, but mostly turtles. Do you believe that? What is he going to do with all those turtles? I asked G...

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“Sweetness Is Easy but Cinnamon Is Tricky” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #200

March, 1995Michael watched the old man for some minutes before approaching him. He had only seen photos of his uncle before today. Grainy black-and-white images of a leg...

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“The Last Dispatch of Marlon Katz” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #200

“And we are live in three, two, one…” “Gary we are here broadcasting live from the scene and, well, Gary I, I don’t quite know what to tell you.” “We can see your pictures, Marian. We can see it but we can’t quite believe it.” “No, Gary, I’m here seeing it with my own eyes but I’m not sure I believe it. He looks so tired. He’s shrinking before our eyes. He’s visibly shrinking. It’s like… It can’t be, Gary. This can’t be happening.” “We would like to remind our viewers that they should stay calm and remain in their homes. The President is...

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“Dot, Dot, Little Dot” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #200

Now Thomas hadn’t expected to be alive when the town’s time capsule was opened. Susanna turned on the TV in the sun room in time for the news segment to premiere for all of the guests at Sunset Brooke Care Home. “Mr. Wilkers, were you alive when they buried that thing?” she asked as she pulled her huge legs up so that her feet, clothed in pure white sneakers, were on the seat. It made Thomas grind his teeth together and mumble a curse. The TV screen showed a crowd of people gathered for the event. A makeshift stage had been built to the side...

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“The Proposal ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #200

“You must not tell a single soul!”Jane said nothing as her friend sat opposite her, grasping the fine bone-china teacup between her delicate fingers. Emily was animated, her eyes glittering with barely suppressed excitement. Jane found her friend’s enthusiasm for intrigue exhausting at the best of times, but since coming to suspect her own delicate condition, she found such exuberance almost unbearable.“Swear it! Say, I solemnly swear that I shall not breathe a word to a single soul!” Emily pressed, her words tumbling out in a breathy rush.J...

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“Open Pit Mining” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #200

A lot of people are opposed to open pit mining, tearing up huge chunks of the earth, so people can have more cars, more gadgets, more of everything, but trust me, when you've just lost your job, your girlfriend, and are receiving student debt bills, concerns about the world in 2200 are not the highest priority. Which is how I found myself a week ago travelling across the world, and starting work last week at Fimiston in WA.Seconds before I’m about to get my truck into gear, Robb jumps in. He's invited himself. Having a companion for the tent...

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“A Babel Fish of Lies” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #200

“Good evening,” greeted the tubular dark figure hovering at Emily Whitticombe’s front door. “I am Constable RMR-1132813, and my supervisor on this visit is Detective Inspector Dorothy Garland of the Droid Yard.” Emily Whitticombe studied the shadowy figures intensely, before switching her porch light on to illuminate them. “What do you want?” She demanded to know from the hovering android. “We would like you to help us with our enquiries, Ma’em,” the droid replied with phonetic difficulty. “Regarding what?” The impatient householder asked. “...

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“The Parental Loop” by Kevin Logue

Submitted to Contest #200

I've heard the story before, countless times, but I don't stop her. It must run on repeat through her mind. A story of her youth, when everything somehow seemed simpler, even though soldiers roamed the streets, families were caught in riots, friends maimed or worse in rebel attacks. The good old days she calls them with a weak smile. Whatever was so good about them I've never asked. No point asking now.Turning to the open window next to her bed, her pinprick pupils search for a recognisable feature amongst the fresh cut lawns and towering pi...

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“Monday's Child” by Mary Black

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #200

Monday’s Child Monday's child is fair of face/ Tuesday's child is full of grace/Wednesday's child is full of woe/ Thursday's child has far to go/Friday's child is loving and giving/ Saturday's child works hard for a living/And the child that is born on the Sabbath day/Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay. (19th Century English Nursery Rhyme) On a Monday, you wake up in your lonely bed to the tang of aircraft fuel and the roar of yet another early morning jet. You adjust your ineffective earplugs and wish you were Beyoncé...

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“Molestation Magnet” by Viga Boland

Submitted to Contest #200

**please note story begins in 1953. Molestation and rape mentioned.** When the first of the molestations begins, I am 7 years old. I attend St. Vincent’s Catholic School. The school is located a few miles from the now infamous Kings Cross, a part of downtown Sydney, Australia. My molester is a 13-year-old student in Grade 6…a girl. Because I’m new at the school and think my classmates might not like me, I hide in the shadows of the building. She spots me there. She smiles at me and comes over. “Why aren’t you playing with anyone?” She ...

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$250

Prize money

210

Contest entries

116

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 02, 2023 EST

Won by Katharine Widdows 🏆

Title: Three Questions

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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