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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?

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

“Caroline Crawly” by Colleen Ireland

Submitted to Contest #200

They were too busy, the women of the town, to notice me when they gathered at the diner, Miss Lolly’s. Every Sunday, it was the church ladies, melty pink mints in their purses, lips pressed tight to hold back curses as their self-appointed leader, Ms. Amy Sprechen, a woman of no personal reflection, would share what no one else dares. Ms. Amy’s limited view of everything new allowed her to stay in the past, the power of her perfect hair and hourglass figure built to last. Ms. Amy’s husband, Mr. Ben, owned the bank, a dress shop, and a lunch ...

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“Beguiling Tales” by Faye S

Submitted to Contest #200

Maria heard her knees pop and snap as she straightened up from pulling weeds in the front garden. She sampled all the arthritis drugs, all with names she couldn’t pronounce. Some made her sick, or constipated, or gave her diarrhea. None slayed the pain. The warnings on the bottles told her to call 911 in the event she felt suicidal. She had to get the magnifying glass to read it, and by the time she found that and squinted at the little letters, well, she did feel a little preoccupied with killing someone, just not herself. “Duke’s gone, the...

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“Healing Through the Grapevine” by Ian James

Submitted to Contest #200

"Look, I'm not crazy," Adrian kept saying. He'd lost count how many times he'd echoed those words, and they hung in the air, heavy with his plea for understanding. His gaze landed on the man across from him - an emissary of worry and empathy. Adrian had figured out, right off the bat, that this guy wasn't here to buy an electric guitar. There was something about the weariness in his eyes, the lines of concern etched on his forehead, the sparse hair clinging to his scalp."Who put you up to this?" Adrian asked him. The man responded with ...

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“Our Lips are Sealed” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #200

I always loved the G0 Gos. Their song Our Lips are Sealed became my mantra or at least a modified version of it. I hated gossip so when anyone asked me for dirt about an acquaintance, I’d answer with my lips are sealed. I loved that the song became a big hit in the eighties. The Go Gos were considered the first real girl group because they sang, and they played their own instruments. I always wanted to dispute that claim. What about the Runaways? The girl groups of the sixties were also special. Yeah, the Supremes, the Shirelles, the Ch...

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“Oh, What A Pity.” by Tracy Brown

Submitted to Contest #200

Title: Oh, What A Pity. Description: Boys Girls, Women, Men And everyone we know Seems to drift away just a little bit That's life Nothing last forever. My dear love, what a pity. I know. I know. I mean, It’s like watching a movie or reading a love novel, we never know what comes next. Sure, we read the description, and we know a thing or two about the book that later becomes a movie, the actors and actresses, and how well they all seem to play their roles, but we the viewers don't alway...

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“Bound to Evil” by GW LeCroy

Submitted to Contest #200

This story contains kidnapping, violence, gore, and tobacco use. The rain beat hard against John Dyke’s black umbrella as he meandered down the dark, slick sidewalk. A plume of grey smoke puffed from between his lips and out of the big, oval nostrils of his bulbous nose like a dragon’s warning, daring anyone brave enough to test him and see what would happen. No matter the occasion, trailing a suspect inconspicuously or not, Dyke always had a Nub Connecticut cigar gripped firmly between pursed lips, its embers casting his features in a low o...

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“Strangle the Wrangle” by Hamzah Malik

Submitted to Contest #200

Have you heard of Wrangles, and their wretched ways? You most likely haven't, because their very existence has been kept a hushed secret for thousands of years. But that ends today. Wrangles are creatures of the mind - they do not exist in our physical realm, you can only meet them in your thoughts. Wrangles are responsible for millions of petty arguments, countless fits of rage and even a bloody handful of wars. You see, Wrangles are spindly, seething demons with elbows so sharp that even the wind gasps when it sees them. Wrangl...

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“This Will Cause a Kerfuffle” by Harriett Ford

Submitted to Contest #200

I couldn't have been more flabbergasted if Bigfoot had lumbered up and asked me to be his partner on "Dancing With the Stars."Listen up, Sonny. I know I haven’t gone berserk because my head is still right here on my shoulders, thankfully with my neck in between.You will probably dismiss this tale as a lot of malarkey and shrug me off as one of “those” people I once called knuckleheads and nincompoops. I want you to promise me your lips are sealed. If this gets out, I'll be branded as an old fuddy-duddy who is senile, however, I’m going to te...

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“The Weird Book” by Abby C

Submitted to Contest #200

“JENNIFER! If you don't get that homework done, you aren't going with us to the movies tomorrow.” Jen hurried to hide what she had just brought into her room from her adventure in the woods. It was some book, very big, leathery and it looked, well, ancient. Her mother rushed up the stairs to go check on her. Jen brought out her homework and pretended to be working on it, just in time before her mother walked in to see she was in fact working on the homework, 8th grade English to be exact. Jen didn't actually need to study for English ...

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“The Minion's Grail....” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #200

WTF--"With The Family". Janelle was ready for the family vacation. She was holidaying with her husband Jack, the jokester. They were driving to the Lakeside Holiday Inn. Janelle and Jack were not planning on a second honeymoon. They were taking along, in their large car, their five daughters, and her late mother's old apricot poodle, Beau. Janelle and Jack's daughters were a geographical lot. Ranking in order of age, they were as follows. Africa, aged 12, ( really born 40 years old); Georgia, 9 years old; Nevada, aged 7 years, Savannah, now ...

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“The Sunset” by Rachel Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #200

I won’t be able to describe to you how painful it is to die. How agonizing a slow death is. One that passively marches toward you and you’re left to sit and watch. Your stomach rises into your throat in a burning fashion. The acid coats your esophagus. Flight or fight? No, you’ve frozen in your tracks as you stare ahead at a crumbling landscape. You were so terrified that you couldn't even shake in fear. You just stood there. The world is tearing itself apart in a menacing manner. The type you’ve seen in action-packed movies or read about in...

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“Death Cab Confessions” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #200

The first thing Cliff Farren notices about the Director’s office is that everything is pure and blinding white. Looking at Margana, the Director of R.R. (Reprobate Renewal), Cliff’s thoughts turn less than pure. A striking beauty with platinum blond hair, Margana’s wide brown eyes cast a doubtful look at him. “When I was told I’d be seeing the Director, I was expecting some scrawny librarian with a hunchback, not somebody as stunning as Marilyn Monroe.” “Insincere sexist compliments won’t get you anywhere, Mr. Farren.” “I really mean i...

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“The Tale of Three Brothers” by Gregor Varga

Submitted to Contest #200

He came around nine o'clock that evening. It was very crowded and we did not immediately pay attention to him, which was odd, considering he was rather huge. He took up three chairs, you see. The first one to notice him was Zoro, our waiter. We gave him that nickname because he had a moustache and thick black eyebrows which, when one looked at him from distance, almost formed a mask. Anyway, he was the first one to gaze upon him. He came back with an order and, eyes wide open in disbelief, whispered that we have a whale in our midst. At firs...

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“Justice” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #200

Williams Daily Star May 29th, 1893Campbell Creek Saloon Robbed at Gunpoint, Two DeadBy Glenn JeffersonCampbell Creek, New MexicoThe Campbell Creek Saloon was robbed at gunpoint late Saturday night, leaving proprietor Wayne Duffy and an unidentified local dead.The perpetrators, numbering six, entered the near-empty bar with guns loaded and at the ready, instructing patrons to put their hands in the air.One patron testified to law enforcement that the aforementioned bartender attempted to draw a gun from behind the bar to thwart the...

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“A World at War” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #200

Long ago, there lived a little girl named Liesbet who had a secret friend called Greta. Greta’s family didn’t know about Liesbet. As a grownup, she didn’t tell anyone about her friend Greta because she had deliberately forgotten what had happened. The story came out when she suffered her stroke in her late eighties. Her long-term memories surfaced and became more crucial than the illusive short-term ones. She had forgotten why she had never told the story.To fully understand Liesbet, you need to know the tumultuous events that shaped he...

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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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