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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

“Did You Hear About Harriet?” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #200

Harriet’s only real sin is that she was late for church every Sunday. She always has an excuse. Her arthritis was acting up. The car won’t start. The cat got out again. Harriet’s friends were complaining that the hot days of summer were here again and the old church wasn’t air conditioned. Lacking a budget to fix what they had, let alone buy new things, the ladies proposed to the Minister that services be pushed back an hour earlier so they could be done before the day’s heat wiped out the few remaining aging parishioners. The problem ...

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“Gossip In A Small Town Spreads Faster Than Wild Fires” by Lizzy Stevens

Submitted to Contest #200

Jackie Willows had a love for horses that had no end. She could ride all day long and never get tired. Growing up on a horse ranch was her dream come true. Her mother managed the ranch and booked events for the horses. They lived in a small town and that came with its own set of challenges. The plus side was that everyone knew everyone, so it was like one big family. The downside was that everyone knew everyone, and they were always in your business. If the townspeople were not talking to you then they were talking about you. When they were ...

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“Links of a Chain” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #200

Jeremy Forms a Link on a Gossip Chain I was the last one on the chain of gossip. I knew that as I had been present for the first link, and, if the truth be known, I had carelessly foolishly fashioned the second link myself, the one that got the ball rolling, to mix my metaphors. I had to put it to a stop. Eventually I did. It all began when I was in a long, slow line at the school cafeteria, and w...

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“Grey Day” by Nikki Lynn Patterson

Submitted to Contest #200

Hickory is a small town that sits by itself in the middle of nowhere that smells damp of the nearby freshwater lakes. Residents here in Hickory are quiet, kind and hardworking people who relish their privacy, usually keeping to themselves. Many who live in the small town were born here, grew up and raised their own families here for generations. The ones who had come here over the years had settled, finding solace in a place that reminded them of simpler times before the reach of social influence and technology. A place where everyone knew e...

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“What Goes Around, Comes Around” by Joan Wright

Submitted to Contest #200

"Just look at her! She is so pathetic. If I had teeth like that, my parents would have had braces put on me the moment I got teeth." Megan's three friends giggled at the remark. "It even effects the way she talks. Look at her over there eating alone again." Megan then imitates Becca's speech to the delight of her friends. "I hope she doesn't bite herself while eating her lunch." Gales of laughter erupt from the table and drift through the cafeteria. Becca doesn't need to look up to know she is the subject of the laughter.Becca is used to the...

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“Email Love” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #200

To: < Izak Brian, COO - Line Answers Communication> Hey, big guy, thanks for the drink yesterday. Sorry to hear about your wife. She’ll probably get better soon. She’s looks better in your wallet photo, than the one on your desk. Listen, I don’t know if you saw, or if you know, but I saw Jon Sweet there at that Carly’s Cafe. When we came in. He was putting on his coat. He was wobbling. I’m pretty sure he’s a drinker. I’ve heard that around, too. Betty Peak :) To: < Izak Brian, COO - Li...

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“Spiced Words and Sizzling Karma” by Ian James

Submitted to Contest #200

𝐙𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐁 Staying afloat? I'm barely managing a doggy paddle. The cost of living climbs the clouds while my income lays low. Take chicken - now a luxury at RM10 per kilogram. Makes a dent in my wallet since my Ayam Golek's a sensation at the Ramadan Bazaar. Around 30 chickens a day, all over 2 kilograms - RM750 out of my pocket. Charcoal, herbs, spices, sugar, salt - extra dents in the bank account. It's less a business, more a charity. But, when my customers' eyes light up after the first bite? Priceless. Aisyah, my shadow, my girl, breaks ...

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“Steamed Crab” by Benjamin Boxer

Submitted to Contest #200

Dr. Harry Lightfoot dressed like a man, but he gossiped like a deacon. He drove a decommissioned mail van that had been painted to look like an ice cream truck with pastel playful animals frolicking and fraternizing as painted decoration on the sides, back, and even on the top. An amplified bullhorn had been fastened to the top, and from it, Dr. Lightfoot poured out loops of three tunes that seemed to have been played on a Fisher Price xylophone: "Merrily We Roll Along," "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and a generic little ditty that some...

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“The Senator's Wife” by S. W. Vaughn

Submitted to Contest #200

“Did you hear about Senator Wickam’s wife?” I turn toward the voice to find a woman I don’t know who’s apparently talking to me. Though I have no clue who she is, I know something about her because she’s wearing a red tube dress at a charity gala. Which tells me she’s not especially charitable. She’s only here to show off her gym-toned body and the breasts her husband is probably still paying for. She blinks and takes a half-step back. Her eyebrows would’ve shot up if there wasn’t so much filler in her forehead. “I’m sorry. I thought you...

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“Whispered Fate” by Topher Winters

Submitted to Contest #200

In the cold and unforgiving cityscape of London, Gabriel Stone, a private investigator hardened by both the city streets and the unseen dark corners of the paranormal, sat quietly in a seedy pub tucked away in a narrow alley. It was a sanctuary for the downtrodden, forgotten by the world and drenched in shadows. Here, Stone knew, lay a trail that could lead him to an entity as insidious as it was clever. In the treacherous game of cat and mouse that he played with the supernatural, the trail of The Miller was the dodgiest he had ever follo...

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“The Devil's Hometown” by Allan Bernal

Submitted to Contest #200

The following are interviews conducted and recorded by journalist Ruby Fullbright as part of her investigation of Bushfield, Georgia. All interviews were conducted in the year 2000, fifteen years after the name “Devil’s Hometown” first appeared in print referring to Bushfield. Isaiah Malcolm, 54, former federal agent: So, you wanna know why it’s called the Devil’s Hometown. Well, the fact that Bushfield is in Georgia certainly doesn’t help – the Devil went down to Georgia af...

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“Alina J. Michaels, Sr. Technician, 12 years tenure” by Gianluca Angelucci

Submitted to Contest #200

Everything needs to be impeccable. She stands, adjusting the blazer in front of her reflection on the opaque glass walls of the office, straightening the folds on her suit with firm pulls. Getting back to her chair she checks her makeup on an round hand-mirror, perfect. The computer screen displays the employee page for Alina J. Michaels, Sr. Technician, 12 years tenure. The picture on the screen looks just like a baseball card in a kids game. She goes through the page one last time, just to be sure to have all memorized. A knock on ...

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“The Eighth Sin” by Jessica Cook

Submitted to Contest #200

The lies ate away at Aileen until she couldn't take it, until she was done being nice to everyone as they plastered fake smiles across their faces to get through the sight of her. She was back in her hometown not even a full week before the whispers and stares wove between the goosebumps on her back. Aileen slept with so-and-so. Did you hear about that night? I hear it runs in the family. Aileen had no idea what person she supposedly slept with, or what night that took place. The only thing that ran in her family was a short temper and h...

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“Whisper on the Wind” by Henry Mauser

Submitted to Contest #200

A breath of wind ghosted through the open office window, rattling the skeletal array of printed papers taped and tacked to the opposite wall. For a moment, the paper bones cracked with life, animated by the cigarette-and-saxophone city air, but presently the wind withdrew to whisper elsewhere, and the pages slumped stiff and lifeless back against the wall. A few more bones and an arrest to give flesh, and this skeleton would be ready to testify in court, and restore peace to a restless city. Printed upon the dead-white of each page was a sc...

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“What Will Be” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #200

She knows how to find these little shops where the aroma of coffee bends the mind from larger issues. Soft paper, moist with liquid that perspires through fingers that grasp the latest flavors, my Affogato with premium vanilla ice cream and a shot of freshly brewed espresso, her flat white double espresso, steamed milk with just a hint of vanilla syrup. All would be well, as vendors hawk their wares down cobblestone streets and the unheard gentle murmurs of the delighted customers who nod and fondle their steaming cups.I can let this all swi...

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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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