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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#202: A Friend Indeed

We often assume the great loves of our lives will be romantic ones. But how true is that really? Some of our most valuable, enduring, and complex relationships are right in front of us — and they're entirely platonic, in the form of the friends who've stuck with us through thick and thin.

June 8th happened to be Best Friends Day, and so this week’s prompts take a moment to reflect on the importance of friendship, in its many forms — whether your characters are besties, frenemies, or somewhere in between.

🥇 Winner

“Emma ” by Victoria Macleod

🏆 Winner of Contest #202

I did it because I liked the way it made me feel. The transaction pleased me even before the idea became a reality. The see-saw of our friendship now tipped in my favour- I the one swinging her legs loftily, gripping the handles with sweaty palms. Looking down on her smiling face as she crouched uncomfortably, waiting for her turn to rise. I did it because 23 years of knowing and loving Emma had taught me that she was regarded as the kinder and uncompromising one, she the one who went the extra mile, she the one to ou...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Your Call Has Been Forwarded to a Place You Can Never Return ” by Liv Chocolate

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

cw: mild graphic material and brief mention of physical violence If you were here right now, you’d tell me this is a bad idea. You’d take away my phone and remind me that you can’t make someone stay who doesn't want to. You’d have saved me from creating yet another shame-inducing memory I’d end up cringing at five years later—while I’m pumping gas into my car, slicing a tomato, skimming the dead leaves from the pool we used to swim in.While I’ve tried to forget, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that I can recite your number by heart. I’...

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“Enemies of Crowkind and Shades” by Russell Mickler

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

The Gargoyle. Edgar. Routing Evil. In the Free City of Mumling, the gothic cathedral honored Silvanus, a nature deity of Man. It was a looming structure, rectangular, constructed from solid granite blocks, mortar, iron, wood, and glass, topped by a vaulted gable roof covered in vigorous green moss. A spire at its entry reached beyond the roofline, decorated with statues depicting Silvanus’ acts of celebration, and if one were to stand at its harrowing doors, the spire seemingly stabbed the sky like a knife. The followers of Silvanus re...

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“A Rock to Guide Me” by Robert Egan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

My best friend is a rock, and I don't mean a shoulder to lean on: He's a rock, a stone, a solid mass of mineral material that resides within that broad spectrum between pebble and boulder. I've had other, human friends over the years, but none compare to the 65-gram supernova that is Noah. That's right, my rock's name is Noah and he's been my constant companion for 37 years. I met him on my eighth birthday. It was a small birthday, just my parents, my Uncle Stan, my sister, and some kid from school whose nose bled all the time. Uncle S...

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“Rosemary” by Shania Ottessor

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

Cara lifted the eyelid open, gripping the upper lash between her fingers. She used her other hand to squeeze super glue underneath it and watched it settle over the eyeball. She carried out the same on the other eye. She looked at the woman’s face. Despite being in her early twenties, her greying skin made her look ten years older. Cara pressed her own lips into a thin line. In her field of work, she was used to many a corpse, but she’d never felt more of a connection that she did to this one. Maybe it was because, in another life,...

Read story

“Ms. Scarecrow” by Awen Kerr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

She smelled like fire and brimstone, or so the neighborhood kids told me when I moved in. This wasn’t the only reason I avoided the house at the end of the road, but it certainly made the list, and added to the intrigue of my new neighborhood. I kicked a small rock down the pavement between houses, careful not to step on any cracks. There was no room in my day for bad luck, and my attention to detail was paying off. We had a beginning-of-the-year fundraiser, so I’d been sent home the first week of school with a pad of order forms and...

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“Nothing In Common” by Patricia Jablonski

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

Nothing In Common If Cass’s mother could see her now, she’d die all over again. A few books and some questionable fashion choices stuffed into a canvas backpack with a broken strap, standing on the side of the Interstate, thumb out, her dark face squinting into the Florida sun. Traffic screams past her. The blowback from vehicles whooshing by nearly knocks her over. Her eyes are stinging from the sand and debris flying into her face. The roar of traffic is louder than she thinks a tornado must be. Dark clouds are moving in. It feels like...

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“Agatha's Oddity Oasis” by Jane Summers

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

Oliver Hartfield retrieved the handkerchief from his trouser pocket. He flipped it out, blew his nose, wiped the moisture from his nostrils and shoved the handkerchief back into its place. An old man in a young man’s body. His brown scruffy hair grew in a thicket of tangles, his young eyes gleamed with bright intelligence. The strength in his limbs contradicted the curved shoulders earnt from years of hunching over workbenches.Oliver Hartfield lived in the clouds. His mind ticked away with cogs and coils, oil and metal. An inventor to his co...

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“None of it Was Accidental” by Molly Kwest

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

Dad doesn’t like me being out late, but I’m not afraid. So, here I am in the middle of the woods, surrounded by towering trees that block out the shining white light of the moon, making it hard to see my own nose, never mind the path to our destination. “God!” I groan, wishing I could take a minute to crack my spine and relieve the pain a bit. “How much does this thing weigh?” “We’re almost there,” Finn replies with a moan of equal discomfort to mine. I waddle like a constipated duck, carrying one end of what feels like a bag ...

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This week's prompts

Write a story about lifelong best friends.

Character – 60 stories

Write about two friends who were once inseparable, but now find themselves growing apart — or even friends turned enemies.

Dramatic – 79 stories

Set your story at a wedding reception, where a group of high school friends are meeting for the first time in years.

High School – 16 stories

Write a story about two friends who find themselves competing for something: a job, a prize, a love interest, etc.

Funny – 16 stories

Write about two people striking up an unlikely friendship.

Character – 96 stories

Stories

“Emma ” by Victoria Macleod

🏆 Winner of Contest #202

I did it because I liked the way it made me feel. The transaction pleased me even before the idea became a reality. The see-saw of our friendship now tipped in my favour- I the one swinging her legs loftily, gripping the handles with sweaty palms. Looking down on her smiling face as she crouched uncomfortably, waiting for her turn to rise. I did it because 23 years of knowing and loving Emma had taught me that she was regarded as the kinder and uncompromising one, she the one who went the extra mile, she the one to ou...

Read story

“Knot Theory” by Temitope Ajao

Submitted to Contest #202

To form a knot, you take a string and let it twist into various configurations. Each twist and turn gives birth to a new design, that is a knot. And as a mathematician, I do research on these knots and their interesting structure. I have acquired a taste of the general view of things through my work. But the soul of any particular thing, is of course, in the details. How a tree fuses its limbs and binds them together. These are the souls of things, and this way my experience with a mystical Aurora.My experience of childhood loss had made me ...

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“Your Call Has Been Forwarded to a Place You Can Never Return ” by Liv Chocolate

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

cw: mild graphic material and brief mention of physical violence If you were here right now, you’d tell me this is a bad idea. You’d take away my phone and remind me that you can’t make someone stay who doesn't want to. You’d have saved me from creating yet another shame-inducing memory I’d end up cringing at five years later—while I’m pumping gas into my car, slicing a tomato, skimming the dead leaves from the pool we used to swim in.While I’ve tried to forget, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that I can recite your number by heart. I’...

Read story

“Enemies of Crowkind and Shades” by Russell Mickler

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

The Gargoyle. Edgar. Routing Evil. In the Free City of Mumling, the gothic cathedral honored Silvanus, a nature deity of Man. It was a looming structure, rectangular, constructed from solid granite blocks, mortar, iron, wood, and glass, topped by a vaulted gable roof covered in vigorous green moss. A spire at its entry reached beyond the roofline, decorated with statues depicting Silvanus’ acts of celebration, and if one were to stand at its harrowing doors, the spire seemingly stabbed the sky like a knife. The followers of Silvanus re...

Read story

“Friends to the Bone (based on true events)” by Orwel Heavy Leads

Submitted to Contest #202

Juan and I have been friends since we were 8. We met while taking English lessons in Jardín América, a small town of the beautiful Misiones Province in Northeast Argentina. The afternoon of the first class, I arrived early and when Ángel, the English teacher, saw my brand new books covered with paper full of dinosaurs, he asked me:– "Do you like dinosaurs? Then I'm sure you'll get along well with Juan Martín." And so we did.Like many children of the '90s, the dinomania hit us both pretty hard. We went to the Jurassic Park premiere together. ...

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“Ghosted” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #202

When Marnie stopped talking to me for absolutely no reason, I thought my life had ended. We’d been friends since childhood, done everything together, two peas in a pod, the yin to the other’s yang. I had believed that we would be friends forever. Obviously, she didn’t feel the same way.I remember waking up on Monday, was it last week, the week before? Well, it was a Monday because I was headed to the gym before work, and we always meet up on a Monday for our weekly training session. No, it’s not a perve session, we d...

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“Celebrations of the Fifth Night” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #202

The fireworks malfunctioned, and when they struck the gatehouse of the Lower Palace, the night air was filled with three sudden flashes of bright yellow. The funeral garlands that draped the towers vanished, a spider’s web incinerated, and then a dull orange glowering enveloped the gate. If there was any doubt, the screaming of the crowds and the ringing of the bell put them to rest: the gatehouse was on fire. Kadar gripped his spear more tightly. All of this he saw from the steps of the Silver Chapel, the highest point of the terraced garde...

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“Jackie Lope and Mattie Real Robber” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #202

TW: Unsolicited relationship advice and swearing. “Living within your means isn’t really living at all is it? By that I mean, you’re about to be boarded, raise your hands and play nice.” That transmission gave Captain John Brown and First Mate Jane Door just long enough to exchange raised eyebrows before their freighter’s lights went out. “I love you, gorgeous,” said Jackie Lope Robber of the goodish ship Codependent-Codefendent. “I love you more, sexy. Let’s fill our pockets.” Mattie Real Robber hit the reset button, restarting al...

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“A Rock to Guide Me” by Robert Egan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

My best friend is a rock, and I don't mean a shoulder to lean on: He's a rock, a stone, a solid mass of mineral material that resides within that broad spectrum between pebble and boulder. I've had other, human friends over the years, but none compare to the 65-gram supernova that is Noah. That's right, my rock's name is Noah and he's been my constant companion for 37 years. I met him on my eighth birthday. It was a small birthday, just my parents, my Uncle Stan, my sister, and some kid from school whose nose bled all the time. Uncle S...

Read story

“Into the Nineties” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #202

Into the NinetiesMarie and Gertie grew up within miles of each other but never knew one another until they were in their teens.Marie was what someone may call 'white trash'. Her family was the poorest of the poor when everybody in their neck of the woods was poor. They had little to no money for common necessities because her father was a drunk. He drank up any income he managed to take in.He was not an ordinary falling-down-drunken-sop but a mean drunk. Marie and her older brother, Henry, would hide in the woods behind their house until he ...

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“The Advantages of Decorum and Good Breeding” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #202

2002Marjory stared at the gargantuan painting, unimpressed. She stepped backwards over the dead body to inspect it from a greater distance. She was still unimpressed, even when Lillian told her that it was an original Rothko, worth upwards of seventy million dollars.“It looks like a very tall elementary school child did this,” Marjory said, shaking her head slightly. “Or...

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“Rosemary” by Shania Ottessor

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

Cara lifted the eyelid open, gripping the upper lash between her fingers. She used her other hand to squeeze super glue underneath it and watched it settle over the eyeball. She carried out the same on the other eye. She looked at the woman’s face. Despite being in her early twenties, her greying skin made her look ten years older. Cara pressed her own lips into a thin line. In her field of work, she was used to many a corpse, but she’d never felt more of a connection that she did to this one. Maybe it was because, in another life,...

Read story

“Night Shift” by KG Green

Submitted to Contest #202

“My shift changed again,” these were James’ first words to Brian that early Monday morning. Brian zipped up his jeans while entering the kitchen. The sight of James leaning on the counter surprised him. Between the two of them, Brian always woke first. “Why are you up at five in the morning?” he broke the collar of his uniform. Crissy’ Coffee required all employees to wear white polos. On the left breast was its logo containing a coffee mug. James sipped a beer nonchalantly. He wore a tank top and shorts as pajamas. Under the...

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“Never alone” by Kevin Logue

Submitted to Contest #202

The villagers of Eastwind knew little of the man who lived in the mansion on the hill, only rumour. Some would tell you his generosity was second only to his irascible nature. Others might say his abrasive demeanor and cold heart warranted his self imposed isolation. The fact was, he simply didn't care what they thought, as long as they left him alone.Friends were for the weak. For those needing coddled, whose mummies smothered them as children, never letting them learn true independence. That was not Ezra Krook.No, he reveled in solitude, e...

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“Ms. Scarecrow” by Awen Kerr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #202

She smelled like fire and brimstone, or so the neighborhood kids told me when I moved in. This wasn’t the only reason I avoided the house at the end of the road, but it certainly made the list, and added to the intrigue of my new neighborhood. I kicked a small rock down the pavement between houses, careful not to step on any cracks. There was no room in my day for bad luck, and my attention to detail was paying off. We had a beginning-of-the-year fundraiser, so I’d been sent home the first week of school with a pad of order forms and...

Read story

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$250

Prize money

267

Contest entries

129

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 16, 2023 EST

Won by Victoria Macleod 🏆

Title: Emma

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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