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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.

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 – 95 stories

Stories

“Ode to Sisterhood” by Amy B

Submitted to Contest #202

Ode to Sisterhood The following piece was emotional for me to write. Based on true events, this is a story of the truest kind of friendship. And sisterhood. And mostly love. And it is raw and real and at times sloppy. The room was cold and loud. Beeping alarms triggered in all directions. A sleeping beauty lay before me. My best friend. Sisters through blood, friends by choice. What should a person feel when the hero status disappears? All of my life, I have walked in her shadow. Smaller, sadder and mostly more afraid. Afraid of fallin...

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“The Garden of Delights” by Jeremy Harshman

Submitted to Contest #202

“The trick, you see, is unfinished business.” Evelyn wagged a finger for emphasis. “They ask when you arrive, but—George. George, are you listening?”George Bannerman shook himself. Forced himself to look her in the eyes, rather than through her forehead as he had been, at the sparrow in the windowsill. “I’m listening, Evelyn.” He massaged his wrinkled brow. If he massaged much further, he might unwrinkle it altogether. “It’s just a lot to take in. You ah… you were telling me about the garden.”Evelyn’s eyes lit up. “The Garden. Yes.” She...

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“Lola: Or How I Learned to Avoid Storm Drains” by Lari Levey

Submitted to Contest #202

My theory is that quality trumps quantity when it comes to close friendships. Honestly, how many friends does a person need? It's better to have one good one than ten that can barely tolerate me. I never had a lot, but the ones I did have would probably lay their life on the line. However, they are kind of spazzy, so they may get in the way of that oncoming bus and become road kill, but they would be there. One, in particular, was Lola.Guiding my wheelchair towards the back of the crowded classroom, I noticed all around me young faces filing...

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“dear mol.” by Mercy Haub

Submitted to Contest #202

TW: sexual assaultThis is a poem about how someone I was very close to sexually assaulted a friend of mine and how I cut her out of my life completely. The individual she assaulted was her double in our school show Peter and the Starcatcher. They played my friend/love interest Molly Aster and I played Peter (Pan).Please stop.Stop sneaking into my dreams,Lurking behind every door and plotline.Stop showing up in my photo memories,“One year ago today”.Stop echoing in my thoughts,My observations.Stop injecting adrenaline and anxietyInto my entir...

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“Where We Once Were One” by Bri Smith

Submitted to Contest #202

Three years before, I’d stood on this very field, encompassed by the richness that was the battle smoke, hand and hand with Esleigh while she swung her sword. Every whistle through the air took down the foe that dared to harm me. Now, she was the foe that dared to harm me. The moonlight was thick behind her, sharpening the curve of her set jaw and the sparkle of ash in her eye. Her grip tightened on her sword and her nostrils flared. Esleigh was a traitor to the throne yet she wasn’t ashamed to show it. In fact, she bask...

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“Some Girls Are Meaner Than Others ” by Diamond Keener

Submitted to Contest #202

HannahShe smacked Ahmed’s hand away from her shoulder. He was moving his hand absentmindedly. His fingers kept circling around the letters. As if his touch was emphasizing the name. Those four letters she wanted so badly to have removed. It was like having a permanent third degree burn. It irritated her to no end. In the middle of the night she would wake with deep scratches. It was as though she had been trying to dig it out of her flesh. It was her idea to get the tattoos in the first place. Her fault, Nina hadn’t wanted to. Nina said...

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“The time capsule” by Penny Winn

Submitted to Contest #202

“Twenty steps forward from door and thirty steps toward woods. Under the pile of rocks,” Krissy recited from the notebook paper in her hand. Hmmm, how many Ava-size steps today to equal the twenty steps of 13-year old Ava? How significantly could her shoe size have changed in 17 years? She’d always had big feet, for a girl. Could they have been size 10’s as a young teenager? Maybe. Probably. “One, two, three, four…” Ava started counting. Once she hit twenty, she turned to her right and started counting steps toward the woods. Krissy wa...

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“Lost to Phantom Buzz” by Benja Catton

Submitted to Contest #202

“This book? I guess it’s alright. The guy stands up for something anyway. I probably look like I’m glued to it. You know, I didn’t realize that I haven’t read a book for years? I haven’t had my phone in hand these past few days; it’s like I have more time in the day. I’m almost forced to read to pass the time without it. “The phantom buzz thing is obnoxious. I’m constantly feeling for my pockets, and then realizing they’re not there either. My wife thinks it’ll be good for me. She calls it my sidekick – like it’s always with me. And ...

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“Process of Illumination” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #202

The scroll headlines couldn’t be clearer: “Constables Humiliated” “Killer Still On The Loose” “Clerics and Mages Brought In After Magistrate Completely Baffled” Skreet Snickertooth’s heart sank again upon viewing the discarded papers on his partner’s desk and floor. The rat scratched his chin, a few strands of black fur fluttering to the floor on top of the drawings of confused constable dogs and dreadful headlines. “Rusty, come on,” Skreet said, making his way to the other side of the desk and trying to rouse his friend. He could ...

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“You, Me, and the Glob” by Hannah Madonia

Submitted to Contest #202

“CAREFUL!” Mrs. Lee shouts as she catches me, seconds before my tailbone crashes to her kitchen floor. “You lose your footing, Sam,” she laughs as she steadies me. I force a smile and a laugh I know sounds false. “Always clumsy!” Ellen pinches my arm, hard, and gives me a look that says ‘shut the fuck up—quick.’ She grabs the empty plates from my hands and throws them in the sink. “We’re gonna go for fro-yo, thanks for dinner, Ma,” she says, as she kisses Mrs. Lee on the cheek and drags me out the door. I smile, wave goodbye to her p...

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“But I Accidentally Drank the Poison Myself” by Jenny Allison

Submitted to Contest #202

“Holding onto bitterness is like pouring poison into your own cup and expecting the other person to die.” -Susan Cheever Ava’s couch was not comfortable. It was a low-slung, mid-century type - yellow velvet, very stylish. If any of the wine in her glass were to slosh over the edge, it would be an expensive fix. But she was unconcerned. With one arm slung over the couch’s back, the other letting the wine glass droop and tilt just so, Ava examined the photographs on the opposite wall. They were enormous, stretched across four canvases th...

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“The Dying of The Light” by Taylor Worsham

Submitted to Contest #202

Pinot Grigio buzzes in my veins while the bass of the music speakers near the head table buzzes in my chest. The alcohol loosens up my joints and allows me to pull off dance moves I didn’t know I still had. I don’t know where my date scurried off to and I don’t know where my $49.99 tie went. But there’s one thing I do know: I’m parched. I mosey back to my table with the people with whom I had been conversing all night. I give them my most genuine smile as their faces contort. My fingers wrap around the nearest bottleneck of wine, s...

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“FORE! A Slice of Life.” by Haydn Cavanagh

Submitted to Contest #202

“Bloody hell, Norman, that were a crap shot.” “Crap!?…it’s going miles.” “It’s going miles out of bounds.” “It’s just a bit of a slice.” “A bit of a slice? That golf balls swinging further right than Genghis Khan. Hang on! There’s a chap down there.” “Where? A chap down where?” “There, look. It’s gonna bloody hit him, Norman.” “Oi! Look out, mate!” “I think the word is, Fore.” “FORE!” “FORE!” Please god, don’t let it hit him. Don’t let it hit him. “It hit him.” “Shit, Is he ok?” “It’s hard to tell, he’s quite a way away.” “Blood good hit tho...

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“Wesley's Wager” by Rudy Senecal

Submitted to Contest #202

“You know something?” Wesley said. Anders peeked over at his ship; a bit of flame was coming off his nose. “What?” “I’m bored.” There was a silence on the line that Wesley could virtually feel Ander's eye’s staring at him with that squint he had when he thought you said something stupid. “You’re…bored?” “Like a bird with no wings...

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“The Way to a Man's Heart” by Elijah Rose

Submitted to Contest #202

Anton was hungry, but everyone was hungry. They were winning the war ever since the big fight at Poltava, but that did not make the roads any less mud and the rations few and far between. Sometimes Anton wondered how he ever became so desperate that he joined the army. The secret was that army life was mostly marching and waiting for aristocrats to make up their minds about what to do. Anton had only fired his musket in practice a handful of days and had carried the same powder charges and lead shot for many months, and Anton had burned thro...

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$250

Prize money

266

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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