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#203 Back to Basics

If you’re signed up to the Prompts newsletter, you’re probably interested in writing short stories — and love getting emails from people called Laura. With that in mind, I have a recommendation for you...

Editor Laura Mae Isaacman offers a free, 10-day email course on How to Craft a Killer Short Story. She has edited literary giants like Noam Chomsky and Joyce Carol Oates, and her course breaks down the principles of short story writing into manageable chunks.

This week’s prompts take cues from Laura’s tips and examples, taking us back to the basics of storytelling, and can help you brush up your short story skills alongside the course.

🥇 Winner

Echelon

Kris Hawkins

Winner of Contest #203 🏆

Leaning against a tarnished railing aboard a ferry, Katherine watched ocean waves curl into themselves. Close to her chest, she held a pewter urn containing her mother’s cremated remains. She breathed deeply, the taste of brine caking her tongue like damp ash. The midday sun reflected in droplets that quavered on the balusters, then trickled down like little rivulets, only to reappear from the periodic spray of waves breaking against the prow. Other ferry goers chattered around her, though Katherine was only vaguely aware of them. Her though...

120 likes

⭐️ Shortlisted

Typical Jimmy

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

He died the other day. It was like his day of birth, but in reverse. Party poppers were pulled. He didn’t want his funeral to be anything less than a joy. Everybody he knew was there. They wanted the cocktail sausages on little sticks, and the vol au vents with that mushroom paste that tastes like birth and death in a sauce. The after party was even more fun than the funeral. He got a great send off. He had a lot of friends, and he’d hosted a lot of parties. He used to joke about when he died. He said it would be the cigarettes that killed h...

37 likes

The Truth About Maine

Lindsay Flo

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

“It wasn’t the beginning of the end, it was the end of the end. And he knew it and I knew it and only one of us was pretending we didn’t.” This is how I start my story. I’m shotgun in Meg’s car, heading north on a girls’ trip to Maine. We’ve left behind our husbands and children, scratching the surface of our mom-and-wife warpaint to reveal something freer underneath. Maine is going to do this for us. A lifetime ago, Maine broke my heart. But this time, it’s going heal something in me. “Tell me more,” Meg says, her eyes trained on the lo...

23 likes

Dead man

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

August heat swaddled me as I made my way home from the community swimming pool. A damp towel hung from my neck. My trunks, reeking of chlorine, drooped from my narrow hips as I shuffled on dime-store plastic flipflops.I was 11, shirtless, recklessly sunburned, and alone. That’s how I rolled as a kid in Eugene, Oregon, back in the mid-60s. My family was so large, and our house was so cramped that I grew up like a feral cat, roaming and poking around trouble without fretting about consequences.The pool was five or six minutes from our house. H...

22 likes

Today is Going to be a Good Day

Isabella Clementina Olmedo

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

The smell of fried dough reaches the upstairs washroom where I run my fingers through my curls. My stomach grumbles, pleading for a bite. Today should be a good day. The sun is out but so is a cool breeze, so hopefully it won’t be too stuffy in the church. Grandma made her signature empanadas which are solely reserved for special occasions, and my older cousins aren’t allowed to pick on me today as per Grandma’s orders. Today was “too important” and Grandma didn’t want me crying because of my cousins’ jokes or shoves. They say people tend to...

21 likes

Career Decisions

Kathryn Menefee

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

“God, that one exam,” Jennifer said. “She kept me on the phone for hours. It was something about court procedures…?”Samantha laughed. “Evidence. She called me about that too.” “Yes! She was certain she was going to fail that one. And of course, if she failed that one, she was going to fail out of school entirely, have to move back home—” “Yep.” “And I told her—I told her, ‘Amy, you’ve never failed an exam in your life. You’ve never even gotten below a B plus in your life—’” “‘But law school is d...

21 likes

Tonguing the Underpinnings Between Venial and Mortal Sin

Éan Bird

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

Bless me, F. Scott Fitzgerald, for I have sinned.I fucked— oops. Sinned again.Seems I forgot to holler in advance of adult content. Please permiss my clumsiness. And my blunt diction. It's been a hot minute since mouthing confessionals into tight boxes. Take heed:Fore! Ho! in future progression.Allow me to begin again: Bless me, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I might have sinned. You see, I found myself involved in a little predicament--a "rhetorical" triangle, as you call it. Several years ago, I borrowed a book from a teacher's shelf. Wait, pau...

18 likes

Maknae

Eurae Muhn

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

*cw: transphobia “So you see, Officer Brittel, that is why–-” So-Yeon, who perpetually suffered from cotton mouth whenever she was nervous, paused to dislodge her upper lip from her gum line, where it was presently stuck. It was the unfortunate result of saliva evaporating from her mouth at impossible speeds whenever she was uncomfortable. There is no discreet way to unhook one's own inverted lip. But it had to be done, as consonants--including those required to say the name of her potential employer--were becoming increasingly difficult t...

17 likes

This week's prompts

Write a story during which two conversations happen simultaneously.

Dialogue – 28 stories

Write about how a single event affects a seemingly unrelated area of a character’s life (their friendships, career, romantic relationships, etc.)

Character – 35 stories

Write about two friends getting into a fist fight.

Angst – 30 stories

Write a story that experiments with tone — perhaps a difficult subject dealt with in a playful way, or an ostensibly happy scene that hints at darkness lurking beneath.

Short Story – 63 stories

Start your story in the middle of the action.

Short Story – 68 stories

Stories

Echelon

Kris Hawkins

Winner of Contest #203 🏆

Leaning against a tarnished railing aboard a ferry, Katherine watched ocean waves curl into themselves. Close to her chest, she held a pewter urn containing her mother’s cremated remains. She breathed deeply, the taste of brine caking her tongue like damp ash. The midday sun reflected in droplets that quavered on the balusters, then trickled down like little rivulets, only to reappear from the periodic spray of waves breaking against the prow. Other ferry goers chattered around her, though Katherine was only vaguely aware of them. Her though...

120 likes

When It Hits You

Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #203

He punched me in the face, my teeth rattling around in my mouth, my brain clanging against the side of my skull like the sharp crash of cymbals, and there I lay.It was raining, and the bell for first period was well in the past, a distant, hazy memory as I tried to recover from Niki's dizzying blow."You're such an asshole," Niki spat at me, running his injured hand back through his short brown hair, clinging to his temples from the downpour. My vision cleared just enough to reveal to me that he had tears streaming down his face, turning away...

67 likes

The Hour-Glass Figure

Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #203

The Hour-Glass FigureHer eyes popped open. Someone had their lips on her mouth. Kissing her. Oka-ay. Kissing... She let her eyes drift shut to enjoy the sensation. It must be her mate. What? Wait. No! It can't be...She had the overwhelming need to cough. She couldn't help it. She coughed. Turned her head to the side and coughed and… Eww. That had to be a turn off! She spewed out even more. Poor fellow trying his best to make passionate love to her coming in again to close his mouth around hers just got spit on instead.He turned her towards h...

53 likes

Lost in Darkness

Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #203

(Content Warning: Mild Language and Violence.) Laura Watson awoke from a restless sleep and batted her eyes at the morning sun. She couldn’t see the beautiful beaming rays infiltrating her window, but the warmth cascading on her skin was undeniable. There was no doubt another morning had come her way. Laura didn’t have to worry about adapting to the world because she was born into a life of darkness. She sat up, placed her feet on the hardwood floor, and smiled. Soft whispers from her late mother reminded her that being blind had i...

48 likes

Happy Birthday

Submitted to Contest #203

CW: kidnapping, drugs, sex, etc“Hey, Girl,” Maya answered her phone breathlessly while negotiating her wallet back into her purse and pushing past the crowds of people entering the party store as she attempted to exit.“Wow! You sound stressed. You doing ok?” asked Phoebe. She seemed calm, cool, and collected as usual.“Cara! Come here! You have a treat already! Walk away from the candy,” said Maya.Phoebe took a breath and said, “Almost all the cupcakes are done. I have one more batch to frost for our birthday girl. All pink frosting, I promis...

38 likes

Typical Jimmy

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

He died the other day. It was like his day of birth, but in reverse. Party poppers were pulled. He didn’t want his funeral to be anything less than a joy. Everybody he knew was there. They wanted the cocktail sausages on little sticks, and the vol au vents with that mushroom paste that tastes like birth and death in a sauce. The after party was even more fun than the funeral. He got a great send off. He had a lot of friends, and he’d hosted a lot of parties. He used to joke about when he died. He said it would be the cigarettes that killed h...

37 likes

The Ferryman

Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #203

The red double-decker omnibus jostled along the uneven, cobbled street. Signage displayed Penge prominently above the driver. Reginald P. Blenkinsopp preferred sitting in the first row of the upper deck, even on drizzly days. There was something cavalier about it - the slight breeze, the rush of passing scenery, the risk of soiling his suit. Regardless, he never missed an opportunity to ride up top, if only to evoke a comforting nostalgia for his more reckless years. Nearing his stop, Mr. Blenkinsopp pulled on the floor cable to notify...

35 likes

Sackfish Day

Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #203

Andy Hatcher noticed Rick and Tina hiding their beer. They were on the village green and they put their cans in the shrubs around the base of Ambrose’s statue. He’d caught them before, once, when a bunch of them had broken into the Sidlers’s cottage. The kids were scared witless when he drove up in his truck. Rick bawled and Tina panicked fearing her mother’d find out. Andy figured the hangover – and the cleanup – would be punishment enough. Of course, that had been twenty – twenty-five? – years ago. Rick and Tina weren’t kids any more, and ...

33 likes

Daydreaming

J. D. Lair

Submitted to Contest #203

Eggs are frying in a pan—scrambled with cheddar, and seasoned with black pepper and garlic powder. Sneezing is inevitable. Apple slices are softening in the steam pot on the burner next door. Our twins like them with sprinkled cinnamon. There are some soft tugs at the hem of my gray robe. I see they have joined me in the kitchen. You are still resting on the couch, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.“Just a minute kiddos. Papa’s getting your breakfast ready,” I say to the twins.They are cramming their little arms into cracked-open cupb...

33 likes

Wakey wakey

James Larder

Submitted to Contest #203

‘Who has a wake at an American diner?’‘It’s fine. They're on a low income.’‘They're poor you mean?’‘Deprived.’First man pauses.‘Broke.’‘We all live within our means.’First man laughs.‘Alright, Mystic Meg!’First man takes a sip of his vanilla milkshake from the rippled glass.‘Fuckin’ Cryptic Craig. Just say it like it is- They're skint!’First man then takes a straw from the holder in the middle of the table and puts it in his milkshake.‘Money does not a person make.’‘No, but it really fuckin’ helps.’First man takes a silver hip flask out of t...

30 likes

SpyPal

Submitted to Contest #203

The black velvet painting of a bullfighter that had hung unmolested since before the millennium, tore and fell from its wall mount, as a whiskey glass shattered upon impact with it. Closely following the glass, a wicker chair violently crumbled against the bare stucco wall where the painting had just vacated, while raised, angry voices grunted and yelled foul obscenities, as their despatchers of vulgarity wrestled and rolled around the sawdust floor of the small Mexican cantina. The scene resembled an old western movie bar fight where head l...

28 likes

Ripples

Kevin Logue

Submitted to Contest #203

*** WARNING: physical violence, bad language and drugs ***Paul's teeth wobbled, mouth flooding with salty wetness, eye throbbing hot, knuckles gashed, and stinging. The urge to stop, to run, to cry, was almost overpowering, but it seemed every student of Saint Patrick's school had come to watch the brawl. What could he really do but continue, he had cast the first stone so to say. Spitting his fears into the gravel sports track, he squinted against the evening sun and raised his shaking battered fists."Come on then!" he shouted, forcing brav...

27 likes

Crow Dene

Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #203

James was dead. Spotted, outflanked, outgunned. Now the spent hero looked into a buzzing blue, heavy with taunting life. He had fought hard, elbowing through the scrub and a tangle of barbs, to stage a selfless diversion from his hunted team’s excited flight. He breathed the honey-baked coconut fug of the sun-warmed gorse, and let tired muscles melt. A beetle crawled over the odourless crust of a desiccated cow pat. He had done his best death. He’d answered the shrill hail of gunfire with shuddering shoulders. His bullet shredded body ha...

26 likes

Vampire Weekend

Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #203

FRIDAY NIGHT “Wh – why are you doing this?” Jessie’s tear-stained eyes were red, her voice hoarse and weak. Beads of perspiration popped from her forehead, dripping down onto her torn jeans. Her wrists and ankles hurt from ...

26 likes

Cap and Gown

Story Time

Submitted to Contest #203

They are very excited to graduate. When the diplomas have been distributed, they will step out onto the sidewalk that stretches far enough to accommodate the audiences that typically pour out of the downtown theater where, once a year, Joseph Silberman High School has their graduation. The sidewalk has seen the tuxedo crowd turn into the shorts-and-a-t-shirt crowd after tours headlined by stars from Broadway became non-equity three-show stays. The sidewalk had opinions about theater, but we have no need to interrogate a sidewalk. We have...

24 likes

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Contest #204

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$250

Prize money

224

Entries

121

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 23, 2023 EST

Won by Kris Hawkins 🏆

Title: Echelon

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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