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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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.

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 – 31 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 – 69 stories

Stories

“Crime and a Candy Apple Red Camaro” by Dan Gottneid

Submitted to Contest #203

There it is – that black SUV I’m trailing. It’s just in front of this semi I’m behind. Maybe I can slip this Candy Apple Red Camaro I’m driving between the semi and the SUV. Traffic on the Interstate isn’t too heavy and that will make hassling them easier. They are pulling over into the left lane to pass that camper. I move over into the left lane. I pass the semi ...

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“C.H.U.D.” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #203

He examines me with bright eyes. Eyes, the color of amber, a rich deep yellow like shimmering honey fresh from the comb, glistening and wet. Its pupils dilating from the beam of my torch, thin vertical slits of glossy obsidian. Stygian daggers piercing the stillness of the night. A tremulous hush overcomes me. Leaden legs, frozen in fright, hold me in place, a mortal sculpture. Crocodilian humanoid underground dwellers, C.H.U.D., for short, had been an urban myth. Folklore passed down through the generatio...

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“Smoking Section” by Aaron Tippit

Submitted to Contest #203

CLINK Jared flicked open his Zippo and flipped a flame to life. He sucked on his cigarette, coaxing the flame into it. He heard the sizzle and pop as the flame caught. He turned the suck into a pull and let the burn flow down his throat, relishing the break as much as the nicotine. It was a crisp fall day. There wasn't a breath of wind, and the world seemed shushed. Smoke and breath vapor hung in the air, unsure of what to do. Jared heard the crunch of the crash bar on the exit door that led to their smoking gazebo. "Puff, puff, puff, p...

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“Sorry” by Sophie Coleman

Submitted to Contest #203

“Hi.” “Hey.” Sitting on the edge of the ramp, grey concrete coats every surface, every view, all dull and lit by industrial florescent linear fittings. Three metres off the ground, they line the hanger, shamelessly eliminating any hiding spots. Except five circuits covering the further reaches are off. A couple all-terrain vehicles, bikes, and the like litter the space, patches of shadows now a plenty. Louise has been staring into them. Everything dirty brown and powder grey, like opening of The Wizard of Oz. They should hire this draining o...

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“Chopped Liver” by Christina Metcalf

Submitted to Contest #203

I strained to hear what Sue was saying over the din of my household. Surely, the story on social media wasn’t true. She looked amazing in the picture; her alabaster skin and white hair offset by the deep green around her, like those first few pictures of spring that show a crocus popping up through the snow. Sue didn’t look sick. Then again, who looks like they do on social media in real life? “Is it a scam?” My husband Bart asked pausing his Criminal Minds episode. I waived him off and focused on my stepsister Sue. Her voice was t...

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“Breakfast” by Drew Shaw

Submitted to Contest #203

Soft-white fluorescents lit the Egg Nest Diner, which had only a few tables where customers could sit comfortably in the summer. It was hot, and the dining room’s recently renovated air conditioning blew cold from the corners to compensate for the outdated space’s poor circulation. People who came in dressed for the outdoor heat and were unfortunate enough to be seated near a fan would eat their meals with their legs tightly crossed for warmth, rushing to finish their eggs before the food cooled. The restaurant thrived off weekend cr...

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“Tijuana at Five” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #203

Words woke me and I looked up through the smell of must and gas to a smiling moustache on a strange face. I was still curled in the car’s darkness. I didn’t know if it had been on a long drive or if we had arrived in Mexico. I didn’t even know if I was awake but I did know that we were sitting still now with the engine still vibrating. The moustache man wore dark glasses under a slouchy light brown military kind of hat with a shiny bill. I saw brown skin and a smile but he was just a blur with a background of glaring lights against a pale wa...

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“Toenails ” by Naomi Quick

Submitted to Contest #203

Staring down at my tanned knees, I release a breath of relief. Physically and mentally. Mentally, I think that was my last breath. I need relief. It’s 93 today. Heat index of 103. The house feels nice at 72. Trimmed toenails decorate the space between my feet. *sigh. I vacuumed today. I can’t keep up. I’m not enough. Or am I too much. This might be the straw. I think I’m broken.I cooked lunch. I’m trying to be a good mom. He’s a great dad. They love him. They respect him. I demand that they do. He has earned it. I think I have too. I’m tempo...

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“I Never Knew You But You Will Change My Life” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #203

“Right, gather around everyone. One, two, three, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Richard, (‘old man’ someone yelled out), Happy Birthday to you”. “Hey, what about the ‘Hip Hip’s” … “Forget about those, and ‘why was he born so flaming ugly! Let’s eat the cake!” The noise of the party had lifted. It was of course the alcohol that did that. No matter who it was, even the demure Kitty, when someone had a few drinks inside them, they got less inhibited and more vocal. The music even seemed louder, Elvis was yelli...

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“What Goes Around” by Nick Baldino

Submitted to Contest #203

“Come in, Mr. Leroy.” Jeff Karpinski, lead attorney at Cormac Litigation, stood from his desk and offered his hand. Harold Leroy took it with a close-lipped smile. “It’s great to meet you, Mr. Karpinski.” “Certainly, Harold. And may I add that is a lovely tie. Are those rubber ducks?” “Of course, Mr. Karpinski. I’m quite fond of them.” That wasn’t exactly true- he never really cared for the yellow creatures, but he knew Karpinski did, and so had made the purchase yesterday morning. He predicted he would never wear it again. “Me as ...

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“The Ghost Of Nosferatu: A Love Story” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #203

I met Jessica, my wife, on a crisp Saturday night in October, back when I was fifteen. This will seem like a roundabout way of telling that story, but it’s my story and I’ll tell it my way. I would have probably never met her if not for something that happened when I was 13.On a cold Saturday afternoon in February, I decided that I was a classic movie fan and I was not a sports fan.Let me explain:As far back as anybody can remember, the men in the Skinner family have dedicated their Saturday afternoons to sports. My pop, Shaun and Eddi...

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“What The Fight Is Worth” by Vade Lee

Submitted to Contest #203

It wasn’t enough for him to say he hated him; he had to show it. He had to find some way to get it through his best friend’s thick as-an-oak stump skull that he absolutely hated him. He hated his face, the perfect, near-geometric curve of his cheek that reflected the sun if it hit him just right. He wanted to break the sharp as a two-edged sword jaw bone and destroy the angle he’d been staring at for years. And his nose, he wanted to give him the bump that he hated in himself, and maybe, just maybe, that would fix him. If he could black his ...

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“Mortal Kombat” by Lark Bailey

Submitted to Contest #203

Alex and Reed spent the majority of the ninth grade together, alone, video game controllers in hand, in Reed’s damp, unfinished basement. It was cool and quiet there, a respite from their Mississippi junior high school, the waft of fledgling hormones floating amid the relentless heat. By mid-May, the sun was oppressive by school dismissal, and the 20-minute walk to Reed’s modest, single-story home on Vernon Street left the boys with heavy beads of sweat on their foreheads, their backs and shoulders matted from sagging book bags. They would a...

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“Wanderlust Fading” by Adrienne Odele

Submitted to Contest #203

The first drop of rain hit the windshield unassumingly, and without any acknowledgment from Alex or Ross. Within minutes, the wipers were going full blast as they sped through the downpour that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was that heavy kind of rain that acted as if it was on the attack, hitting the car so loudly they could barely hear the radio warning them about flash flooding in the area. The roaring noise was a welcome excuse not to have to talk. Until then, the two had spent the day relying on the radio to fill the gaps between at...

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“Gamers” by Mitchell Duckham

Submitted to Contest #203

Vic’s heart raced and his stomach churned. His palms sweated and his cheeks burned. His chest felt tight, his collar more a choker chain than a shirt. He stopped in the middle of Paulo’s front yard, looked back to the little blue hatchback then to the front door. It was a nice yard. Freshly mowed and edged, the gardens abloom and the fence immaculate despite its age. It looked the same as it always had. A magpie landed on the roof, taunted him with its springtime melody. He checked the shopping bag’s contents one more time. It wasn’t too ...

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$250

Prize money

226

Contest 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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