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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

“Rachel” by Gennadii Seliverstov

Submitted to Contest #203

David gazed at Rachel with oily eyes, a mix of surprise and complete absence of fear and shame, as if he were not caught red-handed with his young mistress, a thin girl who appeared so to Rachel at the time. There was no remorse or regret in his gaze, which hurt the woman standing in the doorway, waiting for that absurd justification, confession, revelation. But there was nothing but silence and occasional sobs from that wretched whore, who had shattered the already cracked vessel of their marital happiness. Perhaps in such situations, somet...

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“Rainfall” by Amie Moorehead

Submitted to Contest #203

“You have to stop.” Clayton’s head pounded, filled with an intense ringing that made it nearly impossible to focus on the man before him. Outside, a heavy downpour watered the streets of Sturgis, thundering upon the warehouse roof above him. Enough to create a soundproof barrier so that any unlucky bastard wandering outside would be none the wiser. And there Clayton was – thirsty, starved, and sitting in a wooden chair, wrists wounded by a thick rope restraining them behind his back. “Stop stalling. Stop crying out for help. Stop...

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“Who wants who dead? ” by Ksenija Rubež

Submitted to Contest #203

How can I keep on breathing when all I can concentrate on is not being able to breathe? The rope around my neck tightens. Its rough material peels the skin off my neck. I try to reach her head or any part of her body, just to catch a bit more breath. I cannot reach the candle that I hit the other one with. I can hear her groaning. She is tired as well. My senses grow weaker. If I do not do something, I won't see another day. I remember the small staircase with a tangible height. It is right behind her. She is probably not thinking of th...

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“Orange; My Former Favorite Color” by Jane Hillson Aiello

Submitted to Contest #203

My head was resting on a pillow flatter than a failed souffle. I was wearing a county issued get-up that memory has erased all details of; I cannot recall the color, or if it was a two-piece combo or a jumpsuit. I had a small plastic cup of water wedged between said pillow and the metal bars of the frame that supported a rubber wrapped mattress. I had woken up in the Criminal Detention Center, or some such euphemism, to describe where I had slept on the worst night of my life. The incident that landed me in the hospitality o...

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“Never Double Cross a Latina Chick” by JF Dawson

Submitted to Contest #203

“No! What are you doing? I haven’t done anything!” Keisha realized that Camila was intimidating indeed, but she could make a run for it. How fast could she be? But then Keisha wondered if Camila had a gun. If she did, there would be no point in running. She didn’t know for a fact she had a gun. It was a risk she was not willing to take. “Get out of the car. No funny business,” Camila instructed sternly. Keisha obeyed, thoughts of running away ran away themselves. It was like Camila read her mind, which spooked Keisha into trailing her i...

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“Run-a-way” by John Minnaar

Submitted to Contest #203

Start your story in the middle of the action. ‘Run-a-way’ The siren wailed out across the ravine echoing against the mountain and down the river gorge. The speakers round the camp crackled as the message blasted the stillness of the evening. “This is an emergency! Man the rescue Wasps! Get the four-wheel drives to the rail line at...

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“Tunnel Vision” by Lindsay Burns

Submitted to Contest #203

The well-worn soles of Katie’s trainers slammed down on the gravel track, the cold, damp air that she was desperately swallowing threatening to blow her lungs apart. It was funny to her, what she was thinking about in those crucial seconds, about how she was running so fast she felt like she could almost take off, and about how odd it was that the pounding of her feet had managed to synchronise itself with the hammering of her heart. She was paying less and less attention to the footsteps behind her, the ones that only a hundred metres ago h...

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“Swordfight” by Dragon The Poet

Submitted to Contest #203

Clash! Clash! Bong! Swish! “This is getting boring.” “Better surrender soon then, pathetic pirate of the sea, Jaya.” the ugly Captain Roob sneered, puffing his chess and holding his black sword above his head. “First of all, its Captain Jaya. And every pirate is technically of the sea.” “You aren’t even human, sea monster!” “I am a sea person, ” I swirled my sword dramatically, “You wound me with words more than your sword.” I skillfully ducked another jab to the right. “I have hair, unlike sea monsters, though it is of different shades of ...

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“Maev and the Dawn of War” by Daniel Rosas

Submitted to Contest #203

The smoke stung Erylis’ eyes while a dense choking dust swirled about the battlefield such that all she could see were vague shadows of her opponents. But she knew they were there. Surging and kicking, hitting, and smashing their way through her troops. Letting out a baleful scream the likes that sounded alien to her own ears she brought her broadsword down blindly. It crunched on an opponent's helmet, embedding it in a divot under the force of the blow. She didn’t stop to remove the body from her sword. Instead, she heaved her sword...

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“The Unique Hell of Finding an Adequate Wedding Dress” by Kristine Mayer

Submitted to Contest #203

“Hey, mom! Sorry to wake you up, but we got engaged, and I want to get married and the Hotel Thayer in October – can you call them tomorrow? – No, not this October, next October – Ok, thanks, Night!” My parents had watched “Father of the Bride” that night, so the late-night call from France was not unexpected. As soon as I hung up, I put holds on all the wedding-related books at the local library. Getting married is just another project, right? Thomas and I returned from France and confirmed to everyone that I’d warned of a “possible eng...

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“Three Queens of Rome” by Samantha Jones

Submitted to Contest #203

The carbon steel sword came down hard on the raised wooden shield, slicing across it and leaving a nasty dig in the purple paint. The yellow daisy painted in the front was looking more like a shredded paper flower sliced through with a hundred cuts. The woman behind the shield wore a silver circlet with a bright teardrop diamond in the center of her forehead. Her white-blonde hair fell in bouncy curls around her shoulders as she parried and thrust her shield up with all her might against the blows. Her thin white arm shook under the o...

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“Stormvald” by Sam Beckard

Submitted to Contest #203

Master Agothe waved his arms and beckoned lightning to strike. As if waiting on his word, a fork of lightning was brought down from the heavens and struck a nearby oak tree. “Now that, young disciple is true magic at work, not that commoner’s play with cards,” he said chidingly. “I was just having fun playing cards. Why do you have to turn everything into a competition? This is why no one else at the Academy wanted to be your disciple. You’re so goddamn lucky I was desperate enough to choose you,” replied Disciple Keddock, supremely exasper...

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“The Graveyard Shift” by Chris A

Submitted to Contest #203

11:30 pm “I can’t do this Simon,” Maggie shouts from the dark hallway leading to the front door. “Maggie, you can’t just walk out,” Simon replies, his voice getting closer as Maggie continues towards the door. Simon is following close behind her, desperately wanting more time to talk about everything. “Yes Simon, yes I can just walk out,” Maggie shouts as she gets closer to the door, “I told you I picked up an extra shift, so I have to go work that extra shift!” She goes to leave when she feels a strong hold on her wrist. “Do you rea...

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“Conversations” by Brett Wilkinson

Submitted to Contest #203

Conversations Sebastian “I really want to ask her out,” I said. “Yeah, I just don’t think she’s that into you.” McLean had a way with words. “Seriously? That seems a bit harsh doesn’t it?” My therapist had told me not to listen to him. I was a slow learner. “Yeah, seriously. She never seems that interested, at least as far as I can see. I think she’s more into Steve.” “But Steve has a girlfriend.” I wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “And yet she doesn’t know that. Look, her eyes light up and she smiles every time Steve comes arou...

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“Dude” by Alivia Vanin

Submitted to Contest #203

It’s my birthday. We are at the beach in the middle of winter. The sand is covered in snow and the lake is covered in ice. He’s very jittery. He can’t stop smiling and in return neither can I. I love this boy. He walked us to a clearing. To the left was the beach. To the right were trees that make up a forest. The last time he and I were on this beach it was summer. There was a party and he and I were barely even friends. I had made a bet whether he was going to get with this girl. Now I’m the only girl I ever want to se...

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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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