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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

“The Moonlight Chase” by Krystal Brown

Submitted to Contest #203

“Wait! Stop!!” I shouted, but my words only fueled the boy to run faster, increasing the distance between us.  The hem of my sundress flapped against my thighs like a flag in the wind as my ankle boots pounded the dry, grassy field. I was running as fast as my lower body allowed. Somehow, though, the boy was faster. Judging by his size, the young child was about 7 or 8 years old, but I hadn’t been able to get a good look at his face to verify. Either way, I should have been able to keep up with a boy his age, but he was quick as lig...

8 comments 8
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“A Chance Encounter” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #203

I looked out of my third-floor walk-up apartment and groaned. Another four inches of snow atop the original covering of ice. I was really tired of clearing snow and scraping ice from my car. This was the third day in a row. I was also a bit fearful of doing another impromptu break dance routine on patches of black ice. My boyfriend had dumped me, and my rent went up another twenty dollars a month, and I was barely scraping by on Ramen Noodles and pasta. The phone rang, and it was my Mom in Florida. She had tripped over her ancient labrador r...

9 comments 9
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“Comfort and Joy” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #203

I reluctantly opened my eyes, acutely aware that I had fallen asleep in the recliner and as a result, the urgent jog to the bathroom would be less than easy. The house was darker than usual, and I immediately suspected a storm rapidly approaching causing the cloud cover to block out the southern summer sun. Awkwardly, I trotted down the hall, my aching hips and lower back reminding of my bedtime faux pas with every attempted stride. Personal business complete, coffee brewing and pets fed and cared for, now to free the kitchen from last night...

4 comments 4
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“And a Dash of Pepper” by Alysson Dotson

Submitted to Contest #203

They were the ugliest salt and pepper shakers I’ve ever seen. Sloppy, handmade things, with a thin layer of paint that hardly covered the lumps of misshapen clay. I passed them every day, sitting there on that bookshelf collecting dust. They were clunky enough to be bookends and if she’d have used them as such, they might’ve served some purpose. No, she wouldn’t use them for that. She wouldn’t use them for anything at all except to look at every now and then, though she was not entirely to blame for that. Modeling clay couldn’t be washed wit...

6 comments 6
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“Tomorrow's Funeral” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #203

Tomorrow’s Funeral Bill VanPatten Death is a distant relative. It seldom knocks. It just shows up, quietly stepping over the threshold into a home, an office, a hospital room. Estranged from everyone else, it sits off to the side. Watching. Waiting. Then, as silently as it appeared, it leaves—and you wonder if it was ever really there. And you realize, death has no limits. It visits people, animals, plants—and marriages. Juanita sat in a pew in the back, thinking these thoughts. She wasn’t sure about this funeral, not sure why she’d...

3 comments 3
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“The Charm” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #203

Coleen eyed her parents’ house from the shade of the tree a few doors down. They hadn’t lived there long, but today she began planning her move out. Preparing for the ‘big reveal,’ Coleen draped her sweater over her ring finger and walked resolutely to her home. The family had lived there since the beginning of her senior school year. Her parents, Michael and Heidi, bought it along with the Sunny Day Café behind them, on the next block. Michael loved the convenient commute, mere steps away, across the alley. Coleen found her ‘new kid’ wor...

10 comments 10
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“The Show: A Mike Dodge Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #203

It started before I could respond, escalated before I could process it, and intensified quickly beyond my ability or inclination to intervene.In my defense, I’d known them for more than two decades and had always found their deep and enduring friendship somewhat beyond nauseating. I certainly didn’t expect Tammy and Robbie to skip the eight steps from Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey to Bette and Joan and wind up duking it out in the Millington Performing Arts Center parking lot.“Hell is this shit?” the old guy securing his Lexus beside me g...

16 comments 16
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“Welcomed by Dwarven Beings in a Mysterious Underground Realm” by Hugo Lemes

Submitted to Contest #203

They found themselves falling into a bottomless abyss, hoping that this would finally be the revelatory stage of the adventure they had embarked on. They kept falling through darkness for what seemed to be an eternity, until a faded light became visible. Gravity seemed to change as they fell, slowing down their descent, allowing both to gently land upon a field of giant mushrooms. The air felt denser, and the hunger that occupied their minds moments ago quickly transformed into awe. A cavernous realm with sprawling and fragrant fungi laid be...

2 comments 2
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“Do Ants Hate?” by Andrew Peterson

Submitted to Contest #203

The early spring afternoon was warm and peaceful and gave Warren a terrible feeling of disquiet. The long string of rainy days had ended and the first sunny day of the season encouraged a communal march out of doors. Eager anticipation of activities available for the first time in months filled nearly everyone with joy at the thought of days to come. Children played outside, families walked, parks filled, ponds and lakes drew visitors, gardeners tended gardens, and parkas and wool hats were deposited deep into closets. However, the distant h...

3 comments 3
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“Alright, honey- You can have your divorce...” by James Larder

Submitted to Contest #203

‘Please stop hurting me.’‘Er….. Nope.’Colin punched his ex wife in the nose again for the third time that minute. This time, she vomited. Colin laughed as the sick spilled from her mouth and meshed with the blood that had already soaked the front of her shirt.‘Hahahaha oooops!’ Colin’s his ex wife passed out.‘Awwww- And you like that T-shirt as well, don’t you?’Colin asked his unconscious ex spouse.‘I know. It’s a good one. ‘Hope sweet hope.’ Clever. How much hope you got now though, darling, hmmmm? Pumpkin?’Colin’s ex wife’s head slumped li...

11 comments 11
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“Here with me” by Racer Goddard

Submitted to Contest #203

Her dark brown curls looked as if they were intricately placed hair-by-hair onto her head. Her smile could lift the spirits of the entire room. Her eyes were the perfect shade of blue that seemingly never dulled. But her laugh, oh her sweet, sweet laugh could have guys on their knees in mere seconds. Scarlett Myers was undoubtedly hand-crafted by God himself. “Are you ever going to man up and speak to her?” a dull voice asked beside him, “Or are you going to keep staring at her like a creep?” He looked down at his twin sister, Macy, whil...

2 comments 2
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“Stolen: The Bernard G. Story ” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #203

Stolen: The Bernard G. story. Since starting high school, I knew where I would be the Monday morning after my eighteen birthday and looked forward to it. I dreamt of punching that timecard with my name printed weirdly; last name first, first name in the middle, and middle on end; with the four columns just like my father since we toured the steel mill in the fourth grade. I wanted to be just like the gentle giant that brought me a two-liter Ne-hi Peach soda, a Slim Jim, and a massive bag of Pork Rinds every Friday evening for us to enjo...

6 comments 6
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“UNCOMMON GROUND” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #203

UNCOMMON GROUND The old man sat alone, unkempt, unshaved, on the promontory, looking out to sea. It was an uncommonly fine day and the sun shone brightly as he stared off into the distance watching the launch as it slowly approached. His turn for a fortnight on the mainland. At first, despite the differences in age, they’d been friends. Though they shared no common ground, apart from their jobs, they had both gone out of their way to be polite, make conversation, not antagonise each other in any way and he, Jonah, had found that cohab...

2 comments 2
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“Only Demon's Know How to Pick Friends” by L.M. Huntwork

Submitted to Contest #203

My fingers curl, instincts pushing me to bend my knees.  Was it thumbs out? Or in? My mind whirls in so many different directions. As soon as he nears, I throw a fist out. I make slight contact with his arm as he moves out of the way. My fist collapses on impact, and my fingers splay out with an immediate soreness. I shake it off and barely drop in time to miss his throw.  "Are you sure you want to be doing this?" I question, exhaustion beginning to needle its way through my joints.  "Don't back off now!" My friend yells ba...

7 comments 7
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“Harry Hears All” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #203

Harry Hears All The earlier morning haze that defined Miami had broken up leaving a hot pavement and wilting pedestrians. Harry saw it all from his perch on the two-foot squared cement doorstep. He’d been residing there for a while now and found that it was a prime people-watching site. He glanced down the street, then up at the sun, shielding his dark rheumy eyes from the glare. His world was all about sensation now, his ears, nose and eyes picked up clues about people that he hadn’t noticed when he was still working. He’d lost his wife to...

0 comments 0
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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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