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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

“ Necklace” by L J

Submitted to Contest #203

One year later-"Order in the court. Please rise! the Honorable Judge Marcus Walker presiding."Judge Walker banged his gavel, "you may be seated. Mr. District Attorney, you may present your first witness."Mr. Llewellyn stood. "Thank you, your honor, the state calls to the stand Ms. Katie Hoffman."A visibly distraught Katie took the witness stand, placed her right hand on the Bible and said, "I do". and slowly took her seat.Mr. Llewellyn placed his elbow on the witness stand and said "Ms. Hoffman, can you tell the jury what happened on the nig...

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“A Clock, A Thief, and a Dragon” by M B

Submitted to Contest #203

Farah the ferret thief scampered down the alleyway, the shouts of her pursuers echoing behind her. Even the best have to run for it on occasion, she thought, consoling herself. The rain was falling in sheets as she ran, soaking through her cloak, leathers, and down into her fur. “She went this way!” a coyote shouted. “Ugh, these idiots are annoyingly persistent,” Farah grumbled with flattened ears. The nimble ferret kept running, cloak flapping behind her. She briefly paused as she came upon a pa...

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“The Other Portal” by Sarah Addams

Submitted to Contest #203

I was sprinting as fast as I could, my heart pounding in my chest. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of footsteps and shouting. I knew they were getting closer, but I couldn't stop now. I had been on the run for what felt like hours, darting through alleyways and across rooftops, trying to shake my pursuers. But they were relentless, and I knew that I couldn't keep this up forever. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw them gaining on me. They were big, burly men, with muscles bulging under their jackets. They were armed, too, and ...

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“Worthy Partners” by Paul Besancon

Submitted to Contest #203

A killing blow. That moment the eyes go nearly white, looking to the heavens as if that’s where their soul is heading. Not this one, Deacon thought, nocking another arrow on his black bow. The enchanted runes glimmered lightly in its upper and lower limbs. With every draw, he could feel the bow’s power easing the resistance, focusing the arrow. Loose. The arrow flew straight, as it always did. Another caravan raider dropped to the hoof-trodden ground, face tasting that disturbed soil. “Ha! A pedigree, a pedigree!” Deacon’s partner, Jarek Def...

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“Medici On High” by Holden Burkholder

Submitted to Contest #203

Calvin Suthers was often described by his peers as, “ambitious”. Having grown up poor in the streets of New York, he climbed his way out of poverty and into the political ranks of the city. A firm democrat, but no slave to the national platform, he worked solely for the people of his city, at times abandoning the platform, or strengthening it beyond their intention, he took no money from their PACs or from lobbyists, he was well respected and made his mark without a shred of nepotism or hypocrisy. &...

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“It Was Punch, Judy” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #203

That’s the way to do it!The kazoo voice yelled the famous line and everyone laughed and laughed and laughed until the tears came and their bodies ached.The enraptured audience sat on the floor, legs crossed, looking up intently at the stage. Bursting into laughter. Clapping delightedly and chiming in with words when required.This really was the way to do it.Only Jane didn’t feel quite right about this. Theatres ranged the audience at least at something like eye level with the stage itself, and with rising rank after rank so everyone could se...

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“Quilts” by Shannon C.

Submitted to Contest #203

The shop was small and quaint with red brick walls. Some visible pipes and exposed duct work gave it that industrial look. Steve bought it two years ago, after he decided he was done working for “the man”. He wanted to work for himself.He loved that he was surrounded by every color of fabric you could imagine, and that his patchouli oil diffusers didn’t piss anyone off. Damn those office bitches.He also enjoyed that he could set his own hours and have the freedom to be open or closed even while working if he didn’t want to deal with customer...

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“Going Over” by Nicki Nance

Submitted to Contest #203

Sky. Tree. Grass. Tree. Mud, Sky, Rock, Sky, Black.Sosy Michaels rolled, slid, and bounced to the bottom of the hill, and settled so close to the river that it drew her golden curls into long, lithe dancers gracefully moving to the music of the water. She was covered in blood, grass, and dirt.Silence, pain, buzzing, splashing. “You are the luckiest unlucky girl I ever met.”Sosy opened her eyes to a blue-eyed stranger in a flannel shirt and ball cap. She tried to push herself up, but a pain in her side gripped her. “I have to —”“Hold on there...

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“The Target” by Dane MillerHass

Submitted to Contest #203

The glare of the sun hit his opaque visor. The cyber cycle shot across the metallic highway, kicking up loose bits of steel here and there. The rider looked ahead, seeing the holosign that read "Exit 38A". Sweating profusely in his Scarab Combat Armor, he flipped up the cycle's rear view display. Nobody was behind him; just the empty stretch of freeway he had come down. Twisting on the cycle's handles, he careened down the exit, his tires going from the smooth silver of the speedway to the rough asphalt of the road. Sleepiness tugged at his ...

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“Denial” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #203

He only did it once. Only the once. Not twice. Certainly not three times. That was how he recalled it, and that was how it was. One innocuous and tiny act when measured against the span of a lifetime, and the foundations of his whole life shifted sideways, tearing the walls down and leaving him dazed, confused and filled with a fire that, far from being a passionate rage, propelled him downwards, removing anything left of worth until he felt like he was going to implode, crushed by a black hole of pain. When it was done, he went back...

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“The Sum of It All” by Bethany Schoech

Submitted to Contest #203

“Who is that?” Ben had asked me. My ears turned red from embarrassment as the slow recognition kicked in. She walked, no, stumbled more like, to our table falling into the centerpieces along the way. I always wished to see my mother again. I just never imagined it would be like this. How could she show her face, drunk, clearly on drugs, and on my wedding day no less? I didn’t even recognize her when she barged in. “If it isn’t my little one.” she hiccupped. “Your father always said you’d make sumfin of yourself but, I never saw it.” She swip...

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“The Tip” by Courtney Treadaway

Submitted to Contest #203

The phone alarm startles me awake. I still haven't found time to change the alarm volume so it doesn't give me a heart attack. Every. Single. Morning.I fumble to turn it off and slide out of bed, quietly, trying not to wake Sam this early. He's still getting over the flu and might be able to go back to work today. He needs all the rest he can get. I know he's not ready to go back; he's been so sick. I feel guilty for hoping he can go back so we can afford rent this month.I wrap my blanket around me and creep to the bathroom. Standing in fron...

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“Ride or Die ” by Amanda Inman

Submitted to Contest #203

Amanda and Alica were born as twin sisters and grew up to be best friends. At the young age of five the sisters grew closer as they started school. They always looked out for each other, they were each other's (ride or die), and dared anyone to bully the other. In the second grade, the counselor of the school and the mother thought that it would be a great idea to separate the twins in class. So they put Amanda in one classroom and Alicia in a different classroom. Amanda did well with the separation but Alicia did not so much. She started cr...

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“Commander Twain and Commander Tesla Get Downsized” by Tom Bentley

Submitted to Contest #203

The two Immortals, Commander Twain and Commander Tesla, sat in the hardened control room deep within the mountain. Tesla made a small twist of a glowing silver knob, watching a massive screen that broke the world into a grid pattern. “Ok, I turned up the empathy/hilarity counters on the video of Jimmy Kimmel ice-skating with Cardi B. The subliminal messaging to impel viewers to eat huge amounts of kale-frosted Doritos over the next week will be irresistible,” said Tesla. Twain nodded, the smoke from his corncob pipe curling around his wh...

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“Don’t, Sue!” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #203

Don’t, Sue!At 11:49 a.m., Sue plowed into the back of a bus.WHUMP!And just like that, lunch was delayed for the entire office. A witness called 9-1-1. Voices… sound urgent… Something going on?… doesn’t matter… Sirens?… accident?... Let them deal with it… Drift away… and back… Sue opened one eye, just a slit. The other one didn’t want to cooperate.“There you are, back with us!”Fuzzy woman… blonde hair… no, blonde woman… fuzzy hair… but she IS fuzzy… face blurry… focus, brain…Cool hands brushed lightly around Sue’s face an...

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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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