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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

“Mystic Threads: Weaving the Tapestry of Light and Shadow” by Abby Leighty

Submitted to Contest #203

In the heart of a charming seaside town, a colorful carnival took residence. It was a place of laughter, twinkling lights, and joyous melodies. Families flocked to the carousel, where painted horses pranced in circles, suspended on a whirl of enchantment.On a sunny afternoon, amidst the delighted laughter of children and the comforting scent of popcorn, a young girl named Emily found herself captivated by the carousel's whimsical allure. Her eyes sparkled with innocence as she approached the ticket booth."Can I ride the carousel, please?" sh...

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“The Path of Hatred” by Ashley Sawh

Submitted to Contest #203

Contains slight language use. "I like hats." That's what Donald said the day before he killed Sally. Was he trying to tell me something? Was he the one in danger? I don't even get why Donald did it, none of us do. What the hell did he have against Sally? Was it because everyone adored her sweet, innocent little face? Was it because he knew that he'd never get the chance to be the town's prized possession? Did he know that no one would ever love him as much as everyone did towards Sally? Was he jealous that she had a perfect family? Was h...

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“What's in a Name?” by Mark VanTassel

Submitted to Contest #203

What’s in a Name? By Mark VanTassel Lucky whistled while he worked. It was a beautiful day, his knives were sharp, and he had fresh meat to package. The shop was small, but it was his. There was a narrow area in front of the counter where customers could come in and see prime cuts, but only Lucky was allowed behind the counter. After all, we wouldn’t want someone to get hurt. He giggled at his favorite joke, about the butcher who backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work. The meat was soft, and marbled with f...

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“Emergency Room” by Sam Ransom

Submitted to Contest #203

Note: This story contains sensitive content. Mental health, self-harm, suicide.I wake up in the morning sweaty as can be. The night before had not, indeed, opened my eyes (my apologies to The Smiths), but had actually glued them shut further. Figuratively, of course. My mouth was stained neon pink from the 20 Benadryl I swallowed last night. Unfortunately, I had not done my research on a lethal dose of Benadryl, so I am still, unfortunately, 100% alive. Damn. Not even a good attempt. I would rate the attempt out of five stars, but I don’t ev...

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“Heart” by C. Sanders

Submitted to Contest #203

He was impossibly tall. That was the first thing that caught Missy’s attention that night at the bar. He moved through the throng of drunks like a river crashing through rocks and mountains and boulders. People had no choice but to move out of his way or be trampled. He didn’t shoulder his way through the crowd or intimidate them or anything, but who wouldn’t be? The next thing Missy noticed was his smile. Oh, it made her heart beat faster. There were deep grooves in his cheeks, with permanent smile lines that caught her eye. His eyes w...

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“Just Ripe” by Olivia Inez

Submitted to Contest #203

Things are not always as they seem. There is no definitive good or bad. There is no right or wrong, just what we make of it. Bees sting but help keep our ecosystem stay alive. Dogs are great companions, but they can bite. Food keeps us nourished and alive but can poison us and rot us from the inside out. Even Mother Earth herself shares this duality, harboring all known life in the universe while seemingly trying to destroy it all in one breath. You get what I’m trying to say. So you see, I’m not a good person. I’m not a bad one either. To l...

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“I Was Gonna Offer You a Brewski, But I see You’re Covered” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #203

Her hand shaking as she wipes the tears away from her rosy cheeks, Modesty Naylor, soda mogul Percival Warren Naylor’s shapely twenty-seven-year-old widow, leans against her mother Empress for comfort. Modesty’s babyish lisp endears her to the reporters and photographers gathered by her Olympic pool to interview her. “I wuved him. I weally did. But people wouldn’t wet me.” Embarrassed by the cutting headline he’d published the day before, (“Gorgeous Gold Digger Strikes Gold As 92-Year-Old Soda King Goes Pop!”). Eyewitness News Reporter Har...

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“The Uber from Hell” by Allan Bernal

Submitted to Contest #203

This is the story of how George’s life changed forever. He was standing in the dirty McDonald’s bathroom late at night, examining his thinning hair. George’s glasses were smudgy but cleaning them meant getting a clearer look at his balding head and aggressively average face. “Hey, who was your favorite serial killer?” he asked out loud. “You are m...

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“Written On The Board” by Helaman Vaka

Submitted to Contest #203

Malo 'etau ma'u e efiafi ni (Good Evening) Hello my fellow classmates. We stand here on this great evening to close off on an era that has now ran it's course over the past four years. Starting off as freshmen, now ending it on a graceful note as seniors who are blossoming into young adults with the wings on our back to take to the sky in which we are about to fly off to in the direction of the sunset. When my counselor and principal approached me to give this speech about a door closing right at the nick of ti...

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“December 19th, 1995” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #203

GREETING CARD FROM ANNETTE CARPENTER TO HER DAUGHTER ALLIE COOK Allie, Rob, and Danny, Congratulations on your first home! I hope this card is waiting for you in your mailbox the first time you check it! I just wanted to tell you all how proud I am of you! I can’t wait to come visit! I just wish your father was still here to bless the house for you, but I know he’s looking down and very proud. Miss you, All my love, Mom (Gramma) * * * July 18th RRRRRRING! RRRRRRING!...

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“Only Madness” by Olivia D

Submitted to Contest #203

I feel the cool metal slide between my ribs and gasp. Pain explodes throughout me, pain I’ve felt before, but it is somehow different this time. Worse knowing that he was the one to put it there. My knees knock into the floor, a gasp releasing from me and a whimper from somewhere else. My hands go to the weapon in my chest, gripping it as hard as I can while it leeches strength from my limbs. I know not to pull it out, but it feels so wrong, an incorrect outcome, a falsity. My hands are too slick from the blood now freely seeping from my wou...

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“Sisters” by Lyle Closs

Submitted to Contest #203

Sisters I will not shoot an unarmed woman. She’s not unarmed, she’s holding a nail-gun. It’s not a real gun though. What part of ‘nail-gun’ makes you think that’s not a gun? … A strange, strangled scream from the bedroom. The door burst open. Good morning my love, coffee? Fuck off! What…? I said fuck off! No coffee, no fucking cornflakes. He blinked. She slammed the front door behind her. … A nail-gun can’t hurt anyone at this distance. It’s a powder-actuated model. What? It’s powder-actuated. As in gunpowder? As in gunpowd...

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“Have Time Will Travel” by Rick Story

Submitted to Contest #203

Have Time Will Travel Time is said to flow like a river. And people enter these streams of time, sometimes at the identical moment. Many people wonder if each affects the lives of their other time travelers, entering the ebbs and flows at similar points, but exiting the chronological estuary at some varied journey's end. Another example of a passenger in time would be those who ride a train together, at the same moments of their existence. But there are unrelated destinations for the riders, different towns to work in, familie...

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“Every Prompt Everywhere All at Once” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #203

"Come in Butt plug, Anvil. This is Goldhammer. Roof status? Over.""Take it off. Take it off," Anvil, also known as Ted, says.I shake my head because the beautiful medal with two rifles crossed over a wreath belongs to me now. I took the medal from Ted and pinned it to my chest because I have good aim and he does not.Ted swings his fist at me again. But I am not there. Again."That is strike two," I say, but only to Ted and not into my walkie talkie. That is so it can be a private word joke between two companion friends.Ted does not laugh, so ...

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“The Mishaps of Knovas Episode 7: The Mishmash with Markolmid, the God of Exploration” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #203

Hello, denizens of Myrthol! I, Knovas, God of Logic and Keeper of Time, am about to embark upon a whole new mission, one submitted not by any God, but by you, my loyal supporters! This mission is an odd sort, unique in its design, and understandable as to why no mortal has partaken in this undertaking: the World Rings. Salutations, children of the land of Etemburo! Markolmid, your God of Exploration and Keeper of the Compass (that’sa me, by the way), shall commence with a quest submitted by popular demand amongst the...

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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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