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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#204: Wild, Wild West

The days of the old American West have long held weight in the collective imagination of storytellers. There’s a mythic power to it. Tales of survival, revenge, and itinerant gunslingers still draw us in, whether for a bit of adventure or to ask deeper questions about morality and philosophy.

The desolate desert landscapes, the struggles and conflicts between settlers and Native peoples, the wandering heroes, all these elements and more have inspired writers across genres, from George Lucas to Stephen King. Perhaps the best thing about a Western is its malleability and creativity: its ability to be set anywhere from America in the 1800s to a galaxy far, far away. So this week get your cowboy hats (or space helmets) ready as we go to explore the great unknown.

Plus, you're invited! 🎉

The second issue of PROMPTED, our literary magazine, is coming soon — and to celebrate, we're holding a live online event next Thursday! Find out more and get your free ticket right here.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a stranger coming to town and shaking up the order of things.

Character – 56 stories

Set your story in a desert town.

Adventure – 52 stories

Write a story about someone undertaking a long, dangerous journey.

Adventure – 39 stories

Write a Western-inspired story in a new genre or setting (e.g. a space western, fantasy western, etc.)

Fiction – 78 stories

Write a story about someone seeking revenge for a past wrong.

Dramatic – 73 stories

Stories

“Zane Grey & Chesterfields” by Richard Nelson

Submitted to Contest #204

WRITING PROMPT #353 Wild, Wild West “Zane Grey & Chesterfields” Growing up in Boston everyone played cowboys and Indians. We all had a cowboy or Indian costume: hat/headdress, gun/tomahawk, cowboy boots/moccasins and more. We played for hours around the neighborhood, onto the playground or school yard. Everywhere! Our parents kept an eye on us. They wouldn’t give us a B-B gun despite pestering. When we were good we got a movie allowance down the Village that featured monsters or westerns. It was before the era of “spaghetti westerns” s...

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“Encounter With the Rebel” by Joseph Peck

Submitted to Contest #204

The sun was slipping beneath the horizon when the strangers came to the village. As golden rays of light set the skies ablaze, three men rode into the settlement astride tall horses, two of them armed as if for war and all coming one after the other. Their shadows stretched across the sandy streets, as tall as the men who gave them shape. The first man wore a hauberk of riveted maille, covered by a surcoat emblazoned with the sigil of a winged serpent in flight. A forest green cloak hung at his shoulders. Slung across his back wa...

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“Into the Madlands.” by Jack Sink

Submitted to Contest #204

A small lizard sluggishly scurried from a dead bush to beneath the floorboards of the stairs of an old rusted saloon. The heavy footsteps sounded like booming quakes to the reptile's ears. Its sand-colored body sank in with the ground around it acting as a makeshift shield against the eyes of the large predator. The lizard began to slow in its march to the stairs. Finally, its overheated body stopped completely, and the predator closed in. The lizard desperately tried to carry itself away, but the harsh sting of the sand beneath it and the b...

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“A Hanging in Tula Rosa” by Gary Mann

Submitted to Contest #204

The barkeep at the Three Jacks saloon in Tula Rosa cast an impatient glance towards his only customer. He wanted to be gone from his place of work and out into the street with his fellow citizens, this was a mammoth day for the town, and he wanted to share it, but he found himself having to serve this solitary man. It would have been bad enough had the man been drinking hard liquor, but he was nursing a Lukewarm mug of coffee. Fresh noise filtered into the saloon and the barkeep found his attention d...

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“MERCY” by Jodi Ford

Submitted to Contest #204

A civilization wrought with greed and infested with the idea that progress required taking nature into their own hands. Scientists resurrected extinct flora and fauna in labs that, once released from captivity, soon replaced links in the food chain. Fracking and mining had ransacked the planet continually depleting the ground of any and all valuable deposits. Then it happened. One day in 3019 the seven continents became one again as volcanoes situated all over the world simultaneously erupted and fused the puzzled patchwork globe back t...

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“BACKSTABBER” by Joy Favour

Submitted to Contest #204

SHE LOOKED AT HER FRIEND, THEY WERE FRIENDS FOR MANY YEARS. LITTLE DID SHE THINK WHAT WAS IN HER MIND. LITTLE DID SHE THINK WHAT WAS IN HER MIND.HER BEAUTIFUL FRIEND HER DARK HAIR CURLING ONTO HER SHOULDERS. SOFT BROWN EYES SO INNOCENT THE PURITY OF HER SOUL POURING OUT FOR SHE KNEW NOTHING. INNOCENCE, CARLINE LOOKED AT HER AND SMIRKED FOR HIDDEN IN HER HEART WERE THINGS THAT NO-ONE COULD OF KNOW. FOR IS THAT NOT WHAT ALL OF US DO WE HIDE THINGS IN OUR HEARTS. THEU WERE BOTH SO DIFFERENT BUT THEY HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR MANY YEARS....

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“You'll Always be With Me” by Belle Cedergreen

Submitted to Contest #204

I rush into my apartment slamming my door shut, the dead bolt locking into place. pressing my head against the door I let out a sigh. “Holy fuck Annie what did you do?” I ask myself. I slide to the ground and rip my boots off. Like, what did I do way back then to piss off this guy so much? I haven’t gone by Annie since the 1800’s… “Ah! Maybe I robbed this guy?” I say out loud, springing up from my spot.No you Idiot! I hear a voice inside my head scream at me. I’ve been alive for like, 135 years and that’s never happened! ...

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“The Knife” by Jack Gorzo

Submitted to Contest #204

*This story contains themes of sexual/physical violence, mental health, and other traumas. Please be advised before reading.**Also please excuse any formatting errors, for whatever reason this site never keeps my indents in place when I paste over the story*Anti remembers falling out of her bed, her face caked with blood. She remembers crawling to the kitchen, pulling herself along the tile floor. Anti remembers closing barriers around the memory of her trauma. ...

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“Charle's Tell” by Kayhan E

Submitted to Contest #204

"You will choose - death." His legs meant something menacing to her still. Not their crook, length, quickness or the way they kicked in his sleep, not their old strength turning horses, but their reminder of how it so happened. She watched them. Billowing in the backyard breeze with his grayed teeth, he spun around the hung linens as their baby gave him a chase he most clearly couldn't conceive of. She sat back as a button seemingly popped off his shirt and sank into dust. "Charles, pick that up now." "Yes, my love." I'll...

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“Comeuppance” by Matthew Holman

Submitted to Contest #204

Evening encroached on the desolate plain, the dim sunlight stretching out the shadow of a lone man riding his horse in the sandy street. Neck tilted, he faced the horse’s shoulders with a broad wide-brimmed hat covering his face. He had on canvas with overalls, a tan shirt, and leather boots, but what shimmered in the evening sun was the Colt single-action revolver on his hip alongside the countless bullets running along the belt. Laughter echoed in the distance. The rider lifted his face; he’d reached the town. Most buildings were vacant, w...

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“End Up Here” by Sarah Nelson

Submitted to Contest #204

I didn’t mean to end up at the bar, especially not at four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon. When I walked through the doors, I steeled myself for the familiar smell of stale beer and fried food. It still made my stomach churn. When I had finally arrived in the small town of Hollow Way, Ohio earlier that day, I couldn’t make myself go to the place I had originally intended. It’s like my mind checked out and my body took over. Now, inside, I ducked my head and made a beeline for the barstools. I sat alone and ordered a water, then prom...

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“The Devil in Disguise” by Sruthi Thabati

Submitted to Contest #204

It was a day so hot that not even a tumbleweed dared to roll through the streets. No one could take a step out cause they be fearing that they’d burn to death. And on this day, he came. With the clicking and clacking of his horse echoing through the town, he entered my neighbor’s house. They recently moved, so I be guessing he’s the new tenant. I run over to my ma in the kitchen and ask her, “Y’know anything bout the new guy in town? He be looking real shady to me, ma.” She laughs a good laugh and hands me a hotdog.“Well, I’m sure they’ll te...

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“Bugs 1863” by Rebecca Grist

Submitted to Contest #204

Bugs 1863 &nbs...

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“Tinker's News” by Brittany Fleming

Submitted to Contest #204

Cripple Gorge gets its name from what you can’t see. The gap sneaks up on wanderers. It can’t be seen from a distance, and it’s barely seen up close. Many passers get thrown off their horses at the very last second, and the gorge swallows the bodies. Bandits, gangs, and outlaws use it as a passage to remain hidden. It’s a fine place to hole up. It’s where we go to lay low every time Lucky Winters gets himself in trouble in the neighboring town of Coalrise. This is the third time I’ve had to scoop his ass up and haul him out of a situation i...

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“A Priceless Past” by Lisa Summers

Submitted to Contest #204

“We readied the horses to ride at dawn, met in Malta where K.C. and Ben boarded the train and shortly proceeded to take control. Near a small bridge at Dry Wolf Creek on the Judith River, just east of Wagner we met them with dynamite and horses.” I was clad in black trousers, my hair pined up tight under a brown bowler hiding any sign I was a female.” … In less than four minutes we walked away with over thirty thousand dollars.” … The words seemed to jump off the page much like the words German, Native American, Irish, and French had just w...

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$250

Prize money

298

Contest entries

94

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 30, 2023 EST

Won by Katy B 🏆

Title: The Ungentling

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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