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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

“Spurring Fate” by Sam Porter

Submitted to Contest #204

In a pearlescent white room with walls spanning the height of three storeys, Jackson Jones took his seat alongside nine other trainees. Of course, Jackson Jones wasn't his real name but the one assigned to him for his new job as a Time Correspondent. The trainees were being inducted into the Agency of Time Travel, an inter-governmental organisation established in 2582 with very limited resources and extremely strict restrictions around travelling through time. Agent Chiu, their supervisor, paced the area in front of their desks.“Ti...

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“A Twist on The Wild West” by Corinne Arrowood

Submitted to Contest #204

Twisted Wild West Since he’d been a teenager, Adam Pierceson had heard stories of exaggeration of magnitude proportion about the mysterious Decadence, Montana. It was one of those strange tiny towns that were divided in every way possible. Half of Decadence was in Wyoming and the other half in Montana. Everything about the small town presented a dichotomy. The halves were divided by Crossed Line Avenue with an inn on one corner across the street from The RagTag Bar. The other corner provided a family-owned drug store complete with a soda b...

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“Forged in Dust and Steel: The Rustler's Redemption” by Sofia Albertini

Submitted to Contest #204

Sweat dropped from my forehead, sticky and warm, forming a puddle at the base of my nose. The salty sting awoke the cuts that slashed my skin. Them miserable Martians had tied my hands in a tangle, and strung me up from the tent’s ceiling, like cattle. No, worse than that, like one of their trinkets. Ain’t nothin’ worse than bein’ owned. Rage rattled within me. “So this is how the infamous Rustler dies, huh?” taunted a short Martian with a strict ponytail. “Pathetic. We’ll start with you, so your men can watch their leader perish.” His ...

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“The Berserker” by Zachary Elliotson

Submitted to Contest #204

The forest was calm, cool night air whistling through the leaves and branches of the tall trees as they stood firm, providing shelter to the various woodland critters that dared roam the night, sharp beams of ivory moonlight piercing through the foliage to illuminate the wildwood. Apart from the odd chirp of a cricket or the occasional audible gust of wind, the forest was quiet, peaceful even. The weather was calm, no rain or heavy winds blowing, and most of the animals that usually roamed these woods were soundly sleeping, preferring to fro...

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“Reckoning ” by April Mattson

Submitted to Contest #204

"Welcome to the Wild West, young pardners! After striking gold, you and your band of prospectors were robbed and taken hostage. You managed to escape but the robber rigged the saloon with all sorts of tricks to keep his loot secure. Your mission: break in and steal back your gold. Yee haw!" I usually spoke that part with gusto- my shoot-em-up not-too-hokey Western accent, grazing my hand against my pretend holster, tilting back my head just so, a machismo wink- this time to a group of young boys- while I drawled, “You got it, pardners?”...

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“Broken Leg” by Mar Hill

Submitted to Contest #204

I held my breath as I took cover in the pantry, waiting for them to come to me. “For someone deemed the best shooting sheriff in all the west, you sure like the color yellow,” he chuckled as he strolled in. I tried to look through the cracks to get a glimpse of him. He was the only one wearing a cowboy hat. His skin had multiple burns. Almost second degree burns. “Now how are we supposed to settle things if you’re cooped up in that tight space there?” I froze. A shot was fired and the sound of shattered glass followed. I exhaled too soon. I ...

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“The Ephemeral West” by Daryn Schvimmer

Submitted to Contest #204

When Hiram woke up, the first thing he saw was another face, inches from his own. The face belonged to another boy who seemed to be roughly his age, with a pitiful feather-duster mustache and one of the more ridiculous outfits Hiram had ever seen. The guy dressed as if a cowboy and a circus clown combined styles. It didn’t work. Bright blue suspenders clashed with a ruffled, cream-orange shirt. His jeans were the wrong shade of blue when compared to his robin's egg suspenders. The monstrosity was topped off with black, spurred cowboy...

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“Nexus of the Galactic Frontier” by Dylan E. Stettner

Submitted to Contest #204

[Contains strong language]“What are we supposed to do?” asked Sara.“What we always do, fight like hell and make it out alive,” Bolt replied, lacking his usual enthusiasm that she had hoped for in this situation.They were trapped aboard their mulehauler by the Galactic Authority, so called peacekeepers who would not hesitate to execute petty criminals. Five authority battleships surrounded them on all sides in the empty expanse they found themselves in.“There's too many B, there is no way we-”“That's enough. We've done this before. Get ready,...

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“Rumor Has It” by Brittney Duenes

Submitted to Contest #204

The wails of the widow traveled across Bandera like bells on hightailing cattle. The streets were empty of people, all smart enough to hide behind their shutters or go about their indoor business as if their hands didn’t tremble from doing the same mundane activities they did every day. I’d been caught in a pretty precarious situation before I knew the Gunslingers had rode in. As I knew, my mother would have told me, ‘Don’t get your knickers undone before the cow patties come flying.’ Basically, don’t screw around because bad things could ha...

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“A Narrow Escape” by Olivia Rose

Submitted to Contest #204

Thump! Thump! Crash! Rock gives way beneath Henry’s sword and clatters to the ground around him, dusting his clothes and hair with rubble. Brushing debris from his tunic and leather vest, Henry steps forward into the vast cavern beyond the shattered rock. “Good work, Ry-Ry,” a voice calls from behind him. A shadow falls into step behind Henry, flanked by two others. Henry flinches at the nickname, “Don’t call me that,” he mutters to the shadow. It— like its owner— is slender and wispy; dressed in a man’s clothes but unable to hide t...

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“Evangeline” by Scott Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #204

Dear Evangeline It’s raining outside–it’s been raining for days. I’d like to think that as you’re off in your dreams over in the other room you hear the incessant pitter-patter somewhere far away and it soothes you, and at the same time the lightning strikes that want to frighten you don’t reach your ears at all. I know that’s impossible, but I can dream, too. I’m at present set to go on a journey. There is a man with a red eye that has had a bullet chasing his head for many years now. At present this bullet is only inching forward, as h...

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“Burning O'Neill” by Cameron Sides

Submitted to Contest #204

The last man to see Oscar O’Neill and his family alive was I, Charles Solomon, because they were my family too, and every sunrise I regret that I did not burn with them that awful night when Kendrick Jophiel marched his mob upon us on account of what was done to his kin. Done by me, and by O’Neill’s boys, Elmore Keene, Gregory, and Felix. We learned to kill together in the war of the rebellion, but afterwards we kept right on going as the cycles of spilled blood back home spun out, and the thirst for revenge hung heavy on us all, Kendrick in...

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“New Revenge ” by Kaelyn Style

Submitted to Contest #204

Holed in a barn ten miles off town, the largest underground fighting ring in the west claimed its victims night after grueling night. If your horse was stolen, your farm burned, your gun turned against you in threat, you might find yourself drawn into the lull of the ring, might find yourself ensnared by the money. You might find yourself crouched on thin sand, over bloodstains, yours, or not. Rue wasn’t like them. She hadn’t wandered into the ring one lonesome night. She hadn’t been threatened by a rogue group of bandits. She’d never owned ...

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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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