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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#208: Come On Barbie, Let's Go Party

The wait is finally over: today Greta Gerwig’s Barbie(™) movie hits theaters and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited! Blonde and big-busted, this by-now classic doll has often been associated with negative stereotypes of womanhood. But it’s also true that, when you played with Barbie as a child, she could be anything you liked: a firefighter, a flight attendant, a teacher, or even an astronaut (Barbie went to space 4 years before Armstrong did). The possibilities were endless, allowing young people to envision new futures for themselves.

This week’s prompts take inspiration from Barbie and her pink, plastic world, asking you to play with the idea of puppetry, childhood memories, and shiny surfaces that hide potential darkness.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone living vicariously through someone else.

Character – 32 stories

Write a story where the characters start to realize that they are, in fact, just characters.

Character – 49 stories

Write a story about a character who finds a childhood toy that brings back memories.

Character – 70 stories

Write a story about someone who is constantly being put into a box by others.

Angst – 40 stories

Set your story in a rosy-pink world where everything is rainbows and unicorns… until it isn’t.

Dramatic – 47 stories

Stories

“Dikileaks!” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #208

Yes, she was generally happy she was widowed and old. Shaz, as she was affectionately known, believed her grey hair was the new blonde. She could frock up all right. She was looking forward in her golden years, to her latest epic adventure. At that moment, Shaz was putting the final touches to her latest craft project. Shaz did believe in expanding her social circle, so she had joined a local craft center in her community. A visiting tutor from Canada had lectured the good ole girls in the noble art of doll head crafting. Shaz felt inspired ...

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“Military Warriors” by Ken Gordon

Submitted to Contest #208

“Send it,” the voice rang through his ears. Holding his breath, slowly exhaled, and a squeeze of his right index finger. Flash of the muzzle, then silence. “Report back soldier” the voice returns. “Confirmed hit sir, enemy down, site secure to advance,” replies Gunny. “10-4 Gunny, advance and secure payload”. Gunny calls out “check in team.” Frank, Jack, Sarah, and Jex confirmed. “Chuckles, do you copy?” burst of static, but no return call. “Frank, do you have eyes on Chuckles?” “No sir” replies Frank. “I saw him take a hit and drop for cov...

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“The Day That Eddie Bowman Met His Maker” by Shaun Ledger

Submitted to Contest #208

I seem to have a problem with my memory - I can recall driving past the ‘Welcome to Heyton’ sign on reaching the village, but nothing prior to that. I hadn’t even known my name, until the pen I’d been holding scrawled the words ‘Eddie Bowman’ on the guest register of The White Lion, where I’d somehow known that a room had been pre-booked for me. Heyton seems to be a perfect slice of Olde England. The village green, centred around a huge maypole, is ringed by The White Lion, The Kings Arms, the picturesque Norman church and the local shop. ...

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“Ella, Titch and Margot ” by T Mithawala

Submitted to Contest #208

“This isn’t dinner. It’s a disaster.” Margot shrugged. “Your fault for leaving me in charge of food.” Honestly, what had he expected? She’d never constructed a meal more complex than beans on toast, and her father should have known as much. Her sorry attempt at pasta sputtered sadly on the stove. Before he could say anything, Margot poured herself a tall glass of lemonade and grabbed an entire punnet of strawberries. “I’m going in the garden.” Her father sighed. He was still in his work clothes. “Chinese? Or pizza?” ...

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“The Well” by Sarah Xin

Submitted to Contest #208

She was falling. That was always how it began—with her falling. That was how it had to begin because the act of falling was the only way she could feel alive. She hadn’t jumped into the well, but because the well existed, it was inevitable that she would fall into it. Let her start from the beginning again. There was a well in a clearing deep in the woods. Some woods. Any woods. Green leaves, rustling wind, tall trees, deer and birds and game, a creek trickling somewhere within. The well was deep and old and out of use. It was cylind...

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“Living with Family Payne” by Chris Wall

Submitted to Contest #208

Living with Family Payne was filmed in front of a live studio audience.FADE IN:INT. LIVING ROOM - AFTERNOONBROTHER AND SISTER MAX PAYNE (MALE 14) AND LILY PAYNE (FEMALE 8) SIT AT THE COFFEE TABLE. THEY EACH HAVE THEIR HANDS OUT IN FRONT OF THEM. ELDEST SISTER EMMA PAYNE (FEMALE 17) ENTERS FROM THE STAIRS LEADING UPSTAIRS.EMMAWhat are you two freaks doing?MAXLily says boys have slower reflexes than girls. I’m about to prove her wrong.LILYI didn’t says boys. I just said you.LILY FLIPS HER HANDS AND SLAP’S MAX’S AND HE CRIES...

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“Cyberbullying” by April Mattson

Submitted to Contest #208

Cyberbullying: the new catchphrase for our day. Mabel was a pioneer in this regard, although in our case, I’d offer a twist: reverse cyberbullying. I’m not sure if that makes sense. Contrived bullying, fake bullying, I don’t know. We were cyberbullying Mabel. We put scantily clad pictures of her on the internet, circling her cellulite, her soft and vulnerable places. If it’s attention she craved, she got it in spades. Public opinion can be ruthless, scathing. We were prototypes, the three of us- myself, Shaye, and Phoebe- placed squarel...

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“The Valentine” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #208

I hate people. I’ve been made fun of and picked on my whole life. And why? Because I look different, that’s why. I was born with some defects. None of them were life-threatening, just imperfections in the way I look. But those imperfections were enough to cause me pain for the rest of my life. My skull narrows at the top, and my forehead slopes back. My right ear sticks straight out, and I’m deaf in it. My mouth was too small for all the te...

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“Hello Brownie Old Friend” by Sarah Korn

Submitted to Contest #208

Brownie is her bear. His name is Brownie because when she got him, she was munching on stale brownie brittle and the crumbs got all over his soft, brown nose. It was love at first sight, since that day Brownie and her were inseparable. They would do everything together from going to swim class and accidentally dropping him into the pool to the grocery store where they would get to ride in one of those cool shopping carts that look like a toy car. In the summer they would sit down on the porch and she would get a strawberry ice cream cone tha...

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“Strawberry-Scented Sunshine ” by Alissa Williams

Submitted to Contest #208

There is a chest shoved beneath my bed that is filled with memories; scribbled crayon drawings done with smaller, clumsier hands, old assignments marked with now-peeling star stickers, even a handful of essays kept because, in my mother's words: "Throwing them away after all that hard work would be kind of a waste, wouldn't it?" I am visiting home for the first time since leaving for college when I decide to heave the chest out from its hiding place. The first thing I notice when I am actually looking at it is that it is far sm...

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“Deceased Estate” by Jane Sparrow

Submitted to Contest #208

It was the first and last property my Mother bought when I was eight, and my sister Raven was nine. ‘Deceased Estate’, read the sign hammered into the front lawn at an angle. “What does deceased estate mean?” I asked my mum, tilting my head as I read. She explained to me in seven-year-old language, “basically, it means we got a bargain for a dream home.” From that moment on, whenever someone asked what I wanted to be when I grow up, I replied, “Realtor.” Today's property should have sold weeks ago. Victorian style with stai...

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“Under the Bed” by Molly Hunt

Submitted to Contest #208

As I slot the keys into the front door, the knot in my stomach is already tightening. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, I really do, but this house… this house has become a beacon for the sad. A museum of death. Everything my sister owned preserved like any day she will walk in the front door and pick up where she left off. As I slowly open the door, I hear the hushed whispers of my mother. Her face lights up as soon as she sees me, and then quickly – so quick that if you weren’t paying attention, you would miss it – her eyes flash w...

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“The Pink Box” by Zulma Suro

Submitted to Contest #208

Alice hesitated briefly before pulling her rental BMW into the small driveway. “Would hiring someone to clean this house be simpler?” she asked herself, debating whether to get or not out of the car, "No, you got to do this girl, and you need to do it right away!” sounding more like a command than a need. The navy blue faded house on the corner with beige trim was the only home she knew of. She was born and raised in that house. The large backyard, the skinny palm tree on the front, the metal main door with glass panels, the colorf...

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“Fix Me” by N.M. Stech

Submitted to Contest #208

Booths full of memories. It was something Andrew thought about every time he and Taylor went strolling through the flea markets. There were rows and rows of booths, each containing well-loved items imparted with hints of the past. Booth 141 contained a set of old formal dishes that he thought must have belonged to someone’s grandmother. An aged tobacco pipe, smelling faintly of that cherry scented smoke, sat on a shelf in Booth 145. Andrew wondered whether that smell of warm cherries still lingered in the memories of...

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“Threads of Memories” by Anna H.

Submitted to Contest #208

Aria gazed up at the big New York apartment building, her stomach lurching. This was very different compared to her Maryland farm home where she had been raised. The windows gleamed in the sunlight, and the building towered over her, daring her to enter. She and her brother Adam, who was standing beside her, exchanged an anxious look, while their grandma and their dad stood beside them, admiring the big tower. "What do you think?" Dad chuckled, "Bigger than expected, that's for sure." "Much prettier than back in my old days!" Her African-Am...

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$250

Prize money

238

Contest entries

85

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 28, 2023 EST

Won by Ian Gonzales 🏆

Title: That All Important First Scene

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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