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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

“A.I. Aiden” by Darsh Mishra

Submitted to Contest #208

The movie was beaming bright at night. People flooded the place for the new movies, but the main reason was because of the children. A new Pixar movie was released called Amazing Aiden. It was about a guy whose name was Aiden and kept getting bullied and no one loved him, and he was looking for a job. But he was smart. He made a computer almost from scratch and it was the only reason he had a small house. By selling things he made. He kept trying to look for a job, but a huge monster came to the city. He got motivation that if he defeated th...

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“The Book, The Vial, and Me” by Christine Nicholson

Submitted to Contest #208

The vial had a sparkly, blue liquid in it. “It’s time,” a man’s deep voice said. “I’m still not sure if we should do this,” a pitchy female voice replied hesitantly. “It’ll work this time, I can feel it.” “Okay. I’m ready. Whatever happens, don’t panic!” the pitchy voice replied. The man popped the cork off the vial and slowly poured it onto the book. Instantly it started to glow a dull, pulsing blue. “Jump...

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“Slot Car” by Brandon Chapman

Submitted to Contest #208

My feet felt as if they’d been cast in concrete. I stood motionless at the end of the walkway that lead to my family home. “Honey? Your mom is waiting inside.” “I’ll be right there.” My wife looked good in black. Her long black hair and thick lashes, the way her tan skin looked smooth against the dark fabric. I watched her walk in, and peak at me as she closed the door. She was worried. I could always tell. I didn’t want to go in. I didn’t want it to be true so I stayed looking toward the white brick house. I remember how we used to pl...

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“Mr. Montgomery, The Monkey.” by Alannah Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #208

Everything my mother had ever owned was packed neatly into twenty-seven cardboard boxes with room to spare. I was numb to noise, conversation and all of the movement around me, because I was transfixed with the twenty-seven little brown boxes that were being removed from her apartment, one by one. As my husband, my teary-eyed Aunt Helen, and her three-legged dog made their way from hallway to car - the dog more front door to the pavement, given its mobility - I remained lifeless on the couch. I woke from my trance to John gently shaking my s...

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“In the Closet” by Stevie Burden

Submitted to Contest #208

In the ClosetStevie Stephens BurdenJuly 21, 2023It’s gloomy and rainy on the coast of Oregon, despite being mid-summer. I’ve decided to make use of the forced indoor day by organizing the huge walk-in closet in my guest room. Most people have a junk drawer but me, me, I have a junk closet, a big closet. Jam packed with everything that I haven’t wanted to find a place for or get rid of, lives in there.I pour a cup of coffee and head upstairs to the closet. Opening the double doors wide and looking at the amazing amount of accumulation is a bi...

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“The House of Empty Memories” by Abby Maskell

Submitted to Contest #208

TW: Implied childhood trauma and parental neglect.Claudia stamped her feet, trying to rid herself from the cold of the frostbitten air. Her hands were shoved deep within the pockets of her coat as she waited for the agent to unlock the front door of the old weatherbeaten house. She wished she'd thought to bring her gloves and scarf."Place looks pretty abandoned." The agent tried at small talk while he jiggled the lock."Uh-huh." She didn't need to look over the rotting planks of the veranda, the cobwebbed windows to know that the house was in...

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“Grief” by Bakhtawar B

Submitted to Contest #208

Mama, I found my old butterfly hairclip you had gifted me on my eleventh birthday, and it took me back to the old days. Papa used to count our blessings on prayer beads at 4am, while you slept the heavy sleep that comes with two 5 mg melatonin gummies. At 6 am, I would stand in front of your door and watch you doze. You snored a little, but none of us ever told you. The fan was loud in the room, and a strand of your hair covered your face. At exactly 6.15 am you would rouse yourself from your deep sleep. Sometimes, you would spot me and s...

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“A Childhood Story” by Lancia Stewart

Submitted to Contest #208

The rain was pouring down. The rain droplets fell so hard that they beat my eye lids like percussionist sympathy. You see, one thing about beatings was whether it was just rain or life, as bad as they hurt, it made you very hesitant not to make that mistake again. In some instances, you learn, which leads you to these moments like this, me standing here, as the lighting Boltz dance crossed the sky. It took me back to my childhood, dancing around amongst the vast rows of corn fields. They stretched out as far as the eyes could see. I think I ...

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“His Love Letter” by Kathleen Spencer

Submitted to Contest #208

The alarm clock displayed 1:11. Maggie was startled awake by the thunder and lightning striking outside her window. “Not again…” she moaned. Reaching for the lamp on her nightstand next to her bed, she turned it on, but nothing happened. Climbing out of bed, she slipped into her warm pink slippers. Grabbing her white terry cloth robe wrapping herself up in it, she stumbled in the dark, almost falling over Sam to flip the light switch on the wall, but there was still no light. Meowing his disapproval, Sam ran away i...

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“Go Fish” by Sarah Bryan

Submitted to Contest #208

Trigger - Childhood Abuse is 'suggested' Go Fish It was 2.30 pm and rain was coming down heavily for a mid-July afternoon. The drops pelt on the attic walls with such venom it makes Greg shudder as she completes the ladder and closes the hatch. It must have been 18 years since she had even stepped foot up here. “Achuuuuu”, Greg’s eyes fill up as the sneeze escapes her. The crack of sunlight creeps through the clouds and into the small window piercing the atmosphere, the sun becomes a spotlight for the dust circulating the air ...

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“The Attic” by Rf F

Submitted to Contest #208

It was a long time since Dave and his dad had gone into Dave’s grandma’s attic. The last time Dave went up there he was young enough to believe the lies his older brother told him, like there was a ghost living in his grandma’s attic. That one really scared him. He didn’t dare go in her attic for years after that, but now he’d long grown out of those silly fears. He was now old enough to help his dad with groceries. And that meant it was time to go to grandma’s house, which meant going to the attic again. Climbing up the stairs, Dave f...

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“My name is Caitlín” by Maria Esther Vilar Alvarez

Submitted to Contest #208

My name is Caitlín. I keep a lot of secrets. But I won't tell them.In elementary school, we were taught the traditional seanfhocail that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me". I always wondered who came up with that phrase, and more specifically, why. Was it to comfort themselves? I never did care to further delve into its origin because, to begin with, I never did care about it. It was by far the stupidest, most untruthful proverb I had learned. I can envision how this age-old mantra might become a refuge for t...

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“Raggy Maggy” by Chido Victoria Manyande

Submitted to Contest #208

“Mom, please teach me how to knit,” said Faith one rainy summer afternoon. Grace gasped as her heart skipped a beat. Lately, her daughter had avoided the basement workshop like the plague, their current cold war had lasted considerably longer than the teenager’s pre- and peri-menstrual days. Come to think of it, this one has lasted the whole bloody cycle, and counting. “Is your iPad broken?” she asked without looking at her. “No, it’s working perfectly.” “Is the Wi-Fi on?” “Yes, it is mom.” I know you did NOT just roll your ...

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“The Kennel” by Austin Baker

Submitted to Contest #208

Lion’s first memories were of four constricting walls, and the weak mewling of his six siblings. Their prison seemed at once fragile and yet, to a litter of newborns, impossible to scale. If not for the cardboard, then the pair of giants that stood watch, their large, mishappen heads blotting out the very idea of climbing out from the prisoners’ minds. Ostensibly, these giants were Lion’s parents, and he one of their many fur children. But the world the giants lived in must be a cruel one, where a parent cannot slow to suffer for all their c...

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“Freak” by Kaz Ingelman

Submitted to Contest #208

They call me Freak because I wear the same outfit every day. Black sweatpants and a black hoodie with the words Dead Inside printed on the front in huge block letters. They call me Freak because I listen to My Chemical Romance and Paramore and YUNGBLUD. Because my nails are always painted black, and my hair is dyed red at the tips.They call me Freak because someone found out I have a criminal record and decided to broadcast that news to the whole school. Everyone thinks I’m a psycho thug. They even painted black stripes on my locker to show ...

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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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