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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

“Pretty Like Pimmy” by Ashlynn Altman

Submitted to Contest #208

Seven bright vanity bulbs nearly blind me as I stare into the mirror, Mom beginning to unravel the big curlers from my bangs. My age group is up in fifteen minutes and no matter how many times I do this, my mind still slips into a different world as soon as the opening music for the toddler’s evening wear category plays. I can feel the wisps of hair fall just right across my forehead. Feeling even a single hair out of place is the biggest OCD tick my lifestyle has given me, because even before I can remember: I did pageants. I would honestly...

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“The Cowardly Simon” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #208

The Sunday I first met the author I had my heart set on finding a Cowardly Lion. Sandy had her heart set on a Barbie “The Movie” Doll instead. On Sundays, after church, Sandy and I would run down to the Big Toy Store. But, this Sunday, Sandy kissed me on the lips. And this was where all the trouble started.I was cast in the role of the Cowardly Lion in Mrs. Anderson’s school play based on The Wizard of Oz. After that incident at rehearsal where I froze up and forgot my lines, all I wanted to do was be courageous and not m...

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“Heart-Shaped Sunglasses” by C. J. Peters

Submitted to Contest #208

CW: Strong themes/mentions of eating disorders.When I was a kid, I knew I could be anything. I was as malleable and unmolded as a new jar of Play-Doh, ready to fit into any shape or size form anyone wanted to squeeze me into. For my father, something demure and dutiful, the next dolled-up thing to add to his dining room set. For my mother, something sweet-faced and empty, something to dress up in the bows and skirts she didn’t wear anymore. Never mind that I wanted to be the first mermaid-popstar-astronaut to live in a diamond castle on the ...

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“Kelsey's Heaven” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #208

I always considered marriage to be the most beautiful thing to happen to someone. I mean, doesn’t everyone though? To have one person in your life to feel a connection to like no other; someone to tell your secrets to, someone to tell what you’re REALLY thinking. That’s what I thought. My marriage ceremony was just two months ago, yet all I could think about is one very specific part of our vows, “Til death do us part.” Surely, if my husband...

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“THEIR LIVES, (HIS LIFE)” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #208

GENITAL TALK/SEX TALK/UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP/HUMOUR FOR A DARK SUBJECTTheir lives, (His Life)Clearly, whoever decided that unicorns and rainbows always mean good things had no idea what they were talking about. They were so wrong it's almost funny! She has it all, and her world is magnificent. She triumphantly paid off the house at the age of fifty, leaving no room for those pesky mortgage payments to rain on her parade. And she was the talk of the town, with a career that commanded respect from all quarters. Her children were thriving like ...

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“All The Versions of Herself” by Olivia West

Submitted to Contest #208

A single tear made its way down her cheek, melting into her skin, as the sun warmed the sky behind her eyes. Amelia had forgotten what it was like to feel. She had perhaps even forgotten herself altogether. A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Well, what she thought was reality anyway. “Almost done in here, hon? We still got the whole attic to clear out before closing next week,” There’s really no seamless way to bounce back from being tossed into a life-altering, soul-touching moment, but she did her best. “Yeah,” Amelia s...

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“THE DETECTIVE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #208

THE DETECTIVE Millicent Billy worked her way through the files, gradually piecing together an accurate picture of the fraud, the subject of this enquiry. Not part of the main fraud squad office, she sat alone, surrounded by boxes and, automatically, her hand would reach out to the large bag of M+Ms on her desk. Though she was well regarded for her forensic ability, she longed to do real police work instead of the glorified clerical work that she was constantly pigeon-holed with. As the lunch hour arrived, she opened the door th...

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“Round the World” by Kristin Johnson

Submitted to Contest #208

I listen to the audio in my head. “All is new. All is bright. May you have dreams of newness tonight.” It’s the constant loop from the State NEW Agency. Nation’s Eternal Watch. Is this America anymore? It’s hard to tell. We have had so many different names since the revolution. And each time we reset history. I vaguely remember a few fragments of the old history. There was the Civil War of 1945. We declared independence from French Guiana in 1812. The Assyrians gave us culture and literature and democracy, whatever that is...

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“On Pink Earth” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #208

Perfect, perfect, perfect; that’s how every day of our lives is. In this world of pink, I am a humble member of the cast. I have the luck to wake up to it every morning. Everything appears in different hues of pink. That’s my favourite colour. It’s everyone’s favourite colour here. When the pink is pure, we know that all is well in our world. It’s like a barometer of what’s going on. Pink is perfection.I get up every day and step out of my veiled bed. I walk across the plush carpet that feels like velvet beneath my feet. My nails are perfect...

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“Isle of the Pink Lotus” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #208

The Artic cyclone howled with the unquenchable contempt of a wrathful Viking god—a sentry at the gates of Eden! I could have never known that just past the gale was an island Shangri-la so beautiful, that if it were possible, it could draw envy from the City of God! As I steered around the eye of the storm, I took no thought of turning back—the success of the mission was everything.The murderous storm heaved the sea upward and upward into a rising mountain of icy breakers that pulled on the creaking frame of our ship as if an angry...

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“Plump” by Joy Allen

Submitted to Contest #208

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. I do, I do, I do declare Ashton Place is paradise on earth for squirrels. Buffered on three sides by piney woods and with a wide swath of even more pine trees running through its middle, the neighborhood is a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet. Just take a look around at all the pinecones that litter the landscape. I call it reckless abundance. What, you didn’t know that squirrels eat pinecones? Allow me to demonstrate. My teeth gnaw easily through the pinecone’s hard outer scales, exposing the seeds surroun...

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“Bite the hand” by Kevin Keegan

Submitted to Contest #208

Comer Investigations was a highly successful private eye operation run by Steve Comer and Abbie Brady. Though successful Steve and Abbie decided to stick to their backstreet location so as to keep their operations low key. Their HQ was located roughly half a mile away from the sixth business district. When the cops frequently ran out of ideas they turned to Steve and Abbie to solve the unsolvable cases for them and, in turn, Comer Investigations were paid handsomely. Steve Comer had a well lived in face, a bit like Tommy Lee Jones or that to...

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“Greener On the Other Side” by Zyn Marlin

Submitted to Contest #208

Sensitive content warning: Self-harm/suicide, abuse, mental illness. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Bea. Bea was rather a horrid girl, and all through middle school and high school, she and her friends picked on a very nice girl named Katie. Katie and Bea were as different as different could be. Where Bea was self-centered and vain, Katie was generous and humble - and Bea teased her for it. Where Bea was loud and fashionable, Katie was meek and wore outdated clothes - and Bea teased her for that, too. Bea...

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“Twelve Good Pages” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #208

It would be one thing if we were stuck in a book. There’s a respectability to being characters in a book. I was discussing it with my husband last night, and we both agreed that a novel--or even a novella--would be just fine. Not that we know the difference between a novel and a novella, but I think a novella is sexier. Not that I’m opposed to being in something sexy as long as I’m not the one supplying the sex. I’m not a prude, mind you, but I’m not doing anything prurient just so Reese Witherspoon can read all about it and then tell her ...

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“Cuddlepig and the Electric Victory Song” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #208

Cuddlepig had been a top rack toy since the latest movie in his franchise had hit the cinema. Admittedly, he was from the first movie, but the release of the sequel had seen him promoted from the ten token middle rack to the twenty token heights. Cuddlepig had been raised up to where he belonged. Cuddlepig was kind of a big deal. Unimoo had not been so lucky. Unimoo had also featured in the first movie, but a poorly attached eye and packaging that had become water damaged (when Weekday Marvin had not properly closed the shutters at the end o...

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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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