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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

“Red flows in both” by Graham Lee

Submitted to Contest #208

Once there was a daughter of a mother and a mother of a daughter. As the daughter I was taught the same as she was. To live for my parents as my actions bear bigger consequences for them. To listen to her advice to become a proper woman, and to perform for the world to see and praise my mother for it. One day my mother came home to my self-bleached hair. She hollered and yelled at me with the fury of desperation. By bleaching my hair I had just washed away all of her teachings and her worth. I did not understand at the time. I started ...

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“Waiting.” by Hosea Guy

Submitted to Contest #208

“It’s a shame they don’t have a bench on this side, huh?”` The Hispanic man lifts his bushy eyebrows and removes the black baseball cap from his bald, shiny head, which is shimmering in the sun like a plain of hot, melting ice. We stare together at the bus stop on the other side of the four-lane boulevard. The stop features a bench, which has been designed to fit three people; or two people and one bag of luggage; or one person and a few bags of groceries; or— In any case, there are two armrests guarding the middle seat, so that on either ...

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“Good Bones ” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #208

Good Bones“It’s a girl!” announces Dr. Jones. “Or rather, a woman.” The mottled remains, painstakingly arranged by his team, lay against fresh white paper; yellowish-brown cantles of humanity, poised to give up their secrets to the renowned forensic anthropologist.“Some of the most critical bones are here. They will tell us a story!” Dr. Jones beams, rubbing his hands together. “Due to the burial method and environmental circumstances, they are in astonishingly good condition.” “Come closer,” he beckons. “You see this? Tony, zoom i...

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“The plastic horse” by Susan Crawford

Submitted to Contest #208

She remembers a sunny Saturday morning when trees were green and birds were singing. The breadman had arrived with the weekly delivery. The scent of fresh baking filled the kitchen. He filled the table with two dozen loaves. They were uniform in shape, some white loaves and others wholemeal. Of course back then there weren’t different breads or flours. There was no emphasis on special diets or spoken knowledge of allergies. This was a bread delivery from town, pure and simple. Country shops were a thing then too. Literally in the middle of n...

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“Ping” by Ethan Zimmerman

Submitted to Contest #208

At a garage sale recently, I saw a box of old Barbie dolls. There were half a dozen dolls in a box, and they reminded me of a time before I transitioned when I was still a girl. My best friend, Mikey, has brought over his newest toy, a slingshot made by the Wham-O slingshot company. He is super proud of it, as his parents don't buy him many new toys. He rushed over to show it to me right away. The handle is made of wood and has black rubber around it so that when you grip it tightly, it won't slip out of your hand. The last thing you wa...

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“Obsessed with the Pink Queen ” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #208

I received my first Barbie when I caught Chicken Pox from my cousin Lisa at age five. She was two, my shadow, and obsessed with being in my room. Since we were quarantined, Mom rewarded me with a doll in a box. You must understand that the spoiled little diva I was didn't appreciate the gem I had been given until I was an adult and no longer played with dolls. All I wanted was to have my room and things to myself. An only child should not be expected to share. Frustrated by the intrusion, I took it out on the doll; I bit a hole in Barbie's l...

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“Devil Doll” by Robert Radcliff

Submitted to Contest #208

Ava died six months ago.She is my baby sister.Ava fell from her bedroom window on the third and top floor of our family house. She was only 10.At the time I was away at university, but I recall the dreadful event. I was summoned to return and stay with my folks at Grandma's. We soon returned home, but Mum and Dad locked Ava's bedroom door and boarded her window. It's remained that way ever since. The Court concluded it was an accident. And now my parents never mention it. Ava was "Daddy's girl" and even though he was our stepdad he love...

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“Dust to Dust” by Isla Stark

Submitted to Contest #208

Beth pulls up the handbrake and turns off the engine. Sighing, she reaches over to turn on the radio, letting the voices of the station hosts wash over her as she watches the stationery traffic in front, willing it to finally move. She glances over to the passenger seat at the limp cardboard box overflowing with the few remaining things she had cleared out of her Mam’s cottage that day. The final few trinkets marking a life completed. Not much to show for it, Beth thought. Reaching over, she rummages in the box until her hand closes around t...

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“Mother knows best” by Caitlin FB

Submitted to Contest #208

Aged 5 "MUMMY, MUMMY, MUMMY." Emma barged into her Mum's room after having a horrific nightmare about a monster in her wardrobe. The soft glow of a lamp illuminated the room. The big girl bed, as Emma calls it sat in the middle of the room where her mummy currently sat with open arms. Without another word, Emma pounced into her mother's arms and clung to her like the monster was about to take her away. "Oh baby girl, what's up?" Slight sniffles could be heard in the room. Her mum didn't push Emma to talk, she let her have her minute. "Monste...

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“Red Boots” by Pete R.

Submitted to Contest #208

"Luka, Sophie, get inside! Come up here now, and get the hell inside!" Megan screamed from the second floor of the apartment complex. Her voice rang out into every open window. Every nosy neighbor peeked out from behind car doors and window curtains to watch what melodramatic scream fest would occur tonight. Megan's fingers were deeply embedded in the faux leather of her wheelchair armrest. She had screamed and strained like this so much lately that the white foam was starting to ooze out from the armrest. Her throat tickled with a constan...

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“Tears of the Lonely” by Devorah Fisch

Submitted to Contest #208

Silence, she sits quietly on her brown leather sofa, accompanied only by the click of the clock, as the rain pounds her large glass windows, as the fireplace sizzles, and she sits there, awaiting, wondering, pondering on why she’s alone. Why she always is and always has been alone.Six days have gone by of her awaiting for the storm to pass, for the power to return to her televisions and her clocks. It took the whole world to be silent, waiting, alone in their homes, for her to realize that for her whole life she was lonely, never flanke...

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“Should've Been Me” by Maddie Medwid

Submitted to Contest #208

I didn’t know what she saw in him. My heart hung low in my chest, like a bag of bowling balls drooping over someone’s shoulder. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair because it should’ve been me. It was my joke she should’ve been laughing at, my arm she should’ve been elbowing, my sundae she should’ve been spooning at. But instead I was just watching. Watching as if I was some sad puppy who hadn’t been chosen at an animal shelter, not the best friend I’ve secretly had a crush on since fourth grade. “D...

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“Teddy, my Teddy” by Stella Vita

Submitted to Contest #208

As I walk up the stairs to the attic, I call out to Jared, “Are you sure you want me to go through it?” “Yes, honey bun”. I can practically hear the smirk in his voice. He knows that I hate those cutesy nicknames, and he knows that I secretly hate the attic. Except, I would never admit to the latter, so his way of teasing me with my irrational fear, is to call me stupid cute names. He’s so stupid, I smile to myself. Standing on the last step before I am officially in the attic, I think this is not so bad, while I shudder, and curse myself...

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“Lost in oasis ” by Isabella Beaver

Submitted to Contest #208

TW: Death, addiction, and memory loss All I can see is milky white; I am floating in an oasis, everything so serenely quiet. That's when I hear the muffled sobs coming from somewhere I can't see. I wonder what could create such a hollow and sad sound, what could have happened to the poor conflicted soul. The air becomes thick, and my lungs spasm in an attempt to do their job. It's poison; it must be poison. Screaming silently, I reach my arms to my throat, thrashing as I beg a god I don't see to save me. When I look down, my arms are not...

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“The Lost Little Music Box” by Jessica Bains

Submitted to Contest #208

“Coming Nana!” I yelled from the van while placing the last dusty box in the back, then closed it shut. Walking towards the old wooden house I grew up in, I smiled. The charm of the uneven floorboards, the wall with our heights etched into, and finally, the room Blaire and I shared until our early teens. Each inch held a fond memory from our childhood. We moved away years ago but always visited Nana and Gramps every holiday until a few months ago when Gramps passed away. “Nana, are you sure about this retirement community and leaving here ...

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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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