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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#211: Cozy Corner

You’ve probably noticed that cozy fiction has been on the rise for several years, and even more so post-pandemic. Cozy mysteries about grandparent sleuths, pets, food, bookshops, and villages have flourished, allowing people to dabble in suspense while still maintaining a sense of warmth, familiarity, and comfort. The same is beginning to happen in the fantasy genre (think of Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes, about an orc opening a coffee shop), so it’s clear that the appeal of wholesome, comforting fiction exceeds the mystery genre.

With that in mind, let’s get comfy — as much as summertime allows! Put on your imaginary cardigans and let’s see what this week’s homely prompts will yield.

This week's prompts

Write a story starring an octogenarian who’s more than meets the eye.

Fiction – 67 stories

Begin your story with a librarian searching for something.

Fiction – 70 stories

Write a story involving a friendship with an adorable animal.

Fluff – 50 stories

Set or begin your story in a room lit by the flickering flames of the fireplace.

Fiction – 70 stories

End your story with two characters reconciling.

Adults – 47 stories

Stories

“The Travel Bug ” by Savannah Wagner

Submitted to Contest #211

Friday, May 21st 3:30pm pick up car. I read and reread the note in my leather bound planner more times than my own acceptance letter to Northwestern. I tried to hide my smile by biting my lip but it was no use. I was ecstatic. I finally closed my book and rested my head on the hard plastic seat under me. The L felt more rickety today. We must have hit a nasty bump since the woman in front of me gripping her pole in a cherry red peacoat lost her balance and landed backwards onto my lap. “Sorry,” She muttered trying to rise up ...

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“Doc & Oscar Find Family” by Deb Popson

Submitted to Contest #211

Doc Weaver was not a doctor; he was a self-proclaimed librarian. He was 82 years old, relieved to have just passed the line drawn by his other family members at 81. He lived in his bookstore: above, behind…in his bookstore. And today, he was searching for something he knew was there, but could not find!Blowing out a gust of frustration, Doc stood with his back to the front doors and stared the length of his domain. Up front here, it was more organized to attract unknowing pedestrians from the heat or from the rain. The windows were dust...

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“Fifteen Miles” by Jim M

Submitted to Contest #211

Fifteen Miles by Jim McMahon Every day this summer, since the draft notice arrived in June, I’ve been trying with alcohol and drugs to induce amnesia against this moment. But Walter Cronkite and the CBS Evening News, live from Viet Nam, won’t let me forget. “And that’s the way it is,” I mutter. “What?” Dad says, and we climb into his red Mazda Pickup. It’s a short distance to Highway 395, and fifteen miles to the airport. Hopefully, we can cover that distance without g...

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“The Endless Gallery” by Bryan Brady

Submitted to Contest #211

I hadn’t felt this moved by a painting in decades. Each tilt of my head brought a different perspective of swirling color. Waves of red swept into eddies of ochre oranges and sulfuric yellows. The longer I looked at it, the less any of the colors wanted to stand still. It might have shown a sunset, or the thin skin of a star. I ached to possess the skill the artist so clearly had possessed. The command of colors, of emotions, all placed on canvas by merely human hands. Forget decades, I hadn’t felt this moved in centuries. This was a work w...

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“This Empty-Eyed Town” by Chloe McCaskill

Submitted to Contest #211

It was dusk when he began to walk. The moon hovered near the treeline almost hidden by the thick brush that lined the two sides of the street. The street lights were flickering. A nasty orange huge washed the empty road, and still, he walked. Head down, one foot in front of the other. His shoes were so terribly worn down, holes grew in the soles. The laces were fraying. They had once been white, now a dirty brown-grayish color. But it was the only pair he had. He tried not to let the patheticness of the situation seep into him too much. ...

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“The Silver Tin Box” by Heather Rose

Submitted to Contest #211

THE SILVER TIN BOX Near Bucharest, Romania 1940 The murky surface of the water suddenly broke into small shimmering ripples of light. The boy’s eyes shot to the movement and he watched, mesmerized, as two tiny black eyes lifted up out of the cloudy depths and gazed unwaveringly at him. He was lying on his stomach at the edge of the pond, arms crossed under his chin and his chest supporting his weight. Unmindful of the wet mud that was slowly soaking it’s cold tentacles into the front of his faded jacket he knew that his mom would scold h...

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“Speaking of Iris” by Omri R.

Submitted to Contest #211

Note: some implicit mentions of sexual violence. … They say it’s the taste of salty lips. That it’s a knife that pierces the skin on your back, that moves slowly within you, your bones, making its way out your stomach. They even say it’s the grief, the anguish that ties you to your bed and wraps you with its icy hands to offer some sort of twisted validation in that you are utterly alone. But then? When the grief, the anguish, the distress fades, when your cuts have healed and you’ve collected yourself once again, swept the glass under ...

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“Fathers and Sons” by John-Paul Cote

Submitted to Contest #211

Reggie’s Diner was bustling as usual at lunchtime. It was the perfect setting for the meeting. It felt like an eternity since they had spoken. Such a crowded place would hopefully discourage an outburst from either of them. When Luke arrived, his Father was already there. Typical of the Old Man, taking a power position. Letting him and everyone else know who was boss. Luke pushed down the anger, or was it frustration, he felt buil...

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“TETELESTAI” by Robert W

Submitted to Contest #211

“This is Michael Thompson,” I said. “He tried to teach me German.” Viv did her utmost to look interested. We were visiting my old school, Repton, and it had been a three hour car journey on a hot summer’s day. There had been a formal reception for the alumni of fifty years ago. There had been speeches and toasts. We had been able to reintroduce ourselves to each other after half a century. There had been plenty of “Can you remember….?” We had recollected the personalities of our day – the Australian...

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“Home Sweet Home” by Linh Nguyen

Submitted to Contest #211

Summer just arrives. I hear the sounds of bird chirping outside the windows and feel the warm lights hugging over the neighborhood. Lying in my bed with weights on my eyelids, I thought to myself, “May be I should go for a walk today to feel the sun. Hear that helps with dopamine and happiness and all that shit they keep talking about.” I didn’t sleep well last night. Actually, I haven’t had a well-rested night for the longest time. Outwardly, keeping up with fake smiles and small talks here and there help me maintain an overall somewh...

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“Anastasia” by Temitope Ajao

Submitted to Contest #211

My birth was an oddity, at least that’s how they told it.Tireless and prodigious, I was born a month earlier than what my parents had expected. “It’s all part of the Lord’s plans sister Maria. Yunno He works in mysterious ways” the pastor’s words, part religious, part anesthetic, reduced Mother’s tendency for paranoia. But science had no need for verbal tongue twisters, the doctor warned that I might not make it; too “weak”, too “feeble”, too “frail.” Mother paid her no mind, and with a tight grip in screams of blood, she brought me to the l...

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“Stranger of cafe” by Rebecca Maric

Submitted to Contest #211

There was a Cafe owner of a small wry man and would look at each customer suiciosly and grumble,not many customers would line-up there as his prices were dodgy until an o.der woman and her support walked over she wanted a simple salad sandwich but the price shocki ngly high complained to him and her support and she suggested. Cdona,d's would be worthwhile. As he then seen at a midnight Cafe with several young males all sitting around an all night Cafe.having large amounts of coffee,they all thenwentvdrug raiding AT A NEARBY HOUSE.and grabbin...

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“Delayed Honor” by David Elkind

Submitted to Contest #211

DELAYED HONOR By David L. Elkind I have been volunteering at Perception for two years. Perception helps people with cognitive problems, usually from Alzheimer’s disease. It hosts a series of activities each weekday that require its members to think to solve problems. The goal of Perception is to delay ...

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“The Hidden” by Anthony Mansueto

Submitted to Contest #211

The Hidden Anthony Mansueto No one would ever have expected that Salvatore Albatini would earn his living talking to people he didn’t know. He was an introvert’s introvert, socially awkward beyond measure, and almost certainly an undiagnosed autist. He excelled at things even most other students at the University of Chicago detested, like reading Hegel, something his dissertation advisor had forbidden him to do at least until he finished, for fear it would render his writing as incomprehensible as his conversation. But he was as passiona...

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“One last Job to Do” by Elaine Hurst

Submitted to Contest #211

One Last Job to Do “There was an old woman named Nell Who tripped on a snail, fell over the pail, And fell down a long, dark well. As she was falling she was was heard to exclaim,” Well bust my buttons and what a helluva of a shame!” Charlotte threw her pen across the room. This was her tenth try at writing a poem for the writing group she had decided to go to. It was rubbish. Pure and simple, rubbish. Charlotte really didn’t want to write poetry, or anything else really. But being retired now for more years than she wa...

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$250

Prize money

304

Contest entries

107

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 18, 2023 EST

Won by Kenz Ross 🏆

Title: Do Flamethrowers Belong In The Library?

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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