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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#212: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I don't really exchange letters with anyone, but if I did, I'd receive them with great anticipation. There's something very unpredictable about a letter: it can provide insight into a person's most private feelings, make a public statement, or share news of events big and small, from historic events to everyday gossip. You just never know until you open it.

This week's prompts are inspired by all things epistolary.

This week's prompts

Write a story in the form of a letter, or multiple letters back and forth.

Short Story – 147 stories

Write an epistolary story set during a major historical event. The event may be the subject of the letters directly, or be referenced in the background.

Historical Fiction – 30 stories

Write a story about a pair of pen pals.

Character – 26 stories

A mysterious letter is delivered to your character's home. It's not addressed to them, but they can't resist peeking...

Mystery – 64 stories

Set your story in a post office.

Fiction – 36 stories

Stories

“Post Office” by Apeman 316

Submitted to Contest #212

Post Office “Where am I?” Frankie Lewis asked as he opened his eyes only to feel a wave of dizziness hit him like a hammer causing his stomach contents to lurch. He squeezed them shut again hoping everything would stay where it should be. “Well, you're here Frankie.” A familiar man said that caused him to slowly open his eyes to see who it was. “Gary, what the hell is happening?” He said as he looked up at the other man, a thick bearded white haired fella that he knew from the Post Office that dressed up as Santa Clause every year...

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“of branches and fire extinguishers ” by Z. E. Kraft

Submitted to Contest #212

Ruth taps a sticker onto the top of a brown box, one practically identical to the thousands she's stickered before and completely unassuming.It's important work, work that keeps a whole country moving. Grandmas sending strange trinkets to grandkids a thousand miles away, letters sent by dramatic lovers, the occasional small business owner pretending they aren't selling those candles they're shipping to avoid paying extra. Ruth has seen all kinds of people ship all kinds of things in her forty-some-odd years at her sleepy little post off...

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“The Postmaster's Secret Passion” by Raven West

Submitted to Contest #212

The bulky manila envelope was heavy with the weight of rejection as Postmaster Alex Bentley placed it on the counter and began filling out the yellow pick-up slip. In the three years since his promotion to postmaster of the small rural office in upstate New York, Alex had delivered his share of good news and bad. Even if the tiny post office he ran was only a mailbox drop, he was there six days a week in rain, sleet, snow, and sometimes into the darkest of night. He tolerated the postal jokes, ran an efficient operation, and received numer...

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“Spatial Parcel and Communication Exchange Office (S.P.A.C.E Office)” by J.B. Redel

Submitted to Contest #212

Welcome, new employee, to the Spatial Parcel and Communication Exchange Office, or S.P.A.C.E. Office, for short. Here at S.P.A.C.E. Office, we take pride in what we do. This isn’t just some post office from the pre-Space Age, where parcels only had to move across land and water of a single planet in order to reach its destination, but rather across alternate realities, cosmic layers, universes, and even realms. With technology advanced and relations between dimensions the best they’ve been in eons, our employees’ jobs of ensuring corresponde...

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“Care Package” by Jonathan Shiller

Submitted to Contest #212

This story deals with the loss of a child during the Covid 19 epidemic. Right smack in the middle of the summer, I walked down the main drag in town, up the cement stairs, and between the Doric columns of the grand entrance to the Post Office. It made me feel fancy for some reason even though I looked disheveled, my mousy brown hair pulled back in a cheap claw clip from the Dollar store. I dragged an overstuffed garbage bag through the narrow doorway, hoping that there would be a free kiosk to claim to dump and organize my wares. I a...

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“Letters to Avery” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #212

Slowly, she removed the polished wooden box that was tucked away on the shelf in her bedroom closet. Marks from her fingers were left in the thin layer of dust that had settled upon the box in the months since she last had it out. Carefully, Avery removed a stack of envelopes which were neatly stacked within the box. Beginning with the envelope on top, she opened it up and began to read. January 10, 2021 Dearest Granddaughter, &...

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“Old Ways” by Amir A

Submitted to Contest #212

Dear Papa, Where have you been? I have reached out to everyone and received the same answer, no one knows where you and Elliot went off to. We are all worried sick, please come home Papa. The school year is nearly starting for Elliot and according to the articles I have read, the first grade can be a crucial year in the development of children his age! I know how much you love the boy and I apologize for not allowing him to visit more often. That can certainly change though, this is not the way to go about seeking out company from your gra...

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“Please don't route to spam” by Liv Valen

Submitted to Contest #212

--explicit language--#1 Wednesday, 11.19 AMI don't know what to write Annie. I find myself writing for the second time now, as my first letter was discarded by the system. It was raining that time, just like it is now, and that letter was mostly about how good it is to write to you when it's raining. There’s just something about the raindrops that fall from the sky. It’s as though each raindrop touching me would symbolize some kind of spiritual cleansing. It washes over my face and with that it washes my guilt away.It's been raining con...

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“Little Bull” by Christine Cameron

Submitted to Contest #212

LITTLE BULL Christine Cameron 08/23 &n...

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“An Act of True Love?” by Rachael Hewitt

Submitted to Contest #212

Dear Maria, It is only 5 am. I haven’t been able to sleep again. The memory of our last meeting keeps playing through my mind like a video on repeat. Running over and over, giving me no respite. I keep going over what I could’ve done differently to get a better outcome. But I didn’t and now I have to live with it for the rest of my life. If only I had left when I had the chance. You have no idea how sorry I am that you got involved in our unconventional, twisted life. That should never have happened. You deserve so much better than that. I m...

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“Would you help me?” by Mike Ross

Submitted to Contest #212

Would you help me? Emma Barrat’s study in the Welsh Valleys Friday 20 July 2012 8.47 am (Emma goes to her laptop and she checks her inbox.) What an awful start to the day. Checking my emails and yet another day with no orders coming in and that one same message from a scammer. “Would you help me?” Damn, obviously too early on the morning for my brain to function properly and I’ve opened it in error instead of deleting the nonsense. I may as well find out what today’s con is all about. Sender : jblc@hotmail.com To: Emma.barrat@b...

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“To the Guests who Adore "Our Josh"” by Sarah Hinkes

Submitted to Contest #212

To the Guests Who Adore “Our Josh”- He wakes up daily around noon, takes a pull from his one hitter and calls out to Fenway. Never one to make his bed or pick up his clothes, there is a maid for that. He pulls on a jersey usually sporting a Chicago team label, Cubs, Bears or Hawks. Been to experience about every Boston team game thus far but can’t find a way to part with his home-grown boyish roots. He pops in the toaster a couple of slices and finishes whatever stale beer is left from the early morning hours before.&...

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“Re: Termination of contract” by Rae Toonery

Submitted to Contest #212

To: GreatestHitsInc@gmail.com Termination of contract Hello Carla, I trust you are getting over your bunion flare-up; what a shame you had to miss Mandy’s send off. I know I should probably address this to your Zack now he’s running things for you, but you know how I feel about that morally obese upstart. Anyway, you’re a busy woman, so I’ll cut to the chase. As you can see from the subject line, I wish to tender my resignation with immediate effect. I trust there will be no hard feelings and that you won’t resort to any grudgy-stuff. The ...

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“Kindly Disregard This Letter” by Chris Churilla

Submitted to Contest #212

Kindly Disregard This LetterMay 1Mom THIS CAMP SUCKS!!! IT’S A PRISON!!!! As soon as we got here, they took away our phones and tablets! I remember Grandpa telling those stories from the old days—you know, the 80s—when Russians put their own people in prison. I think he called it a “gulag”. They told us technology was interfering with our appreciation of nature. What a load of bull! The other girls suck too. There’s one, Katie, who thinks she’s the GOAT just because she started wearing a bra. Big deal. The sooner she has to start weari...

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“Immolant” by Lyle Closs

Submitted to Contest #212

Dear Aunt Amelia and Uncle Harold You raised me to be open to new and different ideas, for which I am very grateful. I am mystified about how I should respond further to this person, if at all, and thought I would ask for your advice. I have received the letters from a young woman I met at a party recently. She was attractive and exciting to be with, if a little overwhelming with excitement and enthusiasm. I have replied, as you can see, with, perhaps, diffidence and hesitance. What do you think? Should I continue the acquaintance or not? ...

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$250

Prize money

303

Contest entries

129

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 25, 2023 EST

Won by Wendy M 🏆

Title: The Last Of The Bright Young Things

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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