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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#213: The Human Touch

For most people, platonic touch is a central part of being human. When words are not enough, a warm hug or a comforting hand on the shoulder can soothe, support, and create a sense of belonging. But the phrase has another meaning; adding a ‘human touch’ to your work and interactions can also be a way to show empathy and compassion without physically touching. And when that ‘human touch’ is missing from someone or something, it can start to verge on the uncanny.


This week’s prompts are centered around the concept of ‘the human touch’, both literally and figuratively — the comfort it can bring, but also that otherworldly and uneasy feeling we can get when there’s a distinct lack of it in the art and creations we encounter.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character looking closely at something, or someone. They can't quite decide if what they're looking at is natural, or man-made.

Science Fiction – 51 stories

Start or end your story with a character receiving a hug or words of comfort.

Dramatic – 101 stories

Write a story about someone who is losing feeling in their hands and/or fingers.

Character – 46 stories

Write about someone with a Midas touch: everything they touch turns to [fill in the blank].

Character – 39 stories

Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.

Science Fiction – 49 stories

Stories

“Mind Scraper.” by Christopher B.

Submitted to Contest #213

Clickety clack goes the keyboard. Clickety clack goes my mind. The due date is November 13, 2046. Which is a fun way of saying tomorrow. Which is a misleading way of saying in seven hours. Which is best described as screwed. God, I went to college for this. Back when that cost a finite amount of money, and not the twenty percent of everything you ever make that it is now. Not to say it ends when you die, oh no, they take twenty percent of all proceeds from anything with your name on it forever. That’s the price of higher learning, and y...

1 comment 1
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“Emma Bovary Revisited” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #213

“Lucy, this is my mother.” “Pleased to meet you, Mrs Higgins.” Lucy held out her hand. “Albert’s told me all about you.” “He’s said precious little about you,” was the rather ungracious reply. “Now then, Ma.” Albert forced a laugh. “You know Lucy works with me in the shop. It’s been eight or nine months now.” “And who’s going to help you once the two of ye are wed? It’s a wife’s duty to stay home and keep house for her husband.”               “I… We haven’t set a date ...

14 comments 14
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“Can This Really Be?” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #213

Can This Really Be?            Can this really be? I am beginning to think that this isn’t just a hallucination. The dog has in one day demonstrated that he is good company when I am working out of my home. It is just this one weirdness that has me wondering. What Started It All The pandemic caused big changes in many people’s lives. What I experienced could be about the strangest aspect of all. During the peak period of the pandemic many people stayed home, and...

2 comments 2
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“The Boy Who Couldn't Read Emotions” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #213

“Owe, Mum! It hurts, it hurts!” The little boy burst into tears. His mother crouched and hugged him tenderly.For the third time in ten minutes, 5-year-old Edwin held up his hands to his mother, and she shook her head in dismay.“How many times must I tell you to leave the cacti alone.” She commenced pulling the small spines out of his hands. They were with friends at the Botanical Gardens, viewing the cacti and succulent display.This boy had a kamikaze streak. He would obsessively do things repeatedly and not relate his pain to his own impuls...

11 comments 11
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“Trip to Moonstone Bay. ” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #213

Winter vacation at last. Jennifer Louise, one of the Blessing family, and her bestie, Darya, were so thrilled. Ma Blessing was taking them on this plane trip to Moonstone Bay. There it was hot and sunny, a sparkling bay of seaside fun, with a cool forest on the nearby hills. Ma Blessing was very keen for Jennifer Louise and Darya to attend the spiritual center fair there in the remote center of magic at Moonstone Bay. It was convention time, a chance to feel the power of women of grace and enchantment. "This is definitely a chick thing." J...

1 comment 1
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“Passing in the Human World” by Sol Le Roux

Submitted to Contest #213

I’ve been staring at Mathias’ new friend from work since the beginning of the party and I can’t seem to stop. I’ve never seen such perfect androgynous beauty and there’s something fascinating about them that I just can’t shake. Of course they’re noticing, I’m not the most discreet person in the world. Even their amused smile is perfect. It lifts up the corner of their lips and reveals a slight dimple that highlights their incredible bone structure. Who has that naturally? I’ve been told that you’re not supposed to ask. That it’s deeply perso...

3 comments 3
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“PROTEGE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #213

PROTEGEMax left the building on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse feeling exhilarated following his meeting. As he stood beneath the panoply of red flags, all proudly displaying the swastika emblem of Nazi Germany, he took in a deep breath of the frigid November air. Finally, he had a clarity of purpose; a reason to look forward to the future with real optimism.Ever since he had returned home from university, Max Brandt had been listless, unhappy, unsure of what his life might have in store for him. His father, Gerhardt, a wealthy industrialist was ail...

1 comment 1
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“Kindred” by Penelope Cyrus

Submitted to Contest #213

“You look like an orb.”   I shift my gaze at the distant horizon taking note of the way the poppies and the buttercups brush the pads of my fingers in gentle sweeps. The bite of the tundra, that kisses the parts of my exposed skin, subsides as a single ray of light escapes the cover of a tiny cloud. This light bathes a patch of reddish-brown hair, intensifying its color to a vibrant red, and highlights the silhouette of a sleeping lump in the vegetation five fox steps away from me. I move to lie on my stomach as I reach out ...

0 comments 0
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“Terrible Things ” by Livana Teagan

Submitted to Contest #213

The scent of dead leaves filled Marji’s nose as she climbed from her bedroom window. A crescent moon carved away the blackness of the night sky with a yellow sliver of light. Marji felt in her core it was a solid sight to see. There only ever seemed to be a fraction of light in the face of overwhelming darkness. The soil sucked at her shoes with hungry tugs as she dropped from the window. The recent rains had left mud where there was once solid ground. The October air clawed at her bare arms whispering rumors of a winter yet to come. Sh...

7 comments 7
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“Progress” by Morgan Hannah

Submitted to Contest #213

***Please note: the following story has themes of mental health and suicide. It is my work of fictional art, intended only to entertain.*** Catching his breath, he watched her from across the way. They were way high up; it was dark and cold, the moon too big and too bright. Panting, sweat coated his face and sat in every wrinkle of the pushed-up sleeves of his driving jacket; he carefully swung his legs out over the edge. She was wearing a loose-fitting black dress, her hair pinned up in tight curls, and long legs bare. She looked out acro...

2 comments 2
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“Birdshot” by Evan Trapp

Submitted to Contest #213

They strode towards the summit as generations apart. The last of the snow cover was almost gone and the dead leaves of the previous year had begun to retake the ground. The old man and the young girl had a short but steep hike to the overlook, where views across the valley and snow-capped hills awaited. The old man was breathing heavily. “When I first moved to the area I absolutely hated the winters. They felt so bloody long. But that’s changed. Honestly, I can now say that I almost enjoy them,” he chuckled. Agnes, a naturally shy girl, le...

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“The Saturday Train” by A Heit

Submitted to Contest #213

Roxy leaped from the concrete ledge of the railway platform, one hand touching down and her knees buckling just short of grinding into the gravel. “Go already, hurry! I’ll catch up with these,” she shouted up at Francie, as she grabbed for the two worn canvas knapsacks under the platform, each marked with an oversized, dark blue “A.” Roxy had hidden them on a day less portentous than the one ahead of them. She looked up to see Francie hadn’t moved, only stood still, looking toward the station agent. Roxy tossed a knapsack up to her. “I thin...

2 comments 2
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“Painted Grey, Part 1” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #213

What did the mines have, if anything? Where did the ores go? Were there still ultrantulas roaming about that place? Thoughts like this had put Tholan back on the path to answer questions that the community reechoed. Today, it was literal; he was granted leave by Garrold to check the mines, maybe see if there was anything to salvage there for the people. He made sure that Lindia was comfortable before going; she had been a bit more sporadic, especially when she transformed at night uncontrollably, but he attributed such to stress from t...

5 comments 5
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“Comfort ” by Hannah Abrams

Submitted to Contest #213

   "Zane, I love you."      He didn't think much of the words, although later he'd figure them as a goodbye letter.       "I love you too." Zane told his wife.       She had been battling cancer for a while now. She buried her head in his chest, and he wrapped an arm around her and closed his eyes, falling asleep in a few minutes, unaware that his wife would not be waking up. A few hours later, he got up to go to the bathroom, and on his way b...

2 comments 2
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“Sally” by Teresa Brown

Submitted to Contest #213

Sally sat on the floor, tears running down her face. Sobbing incontrollably. She looked around at the smoke flamed room and thought of all the things her family used to do and had planned on doing in the future there. Staring into the distance, she began to think of what she would do next. Only 17 years old, not quite done with school, she made up her mind that that would be her first priority. Finish school and then find work and rebuild, if only one brick at a time. Discussing things over with the chief if the village, he gave her permissi...

0 comments 0
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$250

Prize money

286

Contest entries

124

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 01, 2023 EST

Won by Jonathan Page 🏆

Title: The Porcelain Village

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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