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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#217: Tropes

Last week, we revisited the old “show, don’t tell” rule. This week, let’s throw out the rulebook and have some fun.

In your reading, you’ve probably come across some recurring tropes. In romance, we’ve got star-crossed lovers, fake relationships, enemies-to-lovers, and happily-ever-afters. In fantasy, we’ve got Chosen One protagonists, reluctant heroes, and wise mentors. In mystery, we have unreliable narrators, jaded investigators, locked rooms, and remote settings. It goes on.

Subverting these tropes can be fun, but the tricky thing is that you need to do it for a reason, and in a way that enriches your story. Can you do it?

This week's prompts

Write a story about two characters who like each other but don’t get a happily-ever-after.

Romance – 91 stories

Set your story in a creepy mansion — except nothing horrifying takes place in it.

Horror – 64 stories

Write about a person who's been called to mentor someone in a special skill, but doesn't really want to.

Adventure – 27 stories

Write about a sleuth who’s a little too keen, but not because they have a traumatic past they won’t talk about.

Mystery – 10 stories

Write a story about a warrior who doesn’t want to kill the dragon.

Fantasy – 91 stories

Stories

“The Meeting of Shyena and Beryl” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #217

Shyena’s day began at dawn like any other day with farm chores. She pulled on her overalls over her sleep shirt, stuck her feet into her barn boots, slipped from the stone and beam farm house into the pale morning and headed for the barn rebuilt after the same dragon raid that had robbed her of her mother when she was six. She had been involved with morning feedings ever since. Pa and she did it together until at eleven, and already quite tall, he declared her ready to do it alone. She loved these mornings before Pa w...

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“Fateful Crossroads” by Captain Henson

Submitted to Contest #217

The bar was unusually empty for a Saturday night. Rupert kept his eyes on the entrance, hoping an attractive woman would enter. The ones already in there just weren't up to his standards. Of all the nights he chose to drink, it had to be this one. He was riding high, no pun intended, after stealing a train. But not just any train, an experimental diesel construction engine with a claw attached to its top. Fetched him a pretty penny on the black market, so he wanted to celebrate this momentous accomplishment with women and beer. And so far, h...

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“Love Lost” by Denise Clarke-Argo

Submitted to Contest #217

Anya and Ethan met in high school. They were both in the same English class, and they quickly bonded over their shared love of books and writing. Anya was shy and introverted, while Ethan was outgoing and confident. But despite their differences, they were drawn to each other like magnets. They started dating their junior year, and they were inseparable. They would spend hours talking about their dreams and aspirations, and they supported each other through thick and thin. Anya helped Ethan with his math homework, and ...

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“Ghostly Inheritance” by Bettina Karpathian

Submitted to Contest #217

Mary was grateful for the cold, white light of the full moon as the car lurched down the potholed driveway. Branches and briars from the overgrown hedges scraped the car like nails on a blackboard. The skeletal black shapes of bare trees swayed in the gusty wind, sending grotesque shadows dancing across her line of vision. She pulled up in front of the mansion, slumping in her seat with relief. Parking in front of an impressive set of stone steps which led up to the front door, she sat for a moment, eyes closed, taking deep breaths.A knock o...

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“The Spirit Seer” by Sedonia Beverly

Submitted to Contest #217

I'm sure you've heard of many stories where a child lost both of her parents through some accident. You have also heard how she was forced to live with an abusive, unloving aunt and uncle. Well, my new parents, that aunt and uncle, do not like me. So that part is true. But my parents did not die. It wasn't a car accident either. I saw it! They were kidnapped! That creature or thing kidnapped them while we were driving. I guess that thing didn’t want others to know they disappeared. So, it replaced my parents with transfigured beings that wer...

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“A Set of Steak Knives” by Rich Kopacz

Submitted to Contest #217

A Set of Steak Knives By Rich Kopacz “You have my fullest assurance,” Caleb Weatherby drawled smoothly as he held open the door to the infamous Murder Mansion of Hickory Creek, South Carolina, “that there is no danger here whatsoever.” Miss Elle Higgins nodded appreciatively, but her hands clutched her Gucci purse tightly as she carefully placed on black-heeled foot across the threshold. &nbs...

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“Home” by William Campaign

Submitted to Contest #217

Home Mathew Leach peddled along the familiar dirt road gliding past the dirty old sign for Rodman’s Pass. He pressed farther up the broken path that would soon turn to gravel. While his friends wouldn’t be caught dead taking it, it was a path he’d come to know well taking it dozen trips up to the peak. As his bike careened down a small dip in the road he gave the peddling a rest and let his thoughts drift to the inevitable conversation he was about to have. It was one Matt had been dreading for some time and he was plagued with the ...

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“Lesson Number Two” by B Hart

Submitted to Contest #217

Warning: Language“His name is Daphne, sir – Rupert Daphne.”“Daphne?!” Bill Hargrave blurted disdainfully. “You must be joking, Burnsley.”He lurched over Burnsley’s shoulder, prying the printed list from his hands. His eyes jerked up and down the pages hoping it were a gag.“’Fraid not, sir. Daphne was, is, the only recruit we deemed worthy of such mentorship. He’s a bright boy, sir.” Burnsley responded cheerily. “He’s not quite like his father; rather brilliant actually.”Bill ran his hand through his greying hair as he made out Daphne’s name ...

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“Nora Collins and the AI Building” by Maddy Shilts

Submitted to Contest #217

Please note: This story contains descriptions of mild mutilation and body horror. Nora Collins had always been fascinated with industrial horrors. When real world buildings or technology imploded, disfigured, and rotted itself away to create a monstrosity of metal, plastic, and ash that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. The way the front of an exploded steam engine freight train looks like disembodied arms reaching out from the darkness to snatch away their next unsuspecting victim or the way the half-melted p...

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“Dragon Heart” by Jay El Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #217

The sky had been threatening with heavy dark clouds all morning, but it wasn’t until Dravis Stone lit up a cigarette that the storm finally broke. A fat drop landed directly on the lit cherry, which hissed into a soggy, inert mess. Sighing, he tossed it away.The mountain pass was narrow, craggy, and full of grass clumps dry from the sun. It had been a scorcher of a summer, and even up here, where it was relatively cooler, you could still see the affects.Despite the heat, he was wearing full leather armor over chain mail. Even though it had r...

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“The all-knowing Armon” by Sally-Ann Hodgekiss

Submitted to Contest #217

Dillam has removed the charring with vinegar and polished his armour to a blinding shine. It’s not the easiest thing to do when it’s a hand me down from his Uncle Pillam, to his father, Hillam, to his elder brother Millam, then his second eldest brother Willam and lastly his cousin Nigel. Dillam makes the sign of the cross one, two…. He loses count. Some of the dents could be beaten out. Some of them make it difficult to breathe.Armon is watching. Dillam is fortunate to have a friend like Armon. Armon’s family have been squires to the Dolts ...

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“A Journey ” by River Chenault

Submitted to Contest #217

One foot in front of the other. One hand in front of the other. Again and again, till your hands are sore and bleeding, till your feet are bleeding and sore till, your hands cry out in agony, till your feet cry out in agony, and even then keep going. Use your arms and legs when your feet and hands are ground to bones. Never stop because stopping means something worse than the death that comes for all. Death is why I am alive and life is why I will die. I tell myself everyone is like that but when I see those children in the street playing wi...

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“Sir Derek, Lady Matilda & the Dragon” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #217

'Look. I have to kill you. It's my job!' The Dragon looked down and breathed a little acrid smoke over the exasperated knight: 'Right, you said. But I know you don't want to, not really.' 'I do, I do!' cried the knight. 'Well, then,' said the Dragon. 'Get on with it.' Let's back up a minute and introduce our characters. Our knight and likely to be our hero is handsome and, of course, dressed in shining armour. The armour is a bit big having previously belonged to his older brother, who'd cast it aside for another career - one that didn...

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“Sole of a Warrior” by Kaitlin Cranor

Submitted to Contest #217

Between the North and Celtic Seas, across glorious ranges of purple rocks and green and yellow grasses, on a sun-drenched day in early Autumn, two young warriors lay depleted from a long afternoon of training. Arlonne, the taller, darker, and older of the two, lay in an agitated state, propped up on one elbow and worrying the crinkled petals of a wood anemone between his fingers. His companion, Fehn, knew no such anxiety and languished against the mossy bark of a massive oak. “Arlonne, we’re of age. This is what we were built for. ...

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“The Warrior’s adventure ” by Louise Rebecca

Submitted to Contest #217

The only sound that could be heard was Ivy’s heartbeat as she slowly made her way towards her improbable death. She paused and tried to peer upwards, but it was dark and the stairs she was climbing were too steep to see much. Removing her sword from the sheath, she sat down as tears threatened to spill. She trembled, not from the cold but from her nerves, as she pondered her current situation. Ivy was near the top of the 10,000 step tower which she had been sent up two days ago. She had been sent to kill the dragon residing at the top and sh...

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$250

Prize money

283

Contest entries

130

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 29, 2023 EST

Won by Paul Crehan 🏆

Title: Who Are We to Judge the Music of an Octopus?

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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