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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 – 92 stories

Stories

“Rescuing Holly” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #217

From the age of twelve, Holly had been confined to the three-story Tower House of her mother’s Southampton Estate on Olde Towne Lane—a veritable prison lined in gold, restricting her every move. Her mother Rose was in San Diego selling a historic Southern California mansion—the “Coronado Castle” on Coronado Island, the Old Hollywood haunt where Marilyn Monroe filmed Some Like it Hot—and she wouldn’t return until after Labor Day. This was Holly’s chance to escape and see the world. Although Holly, at the age of 22, was alrea...

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“The Dragon's Knight” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #217

Personally, I like the big guy, but that’s just me, you understand? I feel as though if the king wanted me to go slay a dragon, he should have picked a nastier one. This fellow ain’t bad at all is the problem. I showed up and he was just sitting there lighting the occasional tree on fire. Well, I suppose if you like trees, that sort of thing might upset you, but a tree never did me any favors, so what issue should I take with it?Every other knight was given a notoriously terrifying dragon to vanquish, and by the time the king got to me, I co...

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“Buy new? In this economy!?” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #217

Joe was in between jobs. At least that's what he liked to say when the women he matched with on Bumble would ask what he did. He would also say he traveled a lot. All of these things were true. It was just with his line of work; only one person did the job at a time, and this was his off cycle. He had all his typical resources while not working, so he was not bored. He would be back working soon and taking advantage of this downtime, so why not make it fun with some cheeky dates and try out a few things he wanted to implement into his day jo...

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“North Anger, Abby” by Anne Shillingsburg

Submitted to Contest #217

Dr. Conway wore her hair like she expected the universe to speak to her. And it did. Her sister bought a dilapidated property in Salem, Massachusetts to remodel and flip just when we were reading The Crucible in her concept class on recreations and reimaginings of classic tales. Like the external structures of the ear amplifying regular sound waves, Dr. Conway’s center part and curtain of waves funneled straight to her soul the clarion call of fate beckoning our class on a field trip.Emma and Clueless, Taming of the Shrew and 10 Th...

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“Three” by Isabel Kizer

Submitted to Contest #217

Kit Alnwick had never seen a dragon. Asher Jasken from two towns over claimed that he’d seen three. “They’re big,” he’d told her, shoving his face toward hers. “Bigger than mountains. And their eyes– Alnwick, if you could see their eyes, you’d start screaming.” At the time, she’d scoffed and told him that he was full of shit. But then Emerson had come home from the fields. “Torched the whole season’s crop.” Emerson had her hands on the edge of the table, pressed firmly against the wood. “Couldn’t even salvage an ear.” Ki...

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“The Handsome Prints” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #217

Once upon a time, it was a dark and stormy night, and a fair maiden was looking for her prints. It would be like any other evening, except this evening was unlike any there had ever been. It was so disheartening to deal with such disturbance and utter disappointment.“It should have been by now!” she thought. “What death-defying happenstance could account for this malfeasance?Her one and only handsome prints were not to be found, such as they were, a figment of her imagination. For it was said that one day, the owner of everything would appea...

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“Alfonso and the Duke” by Tamarin Butcher

Submitted to Contest #217

The duke surveyed the dragon atop its perch, staring unblinkingly as it always did at some unknowable goal on the distant horizon. "Something must be done about it," Alfonso hissed into the duke's ear. The duke considered the sly spirit's words. It was true that he had not hitherto considered the dragon to be a threat to his little corner of the world, protect it as he did with all his might. After all, the dragon had merely sat upon its mountaintop, unreachable, concerned only with its own thoughts and never once impinging on the well...

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“FATHER KNOWS BEST” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #217

FATHER KNOWS BEST “Arthur, what on earth are you doing with the window hangings, dear? Come and sit down and have some tea”.Ignoring his mother, Arthur continued flapping away at the heavy, brocaded drapes, pulling them, first, one way, then, the other. His sister, Marie-Louise, stood watching, transfixed, as the sunlight invaded the vast drawing room each time Arthur pulled the curtains back, revealing the many trillions of dust motes floating in the air in front of them.“You see. That’s what you are breathing in. Not this”.As he spoke thes...

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“My Dragon” by Ari Loden

Submitted to Contest #217

A lightness in my step despite my disobedience, chores ignored. My mouth opened wide in a smile as I ran, the wind feeding me, allowing me to push on. At the tender age of eight, I thought I was on top of the world, like I could fool anyone.I met a dragon!I didn’t give her a name, it didn’t feel right. I just called her my dragon… to myself, of course. If anyone else knew, they’d kill her. That’s how it worked here, everyone so damn afraid, so damn ignorant, and so damn… stupid.It was pretty plain to me that dragons weren’t dangerous. There ...

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“The Case of the Devil’s Helmet” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #217

I was working on a sim corpse when I was called to Professor Sheehan’s office on urgent business. Never in a million years did I think I’d find him dead when I got there. As a criminology student and graduate lecturer at Limeridge University with an internship with major crimes at Limeridge PD, the last thing you expect to be doing is investigating a crime scene in which your own mentor is the victim.When I arrived, Christina Papadakis, the Professor’s TA, was already on site. She wore a sharp pantsuit over a thin, wiry frame....

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“A Snap of the Fingers” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #217

With his hands firmly planted on his hips and wearing a sneer that would make Elvis envious, Jim the Mighty scoffs at Minotaur, the beast who would rule the world. Minotaur thrusts his two coconut-sized fists toward the heavens and bellows, “I will destroy you, puny human!” He lowers his massive head and glares at Jim the Mighty with eyes that burn like two hot coals, steam blowing out his nostrils. While casually examining his fingernails, Jim the Mighty chuckles, “You don’t scare me, you old cow.” A fully enraged&nbsp...

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“Heteronormative” by Frank DiLuzio

Submitted to Contest #217

First dates are always awkward. I put extra attention into things I usually don’t care about: Are my shoelaces tucked in? Are there any hairs out of place on top of my head? Will she hold it against me if I collect Pokémon cards? The last woman I went on a date with was not impressed by my first edition Charizard—her loss. I stare tentatively as I look into the bathroom mirror with a smudge towards the top left corner. “I’m not getting any younger,” I think. The lines on my forehead become more profound, and the circles under my eyes...

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“Jimmy the Giant ” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #217

I am godless, but I still pray just in case. Every time I walk into a courtroom, I am afraid I’ll be found out to be the fraud I really am. But I am the genuine article baby. The second I appear on the record, the man I am fades into the background and a much better man shows up. I don’t know much about him. But he is a force of nature. And he is the only reliable thing in my life.So, when John McArthur asked me to show him how it was done, I honestly didn’t have anything for him. I just said, “You want to ...

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“All That Glitters” by Sophia John

Submitted to Contest #217

Alexander St. Clare was a normal boy by all accounts. Although orphaned at a young age, he had grown up in the care of many of the local townspeople. He was a model apprentice for the blacksmith and dreamed of one day owning his own tavern on the outskirts of town. Alexander may not have been the most popular amongst the town kids, and preferred the company of a good book to most, but in the town of Marais he was content. Until news of the dragon came. No one knew where it had come from, or even what it looked like. The rumors spread thr...

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“Almost Heaven” by Jeanine Rogers

Submitted to Contest #217

Amber was cleaning the upstairs attic. The attic was to be her room because her Mom had turned her bedroom into a gym. Amber moved back home after being laid off from her job. Although Amber got an excellent severance package, her Mom insisted she move home to save money. Amber thought her Mom was lonely since her Dad died last year but didn't want to tell her. Amber looked through boxes of old pictures. There was a picture of a smiling, handsome, tall Black man in an Air Force flight jacket and uniform. Amber turned the picture over and rea...

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$250

Prize money

284

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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