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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

“Fairy Tales Are Not Real” by Deliliah Smith

Submitted to Contest #217

It had been seven years. Seven years since he had broke her heart. She thought when her first boyfriend had broken up with her she had experienced the torture that is universal to all humans; heartbreak, but this time had been unbearable, she felt ruined. Over her desk at work she cried for days, clearing her face of tears every time a colleague walked by. Some were kind squeezing her shoulder, others would roll their eyes and shake their heads. Once the initial shock had worn off she would have moments where she thought she was over him, he...

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“It's your choice. ” by Madison Busi

Submitted to Contest #217

You are six when it whispers the first time. “I see you. I see you reading alone. Would you like me to sit with you?” It asks. “What is your name, are you my friend?” You say. “I am it. Don’t you know me?” “No?” “Your mother knew me? Your father too?” “They never told me about you?” “That’s good,” it says. “I will be your friend… forever.” It stayed with you that night, but the next day it had left. It didn’t come back that afternoon, It didn’t come back that week. The next time you felt alone, it came as though to a sire...

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“Where We End” by Madeleine Hall

Submitted to Contest #217

The sand around their feet whispered, speaking of secrets they could not understand, the grains caught up by the breeze that swept over the dunes. It was a soft sound. Gentle. Ansa gazed out at the endless expanse of glowing orange, fiery in the light of the setting sun. “We will never be here again,” Ansa said, her voice catching in her throat. “Together.” At her side Inara remained silent, gazing out at everything and nothing. Ansa turned abruptly to face her, refusing to so much as blink as she took in Inara’face. “Will you remember...

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“Our home is our Castle and our Mansion” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #217

Sensitive data for Australian Aborigines.Suicide.Phenomena **************************************Australia does not have castles, nor have I ever been in a castle. The official date of European occupation occurred on the 26th of January, 1777. The dark history of colonisation started the terror forever placed in the ancestrial genetic memory of all Aboriginal people continuing today.On January 1st, 1901, a group of hairy, long bearded, glim men sweltered under canvas shelters established the Commonwealth of Australia for Whites to govern in ...

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“Risky Business” by Stephanie Rapo

Submitted to Contest #217

The word mansion comes from the Latin root mansionem, "a staying or a remaining," from the stem manere, "to stay." Definitions of mansion include: a large and imposing house. synonyms: an intimidating residence One foot in front of the other, we rambled our way over loose stones and strong roots, following the worn path. Our feet stepped in the same spots as those before us, where time had allowed primitive stairs to form in the large, soft boulders. The forest smelled sweet and piney, and our breath was becoming labored. &nb...

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“Malinda” by Leigh Johnson

Submitted to Contest #217

Magic was the way most folk described Malinda, but that was the least thing about her. She was cruel, spiteful, beautiful, kind, selfish, generous, capricious, brilliant, and the person I loved most in my life. I started working for her when I was five years old. She lived in a house outside of town that had big flower boxes spilling over with blooms, even in midwinter. She was the only healer for thirty miles- I call her healer because that’s what the local folk called her; she told me once her training had been as a sorcerer. My mother had...

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“Gamliel” by Elias Osman

Submitted to Contest #217

Now I want you to know that I came to no harm, no physical harm that is. My body bears no scars of that day; the same cannot be said of Robert Habsworth. Robert you see was a nobleman, a knight. And as knights tend to, he had a squire. Someone to carry his weapons and help him get into his armour, that someone was me. For Robert trouble began long before the day on which I found him in that sorry state, sitting in his rocking chair overlooking the Soothing Sea. When he was young, his father backed the wrong side in a civil war and so t...

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“Refuge De Montagne” by John Hoffmann

Submitted to Contest #217

The group trudged up a steep, stony path that was perhaps at one point meant to be stairs. Roul, a young man of sixteen, felt the strain in his legs and wondered about the older men who he followed. Piers, who owned a farm many of the townsfolk had worked at, was breathing heavy. Amis and Onfroi who had worked in the fishery were constantly complaining back and forth since breakfast about the distance traveled and sleeping on the ground. The oldest of the group, Guiscard, sometimes called ‘Gray Guiscard’ by the children and Roul himself for ...

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“To Meet the Eye of a Dragon” by Abby Carlton

Submitted to Contest #217

(Attention: This story contains mental health issues, self-harm, and some violence) Fire. Everywhere. Smoke. Gasping for breath, Cassian rolled, hitting the ground hard. He coughed and covered his mouth with a shaking hand. No use. Fire burned all around, stealing whatever oxygen he tried to inhale. Smoke stung his lungs. He opened his eyes, which had been shut, already knowing what he’d see… Except. Cassian saw no fire. No smoke. He saw no raging battlefield or serpentine enemy. He was prostrate beside his bed. The blankets were still ...

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“A True Warrior” by Nina Massingill

Submitted to Contest #217

In a world full of monsters and villains a warrior is the only thing standing between the innocent and certain death. My whole life I had done nothing but kill. In fact, when I was young, I was not given a choice- I had to kill or I would be cast out into the dangerous world by myself. I never quite understood how they chose their warriors and everyone else. From my very first memory I had a weapon in my hands, fighting was second nature only to breathing. I was told that I had natural talent, in my opinion when something is beaten into you ...

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“Cash, Knights, and Dragons” by Michael Robinson

Submitted to Contest #217

“So, you want to know how I got so filthy rich?” the old man asked. He sat by the fire in his great room, sipping brandy. Seated in the chair beside him was a newly minted squire, pledged to serve Sir David of the house Trelayne. The young man brushed his red hair out of his eyes and leaned forward. “It’s not a tale I tell to just anyone,” said the old man, whose name was Joffrey. He took another drink before continuing. “But you seem like a clever youn...

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“Magnificent beast” by Pedre Paxim

Submitted to Contest #217

There was the Hero, shining sword in hand, clad in armour of dark, gleaming scales. There, the Dragon, dagger-fangs bared, tail whipping with menace. Between them, a stony stretch of desolation, thickening with impending violence. A mournful breeze sang its forlorn dirge over the jagged edges of the rocks around the lair. Only to be rudely interrupted as the Hero flung open the visor of his helmet and cried out his challenge."Is there really no other way?"The Dragon blinked. Then it closed its mouth, its tail slowing its deadly dance, and sl...

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“To Kill or Not to Kill” by Nicolas Roberge

Submitted to Contest #217

I was the only one who could do it. Why, you ask? Because I am the knight in shining armor. The hero of the people. The one who gets things done. So, I embarked on a journey, a quest. To deliver the castle of Mourne and save the town surrounding it from an evil dragon. The creature had made its nest there a few years ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to hunt it. After so long, though, I couldn’t afford to wait any longer. And nobody else volunteered to do it. I was the only one who could do it anyway. My travels took me through muddy roads an...

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“The Logatré” by Eileen Burnett

Submitted to Contest #217

The Logatré by Eileen Burnett He peered out from behind the boughs of the delicately feathered trees nearest him, those last bastions of safety and solitude that one could run to before the landscape dropped off into the ichor-ridden tundra that now surrounded the land of his youth. The trees gave plenty of cover from prying eyes, and so Garran, grateful for the respite, took a knee as he scanned the landscape for any signs of life. He saw none. Sighing, he turned his sights up toward the fimbriated filaments that danced overhe...

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“Bound to Duty” by Yeisha Lee

Submitted to Contest #217

In the realm where magic flowed like a living current and mythical creatures roamed freely, there were two beings whose connection defied the norms of fantasy romance. Their names were Lyria and Aelarion, and they shared something far more profound than the conventional tales of Chosen One protagonists or destined heroes with magical destinies. Lyria was a gifted mage, known for her mastery over the elements and her ability to commune with the ancient spirits of the forest. Her eyes sparkled with the wisdom of centuries, and her silver hai...

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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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