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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#220: Out of Place

The air’s beginning to chill and goosebumps are rising on your skin like mushrooms on a log. With Halloween not far off, everything’s beginning to feel a little… strange. It’s got me thinking about all things odd, and one of the most unsettling sensations of all — noticing something that’s out of place.

From things that shouldn’t be where they are, to protagonists far from home, this week’s prompts explore the bizarre, and the uncanny feeling of things being where they don’t belong.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character walking through a desert landscape, when they stumble across something unexpected. “That shouldn’t be there,” they muse.

Dialogue – 50 stories

You arrive at a destination you promised an old friend you’d visit after they passed, only to find them there too.

Mystery – 65 stories

As a child you’re helping your grandparent bake. When you’re sent to the pantry to fetch an ingredient, you discover something odd.

Mystery – 41 stories

Begin your story with a protagonist taking shelter under a bridge during a thunderstorm. An animal scurries past which shouldn’t exist. Against their better judgment, they decide to follow it out.

Fantasy – 50 stories

You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Mystery – 45 stories

Stories

“The Most Embarrassing Thing Story” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #220

I was helping out Grandma in the kitchen. It had become our bimonthly ritual since parents had moved into The New House. Mum had wanted to move to a place that had a bigger garden and fewer neighbours. Dad and I had been completely comfortable at The New House once all our stuff was unpackaged. Mum, however, was adamant the place was a fixer upper. So while they spent every other Saturday in the shops comparing swatches of carpet and pouring over tins of paint called things like Iced Latte and Glazed Apricot, Grandma and I would bake. Gra...

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“FRANKIE'S WILD RIDE” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #220

Francine ran up the porch steps, then tried stomping her Keds hard enough to make an impression. She learned quickly that sneaker soles had no impression-making ability whatsoever, especially on old, worn out carpet made a zillion years ago. It seemed the only thing Francine had accomplished was to release clouds of dormant dust from another era. Francine covered her nose and moved to the window seat a little quicker.She heard voices coming from the driveway just outside the big bay window. Francine concentrated on ...

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“The Sewer” by Michael Mackenzie

Submitted to Contest #220

Matthew Hall walked down Locust street, dodging commuters walking toward the subway when the sky opened up and rain fell. He sprinted toward the overpass, slipping on the sidewalk, and when he found shelter his uniform was drenched and his hair soaked. He removed his flask from his coat pocket and lifted his flask to his lips. Took a long sip, then another, and a third, and fourth until the frustration and stress of faking a smile and hauling luggage for entitled t...

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“Wings” by Jenni Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #220

Abscission of leaves and terror masked in facetious disguises colored the once calm neighborhood. The full moon and stars hid behind puffs of fuliginous clouds as gnarls from gremlin-like creatures lingered within the curb-lined bushes and spontaneous flickers of trembling bright light ignited anxious fright.She walked down the middle as a grueling chill plowed through the street, depressing a sharp shiver between the blades of her shoulders. The bone-chilling ache pounded against her spine, creating a perpetual miss of an enigma that creepe...

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“Pippa’s Sick Day” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #220

* trigger warning for vomit It all started when I was ripped from my sleep by someone shaking my arm. “Pippa? Come on Pip, wake up. How are you feeling? Are you hungry?” a soft voice asked. My head was pounding, and my heavy eyelids refused to open. I didn’t know where I was, or what was happening. Every part of me felt heavy with weakness. A light switched on, and I groaned, but I was too tired to do much else about it. I longed to surrender to the darkness that was pulling at me. I don’t know how much time had passed when I fel...

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“Mirage” by Jake Burkley

Submitted to Contest #220

“That shouldn’t be there.” He mused dryly. Throat constricted and rough with thirst. Nights spent walking on weakened legs, without food or shelter. Body sinking into the immobile, orange sea devoid of end with each restless sleep. Stuck between waking world and dream, he grew distrustful at the sight before him. Stark against the still sands and shrubs of yucca and creosote was a concrete foundation. As if a room was warped from its origin and plastered on the warmth-tinted flatlands. Walls missing, the foundation housed what looked like a...

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“Message in a Bottle” by Jeremy Stevens

Submitted to Contest #220

My grandparents’ house was on the crest of the Sandia Mountains, and from their house, as a kid, I would venture out with my Batman utility belt to solve that episode’s conflict, which was never anything more than poking termite hills, examining alien footprints with my magnifying glass, and confronting my nemeses—the cactus, the cholla, the prickly pear—with my lightsaber as I collected desert artifacts for lab analysis. “Murdock to base, over,” I reported into my handheld. “Base. Go ahead, Murdock “ “Found something that definitely...

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“The Delivery ” by Giulietta Villalobos

Submitted to Contest #220

The day the stranger blows into Anton's Pass, a dust storm is rolling across the desert. Dolores trudges through town, the neck of her poncho pulled high over her nose to fend off the sand already gathering in the air. Wren had tried to warn her against making the delivery until after the whole thing blew over, arms crossed in the doorway of the barn, looking up at Dolores with a pinch between her ginger brows. “Honestly, Dori,” Wren had said, “Shepherd will survive without a fresh shipment of tomatoes for a few more hours. God...

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“A Story for the Ages” by Paul Crehan

Submitted to Contest #220

i. I came because Dr. O’Meara wouldn’t tell me over the phone what she had discovered. “You won’t believe it,” she said. “I don’t.” “I’ll believe it,” I said. “You won’t. And I’m afraid you might think the desert has gotten to me, and maybe it has. The locals tell me they see it, too, but I can’t be sure they’re not humoring me. They’re paid by the day. If I have to go away for treatment, they lose work.” “You do sound distressed.” “For good reason. For god’s sake, Del, just get here, okay?” As it touched down, the helicopter th...

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“Goodbye Sofia” by Aseret Franco

Submitted to Contest #220

Seven days had passed since Sofia had passed away. Emily still couldn’t believe it, but she was holding it strong. She arrived at the little island a few minutes away from her hometown, it only took her one small trip on a rented boat to get there. A sense of nostalgia washed over her. It was a place where they had often had adventures, a place where they had imagined creating countless memories. She found herself standing in awe of the beauty that surrounded her. The place held a serene atmosphere, with gentle whispers of the wind and a sen...

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“Dear Old Friend” by Megan Bacher

Submitted to Contest #220

I offer a kind smile and hand my remaining two dollars to the taxi driver. He deserves a tip. For the first person I spoke to since being out, he was kind and talked to me like a normal human being. Though he did not know my background, picking me up from the top security jail must have been his first clue. The brisk breeze feels warm against my chilled skin. Now since I am out of that hell hole, I ought to be outside more. Thirty five years in a cell really blows – my skin is white as a ghost. Leaves crunch beneath my feet with ev...

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“Destination” by Chris Rees

Submitted to Contest #220

“There is not a guidebook for knowing how long is long enough to feel OK after someone passes on. There should be, it would make everything so much simpler and provide a clear and obvious goal to work toward. It is infuriating that such a set marker doesn’t exist. It’s not that I cannot stop mourning, it’s that I don’t know when I’m allowed to put it down and stop picking it up. I was at our bar last night; it was trivia night, and I was sitting in our booth, and everyone knew it. It took a little while, roughly 3 beers and two trivia rounds...

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“All That Remains” by Faith Palma

Submitted to Contest #220

I am filled suddenly with the sense of being carried. I imagine it is my father, carrying me to bed after I fell asleep on the couch. I hope when I wake up I am in my bedroom once more, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars peeling off of my ceiling. I hope I can hear my mother’s twinkling laugh as she opens the door and chides me for sleeping through the day. I hope I will wake up to my sister belting the wrong lyrics to a song she doesn’t know. I know I won’t. I will never wake up again. ——❈—— “Cassid...

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“The Tall Stone” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #220

The gravestone was unusually tall. It stood at the head of an unmade bed of earth. Tom had missed the funeral, but not by much. Filled but not finished, the grave still smelled of the turned earth. A pink worm flexed and headed into the heap. Tom thought of the grave he’d dug for Bruce. No headstone for him, just a spot under the tree where he’d played in the autumn leaves as a puppy. Cleanly cut in rain-beaded granite were the words: Samuel van Wyk I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom ...

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“Never Too Old . . . For?” by Barbara Nosek

Submitted to Contest #220

{Some reference to drugs}She took a closer look. “Oh no! Oh no, no, no!”***Whenever his beloved grandmother suggested a baking day for the two of them, 10-year-old Jeremy could hardly wait till it was time. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.And he knew his Grammie enjoyed these times together as much as he did. And he also knew they had everything to do with his plans to be a pastry chef when he grew up. When he shared this dream with her she even offered to pay his way through culinary school, though his mom sort...

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$250

Prize money

251

Contest entries

129

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 20, 2023 EST

Won by D. Grimes 🏆

Title: Fae Touched

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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