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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

“Tree House” by S.E. Tomlinson

Submitted to Contest #220

The day before Ryan died, I felt it in my subconscious, like how you can feel when a polished musician strums the perfect sequence of guitar notes. It’s strange the way the heart speaks volumes about tragedy, yet simultaneously shrouds its origins in mystery. The night before, I’d been listening to the same sad songs over and over and crying my eyes out, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t until the next day, when Ms. Deaver called to inform me that my childhood best friend had passed, that I could begin to decode the cipher my heart had been w...

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“Baking with Grandmommy” by Kristi Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #220

Cinnamon and nutmeg permeate the air. As soon as I get out of the car I know Grandmommy already has the pumpkin pies in the oven. She always starts with them because they take the longest to bake and the longest to cool. I love that smell! Baking day is my favorite day. The first Saturday in November we meet at Grandmommy’s to bake all the fall goodies for the upcoming family gatherings. Some of them will be frozen for Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas, but some of them we get to eat today. The list of goodies is long. We’ve been working on...

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“A Thread of Hope” by Heather Rose

Submitted to Contest #220

A THREAD OF HOPE American Civil War - Adamsville, Tennessee April 1862 I sat on the wooden boards of the dusty attic floor gazing down in stupefaction at the open journal on my lap. Above me the fading light from the small window lit up a stream of dust motes but I breathed them in without noticing. The inside cover had the name Charlotte Miller, my Grandma’s name, written in faded black ink, the flowing cursive letters sloping strongly to the right. I had wandered up here hours ago having nothing else better to do while the Doctor was ten...

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““Through the Mists of Time”” by Nada Kesic

Submitted to Contest #220

“Through Floating Mists of Time”It’s Saturday afternoon. Bake a cake Saturday. It was a tradition that began when I was about 4 years old with my Mum but now it’s with Grandma who came to live with us after Grandpa died. We’ve made pancakes, florentines, cup cakes with pink icing and hundreds and thousand sprinkled on top. Lamingtons with raspberry jam and lots of cream. My all time favourite. Today it’s Grandma’s famous chocolate cake. She’s won so many awards for her cakes and jams, shiny silver ones, big and small that line the kitch...

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“Sugar” by Brilee Theriot

Submitted to Contest #220

"Ezra, darling! Please grab me the sugar from the pantry! It should be on the bottom shelf!" I heard my Grammy call from the kitchen. She was baking her famous cakes that were always a hit at gatherings. "Okay, Grammy!" I call back walking into the pantry and flicking on the light. As the light flickered on, I gazed at the 5 different shelves stuffed with all the baking necessities you could ever need. There was a shelf for flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and other substances alike. The next shelf was filled with cookie cutters, baking ti...

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“Chupa-Oso” by Kerri Shanley

Submitted to Contest #220

Kelly McGillicutty walked down Jameson St. on her way home from work every day. Along the way, she would stop by the French bakery to pick up a baguette for dinner and a chocolate éclair for sustenance, her husband and children didn’t know about the éclair, it was her guilty pleasure. Once she left the bakery she started walking down the city’s designated walking/bicycle path that ran alongside the creek and woods’ edge. On this particular October Friday, the air was crisp, a fierce wind picked up, and the clouds gathered unexpectedly. Lucy...

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“The kid” by Nao Bird

Submitted to Contest #220

As thunder ripped the sky apart, trees were engulfed in red flames, white flashes bright enough to blind illuminated the sky, followed by a deafening rumble that shook the whole forest. Through this apocalyptic scene frantic steps were barely heard. A small silhouette rushed along the more than muddy path, slipping every three steps but never stopping. The winding path soon joined a gravel road and the lightly covered child rejoiced, right before tripping and diving head first in the gravel. His palms, knees and nose were bleeding as th...

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“Beauty Within” by Jennifer Stowell

Submitted to Contest #220

BOOM, CRACK, SIZZLE! With each thunderous clatter, Jeremy attempts to contort his tall, lithe body into a small ball, hoping to escape the intense storm overhead. It seems to have materialized within seconds. One minute he is walking home from the movies on what has been a rather dull, uneventful day and the next this weathering rage has forced Jeremy to swiftly maneuver himself down a small ravine and take refuge under the bridge connecting the more rural land with the town square of his home village, Bilksbury. The clouds emptying at a s...

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“Life.” by Ian Grogan

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?” Mr. Dobson had a recognizable rasp in his voice, but Jason hadn’t heard that voice in some time. “Uh, what?” Jason was confused. He had just passed out in his room and now he was back at Bridgefield, sitting at a wide table across from Mr. Dobson who was offering him some food. “Naw, I’m good,” his hoarse response caused him to swallow as he look around the room. “How did I get here?” Mr. Dobson gently set a package on top of the worn oak table and slid it across the uneven grain until it was in front of Jasons stomach....

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“A Handful of Seeds” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #220

A wrenching hand pulls me from the comforting blackness. I don’t want to leave, but the hand is insistent; the deep night dissipates, lightens, blooms into a kind of day.And there she is, gripping my shoulder. After a few moments, her face comes into focus – a gentle face, her bright eyes fixed on mine, concerned. I smack my lips, trying to generate some saliva; my mouth’s horribly dry. She offers me a beaker of water and I drink. The cool liquid hits all the key spots – lips, tongue, throat. I sense it slipping down my gullet on its way to ...

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“As For Lynch” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #220

I received a call from dispatch: Joey Goodfray was down on the boardwalk causing some kind of commotion, but when I arrived at the harbor trail he was sitting on a bench, smoking, looking like crap, like he’d a had a few too many brewskis. I told him to put out the cigarette which he did by flicking it off the boardwalk and into the ocean, which ticked me off, but I let it go. Joey and I graduated from the same high school, a few years apart, but our paths had diverged. Cops and robbers from the same hood. He had a g...

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“The Ghosts of Zargos” by Graham Holliday

Submitted to Contest #220

The Ghosts of Zargos “So these ghosts” said Shu Ping, “these ghosts”, he repeated to make sure he got my attention, “what were they doing way out there? and I've never heard of a ghost donkey before, in anybody’s experiences, ever”, he emphasised And to be honest I didn't really know, and I was a little annoyed at her question like she was challenging my ability to distinguish between reality and the possibility of spirits existence however far fledged it sounded. The cheek of it I thought, after all Shu Ping is herself a fictional narrator,...

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“School” by TJ Rowland

Submitted to Contest #220

One more dune before I succumb…a lie told by thousands of doomed souls before me. I crest the hill, speak the lie again; crest another hill, speak the lie again. Finally, the lie is supplanted by a pulsing, undeniable truth expanding in my chest: there are worse things than death. Many things. Worse by far. Another truth: death is absolute. So why not now? I accept. My lower lip bursts, bleeds as my smile widens; the viscous liquid, greedily gathered by my tongue, swallowed, soothes my throat. It is a parting gift from a benevolent God, or ...

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“The Find” by Chase H

Submitted to Contest #220

The desert was hot, the sun bearing down hard on the back of Rayton’s neck. The skin would be red and raw at the end of the day and Rayton hoped he had some more of the ointment from last time left over. He had always been told to put sunscreen on but never did, out of laziness more than anything else. He looked to the faint moon visible in the sky and sighed, bringing his eyes back down to the mounds of dirt and debris. He was out looking for scrap, this area being the dumping ground of the Solids when they were decommissioned and...

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“Death Valley” by Henry Labelle

Submitted to Contest #220

Aaron stumbled in the sand. He tripped and fell flat on his face. He spit out a mouthful of sand as he raised his body from the blazing ground. He brushed himself off, and looked back to where he’d fallen. There was a gleam of metal amidst the sand. He walked to it, brushed the sand away, and stood back for a long moment in disbelief. “That shouldn’t be here” He mused. Laying before him in the sand was a Marlin 30-30 lever action rifle. He picked it up, and admired its smooth finish. It was in excellent condition. A piec...

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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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