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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 – 51 stories

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

Mystery – 66 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

“Walter” by David McCahan

Submitted to Contest #220

It was his favorite part, twisting the knob, the small rush of air bordering on a whistle as the gas began to escape. Then the anticipation of the flame. The scrape of the matchstick against the box, and the fire crackling to life, a whoosh when the stovetop burner caught. It reminded him of the beginning of Mission: Impossible. Except this was better because it was real. And he knew what was coming. “When do I get to light it?” Walter asked, settling into the kitchen stool. “When you’re a little bit bigger,” his grandmother Midge ...

4 comments 4
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“Cheese Egg Summer ” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #220

Cheese Egg Summer Are you hungry? I looked around to see where I was. I was looking forward to Grandma's puffy pancakes, but somehow, I'm back home in bed. Wow, I didn't look forward to too many meals from anyone except Grandma's puffy pancakes and Mom's cheese eggs, but I would not tell either of them. You see, I was thirty-two pounds from two to five years of age, spindly, frail, and a food hater. Mom was at her wit's end. She would prepare whatever I named for any meal: hamburger and milkshake for breakfast, done. Unfortunately, after two...

8 comments 8
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“The Key to Dimension Nine” by Raven West

Submitted to Contest #220

It was another New Year’s Eve and another annual extravaganza at the Garrison home in the opulent Mirada Estates in Palm Springs, California. Barbara Garrison, as usual, planned everything down to the finest detail, selecting the most expensive caterers, Waterford crystal, Mikasa china and a live twelve-piece band. She wasn’t about to let her husband Warren’s horrific taste in clothes spoil her perfect setting. “You are not wearing that awful jacket to my party!” she shrieked. “Take that thing off and put on the beige camel sports coat I...

2 comments 2
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“Beyond the Darkened Path” by Cailyn Yallop

Submitted to Contest #220

The storm shows no mercy to those who venture into its icy depths. Lilian Crawford was no exception, in fact, she had willingly ran into the violent force of nature to escape the clutches of her parents and another one of their pathetic arguments. If she was being honest, she didn’t know where she was running to, her feet were moving of their own accord.  The clouds let out a mighty roar as a clap of thunder split the sky, the rain coming down so heavy it was near impossible to see. It splattered Lilian's face as she raced for the old...

1 comment 1
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“Up From Extinction” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #220

     The skies over Witchita opened up to dump a torrential downpour just as Sam Johnston finished his shift at the area’s Burger Barn on Thursday night. He had to run for shelter under the bridge and hope he didn’t get struck by one of the lightning bolts that seemed to descend in front of him every few seconds.      Only a high school junior, Sam still hadn’t put away enough spare cash to buy the used Honda Accord he had his eyes on for the last six months.      &nb...

3 comments 3
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“What is God to an Open Wound?” by Benny Hart

Submitted to Contest #220

There are breathing lungs in the pantry. This is, of course, abnormal. Not that you would know. You are eight and a half. You are roughly four feet tall. You are in a house that lacks your favourite dog, in the kitchen she once slept in, in a pantry with snacks that can’t tempt her back out from under the bed, as you watch bloody tissue expand.  “You’ll find, little one,” Grandmother says, “that it’s perhaps easier to not think about it. God isn’t always kind.” Her arm is stretching over your shoulder and past the lungs, grabbing the ...

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“The Secrets I Associate with Baking” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #220

I remember the day that altered everything. It feels like it was only yesterday, but in truth, it was decades ago. The kitchen air filled with cinnamon scented steam. Nana and I were having a baking marathon, filling another empty Saturday afternoon with our favourite pastime.  “Darling, would you get me the brown sugar from the pantry?” Nana asked. I loved baking with her. It had always been predictably fun. It was when I felt my most carefree. Nana had a knack for baking, and she loved involving me in it. She never seemed to m...

4 comments 4
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“Cigarettes” by Alice Jacobsen

Submitted to Contest #220

Right now, I feel better than I have in weeks. This deeper breathing that my all-crazy yoga-sister has been nagging on me for, I think it finally got to me. My momma would be proud, if she was here. I feel so relaxed, like thoroughly. Gravity’s hugging me more comfortably than ever before. I twirl my toes, stretch my legs out under the sheets. Mmm. Turn to the side, hand on my shoulder, cheek resting on this all-too-soft pillow. My breath stinks old cigarette, but even that’s okay. Then I felt it, the itching little bastard-hole in my mind t...

0 comments 0
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“That Shouldn't Be Here” by Carrie Simmons

Submitted to Contest #220

“That shouldn’t be here!” Ruby Sue screams out into the silent hot desert air. An ancient brown lizard sits just a few feet away, he is nearly motionless. He doesn’t flinch at the shrill of her voice. His eyeballs roll all around, conspiratorially, as if he knows she is captive. He knows she is helpless. The lizard shifts and falls asleep.Ruby Sue doesn’t notice the sleepy lizard. The last thing she can remember is walking beside the dirty man in the desert, her bare feet sinking and burning in the sand. She was begging for water. She w...

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“I was a small child then” by Anna Maeve

Submitted to Contest #220

I was in the kitchen with my grandma Agnes. She was making muffins for breakfast. She said they were her special recipe, with blueberries and walnuts and a hint of lemon. She said they were good for the brain and the soul. She asked me to fetch the sugar from the pantry. I was a small child then, maybe six or seven years old. I liked helping her in the kitchen. She always made me feel important and loved. I went to the pantry and opened the door. I looked for the sugar on the shelf where it usually was. But instead of the sugar, there wa...

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“Curiosity Killed the Cat and Chantey” by Omar Scott

Submitted to Contest #220

No secret is safe from twelve-year-old Chantey. It doesn’t matter if it’s a rumor at school or a Christmas gift stashed in the basement, if you have anything to hide, she’ll find out. The girl is relentless. She’ll stop at nothing to get to the truth. Chantey was Columbo, Matlock, and Sherlock Holmes all wrapped up into one. It wasn’t until the summer of 83 that she learned a lesson in sticking her nose where doesn’t belong. Well, sort of.               The Tatum’s arrived at t...

0 comments 0
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“Pulse” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #220

“Can you be a dear and check the pantry?” It was a regular request, innocent and naive to what she was sending him too. The kitchen was small, square thing. It’s counter top curved along the bottom of a dusty window that faced the front yard, it’s dirty glass producing only a few wayward strands of sunlight that, nevertheless, lit up the room and the little swirls of dust floating freely in the air. Facing that window, you would have the oven on your right side and the kitchen pantry on the left side. The sink was right below the window its...

1 comment 1
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“Ghosts” by Erik Mundrievskii

Submitted to Contest #220

Dull buildings, dim light of rusty street lamps, a sign covered with thick layer of dust – everything was slightly distorted in the growing puddle in front of me. It was raining pretty heavily, but I was too exhausted to hurry. As I got close to the puddle, I saw the trembling silver light of the crescent moon reflected in it. I suddenly stopped, gazing into the deep night sky, as unclear images unexpectedly appeared in my thoughtless mind. That lovely reflection reminded me of something.   Just like now, a puddle was in front of m...

3 comments 3
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“Me, Myselves, and Murder” by Geir Westrul

Submitted to Contest #220

“Are you hungry?”I open my eyes and see … me.Well, it’s me, but a me that’s a bit older. This version of me is a very distinguished me, slim, dressed in a three piece suit, with gray thinning hair and a trim gray beard and mustache.I’m in a recliner chair, upholstered in the softest leather I’ve ever felt.I press the button on the side armrest and sit up straight. Where am I?The last thing I remember is taking a nap in my hand crafted wood rocking chair on the back porch, overlooking the lake behind my house.Now, I’m … in the state...

4 comments 4
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“Runaways” by Aya Tubinshlak

Submitted to Contest #220

I board the busy train, a small beige bag in tow. I take one last look behind me, half-expecting to see someone running after me. I see a mother, trying to quiet her screaming toddler; a group of teenage boys in soccer jerseys, yelling and tossing a ball between them; a boy, probably the same age as me, pacing back and forth. The boy is handsome, in a young, boyish way. In another life, maybe I would have approached him, said hello, smiled. Maybe he would have smiled back. Maybe we would have fallen in love.But this isn’t a love story. Not i...

7 comments 7
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$250

Prize money

253

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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