Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#222: Show Me The Way

When navigating life’s challenges, we could all use a little guidance — someone who can show us the way, or give us the wisdom we need to follow the right path. In literature, much like in reality, coaches and mentors are often central to a protagonist’s development, offering training, advice, or tools to succeed in their Hero’s Journey.

What's fascinating about mentors is that they come in different shapes and forms. They might be a nurturing figure, who offers wisdom and support; a harsh and unyielding professor, who demands the impossible; an unconventional thinker who brings a unique perspective. Sometimes the guidance doesn’t even come in human form: perhaps it’s a dream, a spirit, a faith, or an item, like a totem, a book, or a map.

This week’s prompts are all about people (or things) that, in one way or another, have a pivotal role in someone’s journey.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a student on their first day of apprenticeship.

Teens – 18 stories

Write about a character who has a love/hate relationship with their mentor.

Character – 36 stories

Write about a mentor whose methods are controversial.

Character – 22 stories

Write a story about a character who finds guidance in an unlikely place.

Dramatic – 81 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “You’ve got this.”

Dialogue – 53 stories

Stories

“Some Time Ago” by Melana Casmersky

Submitted to Contest #222

"I don’t like children." I hurry down the street. It’s raining. I adjust my scarf and watch as an old lady struggles to close her umbrella. "But… you like music, yeah?" The little girl said, giving my arm a desperate tug. Little tears of rain streamed from her bangs, racing down her freckled face. It bothered me that she didn’t wear a hood - I jerk my hand away to pull mine further over my eyes. I didn’t care that the bus stop was merely a leap away. I didn’t wake up at 6:00AM to ensure my makeup is flawless for it to be ruined by bad ...

Read story

“A Lady Monk Who Attained Nirvana in Her Rompers” by E Shan

Submitted to Contest #222

In a remote town nestled in a valley, there stood a popular residential school run by a monastery. For years, the school had followed a conventional system, with separate campuses for Boys High and Girls High located about a kilometer apart. However, as time went on, the head of the institution realized that the school was struggling to keep up with the modernization demanded by its resident students. The esteemed leader of the institution made his way towards the revered Lama, the esteemed spiritual figure who held the highest position wi...

Read story

“Hard Lessons” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #222

“Ow!” I cried, “what was that for?!” “So you will remember,” my father said sternly. And I did. Now, if you were to ask me. If you were to request that I look back down the years. Through the jaded lens of the person that I am now, not the fresh and craze free lens of the green boy that I was then. If you were to say to me, did your parents ever hit you? I would give you a categorical no, and I would mean it with all my heart. You see, that tap he gave me did not hurt. Quite the opposite. My Dad loved me and I was never, ev...

Read story

“Journey of Lessons” by Don Lubov

Submitted to Contest #222

Journey of Lessons I was hiking across the U.S. by myself. My adventures and misadventures had been many...some life-threatening. I hitched rides that scared the hell out of me, and traversed desert landscapes that almost killed me. Through it all, I remained pretty much me, the me who started this journey, months before. My travels were aimless, no direction sought, no direction found. Until Albuquerque, where I spent a few nights, off-the-road, with friends. One day, while my friends are out food shopping, I stay behind and relax in a ...

Read story

“Obsolete in A Dead Man’s Land” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #222

Sensitive Content: The story reflects the life of a young woman who is abused to the point of suicide but is rescued by strangers who see that she has special powers. There is drug abuse and sexual harm in the story. You are the man of my dreams. You are. And, I wish to tell you my story. I wish that you know me, my love. What I tell you now I have never told another, at least not all of it. When I first saw you getting your hair cut, so insecure, almost worried. We giggled and I gave you the encouragement of a thumb’s up. It might no...

Read story

“Mr. Spark” by James Freeh

Submitted to Contest #222

Adam cycled faster and faster through the rain to get home. He’d come to realize his stepmother resembled, more and more, the stepmothers in the Grimm book his mother had bought him last October, just a few months before she died. His new stepmother Lydia treated him as an idiot to be suffered (and sometimes ridiculed), no matter how he tried to please her. Salt to the wound, she allowed Ned to do anything he wanted, and she’d cover up for him no matter what he what he did or said. It was so unfair; it didn’t help that Morris seemed to prefe...

Read story

“The Night We Met ~ based on a true story” by Beth Nolan Conners

Submitted to Contest #222

“This was not a good idea,” Annie muttered as she tried to see through her rain splattered windshield into the darkness around her. “I should have just stayed home.” But she was not home. She was currently trying to navigate a “short cut” through back roads to her friend’s charity event. What she would like to be was home cuddled up with a cup of tea, her book, and her cat; but Mari, a fellow teacher, was insistent that Annie try to break out of her self-induced shell and come be social with her. This rainy, back road navigational nightmare ...

Read story

“Traveler” by Rose Esposito

Submitted to Contest #222

Eight was probably too old for a wacky straw, Lissie decided, as the smiling waiter approached her poolside chaise lounge with her second Pineapple Dream Surprise of the day. She thanked him and waited until he'd left before removing the blue plastic spiral from the tall, frosted cup and, after licking off the creamy yellow slush, setting it on the low table beside her, next to her magazine. She glanced over the rim of the cup as she sipped it, her plastic heart-shaped sunglasses hiding her observant eyes – did everyone get one? Maybe it was...

Read story

“The Number Puller” by Sarah Talbert

Submitted to Contest #222

“Lightning struck the Empire State Building again,” Teddy said sipping his coffee as the news ticker scrolled by on his television. “Really?” Jessica’s brows lifted. “It’s not that big of a deal. Lightning hits that building at least twenty-five times a year,” Teddy shrugged his shoulders. Standing, he walked over to his wife and kissed her forehead. “Engineers are learning how to absorb and deflect the massive amounts of energy away from the tall buildings.” “You and your infinite amount of random facts,” she winked at him...

Read story

“Hugh Munn” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #222

Discussion of suicide.Hugh Munn had a secret.An enigma wrapped up in a conundrum, encapsulated in a misunderstanding, giving birth to a phantasm? He called it his life, sort of.In other words, he was like anyone else.#Hugh! How do you do? Asked everything around him. Really! You can hear the voices in your head, can’t you? Most of us don’t listen that hard. But everything else does.That’s the thing about reality. Always listening. And we are the deaf and blind leading the…“What you need to know!” screams the headline as it takes us by t...

Read story

“Deus Ex” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #222

There are moments in life where everything narrows to one point. For a heart-stopping moment, it’s as though the air itself solidifies and either side of you there are walls and the walls are closing in. They close in so much that you’re trapped in a tunnel. A spec of data travelling down the wire. Then, as the transition makes itself fully known to you, it all makes sense and the surging tide of fear settles. The fear has not dissipated, but somehow it has turned, becoming an ally in the endeavour that beckons. I step up onto the stage an...

Read story

“The Forgotten Garden” by Alan Gates

Submitted to Contest #222

In a bustling city, there resided a man named Samuel. He was quite ordinary in many aspects — average in height, with messy brown hair, and a wardrobe filled mostly with faded jeans and plain t-shirts. However, what truly distinguished Samuel from others was his unwavering thirst for knowledge. He was a lifelong seeker, a man who yearned to unravel the enigmas of the world and grasp the profound significance of existence. Samuel's existence had been fairly unremarkable thus far. He held a stable position as an accountant, lived in a modest...

Read story

“The Detective and the Deputy” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #222

Mario walked further into the organized detective’s office. Emmy remained at the doorway. She peered in, but made no further advance. “I don’t think I should go in there.” Emmy whispered. A booming voice echoed behind her. “Good choice, young lady. How may I help you?” A startled Emmy spun and faced a tall well-built middle-aged man with slightly balding brown hair. He was holding several files in one hand and tall a coffee mug labeled ‘Top Cop’. He sipped his drink. “Excuse me, sir. I was ...

Read story

“The Healing Oak Tree” by Kelly Rose

Submitted to Contest #222

In the heart of a lush forest, nestled among a tangle of ancient trees, stood a majestic oak that radiated an otherworldly aura. Its gnarled trunk, adorned with intricate carvings and glowing symbols, hummed with a gentle energy that seemed to flow through the very air. This oak tree, known by the locals as the Healing Oak, possessed magical properties capable of mending both the body and the mind of those who sought solace within its comforting embrace. Maggie was a 32-year-old woman who had spent the better part of her life battling addi...

Read story

“A Girl and Her Ghost.” by A. Sloth

Submitted to Contest #222

Susie’s 7th birthday was the worst one ever. It was meant to be a big party all about her, where everyone would be nice to her. But then Ian said she was selfish for having more birthdays than everyone else, and Susie had told him that it was because her parents used the Old calendar because they were Traditional, but then he said it was just an excuse to spoil Susie more and that's why she was so annoying all the time. So Susie stabbed him with a fork. Then he was screaming and calling her more names, and then the adults came around a...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

210

Contest entries

101

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 03, 2023 EST

Won by Audrey McKenna 🏆

Title: Just Like Him

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢