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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

“Hey Stranger from the metro” by A M

Submitted to Contest #222

Perhaps it was the fact that there was nowhere else to stand, or that his two constant companions were bickering so loudly, that people were starting to give them glares, that he decided to stand next to her.Kai decided that it was the latter.Honestly, she seemed perfectly normal; the type of person one expects to see on a metro and forget within minutes; just another high school student on the 6:30 metro to Shibuya .He barely spared her a glance before turning to his phone screen in the hopes that people would not associate him with the now...

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“Friends in High Places” by Randy Koester

Submitted to Contest #222

Reedsy Weekly Prompts Competition #222 Show Me the Way Prompt: Guidance in an Unlikely Place Friends in High Places By Randall Koester The old man pressed the red ‘down’ button while looking at the rigging, not the girl. “The first thing you need to know is that we are not window washers. We are ‘high-rise window cleaning technicians.’” “Whatever.” Mac said, standing stiffly on the floating...

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“A Nice Walk” by Andrew Victory

Submitted to Contest #222

He was just sat there by the side of the road. His little arm reaching out between the weeds and the litter, pointing across the fields. It had been a long drive and I still had a couple of hours to go. I’d pulled into a layby for a comfort break and I spotted him on my way back to the van. Poor little fella must have been lost, knocked out of a car door by an impatient child, I thought at first. As I bent to take a closer look though, moving some weeds to one side, I could see he was sitting quite neatly on a smooth, round stone. He cou...

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“Let Madness” by Kim Hoag

Submitted to Contest #222

Let Madness A poem with background story. • Lethe is a cure to madness – a sharp cut through the frontal lobe; Madness is wide-eyed and handsome as a bearded Prince waiting... smiling and standing against a thing howling in the rushes. Who could sleep with madness birthing dreams in the soul like moons, coldly burning, brightly beautiful? That ancient sun-blackened word for the special ability to carry visions at the edge of the eyes.... It's a half-life that's the price for living beyond the means of the soul. The true pl...

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“The Choice is Yours” by Fai S

Submitted to Contest #222

Chandler was walking through the park, lost in thought. He didn’t notice the joggers and other walkers that had to dodge out of his way. Earlier that day, he had visited a company he had interviewed with to pick up the offer they had made him. The company, Nexxel, was a pharmaceutical company, researching nicotine addiction. He applied on a whim, because his roommate was a biology major, and had been following the company’s announcements. Chandler tried to channel his roommate’s excitement while interviewing, and that apparently worked, give...

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“Two Parts of a Whole - Excerpt from Unpublished "Enemies of Angels"” by Sible Sellers

Submitted to Contest #222

“There can only be one!” She mocked an evil laugh, holding the wooden sword over her sister, who played dead in the delight of her sister’s joy. “Oh, no!” her sister suddenly cried. The girl blinked and wrinkled her nose as she looked down at her sister, who had pretended to be fainting. “You’re supposed to be dead.” “You’re supposed to be eating,” their mother spoke strictly as she entered the scene, grabbing up the young daughter lying on the ground. “Come, the village has already gathered in the Great Hall to feast.” She dropped...

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“The Shahbaz Mission” by Sue Leather

Submitted to Contest #222

Orhan watched from the ramparts of the castle as Mehdi galloped away on his white mare, followed by some ten retainers. The emir would be gone away for three or four days to find a new wife, and Orhan felt a glimmer of hope that he, Orhan, would finally be able to complete his mission. It had been a long two months since Orhan had managed to get into the Shahbaz stronghold as an advisor to the notoriously fastidious Mehdi. In that time, he had not been idle. Through careful, diligent work, Orhan had gained a good idea of the layout of the...

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“Who's Got This?” by Judy Tigay

Submitted to Contest #222

"I dont' think so" was all I could answer when Ryder asked me if I wanted to go with him to get some ice cream."I just feel like going home ... if that's ok."Ryder nodded then said: "Just thought you might like to celebrate our victory." Ryder and I liked to go the custard stand after our victories to get chocolate shakes. Tonight, I did not feel like it.Our victory. Another victory for our high school hockey team. I have played on the Rochester Rangers for my entire high school career. I can't say I am the best player, but at least in the t...

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“The Magic Pizza!” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #222

Their school day was over. Jennifer Louise still lived somewhere far south of Witchelina, a place she might visit whenever, maybe. She and Darya went home to Jennifer Louise's old timber homestead, where the Blessing family lived. It had been a horrible day for all the Year Seven girls. Two boys, Kieran and Brad, had kiss shamed all the girls, and made a phone map of them. The teachers were cross, and had set up a friendship evening to build bridges. Some of Jennifer Louise's girls in her year had been very upset. Most of them had laughed....

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“Heroes Don't Cry” by Everly Darkler

Submitted to Contest #222

"Finnick?"It was Elmyra, I knew. She was worried about me, and not for no reason either. Yes, it was wrong of me to run off so suddenly, but I needed the escape of training until I collapsed today, no matter how unhealthy she always said it was. I had to be better, I couldn't let her down. I couldn't let anyone down.After all, heroes don't cry.I wished I could fulfill her expectations of me. She always believed in me, had high hopes and higher expectations.Sometimes those same expectations felt like a crushing weight upon my shoulders, I fel...

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“The voices that we hear” by Judy Mosher

Submitted to Contest #222

I start the truck and adjust the heat. As I sit waiting for the blower to clear the windshield I check to make sure the trailer lights are working. The darkness is so blackit’s easy to tell that they are, indeed, functioning correctly. Check. I review everything I can think of just to prolong the process. I put the truck in drive, take a deep breath and start to pull out of the driveway. Look left, look right, make a wide swing. I look back and sure enough the trailer is right behind me and didn’t run off the edge in...

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“Hollowmoor” by Daniel Kleba

Submitted to Contest #222

Agatha waited for the large iron gates to open for a good five minutes before she remembered that she could just walk through them. A well-practiced ghost would know this but when one is freshly dead, the rules take some getting used to. She noted with curiosity that her heart was currently pounding in her very dead chest. The boys down at the pub would love that one. She could see Ernie now, slamming the table and laughing much too loudly about the prospect of ghosts with working hearts. Simon would lean in and chide Ernie for his ignorance...

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“Range Day” by Fletcher Scott

Submitted to Contest #222

[NOTE ON SENSITIVE MATERIAL: Story contains references to Mental Health Issues, Substance Abuse, and Suicide/Self Harm] Commotion. Maybe someone’s breaking into the cars again. I pulled my headphones out and laid them on the counter beside the sink. I turned off the faucet and dried my hands, leaning forward to look through the fogged-up kitchen window into the dark outside and craning my neck as I traced the gravel drive from right to left towards the street, checking one after the last like we had ever since the break-in. Beater Mi...

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“ Sorrow a Loss” by Kristy Yoder

Submitted to Contest #222

That was the day the wind blew wild. The evening sun sinking down while autumn breathed his last and winter was born. That was the day my heart shattered and my world went black. Nobody tells you how hard it is to function with a broken heart. How you almost feel that you rattle when you walk from all the broken pieces. How you get through your day but its all a blur seen through hazy eyes and a dull mind. You can smile at cashiers and wave back at toddlers and then go home where you retreat to your familiar dark bedroom and sle...

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“Out of the Ashes” by Vincent Stankiewicz

Submitted to Contest #222

It was her first fight, ever. How did Sienna Sullivan get into her current predicament as she finishes tying a strong knot on her firmed laced ice skates with trembling hands, seated on the metal bench. Looking up and through the plexiglass. The six bodies of her teammates move smoothly across the ice that lies on the other side. Her breathing escalated to a rapid pace. Her heartbeat accelerated against her chest. Repressing the gag in its effort to claw its way into her throat. The ice rink emptied of any viewing eyes except those who are m...

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$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!

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