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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

“Antiestablishment” by Wendy S

Submitted to Contest #222

He felt the bullets' impact, but there was no pain at first. Just a horrible sense of intrusion - those foreign things fused with his flesh in a way that just felt wrong. He ignored it and ran, taking random turns, hoping to lose the gunmen in the maze of the lab complex. It wasn't him they wanted. Not really. He and his colleagues were just in the way. When he could run no further, he took refuge in a storage closet. For a few hopeful moments, he thought he might just live after all, but the slow, measured steps approaching and stopping at ...

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“Dear Theophania...” by Nay Nay

Submitted to Contest #222

As you lay in your sterile hospital bed, surrounded by medical equipment and the scent of your own sick, a spark of hope flickered in your weary eyes as an unfamiliar figure stepped into the room, carrying a bouquet of vibrant flowers that promised a world beyond those sterile walls. For a moment, the ethereal figure nearly deceived you as you mistook her for someone else through your tinted view. But it wasn't her. “Excuse me, is this the right room?” the woman asked. “I’m looking for a Grace Magdelene.” You barely nodded as your brea...

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“Balancing on the Ferris Wheel” by Don Macintosh

Submitted to Contest #222

Balancing on the Ferris Wheel Lying in bed as a toddler, he hung closely to the pleasure of touching himself, at times entering a sickly dark tunnel that made his insides want to retch. He felt as if he was being scraped off the side of a giant sticky soft Ferris Wheel that continued to revolve faster and faster until his head and body felt like an hourglass turned upright, draining all the sand. This was a time before he could understand that thi...

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“Writer's Block” by Laura Johnston

Submitted to Contest #222

The blank page on her screen lights up her hands, her right pointer finger tapping impatiently on the keyboard. Her tired face reflects back as she stares at the blinking cursor, imagining it mocking her for having nothing to say. She can almost hear it ticking like a timer, counting down as the deadline approaches. Tick… tick… tick…. She has so many things piling up on her to-do list: answering emails, folding the laundry, putting the dishes away, picking up groceries, scheduling appointments. But still, she sits at her desk, tapping, typin...

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“The Hero's Journey” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #222

The Hero’s Journey Daniel ran down the steep edge of the cement aqueduct to the bottom where it was flat. A small amount of water was starting to pool in the drainage crease at the bottom and he knew by the end of the day there could be a raging torrent of water but for now, it was not only the fastest route across town but also the safest. Unless they blew the dam. The city had been on high alert for the past twelve hours, the streets and highway leading out of the city were clogged with desperate families trying to evacuate the city. L...

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“The Artist” by Amani Carson

Submitted to Contest #222

There was something about the dark, empty streets of London at night that felt like a warm embrace. Escapism? Was that what these 11pm post-library walks were? Tegan asked herself, as she strolled across the concrete, her current favourite song purring in her ears as the inky River Thames came into view. Escapism was what a lot of people liked to imply Tegan indulged in. Her mother, for example, who said it kindly, for she reminded her of her at that age. And Brently, who insinuated it with a sneer whilst questioning her ma...

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“E. B. White and Me” by Patricia Holland

Submitted to Contest #222

Every struggling new writer who has just earned a B.A. in English or a M.F.A. in creative writing needs a dose of the career advice E. B. White once gave me. He had very definite views on how to write—what to write about—and how to get it in print. As a very junior twenty-year-old researcher/writer at the National Geographic Society, I had an L-shaped office nobody else wanted because it held two desks. A scratched and worn brown desk sat in ...

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“You Got This” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #222

You Got This I pride myself in being able to adjust to new situations. It comes from the experience growing up of moving from place to place. My dad was a professional athlete, a hockey player in the NHL. Although he was a good goalie, he seems to have been traded every two to four years throughout his career, and of course that meant a new house in a new city, and my having to change the hockey sweaters that I wore to school to avoid getting into a fight. While I did not want to go through such shifting in my own career, th...

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“The Journey Within” by DeMia Bullock-Smith

Submitted to Contest #222

Once upon a time, in a quaint little town, there lived a young woman named Emily. She had always dreamed of becoming a renowned artist, but self-doubt often held her back from pursuing her passion. One day, she stumbled upon a flyer for an art contest that promised a life-changing opportunity for the winner. With a mix of excitement and trepidation, Emily decided to take a leap of faith and enter the contest. As the deadline approached, Emily found herself overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge. Doubts crept into her mind, whispering...

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“Fateful Results” by Madeline Honig

Submitted to Contest #222

Emily glanced at the analog clock hanging on the wall. It was time. She shut the book in front of her and made her way to the front door almost tripping over her roommate’s black cat. “Roger, why are you always in the way?” She grabbed her overloaded keychain hanging on the key hook, her purse and jacket from the chair she had put out the night before. She could not afford any mistakes this morning. She headed out the door, locking it behind her before approaching her white Camry parked on the street.&...

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“The start of the Journey: Abigail and Sarah” by Aseret Franco

Submitted to Contest #222

Abigail stood tall and firm with a sword in hand, ready to impart her powerful teachings to her apprentice, Sarah. The young woman was eager to learn the arts of battle, and Abigail couldn't be happier to teach her. The two stood before a vast forest, where serpent shifters were known to lurk. "Now, Sarah," Abigail said, her voice confident and strong. "The first thing you must know is that serpent shifters are fast and dangerous. But they are not invincible." Sarah nodded, her eyes fixed on Abigail's every word. "The key to defeating the...

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“I'm Dying” by Greg Kousoulis

Submitted to Contest #222

You’ve got this. My eyes are closed. The voice, it’s so vivid, yet impossible to locate. I try to ask for help but simply cannot. My strength is fleeting, being pulled from under me more and more by the second. I feel my grandson, Nick’s, hand touch mine. Immediately, I assumed the voice was his. It has to be, right? Who else could it be? Nick’s a good grandson. Always has been. He was the one who would take off work to drive me to my appointments. I always appreciated it, but my guilt never allowed me to tell him thi...

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“Ivory Rock” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #222

Sensitive to first nation people.Land RightsTo my son.The spirit is calling...I cannot lie, but you can! You can lie due to culture. You can lie to yourself, but I cannot. The land belongs to the people who are true owners, its not land rights, it simply belongs to the true caretakers.He said, "Love has hate, hate has love," You love something enough to hate what you do not want and that is natural!So I allow the ancestors to write, trapped from the cultures of their life wanting freedom through this wounded healer.I allow the spirits to lau...

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“I can't save you” by Tomisin O.

Submitted to Contest #222

After knowing each other for half our lives, we were still unsure of what to call each other. Mama said one of her uncles had a son in his second marriage, and divorced the boy’s birth mother, whom Mama had grown to love and trust with all her heart. But we never understood, really, so we didn’t call each other “cousin’’ as we were told.Just “friend”.We were only one year apart, so I visited their home every other summer for ten years. Mama had to work in the summer, and I didn’t mind the two-day trip. He lived in the countrys...

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“24 Hours” by Z. Stone

Submitted to Contest #222

24 Hours.It started. For the next and only 24 hours, Zari was an apprentice. That's how it worked in Star Hollow. Apprentices, like herself, had one day to perfect their chosen skill. The catch? They have no idea what it even is. On Choosing day, a note is sent to each child of age, telling them their future ‘ contribution’ role to the kingdom. An involuntary job, to put it bluntly. A job decided by the whims and fancy of the High Council, rulers of Star Hollow. They were given a task in which they must succeed. If you did not succeed or rec...

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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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