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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

“Do you see what I see” by Omar Scott

Submitted to Contest #222

Black boots crushed the gravel beneath them with each step along the desolate highway. With the August sun on his back, Deputy Sheriff Henry Lee Jones cast not only a large shadow on the Nissan Maxima he was approaching, but on all the residents of Harrison County. He adjusted his aviator style sunglasses on his pale white face that had the texture of sandpaper. As he approached the driver side window, his dark blue eyes scanned the interior of the car. He noticed a black man with dreadlocks in the driver seat, and a female companion with he...

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“The Skin They Were In...” by Elizabeth Wagenaar

Submitted to Contest #222

Elsbeth had it all – at least the kids from Central Square, South Carolina, thought so. After someone in that seedy neighborhood of Charleston targeted Elsbeth’s thick, brown pate using a slingshot and an unopened canned Fresca, her driver was forbidden to take her anywhere near that part of town. The vivid scar on her right temple continuously reminded the family matriarch to warn the girl about that target on her back. Rich white girls are easy pickings in that neck of the woods. Her ‘Civics Research Projects’ needed to be chosen with...

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“I Am Winter Jasmine” by Awen Kerr

Submitted to Contest #222

I ran my gloved fingers along the piled stones, wondering what we might find beyond the wall. Maggie and I had gone for a walk that afternoon, and had ended up at the far end of the neighborhood, where there was some undeveloped land, long neglected, and likely forgotten. Maggie noted that, perhaps the city was confused about who was responsible for the upkeep of the area, and even though I didn’t know what she meant by that, I definitely understood that nobody was caring for the bushes, trees, and other plants growing wildly in all directio...

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“The Diner” by Kathleen Boucher

Submitted to Contest #222

A destitute veteran wraps his threadbare jacket tightly around his thin physique as the icy wind chills him to the bone, reminding the older man that winter is fast approaching. It's time to change the tires on his car. He sighs at how bald they look. He barely made it through last year's snowstorms without a scratch. When given a choice to buy tires versus food, hunger wins every time. I could always go to the food bank. He thought. But I don't want anyone to know what a lousy situation I'm in. His mother's voi...

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“Making a Scene” by Kate Murphy

Submitted to Contest #222

Mauve grabs my face between well lotioned hands. “You’ve got this, Rebecca.” Her doe eyes swim with innocence. My dream is to be a great actress, but Mauve is the one who was truly made for the stage. I’ve spent two years burning out the marks of middle class suburbia to embody this highbrow alter ego. Mauve tosses her head, flipping one perfectly curled bang out of her eye. The picture of coiffed perfection, her demeanor never betrays the truth. She’s so good, sometimes I even forget that she’s the leader of an anarchist environmenta...

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“Mirror Heist: Triple Trouble.” by Lize-mari De Bod

Submitted to Contest #222

Mister Kent and Misses Kent leave the lobby on their way to lunch. They have to go out to lunch since ALL the hotel’s restaurants have been ‘reserved’. "Okay Laura, Misses Kent is wearing her blue dress with the black ruffles, black Valinto heels and the big black Saint Lauren handbag." George studies Misses Kent's outfit on the hotel lobby camera in the cleaning closet. Mister and Misses Kent walk through the hotel doors, but none of the reception desk sees them. All they see is Mark's card trick. No one is at the reception desk , so they d...

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“My First Apprentice” by Azeem Duran

Submitted to Contest #222

Beakers? Boiling. Alchemical ingredients? As many plant parts from around my shop as my old bones let me gather are organized on the counter. My student will be arriving today– the first apprentice I have ever taken in all my years of hiding out in this country full of idiots. If not for her weepy and whiny voice, and her damned story about her dead wolf companion that broke my heart, I never would have accepted her. Even now, when there’s barely an hour before she’s supposed to arrive, regret sinks deep into my bones. Alas, what’s do...

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“my mentor” by Eliysheba Yisrael

Submitted to Contest #222

I hate my mentor. It is hard being a young woman working in an intense study field of wizards and witches. Especially since I am a young black witch, black witches aren't a common thing in Norse-Ville. Usually we become healers or fortune tellers, never witches. “it is a foolish dream to have Naomi.” my mother would always tell me but I Ignored her little words that would pierce my skin sometimes. I wouldn’t become a fortune teller like her, I mean how stereotypical would that be? But still…it took a lot to finally get into a good colle...

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“A Lily's Requiem” by Andrew Coy

Submitted to Contest #222

“Lily! How are you?” Carnation jumps to meet Lily in the library. His eyes sparkled, just like the very first day they met outside of the castle. Staring with an unimpressed glare, Lily brings his attention back to the book right in front of him.“Didn’t Originator Sunflower teach you any manners? You’re supposed to call me Blossom Lily.” Do none of the Flowers learn any manners outside of the castle? Lily knew all of these well before the age of five.“Oops- sorry, Blossom Lily. Wait, who's Originator Sunflower? Shine?” Carnation tilts his he...

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“THE EMERALD TWINS” by Maryam F.W.

Submitted to Contest #222

The text below has been expertly translated from the fairy language into modern English by Emily Debois, a human guardian who has shown exceptional courage and dedication to the fairy world. We will endlessly remember her service.More than three hundred years ago, near the Isle of Skye, there was a mystical realm known as Emerald Ben, inhabited by magical creatures. In the past, this thriving, bustling realm was a point of reference for magicians seeking wisdom and knowledge in the magical arts. Throughout these lands, people have learned to...

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“The One That Never Got Away” by Carly Buccitti

Submitted to Contest #222

He could tell me that the sky was purple and the grass was pink and I would believe him despite all evidence to the contrary. The rock he tossed skipped across the water with such fluidity you would have thought he controlled the elements he interacted with. He did everything with such grace that it annoyed me. I felt my guts gurgle every time he perfected a task. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to be him or be rid of him. But I stuck around in spite of myself because he was the most beautiful creature on this side of the lake. The ripples o...

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“The Attitude of Gratitude” by Pete K Mally

Submitted to Contest #222

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE Remember to Apply the Attitude of Gratitude and Life will soon go your way. And send. Richard Salsa smiled as he looked at his daily twitter post, ensured it was shared to all his followers, -always hoping for a few new ones, and logged off his laptop before the likes and comments began to flood in and distract him. Extending his smile , the laptop lid closed as he stood up from behind his desk, stretched and looked out of the large east-facing window. Posting on social media and not feel...

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“Ninety-Five Percent” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #222

Dickie Ryder parks his HELP van on the shoulder behind the stranded Mercedes Benz. Pulling his Baltimore Oriole cap down to hide his boyish features, he steps out of the vehicle. Olive Rothchild, a wealthy real estate agent fretting over arriving late for her own dinner party, feels relieved when she sees a scruffy man in an army jacket and work boots ambling toward her. “Thank goodness you came along,” she says. “I’ve always thought that having an emergency repair vehicle along this long stretch of road was a good idea. I never thought I’...

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“A HILL O' BEANS” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #222

A HILL O’ BEANS Born and raised in Pennsylvania, when I was 14 years of age, my life crumbled when my parents were killed in an automobile accident and, for two weeks, I was placed in the local orphanage while attempts were made to contact those that were tenuously related in the hope that one of them would take me in as one of their family.Though grieving, I understood, vaguely, that two families had come forward: a couple from New York who had one child, a girl around my age, and another from Tennessee who had a grown up son; both related ...

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“Monarch in the Garden” by William Richards

Submitted to Contest #222

Beth sat on the wooden garden bench in the sunshine. A British summer’s day. One of the few months of warmth, between the grey and dreary times.She felt lonely, she realised, despite the glorious day, despite the glorious bird chatter, despite the pleasing wafts of chrysanthemum, and despite the soothing sound of the fountain. To appease the loneliness, she fed the birds.From the bench, she scattered bird food in the grass, and watched the sparrows make reckless lunges and hop off proudly with morsels of food. She loved to feed the birds, ev...

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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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