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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

“The Herbalist's Apprentice” by Trevor Berndt

Submitted to Contest #222

Amena’s garden held a mystery. It was on the cusp of autumn, but summer tomatoes and corn grew in tamed rows. Spring snap peas, kale, and radishes sprouted in abundance. It was wonderful. It was impossible. Desider was struck by a terrifying thought. What if it’s magic? The feeling that sprouted first was pure dread, the most primal and ancient instinct. If I leave now I can return to the village by nightfall. It’s not safe to ask. A quiet yearning came from a second emotion: But what if this is my one chance...

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“GRANNY AND JOSHIE MAKE JAM” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #222

GRANNY AND JOSIE MAKE JAM Josie decided to visit her granny at Dell Cottage. When she arrived there, she found granny in the ki...

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“Better to Worse to Better” by Heather Johnsen-Gisi

Submitted to Contest #222

My name is Billy Porter and my life sucks. Or at least it did until I met my "Homeless Godfather." He wasn't my real godfather, but he was homeless. In fact, that's really all he was or all he appeared to be. Just a homeless guy. But then he really wasn't... Now I am even confusing myself. I guess in order for you to understand I'll just tell the story. Here it is from the beginning:One Monday I was really feeling sorry for myself. I hated my job at the real estate company my father owned. I was still just the secretary because Dad said I di...

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“The Road to Merton” by Rebecca Detti

Submitted to Contest #222

September 5, 1993As she looked at herself in the full- length mirror in her parent’s bedroom, Libby couldn’t believe how revolting she looked. She’d gained a bit of weight over the summer holidays. This was mostly due to a sedentary existence of watching Tim Burton films and reading gothic horror fiction while consuming Lion Bars. Her skirt had ridden up to her kidneys due to the increased bulge of her tummy despite several attempts to pull it down. When her Aunty Catherine, whom Libby secretly named 'Lady Catherine of Pompousville' called i...

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“The Book of Juri ” by Joyce Kang

Submitted to Contest #222

I have a journal with all my thoughts. Every feeling I have is written in there. It is my book of hope. It's naive and oblivious. Chapter 7414: Love My parents came to visit me. I really needed their presence. I wanted to see them so badly. To be wrapped up in my mom’s warm arms protecting me from the world. To see the corner of my dad’s eyes wrinkle up as he smiles at me. I feel love. Chapter 7416: My parents left and all I feel is empty. My hope has left me. They left their trac...

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“Now you See Her” by Naomi Brown

Submitted to Contest #222

Zoe never stopped loving her daughter, but she stopped liking her the day Missy sided with her father in a longstanding dispute over potato salad. They insisted the potatoes should be mashed with mayonnaise only, but Zoe preferred chunky with mustard and mayo. The light-yellow hue reminded her of sunshine, and the Lord knew she needed some sunshine. The other way, she thought, was bland both in taste and texture. Missy was thirteen, plenty old enough to express her preferences in salads. Still, her daughter’s choice felt like a betrayal. Ev...

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“Ball! Ball!” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #222

Chris was the sweetest kid. He always had a gummy smile for everyone.His parents had the house next to ours. When they moved in, my mother was involved in some arguments with them on account of Chris’s shouting during the night. Those council-house walls were badly made and very thin, and her bedroom was on the other side of the wall to his. I could hear it too, but it was muffled by the time it reached my room.Once, the shouting was so loud that my mother called the police; she thought Chris was being abused. This became the source of some ...

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“Home” by Grace Cooley

Submitted to Contest #222

Sarah sat on the floor watching her mother labor on their one, small bed. She understood her mother was hurting, but Sarah didn’t understand why or from what. When her mother got a short reprieve from the labor pains, she looked at Sarah and smiled.“It’s okay, love. It’ll be over soon enough.”Sarah smiled back at her and nodded, somewhat relieved, but still with no understanding. She pulled at a loose thread on the hem of her threadbare dress, running it through her thumb and finger until they began to feel raw. Her mother had often admonish...

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“IF ONLY THEY KNEW” by Andrew Hixson

Submitted to Contest #222

IF ONLY THEY KNEW The sun beat down on my body as I lay on the ground at the five-hundred-metre firing point of the classified range. Only a select few knew the secret location, interrupted by distant gunfire. Aiming down the scope, I took a deep breath and concentrated on my target, aware of the rifle’s weight in my hands. My heart pounded in my chest as I readied myself to aim, acutely aware that the outcome of this moment could determine whether I lived or died. The air was thick with anticipation, every sound magnified in the silence. I ...

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“A Clash of Fangs: A Battle for Freedom” by Kearnon Henske

Submitted to Contest #222

A Clash of Fangs: A Battle for Freedom By Kearnon Henske “Ahhhhhhh!” I screamed as I came upon what looked like an old, abandoned asylum. At first,it looked like a run-down and broken building, but when I looked closer, I saw a guard on duty. This guard was heavily armed and was keeping a close eye on the building. He stood motionless, staring at it very intently. I was with my friends, and when we saw this, we immediately were freaked out. My friends started backing up, and I sensed the worry in their e...

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“Cube Farm” by C Russell

Submitted to Contest #222

“You’ve. Got. This.” “Who is she saying that to?” I lean in close and whisper to the short, hipster with an impressive handle-bar mustache showing me around my new work place. “You. Me. Everyone out there,” he says gesturing to the sea of cubicles in front of us. “It’s inspiring, right?” His eyes glaze over in reverence towards my new manager. “You are so lucky to work under M...

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“Blind girl run ” by Hannah Abrams

Submitted to Contest #222

"I can't." I said. "Yes, you can." My father said, "Your body will tell you where to go." I felt the need to point out that was what he said last time, and we both knew how that turned out. "Listen, smell, feel. You've got this." Dad said. I closed my eyes, even though I didn't need to. I sniffed the air, taking in all I could. I couldn't believe I had let him convince me to do this. This was crazy. This was how this happened last time, and ...

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“To Perfect a Spell” by Sakiya Alex

Submitted to Contest #222

“You’ve got this Ella. You must concentrate.” Peter Leeway grinned encouragingly at his struggling friend. “Easy for you to say!” Ella sighed and dropped down onto the grass, exasperated. “Magic comes easy to you. Everything comes easy to you.” The spell Ella had been trying to cast was one called Substitutionary Replacement. It was where one could swap their location with an inanimate object instantly. Peter leaned off the oak tree he had been relaxing against and moved to sit next to Ella on the grass. He placed his wand de...

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“The First Stab” by Sarah Dean

Submitted to Contest #222

The first day I walked into the Shop for my apprenticeship, I was nervous. Not a normal nervous. A nervous that made your stomach roll and your head spin. I was beginning a journey that I was sure would change my perspective of my entire life. And it did, in a manner of speaking. As the bell on the door finished ringing and the door smacked against its casing, I felt myself liquify. Sitting behind a counter, looking at all kinds of badass I felt I would never be able to pull off, was my new mentor. She had given me the task of writin...

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“Baby Toys” by Nicola Lamprecht

Submitted to Contest #222

I was early. He was late. Okay, okay he wasn’t late. He would be right on time, just like he always was. As I sat in Santa’s office munching on a cookie and looking at all the letters of children up on his wall, I wanted to roll my eyes. I didn’t because Mr Claus had eyes in the back of his head and probably surveillance cameras in his office. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing; just how tedious I thought these meetings were. A mentorship. Really? Like I couldn’t think of one million and one things, I’d rather be doing than spen...

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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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