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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#223: Academia

A recent re-watch of Gilmore Girls has had me thinking about academic life — there’s something uniquely compelling in the combination of idolized institutions, tweed, the pursuit of knowledge, and thousands of young people all living in close quarters. I’m not alone: dark academia is an established genre by now.

This week, let’s step into the halls of ivy together — I’ve got academics, libraries, students, and exams in these prompts, so whether your imaginary life in the academy is dark, fantastical, suspenseful, or humorous, I hope you’ll find a prompt that feels right.

🥇 Winner

“Cerulean” by AnneMarie Miles

🏆 Winner of Contest #223

The door is cerulean, a bright and vibrant blue, but really it is the color of my sudden uneasiness. The feeling creeps up me slowly, jumps out at me dauntingly, and I am frozen in it. If the door were a mirror – and how I wish it were as innocent as a mirror – I would see my face reflected back to me, and it would tell me to run.I’m not sure what’s more jarring: the fact that this door is a clashing contrast to the rest of the library décor, or the fact that I’ve never noticed the path we took to get here before. I suppose there are better ...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Secret Seminar of Bartholomew McQuill” by Pino De Francesco

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

Once upon a not-so-ordinary Monday, in the most ordinary corner of the extraordinarily vast library of the University of Arcane and Arcaner, young Bartholomew “Barty” McQuill stumbled upon the sort of secret that would either make his academic career or confirm his impending madness. Barty, a second-year student of Sorcerous Studies and Minor Mischief, was as infamous for his insatiable curiosity as he was for his ability to find trouble in the most benign of places, like a library. The library itself was an architectural paradox, a labyri...

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“The Uncertainty Principle” by David McCahan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

The white board was filled with equations, graphs and language that the ordinary layperson would have had no clue as to the function or meaning. The students in Professor Howard Tappan’s Quantum Physics seminar largely had no understanding of them either. At least according to Professor Tappan. He’d been at Cornell for the better part of two decades. Published widely, an expert in his field, respected for his studies in the field, Professor Tappan was generally detested by anyone who knew him on a personal level. His demanding standards le...

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“Summa cum Laude” by Phillip Norman

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

The clock on the back wall strikes three, and I’m not entirely sure what side of the day we’re on. I’m wrapping up my last ever final paper in a basement computer lab that I favor for its casino-effect. Down here, I can’t quite tell how long I’ve been up for. The din of outdated monitors echoes inside my skull, filling the little crevices in between all the Big Ideas fighting for my attention. If you listen closely for long enough, you can hear the impending twirl of the clock’s second hand. Every twenty minutes or so, the hulking copy machi...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with a student discovering a hidden room in a university library.

Mystery – 77 stories

Write about two rival academics pursuing the same grant.

Character – 14 stories

Write a story in which a jaded academic makes an unexpected, rash decision.

Angst – 41 stories

Write about a student reporter uncovering a university scandal.

Mystery – 22 stories

Set your story during exam season, when tensions run high and a minor incident sends your protagonist into a panic spiral.

Character – 30 stories

Stories

“Cerulean” by AnneMarie Miles

🏆 Winner of Contest #223

The door is cerulean, a bright and vibrant blue, but really it is the color of my sudden uneasiness. The feeling creeps up me slowly, jumps out at me dauntingly, and I am frozen in it. If the door were a mirror – and how I wish it were as innocent as a mirror – I would see my face reflected back to me, and it would tell me to run.I’m not sure what’s more jarring: the fact that this door is a clashing contrast to the rest of the library décor, or the fact that I’ve never noticed the path we took to get here before. I suppose there are better ...

188 comments 188

Read story

“The Secret Seminar of Bartholomew McQuill” by Pino De Francesco

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

Once upon a not-so-ordinary Monday, in the most ordinary corner of the extraordinarily vast library of the University of Arcane and Arcaner, young Bartholomew “Barty” McQuill stumbled upon the sort of secret that would either make his academic career or confirm his impending madness. Barty, a second-year student of Sorcerous Studies and Minor Mischief, was as infamous for his insatiable curiosity as he was for his ability to find trouble in the most benign of places, like a library. The library itself was an architectural paradox, a labyri...

Read story

“Drawing a Blank” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #223

I am freaking out. How can I explain this? I’m in a full-blown It's a Wonderful Life scenario here but in reverse. I’m not seeing what the world would look like if I had never been born—I’m seeing the world where I was born—but the joke’s on me.You know, like when a guy walks up to you and addresses you by name and you’ve got no idea who he is. Now, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, right. Say, Who are you again? and you’ve offended the guy. Greet him like an old buddy and he’s going to expect you to comment on your shared pas...

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“Solution-74” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #223

Dr. Marla Keen carefully brushed Solution-74 on both sides of the guillotine blade. Her hands shook, but she wasn’t sure if that was because of the arthritis, or the tequila, or the fact she was still in her lab at two in the morning. Or, because of what she was about to do.Not only was her latest grant still up in the air, no doubt thanks to that asshole Dr. Becker in the next lab over throwing his hat into the ring, but the university cut her funding today too. Small mercy she didn’t have any grad students left to disappoint, tho...

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“Two Eggs for Breakfast” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #223

It was nine-fifteen and later than usual when Mrs Prettejohn shuffled into Donald Musgrove’s dining room clutching a tray with his boiled egg and soldiers, and a small pot of Earl Grey. “Your all-day breakfast, Professor.” “Very droll, Mrs P,” he said, wafting his hand at the cluttered table as he read his mail. “Over there’s fine.” The housekeeper hovered in abeyance to watch her dishevelled employer decapitate his egg and offer her culinary criticism. Cru...

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“The Girl With Stars in Her Pocket” by Francesca Tsakonas

Submitted to Contest #223

We owe our universe to stars. Our history is etched in stellar remnants, interstellar clouds, fusion processes that occur within the hearts of stars, and the diverse landscapes of the exoplanets that orbit them.James balanced the Introduction to Stellar Astrophysics textbook on his knees, reading intently from a folded-up slouching position on the university library’s worn couch. At his feet, a backpack lay unzipped next to a stack of similarly-themed textbooks: Exoplanetary Science, Galactic Astronomy, and Dark Matter and Dark Energy Studie...

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“Omelets 101” by Hazel Ide

Submitted to Contest #223

"Umm, is Mrs. Mariere in?"The boy's voice betrays him, squeaking in that pre-pubescent way despite his likely eighteen or nineteen years of age. His mispronunciation of my name doesn't bother me; most freshmen at this tiny liberal arts college take a while to acclimate to addressing adults who aren't their parents or teachers they've known since kindergarten."Mrs. Mariere—" my assistant correctly enunciates, with a nice, long rolling R, "is on a call. As Dean, she’s a busy woman. Is there something I can help you with?""Umm…" I can hear the ...

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“The Uncertainty Principle” by David McCahan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #223

The white board was filled with equations, graphs and language that the ordinary layperson would have had no clue as to the function or meaning. The students in Professor Howard Tappan’s Quantum Physics seminar largely had no understanding of them either. At least according to Professor Tappan. He’d been at Cornell for the better part of two decades. Published widely, an expert in his field, respected for his studies in the field, Professor Tappan was generally detested by anyone who knew him on a personal level. His demanding standards le...

Read story

“Facing the Music” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #223

My bones hurt as I drag myself inside. It’s been a long day. Some people make snide remarks, ‘Oh, you’re a teacher? It must be nice to get all those holidays!’ and other such comments. I say, just try it. You go ahead and do what I do for a day, cramming a syllabus into the heads of the unwilling, while dealing with their issues and quirks, then see if you want to come back and do it again. I’m buggered at the end of each day, emotionally drained to the point that I really can’t ‘adult’ anymore.I kick my shoes off, leaving them where they fa...

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“Barry's Perpetual Power Pack” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #223

“Can you see what it is yet, mate?” “Enlighten me, please.” “It’s renewable energy, mate.” “It’s a photograph of a windmill and a solar panel.” “Nah yeh. But hooked up to a power cell.” “That looks like a car battery.” “Yeh. Well, it’s just a prototype.” “And you propose that this contraption be awarded a development grant over my more sophisticated research?” “Too right, mate.” “But this gadget looks like it was bought on AliExpress.” “I got it on eBay with free shipping and three-day delivery. I’m developing it into what I call Barry’s Per...

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“The Gingerbread Man ” by June Gillam

Submitted to Contest #223

Dr. Candice Burke knew better than to stay late after teaching her evening classes. Especially one on the fourth floor like tonight’s English 140, Intro to Children’s Lit. Still, her car was parked right next to the old Humanities building, police officers patrolled the campus, and she was a quick study on the three flights of stairs, priding herself on her athletic prowess, even now that she’d turned forty. It was one of her favorite times of the fall semester. Midterms. The students were at their best, aiming to earn max points and ma...

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“The Point” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #223

Ms. Montgomery, I’d like to write something about your grade. First, I should give you some background. I am not, as you know, a teacher who attempts to endear herself to students by blurring the line between the personal and the professional. You will have noticed, I suppose, that at no point this year have I ever disclosed anything about where I live, whether or not I’m married, whether or not I have children, what I like, what I don’t like, or even how I feel. I speak. You listen (hopefully). I distribute education. You absorb inf...

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“You Don’t Know Jack” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #223

TW: PTSD, swearing.Jack Dancer wept for his sins. Magnetised boots held him to the outer hull of the PD Anathema. Thanks to his efforts the deadly vacuum of space had raced into the ship with a bang.In his space suit he was safe until his oxygen ran out, waiting for his ship. The Fairweather returned at full speed. He waited for five hours. Lost in guilt, Jack hardly noticed. He clutched his toolbox to his chest.“You there, Jack?” said Captain Eliza Erdman using the radio.He took a long time to respond. “I’m here,” he replied. He half wished...

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“Myth and Miasma” by Nat Fendie

Submitted to Contest #223

Lost, his eyes try to pierce through the fog. The unearthly, all-enveloping mist that had settled around him and brought with it a bone-chilling cold. The kind of cold that penetrates the holes of your skin and seeps into your core. The air is thick, pale, and opaque, and his breath comes out in smoke, weaving with the vapour around, making him question if it is inside him. The calming susurration of the wind in leaves is gone, and the sun is hidden behind clouds that undulate endlessly in the sky. With only greys and whites around h...

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“Jack in a Box” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #223

TW: Violence, death, gore, and septic tanks.“Why would we go back?” asked Jack, drinking water which had been purified from the waste of the entire crew. Far from putting him off, Jack found that funny. Others rarely shared his mirth when he pointed out the closed water system on spaceships. He was a student of life in the void. No matter how many resits it took.“Because Copernicus is starving. The Pierce Dynasty will hold the blockade until they all die or surrender!” Doctor Annie Brie yelled, holding her cup of instant coffee. “Exactl...

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$250

Prize money

184

Contest entries

84

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 10, 2023 EST

Won by AnneMarie Miles 🏆

Title: Cerulean

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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