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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

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 supp...

157 comments 157 WINNER 🏆

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⭐️ Shortlisted

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

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 abilit...

19 comments 19 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“The Uncertainty Principle” by David McCahan

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...

25 comments 25 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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“Summa cum Laude” by Phillip Norman

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 l...

6 comments 6 SHORTLIST ⭐️

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This week's prompts

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

Mystery – 80 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 – 43 stories

Write about a student reporter uncovering a university scandal.

Mystery – 24 stories

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

Character – 31 stories

Stories

“Cerulean” by AnneMarie Miles

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 supp...

157 comments 157 WINNER 🏆

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“Drawing a Blank” by Jonathan Page

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 e...

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

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 abilit...

19 comments 19 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Solution-74” by Michał Przywara

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 disap...

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

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 Astron...

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“Two Eggs for Breakfast” by Howard Halsall

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.&nb...

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“The Uncertainty Principle” by David McCahan

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...

25 comments 25 SHORTLIST ⭐️

Read story

“Facing the Music” by Michelle Oliver

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 whe...

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“Omelets 101” by Hazel Ide

"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?"<...

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“Barry's Perpetual Power Pack” by Chris Campbell

“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 f...

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“The Point” by Kevin B

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 m...

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“Enlightenment” by Sol Caine

I bellowed a very tired and exhausted yawn, as I stretched my arms skyward and pointed my toes in a direct line beneath the desk. Studying with minimal sleep for who knows when, had frazzled my mind beyond tolerable measures. Cranky toward needless interruptions and far too serious for my own good, I was balancing on the edge of burnout due to information overload. One of the failings in my life was to offer up my research services for free. Once people found out about my excellent skills on a multitude of topics, I began ...

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“The Gingerbread Man ” by June Gillam

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 e...

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“Myth and Miasma” by Tamkinat Tariq

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...

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“Beneath the Lobby” by Hannah Lynn

My stomach lurched in perfect rhythm with the elevator’s herky-jerky ride down to the lobby. I held my cart for dear life praying that I wouldn’t see an encore performance of last night’s shots of liquid courage. Those books didn’t deserve the misfortune of that mess, they were innocent little stories just waiting to go back to their homes assigned to them by the Dewey Decimal System. I took a deep breath...

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$250

Prize money

192

Contest entries

86

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.

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