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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.

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

“A Mystery to be Solved” by Brokk G

Submitted to Contest #223

“I am a mystery to be solved.” The words whispered through his mind, echoing down the empty corridors of his thoughts. His gaze returned to her again and again. She was a completely average looking student with mousy brown hair that would never garner a second glance from most. In fact, he wasn’t sure he had seen anyone take notice of her these last few weeks. She was always reading a book, sitting in the same spot, dressed in the same style of vintage clothing that seemed all the rage in thrift stores these days. Why was she here all t...

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“The Study Room” by L.J. LaBree

Submitted to Contest #223

“... It’s a closet.” The janitor scoffed at the student as he held the door open for her. “That’s the trouble with this generation – you don’t use your imagination anymore!” The student glared at him as she shifted the large stack of books from one arm to the other. She tried to look past the several neon-yellow broom handles clustered together in the corner and sopping wet mop in the other, which she was pretty sure was only bright green because it had something growing on it. But try as she might, she just co...

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“THE ROOM” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #223

THE ROOM Ky walked into the University Library, past the main desk, and took a seat where he could have a good view of all the people entering the library. He picked up a magazine off the low table in front of the chair and flipped it open. Every now and then he flipped a page. But his main focus remained on the glass doors. He had been waiting for a good thirty minutes and had varied his glance between the big round clock behind the front desk, the magazine, and the front door. Finally, his diligence paid off. She walked int...

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“A history of the United States” by Judy Mosher

Submitted to Contest #223

Kaitlyn fairly skipped across campus. The sun was shining down making her blonde hair look like a halo around her head. She waved to her best friend, Emily, who was coming out of their dorm, but kept moving toward her favorite destination. Nothing was going to deter her today, she had been looking forward to this all week. As she started up the stone steps to the library she thought to herself “I’m such a nerd”. Kaitlyn stopped just inside the library door and breathed deeply. She always felt comforted by the smel...

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“Kindred Minds” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #223

Kindred minds tend to slow down time, and make the hours pass like days… but what if I want the day to end? What if his recurrent parroting of my own pessimistic views was entrenching my consciousness in darkness… would I ever see the light again? Could I ever recognize a love that wasn’t his? Or would we be trapped together… in a deep black mine the depths of which would become inescapable….One day, years from now, when we’d say our vows, would the words be empty? And would there be anyone there to hear them, or would we have turned our bac...

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“Acquired Daughter” by Mike Males

Submitted to Contest #223

[Warning: contains crude language and direct references to substance abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, and violence but no graphic descriptions.] He wasn’t ready for this. His afternoon in the empty, high swings in Eagle Rock Park agendaed bad-wine brooding to facilitate contemplation of whether to finish his shitpile dissertation, “California Youth in Transition,” jump off the Arroyo bridge, or do the first and then the second. Problem was, he wasn’t drunk enough to blot out that splatting sixty feet onto the rough-concrete Arroyo Seco chann...

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“It's Not All Its Cracked Up to Be.” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #223

I hadn’t written a word for at least twenty minutes. My brain was heavy with a fog of nothing. It had shut down in the area of thinking and writing and I couldn’t have cared less. I looked around the room to the serious faces, concentrating, wanting to get a great mark. They had probably swotted every night for weeks and the brains of these people were sending vital information to the hand that held the pen. One guy was chewing the end of his pen furiously, as if he hadn’t eaten in a week. Then he started to cough as the tiny bits of plastic...

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“The Phoenix Tea” by Kimberly Gold

Submitted to Contest #223

The sound of rain hitting the tent perfectly mirrored the mood of a dejected-looking woman sitting inside it. It vibrated on the tent’s plastic material, mixing with the chatter and glass clinking of the other customers. The woman, whose name was Holly, gazed through the transparent plastic squares onto the flooded Busan street and imagined her own ambitions flowing away down the river of rainwater.A table full of men erupted in a roar of boisterous laughter, but it was the vibration of her phone that forced her out of her trance moment...

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“Bar Flies and Zombie Fungus” by River Lethe

Submitted to Contest #223

Bar Flies and Zombie Fungus By River Lethe This is the story of the time I blew off my lit final and went day drinking with a homeless guy. All this shit actually happened. When me and Vince walk into the Bayhorse Tavern at 11 am, there’s a dumpy blond behind the bar leaning over a pile of cocaine teaching a Chihuahua to dance. She’s wearing a leopard print kimono, and her areolas are peeking over the horizons of her bra like little pink sunrises saying good morning to everyone. “Up! Chimmy. Up!” She says in a shrill voice, hol...

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“Winston & Libby” by Evin Maher

Submitted to Contest #223

Winston & Libby Trigger Warning. The following is a black comedy that features profanity. It also involves substance abuse, mental health issues, suicidal thoughts and violence. I gaze out the window. Another bleak day, rainy and grey. I've been correcting papers since 7 am. I eye the name at the top of each paper. That moron. She’s lazy. He’s obese. Fucking beatnik. Who? And so forth. Then I wade through them, one by one. Relentless monotony. Usually, after minutes have crawled by, it occurs to me that I have no idea what I've just ...

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“Hello and Goodbye” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #223

The packing tape squealed as Professor Augie Sorenson ran the roll over the flaps of the last box containing the odds and ends from his office. His promising career in materials science was teetering on the edge. A man’s voice outside the door said, “Found it, thank you.” A stern-looking young man entered, displeasure writ large across his face, the look quickly wiped away and replaced with a toothy smile. Augie used this tactic himself: the dissatisfaction made one appear discerning, and the smile charmed the viewer into thinking a bond wa...

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“Grainy Boundaries” by Danny Bubb

Submitted to Contest #223

“Shit, Cinemar is here already here, making the rounds before the plenary,” Emilie sighed into the phone heavily. “Yeah, I gotta go. Yes. Muah. No… I just don’t want to be spotted.” “Shit…” she exhaled after she was, in fact, spotted. This was not the time for what she was sure was to be a harangue from her senior colleague. She smiled and fake-waved at Janice Cinemar who beamed over at her over the top of the crowd. Tall and striking, she overtopped Emilie by at least 4" and she wore dress boots with 4” heels. Hel...

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“Breaking Point” by Christopher Gissinger

Submitted to Contest #223

We see a figure slumped at his desk in a rundown house on the west side of Columbus. We shall call him Clem. The room reeks of last night's stale smoke and spilled beer. Clem's ragged snores cut through the air. A black dog stares at him with an air of judgement. As he starts himself awake, his flailing arm scatters a forest of empty Miller High Life cans. He looks around the room blearily, wiping away drool and attempting to clear the crust from around his eye. How late was I up? he ponders as he straightens his glasses. His head is poundin...

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“Luck Runs Out” by Jessie Fenske

Submitted to Contest #223

Marley groaned, massaging her stiff muscles, trying to ease the ache from hours hunched over the desk. Her eyelids felt heavy and thick; if she closed them, she feared they would not open again. Outside her dormitory window she heard a faint murmur of rhythmic voices coming up through the parking lot, chanting cadences with verve. If the ROTC were already out for their morning run, she figured, it must be around 6:00 AM, which meant she had been awake all night. She stared at the computer screen, the cursor blinking at her disapprovin...

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“When Darkness Turns to Light” by Henry Labelle

Submitted to Contest #223

Professor Jackson rose from a deep slumber. His eyes were heavy with sleep, and he began to rub them with the knuckles of his index fingers as he assessed his whereabouts. He noticed an empty whisky bottle next to the mattress which laid on the floor. He looked around, breathing deeply and brushing his fingers through his thick hair. His elbow brushed warm skin, and he suddenly recalled the previous night. Rosalie lay there, in a deep sleep of her own, a deep sleeper by nature, and even more so after a night such as they’d had. He brushed th...

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$250

Prize money

184

Contest entries

83

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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