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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#225: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

From Narcissus falling in love with his own reflection to the speaking mirror in Snow White, mirror images have always been a popular motif in literature, commonly used to introduce questions of identity or self-consciousness. But they can also be used to create a split between reality and illusion: is what we see really the truth, or are our eyes — or indeed minds — playing tricks on us? Taken one step further, one might even argue that texts themselves are a reflection of their author and the world they inhabit.

This week’s prompts invite you to reflect (pardon the pun) on topics of self-image, twisted realities, and outer appearance that may or may not capture what’s going on beneath the surface.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone buying a cursed — or perhaps blessed —mirror from an antiques store.

Fantasy – 74 stories

Write a story about someone trying to paint (or otherwise create) a self-portrait.

Character – 66 stories

Write a story about someone coming across their doppelganger.

Mystery – 48 stories

Write a story about a character who one day notices that their reflection has taken on a life of its own.

Fantasy – 50 stories

Set your story in a house of mirrors and make the atmosphere increasingly eerie.

Horror – 42 stories

Stories

“On The Other Side of the Mirror” by Andrés Hernández

Submitted to Contest #225

He had always wanted to travel to Spain, driven by a powerful attraction he couldn’t explain, but he had never had enough money to cross the Atlantic.He lived and worked as a store clerk in Miami, a modern city founded just over a hundred years ago, a metropolis with large and luxurious shopping centers recently built, and skyscrapers rising along the coast, dominating the vast neighborhoods of one- or two-story houses with gardens, and, if there was money, with a pool, neighborhoods that extended all the way to the swamps, many kilometers a...

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“Kate Could Go Anywhere” by Laura Shea Souza

Submitted to Contest #225

After the divorce was finalized, Kate told Henry that she hoped he would meet someone wonderful. She had really meant it when she said this, but what she hadn’t expected was that Henry would meet her, twenty years ago. It wasn’t actually Kate, of course, that would be impossible. It was McKenzie, thirty-years old to Kate’s fifty, with the thick, dark lustrous hair that Kate had had in her youth, the unlined skin and rosy lips, the piercing green eyes free from crow’s feet. “Jack and I bumped into Henry and his new GF last night out at d...

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“A Deadly Runaway” by Zoe King

Submitted to Contest #225

My eyes water; my head spins. I’m not supposed to be in the attic, but that is what inspired me to come. “Don’t go back …” a whisper arises. “The stairs will swallow you whole …” I feel it is true. Though the voices in my head usually conduct experiments on me. “Cam?” calls a voice from below the stairs. My mother. “Cam? You know I won't let you up here. Are you …” Her voice fades. I duck behind three large moving boxes and stay crouched. “Don’t go back …” the eerie sounds continue. Different words this time: “Even for your mother …...

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“A Shadow of Myself” by Jamison Courcy

Submitted to Contest #225

You settle down across the table. The old man sits in his chair. An old, sunken face holds deep lines of age, years of experience coming in jagged lines. Dark, stringy hair clings to his pale face, down to the middle of his back, unwashed and matted. His voice comes out in an eerie groan. "There is a shadow in my room." Behind the old man, out of the corner of your eye, you see a shape. Humanoid in nature, the shade morphs the more you tried to look its way. Just as you may have made out its stature, its face, it shifts once agai...

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“Tap.” by Ian Grogan

Submitted to Contest #225

Tap. Tap. Tap. You awaken slowly out of what was once a deep slumber. You rub your eyes and focus on the darkness around you, acclimating to reality. The clock on your nightstand says 3:42am. You yawn, trying to figure out why you are awake. Tap. Tap. Tap. An unfamiliar and sudden rapping sends a shiver deep down your spine. Turning to your side, you nudge your partner who only moans as an automatic response. You are alone. You sit up, creakingly, in the king size bed, push the comforter to the side and dangle your feet off of the edge...

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“That Isn't Me” by Madison Brewer

Submitted to Contest #225

Being 20 years old and in college is hard enough, add a mild case of psychosis and it’s harder. That's why a month ago I decided to commit myself to a psychiatric hospital near my college over the summer. That was a month ago and over that month I've learned to cope with my stress, how to ground myself, and how to cope with my past. I sit on my bed in my little white room listening to the soft patter of the rain against the window as I read my book. I look over at my clock seeing it's 7 p.m. the time I start my nightly routine. I set my book...

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“Mirror, Mirror Wash Me Away” by Arpad Nagy

Submitted to Contest #225

It was more a shape than a face that moved behind the broken glass, and instantly, I felt drawn in. Pulled. I leaned toward the surface, and the face moved with me. The figure remained obscured, partially masked by a veil of dirty fog brushed over the reflective coating, distorted and disjointed from the splinters. I bent my head toward my left shoulder; my eyes focused on the figure in the shattered glass, and as I moved, the misty reflection followed suit. A large section of the mirror at the bottom right was undamaged. I...

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“The Haunting Portal” by Alexa Patel

Submitted to Contest #225

In the dimly lit corner of the antique store, John's fingers traced the intricate patterns of the ornate mirror he had impulsively purchased. Its golden frame, adorned with delicate filigree, seemed to whisper stories of bygone eras. As he carefully hung it on his wall at home, the room appeared to hold its breath, as if anticipating an unexpected revelation. A disconcerting realization gradually crept over John as he moved before the mirror. His reflection stood frozen, a peculiar stillness that defied the laws of optics. Confusion etched ...

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“Falling” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #225

So it's said: The Buddha, before he was such, left his home, deeply dissatisfied. He encountered three phenomena from which he'd previously been protected: old age, sickness and death - and a fourth which came as a revelation: a meditating monk. The impact of what he saw was transforming. He became 'awakened'. 1 I'm falling. Plummeting down the brilliant, glass wall of a soaring office block. The day is bright, the sky blue; the sunlight reflects off a whole field of windows, the clearest of mirrors. With utmost clarity I s...

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“A tale of living reflections” by Patricia Parent

Submitted to Contest #225

Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you saw your true self? Believe it or not, I actually lived it. It all started with Gerry, a homeless guy that talked to me about metaphysics one time. I just gave him a beer and he gave me the key to my deepest, truest self.To put it simply, Gerry was an adept of metaphysics, a branch of philosophy that explores the very first principle of things. Think something like ancient knowledge. The core principle of any given thing. Apparently, all of us humans already know the explanation for ab...

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“My Runaway Reflection” by Elif Soykan

Submitted to Contest #225

For a long time, I had avoided looking in the mirror. The past few years had been a relentless struggle, and I couldn't bear to confront another disappointment in myself. The mirror would reveal the harsh truth - my aging appearance, my unhappiness, and the toll my disease had taken on me. Ever since I had learned about my illness, I had shunned mirrors as if they held the power to confirm my worst fears.I vividly remember a time just three years ago when I was brimming with life, dreams, and hope for the future. All of that had disappeared,...

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“The Observer” by Amy Palmer

Submitted to Contest #225

The Observer by Amy G. PalmerOnce again caught up in frustration and anger, sadness and hopelessness, I stood in front of my mirror to wash my freckled face. My eyes have become bloodshot and the green in them seems to glow, like the eyes of a mythical creature. A flood of mucus forces me to blow my nose once more, nearing the end of a tissue box. I am just starting to stop my tears from flowing when I start to converse silently in my head again. It is loud in my head.“Oh no, don't start again,” I look in the mirror and demand I st...

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“The Echo House Chamber of Illusions” by Leanne O'Connell

Submitted to Contest #225

A dense fog hung over the once-thriving town of Hollow Creek, enveloping it like a shroud. The deserted streets were eerie and quiet, with the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant hoot of an owl the only breaking of silence. At the heart of this ghostly town stood, The Echo House Chamber of Illusions, a towering structure of glass and black steel cladding that seemed to warp and distort in the mist this dark evening. Its countless, multifaceted windows reflected the distorted and twisted image of the town around it, a grotesque paro...

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“Let’s play a game: Game 2” by Agris Engelis

Submitted to Contest #225

“Hello, Jimmy.” The disgusting puppet human said. “It’s time for the second game.” “I thought there would only be the one.” The thing just smiled. “No, my boy, that was just the trial.” As he said that, he snapped his fingers and my surroundings changed. “Welcome to the second game.” Around me I saw multiple mirrors spawn in one after another. “Compared to the previous ‘trial’ game, this will be less painful.” He said, then smirked. “But there’s a chance you’ll never leave this place.” I looked at the mirrors, studying the infinite number of...

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“Self Portrait of a True Artist” by B. D. Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #225

Brush on canvas, draft pencil and paint strokes to define shape and tone... A piece of artwork certainly. Disgustingly, not art. I wasn't an art college undergraduate anymore. Back then I was young, naïve, ignorant and pathetic - a life yet to be lived and a person still to be defined. She had been moulded by societal indoctrination, and an education system contrived by a patriarchal government determined to keep her sick and stupid. I was not that woman, for years of misery and kindness had crafted within my form something and som...

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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

106

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 24, 2023 EST

Won by Olivier Breuleux 🏆

Title: The Day Alfred Googled Himself

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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