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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

“The Tower of A-to-Z” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #225

Amun Quetzalcoatl Baal Zeus Bridger, the richest man in the world – probably; it was difficult to get an accurate count of all the pies he was fingering – was not used to being dumped by text message. Indeed, he wasn’t used to any text messages that his family and friends weren’t contractually obligated to send. He handed his phone to his least unfavourite personal assistant, something-something Chen. “What’s that say?” Chen sprang into action and immediately hesitated, the message stopping him cold. “It says, ‘I’m dumping you.’” Amun nodded...

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“Galerie des Glaces” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #225

**** themes of violence *****1681, Versaille, France.Maestro La Motta saw his dead father walking toward him through the arched alcove, and pure terror washed through him. Had his Father has come across the world to haunt him, to torment him for destroying his legacy? Workmen’s voices shouted in French and in German outside the open windows of the long hallway. When he heard the vibrant tones of his own language, Venetian, La Motta looked out to see his two apprentices, the only people he could still trust in this foreign city.&nbs...

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“Love Songs for the Deaf” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #225

Monday I can paint anyone and make them look good. Except myself. Why this is the case remains a mystery to me. Right now, for example, I’m studying my jawl...

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“Bones” by Noa Garcia

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #225

The newborn skull is made up of 5 bones.By adulthood, it is 22, the face 14.If I were to build a human, I would begin with the skull (occipital, parietals, ethmoidal, etc. etc.). I would build down the spine in individual pieces. I would create a nasal cavity wide and straight enough to breathe through, a cranium large enough to house the brain.But, sitting in front of a linoleum block which is sitting on a chalkboard desk which is sitting on Maine soil on the planet Earth, I am acutely aware that I can not begin from the inside-out of the h...

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“Reflections on Popular Literature” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #225

[TW: fictional book burning]If a ticking bomb under the table propels a plot forward, so too will a deadline on the wall spur the creation of literary excellence, Keith Highfield thought as he signed the death warrant of the Highfield Library. The intricate interplay between danger and creativity is a delicate balancing act.After The Hobbit was published, J. R. R. Tolkien spent 15 years writing the Lord of the Rings. Keith would give himself the same amount of time to complete his own novel, High Tower. At the offices of his family’s le...

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“Maeve in the Mirror ” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #225

Trigger warning for eating disorder themes, self harm, mental health Maeve’s heart was still racing from her run when she pulled down her shorts and let them slide to the floor. Kicking them aside, she lifted her t-shirt over her head and dropped it next to the shorts. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before turning to face the full length mirror.Maeve let out her breath slowly as she opened one eye, and then the other. She glared at the reflection in front of her, scanning from top to bottom. Her bright red face and sweaty temple...

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“Oil and Water” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #225

The scrutiny of the gallery guard weighed on Spencer like a wet dressing gown. He’d felt watched since he pushed through the heavy doors into the guard’s peacefully unvisited room. Spencer was tired from his unplanned journey and thought that the gallery of the unfamiliar town might offer sanctuary. A place where he could clear his head sufficiently to be able to plan his next move. He had ignored the guard who lingered near a door-sized slab of a painting on the right wall of the gallery. He had turned immediately to the left wall a...

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“No Refunds, No Exceptions” by Zach Emory

Submitted to Contest #225

As I wandered along the narrow street, a weathered, wooden sign with the word “Antiques” painted in red caught my attention. I stepped into the dimly lit shop, and the floorboards creaked, announcing my presence. At the entrance, a very strange man stood behind a thick table serving as a workbench. He looked like a cliché. He was wearing a tall top hat with a red ribbon, a dusty black jacket, and he had a stuffed raven sitting on his shoulder. The man was working on some sort of device or appliance, but I couldn’t make out what it was. Par...

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“Imaginary Space ” by Waaa Intresting

Submitted to Contest #225

It gazes at me, across the reflective surface, a twin that stares at me. Mirroring the gaze, I have on others when they turn around and walk off. Gaze where it's just ever so subtle they can feel my stare, almost unconsciously they will turn around, but ever so knowingly, my eyes have pre-emptively shifted elsewhere. The lake lies eerily still, more than it was before at least, that figure wore an expression foreign to my understanding, yet that gaze was eliciting the most alarm. I paralyzed, yet in the imaginary space between me and him, th...

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“Of All the Places” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #225

Of All the Places I have been very aware that I was adopted since I was ten. The meanest boy on the school bus loved to torture me just because I was the bus driver's daughter. The following day, after being assigned to the front seat across from mine, Andrew boarded with a huge grudge and the boasting of his nastier mother. As the door closed, his mother screamed, "You know what you must do." When the bus pulled from the stop, he shouted, "She's not your mother. You're adopted. Your real mother didn't want you." My mother tried to defuse th...

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“Looks Just Like Me” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #225

“Describe the shape of his face for me.”“Just like mine, mate.”“So, round?”“Is it? Well, I haven’t been working out a lot lately, so..”“..Describe his hair, please.”“Just like mine, mate.”“Thinning brown with grey roots?”“Oy! I’m younger than I look.”“Length?”“Like mine.”“That’s thinning brown with grey roots just below the ears, and with fluffy greying neck hair.”“I’m overdue a visit to me barber.”“Any bald spots?”“Nuh, Just like me. Hair still on me bonce.”“Can you lean forward just a little, please, Mr. Williams? Thank you. Okay. Note: Sm...

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“The Lost Looking Glass of Peter Pan” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #225

The Lost Looking Glass of Peter PanStrange forces were at work. The loadstone of the human mind is more mysterious, and just as powerful, as the irresistible attraction the little needle on your compass has for the land far to the North. Henry had walked this way a thousand times, but today he was swept through the front door of Trudy’s Treasures as if he were on autopilot. No thought, just feet slowly shuffling their way along the worn wooden floor through a menagerie of peculiar objects perceived by someone to have outlived their usefulnes...

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“Mirror Mirror” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #225

I stumble out of “Pete’s Blue Bird Bar and Grill,” where I’ve had my usual nightly meal along with two pitchers of beer. Swaying slightly on the sidewalk, I light a cigarette. A cool wind whips around me. I shiver and flip up my collar. I exhale a stream of smoke into a starless sky, for they are hidden behind a wall of rain clouds. “I think I’d better hurry home to my empty apartment before it rains on my empty life.” I chuckle. Raising my finger, I pronounce, “But first, to the package store for my favor...

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“Remake” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #225

Chelsea Bonifade was a dirty-blonde, hazel-eyed, nervous wreck. There was no Shakespearian way to put it; a sneeze had the girl run for cover like a live grenade was tossed in her direction. She found solace in books, and yet she would see a library as too crowded for her comfort. If being an introvert could be mathematically cubed in real life, it would be her. A hall of mirrors stood before her, each one illuminated by a light inserted into the ceiling. At the behest of her date, promising that this would help with her anxiety and ne...

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“The Man in the Mirrors” by Nic Azad

Submitted to Contest #225

**Trigger warning: this story contains depictions of mental health and physical violence that some readers may find unsettling. Reader discretion is advised. Detective Harley spun around, right hand moving instinctively to his hip. He could have sworn the sound of footfalls had come from just over his shoulder. His 180 complete, the Detective's eyes alighted on nothing save for his reflection, which seemed to stretch on indefinitely down the three mirror-lined hallways. "Damnit, Franklin!" he screamed, "Where are you?" Steeling himself, ...

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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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