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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#230: In a Flash

I’ve been reading a lot of flash fiction recently. It’s a great format for close study, as its compression forces writers to question the function of every sentence.

Since there are many lessons to be learned from reading, writing, and thinking about flash fiction, I thought we could make it the focus of this week’s contest. To be clear, this contest accepts stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words, but this week, I’m inviting you to try and stay as close to the lower limit as you can. Our usual word count range is still the official guideline, and stories that are closer to 3,000 words will not be disqualified — but I hope that with flash stories in mind, you’ll feel inspired to be as economical with language as possible.

Not sure how to begin? Check out our best tips for writing flash fiction.

This week's prompts

Write a story framed by a single scene: something happens, a flashback or inner monologue intervenes, and then the story ends with the rest of the original scene.

Narrative – 90 stories

Write a story in which a character achieves a new level of clarity about how they’re really feeling.

Character – 57 stories

Start your story with someone uttering a very strange sentence.

Dialogue – 52 stories

Write a story that hides something from its reader until the very end.

Mystery – 101 stories

Write a story in the form of a list.

Narrative – 62 stories

Stories

“The Red Line” by Emily Lozano

Submitted to Contest #230

TW: Child abuse The Red Line The little girl on the Red Line train is crying as silently as an 8 year old, with years of practice, can. What had been screeches a moment before have been slapped down to mewling noises and sniffles. That slap having been delivered by her mother. The other riders scattered throughout the car ignore this weeping girl, as is polite. How a person raises their child is none of our business. This is covered in the unspoken contract of public transportation. Roxie generally complies with these terms but on oc...

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“The Scream of Life” by Gaby Roberts

Submitted to Contest #230

“Push, you can do it Susanne, come on now.” The white fluorescent lights are blinding, the nurses are too loud. Why is it taking them so long to get him out? The eight months felt like eternity, I just wanted my boy in my arms, but still, there's a sense of guilt in me I can’t shake. “Concentrate Susanne, we’re almost there. You’re doing great.” All of those voices are overwhelming me . I can feel all of my muscles contracting and expanding painfully, do all women feel like this? The nurses keep talking and telling me what to do, but I'...

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“One Single Tear” by Val Nom

Submitted to Contest #230

I looked at my phone’s screen for the 100th time that day, writing and deleting the ‘I’m done.’ text but never brave enough to hit send. He had promised he’d call. What a fool I’d been believing this time he would keep his promise! If I had any self respect left, I’d be ashamed. But I was all out of respect. For me or for us. The phone beeped in my hand and my traitor heart squeezed painfully. It was not him. He’ll text, hours from now when he wakes up, and I can already see his words…sorry babe, fell asleep. And I’ll cave,...

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“Laura” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #230

Laura liked to do to others, how she herself would like to be treated? Today she had taken her new phone to Phone Plus Store off market square. Smiling she entered the store such friendly nice young men these tec guys. What it was to be talented? The world at your finger tips. "Twenty pounds to set up the new phone. Transfer every thing over from the old phone." "Go ahead." Said Laura, the money they would allow her on the old phone, would cover the cost.Smiling Laura left the shop she would pick up some cans of pop and cakes for the tec gu...

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“I am Free.” by Samantha Turrell

Submitted to Contest #230

The skies open up and water surges menacingly on the ground. So perfectly timed with my entrance, it almost feels like a message just for me. The one day that I forgot to bring an umbrella, and the world wants to get smart with me, and impart wisdom on me in a disparaging way. It seemed to be raining quite a bit lately. I open the door to the office and I am met with empty chairs and desks. Silence crept and it was almost eerie, as the typical environment was people bussing around too busy to even stop to have a conversatio...

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“The Tides of My Heart” by Simeon Bingham

Submitted to Contest #230

The first traces of his message came in early spring. I was tending to my garden, tilling the soil. The winter had scarcely gone, but I was eager to get ahead on my work; the sooner the seeds of my herbs were nestled into the ground, the sooner I could restock my apothecary. Then, I heard it.It started as a faint murmur in the wind. I had ignored it as best I could, busying myself with casting growth spells, weaving tapestries of sunlight, completing prayer rituals, and even sacrificing the first lamb of the season. Still, the murmur li...

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“Tandem” by Naomi Brown

Submitted to Contest #230

If I survive… Mollie pushes the morbid thought out of her head. Of course, she will survive. She survived the turbulent sixties when all her friends either got strung out on dope or— literally or figuratively—they lost their heads in Vietnam. She survived her abusive ex-husband slamming her head into the wall so hard it left a nose-shaped dent in the plaster. She survived two C-sections, one that left her hemorrhaging for almost a week. Most recently, she survived Covid, the dreaded plague that claimed the lives of much younger and healthier...

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“Jude” by Isla Iversen

Submitted to Contest #230

I had never believed I was truly deserving of love. I didn't even know the meaning of the word. Love was like weeds growing around my heart. They strangled my lungs and cracked my ribs until all that was left in my chest was a gaping hole. That was until I met Jude. I first met her in a speakeasy in south Manchester. She was wearing a midnight blue pantsuit that fit her perfectly. I was pulled to her through the crowd. I hate that I was too drunk to ask for her name then. She spent the night with me drinking until we couldn't speak. When ...

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“The Shape in the Mist” by Jennifer Newton

Submitted to Contest #230

A low cloud had coiled across a barren landscape with nothing but the black scars of trees and the shed husks of stone to define it. The rolling fog had both graced the weeds and fearfully scattered the light, banishing both shadow and clarity. Then stumbling through came a figure. The wisping cover obscured everything but the vaguest of shapes - humanoid with a limping gait, one arm clutching another as if that was all that was keeping them together. Perhaps it was, for at that moment another thing filled the land to accompany the fog - w...

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“People I like” by Janet Severn

Submitted to Contest #230

I don't like Billy. Billy always says "thank you" to the waiter at the restaurant. After every sentence. What would you like to drink? Just a glass of water, thank you. How would you like your burger cooked? Medium rare, thank you. I think Billy should walk around in a clown suit.I don't like Alec. Alec gives big tips. He understands how hard people in the labor industry work. And he feels he needs to do his part to help them out.I like Ricky. I was walking behind him and he opened the door and just let it close in my face. He knew I was the...

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“An Infestation of Tigers” by Zachary Thomas

Submitted to Contest #230

It was near the city of Jaspur, not twenty miles from the outskirts, where a small village had suddenly found itself infested with tigers. They were not real tigers, of course. For years now, the real tigers could only be found in the wildlife parks. And mostly fallen into history were the sad accounts of people taken while working in the fields or sleeping in their beds. But these tigers–the kind that infested–were not capable of man-eating. Why? Because they were so small.It was believed that they had reached the village by hitchhiking in ...

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“DEFCON 1” by Rodrigo Juatco

Submitted to Contest #230

His finger hovered precariously over a RED BUTTON. Blinking crimson lights and alarm sirens blared in the bunker in a display of utter chaos and madness. It took all his effort to ignore the alarms, the knot in his stomach, the tightness in his chest, as well as the panicked thumping of his heart. He had to remind himself that the Men in Black prepared him for this situation. It was the reason they stationed him to this remote, isolated place. With eyes wide open, he gawked apprehensively at a monitor on a control panel, hoping beyond hope t...

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“Flying Ducks” by Sydney Fisher

Submitted to Contest #230

“Flying ducks, what is this, the zoo?” Margo whispered, her fingers flying across the keyboard of her mobile phone. She was perched carefully on the edge of her desk, back against the wall. Her business partner furrowed his eyebrows and studied her with interest. Margo didn’t curse but even this was taking it a bit far, he felt. Still, Margo tended to be quiet unless she truly had something to say and so he waited for her to continue, silently guessing what she was thinking. Toby waited and waited and still Margo typed away, not acknowledgin...

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“It is Time for Me to Return to my Home Planet” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #230

It is Time for Me to Return to my Home Planet“This world is getting more and more boring, dreary and predictable every day. I think that it is time for me to return to my home planet before I go completely crazy. It couldn’t be any worse there than what we have here. What do you think guys? Should I return? In case anyone of you wonders, I have my means of transportation stored in the back of my garage.”Steve’s bar mates were silent for a few seconds, and then a couple of them started to laugh. One of them asked...

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“True Story” by Jennifer Ballie

Submitted to Contest #230

TRUE STORY By Jennifer Ballie “Once again we have rendered ourselves useless to the night.” Sometimes Simon was so dramatic. Especially when he is preparing for a lead role. I quietly sighed and went back to my set design. He knelt beside me. “Consuming the drink much too early we have empowered ourselves to be incoherently sedentary. As the darkness covers us in its warm embrace, we hope that what lies behind the veil, should it decide to choose us, does so swiftly. For when we wake, alive or dead, I pray we awake in peace.”...

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$250

Prize money

362

Contest entries

108

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 29, 2023 EST

Won by Ethan Zimmerman 🏆

Title: The Lop-it-off-a-me List

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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