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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

“84th Street ” by Gregory Mokarry

Submitted to Contest #230

The woman, Elizabeth, sat at the table by the kitchen window holding a cup of coffee that had gone cold some time ago. She was waiting for her daughter to come home with her husband and the baby. She stared out at the street without seeing the traffic passing by on 84th street, trying to remember where Alison told her she was going. Despite her young age, she was only 53, Elizabeth was beginning to worry about the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her memory had become suspect lately, especially when Alison was out for long periods of tim...

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“A Royal Hall's Night” by Jorge Soto

Submitted to Contest #230

The Dutchess came whirling around the kitchen table with a plate in hand. She slid her slender frame gracefully between the two already seated members of the fort, setting the glass plate down on some pillowed furniture in front of her. She brushed some fallen crumbs rapidly off of the prized victorian cushions, which were fashioned into a makeshift flooring for the palace. “The tea will just be a moment darlings, then we’re all set.” She reported, while simultaneously tussling the coffee brown curls of the young princess by her side. T...

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“Did you hear the latest buzz?” by Eric Orihara

Submitted to Contest #230

April 12th, 1994 A lady works on Pig Street, day and night keeping her clients satisfied and helping them with their confidence and self esteem. Lately, it seems that she had taken a liking to one of her clients. She’s been seen walking all the way to Tail Avenue with said client at very late hours of the evening. The client seems to be a well-known influencer on social media, and the two must have hit it off when talking about their shared interests. This affair of theirs seems to be going steady, onlookers tell me that they’ve had d...

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“Sometimes Love Is Enough” by Billy Green

Submitted to Contest #230

Jon ‘Jon? Jon? Can you hear me, Jon?’ Someone was speaking to me, battling against the busker’s song carried on the wind off the Thames. I opened one eye then the other, but closed it again when the blood stung, and I gagged when a coppery trace reached my mouth. I panicked then, tried to sit upright. The paramedic pushed me back down flat with a single hand – I was weak, I didn’t resist. I tilted ...

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“Tragedy of the Painter” by Isaac Lovett

Submitted to Contest #230

Sam walked from the store to his home as the sun began to set, determined to make the most of the rest of his day, despite his last few months of failure. He had spent what was remaining of the little money he had on supplies and some simple meals to get him through the week. On his way through town, he was rarely stopped and spoke to no one. At times he felt maybe the strangers could sense that he was a good-for-nothing. That he had no money to beg for, or nothing useful to offer. But maybe that was his only imagination. On the last...

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“Haven't You Ever Wondered?” by Ben Battles

Submitted to Contest #230

“I’m glad we could catch up, but you said there were two questions you wanted to ask me?” He sipped his coffee, holding it in one hand, and then leaned back against the booth.“Yeah- yeah, I reached out because I have an opportunity you might be interested in,” shyly she looked down into her cup before returning his gaze. “Given our shared background I thought you might find it exciting.”“Ooo, so it’s a techy thing? Is this something from your work?”“Yeah, it's related to the project I’m on.”“Am I being vetted for a job? Do they need some dat...

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“Where's Todd?” by Shy Jenkins

Submitted to Contest #230

The air felt strange and I couldn’t figure out why. I looked around. Where was Todd? I hopped off the bed and then ran down the hall and into the bathroom. Todd would go in there every morning. But there was no Todd. I ran into the office where Todd likes to yell at his computer screen, but he wasn’t there either. Was he lost? Was he hurt somewhere? I ran back into the bedroom, because maybe I didn’t look hard enough the first time. Sometimes Todd hid behind the door just to scare me if I walked past. I slowly peaked behind the bedroom door,...

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“Murder party” by Ethan Garway

Submitted to Contest #230

Jack was sound asleep in his bed until his phone started buzzing. "Brrrr. Brrrrrr. Brrrr!" he groaned. "What do you want? It's midnight. Let me sleep," he grumbled as he checked his phone. It was Mike inviting him to a murder party and offering a cash prize of $10,000 for guessing the killer precisely. Jack agreed to join and arrived at the party 20 minutes late. "Hey Mike, I'm here for the party!" I exclaimed as I walked into the door. "Oh, here you are. Come in, come in. We've got a lot to catch up on," Mike replied warmly. "Like what? I'm...

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“Initiation ” by Heather Henderson

Submitted to Contest #230

[Contains sensitive description] They’d blindfolded me, tied a silk scarf over my eyes and promised to return. I was left alone in nothing but darkness, nothing but the black shadows of an unknown whereabouts. And, after the first few days, I had felt strong. I knew I could continue. A resilience had grown in me – a deep resilience which relied on nothing. Without my visual awareness, I had mostly lost the use of my hands and legs, too. But I’d kept the blindfold on voluntarily, veering up against the darkness and trying to claim it as...

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“WITH(OUT)” by David King

Submitted to Contest #230

My eyes widened. But only as much as anyone’s eyes could upon first waking up. A curtain must have been pulled back. Maybe two. The rays that found their way in through the large window on the left wall forced my eyes into a hard squint. My bottom eyelids pinched up by my cheek. My ears had adjusted to the silence. A sound foreign to me. It went from eerie to tranquil, holding my quavering bones still. And then the full focus of my eyes reeled in to capture my environment. There was a light atmosphere in the room. One so positive, I would’ve...

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“Keys and a Folded Sweater” by Ariana Gregovich

Submitted to Contest #230

Home at last. Work today was busier than usual, which means more complaints from ignorant customers. They most likely haven’t worked retail a day in their privileged lives. I also had to go with my dad to pick out some flowers for my mom and sister. I'm home now, but I have places to be, and can't stay too long, I only have a few minutes at best. I place my keys and wallet onto the table right next to the front door, then slide off my shoes. I rub the soles of my feet, and wince in pain. God, I hate heels. Hanging my jacket up onto the...

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“WIRED” by Michael Markoff

Submitted to Contest #230

Julie had never seen anything like it. A bloody mess, as her engineer father would say. There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the mechanism as if it was deliberately constructed to confuse anyone with a sense of logic and precision. That was her initial impression, the reflexive “Holy shit” muttered before she could head it off. The team was within earshot and she didn’t need anything to undermine their tenuous confidence in her. They were nervous enough as it was. She rotated her head enough to see the group of men exchanging anxiou...

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“Frosty” by Frankenwayne Frankenwayne

Submitted to Contest #230

Frosty The small town had been blanketed heavily by snow during the night. You could feel the excitement in the air when all the neighborhood kids heard the news, "No school today!" My wife and I got the kids all dressed up, then turned them loose to play in the snow. There was still a dark layer of clouds, that looked like it would snow again any minute now. We closed the door and headed for that first cup of coffee. Most the neighborhood kids were in our front yard rolling up snow for a snowman. "Hey John." A br...

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“Philip's Family” by JJ Piggott

Submitted to Contest #230

** This story contains sensitive content (mental health, trauma, violence), one use of strong language. It was time we got out of the house. I proposed that we go fishing at the old spot my father used to take me when I was younger. It was the perfect outing to spend quality family time together. Just me, Julia, Allie, and Leo. Julia told me from the start after picking Allie up from the camp that we’d need to spend as much quality time together as we could before she’d move on. I didn’t know if she was talking about college or not. Allie ...

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“Johnny & Mary” by Savannah Campbell

Submitted to Contest #230

A click and snap of a ballpoint pen brings Johnny’s attention forward and away from the window. A small stream of light tries to sneak through the space between the blind and the sill. “How has today been so far?” The older man asks, a hand hovering his papers, ready to write. “Did they tell you to ask me first?” Johnny’s voice has a touch of edge to it, “The people planning the end of the world know ...

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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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