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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#231: A New Leaf

The year is almost over, and a new one begins in just a few days. With that comes the traditional time of reflection, and of projection. As well as looking back over the year that's just passed, we're looking ahead to a next — and even the most cynical among us have to admit there's something pretty exciting about that.

A new year is an opportunity for self-improvement, exploration, and even complete reinvention. This week's prompts are all in that vein; characters who are all looking for a fresh start, in one way or another.

This week's prompts

Write a story in the form of a list of New Year's resolutions.

Adults – 54 stories

Write about a character who has reinvented themselves, but realizes it's not always easy to outrun your past.

Character – 62 stories

Write a story about hope.

Short Story – 78 stories

Write about someone trying something completely new.

Character – 34 stories

Set your story on New Year's Day.

Holiday – 50 stories

Stories

“Working Class Dogs” by Jack Sutherland

Submitted to Contest #231

Sammy started to climb. The frame was only a metre tall but to him, it felt like a mile. He took his position by holding onto two plastic rocks and planting one of his feet on the other. At last, he left the red mulch beneath him. Across the back of his Transformers t-shirt, the sun licked his back. Its touch was hot and every time Sammy’s fingers grazed the metal sheet holding the green plastic rocks his fingers pulled back as fast as the chickens in the coop when he wanted to pick them up. Eventually, he wrapped his fingers around the yell...

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“The Golem’s Run” by Arthur An

Submitted to Contest #231

It was the furthest north they had ever been. Far from the Josefov Ghetto of Prague where a golem could receive the daily blessing from a rabbi required to sustain the soundness of the materials and ethos which makes up his body. Sela, who had no such benediction for three days, started to notice the crumbling of his toes and cracking on his ears. “There.” Barzel pointed to a gloomy silhouette of a lowhung roof under which faint yellow reluctantly shone through the windows. She wrapped her hand around Sela’s thick fingers and led him...

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“My Transformational Resolution That Gave Me Life” by Ashi Olshan

Submitted to Contest #231

I had always taken for granted the fact that I had enormous wealth that would never dry up. I was born into it, lived with it all my life - for better and worse - and had no clue about what it might feel like to be poor. Nor did I worry about poverty becoming an issue that I'd ever have to deal with.I believed myself to be a generous man with my help and the 6,036 employees of our pharmaceutical company. I did not see myself as being bigoted on any level, other than the usual defensive poor vs. rich separation that great wealth naturally cre...

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“Remoras” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #231

(Contains violence and some swearing.)The pub has a hierarchy and those higher up are always served first, get the best booze, get the best food.At the very top of the pyramid is Tank – a hard name for a man as hard as nails. He has his own table in a corner. A stranger tried to sit at it once and gave Tank a bit of lip; they found him in the alley out back later, his guts holed like a colander. That’s Tank’s preferred weapon: the knife. He has a favourite one he calls ‘Lucille’, like BB King’s guitars. He uses it on his steaks, slicing thro...

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“Destiny's Call” by Grace Morning

Submitted to Contest #231

“Hey, Carla” a gravelly voice greets from behind. As she finishes swiping her card through the time clock, Carla turns toward the direction of her name and sees Vicki digging through the bag barely hanging onto her shoulder, her keys jangling wildly, as she stood in the middle of the hallway, blocking Carla’s path toward the elevator. “Shit, I do this every morning” she says as she coughs. “Can’t find your badge?” Carla asks. “Fuck no! Even though it was right here when I tossed the damn bag in the car.” “You don’t think...

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“Baby Teeth” by Renata Jones

Submitted to Contest #231

TW: mental health and physical harm“As we expand into the Northwest division in Q3, we anticipate grabbing 15% of market share by…”Jeff’s looked attentive and nodded at the right times, but his consciousness walked down an alley he’d known as a boy, just enough porchlight to see the way forward. Crickets chirped. He looked up to the Milky Way and-“Jeff, what are your thoughts?”He blinked the stars away and monologued for a few minutes about why the expansion was a good idea. His boss’ frozen face slowly ratcheted into an expression of jubila...

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“New Year, New Me” by S.d. Schwarz

Submitted to Contest #231

Day fourteen of sobriety. Cheers to the two week mark. The bartender with a shiny head and gray beard pours tequila in two small shot glasses rimmed with thick layers of crystalized salt. He aggressively jams a lime slice on the lip of each before pushing them over the gray marble counter to Elijah and his girlfriend, Lupita. “Sure you’re not gonna take one?” Lupita asks, instantly grabbing her shot and bringing it to her tomato-red lips. “I think you need it more than anyone.” “Ay, chill Mami.” Elijah’s muddy brown eyes follow t...

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“Like I Have No Face” by Ian McKenna

Submitted to Contest #231

I eat and that’s me. The cocktail shrimp tastes like wet sticks, and I swallow it. The crackers, tasteless, damned by salt, dry my mouth. Cold and dead things; I eat and that’s normal of me. I stand amongst lifelong friends I’ve seen just today. Murky faces I talk and act to like I adore them. Lapses in normality or common gestures I quickly blame on the vomit tasting Chardonnay. I play and convince others of myself. Therefore, this new self must surely be me. “You know what, Gary? You remind me of one of those gloomy, handsome hero...

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“Once Upon a Star” by C.N. Jung

Submitted to Contest #231

When Adam was twelve, he was a Little League star pitcher. At fourteen, he was accepted onto an All Stars team, playing with the best of the best.At sixteen, he was hit in the face by a ninety-mile-an-hour beaner.The doctors told him that there was bleeding in his brain. They looked him in the face and told him that if he didn’t take a break and if he didn’t stop playing, he could put himself in a coma.Adam didn’t listen, and the doctors were proven right. He played himself right into a three-month slumber.When he woke up, everything he love...

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“Margaret Fraizer - A Memoir in Progress” by Jerie Clowes

Submitted to Contest #231

Margaret Fraizer sat in the old weathered Adirondack chair on the beach in front of her cottage at the eastern end of Long Island. Bundled up against the frigid wind of mid-November blowing in off of Long Island Sound, she sat silently watching the sun setting in the western sky casting its purples and pinks and oranges across the sky. A smile crossed her lips when she heard the crunch of footsteps on the frozen sand approaching. “Mags” a male voice called out. “Richard, you made it.” “Why do you insist on dragging these chairs so far ...

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“Dead Coyotes” by Dan Mullen

Submitted to Contest #231

She twisted the top off a bottle of beer and placed it in front of a soft, ruddy-faced man. The bottle landed with a hollow clunk on the whiskey-stained bar. Gabi noticed the oversized Hawaiian shirt and thought the man looked out of place. “Don’t think I’ve seen you before,” said Gabi, smiling warmly. In the year she had been tending bar she had become good at warm smiles. It helped with the tips even if it didn’t come naturally. When she wasn’t chasing her dream, Gabi had little to smile about. “My wife and I are meeting someone,” ...

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“A Quiet Winter” by Dwayne W

Submitted to Contest #231

Eran was standing on the roof of the tower that was his office building, listening to the saddest song he could think of as he prepared to walk off the edge. Komm Süsser Tod or Come Sweet Death, a song that he heard in an anime when he was a teen. He heard the door open under music behind him as he climbed onto the edge, followed by the sound of supplies dropping, like someone clearing the top of a desk in one swoop. He turned around to see a woman standing frozen, staring. He gave her a smirk and returned to his action. Eran had barely...

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“Alchemy” by Sara Whisler

Submitted to Contest #231

The quarter sized hole in the window allowed each season to seep into the workshop. Ellie could have easily repaired the glass, but she hadn’t. The glass cracked more each year, though it had yet to break loose from the frame. The frost encouraged the hairline fractures to grow and deepen, cracking like thin ice. Each year couples and new families spent their summer holidays on the island. They rented cabins along the beach, took tours of the lighthouse, and came to Ellie’s workshop. They would leave the island with a sunburn and a glass blo...

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“This time, ‘Gentlemen first, Please’” by Riya Narula

Submitted to Contest #231

People come to you only when they want something from you. Aren’t you tired of this greed, God? One day I’ll do something for you too once my duties for my family are fulfilled for their sacrifices need to be rewarded first. You’re the most powerful and I can’t do much for you, but you take care of my family and I’ll take care of you. I want to do something for God who gives to everyone..’’ innocent little Aurora lived her life on this promise.Who knew God would say, “Bring back my Boys!”This promise ran in Aurora’s blood her entire childhoo...

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“Hope” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #231

Hope On my desk lay the file of Michael Headstone, a new recruit that had recently joined our magazine empire. I quickly read his engagement summary. Recruited from Cambridge, Honors in English literature, 24 years old, single, first job, born in Taunton. I picked up the intercom and asked my assistant, Margaret, to ask Headstone to come and see me. Ten minutes later he sat before me. He was a tall young man with blue eyes, a generous mouth and freckles on his face. His long ginger hair was swept back from his forehead and tied in a ponytail...

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$250

Prize money

278

Contest entries

109

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 05, 2024 EST

Won by Mary Lynne Schuster 🏆

Title: No Junior League

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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