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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

“New Year, Clean Slate” by Madison Taylor

Submitted to Contest #231

I probably cursed my New Year when I counted down to midnight at 11:32, 12:07, and 3:26. I was too drunk to worry about luck, and my friends and I were only trying to make each of our Uber drivers feel included in the holiday. Regardless of good intentions, I woke up to an alarm announcing “Note to self: this will be the year you get divorced.” There was no question where this plan had initiated. Everyone had discussed New Year’s resolutions the night before at the house party...

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“The Resolutions” by Benjamin Rice

Submitted to Contest #231

The alarm jolted the man back into reality again this morning. He summoned the willpower he had mustered and reached over to punch at his phone to silence it for the final time this morning. He swung his legs off the bed and forced himself to stand. Resolution number one: Get to bed at a reasonable time so that he could wake at a reasonable time. Resolution number two: Make his bed as soon as possible so that he would not be so tempted to crawl back into its safety. With the bed made, he padded off to the kitchen to start some coffee. He c...

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“Resolutions ” by Dina Lyuber

Submitted to Contest #231

Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Wake up earlier. Frankie woke up with the afternoon sunlight in her eyes. The room smelled of dust and sweat and old fried chicken. It was one thirty in the afternoon on January first. Frankie had gone to bed at half-past three. Not because she’d gone out. She was new in the city and had no friends here yet, and hated parties and wouldn’t have gone to a New Year’s party even if she had been invited to one – which she hadn’t been.No, she’d spent New Year’s Eve alone in her half-furnished studio eating spicy Kor...

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“New Beginnings” by Karen Snell

Submitted to Contest #231

Word count: 2, 657 New Beginnings It’s easier to start a story than to finish one. The gringa washing clothes in the river reaches over her pregnant stomach to the basket with one of her daughter’s little dresses and holds it up to the sun. Now it’s faded and almost too small for her daughter, Karina. Over a year ago she bought the dress for Karina’s first birthday. It was bright orange. When she washed the dress for the first time, the orange dye bled into the river. That was when J...

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“New versions of me ” by Lina Ja

Submitted to Contest #231

She would go up to people, which used to scare her. She would be the light of the party. But she failed to live up to her ideal self because of her past. She thought she could have just left it behind. But then, when luck was just around the corner, she clung to the pain. She purposely destroyed her new self. This is a story of pain and hope, of crushed dreams and new hopes in the dark. Of bullying and friendships, being your own cheerleader and your worst enemy. In school, I was bullied. Very badly, in fact. I only realized this as ...

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“A Night to Remember” by Andre LeFosse

Submitted to Contest #231

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. If you could please take your seats, we will begin with the main purpose of our dinner tonight, the lifetime recognition of Jeffrey P Element and all of the work that he has done for our community.” A round of applause erupted from the hundred or so guests of the small banquet hall. Jeff sat at his table, stoic, glass of coke and a cup of coffee in front of him. He didn’t look miserable, but he wasn’t happy either. Coffee wasn’t served yet, at least for anyone else, but since this was Jeff’s big...

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“Serving Soup at the Mission” by Hope Linter

Submitted to Contest #231

I adjusted the new name tag my ten-year-old niece had made to replace my discreet Outreach Gospel Mission one and stirred the huge old blackened vat of soup. A diminutive woman who seemed familiar but I couldn’t place disappeared behind Leonard in the lunch line-up. Bending my head, I inhaled the fragrant aroma of the vegetables, potatoes and onions I’d diced along with the pearl barley I’d added in to make up for the lack of meat. The woman reemerged into view, looking down at her battered granny shoes, and I considered if she was who I was...

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“It Is Like Being Back in High School Once Again” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #231

Planning to make a change in my life is like being back in high school once again, which for me is not a very good thing. Those were not especially enjoyable years for me. So much of life in those years made me nervous, boys in gym class laughing at my skinny legs and girls generally, especially when they peeked into the boys’ gym and looked and laughed at my legs. I was glad when I graduated and headed on to university, where I met my eventual wife and got my career started. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, and I have ...

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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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