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#233: Dry January

Like many of my friends, I'm participating in Dry January this year. After the end-of-year indulgences (which, alongside many enjoyable beverages, included far too many forms of potato), spending a month abstaining from drinking feels well overdue. May as well slay one dragon at a time, right?

With that in mind, this week's prompts are inspired by Dry January, and other challenges of endurance — whether taken on by choice, or by chance.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Character – 33 stories

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Character – 49 stories

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Narrative – 49 stories

Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Fluff – 61 stories

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Dramatic – 38 stories

Stories

“ONCE UPON A TIME IN LABARCA” by Jolanta Polk

Submitted to Contest #233

Labarca had never been more than a one-lane hamlet with three dozen houses slouching like dozing hens in a coop. The valley cradling the village was surrounded by hills overgrown by ferns, imported Oregon pines, Australian eucalyptuses, and native espinos—low, prickly bushes speckled with duck-yellow flowers that stole threads from trespassers’ clothing. The place smelled of oblivion, and the winding roads leading there were so little used that thistles, nettles, and dandelion sprouted between the ruts.Labarcans lived on acre plots and their...

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“Dear Journal, I might Go Crazy ” by Caitlin Morris

Submitted to Contest #233

Day One Dear diary, Writing out the words “dear diary” makes me feel like a little kid. I haven’t journaled like this since I was young though, so it doesn’t feel completely strange to start up where I left off. Except now, I am an adult, tracking a personal challenge for myself in this notebook that I’ve had sitting on my bookshelf for the last couple of years. It’s time to put it to good use. Anyway, I’m going to try to stay off of my phone for an entire month. It sounds nearly impossible, but I know I can do it if I work really...

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“INFERNO” by Kacie Foos

Submitted to Contest #233

I was driving my 1933 Indian Four up Topanga Canyon. It was about seven o’clock in the evening and the weather was sweet. The Santa Ana winds had been keeping the end of this hot summer a cool seventy-degrees and life was good. The sound of my engine made me feel alive. This year I had turned fifty and I was facing the last half of my life in a great place. I had an amazing wife, enjoying early retirement from selling my business, and two amazing sons that brought joy to my life. I was genuinely happy. As turned into a tight corner of t...

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“Home Cooking” by Joseph Manopello

Submitted to Contest #233

Jan 1, 2024 - Primary resolution: a home-cooked dinner for every night in January. I live on unhealthy fast food, expensive ready-made meals from the grocery store, or nothing at all far too often. I hate that trite language, like "new year, new you!" Yet, this year will be different. A month of healthy, tasty, home-cooked meals is just what I need to kick off the year right - I'll save money and look and feel a whole lot better. Other resolutions: lose 40 pounds, quit all drinking, read one book per week, and make more money. Dinner tonig...

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“November” by Madison Swann

Submitted to Contest #233

Anders was a quiet man, someone you had to look at twice to remember he was there. Although he was of great stature and had hair that mirrored a heavenly glow, his eyes were solemn, sleepless, and hollow. One didn’t look Anders too long in the eye, to avoid the chill his gaze would pierce into the soul. It would happen so quickly, you could feel where in your body your soul chose to hide. There was one thing this man of mystery truly hid, and that was that he was a vampire. He wasn’t the sort to go prowling in the night or feast on lonely w...

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“Wine Wednesday” by Elli Price

Submitted to Contest #233

“I am not over-reacting!” Edie screamed as she smashed the golf club into Dean’s shoulder. He yelped in pain and retreated behind the couch, holding a cushion with a happy yellow duck on it up as a shield. “Hon, stop! You’re going mental!” he cried. “I am not mental!” she shouted, bringing the golf club down on the ugly lamp he had brought home from that boys weekend last year. Damn, she hated that lamp. “You stop!” “How about you just put the four-iron down and we can talk about this,” he said in a conciliatory tone. He peeked out around ...

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“Day One ” by K.A. Murray

Submitted to Contest #233

Day 1 My sisters and I are doing Dry January this year. This was not my idea. In fact, full disclosure, Day 1 is already a bust. I was doing shots after midnight, and then when I woke up I finished the beer on my bedtime table. But that was before I even realized what day it was. It was my younger sister Genevieve’s idea to do this, and she got Lill and Jane on board, a few days before New Year’s Eve. We were all at Mom’s house, celebrating her birthday (December 27) - usually for Mom’s birthday we congregate at home with her for dinne...

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“O For April” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #233

Coming out of a successful spring training camp, the Detroit Tigers seemed primed to finish in first place. Then their ace, Pickles Primeau, fell down a flight of stairs while taking out the trash, tearing his ACL. In his first at-bat of the season, the team’s best hitter, Perdido Morales, slid into second, breaking his ankle. Good things come in threes and the Tigers soon found out the same is true of bad events as well. Rip Robbins, the previous season’s home run champ and a rabid rapper, announced his retirement to become a full-time mu...

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“Pray for Rain” by Laura Rayne

Submitted to Contest #233

Another clear sky. Ezekiel stood on the threshold of the door and he could damn near weep at the sight of it. When he came to this godforsaken land to claim his 160 acres of American Dream, he never imagined the sky would make him cry. But 38 days without rain will do that to a man. They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and these were as dire as they come. Stepping out onto the dry ground, he reached down and patted the flank of his old bloodhound. “Come on Beau.” It would kill him to say goodbye...

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“The End of the Drought” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #233

Implied nudity and consensual relationship. Enjoy.How to end a drought.Play the game.The warm-up.Each business trip is different, of course. Sometimes, she gets invited to dinner the evening before. Usually not. Sometimes she stays in her hotel room, feasting on room service selections and anything on the Hallmark Channel. Other times, she'll research where to eat, finding local specialties.When she's out by herself, invariably someone will ask if he can join her. Often, she will say yes and enjoy the conversation and light flirtation. Occas...

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“Zone Defense” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #233

The boos cascaded like rushing rapids onto the blond hardwood. They splashed back up, wave-like into Jimmy’s mouth and nostrils, damn near wetting his hair already coated with sweat. The boos were for him. All him. Damn, I love this game, he thought. &n...

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“The Dry Realization ” by Jenna Shuck

Submitted to Contest #233

“It’s just one drink” I thought to myself. I stared down at a text message from my best friend, Isabelle, asking me to go out with her to our favorite Mexican restaurant for margaritas. We usually made it a point to go out for drinks most weekends, which is why it was really tempting to leave my apartment and rush to meet her. But, it was January 1st. Damnit. I promised myself that my New Year’s resolution this year was to stay sober in January. I wanted to prove that I could go an entire month without alcohol, as painful as that sounde...

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“The Drought” by Anne Perry

Submitted to Contest #233

The Drought I. One hot, dry day and all the blossoms are gone, Louise thought, bending over her gardenia bush to pick off all of the buds that had withered in her absence. There had been thirty or more on the bush, ready to open up any day. Now there weren’t any. She’d picked the last of the open flowers to wear in her hair at the gallery opening for her friend’s exhibit. Irene was always producing new work that interested the galleries. It had been a long time since Louise had had a success. Then there was the matter of her fish. He h...

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“To Wish Upon A Fairy” by Vivacity Rex

Submitted to Contest #233

Millie sat at the rim of the darkened cottage, the scent of peat fire churning in dense ringlets around her. In the center of the chamber, circling the cooking fire were the elders. They called a gathering to confer over what should be done to save the season's yield of grain. “It has already been months of no rain, the harvests will not endure much longer.” A female said, anxiety lacing each word. “We can have the youths collect water from the creek.” Said a male. “That may work, albeit challenging. Others would need...

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“My thirty-day challenge” by Sasan Sedighi

Submitted to Contest #233

Day -1 A day before the challenge begins. Dear Diary, Tomorrow will be the first day of my month-long challenge that I have planned for weeks. I have set a goal to wake up at 5 a.m. every morning and write a thousand words toward finishing the first draft of my romance novel. Over the past few weeks, I was torn between a few equally fascinating writing prompts, but I ultimately settled on one with the title 'A Dance in the Moonlight.' Since I usually stay up late, waking up early every morning is challenging. This will require a signific...

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$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

78

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 19, 2024 EST

Won by Ariana Tibi 🏆

Title: Vegan Hamburgers

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.

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