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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#236: Retro

Whether you’re generation Tetris, Tamagotchi, or Tomb Raider, I bet there’s some kind of video game or console that reminds you of your childhood. I hope, too, that we all still know of vinyls, cassette and VHS tapes, and floppy disks, even if they’re past their prime.

I’m not usually very sentimental about technology, but there’s something fascinating about obsolete tech. Something nostalgic and sad and full of mystery and untold narrative. In that spirit, let’s pay a visit to our inner attic, dust off some forgotten hardware, and see where it takes us.

🥇 Winner

“Frozen Lemonade” by Jennifer Fremon

🏆 Winner of Contest #236

Trigger warning: Contains underage sexual content, mentions of assaultYou know the movie Dirty Dancing? The one where Baby goes off to that fancy resort with her parents for the summer, and in the beginning she is a good, sweet girl who loves her daddy, and then by the end she is still a good sweet girl who loves her daddy but now she is kinda sexy too and can dance like a pro and is totally in love with that beautiful dance teacher. Why doesn’t anyone talk about how that teacher is clearly much, much older than Baby, and despite Patrick Swa...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Mix Tape” by K.A. Murray

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

Side A, Track 1: “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by the Crash Test Dummies“Aunt Lill, what’s this?”My nine-year-old niece pointed to an electronic device that was unrecognizable to her, with a quizzical look on her face. It was a stereo - one that played CDs, tapes, and radio, which made it a showstopper gift in 1996.My older sister Miranda got that stereo for Christmas when she was 13, and I imagine she would have loved explaining to little Julia how it worked. However, Miranda is not here - the only Connor sibling not to show up this weekend.“It’s a ste...

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“Message from a Traveler” by Honey Homecroft

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

It was exactly as you remembered it — your parents’ house at the end of the cul-de-sac — welcoming you as it did when the scrapes and bruises were on your limbs, not your soul. The two-story faux brick monstrosity — pinnacle of middle class wealth in 1990. And in much better shape than you had imagined on your drive here. It was all there. The garden bed your father mulched but never planted anything in. The porch where you and Jen sat drinking pop on hot days. The last window on the left — your old bedroom, and Eric's next to it. Not ...

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“My Father the Artist” by Isabella Krieg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

It had been sitting on my kitchen table for about two months now. It slowly cemented itself in place as unopened letters, shopping catalogues, and magazines slowly piled around it, until only my face was left, reflecting on the small part of the screen which was still visible. After Mom died, I took the computer along with boxes of other things without really thinking. It completely slipped my mind that it needed a password until it was already in my possession. I knew it at some point, but it must've gotten lost somewhere along my time grow...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with a character finding a retro piece of tech they don’t recognize.

Mystery – 33 stories

Write a story about someone finally gaining access into their family’s very old computer.

Mystery – 37 stories

Write a time-travel story where a character from the present finds themselves in the 80s or 90s.

Historical Fiction – 37 stories

Write a story about a grown-up sharing their favorite childhood video game with their child.

Funny – 20 stories

Write about a character who isn’t nostalgic about their past at all, and show readers why.

Angst – 54 stories

Stories

“Frozen Lemonade” by Jennifer Fremon

🏆 Winner of Contest #236

Trigger warning: Contains underage sexual content, mentions of assaultYou know the movie Dirty Dancing? The one where Baby goes off to that fancy resort with her parents for the summer, and in the beginning she is a good, sweet girl who loves her daddy, and then by the end she is still a good sweet girl who loves her daddy but now she is kinda sexy too and can dance like a pro and is totally in love with that beautiful dance teacher. Why doesn’t anyone talk about how that teacher is clearly much, much older than Baby, and despite Patrick Swa...

Read story

“The Mix Tape” by K.A. Murray

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

Side A, Track 1: “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by the Crash Test Dummies“Aunt Lill, what’s this?”My nine-year-old niece pointed to an electronic device that was unrecognizable to her, with a quizzical look on her face. It was a stereo - one that played CDs, tapes, and radio, which made it a showstopper gift in 1996.My older sister Miranda got that stereo for Christmas when she was 13, and I imagine she would have loved explaining to little Julia how it worked. However, Miranda is not here - the only Connor sibling not to show up this weekend.“It’s a ste...

Read story

“Non-Fan Mail” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #236

Dear Ms. Nova,Congratulations on 30 years in the music biz! I’m very happy you’ve lasted this long in the industry because your music really is awesome and you deserve the longevity.You’ve probably heard this a lot, but my mom Donna and I are huge fans of yours. We’ve bought all of your albums: from your debut album “Dreams” to the latest one, “Higher”. Any time we’re together, we just have to play one of your albums. Your music is literally a form of bonding for us.I’ve included a photo of you during your last concert here in our city, and ...

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“Sixties Teen” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #236

Sixties Teen My husband, star of my epic love life, “Hey, Hon. Let's get Sirius.” “Let's see. We have been married going on twenty-eight years. We've combined our retirement benefits. We have been looking into purchasing adjoining cemetery plots. How much more serious can we get?” He who claims to love me, “No, I mean the XM streaming service 'Sirius'. Might save us overall on our entertainment package.” “I can barely operate the TV now. Change it again and I'll never be able to run the remote control. What happened to the good old days of c...

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“Be Kind. Rewind.” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #236

I would never have thought that Mr. Arnold was a meathead back in the day. That’s the thing about time. It’s like an Instagram post you’ve run through a hundred filters. It gets to the point where you wouldn’t even recognize where that final image started. I believe the film buffs call the story that is about to unfold a ‘romp.’ Buckle up. You’re not gonna believe where this one is going. I sure didn’t.Our story begins when the substitute English teacher drops the “C” word. The tea is that they caught the cancer late—like Stage 4—and spread ...

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“Voyager 1 Down” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #236

Your Voyager mission to explore other worlds had to end at some point. But you knew that before your intrepid vessel accelerated out of the solar system and hurtled through interstellar space. No doubt Mission Command monitored Voyager 1’s interminable progress and you all cheered as it approached the Oort Cloud. Perhaps you prayed for a glimpse of intelligent life as it sped towards our asteroid and groaned when its signal died, and said, ‘Voyager 1 down.’* * *If your spacecraft had survived the crash with our dirty sn...

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“Testing the truth” by Claire Trbovic

Submitted to Contest #236

H I H I H I H E L L OH E L L O. HELLO. TEST TEST Test t e s t . Hello. Thiss is a test. A b c ...

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“Rescuing the Princess” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #236

Before Link could walk, he could already expertly manipulate a dual analog stick and wield a Wii remote as if it were an extension of his arm. When Link was a baby, I would hold him in my arms, swaddled in a blanket, trying to get him to sleep, while I occupied myself with a late-night session of Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword. Sometimes I think this kid will bust out an Ocarina and jam out in B major with the number of hours he spent as a toddler dozing off to the Main Theme on repeat. Dun dun dun, dun dun dun, dun-dun-dun-dun. That heroic,...

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“From the Ashes” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #236

TW: bullying, high school. Craig’s terrier, Barkie, was the first to smell the fire. He loved the park’s main loop, but when he started pulling towards Jackdaw Hill and wouldn’t let up, Craig conceded and they climbed. The acrid stink of burn hit his nostrils and he narrowed his eyes. Technically you weren’t supposed to have any open fires, even if barbecue season was right around the corner.As they climbed the trampled path, worn by countless feet over the decades, and flanked on either side by bushes and trees, Barkie sniffed furiously and...

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“Nostalgia is an Illusion” by Tom Skye

Submitted to Contest #236

Dr. Sean Dalton sits by the porthole as the space station orbits the Earth for the 483rd time. This shift has been a long one. The curvature of England's south coast is visible through the domed acrylic. Home is down there, and so is she. It is 3 days until his return.He pushes himself from the wall with his feet, and his chair rolls on its wheels to a nearby desk. He clicks the mouse, and a video plays."Hi, Sean. Hope everything is going well up there. I miss you lots. I read in the garden today. I like it out there because I can sense you ...

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“Message from a Traveler” by Honey Homecroft

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

It was exactly as you remembered it — your parents’ house at the end of the cul-de-sac — welcoming you as it did when the scrapes and bruises were on your limbs, not your soul. The two-story faux brick monstrosity — pinnacle of middle class wealth in 1990. And in much better shape than you had imagined on your drive here. It was all there. The garden bed your father mulched but never planted anything in. The porch where you and Jen sat drinking pop on hot days. The last window on the left — your old bedroom, and Eric's next to it. Not ...

Read story

“They Were Young Once” by Christina Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #236

As the fourth son of a fourth son, by the time I met Pop Pop, he was a fragile old man, bent at the waist, eyesight and hearing failing. My memories of him are limited to the seven years he and I occupied this earth together, but I remember very clearly the nights when he would sit by my bed and tell me tales of the Old Country in a thick accent and broken English. I make this point because it’s with this memory in mind that I tell you about the day I found his old computer, which housed treasures from the past and secrets I'm sure he though...

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“My Father the Artist” by Isabella Krieg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #236

It had been sitting on my kitchen table for about two months now. It slowly cemented itself in place as unopened letters, shopping catalogues, and magazines slowly piled around it, until only my face was left, reflecting on the small part of the screen which was still visible. After Mom died, I took the computer along with boxes of other things without really thinking. It completely slipped my mind that it needed a password until it was already in my possession. I knew it at some point, but it must've gotten lost somewhere along my time grow...

Read story

“My Father's Last Floppy Disk & Testament” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #236

Merv does the finger thing and mouths "right friggin' now" again. He's wearing a camouflaged suit to my father's funeral, and it's not helping him blend in.I'm at the head of a line of well-wishers and condolence-givers, mostly little old ladies dressed in black, so I ignore him."Psst!"The line of old ladies turns to stare at Merv."Ahpsst!" He tries to pass his earlier psst off as a sneeze then strolls too casually out of the reception room."Merv has something to tell you, dear," says my mom, standing beside me."Do I have to?" I mutter.My mo...

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“Something in Your Light ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #236

Aquaria missed the artistic engineer, who breathed life into his designs, singing his poetry, and giving her a lighthouse soul.She still missed her original clockwork gears from the 1890’s that rotated the beacon light inside the crystalline, multi-faceted, glass Fresnel lens. Like a giant diamond, it reflected light from all the sharp cuts.Sometimes for fun she made the light pulse against the night sky, bright as a sun then like a dim star in the distance.One night local boy Ray Olson was lurking around the lighthouse. Aquaria did her puls...

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$250

Prize money

181

Contest entries

81

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 09, 2024 EST

Won by Jennifer Fremon 🏆

Title: Frozen Lemonade

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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