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#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.

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 – 36 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

“What Happened to Your Arm?” by JQ Miller

Submitted to Contest #236

I take a sip of my coffee while turning to the next page of the newspaper. I overhear a senior woman saying to a friend, “My grandkids keep pushing me to get this thing called an app. But I can barely figure out how to text them since that’s the only way they will talk to me.” “I know what you mean, Beatrice. My son gave me a smartphone for Christmas, and I keep missing his phone calls because I don’t know how to turn the ringer on.” I try to tune out the conversation; it’s the same one every day, old people complaining about ...

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“Ranger and the Red Stripes” by Nick Christman

Submitted to Contest #236

Over the ashen fields, underneath an eternal gray sky, and through the rubble of the past, two young travelers trek in silence. The older keeps their head on a swivel, scanning through a complex helmet and gas mask. The mask collects airborne chemo-prints through a filtered cartridge when inhaling. When exhaling, a valve diverts the captured air through a lattice of tubes connecting to nerve-pins around the body. They carry a dilapidated pack with a recycled-carbon staff attached at its handle. The younger, half as tall, swings his ar...

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“Wisaka and Friends” by Robert Pyke

Submitted to Contest #236

August 1948: ROY So far this month, skinny Roy Parr, all 127 pounds of him, has unearthed three chunks of petrified wood—a bit crumbly, not the shiny spars in the Field Museum nearby in Chicago, but real enough, multicolored pink and brown and crystalline white—plus various hunks of charcoal and driftwood, some tan pebbles, and two Indian arrowheads. Today Roy is digging again. He knows he’s too old for this, but he burns with curiosity. An inch below where he was digging yesterday, he finds two objects almost touching. One...

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“Forgotten Tech” by Rob Ryter

Submitted to Contest #236

The Bains are a happy family of three. It’s a typical Saturday. Carl Bain and his twelve-year-old daughter Sylvia are having a day out at the local museum. Sylvia is intrigued by the cow cream jugs, moulded ceramic farm animals with a hole in their back for filling, and an open mouth for the spout. “Dad, it’s like the cows vomit the cream up,” Sylvia laughs. Carl smiles and gives his daughter’s shoulder a fatherly shove.In the next room, Carl stops. “Well, I’ll be…”Sylvia asks him what’s wrong.“Nothing,” he says. “It’s just the things in her...

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“Atari Was My First PlayStation” by Regina Nonemaker

Submitted to Contest #236

I placed the last gift, a PlayStation 5, under our Christmas tree. Even though it was for my boyfriend, my fingers twitched with anticipation. Ever since I won my first gaming system, an Atari 400, I had been a vidiot and looked forward to the long winter nights of competition we had ahead of us. I plugged in the tree lights. Multicolored orbs enchanted my eyes, forcing them to rest on the brilliant star at the top. “Wacka-wacka,” came a ghostly sound and the piercing white star softened into an orange ball. My old friends, Ms. Pac-man and Q...

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“I will always love you 80's” by Angel Kitts

Submitted to Contest #236

A spotlight shines in my eyes and wakes me from my daydream. I am standing on a narrow stairway at the side of a stage. It appears to be a high school auditorium. The tall red velvet curtains to my right are drawn back with a large golden cord. I glance around the room and see that it is filled with a cheering crowd. Behind me stands a row of teenage girls dressed in formal gowns. Not the kind we would wear to a prom. These are like the ancient southern belle kind, complete with hoop skirts. The girls are trying to squish the hoops...

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“Driving In Nebraska” by Moon-Moon Lupine

Submitted to Contest #236

Be Warned This Story Contains Nearly 15,000 Dead Bodies. Even though Demann Nebraska was only abandoned a few decades ago, its existence and history have completely vanished from living memory. You can no longer find it on any maps or signs. No one talks about Susan’s iconic Baked Nebraska, or her diner anymore. No one remembers the famous family-owned inn located on Gertrude road. Route 61 has fallen silent, no longer do you hear the church bells, the traffic, or the chatter from the gas station rest stop. The radio station has ceased its...

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“PlayStation Time Machine” by Robyn Bright

Submitted to Contest #236

A thick layer of dust encased the console, seemingly trapping the original PlayStation in time. As Ryan stared at the simple gray box, she tried to remember the last time she’d seen it, let alone played with it. It had to have been with her brother, he was the one obsessed with video games. James would spend hours locked in his room staring at screens when they were growing up. On the weekends, their mom had to force him out of the house and away from the latest gaming console and game craze. Ryan never had the same connection to these virtu...

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“Father/Time” by Blake Thornton

Submitted to Contest #236

The view of the night sky from Hunter’s back patio was exceptionally dark on an unusually warm February evening. While his son was peacefully asleep upstairs, he was enjoying his usual Tuesday ritual with his closest friends, Rocky Patel, Evan Williams, and Pierce Brown. Although this was usually his small slice of time to himself, he found his thoughts racing about life, and his place in it. Today was his Dad’s birthday, and it was the first birthday Hunter would be without his dad since he passed away a few months ago. Shortly before his d...

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“Let's Get Something to Eat” by Stephen Laviera

Submitted to Contest #236

Silence in its powerful glory. Calms the mind's complexities. Transforming the rigorous clamor of thoughts. While easing the tumultuous current of feelings. With his palms open on his knees. Rocco sits in lotus pose. Breathing deeply only to relax on the slow exhale. On the floor in front of his desk. In the still darkness of his office. Shave and a hair knocks on the door. Manipulating the silence. Awakening Rocco from his meditation. Rising to his feet, slipping his shoes on by the door. Opening it bewildered as he straightened his j...

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“Slam Dunk at the Arcade” by Leah Cartlidge

Submitted to Contest #236

Thirty years had passed since I’d set foot in this hellhole. The bane of my existence hadn’t changed much since then. The sticky purple flooring was still decorated with planets and stars that had faded over the years by the tramples of teenagers. The neon lights of nostalgic icons like Pacman and Donkey Kong enticed the children to spend their parents' coins one by one like mini-gambling addicts. ‘Can I have a taste of your slushy, Auntie Claire?’ Callie said as she gleamed at my bright blue, raspberry-iced drink. She hadn’t seen me fill ...

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“A Non-Nostalgic Life” by Peter Giesbrecht

Submitted to Contest #236

I remember things in my past like everyone else that's for sure. I dont believe it's possible to live life and not remember something from your past, whether good, bad, or some of each. The majority of us will leave small pieces of our lives at different milestones of significance throughout our lifetime. Then at different times in our lives, we allow ourselves to pause or stop for a period of time, and immediately nostalgia is set in motion. So depending on circumstances, for some this is comforting, but then for others it can bring them to...

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“Night Moves” by Kristina Heiks

Submitted to Contest #236

Night Moves There is a gleam in his eye that lets me know he has found another ancient gadget of some sort to add to his collection. His house is full of days-gone-by equipment. He has a Corona typewriter, an old VCR that goes hand in hand with the old-fashioned TV that resembles a big box, set inside a wooden cabinet. “What is it now?” I ask, shaking him off. I admit, I don’t understand the allure of old, inefficient things. Oh gee… Let’s go back to the good ol’ days when we could only watch TV on 3 channels and typed our high school pa...

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“The Tragic Years” by Richard Morris

Submitted to Contest #236

“The Tragic Years, that’s what I call ‘em,” the elderly man told Ross, his adult grandson. The old man kept slowly shaking his head back and forth. His face became flushed. “Tragic. Terrible. Affected my entire life, right up to this day. Terrible.” “Sorry, Grandad, I thought seeing this old scrapbook would bring you some fond memories. Is this a picture of you?” “Yes. That’s at my Senior Prom.” “Do you want to tell me about it?” “What’s to tell? That was my high school girlfriend. Tragic. She became my fiancée. Tragic yea...

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“Experience” by J. Hutton

Submitted to Contest #236

The clinic was blank. It felt empty wherever you looked, though John could only look at the ceiling right now. There, the tiles were white, as was the light shining down into his eyes through a hazy puddle of tears. A globe-shaped, black security camera watched him from the corner like some kind of floating pupil. Though he couldn’t remember exactly how many, he had had enough engram extractions to know that you were not supposed to move your head at this point. If he did, he recalled, he would see white walls, a white floor, the white...

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$250

Prize money

180

Contest entries

80

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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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