Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#238: Aposiopesis

An ancient figure of speech, literally meaning “becoming silent,” aposiopesisis a very fancy word for a very common predicament. Aposiopesis occurs when a sentence breaks off and is left unfinished, suggesting the speaker is too overwhelmed to go on. Think “I’m so angry, I could —”, “You don’t think they…?”, or “I just thought…”

This week’s prompts are inspired by unfinished utterances, communication catastrophes, and those times when you just can’t quite...

This week's prompts

Start or finish your story with a speaker unable to finish their sentence, perhaps overcome by emotion.

Angst – 92 stories

Write a story in which a conversation takes place where the true subject is only implied.

Dialogue – 40 stories

Write a story including the line “I can’t say it.”

Dialogue – 58 stories

Write a story in which an important message is cut off, leaving characters to wonder or puzzle out what was left unsaid.

Mystery – 48 stories

Set your story at a silent retreat.

Angst – 44 stories

Stories

“Auf wiedersehen…” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #238

“Goodbye darling, I’m sorry but…” She seemed to be getting upset. She was almost in tears. Then she walked out of the house. She was leaving me. I felt like weeping but I couldn’t. Why had she gone? Why had she abandoned me? What had I done wrong? I had so many questions but she didn’t explain why she was going. I always tried so hard to communicate with her but usually I felt she wasn’t even trying to communicate with me. Perhaps I knew in my heart that one day this would happen. My happiness couldn’t last for ever, could it? Mmmm. Yes, I...

Read story

“Another lousy month?” by Bill Miller

Submitted to Contest #238

"I can't believe we posted ANOTHER month of results this BAD!", Tom fumed as he wagged his finger at the latest red dot on the chart. "November was NOT supposed to end up HERE!" The red dot on the conference room tv that Tom's finger was now firmly pressing down upon represented yet another disastrous month of losses for the company. The horizontal axis of the chart showed months going back in time to the beginning of the year when the new product line started up. The trend line looked like a crack across the center of the gla...

Read story

“The Propagandist of Death” by Joseph Cillo Jr

Submitted to Contest #238

Death is the sweetest…A knock on the door. I dared not finish the sentence before opening—that might make it a prophecy. Prophecy? My job was to dispel such superstitions, to propagandize death for the Society of the New Way. But surely the attorneys of the Society would want my missive completed, and bound by their incessant legalism, no one but I could complete this last sentence. The editor could only change it after I had submitted it for review. The New Way Society, headed by lawyers, determined when usefulness had b...

Read story

“The Audition” by AJ Key

Submitted to Contest #238

Ten past five and Harry was late. He climbed out of the car and pushed the yellow Pork Pie Trilby hat he’d borrowed onto his head. While the hat and his shoes, Oxblood Brothel Creepers apparently, went out in the sixties, he didn’t care. He slid the car keys into the pocket of his loose-fitting blue-jeans, their cuffs rolled up, and set off at a run down the sidewalk. Ahead and atop a freestanding sign, large golden letters declared the offices of Phoenix Studios. The sign read, “A Streetcar Named Desire auditions today…” but he ...

Read story

“The Colours of You” by Emily Cummins

Submitted to Contest #238

In an ocean of starlight, on an ancient wooden rowboat stained with centuries of service, we sail in solitude through the night sky, towards the After. There is no scenery here. No mountains to frame the world, nor seas to divide it. The rower drives an ore into the shadows and ink laps against the sides. On this final voyage, conversation does not flow as freely as the water in which it takes place. The passenger usually studies the stars in silent contemplation, while the rower rows. Eventually, an invisible milestone is spotted among...

Read story

“The Curse of the Aposiopesis ” by Leslie Kirc

Submitted to Contest #238

The Curse of the Aposiopesis I sat staring at a woman in a devil tee shirt and a cotton east Indian hippy skirt mid-sentence. I don’t know where the thought went. My head was empty. She looked at me kindly and let the thought come back to me. It was hard to figure out where I was with my thoughts, that I had been putting into words. Her incongruous attire didn’t seem right for a Christmas party. Maybe I was tense from the helping hand I had lent to make the party happen. My good young friend had his kitchen redone and it didn’t look ...

Read story

“Oh My...” by Timothy Motley

Submitted to Contest #238

“Oh my…” Jalen was annoyed by the words. How dare she interrupt his silence. This was his time. His daily trek around the sharp, steep curves of the mesa was the only time Jalen could find peace. High school was a never ending torment session of boredom. His home life was a tumultuous dance around the many eggshells his neurotic family loved scattering about the floor. This walk was his time. His only time. How dare she shatter it. Jalen glared at her. Kandice was her name. Everyone called her Candy, probably with a k, because people...

Read story

“Susan's Wish” by Ralph Emery Barhydt

Submitted to Contest #238

(This story contains one sexual episode) Very early in the morning, Susan walked down to the lake’s edge to watch the ducks. Gentle light drifted above still, calm water. Mirror like, the lake reflected the great green forest that surrounded it. All was peace. Except Susan. Susan stood bathed in grief and sadness. Marianne was so close to dying now with her unique form of cancer, uncurable even untreatable. Fortunately, she was not experiencing much pain. It was a blood cancer that after about four to six weeks jus...

Read story

“The Lovers” by Anisa Sambi

Submitted to Contest #238

The room was expansive, white and crowded. Paintings littered the walls in a haphazard manner, punctuating the walls where people stood and where they left. The couple had walked in here together hand in hand. Laughing and shaking themselves off as they looked at each other in disbelief can you believe how the rain came in out of nowhere? They had just finished having lunch, followed by an espresso to polish off the cocktails, no dessert. He followed, but lost track of her when he found a painting and stood in front of it for far...

Read story

“I can’t say it…but” by Not An Author

Submitted to Contest #238

I am writing you… hoping I’ll finish it this time and not delete everything again and have the courage to send it. Probably my 10th attempt…. I don’t know where to start. I want you to know that what happened between us was not meaningless.. and it’s probably more meaningful than my actual marriage. I am sharing things that I haven’t shared with anyone else and will not share with anyone else. The person I married it totally the opposite of the person she pretended to be she I met her. But worse is that she is so mean, disrespectful an...

Read story

“SAVING KELSEY” by Gary Clifton

Submitted to Contest #238

SAVING KELSEY“For God’s sake, somebody help me.!” Strapped in a partially reclined chair, the dismal room illuminated by a single overhead bulb, Roxy struggled against her restraints. She’d tried for hours to recall how she had gotten here. She’d been clubbing with friends, drank a Manhattan…my God it had to be a roofie! She’d been drugged and kidnapped by a monster.The door opened and her abductor strutted in. A huge man, with a drooping handlebar mustache, he radiated pure evil.“How’s my little Roxanne now,” he leered down at her, helpless...

Read story

“FAMILY PAST” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #238

In a softly lit office adorned with rich mahogany furniture and shelves filled with medical journals, Doctor Edmund Pierce, a distinguished psychiatrist with graying temples and kind eyes, was in his favorite chair. Across from him sat an older woman in a striking red dress. She introduced herself as Madam Penelope Peacock from New York.Madam Peacock exuded an air of refined elegance despite the faint tremor in her hands. She settled into the plush chair before Doctor Pierce, her posture regal yet betraying a hint of nervousness.As they prep...

Read story

“The Lost Treasure of Cleocatra” by Jonas Einhorn

Submitted to Contest #238

A ragtag group of anthropomorphic cat treasure hunters finds themselves deep in the ancient pyramid that houses Cleocatra’s tomb, trying to figure out how to access the entrance of a hidden room filled with treasure. They’re led by George, who is accompanied by Dr. Bliffy the expert Purrgyptolgist, Amelia their Purrgyptian spelunking guide, and Father Joseph a priest from the Catacan. The group now walked down a long zig-zagging corridor upon steps of masterfully cut limestone. “Before we enter the chamber, I will douse each of you with thi...

Read story

“The solace of a man hides a litany of emotions. The heart of a woman lies all the love she will ever receive. ” by Kwasi Sike

Submitted to Contest #238

*Trigger Warning: Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Sexual Violence* When my father came down the hallway, his face burgeoning with excitement at the potential of the long-awaited day when he could finally exist differently. Three hundred and sixty-four days of a monotonous gait zapped away by the mere presence of… well, presents. He is a simple man, five feet ten inches, with a beer belly that extends past his feet and droops downward like he is with child. His claws are trimmed once a year out of respect for the occasion of Christ’...

Read story

“Sanctuary” by Jordan Verner

Submitted to Contest #238

Rain thrashed the tin roof of the forsaken observatory, drowning out all other sounds. Liz and Trevor huddled around a gas lantern in a dimly lit corner, their faces smeared with grime, reflecting the weariness etched into their very bones. Once a diplomat of silver-tongued repute, Liz now carried the burden of lost lives on her slender shoulders. Her companion, a skilled engineer named Trevor, cradled the flickering hope of asylum in his calloused hands. The observatory, a serendipitous find in their flight from a world-devouring conflict, ...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

282

Contest entries

98

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 23, 2024 EST

Won by Weronika L 🏆

Title: Five Turns of the Hourglass

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢