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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

“A Voice from the Past” by Sara Potter

Submitted to Contest #238

Rick entered the restaurant quickly, shaking off his umbrella and raincoat in the entryway. What a miserable night. His eyes immediately went to the corner of the bar section where he and Samantha usually grabbed their monthly catchup drinks together. She was already there, with a tall lager in front of her while she stared off into space. Rick walked over to her unnoticed. “Sam! How long have you been here?” Sam jolted out of her trance and smiled at Rick. “Rick! I got here about 15 minutes ago. Thanks for meeting me! Come, sit down and w...

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“PIG” by Sarah Duffey

Submitted to Contest #238

“Don’t you want a spoon for that?” Jada peeked up at her junior varsity teammate, Kristin, sitting in the bleachers above her and shook her head. While she waited for the most valuable player, Evie, to shoot the ball, Jada sat on the bottom row and licked the chocolate off the lid of a pudding cup. With her wrist, she pushed black tendrils that had escaped her ponytail off her cheek. A stream of other girls treaded sluggishly out the gymnasium doors, hair frizzy and faces shiny with perspiration. See ya guys, my mom’s here, good luck ...

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“Parrotfish vs shrimp” by Cali Bagby

Submitted to Contest #238

"You know there are cleaner shrimp?" she asked. "Cleaner than what?" he asked. "No, they are called cleaner shrimp because they clean parasites from fish. Do you know why they call them cleaner fish?" she asked. "Because they're the cleanest," he said. "That's funny," she said. "You're the smart one," he said. "Yes, I am smart," she said. "I'm the Jerry Lewis to your Dean Martin," he said. "So the shrimp and the fish have a symbiotic relationship where they help each other. The shrimp gets to eat parasites, and the fi...

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“The Unexpected ” by S T

Submitted to Contest #238

She was taking the long way over. The main street veered around the houses and tall pine trees of Altadena. The purple mountains to the left, the city of Los Angeles to the right. It had been three years since she had been to this cafe. There was now a whole other human that she had to lug around from place to place, sleeping quietly in his carseat. Motherhood had hit her blindly and struck her with full purpose. She adjusted her rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of his full-cheeked face resting against the cushion of his carseat. He was ...

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“Intertwined ” by Tee Farewell

Submitted to Contest #238

Sarah sat nervously on the edge of her seat, her fingers tracing anxious patterns on the lid of her untouched coffee. Despite her long-standing friendship with Jenna, she couldn't shake the nervous flutter in her stomach as she awaited her best friend's arrival. Weeks had passed since their last meeting, and Sarah couldn't help feeling that something had shifted between them. When Jenna finally entered, Sarah noticed her friend's distressed expression. Though Jenna tried to mask her emotions with a brave face, the glistening tears in her eye...

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“Before Tonight” by Bri Heron

Submitted to Contest #238

Before tonight, my girlfriend and I had been in a relationship for nearly seven years. We fell in love our last semester of college after I spotted her in a coffee shop about two blocks from campus. She sat in a booth, alone, sipping away on a large black iced coffee with crumbs of a croissant sitting on a plate. In her hands was a rather bulky textbook, though I don’t remember the title now, and she was so engrossed in the textbook I knew there was no way she felt my eyes on her. She wore a stained navy-blue sweatshirt with some black jogge...

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“The Crash of Love” by Marceline Snyder

Submitted to Contest #238

The ocean sings her song to us as we sit upon the very cliff where we first met. I glance over at her until my gaze becomes a very apparent stare. “You know, when I first met you I was actually about to kill myself.” I let out a nervous giggle wondering why in the world I would mention that right now. She snaps her head towards me, redundant panic filling her eyes. “You what? Why would you wanna do that?” her hands race to mine, clutching them as if she lets them go, the past would break its bound from underground and rip me away. My ch...

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“Papers for People” by Elio DiCavas

Submitted to Contest #238

Miriam came from the kitchen with the handle of a hot pan in her armpit, the other straddling a newborn, and her legs victim to her two six-year-olds. Dinner was going to happen in fifteen minutes and the potatoes were almost done, but everything else would be late. While she thought of the chicken that might have been safe to eat, she balanced bobby pins stuck in her hair. The phone started to ring. Miriam urged herself through the slush of her kids and their messes, but a wave of potato grease threatened to slip out of the pan, a f...

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“The Eavesdroppers” by Zack Herman

Submitted to Contest #238

I’ve never told this story to anybody before now. Once I get going, you’ll understand why. It’s the proudest I’ve ever been of Mama and she isn’t even aware that I know what happened. I hope everybody reading this remembers party lines. This was way back in 1979. I was 15 years old and my family lived in Spivey Subdivision, over on Flat Fork in Caudill County. They still had a party line there. They were a thing of the past in most places, but you’ve always been able to set your watch back 10 years when you come to Eastern Kentucky. That p...

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“The Post Card” by Kemz F

Submitted to Contest #238

That morning Helen had had a donut for breakfast instead of her usual black coffee and grapefruit. So, that day ideals of impulsivity and spontaneous women behaving wildly swirled in her mind. She walked with an extra pep in her step as the elevator doors closed behind her. "Mrs. Terrence?" A small voice called. Helen whipped her head. The receptionist was looking directly at her. The mousy girl at the front desk had never looked her directly in the eyes before let alone called her over. Helen pursed her lips and turned her hips walking...

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“Apophis” by Jaroslaw Brdys

Submitted to Contest #238

Apophis I am not sure what drove me to pursue a career as an astronomer and astrophysicist. As an adolescent boy, I aspired to become an athlete. I grew fast, became strong for my age, and had excellent conditions to advance my athletic skills. Taking first or top place in school competitions was the only thing that made me happy then. However, my life took a different path. Miss Mc Michael’s physics class is still well-remembered by me. Miss Mc Michael, who was middle-aged and well-read, possessed a wealth of knowledge. She taug...

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“The Mountain” by Yochanan Mariano Perez

Submitted to Contest #238

I awoke as the sun rose, shining light upon my closed eyelids. I shielded my eyes as I opened them and slowly sat up. Morning dew had settled on the grass outside of my tent and cold air brought in the fresh scents of nature. I saw the sun rising from beside the great mountain. Wispy clouds were scattered in the sky and the pine trees below swayed slightly in the wind. As I got up and looked around I saw the other tents. No one else had awakened yet. I looked back toward the mountain. We had been camping here for days, waiting for him to ret...

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“SINISTER RETREAT” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #238

Boy, am I tired. My body needs a break. My neck. My back. Everything hurts. Good thing I have a long week off. Work has been so hard. Lately I've been having a hard time keeping up with my co-workers. I need to get away from the city, from the smell and the noise. That's why I found the perfect place to go. Mountain Oasis is the perfect place to go. I already arrived. I look around and I'm blown away. This place is breath taking. I grab my stuff and walk inside. Wow, it's even more beautiful in here. I walk to the check in desk. "Hi my name ...

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“A Changing Experience” by Joseph Lennon

Submitted to Contest #238

Last night he didn’t sleep. Today is Monday and he opened the door to the large corporate glass building. There was some corporate art sitting on the lawn that he passes every day. This time he thought to himself, “Why can’t we see some real art?” A couple weeks ago he went to a show downtown called the “Rembrandt Experience." The “Rembrandt Experience” was an interactive art gallery. He didn’t know anything about art. His wife wanted to go to this show, and it happened to be the same day as a soup stroll where they sampled soups downtown f...

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“Autumn conversion” by Clare Horwood

Submitted to Contest #238

Charlotte picked up her three year old daughter, Sally, stroking her silky fair hair, saying to her, “I will only be away for two nights and you will have the best fun with Grandma and Grandpa. I think they are going to take you to the zoo”. The child snuggled into Charlotte with tears coming from her large brown eyes, “But I want to come with you Mummy”. “I know you do darling, but this is a weekend for grown ups. You would be very bored and you definitely wouldn't like the food. Grandma's cooking is much better”, she said looking over at h...

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$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.

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