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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#241: Et Tu, Brute?

“Beware the Ides of March!” In Shakespeare’s play, these fateful words are thrown at Julius Caesar during a procession through Rome, warning him of the day his compatriots will betray him. In the play, and in reality, this warning came to fruition. On March 15, he was stabbed thirty times by his fellow Roman senators, including Brutus, someone he thought he could trust. As that date is just around the corner, I find myself thinking a lot about Caesar’s story, and about other stories of betrayal.

It’s the ultimate breaking of trust. You thought they were a friend, a mentor, a close confidant, a person you could trust through thick and thin — only to find yourself stabbed in the back at the most inopportune moment. What leads people to make such a drastic decision, and sever a once unshakeable bond? How do you move on when your faith in the people around you is shaken? These are just a few of the questions to consider as we look towards the fateful Ides this week.

This week's prompts

Write about someone who is convinced they’re going to be betrayed.

Dramatic – 55 stories

Write about someone who is stuck between two opposing sides and can’t decide which one to choose.

Fiction – 49 stories

Set your story at a tense event where everyone is unsure whose side they’re on.

Thriller and Suspense – 27 stories

Start your story with an unexpected betrayal.

Adventure – 81 stories

Write about a backstabbing (literal or metaphorical) gone wrong.

Horror – 43 stories

Stories

“Nighttime Fireflies ” by Chantyl Balshaw

Submitted to Contest #241

She was all of six or seven, eight at most, with a world of worry sitting on her shoulders. The days were full of light from the bright yellow sun, sweet summertime adding joy to each day. The nights would consist of pitch-black skies with fireflies swarming all around, guiding the way. But this was not the case for sweet young Janice. Her days did not have a big yellow sun that would shine bright onto her face, nor did they have pitch black nights lit up with the golden of the fire...

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“One New Message” by John Lyden

Submitted to Contest #241

Martin Brill was a petty man. He hounded the employees at his car dealership over the most trivial of mistakes. “He has no heart,” they would say. “He’s just a bastard.” “If I ran into him in a dark alley…” But Martin Br...

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“The King's Justice” by Drew Harrison

Submitted to Contest #241

T’was on a night blacker than a cellar-dweller's boils that Aravel Lightsong, Chief Sub-Warden of the Veil Piercers, found herself amidst the reeking marshes. Her companion, one Satchel-Knight Ross, was a grumbler of the highest order, but even he couldn’t help but be impressed at how efficiently the two had worked: robed bodies surrounded the pair in a loose ring, save for the one who still stood. "I say, Ross, this cultist seems to have developed a case of the dreaded blade-in-the-back affliction," declared Aravel, twisting her knife to en...

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“The Drink of Wine” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #241

Contains themes of substance abuse, emotional abuse, & sexual content*Note: A.E. refers to After-Event*City of Barrie, Kingdom of Ontario August 2112 (100 A.E.) In the grand hall, torches blazed brightly, casting dancing shadows upon the gathering of warriors. Soldiers, generals, guardsmen, and nurses alike were gathered around tables hewn from the sturdy trunks of sugar maple and white pine. Their faces illuminated by the flickering flames, they feasted upon steaming bowls of soup and broth, served in rough-hewn wooden vessels. Loaves o...

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“The Gods told me that already ” by Cassandra Cornejo

Submitted to Contest #241

My back hurts. I’ve been curled up in the corner for so long. My hands holding my head, further pushing me down into my knees. I can’t believe they would do that to me. I’ve been repeating it to myself for hours, hoping that the more I said it, the more I could accept it, but I can’t. It hurts my whole being the more I say it. It hurts my heart, my feelings, my throat, my head, my teeth. The rocking is starting to hurt my spine, the small tap from the wall started off as nothing but after this many hours, it’s like a stabbing in my back. I k...

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“The Keepsake Box ” by Kristine McCraw

Submitted to Contest #241

Charlotte smoked a cigarette on the balcony while I stuffed pieces of her life in boxes. Her promise to have it all packed before today was a ruse to rope me into helping her move to another apartment. After finishing her second cigarette, she staggard back inside, maneuvering herself around piles of stuff with rumpled hair and a half-buttoned sweater over a crumpled t-shirt, then joined me in the kitchen, where I was packing dishes. I couldn't take the lingering smell of the cigarette smoke, so I excused myself. I decided to work in the bed...

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“Betrayed” by Abbie Gardner

Submitted to Contest #241

Jack Wilde’s Betrayal “What can you tell me about your uncle’s funeral Mr. Wilde?” The therapist held her clipboard to her knees. “Do you remember that day?” Silence echoed in the room. The therapist began to take notes. “Yes.” The man said, slouched in his chair. “Very good Mr. Wilde. What did you wear to the funeral?” The therapist tilts her head to the side. “Who are you?” Mr. Wilde lifts his head with uneasy concern. “I am your therapist.” She says as she pulls her glasses off. “Jack- I mean Mr. Wilde, are...

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“Betrayal of a sort” by Mairin Omahony

Submitted to Contest #241

Alf stood at the doorway of his cramped, cluttered hardware shop moving his feet in small circular movements. He was obsessed with practising his new tango routines, forwards, backwards, pointed toes extending outwards in minute circular movements as if he was moving sand. His wife Gladys watched from behind. Here he was beyond middle aged and balding, weighty around the middle, fancying himself as a tango dancer. He saw the advert in the local grocery store “Tango, for beginners, all ages, all welcome. No partner necessary.” Now that a...

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“At The Crossroads” by Leonard Jeffrey

Submitted to Contest #241

AT THE CROSSROADS Seventeen-year-old Mathew Todd, a typical carefree young man, was known as a loner by his peers. Like a lot of them, he hadn't made any plans for his future. He simply lived his life from day to day enjoying the good times while shrugging off the bad. Asfar as he was concerned he came first. Other people's feelings didn't matter to Mathew. He had no time to listen to their problems and refused to help them with their adolescent concerns. Even his few close friends knew better than to ask him for any help. Second in his lif...

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“The inherited seed” by Nozuko Festile

Submitted to Contest #241

We all can be indecisive about what to choose, who to choose,how to choose, when to choose, and if I have made the correct decision. Basically we overthink every situation we find ourselves in, and it is impossible to find someone who has never done that or does not unless they originate from a planet that is not planet Earth. Marly Mackan the most indecisive person that has ever existed in her town, Greenwich Town. The town is named Greenwich town because of how stone aged it is, everyone is supposed to be "Catholic," baptized, does not dis...

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“The Last Family Trip” by Joseph Ellis

Submitted to Contest #241

I draw a line down the middle of the notebook page. I aim for precision, but the line swerves in my unsteady hand. On the top left I write “Dad”, cross it out, write “Father.” At the top right I put “Mother.” Soon enough I’ll place my own name under one of the columns, take my position on one side of that crooked barrier. Because last week mom called the four of us into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, a table older than me with dark stains so deep in the white plastic they’re part of it now. Dad was there too, pacing around, looki...

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“American Hair” by Olivia Lake

Submitted to Contest #241

Back in Poland, my mother had been a surgeon. She would tell stories from her days working at the hospital, and my favorite one was about the man who ate a bucket of cherries without spitting out the pits. My mother was awoken in the middle of the night by a frantic phone call, and she ran half-asleep to the hospital. As soon as they put the man under, they cut his stomach open to reveal a mass of undigested cherry pits. My mother still remembered the tink-tink-tink of the pits hitting the metal pan as they scraped them out.As a kid, I loved...

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“The Visitors” by GW LeCroy

Submitted to Contest #241

Part 1 Jean Davis In a raging swath of flame mankind—those who turned away from the One Truth—burned. This emptiness took hold from inside them suddenly, and they cried out as one—finally one—and their pain and terror of knowing in their last moments that they were too late to change, that they had thrown away their final chance at salvation, struck me as I watched atop a great hill of black and gold. The Visitor was beside me, scorching me with his radiance. Larger than I could comprehend, but who hovered beside me not much taller ...

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“Mutiny” by Ayla Cummings

Submitted to Contest #241

The air surrounding June was stagnant and humid, the soft tapping of rain against rock mixed with the whispering of the wind. She stood still, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Her gaze was cautious as she glanced around at the people she had once called friends. To her right was a taller man with wavy brown hair and green eyes. He was dressed in a red aketon that lay under his silver armor, the royal insignia sewn into the fabric. His name was William. “Come with us peacefully or be slayed on the spot assassin” William’s voice wa...

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“Woodland Avenue, Brookside ” by Jim DeMaio Jr.

Submitted to Contest #241

It's taken me a long time to think seriously about this former friend and someone who passed away at eighteen years old. He's someone I've never forgotten about, and he haunts my dreams.Joe was a really sensitive, loving kid who was always taller and skinnier than me. When my family built a house in the township of Mendham I started going to the elementary and then the middle school. I was in Mrs Thomas' class and it's likely there I first met Joe.His parents lived in a stone covered ranch house on Woodland Road and Summit Road. The house se...

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$250

Prize money

255

Contest entries

116

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 15, 2024 EST

Won by Liz Grosul 🏆

Title: When I Read Beckett

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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