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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#242: Fine Art

Museums are magical places. There’s something so special about admiring art in sacred, silent spaces, together with complete strangers. In museums, time is suspended; you can forget about the outside world and lose yourself in the paintings, sculptures, and other artwork around you.

This week, let’s write some stories inspired by art and museums. Think about some of your favorite galleries, or consider creating a brand-new museum the world has yet to see. Let your imagination run wild, and maybe even try writing in a new genre. For this contest, the sky’s the limit!

This week's prompts

Write about a gallery whose paintings come alive at night.

Fantasy – 66 stories

Write about someone who accidentally destroys a museum’s most valuable artifact.

Funny – 31 stories

Write about an art thief who is struggling to commit the perfect heist.

Adventure – 31 stories

Write about two characters who meet and/or fall in love in a museum.

Romance – 98 stories

Start or end your story with a character who gets trapped inside a museum overnight.

Thriller and Suspense – 38 stories

Stories

“Amber Alert” by Jolanta Polk

Submitted to Contest #242

Two days before Christmas, Roman Kopman, a 48-year-old anthropologist, woke up at seven a.m. like he had done for the past twenty-five years. Just as he was about to shrug out of his boxer shorts on his way to the bathroom, his attention was captured by the voice of a newsreader. "We have an intriguing update on the cigar-shaped interstellar object known as Oumuamua. It seems that this celestial visitor, which made its way into our solar system in mid-December, is showing signs of acceleration. Oumuamua, which reaches speeds of up to 54...

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“The Unfortunate Incident with the Polar Bear” by Kathy Haaga

Submitted to Contest #242

Ooops. Oh shit. WTF!I stood frozen in horror as the deep burgundy wine trickled down the grimacing polar bear’s leg, soaking into its yellowish white fur. It looked like blood. It wasn’t that I was worried that he’d charge at me and tear me limb from lim. I was safe from that at least. He’d already been shot, stuffed and mounted, and frozen in that grimacing expression for a very long time in his place on a pedestal in the museum. Still, I knew that natural history museums would rather present their artifacts, shot or not, in a more st...

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“Daniel Cleans Up” by Bethany Walters

Submitted to Contest #242

It was Daniel’s first night working as a janitor at the local museum. He was nervous, so nervous he had already changed shirts twice and had brought an extra one with him just in case. He had spent the day practicing sweeping, mopping, and dusting everything in his apartment. He wanted to make a good impression on his boss. It was now the cleanest that it had ever been. He was sure to get his deposit back. Daniel needed this job. It was his fourth one in the last six months. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good at his other jobs, it was just ...

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“Divine Prank” by E. Roux

Submitted to Contest #242

“It is with great pleasure that I present you the artefact we've been searching agonisingly for the past six months.” I gracefully pass my opened palm above the series of vases standing in front of the podium, carefully placed on an exhibition stand. “These are rumoured to be the last divine prank of Hermes.” The room, although packed with people falls silent. Everyone I look at seems like holding their breath. “This set of vases contains the remains of a team of inferior deities that were serving the great god of Olympus. According to vario...

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“The Crimson Rose Heist” by Noted Moments

Submitted to Contest #242

Part I: The Break-In The Museum of Lost Treasures stood like a forgotten sentinel. Its ancient stones whispering secrets of civilizations long gone. Jack "The Wonder" Donovan, a man of shadows and secrets himself, had studied the museum's layout for weeks. Tonight, he would steal the Crimson Rose, a large diamond that had eluded every thief before him. Jack's heart raced as he slipped through the laser grid, his breath synchronized with the rhythmic hum of the security system. Mona, his partner in crime, monitored the cameras from their hide...

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“The Collective” by John Taavetti

Submitted to Contest #242

“Hello!” Izzy called out in the dark warehouse. “Is anyone here? Hello!” she called out again. She pulls her brown hair away from her eyes. The young woman walked slowly through the deep darkness. “Why didn’t I bring a freakin’ flashlight?” she mocked her own stupidity at that moment. Her hands extended outward. She had already ran into four things that were probably old warehouse equipment. This place seems abandoned. She thought. Out of nowhere a massive spotlight hits her face stopping her in her tracks. She was no-less blinde...

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“Beauty in the Process” by TC Cook

Submitted to Contest #242

“The River Goddess in Sapphire. Beneath her sapphire veil, the river whispers secrets of timeless beauty. The painting that has taken the world by storm. It has captured the attention of every painter, art critic, and student of the fine arts and held it tightly in a vice grip for weeks now. Ever since its creation, people have lined up for days around the Aramondi Museum to catch a glimpse of the Goddess’. The newsboys are heralding it as a gift from the Gods, granted to humans so that they might bask in the light of true beauty in an ugly ...

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“Orange Is...” by James Vincent

Submitted to Contest #242

A solitary black figure stands two-thirds of the way up a hill and stares not at the countryside steeped in beauty but at the task ahead of him. Long blades of green and gold cover the hill, shimmering and dancing in the breeze, interrupted only by the vast expanse of blue above. The figure sees nothing, feels nothing.While the springtime sun of Southern France is famed for its mildness and congeniality, it appears that today the golden orb is bearing down on the land in full ferocity. The figure is hardly surprised at this. The heavens seld...

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“How Peter Found His Purpose” by Kevin Alphatooni

Submitted to Contest #242

“Look at them,” Peter said, “They mock us.” Po sat next to Peter but didn’t respond. Instead, he arched his back into a stretch and yawned. After scratching his stomach, he reached down and grabbed a lush bamboo branch and stuck it in his mouth. He crunched down on the shoot and then looked up at the brilliant sun, appreciating how it heated the stone platform he sat on to a comfortable warmth. Peter stood rigid at the edge of the platform, his front paws curled over the side as he leaned over the edge, teasing a fall down the grassy s...

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“Heart Thief” by Lo Lace

Submitted to Contest #242

Ira flexed her fingers as she ran one more simulation. “Come on. Come on!” She muttered under her breath, her bottom lip between her teeth. She watched helplessly at her monitor as the simulated version of her kept tripping the alarms on the museum piece she’d been planning to steal the last 4 months. Being a thief was just her hobby she liked to tell herself. She was always planning at least 3 to 4 jobs a year. Stealing priceless possessions and returning them back to their rightful owners.Her partner was an android named Gx1, gifted to her...

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“Alex and Penny at Barnes Museum ” by Joe Miller

Submitted to Contest #242

Alexandra: Hey there, Penny! Fancy meeting you here at the Barnes Museum. What brings you to this fine establishment today? Penny: Oh, hey, Alexandra! Funny seeing you here too. I'm just here to soak up some culture and maybe find inspiration for my next sketch. How about you? Alexandra: Same here! I thought I'd stroll around, take in some art, you know, the usual. So, have you seen any masterpieces that have caught your eye? Penny: Well, Alexandra, I must admit, I've been so distracted by your pies lately that I haven't given much thought t...

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“The Desperate Man in Love” by Gabby Mickelberg

Submitted to Contest #242

I always liked observing her in the tranquil silence of the museum. I could see her face remain still, but I had gotten good enough to identify her micro-expressions: her lips pulled down at black-and-white pieces, but her eyes squinted a little harder when she looked at abstract works. Her name was Mary. Today, her brown hair was pulled up into a tight knot on the top of her head, small pieces framing her face. She was not wearing makeup, which I thought looked just as good as when she came in with it. A green dress flowed against her tan ...

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“In A Museum.” by George Mexas

Submitted to Contest #242

Welcome.Our story begins in a museum, where two people meet and hit it off. Is it true? Is it made up? Does it matter?Make up your own minds. I’m just your totally trustworthy, if a bit reluctant, narrator. Will keeps staring at the same Minoan pottery, depicting a darkened octopus, tentacles spreading throughout the periphery of the vase. He is not one to avoid a gathering of all the Greek schools of archaeology. The Heraklion Archaeological Museum boasts an astonishing exhibition of pottery, paintings, inscriptions and plenty more. D...

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“The Point” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #242

It was a cloudy, gray day out. Not even a rainy one, which Pryce would’ve preferred. It was just gloom.But it did let him move around during the day without an umbrella. And the art museum was free for twelve and under. He wasn’t going to lower himself to acting, but he could put on some sunglasses, to hide his red eyes, and see where that took him.It worked.Pryce got his free admission, and went to the area for optical illusions. There were things like pictures that could be cups or faces, and the image of squares that supposedly had multip...

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“Mona Lisas eyes” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #242

It is Sunday morning, and the streets are almost empty. Some early risers are gathering around the coffee wagon in the city square, or perhaps they are the late-night party goers on the way home after a night out. This is a city that never sleeps, not even on an early Sunday morning. Well, some places are dimmed down allowing the night staff to carry on with their work in privacy. The Art Gallery is one of them. It is the time when the cleaners are busy wiping the shiny parquetted floors and dusting the leather furniture making the rooms loo...

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$250

Prize money

264

Contest entries

118

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 22, 2024 EST

Won by Niamh O'Dea 🏆

Title: Do Not Touch

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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