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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

“The Perfect Night” by Julia Zhipa Philippova

Submitted to Contest #242

In the deep silence of the night, Rick, with his heart pounding with a mix of fear and exhilaration, snuck in the art gallery. This was it, the final act of his thievery career, spurred by the love for his fiancée and the thrill of one last challenge. The gallery, with its dim lights casting long shadows, seemed to whisper secrets of the past, secrets Rick was about to become a part of. He moved slowly, each step calculated, avoiding the creaky floorboards seasoned with age and secrets. The irony of the situation didn't escape him; the artwo...

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“Lost and Found In Turin” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #242

American Paul Keller thought of himself as an extremely rational man, yet he now found himself 58 years old, living off his last month of savings, and in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin Italy without a train pass to return to his Airbnb.“I think I’ve dropped my transit pass somewhere in the museum,” he explained to a bored, but sympathetic looking, young woman at the museum’s front reception desk“We have not-a~ found a~ train pass to~day”, she replied in the charming accent many people in Italy use to speak English.Paul tried to remember how m...

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“Frances and Frances” by Kacie Foos

Submitted to Contest #242

I sat in the museum office nervously shaking my leg. The museum director, Bertie, walked in with my name badge placing it in front of me. "Welcome to the MOMA family Frances." "Thank you." I took my museum badge and looked at it in my hand like a shiny new pearl. All my life I had waited for this moment. I had loved art since the first time I held my first paintbrush. To be hired as a staff member was everything I had ever worked for and dreamed of. Bertie smiled as I proudly placed my badge on my blouse. "I remember my first day here like ...

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“Living Artifacts are People Too - Well, Sort Of” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #242

The Museum of Art and Artifacts in Selwyn invited Lady Nimmo to submit one of her magically created stumpers. Although a great honor, she was hesitant to accept. Several questions plagued her: Will a stumper like living in a museum? Will he scare the kids? Will he get along with the museum staff?While she agonized over the pros and cons, a shy stumper named Limb Strong approached her."My lady, may I have a moment?" Limb Strong asked. "I heard of an opportunity to work at the great museum in Selwyn.""Well, it's not exactly work.""Eh?" The stu...

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“Eyes of the beholder” by Anna Frederiksen-Washington

Submitted to Contest #242

The bell rang as the door opened and the moment she heard the thump, thump, thump from feet shaking off the snow on the mat, she knew it was him. None of the other customers brought the snow inside. They cleaned their shoes on the doormat outside. But not him. Susan could not work out why he did it, if it were to annoy her as he knew she was the one that would mop up the water once the slush melted on the wooden floor. She turned just as he brushed the snow off his hat and hung it together with the coat on the stand. He rubbed his hands toge...

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“Stranger Danger” by Linda Sammaritan

Submitted to Contest #242

“Howdy, little pardner, are you lost?”The man’s voice comes out of nowhere in the buzz of the crowd. It scares me.His big face comes too close. Scruffy gray beard. Squinty eyes. A yellow-teeth smile. Something brown is stuck between two of them near the corner of his mouth. His breath stinks. Like a skunk that’s been dead for a long time. But not as bad as when Dad ran over one. The smell stayed with us until the tires finally scraped it all off onto the road.My own eyes get squinty as I search for Dad. He was just here. We were standin...

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“The Greatness of Gletsby” by Jeremy Burgess

Submitted to Contest #242

Saucer eyed, Jeanine stared, her stomach sinking as it filled with a mix of apprehension, butterflies, and just a sprinkle of despair. To her right was the display of the taxidermied body of Gletsby's most famous racing greyhound, Harlequin's Dancer. To her left, no longer attached to its haunches, was Harlequin's Dancer's head. She bit her lower lip as mild panic began to set in and her gaze bounced back and forth between the two parts of the celebrated animal. Her first thought was that it must not have been attached all that well to have ...

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“Not Your Perfect Heist” by Teirrah McNair

Submitted to Contest #242

I don’t know if perfect heist is the best way to frame what I finally accomplished last Thursday.My name is Beans and that’s what I prefer to be called; don’t put a mister or doctor or reverend or any other term of endearment in front of it. Just Beans. Quick history since I know you are wondering. People who read are always nosy as all get up. So, here’s the scoop. Since I was little my daddy used to tell me and everybody who met me that I would never amount to no more than a hill of beans. Then he’d make me wear white starched shirts with ...

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“The Heist” by Linda Kenah

Submitted to Contest #242

It’s 6:30 pm and I am seated at the British Airways gate, anxious to hear my flight number being called. Dulles to London – I need to go “across the pond” as Gram would say. As usual, I had arrived early; boarding was not scheduled to begin for another hour. I would rather wait at the gate than deal with the stress of long security lines or other untold snafus.This time, though, my early arrival at the gate was not without trepidation. I was flying stand-by. It was the best I could do on such short notice. The ...

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“Meetings in the Night” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #242

Meetings in the Night Everyone was there on that particular night, ready to talk to the others. That was somewhat unusual, as generally at least a few of them did not make an appearance on a night. The dark-haired woman was there, of course. She always was. She said a lot in these sessions that was reflected in her uncertain smile. Tonight was a night for making plans. Everyone wanted to take part in this critical stage of their existence. They generally felt that they were being exploited by the corporation for...

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“American Gothic” by Kim Olson

Submitted to Contest #242

At night, the stone lions in front of the museum’s doors kept watch. Their eyes scanned up and down Michigan Avenue to make sure no one approached the building. The paintings at the Art Institute, after all, deserved their rest. Rather, the characters in the paintings deserved rest and privacy. All day long, they had been probed, analyzed, discussed, misunderstood. It was very frustrating that gawking visitors couldn’t understand their truths. Couldn’t understand the simple messages each artist tried to convey with carefully placed brush str...

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“Meet Me at the MOMA” by Lauren Rice

Submitted to Contest #242

Nobody tells you how hard it is to date in your late twenties.Even harder yet, dating as someone who has uprooted themselves to begin again in a new and (supposedly) exciting place. To pack all of your belongings (mostly books in my case) in your 2004 Subaru Outback and drive halfway across the country to the city that shares its name with the state it belongs to. The concrete jungle where dreams are made of, according to Alicia Keys. The Big Apple. If you have not caught on by now, which I would be incredibly shocked if you hadn...

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“Midnight in the gallery” by Paul Simpkin

Submitted to Contest #242

It was the second time that I volunteered at the gallery that I managed to get myself locked in overnight. This was a night that I was never to forget. I am ashamed to admit that I fell asleep sitting in one of the cubicles in the Men’s public toilets. It was an exhausting day. The whole time was spent walking round, answering questions from the customers and directing them to the café and the toilets. By the time the gallery closed to the public at 6.30pm I was exhausted and decided to have a quick nap in the end cubicle of the toilets down...

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“A lift on the wildside” by Jean Lagacé

Submitted to Contest #242

Write about a gallery whose paintings come alive at night.Charles Lytton-Cobbolt had never been afraid of finding himself in an elevator except the day he died. As a matter of fact, on his last day on earth, he had entered such a device fully happy with not a worry on his mind. He worked at Mancini-Duffy. It was a New York-based architecture and interior design firm. The firm provided a full range of interior planning, design, and architecture services. As he was the V.P. and chief of PR, he had been in charge of organizing the firm's fiftie...

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“Muse” by Evan Jackson

Submitted to Contest #242

It was 1:15 am when I got the call from him. I’ve been his lawyer since he released his second major collection in New Jamestown. That was 35 years ago when both of us were young and strong enough to dream. Currently, I haven’t spoken to Gregory in over two weeks. Ever since his cancer diagnosis, he’s been pushing everyone away. Afraid of being pitied and having his friends watch him wither away. I get it, but hurtful words hurt more when they come from someone you admire and cherish. Gregory’s anger was also a confession of fear and love. H...

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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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