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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#244: Oh Snap!

Photography is the art of capturing light, and moments; a way to freeze time and observe the ever-changing nature of life, if only in a small way. Pictures serve as a testament to our experience, helping us remember, understand, and share it. From cherished childhood snapshots to historical photographs, artistic compositions, and even selfies, some pictures truly are worth a thousand words.

This week’s prompts are all about photographs and the stories and meanings behind them — just remember that, in this case, a picture is worth between 1 and 3 thousand words.

This week's prompts

Center your story around a photo that goes viral.

Funny – 29 stories

Start your story with a character staring at a picture they don’t remember taking.

Mystery – 73 stories

Write a story about a character who risks their life to take a photo.

Adventure – 39 stories

Write about a character who sees a photo they shouldn’t have seen.

Dramatic – 66 stories

Begin or end your story with a character taking a selfie.

Fluff – 33 stories

Stories

“The Coraline Factor” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #244

As Vikky walked down the paths leading to the school’s quadrangle, other students moved aside or stopped what they were doing to look at her. Her black hair bobbed, her skirt swished, but her footsteps seemed to glide. Laura and Faye trotted behind her.As they approached where the blood-nosed boys wrestled each other with the ferocity of alligator lizards, Vikky let out a loud wolf whistle, making everyone else turn around. She raised her hands together and widened them out in a gesture demanding that the spectators move aside. They parted l...

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“My Big Fat Viral Wedding” by Angela Yuriko Smith

Submitted to Contest #244

Kerry angled the camera just right so she would catch the golden light playing off in her perfectly coiffed hair. Her dad had dropped a boatload of money on this wedding and she meant to make full use of it. She snapped a few photos with her phone. “Instagram, baby,” she said to the empty room though her pursed duck lips.. Her dress was the perfect shade of ecru to add cottagecore ambiance to her selfie. Her hair had taken 5 solid hours to coif to achieve the artful messiness of the curls. The look was designed to be glamor-casual. She...

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“Take Me To Your Leader” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #244

"We need beautiful art around here," Gladise said with a chuckle. Lady Nimmo sat in the corner of the "art" room, sewing a new dress. She laughed at her mother, who was painting a self-portrait from a mirror's reflection leaning against a wall. "And you're making sure we do?" Lady Nimmo said. "Naturally." "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're conceited." Gladise peeked around her canvas, staring at her reflection, playfully ignoring her daughter's jibe. She returned to her canvas and skillfully added strokes. It was Gladise's way of u...

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“#Sweet Sophie” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #244

“For God’s sake, Sophie, what were you thinking?” T.J yelled, his voice hysterical and high pitched.“I wasn’t thinking anything,” Sophie Beckett replied, her enormous blue eyes welling with emotion. “I was eating an ice-cream!”“Look! Just look at this,” T.J turned his phone screen towards her. “Does this look like someone eating ice cream?”The image was grainy and zoomed in close, but it was unmistakably Sophie, her eyes closed, long lashes curving against her cheekbones, in an expression of forbidden bliss as she licked the melting ice-crea...

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“Poor Box Suprise” by Luca King Greek

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #244

New York Patrolman, James O’Donnell, spread the pale-yellow powder along the metal tray and closed the wooden lid of the box. The mechanism clicked.“Most ingenious” said Deacon Cassidy, thrilling at the prospect of pyrotechnics.” It is a mix of potassium chlorate, aluminum, and sulfur,” said officer O’Donnell, “known as flash powder in the trade.”“The modern invades our lives”, said old Father Morris with a sigh, “and the lord moves in mysterious ways.”“As do the Sunday offerings”, said Deacon Cassidy, for whom the pilfered Poor Box was a th...

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“Chiromancers” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #244

Harry Fellows was a decent man. Normally, a law-abiding citizen, but when he discovered he could obtain his “chirophoto” (a photo image of his hand) illegally, he didn’t hesitate one second. In Harry’s world a “chirophoto” was the most important piece of identification, taken at birth, and again at twenty years old for every single citizen of earth. It was owned by the state, no citizen could possess this important piece of personal identification, and only highly trained Chiromancers were allowed to review and analyze the “chirophoto”, ther...

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“BANTER BLOOPERS” by Viga Boland

Submitted to Contest #244

Matthew, do you recognize this photo?Should I?Yes. After all, you took it!I didn’t take that! Why would I take a photo of what looks like a small bowl of half-eaten raspberry jello?Because you often take photos of food or other things I’ve never thought worth the effort. I’ve always found that a tad weird. Oh I know. I know. Don’t say it. You’re a photographer and see photos where others, like me, just see objects. But that said, how do you know it’s raspberry if you don’t even remember taking it? Like, maybe it’s strawberry jello?Well, what...

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“More to Me” by Annie Hewitt

Submitted to Contest #244

“GET INSIDE!” Jack could hear Ben, the chopper pilot, yelling over the incessant whuppa whuppa whuppa of the blades as he leaned out of the opening of the medevac so far he was more out than in, but he had to get the shot. It was his job. As they approached the ground and the dust flew everywhere, a bullet went right through Jack’s hat. The force of the bullet ripped it right off his head. Even so, it didn’t alter his approach to his work. When he was working, he used the camera lens as his eyes and today what he saw through that lens was ab...

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“Along the Smoky Mountains” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #244

“Come on, sweetie, get in here. I want to get this view in the background,” Sarah calls out to Michael who is standing at the edge of the cliff behind her, enjoying the view.Michael squeezes his new bride tightly. Smiling naturally, Sarah snaps the picture. She giggles and gives her husband a smooch on the lips before suggesting they head back to the cabin. Sarah has been snapping pictures to share on social media all day. It’s their honeymoon, opting for fall foliage over summer sand. Although overcast, the weather has been very cooperative...

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“A Royal Pain In The Grass” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #244

April 1stAlone in the wide expanse of green, Arabella, stood with the building’s majestic facade behind her. She was careful to adhere to the 2024 selfie guidelines from Glam! Magazine: hold the camera at a distance, angle it slightly downward, reveal a hint of teeth, but not too much. An intelligent woman shouldn't smile as if she's in a children’s birthday photo. And, never let the worry on the inside show to her 340K followers. She felt a wave of intense anxiety. There were a million possibilities that could go wrong. Her hair might ...

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“The Medusa Coin” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #244

"The coin never fails, but I'll give you a fair chance." "Coin? You want money?" "No, I want you to flip it." "What?" "The coin. You can't look at it yet. Not until after you flip it." "Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing. I know you. You're that guy who put the Kalinksi brothers in a coma with some kind of coin trick. They call you Percy, right? What do you want?" "You know better than I do." "Did Falcone send you? Listen, if this is about his wife, nothing happened. She simply came to a show." "Like I said, you know better." "You k...

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“Status Update” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #244

Rain pours down on the freeway. Even with the wipers on high, seeing is problematic. Kyle and Amy just got off work. They’re heading to their neighborhood bar and grill for happy hour and then dinner before heading home. Traffic has slowed, not to a standstill, but to the point that everyone is being cautious. They pull off at their exit when their phones sound a loud warning tone. Amy checks her phone to see what the warning concerns, hoping there isn’t a tornado in the area.Emergency AlertOak Grove police department has activated an amber ...

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“Unleashing My Inner Unicorn ” by Laurie Spellman

Submitted to Contest #244

When I was little, I would run through the park, my hair streaming in a silky mane, pretending to be a unicorn with a shimmering coat and glittering horn. You should never let a unicorn wander too far into the woodlands alone. Otherwise, you might find yourself lost in the forest, chasing after a creature that's decided to follow its whimsical desires.Ahhh, sunsets over Manhattan are always the perfect backdrop for broadcasting from Studio Two. The red light flickered on the camera, panning on me at my reporter's desk. My director counted do...

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“The 10 Questions” by Shahzad Ahmad

Submitted to Contest #244

The child's lips diverged maximally. They couldn’t be split to any greater extent. He was staring hard at the sky above, hoping to receive a divine reply. His face had sullied by the tearful deposits and his shirt was tattered from different sections. His whole body was punctured with scars exposed through the torn sections of his 'so called' clothes. He seemed to be protesting at his condition, which he least deserved. He was a small child definitely not more than 7. The ground on which he stood was littered with blood and indiscrimina...

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“The Sigmund-Thun-Gorge” by Renate Buchner

Submitted to Contest #244

He tilts his head slightly to the side and places his hand against the shell of his ear, but the thundering water drowns out the voice of the man standing opposite him. He gives a hand gesture, indicating a different direction. The other man nods and follows him over the crudely constructed wooden bridge, trembling and shivering as he holds on to the ropes that act as rails. The dampness that soaked the bridge's wooden slats rendered them soggy and each step felt like a passageway on a ship.Upon reaching the opposite bank, the man grasped th...

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$250

Prize money

239

Contest entries

91

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 05, 2024 EST

Won by K.A. Murray 🏆

Title: The Party

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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