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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

“Death by Selfie” by Kristina Lushey

Submitted to Contest #244

The blue and white Wedgwood patterned bone china plate, a present from their wedding list, span in a circular motion, similar to a UFO crossing your line of sight, as it whizzed through the kitchen window, and smashed into a thousand shimmering shards of glass into the garden beyond. Natasha screamed and ran into the front room, wailing and sobbing.She heard her husband of three years stomping around the kitchen, complaining about the mess which he’d just created. Natasha was terrified the neighbours would hear the commotion. She projected a...

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“The Photograph of Eternity: A Tale of Love and War” by Alexandra Noir

Submitted to Contest #244

"Vinogradar16 Km from OdessaSeptember 3, 1941 My dear Ana, In the depth of the night, when silence falls heavily over the battlefields, I find my escape in writing to you, as if my words could fly towards you, surpassing the inferno of this war. The sky here is dark, not with night, but with gunpowder and smoke, a veil hiding the stars under which we swore eternal love. At home, I hope the sea is as crystal clear as the color of your eyes... And yet, in this endless fight, the thought of you is the sp...

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“Silent Witness Files” by Brianna J. Gonzalez

Submitted to Contest #244

“One more second, I’ve almost got you…” she whispers. Yellow wings lazily open and close as the butterfly obliges. Crouching lower, dark hair spills over the young woman’s shoulders like shadowy tendrils. She aligns the wings in the middle of her phone screen, taps to focus the subject, then taps again to capture her garden visitor forever in a glowing digital portrait. A smile tugs at her lips as she lowers the phone and watches the butterfly flit from her dew-covered front yard flower beds. The splash of yellow dances through the...

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“Cute As… ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #244

I never expected to become a fashion icon. Does anyone? I’m the last possible candidate for such status. I never considered the potential impact of paparazzi, photo shoots, or celebrity on my simple life. There were none. My time was my own, until…But here I am, standing in the wings. (Wings – get it?) While awaiting my debut, I’m fighting off butterflies. My life transformed after that photograph went viral. Of course, Phil isn’t a mere photographer. He discovered me. He has vision. We became friends. He’s my trusted manager.And, thanks to ...

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“Let Meat Take a Selfie” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #244

The house slept whilst the other abodes awoke for the day.Stuart Weste squinted at the home, one hand resting on the rusty iron gate. He tried and failed to shake the feeling that the house was watching him with half-lidded eyes. ‘All right,’ he said to himself. His voice shook more than he’d ever admit. ‘Let’s do this.’The closed curtain of one of the upstairs windows flickered only for the briefest of moments.His breath caught in his throat. There was somebody home. Well, of course, there was. Otherwise, this would have been a pointless en...

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“Storm Chaser” by Martha Kowalski

Submitted to Contest #244

It was forecasted to be a simple thunderstorm. And even a simple thunderstorm would do after the uneventful season we’ve had. As a meteorology student in Indiana, it has been perfectly - boring. We get the regular blizzard left over from Chicago and standard rain showers, but it’s not like we get slammed with a nasty Nor’easter or live right in the smack dab middle of Tornado Alley. That’s not to say that there’s no severe weather, no tornado or flash flood that occasionally rips through here, because of course there is. But in the three yea...

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“Witness” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #244

Once upon a time I was a princess.No, not a real princess. But I was pampered and made to feel special. I was well educated, had servants. My servants had servants. I was allowed to focus on my work. Never had to think about where my food came from or how the house was kept clean. The mundane tasks in life were foreign to me. My life centered around assisting my father with his diplomatic work. I managed his correspondence, international travel and entertaining foreign dignitaries and their minions.Once upon a time I was a hostess.I thought ...

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“Butterflies” by Sophie Fawley

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #244

With both fingers I repeatedly zoomed in and out of the photo. Then I zoomed and un-zoomed even faster, until my screen was just a nauseating blur. I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to make myself feel sick, or if I was hoping that when I finally stopped – when the photo eventually came to a standstill – it would rearrange itself completely into something that made sense. But when I did stop, I was just as confused. Once more, I added up the constituent parts: dark hair splayed on the pillow, shiny skin dappled with bruise-like smudges of m...

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“Intruder” by Jahson Clarke

Submitted to Contest #244

“That day was the worst, I remember Matthew spreading the rumor that I bit his tongue while kissing.” “I mean…you did bite his tongue, Jen.”“You know it was by acci…” I was on the cusp of flipping to the next page of photographs in the album, but something made my eyes divert. “You there Jen?”I was stumped beyond comprehension. The current high school banter became an annoying buzz in my ear. “Hey, I’m going to call you back Emma.” She knew I wasn’t going to call her back. I just needed to focus on what I was looking at. Every...

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“The present” by Laura Camacho Frias

Submitted to Contest #244

Every September arrives, and I get nervous and itchy. That's when the presents season starts at home, or better, when I need to start working on the matrix of names, occasions, future, and past purchases. Most of the family birthdays happen between October and January. Thanks to our multicultural family composition and expat reality, we have three different Christmas-like celebrations between December and January. Then comes the terrible St. Valentine, and to end the celebration hell, our wedding anniversary, which I like but stresses me out...

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“Bella. From Latin, Meaning 'Beautiful'.” by Christina Santoro

Submitted to Contest #244

Carmela walked into the library to meet her mother’s group, unaffected by the apprehension she was certain all the other women would be feeling.While other mothers got upset at old ladies poking their heads inside their prams, Carmela reveled in it. She would stand back, allowing them to admire her daughter. Waiting for them to tell her what she already knew. That her child was beautiful. Her eyes were wide and alert - two green moons gently marbled with copper and gold - in perfect contrast with her silky shock of dark hair. Her olive ...

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“Roll Tide” by Mazie Maris

Submitted to Contest #244

Sometimes I wonder if people get as lost as I do in the moment while they are working. Like, when the dentist has his hands on your gums, shining his headlamp into your face, is he thinking about the sheer beauty of the roof of your mouth? Is he in awe of the opportunity to stand there looking at the popcorn between your teeth while wondering if you’ve flossed today? Does he wish in this moment, with this mouth, that this day would never end?The waves today are big. Huge, actually. At four hours before high tide, I should be about fifty feet...

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“The Forest for the Bears” by Jeremy Burgess

Submitted to Contest #244

Mrs Bear arrived in my office on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, unannounced. She wasn't your standard Grizzly, a snappy dresser in a long scarlet number that had to have been tailored to fit; Ursus Arctos Fashionista. "Ms Lox, I hear you have a knack for infidelity," she growled, low and thunderous. "Finding it, not participating in it," I replied dryly, "what's it to you?" She dropped a roll of bills on my desk and said, "you're the investigator, you tell me." I looked her up and down. She wasn't the typical jilted wife or sobbing sta...

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“Mr. Timerack's Gallery of Lost Souls ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #244

“These are truly remarkable.” George Dundee commented as he continued down the hall. “My late grandfather Sidney Timberack believed that every photograph told a story.” Lewis Stanrick led his patron down what his grandfather had called his gallery of lost souls. “These tintypes are in pristine condition.” Mr. Dundee ran his finger along the base of one of the photographs, not knowing his grandfather would rage at anyone who dared run a finger over one of the portraits hanging in the hallway. Since he inherited the portraits from ...

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“Exposure” by Shawn Palmquist

Submitted to Contest #244

Trigger Warning: Suicide/Mental Health. I step with a stutter, one foot slowly after the other, neck bent towards potholed pavement as I break through the angular shapes of shade signaling my departure from safety. The sun overhead sears my scalp as my shadow pools into a circle of darkness at my feet, moving with me like a small protective forcefield as I take each step into this bleak new world I will ever so briefly call home. Seven years with no sun, no pollen, and no people have left me fragile and unsteady as I cross the threshold to t...

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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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