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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#248: From the Top

Often, one of the most difficult parts of writing a story is giving it a name. I've been known to agonize for days over finding the "perfect" title — because, like it or not, we do judge a story by its title. Those few words at the top of the page set the tone for what follows, and picking the right ones matters.

This week, I'm asking you to approach titles in a different way. Rather than writing your story and then choosing your title, we want you to start "from the top" with a just title and see where it takes you. I've selected some evocative titles from literature to inspire you — but don't worry, you don't need to have read the original works to respond to them.

🥇 Winner

“Paradise Lost” by Honey Homecroft

🏆 Winner of Contest #248

Calls for help came every day, in every language spoken from Alpha Centauri to Xanoid 10. Meteor. Famine. War!!! Help us, they pleaded. Whoever they was in that particular society that had figured out how to contact us. “Please remain calm,” I used to say. “A unit will be dispatched to your location.” But after our people went Silent, the calls went more like this: “Hello? We need help.” “We're sorry, but Planetary Assistance is no longer available. Our thoughts are with you during your pending apocalypse. Goodbye.” “Wait —” And I woul...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Desperate Remedies” by Melissa Van Rensburg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

Was she taunting me? I was jolted awake by a strange sound — pee-pee-paw, pee-pee-pee-paw. It drilled into my skull, causing shockwaves, though that might also have been the alcohol. I forced my eyelids open a fraction, afraid to face the light. It having been New Year’s Eve, I at least had an excuse for a change. For the first time in five years, I greeted the new year alone. What kind of new bird could this be? I went outside to look for the source of my annoyance. A female tui. I could tell because of the size and plumage. Stran...

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“Persuasion” by Claire Marsh

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

‘The world’s ending,’ they said.Yeah right, as if. Sure, there’s climate change, weapons of mass destruction, pandemics, Elon Musk. But the world has always been batshit crazy, and it’s kept turning. This must be the same, right?That’s what I thought. Then Virtual Reality-infoverts hijacked my gameplay. No-one had that kind of money and power. The capital to force ‘Speed Killer 12: Mission Creep,’ the highest grossing, most immersive gaming experience on the planet, to pause gameplay and pump infomercials into their customers’ brains. And, i...

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“Paradise Lost” by Jane Andrews

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

Trigger warning: domestic violence, mental health The mind is its own place, and in itselfCan make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. (Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1) Some say that Signor Dante’s Inferno is a most accurate representation of Hell. For my own part, I would argue that Man makes his own Hell when he ignores the corner of Paradise he finds here on Earth and lets himself instead succumb to fatal passions.The cell from which I write has become my personal inferno, for Heaven is where she is and she is not here. They say I will han...

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“Paradise Lost ” by ♡ Tana ♡

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

My late husband never did give me his green thumb. I remember when we first met, I was amazed at his ability to coax life into blighted tomatoes, pray seedlings into sprouting in lackluster soil, and convince frostbitten blueberry bushes to produce gallons. My late husband grew up on a ranch in Southern Texas, and his sweet drawl and lazy eyes persuaded me to have not one and not two but three drinks with him that sleepy summer night in Alabama. He was visiting the University of Alabama where I was a student and had lived all my ...

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“Persuasion” by T. S. Parnell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

Twelve years old is the minimum age to enter the annual calf scramble. But none had ever taken home a calf. The fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-olds were more experienced, and usually faster and stronger. Caleb Duskin caught one when he was thirteen, but he already had a mustache and played linebacker on the freshman football team. Lily Parsons turned twelve on July 30th, the day before the deadline to enter a name in the drawing to participate. Two days later, after the ten names were drawn, Lily’s mother got the phone call. “Hello,”...

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“Desperate Remedies” by James Vogner

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

This story includes sensitive topics including mental health, gore, and self harm. I didn’t tell my mouth to rip the flesh off my arm. I didn’t even let myself think about it. Instead, I concentrated on the muscles just below the cheek. I tightened them with no more expression on my face than if I were reading the newspaper. Dark red blood began to squirt into my mouth and onto my face. I could feel Brian panicking, but his voice was quiet, like a man trapped in a padded room about to be filled with gas. A warmth filled my mouth, and a text...

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This week's prompts

Write a story titled 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

Adventure – 34 stories

Write a story titled 'Paradise Lost'.

Angst – 70 stories

Write a story titled 'Desperate Remedies'.

Dark – 66 stories

Write a story titled 'The Wind in the Willows'.

Spring – 50 stories

Write a story titled 'Persuasion'.

Funny – 42 stories

Stories

“Paradise Lost” by Honey Homecroft

🏆 Winner of Contest #248

Calls for help came every day, in every language spoken from Alpha Centauri to Xanoid 10. Meteor. Famine. War!!! Help us, they pleaded. Whoever they was in that particular society that had figured out how to contact us. “Please remain calm,” I used to say. “A unit will be dispatched to your location.” But after our people went Silent, the calls went more like this: “Hello? We need help.” “We're sorry, but Planetary Assistance is no longer available. Our thoughts are with you during your pending apocalypse. Goodbye.” “Wait —” And I woul...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Mohamed Sarfan

Submitted to Contest #248

Paradise LostThe emergency room buzzed with urgent activity as Amina lay on the sterile hospital bed, her face contorted with pain. Surrounding her were dedicated medical professionals—Dr. Adam Khan, Dr. Maya Ahmed, Nurse Omar Ali, and the team of nurses—Layla, Sarah, Fathima, Ayah, and Leila. Each of them focused intently on ensuring a safe delivery for Amina and her unborn child. Amina, a survivor of war and unspeakable violence, had carried her unborn child despite the trauma inflicted upon her. The memories of that fateful day on the bat...

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“Desperate Remedies” by Melissa Van Rensburg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

Was she taunting me? I was jolted awake by a strange sound — pee-pee-paw, pee-pee-pee-paw. It drilled into my skull, causing shockwaves, though that might also have been the alcohol. I forced my eyelids open a fraction, afraid to face the light. It having been New Year’s Eve, I at least had an excuse for a change. For the first time in five years, I greeted the new year alone. What kind of new bird could this be? I went outside to look for the source of my annoyance. A female tui. I could tell because of the size and plumage. Stran...

Read story

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #248

May 12, 1984To the Parent-Teacher Association Moms of Alamo Elementary School:Yes, you may pick your jaws off the squeaky, dusty basketball court hardwood now. Oh, don’t think I didn’t see it all: the eyes flying over to me like a seagull when I opened my mouth to cheer for my lovely daughter singing onstage, the tide of confusion crashing upon your made-up faces, the gulp you had to stifle to paint an expression saltier than San Francisco Bay. Nevertheless, yes, you heard correctly indeed: contrary to what you had pre-conceived of a petite,...

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“Paradise Lost” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #248

The familiar green outside the Pathfinder gives way and we’re in the fire zone, struggling to get our bearings in an alien landscape. I catch my breath and slow down to a crawl, staring wide-eyed at the devastation. Blackened tree trunks stand rigid, stripped of their outer appendages. They’re like limbless sentries in a macabre guard of honour along the side of the road. Landmarks and road signs have disappeared, and the ones that remain are off-kilter and charred; their paint has bubbled and flaked. A fine white ash has collected in drifts...

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“Persuasion” by A.R. Eakle

Submitted to Contest #248

I know I will love her forever. What else is there to do in a life? She is gentle and slender, fragile yet powerful, like a quaking aspen. If I could compare the beauty of the world to anything, I would compare it to her.“What are you smiling at?” she asks me.“You.”“You’re smiling at me?”“And the thought of you,” I tell her.We are at home, doing nothing in particular. A simple evening, the weather outside wet and humid. It is transitioning from winter to spring with the smell of fresh rain and the sounds of new birds.I sit next to her,...

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“Desperate Remedies” by Bruce Carrington

Submitted to Contest #248

Marlon Brando got it. He understood the craft. He was disliked by his costars. They called him ‘frustrating’, ‘unpredictable’, ‘difficult’. Short-sightedness was the common feature among the people working with him. They couldn’t see beyond his intricacies. But their worst sin was that they couldn’t comprehend that art requires sacrifice. I got it. I understood it perfectly. I, like Brando, was an artist in the truest sense. I, like Brando, would be misunderstood at first but it would not matter in the end. The thing is, Brando never even th...

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“A Tale of Two Cities” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #248

The children swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the train as it went through the countryside, suddenly slowed, and finally came to a halt with a screech.Laura pushed through the crowd to stick her head through the window looking around at the vast emptiness of the land. Beyond the small station there was nothing to see in any direction.“Do not get placed here, Johnny Miller. Ya hear me?” She turned to look into the eyes of the boy traveling with her, the boy she had known her whole life in the city.“It ain’t my choice.&nbs...

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“The Wind in the Willow” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #248

The Wind in the WillowThere is a tree, a willow tree in the middle of a field near a small pond. The branches hang low, the slightest breeze will caress them, urge them to dance. When she was a child, the tree was Leena’s refuge. She could hide under the veil of branches. Here she’d read fairy tales, dream of ever after and wish for magic and her very own prince. But like everyone else, when she grew older, she had to come out from under her tree and leave her dreams and wishes behind.At the edge of the field, near the street, is a...

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“PARADISE LOST” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #248

Of all the apples on the tree, she had to pick mine.From the start, I want everyone to know that I do not understand why I got punished.I want to know why.This is all a load of nonsense.Someone must help the brother worm.My very existence is in complete accordance with God's commandments.Why was then my apple torn from the tree and brutally damaged by those two idiots, Adam and Eve?Here I am in the apple, cooling off, enjoying resting after a hearty lunch.Lying on my back, listening to the sounds of pleasure that my body emits before it almo...

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“Persuasion” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #248

"Dwarfs, don't forget!" Flimlet yelled. He sat alone with a beer mug, his hair disheveled and dirty, and his clothes shabby and stained. The pub was empty, except for a barmaid behind the counter washing dishes. The absence of customers was excusable since it was only ten in the morning. Two weeks had passed since the dwarf had returned from Lord Balister's mine. And during that time, he practically lived here."Do you think I'll forget?" Having no one to argue with, he turned to the wall, daring it to disagree. "I'll never forget! You h...

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“Paradise Lost ” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #248

Paradise Lost(Paradise Found?)I almost let the phone go to voicemail since I didn’t recognize the number and suspected I would have to be rude to yet another salesperson.Yes?Mr. Samuel Makarov?Yes?I have a story for you.Those are magic words. I’m a freelance reporter. I’ll take whatever news I can get. Excluding who is sleeping with whom, who had a face lift or tummy tuck or who got who pregnant.Talk to me.Not over the phone.The man gave me the address of a coffee shop just out of town. We agreed to meet in thirty minutes.Mr. Ahmed Sharuff a...

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“DESPERATE REMEDIES (AGAINST ALL ODDS)” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #248

The pain hit me with a ferocity that stole the air from my lungs, a sudden onslaught that shattered the fragile veil of sleep. It was as if the night had turned against me, unleashing its wrath in searing agony. With a guttural cry, I was torn from the embrace of dreams and hurled into the harsh reality of my torment. Clutching my abdomen, I doubled over in agony, the weight of my own body crashing down upon me like a ton of bricks. It was a visceral assault, a symphony of agony that reverberated through every fiber of my being. Each wave of...

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“Southern Persuasion” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #248

( An excerpt from 'A Brilliantly Scathing Life' unpublished award winning manuscript by author)Black smoke belched from the smokestack of the Chicago Alton St. Louis Rail Road engine steaming southwest. The passenger car lurched and swayed sending one gentleman trying to negotiate the aisle sprawling into the laps of Kendra and her traveling companions.“Oh, Ladies, kindly forgive me. Did I hurt anyone? Terribly clumsy of me.” He apologized as he reclaimed his footing, bowed and tipped his bowler hat toward them.“No harm done and we can not p...

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“Persuasion” by Claire Marsh

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #248

‘The world’s ending,’ they said.Yeah right, as if. Sure, there’s climate change, weapons of mass destruction, pandemics, Elon Musk. But the world has always been batshit crazy, and it’s kept turning. This must be the same, right?That’s what I thought. Then Virtual Reality-infoverts hijacked my gameplay. No-one had that kind of money and power. The capital to force ‘Speed Killer 12: Mission Creep,’ the highest grossing, most immersive gaming experience on the planet, to pause gameplay and pump infomercials into their customers’ brains. And, i...

Read story

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$250

Prize money

262

Contest entries

97

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 03, 2024 EST

Won by Honey Homecroft 🏆

Title: Paradise Lost

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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