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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#252: Obsession

The Netflix series Baby Reindeer, inspired by a real-life stalker story, has garnered millions of views over the past month while receiving both critical acclaim and heavy backlash. In the show, a chance encounter between a barman and a total stranger descends into a chaotic tale of stalking, destruction, and mutual obsession. Delving into themes of personal boundaries, power dynamics, identity struggles, and mental health problems, the show depicts some of the complexities and contradictions inherent in human psychology.


Inspired by Baby Reindeer, this week's prompts are an invitation to explore some of the nuances of human behavior. Whether you write a witty story, a heartwarming tale, or something tense and gripping is up to you!

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character being followed.

Dramatic – 99 stories

Write about a character who struggles to do the right thing.

Character – 35 stories

Write a story in which one of the characters is a narcissist.

Character – 39 stories

Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

Dramatic – 129 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Character – 55 stories

Stories

“SALOME” by Jennifer Claire Pulling

Submitted to Contest #252

                                         Kimberley told him she could pinpoint exactly when their relationship changed. It was that week in September when he bought Salome. Life had been free and easy before then, bumbling around in the old Austin, even though they’d broken down on an ambitious trip to Cornwall. But with the delivery of the...

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“Whopper” by Evonne Lee

Submitted to Contest #252

It was a cold and rainy Wednesday evening, and the McDonald's just down the road was packed with people who thought fast food was an acceptable last meal before we were all forced into our homes. I had ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a coke from the touchscreens on their self-service kiosks. Yet there it was, plain as day, on the tray with my order slip on it. A Burger King box. A Burger King box containing what was indisputably a Whopper. In a McDonald's. Why? The question haunted me. I looked around and above, and was greeted with th...

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“A Dear Ron Letter” by Karen Derenbecker

Submitted to Contest #252

A Dear Ron Letterby Karen Davis  Dear Ron,    Bear with me as I have chosen to write a letter to say all that needs to be said. This way there is no possibility of being interrupted or persuaded. I write strictly from the truth that is mine to own.    I remember the first night we formally met. I had seen you at gatherings thrown by my parents and parents of various friends and relatives. You even visited my neighborhood from time to time invited by some boys I grew up with including my older brot...

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“Little Whispers” by Kaotic Quinn

Submitted to Contest #252

Head lolls and bobs in a trance, possessed. Glazed eyes remain fixed on a small shining object in a cheap neon case. Like a train it hits, sending me straight into the shadow realm. Violent urges consume a typically well adjusted mind, taking a death grip. Shatter the plastic prison and set your precious free. You can’t just leave it trapped in there can you? When was the last time you enjoyed some quality time together? Don’t you miss it? Wasn’t it the thing that dreams were made of?Shivers radiate through a sticky body beginning to drip wi...

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“'Love' Letters” by Rozmarin Ideas

Submitted to Contest #252

 Oh, dearest,I saw your face for the first time today. You are so beautiful. I walked in your footprints, and my feet fit so, so well in your path. I was made for you, made to be yours, made to uplift you. I will see you again. Please don’t hide from me. You shouldn’t, you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t. I am the only one who sees you, the only one who needs you, the only one you need. Please show me again, show me your face. …WHY won’t you show me? Why? Don’t hide from me. At last! A glimpse, a glitter, I saw you again. Oh, how you make my ...

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“The Coffee Date” by Diana Blackstone-Helt

Submitted to Contest #252

Sensitive content: Miscarriage Annie drummed her fingers on the heavy oak table and squinted at an ornate iron wall clock. The hands were barely visible in the dim morning light filtering through the Starbucks-green curtains. Janet was ten minutes late for their coffee date. What if something happened to her? A knot of fear twisted in Annie’s chest.  Janet Kemper was one of Annie’s oldest friends. In fact, Janet was the first friend she’d made in Seattle after her husband, Travis, became the newest associate at Kemper and Dunn, Attorney...

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“Miss Perfect” by Rho Ryan

Submitted to Contest #252

“I swear Amelia,” Spencer exclaims for what must be the eighth time this morning. “Aria is just... amazing! She’s gorgeous, smart, and – God help me! – her laugh! Have you heard her laugh, Amelia?” “Can’t say I have.” I lie. Of course I’ve heard her laugh. The school goes deathly quiet every time she does, everyone mutually agreeing to let the sound ring through the hallways. Its echo never ends even as the sound technically fades. It dances around in your mind, driving you insane. “Captain of the swim team,” Oh, he’s still going. I wish I w...

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“The Disappearance of Lacey Mae” by Angie Lucas

Submitted to Contest #252

Five years ago, her daughter Lacey Mae Jenkins disappeared. It was something that could have happened to anyone, but it happened to her. It was the middle of summer, an oppressively hot day, at a church festival. One minute Lacey was there, and the next, she was gone.  At first, everyone had been hopeful. They lived in a good neighborhood, in the kind of suburb where nothing bad ever happens, and the police were confident that it had been some kind of mistake or misunderstanding. Someone had ushered the wrong kid into the minivan, think...

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“The Love of Fighting” by Joseph Keener

Submitted to Contest #252

Trigger Warnings: (Substance Abuse, Bad Language, Physical Violence) She was pretty sure her ribs had cracked. Her head buzzed, her eyes felt like they were set to pop out of her skull. Blood leaked out her lip as she gnashed down on the mouth guard. She felt fevered; as if at any moment, her body would burst open in a grenade blast of ruptured vessels and shattered bone. Still, none of that mattered. None of the pain, or sweat, or blood. She caught her opponent on the left side of her jaw, and felt the bone snap out of place. His head snap...

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“Genie out the Bottle” by Vanya Gupta

Submitted to Contest #252

There was a dark splotch on one of the ceiling tiles in the basement. Claire supposed Mom hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared enough to fix it in her last few years. She adjusted the black dress she was wearing and tried to swallow down the feeling rising in her throat. Mom had always said that funerals were for the benefit of the living, not the dead, but Claire felt no benefit from milling around with strangers that pretended to love Mom when none of them ever helped her.  Claire itched with the need to do something other than ruminate ho...

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“Reading is dangerous” by Jeffrey McDonald

Submitted to Contest #252

Marcy strolls the aisles of Grumbles, a bookstore in a strip mall in her hometown of Rumson outside Newark, New Jersey. The owner rushes to visit with her when he finishes at the cash register, excited to see his favorite customer. They talk about the weather, children gone off to college and most importantly what new crime novels have come in. The owner Bob turns, rushes behind the counter, and pulls out a stack of books he has held back for her. Excited she fauns over the books looking at each cover and weeding out those she already owns. ...

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“The Psychoplay” by Sadaf Zulfikar

Submitted to Contest #252

Why do you want to kill me?” I shrieked.Expecting the answer to boom at me, I waited for a frightening second. Nothing.I clutched the script tighter to my chest as I recalled the next line ‘Because it’s what I do.’“Are you ok, Claire?” Mom came in without a knock.“Keep out,” I said through gritted teeth.“Practicing again?” She cocked an eyebrow. “You have stepped down from the role. Yes?”“Yes,” I lied. “An understudy now, thanks to you.”“Now, now, you know it’s for your own good sweetie,” she came closer and tucked a lock of hair behind my e...

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“The Coal Biter” by Patricia Moffett

Submitted to Contest #252

In a small market town in The West Riding of England, Fitzwilliam Hall, a smart Palladian house, stands proudly in its own grounds. It’s present occupier, a Mr John Gateshead, had inherited it. And, he felt, it was no less than he deserved.  He relishes, in particular, the oculus in the pediment of the house. To him, it resembled a Cyclops eye embedded in a regal forehead, its gaze dripping contempt over the hunched roofs of the surrounding cottages. These cottage dwellings appeared to have huddled and shrunk beneath the weight of its h...

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“The Parking Lot Prophet” by Joseph Hawke

Submitted to Contest #252

On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon in August, Churchill surveys the scene from his driver's seat perch. Families amble to and from their cars and IHOP. He takes care to park in the same space, hidden from Walgreens’ cameras, and always backs in, so no one can approach him from behind. He turns off the car and removes the key. Can't have a dead battery like the time before. Anticipation climbs his spine like a lizard up a wall. When he deems it safe, he removes the Whip-It canister from a cloth shopping bag and puts on a pair of gloves. Don'...

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“To do: find title ” by Maria Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #252

 Like with most obsessions, I can’t easily tell how it all started. Nor can I point out the moment it turned from something I’d just do to help myself into something that compelled me so much it ruined everything. My workplace was a high-pressure, fast-paced, innovation-driven environment, the “stakes” were high etcetera. I’d go in every day, and most of the year I’d only see the sun through the tall immaculate windows of our 27th-floor office. This was a running joke in my team; that the sun is prettier through those windows than from ...

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$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

143

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 31, 2024 EST

Won by Danielle LeBlanc 🏆

Title: Seven Hundred and Thirty Days

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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