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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

“The Nail-Ripper” by Axel Finnie

Submitted to Contest #252

Oh how I love seeing the true side of people, I can know if they're scared or happy or angry, for me it's like a superpower, knowing how people really are. So there he was, on my table, tied up by leather belts. When he woke up, of course, there came the begging, my favorite part. “please, sir. Whatever you think I did, I swear it wasn't me”. He cried out. I smiled, almost laughed, really “I swear” ?. He thinks I don't know what he did. Oh wait, of course, my mask. I had a spider-man mask painted black, then dark brown tape around it, so now...

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“Ratio” by Brittany Mackeown

Submitted to Contest #252

Something comes back to me while I’m outside our favorite fancy bistro, waiting on Esperanza to arrive. She’s late as usual. Work is keeping her. Some crisis about one third-party company or another that can’t get their software straight. I wish she was here. It’s been a long week, and date night is what I need—some time with her and just her. When she turns off her work phone and we can just talk.I stare at a text from her. The last one. Gonna be late. You better not be wearing that fuckin bolo.She’s not serious. Well, not really. That...

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“I Was Breastfed By A Psycho” by Shreya Kelly

Submitted to Contest #252

How much can a mother obsess about her daughter? Say, you are obsessed with your academic performance. How much can you study in a day? Let's start from the beginning of the day. You might wake up at 4 am. You will study non stop till 8 am. You might take a quick shower and rush to school. In school, you will try very hard to focus on every sentence spoken by your teacher. You will take notes in addition. Then, you will go back home, have a quick meal and again study for hours. You will not even take a 5 minute TV break in between. This is c...

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“Shattered Sanctuary” by Lindsay King

Submitted to Contest #252

[Trigger Warning: Suicide] The river had always whispered secrets- a dark, undulating ribbon of water, teeming with mysteries darker still. It was here, where the demon found her. A young woman, her eyes hollow, her heart a bruised plum, whispering the name of her lost child as tears rolled down her face The demon, a wisp of smoke with emerald eyes, glided close, a silent promise in its gaze. “You are drowning in sorrow,” it hissed, its voice a caress gone wrong. “This river, it offers release. It will take you to your child, to a world beyo...

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“The Waiting Rats” by Daniel Crepault

Submitted to Contest #252

The dining room is full of patrons this morning. I avoid eye contact as I walk through rows of tables, wearing the fake smile that’s become as integral to my uniform as the starched white shirt and black tie. Nausea chews through my stomach like a swarm of rats, but I ignore it, walking with purpose through the cramped spaces between tables. If I get this right, no one will notice the sweat on my face or that my hands shake as I take away dirty plates and soiled flatware. Maybe if I move quickly enough, they’ll just see someone working hard....

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“The Art of Deception” by Isabella Krieg

Submitted to Contest #252

I've painted him over a dozen times. I guess this is what true love feels like. With each portrait I believe I get closer to him, knowing him both personally and physically. I know the exact degree his eyes turn down, and the angle at which his eyebrows arch. I know the color of his skin at the tip of his nose, and the exact shade it turns once it's dark. I understand the way his hair falls over his face and how it blows in the wind. I know how to capture his curled lip when he tells a lie, and I know the secret he hides. Each portrait I thi...

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“The Feathered Obsession” by Ben Murphy

Submitted to Contest #252

Warren Spinster started his day off like any other morning. He began by listening to the sounds of birds outside his apartment window. This was something that he used to sooth himself while drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. Thinking to himself that the feel of the paper led him to believe he was living in the wrong time. Warren continued and started reading his books about birds that helped to identify the different animals. When he found different birds that he wanted to photograph he would identify a plan and mark possible loc...

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“‘All play and no work NOW”!” by Andrew Venn

Submitted to Contest #252

The morning began like any other Winter’s morning and I wasn’t ‘overly keen’ to get out of my cosy and comfortably warm bed but, at least, it was sunny and bright outside, with the frost glistening on the lawn ‘as though’ it had been lightly covered with glistening diamond icing; The alarm clock awoke me from my very deep sleep and I arose with about as much enthusiasm as a prisoner destined for the guillotine! The alarm was still on ‘snooze’ and would add to my ‘already stressed life’, because I was now in the bath...

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“MY DARLING JULIETTE” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #252

Be careful what you wish for my darling Juliette. You overlooked me. You keep running from me. You wish for me to leave you alone. No, I cannot let that happen. I won't let it happen. You are forever mine. I will get you my sweet Juliette to see it my way and only my way. My way is the right way. My darling Juliette, you will learn your lesson. I'm watching you every day. I'm out here watching you. Where ever you go I'm there. I see you looking all over the place. You are scared. I love that you are scared. It makes me happy. Oh my darling J...

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“Chords of Eden” by Arpad Nagy

Submitted to Contest #252

“‘Be careful what you wish for,’ Do you remember when I told you that?” She never meant to hurt them. It wasn’t intentional. She knew it was because she was fundamentally flawed, and experience had taught her the only way she could live without the guilt was to make it their choice. She was honest from the get-go. It was always their choice. “I told you I couldn’t make you happy.” He hadn’t said anything, but the weight of his hand on her bare shoulder spoke volumes. She knew he wanted her to reach deeper, to find more, but she had nothing...

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“Almost Paradise” by Stacey Vanderkolk

Submitted to Contest #252

Evelyn Crane was glad they had prearranged this funeral. She couldn’t imagine picking out these flowers or this casket in her current emotional fog. She and her husband Harold had planned all of this years ago, before COVID made people hesitant to get together and before they had lost most of their closest friends and family. That’s the danger of living into your eighties that nobody talks about. That your funeral will inevitably be sparsely attended. Evelyn nervously twisted the program in her hand while the pastor spoke to the few in...

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“Princess Treasure ” by Bill Double

Submitted to Contest #252

TRAIN STATIONS...Magnificent Cathedrals, aren't they? Everyone gathered together in anticipation of some magnificent event? The acoustics of such structures are ghostly sounding, with smells of diesel and smoke, coffee; and of fairground doughnuts and hotdogs. That's as it should be...a magnificent shelter for a magnificent population awaiting transport, and adventure! People moving from place to place. Body language of conversations far from one's hearing spectrum...happy laughing ones, obvious to anyone. Arguments, the same. The joy of of ...

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“When He Met Her” by Miller George

Submitted to Contest #252

Jay was nothing but a heartbreaker when he met Emily. For the past six years, his relationships have lasted exactly four weeks. He perfected the short-term relationship into a science with an almost perfect formula from the first date to the breakup. Yet, if you were to ask any of the multitude of women he had broken up with, they would all take him back in a heartbeat. He is handsome, charming, funny, and caring, with eyes that can look into your soul. He knows what to say and how to say it, but most importantly, he makes any woma...

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“Frozen” by Alejandra Castellanos

Submitted to Contest #252

She loves the sound of the creaking stairs, she loves the silence everyone understands must be held. As she looks down from the balcony, she smiles at the memory of what the place once looked like. Once, she even stood there in front of a crowd and recited a poem she’d written. She just never told them it was hers. They clapped. She walks around, not sure of what she’s looking for. But the solitude is nice. It lets her think. It clears the fog in her brain that has accompanied her ever since he left. She walks downstairs again, and as she tu...

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“What's in a Name” by Maggie Grainger

Submitted to Contest #252

“Ashley, wait!” There was no way I was going to give her the satisfaction of turning around. There was nothing left to explain. “Ashley, you bitch, I know it’s you!” I grabbed my apartment keys and gripped them tightly between my pointer and middle finger – just like my older sister had taught me in middle school. “Always go for the eyeballs or nuts,” she had told me, although I knew if she caught up to me my keys wouldn’t do a damn thing. I turned up Market Street and started walking faster. A group of tech bros were taking up the ent...

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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!

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