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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

“Followed” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #252

Someone was following them. May hadn't noticed. But she was eight. And while their parents had never been specific, they made sure Paul knew her mind didn't work the same way as theirs. She was "special." Not that he noticed often. That was just how eight year olds were, yeah?The point was, May didn't pick up on it. Paul had.At first, he hadn't. The city, Aquarin, was apparently the capital of this world. There were a lot of people, and it wouldn't be weird if someone was on the same street, or even took the same turn.But Paul didn't have an...

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“Stumble If You May” by Theron Moore

Submitted to Contest #252

Hulworth Meredith was the sort of holier-than-thou fella that had lost his way more times than I could count. He’s long been dead, but I hope that his story and ideas live in so many hearts and minds.. I’m nothing but a simple fellow, a scribe who records the histories and deeds and memories and derring-do of other, more qualified men and women, cats and dogs, so take note of the man behind the words rather than the wordsmith himself. I aim to entertain, enlighten, and inspire, but refrain from staring at the ghostly man behind the curtain. ...

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“The Stalker” by Loren Cahill

Submitted to Contest #252

Note - Trigger warning - violence, gore, mental health The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting the world in a golden glow as Emma locked the bookstore. The air was cool, the sky a deep shade of purple, and the stars were beginning to show. The town’s streets were quiet from the hustle and bustle of the workday. It was peaceful, almost serene, if you didn’t notice the man following her. Emma knew he was there, even though she couldn’t see him. His gaze prickling the hairs on the back of her neck, footsteps echoing softly on t...

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“Now and Then” by Imogen Bird

Submitted to Contest #252

Not for the first time in his life, John got the feeling he was being followed. The rippling reflection of the moon in the canal glowed pale and eerie, his own echoing footsteps the only ones discernable and yet, he just knew there was someone there. Aunt Mimi was always warning John not to walk home on the canal path and instead stick to the busy and well lit streets, but he prefered the solitude and peace of the narrow lane next to the water, wending its way purposefully through the city, a more direct route home avoiding the rowdy drunks ...

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“It Moved” by Richard Morris

Submitted to Contest #252

“It moved,” Anna said. “What moved?” Her boyfriend Henry asked looking behind them into the forest. It was only seven o’clock in the evening, but it was also November, only a month from 23 hours of darkness in their part of Alaska, and already dark. “I’ve only seen a shadow. It’s been following us for an hour.” “I see nothing,” he said, “directing his 2,500 lumen flashlight over the area behind them. The light didn’t penetrate far into the spruce trees, but he didn’t see any glowing eyes reflecting from the spotlight. The pair remained motio...

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“No More Purple” by Elisa Thompson

Submitted to Contest #252

When dawn came, Dexter Mann was still racing westward along Interstate 8. As the night paled and feathery clouds turned pink then magenta, he began watching the rearview mirror again. The green Ford pickup was still back there, still tracking him.He had been on the run for four days now. After the fiasco in the Harvard lab, Dex had jogged back to his apartment and started packing. In ten minutes he’d gathered food items and clothing. With his mentor now dead, face dipped in acid, all their important scientific research stolen, Dex knew he wa...

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“Thought Purging:” by Ricky Mccoshen

Submitted to Contest #252

I am rejected today. A brief message in my inbox. Unkind. Unwilling to negotiate. Ungiving of a mercy named “Potential”, or of another, “Promise”. Its sender is named Pete Fannor, if you find him. The magazine's address is 4068 13 avenue. He seems to me cruel from online pictures, too. Anyway. Thinning brown hair. In his forties, looking. I say he is cruel. His eyes are, if you see him you’ll agree, I think. Smug, a kind of cruel. And if you do, please tell him: Writers are not little moths to crush between his pointer and thumb. Ask him: Do...

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“The Second Ring” by Susan Jenkins

Submitted to Contest #252

8/1/23 “But he is so nice most of the time.”8/15/23 “How could I have made him this mad?”8/30/23 “John loves my family, and they love him. What’s wrong with me?”9/5/23 “I have to work on myself. He wants me to be the best I can be. This extra weight…”Chrisanne had nothing new to say to her journal tonight, just browsed through what she’d recorded the last few weeks. There was no mistaking the down-shift. She cringed over recent entries, remembering the glee she felt a few months back.The words left her limp and lifeless. Her man—John had ins...

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“Danny's Girl, Revisited” by Christine Richardson

Submitted to Contest #252

“Honey, I’m home!” Danny warbled the words cheerfully, savoring them, willing himself to forget that he lived alone now, and no one would answer. He closed the door gently, hung up his suit jacket, and loosened his tie. He imagined Carlotta emerging from the kitchen, swathed in her homespun apron, a dusting of flour on her nose and cheek, like a visitation of early-winter snowflakes. There would be greetings and hugs and kisses and maybe a little hanky-panky on the couch before she confessed that her culinary efforts had led to dis...

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“A Couple of Ks From the Beach” by Nathaniel Gardener

Submitted to Contest #252

Creedence on the radio, smooth waves of sun-sea basking me in light, salt clinging eagerly to the tangy white hairs on my skin. Who needs to be serious when you have all this? I take a big puff from the joint; it’s pure joy, a sweet aroma like you’ve never seen. It’s bliss, man, another world, in a head outside of yours, bigger than yours, like waaaaaaay bigger and somehow it’s everything you know, and you’re...

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“Weight and Glory” by Kelita Sim

Submitted to Contest #252

TW: Eating disorders, death, griefBody heat doesn’t produce any benefits inside an anglican church on a balmy spring morning. The pews are packed with mourners, cladded in black felt, rocking in their seats with chill and grief. I’m unsure which emotion is stronger as I stuff a hand into my coat pocket, scraping it against the sharp paper folded inside. I try looking upwards to stop my spinning head from swandiving between my legs.I am faint again. I am crashing again. I haven’t eaten anything again.The outer corners of mouth feel tacky but ...

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“One Day at a Time in Bellewood” by Emily M. Reiser

Submitted to Contest #252

It will not be like last time. I am in control. After moving to the quaint town of Bellewood I learned that they only have one coffee shop: Prairie Java. It isn’t even good. But the owners must be familiar with the idea that beggars can’t be choosers. We take what we can get. I’ve been here two months and I’ve already become an avid regular at this establishment. In that time I’ve only seen two baristas at work here, Emma and Lori. Emma is a recent high school graduate who will attend a cosmetology school in Septembe...

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“Obsession” by Jacob Galvan

Submitted to Contest #252

Ping Ping A loud noise came from downstairs; the laptop left on from the previous day. She heard the ping downstairs. "Fuck, it's time for work,” she said to herself. She placed her feet on the floor and sat right up. She grabbed a previous shirt she wore the other day and walked over to her empty bathroom to get her tooth brush. She grabbed her tooth brush and her toothpaste, which were next to the ten medications she took daily.She went downstairs, grabbed her dog, and walked her out to the back so she could use the restroom. The dog was o...

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“The Gambler” by Beth Ann Michele

Submitted to Contest #252

Michael Reed knew too intimately the truth every gambler knows: obsession and addiction are two sides of the same coin. As a lifelong gambler, he had done the same dance with Lady Luck for decades, taking turns around the dance floors of casinos, tangoing in and out of backroom poker games, and waltzing hand in hand down the Las Vegas strip. There was no better partner for Michael, but he knew it was time to hang up his dancing shoes and give his sweet lady one last kiss goodbye. But, when he pressed his lips together in preparation for the ...

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“The Crystalized Monster” by Miles Fusion

Submitted to Contest #252

In one building, a large one with 100 floors, abandoned, lies a monster. But, this monster was once like you and me. Allow me to set the stage.Our story starts with a man with tan skin and brown hair, a golden watch on his wrist and a plaid shirt. He looked out of his balcony with woe, despite his life. As he looks out at his 5 cars, and beach residence filled with rich and extravagant items, he sighs with heavy shoulders. As he got into his platinum plated car with soft leather for it’s seat, he sobs slightly before speaking. “God, I’m so p...

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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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