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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

“To Wake Up At 52” by Nia Videnova

Submitted to Contest #252

It felt like the zestful waters of a powerful outpouring flowing into my blood when I took the proposed toast of wine at Christmas Eve 2004. A general feeling absorbed me on that evening when I had so many occasions to relish upon. It was the best time of the year – snowy fairy-tale, presents and people together - and I was the luckiest man alive. If we put my job promotion at the television, my sport achievements and the Christmas excitement on the side, my daughter and I were the stars of that gathering. It was her first and my thirty-seco...

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“The Demon” by Matteo Picchietti

Submitted to Contest #252

His feet are in step with mine. Same rhythm, same force applied to the crunchy leaves on the ground. He has been following me for the past ten minutes. Every curve in the trail, every fork in the road, he has followed. The trees sway in the misty wind, far above, while the frogs chirp and the birds croak down below. I hear his steps, not quite, but slamming into the ground, causing a shockwave. &...

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“The Beauty Shop” by Reagan Ellis

Submitted to Contest #252

It could be said that she spent more time than most seven-year-olds thinking of biblically accurate angels. She was pleased by her name for the first six years of living, especially when spoken from the lips of her mother, “Angel, my love.” She thought the name rang to a similar tune of angelic concepts such as beauty, elegance, femininity, and light. Until that bright Sunday morning. “Angels,” Pastor Dave preached, “are God's warriors. The way we depict them is an injustice.” Angel, who usually took church as an opportunity to doz...

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“The Shape of the Leaves” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #252

***mentions of murder, suicide and sexual abuse***I do hope Arthur’s going to put those pellets down. It’s all very well his not wanting to poison the birds, but picking out slugs one by one, and in this rain, I ask you!With a hand on the edge of the brown velvet drapes, and her slender, mouse-like body concealed behind them, Amelia Entwistle, sixty-two years of age, addressed her lifetime companion, the slightly older, taller and stouter Christine Borthwick, without once taking her eyes off the scene outside. Her gaze was fixed, as it...

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“Siren Song” by Amanda Segler

Submitted to Contest #252

As soon as we saw the sails, we lifted our voices in song. There were no words comprehensible by men, but it pulled at them anyway. The ship turned almost immediately in our direction, full sail. Our voices rose ever higher and we could hear the men shouting, trying to get more speed out of the ship. It wasn't long before they were close enough to see us without the help of their spyglass. They began to dive into the water in a vain attempt to get to us even quicker. We slid into the surf to meet them. One by one our voices went quiet. The s...

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“The Cold Eyed Kidnapper” by Katelynn Seavey

Submitted to Contest #252

His dark green eyes seem to stare into Addison's back relentlessly. She could feel him watching her since she walked into the grocery store. She went aisle by aisle, picking up random produce and snacks as she walks around. Her heart is pounding loudly and she thinks for a moment that it might come out of her chest. Her hands tremble slightly as she picks up the chicken noodle soup, her eyes not even registering what she put in the cart. She is too focused on the man at the end of the aisle, who seems to appear at every turn. At first,...

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“Gimmick” by D'Spencer Luyao

Submitted to Contest #252

Garrett Barron Jr.—headed northbound on Oak Way. The street was thin enough to almost be a back road if not for the spattering of houses on either side. The man was just about the same sort of deal—thin enough to be almost nothing, and only quite something on a technicality. His loose handful of friends called him “Gimmick,” and he supposed that was just about right. His first trick, which had earned him the nickname and a target on his back, had been to pick a fight with the dickbag who stole ...

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“Suddenly Something” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #252

Carl looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and an old man stared back at him. The face had changed, the mirror too, but he could trace a straight line from the old man to the boy he had once been.“Bullshit!” said the editor, “every face tells a story, but it never follows a straight line. There’s always ups and downs, arcs, setbacks and deviations. You are lying to me and to yourself.” The editor jabbed a finger at Carl.Carl dodged the finger. “It is just as much effort writing my own story as it is any other,” he sai...

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“The Wish, The Clock and Time” by Emilia Tarah Roberts

Submitted to Contest #252

In the quiet town of Eldridge, nestled among rolling hills and dense forests, lived an old clockmaker named Elias. His shop, "Tick Tock Treasures," was a haven of gears, springs, and pendulums, where the steady tick-tick-tick of clocks created a comforting rhythm. Elias was known far and wide for his craftsmanship, but more so for a peculiar legend: it was said he could build clocks that could manipulate time itself. One crisp autumn morning, a stranger walked into Elias's shop. Dressed in a dark overcoat and wearing a wide-brimmed hat that ...

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“Going Round in Circles” by Lindsay Burns

Submitted to Contest #252

‘So, tell me, doctor, what is the difference between obsession and addiction? Because I’m not sure.’Dr Edmond put his finger to his mouth. He always did that when he was struggling for an answer.‘Well,’ he said, crossing his legs, ‘why don’t you tell me what you think the difference is, Francis?’He always did that as well. Sometimes Frankie wondered why she was paying for these therapy sessions when the doctor had her doing all the work.‘I’ll have to mull it over it and get back to you,’ she said, looking at her watch. ‘My time’s up.’***It t...

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“Kindly's Boys” by Brandon Cox

Submitted to Contest #252

The young recruits were in a ragged state, bunched together in the wood-paneled great room of the guild hall. Their shirts were more potato sack than tunic, and there wasn’t a shoe in existence among the lot of them. Dirt covered and starved as they were, these were now Kindly’s boys. All twelve had, just today, surrendered their future to guild service in exchange for hot meals and a bed, and it was now Kindly’s job to make thieves of them.He’d never been a troop master before, as he was just a young rogue himself, but Kindly’s tenure with ...

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“Blood and caramel ” by Sophia Dove

Submitted to Contest #252

“The first kill is the hardest.” She said to me, with a brutal indifference that is mastered by creatures who have surpassed their lifetime. I cradled the broken body of an innocent girl, as if she were mine to protect. As if I didn't reap the very life from her. Blood. On my hands. Not mine, but hers, I soon realized. Scarlet and oozing, and mingled with mine. Thick as burnt caramel, sitting on my tongue like tar without any of the sweetness. Bitter. I had once revered this white gown as a gift, a present free of charge. Unknowingly, I had ...

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“Ain't Genealogy Great” by Matt Ward

Submitted to Contest #252

Ain’t Genealogy Great!(Based on a true story) Walter Hanson was from East Tennessee. He was a proud southern gentleman. Maybe not so proud of the south’s slavery history, but still loyal to the memory of his ancestors. Proud that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Civil War for the South. Proud of the tombstone in the local cemetery that, while not marking the grave of his progenitor, it did commemorate the man’s loyalty to the south with the inscription, “Jacob L. Arbeiter, Cpl. CSA, 1834 – 1865.” Proud to be the great-great gran...

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“A CHANCE ENCOUNTER” by Christine LW

Submitted to Contest #252

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER. Cora was impulsive, thinking ahead occasionally her plans worked to her advantage. There had been times when she had been left disappointed. Today was going to be different, with no job and time on her hands. She had met the man of her dreams by chance in the new revamped coffee bar in town with the sparkling neon lights and so...

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“Ruby Red Wishes” by L. D.

Submitted to Contest #252

“Life would be simpler if people behaved the way they do in books,” I lament, hiding behind my hands. This afternoon’s “meet up” turned out to be a “meet not”, and rejection letter #2 for the week greeted me when I returned home. I peel back one finger and rail at the sunny kitchen window. “The weather could be more sympathetic, too. Instead of gouging my eyes, the sky today could gush in one interminable sob.” My aunt walks over and drops my messenger bag onto my foot. “Be careful what you wish for, Ruby,” she parries tartly. “Someone might...

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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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