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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#255: The Five Stages

It's a commonly held belief that, when we grieve a loss, we go through five emotional phases: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Science tends to disagree; there's no actual evidence that we go through these stages, or at least not in a neat, linear fashion. But despite this, the model remains a part of our popular consciousness, and is frequently referenced in art, literature, and day-to-day conversation — perhaps because the idea of having a map to our grief, a way to organize and compartmentalize our most complicated feelings, is so alluring.

This week's contest is inspired by the model, and by the feelings described within it. Your characters don't have to be grieving a loss of some kind; they may simply be navigating the challenges of life in general. Whichever route you choose, begin with one of the five stages.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a someone who's in denial.

Character – 68 stories

Write a story about anger.

Angst – 64 stories

Center your story around a character bargaining for something that's important to them.

Dramatic – 43 stories

Start your story with a character in despair.

Dark – 91 stories

Write a story about someone finding acceptance.

Character – 99 stories

Stories

“Eat My Shit” by Peter Warnock

Submitted to Contest #255

EAT MY SHITTim closed the work shop door and locked it with several different bolts. It was only now that he turned on the light. None of his alarms had been tripped, so he dialed in the combination that lifted the security cloak from his prized racer.This year was going to be different. “I’ll be damned if anybody is going to steal my ideas this year!”Last year, his idea to use the tank bolt holes for extra thrust had been copied. Even now he regretted his stupidity. His only excuse was that he was very young. T...

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“The Fire Within ” by Princess Ugboaja

Submitted to Contest #255

People often say that anger is a destructive force, a wildfire that burns everything in its path, leaving behind only ashes and regret. But what if anger could be transformed into something beautiful, something powerful? What if, instead of consuming us, it could fuel creation and bring people together? This is the story of Akira, a girl who harnessed the fire within her to create something extraordinary. In the heart of a small village nestled among towering mountains, Akira was known for her fiery spirit and her remarkable pottery. Her lif...

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“I WOULD RATHER AVOID THIS PARTICULAR "STAGE" COACH” by Sylvia Moscovitz

Submitted to Contest #255

On the plane down to South Carolina to see her brother, a month after her father’s death which had happened eight weeks after her mother’s death, Susan, for the first time in her life, had no fear of flying. No fear, really, of anything. Anger? Yes, in abundance. But fear? The two worst things that she’d always imagined happening had just happened. The idea of a plane crash was strangely comforting. If it turned out that there was an afterlife, she’d see her parents again. If not, she’d be very dead and, one would imagine, completely unaware...

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“I’m Not Allowed to Be Angry” by Asa Conroy

Submitted to Contest #255

I am not allowed to be angry, but you are. You always are. I am the source of your anger, but at the times when I am not, I am the one who receives it. You do not think of the times I remember your screaming, your face turning red, sucking the spit from your teeth so that it may not fly from your mouth, the way you hit everything around you except for people, and leave me to wonder when that will change. I remember it all, because how could I forget. The marks of your anger are scratched onto my brain, even though my skin is clear and free. ...

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“I am a forest fire” by Elsabe De Walt

Submitted to Contest #255

It resounded like elephants marching outside her room with a dense smell of materials recklessly thrown together to declare importance to themselves, and she awakes with a shrill to inform any intruder that she’s aware of their presence. But, it would’ve been a dream if someone had entered their home. No, this was far worse than she imagined could happen as her mother rushed through black clouds into her room, urging her to hurry outside.The birds hadn’t begun their morning songs as glass sliced their hands to circulate more air through the ...

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“The Key To Less Cortisol ” by Chelsea Caffey

Submitted to Contest #255

Warning: some swearing and sexual referenceIf there is anything more irritating than when my children refuse to get buckled in their car seats, it is when they don’t actually mind getting buckled in their car seats, and the only thing standing between me and backing out of my driveway is my goddamn missing keys. I’ve lost my keys or something of equal importance so often that I’ve unwittingly conditioned my two-year-old to ask if I have my (insert thing I forgot yesterday) every time I switch into reverse.Sometimes a mild case of absent-mind...

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“A Lapse of Judgement ” by Miller George

Submitted to Contest #255

Twenty-eight years . . . twenty-eight fucking years, thought Tom. And for what? For some ditzy little gym teacher to tell me, I had a lapse of judgment. ME! Who the fuck she thinks she is? I knew I should have left this shit place the moment they hired that dumb-ass superintendent. Tom was seething. He couldn't understand the audacity of his Principal. She had merely started two years ago and had yet to earn her stripes. He had shirts that were older than this bimbo. Tom's hands balled into fists, the knuckles white against hi...

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“What. Is. My. Name.” by Edward Roberts

Submitted to Contest #255

Like every other work day for the past two years, I arrived for my shift at 5:45 AM after stopping at the corner florist to pick up a fresh bouquet for the lobby. With a freshly pressed doorman’s uniform, matching cap, a smile and a name tag that read ALDEN, I was the youngest doorman to ever grace this lobby and was determined to keep the forty-eight residents of The Gloucester happy from sunrise to sunset. I replaced yesterday’s flowers and tidied the lobby. If one of the leather club chairs were askew, a few residents were prone to ...

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“Max Meets Tessie” by Kathleen Cramer

Submitted to Contest #255

My Aunt Kailea remembers a time when she was out walking with Gunther, her white Siberian tiger and finest of friends, near their favorite creek on the island of Mu where she was born. We are in her cozy house in Washington state where I have taken on the task of writing her memoir. From time to time, I will add my own comments in the narration of her story. Aunt K loves to close her eyes when she needs to summon up a long-ago memory. She is now in her 80s but looks and feels like she’s a woman 30 years younger. When she ...

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“Now I Scream” by Jay Dotson

Submitted to Contest #255

The black screen fades to a wide shot of a suburban house. It holds still for ten seconds before zooming in. As it does so, the sounds of frantic breathing grow louder and louder, but their source is not visible. Professor Valen Vale leans back behind the connected desk of the third row of seats in Lecture Hall 308, his impressively toned and lightly tattooed arms crossed in front of his chest. His cheeks and forehead, seemingly chiseled from Greek marble, are relaxed but disconcertingly firm. To the average man, it would be difficult to tel...

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“The Razing of Sciftania” by Aeryn Goodspeed

Submitted to Contest #255

"Run, little wolf, run!" Lupe could still hear its voice whispering in his ears as if carried on the roar of the flame. The thundering of his boots were drowned out in the cacophony of dying screams and cracking buildings. He was lost, but he didn’t care. He just had to get away. "You can’t get away." He shook his head, trying to dislodge the phrase before it could take root. He just had to keep running. This maze of fire, stone, and bodies couldn’t extend forever, could it? “Break.” Startled, he stumbled over a newly formed crack in the roa...

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“At The Beginning of the Day” by Asa P

Submitted to Contest #255

"It can't end this way. I only need to start the day over again. " The little girl pleaded."When it is your time to go then it is your time to go. Every living being only has a set amount of time." The wise elder countered firmly. "You can go forwards and you can go backwards, but you cannot add time."Her birthday fell in the waning days of the school holidays. And this year the day just happened to be the Friday before she was to start fifth grade. On the floor beside her bed was a small box without any wrappings. Her present did not draw h...

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“Bargain to Rot” by Rho Ryan

Submitted to Contest #255

Trigger for emetophobia (briefly mentioned), talks of death, body dysmorphia, disassociation, and vivid descriptions of an unhealthy body. Why are you here, child? I don’t know. What are you? Where am I? Delia brought you here, I presume. Meddler. Do you want it then? Want what? Please, I want to leave. Do you want to live, of course? Am I… dead? You’re nothing. Would you like to be something? I need to live - please, my family… I have a life. Not anymore. Bargain for it, or be nothing. Anything you want! I just want to live. As yo...

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“Bronco” by Ian Dooley

Submitted to Contest #255

The Ford Bronco made its first appearance in 1966. It was a result, though indirectly, of WWII. Theodore “Ted” Hoffstetter made his appearance in 1967. He was the result, though indirectly, of the conflict in Vietnam. The story of the Bronco begins with the Jeep. A civilian alternative to the all-purpose vehicle that won the war, Willy’s Jeep was an instant classic. Bronco was the Ford Motor Company saying, “Yeah, we could do that.” The moment Ted’s father first saw the Bronco, he was hooked. He took every dollar he had saved straight to th...

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“The Longest Stage of Grief” by Sarah Jo

Submitted to Contest #255

Contains mentions of mental health, death, violence, and other uncomfy things. It's not often you realize just how much you mean to someone until that someone is no longer with you. And then, once they're gone, your brain strains to figure out who they were. What their life was like when you weren't in it. Before you were in it. What they went through. Who their best friend was. What was the thing they loved cooking the most.All of those things are left to go unanswered forever. And if you ever do get answers, they will never be straight f...

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$250

Prize money

365

Contest entries

142

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 21, 2024 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: Some Peace and Quiet

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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