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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

“3 A.M.” by Haley C

Submitted to Contest #255

3 o’clock in the morning. A stranger appears at the doorway. Ice crunches as I shift my weight. I stand separated, only a few inches of wood and glass, from you. I resent the fact that you don’t know me, but I fear that if you did, you would not open the door. We’re only a few inches apart, yet I feel that I’m miles away. 11 o’clock in the evening. I’ve been walking for hours. Wading and waiting through the abandoned streets. I don’t know how I ended up here again. Every house is sleeping, every door shut. Not a single light deign...

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“Apostasy” by Felicia Dobson

Submitted to Contest #255

The glimmer of light bounced across the surface of the water. Our beacon of hope so close yet so far away. Lost at sea? No, we knew exactly where we were. Not lost, abandoned. Waves clashed the sides of the ship threatening to spill aboard. Maybe that would be best, cleanse the ship, rid us of all the horror. In the beginning … A symphony of creaks echo the mist filled night with every pair of boots worn by a hundred men climbing the wooden plank, myself included. Once we reach the bridge between land and vessel, we’re met with an old ...

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“Transitions in Silence” by Martin Maynard

Submitted to Contest #255

Transitions in SilenceI’m sitting on my bed, holding a broken piece of wood from the neck of my acoustic guitar, contemplating a lot of different thoughts. Nothing is going as planned in my life. After this last week, especially Thursday night, my whole life seems very different.As I rub my palm against the smooth, six-inch piece of wood, I think about what happened this last week. I’ve been in Burnith, Kansas for almost six months. I came here for work, and my time is almost up. In one week, I will be leaving to go back home. My father, Nat...

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“Another Day in Love” by Isabella Sparks

Submitted to Contest #255

***DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY CONTAINS DRAMATIC, SENSUAL AND TRAGIC ELEMENTS*** Emma stirred to the sound of her alarm at dawn, the sunrise casting a golden glow on the curtains. With a lazy slap of her hand, she hit the off button before rolling over. “Morning, love,” she said, as she reached out. “Morning,” Ian replied as he draped her hand over his chest. Emma hugged him tight and let out a groan. “Can’t we just stay in bed all day?” she mumbled in the darkness, wiggling her toes and touching his feet under the sheets. “I’...

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“My Best Friend ” by ER Castaneda

Submitted to Contest #255

TW: Death My best friend died on a sunny Friday morning, two days before National Ice Cream Day. We had planned on going to Baskin-Robbins as we did every year for National Ice Cream Day, each eating one cone with a single scoop of ice cream - plain vanilla for her and a chocolate chip ice cream cone for me. We'd enjoy the cones on a picnic table right near Baskin-Robbins, licking the ice cream from the cones as fast as we could before the summer heat caused the ice cream to melt and drip onto the ground. Then we'd take a walk at the park ne...

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“Smashing Down the Barriers to Greatness” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #255

The young man opens the microwave door and, once again, spills the hot drink, barely avoiding scalding himself. He realizes that, far too often, he has accepted incidents such as this as a normal part of daily life. They have left him stuck in first gear and too readily accepting the derision and mockery of those who either don’t understand his life or consider themselves exempt from human failure. Those not condemned to suffer with the disorder with the relatively ...

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“We’ll Be Okay - A short story” by Marialexa Gamero

Submitted to Contest #255

The tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at him. A small smile grew on his face as he noticed that she was finally willing to look at him. She couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were also red, clearly he had also been crying. She flinched as he raised his hand closer to her face and he immediately stopped moving as he noticed. He cupped the side of her face and looked into her eyes. There was a small sparkle in those eyes, it was very faint but, after all this time, it was still there. “I miss him too.” He managed to say before ...

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“Body Parts” by Kristen Bray

Submitted to Contest #255

Body Parts [Then] Late evening was the worst time to return home. Sixteen steps from the elevator to the front door. Ten seconds to unlock the dead bolt, another three if I hesitated long enough to breathe. One long creak of the door and the jingle of my key ring to find out if I was walking into a wolf den or a war zone. Either way, I knew I was going to bleed. When I finally got the door open that evening, I was hit with the unexpected smell of dinner on the stove. Someone was home. Whoever that person was tonight wasn’t someone I w...

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“Deirdre's Denial” by William Riling

Submitted to Contest #255

“Twenty-three years of wedded bliss, things couldn’t be better if we had won the lottery.” That’s how Deirdre Efram would describe the current state of her marriage to the clutch of housewives and recently divorced lady friends gathered for their quarterly Girl’s Nite Out at the patio bar of Westlake’s Four Season’s Hotel. This was before her third Appletini. By her fourth and fifth, you’d have thought she was Donna Reed married to David Beckham. Who could blame her? Her best friend Freda Dinkins recently regaled the table with tales of her ...

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“Looking Forward” by Anya Wu

Submitted to Contest #255

The sound of slamming car doors. Bright lights flashing, people surrounding me on all sides, white lights probing into my brain-I woke with a start. Looking around me with drowsy eyes, I glanced at the alarm clock. 6:49 A.M. Too early for me to be awake. I laid down on the bed with a sigh. I'd been having nightmares everyday for the past week. I didn't remember much from them except for a car, and someone laying on the floor beside me. But whenever I got close enough to see their face, I woke up again. Shaking off the feeling that something ...

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“The Young Mother” by Dakota Dunston

Submitted to Contest #255

**TW** This story contains alcohol abuse, suicide, and mental health issues A young mother stood in her kitchen of her and her son's house. A house she worked her ass off for. All the late night had payed off when she was about to get this little house they call home. "Mommy" called out a little boy sitting in another room then his mother. The young women known as "mommy" was spreading peanut butter on some bread to make a pb and j for her little boy. "One second baby. I'm getting your lunch." she said in response. "mommy"...

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“Spiral” by S.C Sanborn

Submitted to Contest #255

I knew it was broken right off the bat. But it couldn’t be. Not here. Not now. I was sprawled haphazardly on the ground, my right leg caught between two rocks that had slid along with me in an awful version of a baseball slide. Right into first base, I guess. I had been hurrying, which I did a lot those days, trying to catch up to the rest of the group; jumping from rock to rock like I had done so nimbly in my twenties. I was in rehab. Well, we all called it that off hand. Really it was a shamanistic treatment center for PTSD and other inten...

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“Fête Africaine” by Charlotte Ellis

Submitted to Contest #255

The drum beat echoed out, filling the empty streets with the playful hot rhythm. It bounced off the walls of the Eglise St Jacques and, as if rejected by its solemn medieval stone, it skipped on over the fountain and banged on the door of the Marie. Drawing closer to the Place Verdun, the drum was joined by a deep heavy vocal and, closer still, by the pick of a guitar and the tinkle of a triangle.A small stage had been set up at the far end of the playing field and a drooping banner announced ‘Culture Partages’ and Fete ‘Africaine’. A small ...

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“Reign's End” by Michael Robinson

Submitted to Contest #255

Sometimes the end of an emperor's reign is a time to celebrate great deeds done in the name of Roma, the spreading of her power, influence and glory across the face of the world. The end of the reign of Aelius Lucius Scaevola was not one of those times, marked by denial and betrayal. Aelius' reign started strong. He brought the war with the Parthians that his mother had started three years earlier to a satisfactory conclusion. Gold flowed into Roman coffers and the world trembled.&nbs...

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“Date Night” by Hitarth Menon

Submitted to Contest #255

{Arman – A Wish, Hope or Dream}{Amara – The one blessed without end or death}“Arman??”Startled by your dazed voice, I looked over to face you, absorbing the sight of the wind tickling your long dark hair, and reddish moonlight caressing the left side of your dusky face. I wondered how someone could look this perfect at 2 AM. It has been 2 years and yet your face hasn't changed one bit since the last I saw you. However, my mind still couldn’t help being enamored just by one look of yours. Glaring at me with mystical and deep eyes, dressed in ...

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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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