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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#257: Shakespeare

He's the writer who requires no introduction. Probably the world's most famous playwright and poet, Shakespeare's tragedies, comedies, and sonnets have been studied and performed for the last 400 years. You'll be hard pressed to find someone who wasn't forced to read 'Sonnet 18' in English class, or to appear in a regrettable high school production of Romeo and Juliet. But he's a mainstay of our literary education for a reason. His writing is ubiquitous and seminal, and there's really no overstating the influence Shakespeare has had on art, literature, and even our day-to-day speech.

It's almost unbelievable that, in the hundreds of short story contests we've hosted, we've never dedicated one to the Bard himself — and so, this week is the week...

This week's prompts

Write a story named after, and inspired by, one of Shakespeare's plays. Think modern retellings, metanarratives, subversions, etc.

Narrative – 72 stories

Write your story in the form of a script, complete with stage directions.

Narrative – 33 stories

Write a story in which a case of mistaken identity plays a pivotal role.

Funny – 24 stories

Write a story about a tragic hero.

Dramatic – 57 stories

Set your story during rehearsals for a production of a Shakespeare play.

High School – 29 stories

Stories

“The Highschool Fourteen” by Ashleigh Cohan

Submitted to Contest #257

Here I tell the tale of a school like no otherWhere sister turns on sister and brother turns on brotherThe classrooms and lunch tables were short of warzonesDespite their proximity, each student felt alone.Amongst these teenagers, great anguish ran amokTime and time again the faculty was stuck.No detention or reward could sway even one.And so, someone knew that something must be done,Through the power of sonnets, our story will be toldThe leaders of the land had chosen someone bold.A great man was called up to save a failing classThe power o...

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“Believing & Knowing” by Elizabeth Melchior

Submitted to Contest #257

In the Theater World, the word “historical” is code for super haunted. Though not having ever believed in ghosts herself, Maesie learned this fact after being invited by her upperclassmen friend, Kenzie, to the end of summer Theatre Troupe 6730 slumber party. Little did she know that come the fall play, she would quickly learn that believing is one thing, and knowing is another. The theater auditorium is the oldest building at Lakedale High and has always been said to have been plagued by the ghost of the first-ever theater...

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“The Vanguard Club” by Amisha Connor

Submitted to Contest #257

Trigger warning:References to sexual behaviorThe door opened slowly when Ava rang the doorbell. Its tall oak panels gleamed against the sunlight, towering over her. As she stepped inside, the first thing that struck her was the cavernous space of the main hall. High, intricately carved ceilings soared above her, the once opulent details now showing signs of age and neglect. The room was dimly lit, with rays of light filtering through the large windows draped with velvet curtains, casting a muted glow on the marble floors below.The checkerboa...

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“Bottom's Dream” by Chris Ashline

Submitted to Contest #257

Alex Carter was feeling at the lowest point of his life as he left the restaurant. What he had planned to be one of the greatest points of his life quickly turned into one of the worst. He had planned to propose to his girlfriend of three years, but instead she not only turned him down, but had broken off the relationship saying that she had found someone else. As he walked through the dark streets, he was completely closed off to the sights and sounds of the city around him. All he could feel was the emotional pain in hi...

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“My Excellent Good Friends” by Andy Heidel

Submitted to Contest #257

My Excellent Good FriendsBy Andy Heidel Preface This edition of My Excellent Good Friends is based upon the one and only performance of Hamlet: 1990. Author, unknown. Original cast, also unknown. While the original folio was lost, a lone audio recording from the wings was saved and painstakingly transcribed. However, the recording ends abruptly after the riots began during Act III. SC III. This is the only known representation of what occurred that fateful night in the late spring of 2007 at the South Boston Community College Theatre for the...

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“Stars” by James McInroy

Submitted to Contest #257

“You have flaws…and I could make stars of them.”Mac slid a cigarette from a box on the nightstand. The torn cellophane hung like a hangnail and gleamed in the scar of light that peeked through the half closed door.“Huh?” He said.“On your back,” Beth said, “here, a full flay of them, flecked and scattered.”He twisted around and lay on his back and put the cigarette between his lips and flicked his thumb against the head of the match not once, not twice, but thrice before a fire crackled to life from the sulfur. He lit the edge of his cigarett...

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“The Tempest” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #257

Luckily, she was good at focusing. In the bustle and noise of costume shop where the sun never shone in the basement of the Dramatic Arts building at San Diego State University, she threaded several needles with midnight blue thread and stabbed each of them into the enormous peach-coloured pin cushion which bristled like a porcupine with pins and needles. She appreciated her preparation, then liberated a needle and began to hem.The trouser press hissed. Costumers discussed last night’s incident when the shoulder of the leading...

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“True-Love Showers” by Jade Lawson

Submitted to Contest #257

I covered my eyes the moment I stepped beyond the castle doors. Still, fresh tears budded from the sun’s sudden brightness. It was as if Mother Nature was emphasizing the queen’s words. “I’ve found that if you smile, you can convince yourself, if only for a little while, that everything is fine. Eventually it will be.” But it didn’t feel fine. It didn’t feel right to smile. And it didn’t feel right for it to be this lovely out. That’s not how it works in stories. In tales the weather matches the story’s emotions. It is bright and...

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“Ophelia dreaming” by Eddie McKenzie

Submitted to Contest #257

It was the dream again. It was always the same, blurred and gentle under the veil of dreamish memory, just as real as the waking world with none of the harsh realities of wakefulness. Details, as was often the case with dreams, as she had found, seemed just beyond her grasp, out of reach for even her desperate clinging fingers. With a body still heavy with the bindings of lingering slumber she had yet to shed, a pajama-clad Ophelia padded from the sanctuary of her bedroom to the little kitchen, a yawn hidden beyond the sleeve of her dr...

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“Midsummer Night's ... Nightmare” by Malcolm Twigg

Submitted to Contest #257

Contains satirical reference to transexual, lesbian themes, neurological disorder and stereotypical racial profiling.“Are you sure we got the right place, Moragh? The note didnae specify a location.” Moragh peered again at it. “Aye, it did, Eilidh. The most important thing is the weather, and there is nae thunder and lighting, nor rain, so …”“And I should bloody well hope not,” the third member of the group broke in, with some acerbity glancing up at the lowering skies. “Not yet. Does anyone actually know why we’re sat here on this bla...

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“A Midsummer Night's Dream or A Dream of an App. ” by Lesley McDowall

Submitted to Contest #257

A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Dream of an App. He stalks off, hands in his pockets. “Oren, for God’s sake, come back. Let’s talk about this.” He ignores me, striding towards one of the beer tents. Oh, well, let him. I’ve got enough to do. I check through the list on my phone. “Damn! I haven’t seen all the bands yet” You going mad? Talking to yourself out loud? Shaking my head, I allow myself a small smile as the girls setting up the burger wagon, wave to me. “Save one for me won’t...

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“Much Ado About Nothing” by Esme Bonner

Submitted to Contest #257

“Please Trix, all the bridesmaids are going with the groomsmen, you’re Maid of Honour and Best Man, you have to ride together.” Hero begged over the phone. Trixie pinned it between her shoulder and cheek, reaching across her desk to pull over the script she was working on. “Hero, he hates me. I hate him. We hate each other. You do not want us riding together, we’ll turn up at the venue covered in each other’s blood.” Trixie could picture it now, Ben Moun...

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“Moth Ado About Nothing” by Marien Oommen

Submitted to Contest #257

Moth came a-flying into the living room as the family lounged on the sofa after lunch. He had followed his natural homing instinct, and the garden door, left wide open, beckoned him inside. Mama was eating a generous slice of the sumptuous Christmas cake because it was the twelfth day of Christmas and ‘her true love’ had brought nothing else. The song was an annual recurrent betrayal of her romantic notions.Now there were two pretty women sitting on their high chairs leaning against the kitchen slab. One was Mama, her mouth full, checking ou...

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“Macbeth” by Jill Rattray

Submitted to Contest #257

Nearly a thousand years after her death ‘Lady MacBeth’ reflects on that play, her portrayal and how storytellers have treated women throughout history. I'll be honest with you right from the start I really can't stand that play. The first time I saw it, I was livid. Who does that man think he is? And now, four hundred years later, I'm still livid. He destroyed the truth of my life, of MacBethad’s, for his own selfish gain. MacBethad doesn't care, he thinks it's funny how ridiculous the play is. That if anyone believes it, more fool them. He ...

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“ROMEO AND JULIET: STAR-CROSSED LOVERS” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #257

JULIET: SAPPHIREOur love wasn't supposed to last. Our love was supposed to die. We weren't destined to get married. Our destiny was to break-up. Our love was poison. Our love was toxic, a blight on society. Our families were against us. Our friends were against us. Our town was against. But despite the odds our love was strong. No one saw the beauty in our love. They only saw poor girl taking the rich boy for a ride. A gold digger after his money. That was a lie. The truth was that I loved my Romeo. My Romeo made me happy. He made me smile l...

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$250

Prize money

215

Contest entries

79

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 05, 2024 EST

Won by Keba Ghardt 🏆

Title: Your Animal Side

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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