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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

“Men Like Macbeth” by Fritz Crow

Submitted to Contest #257

Virgil had risen above the actors. The air was cooler up in the fly space. Musty, metallic, muted. Macbeth (Michael) was stumbling over his lines below. Virgil had wanted to be an actor. Now he had loftier goals. His thin arms trembled as he reached for the batten above him to steady himself. His entire body swayed with his every movement like a bough of a half-felled tree despite four crew members below holding the base of the lift steady. The cold batten provided no assurance in his slick grip, as it was suspended in the fly space with ste...

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“Sometimes, A Good Teacher is All You Need” by TC Cook

Submitted to Contest #257

The stage lights come down and focus on Tim Setty as he prepares to give Iago’s famous soliloquy from Othello, the part he had been dreading the most. The spotlights burn through him as a nervous sweat starts forming on his brow. His knees buckle and, in a flash, all of his next few lines leave his head. He scrambles and pauses trying to remember and blurt out anything. “And what’s he then…that says I play…the villain?When this advice…is free I give…and honest,Probal to thing… sorry to thinking…and indeed the courseTo win…” “Cut!” a strong ...

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“All is well that ends well” by Rosa Arlotto

Submitted to Contest #257

All is well that ends well Maria lived a few doors down from me. Our street swept down into the town in a wide-sloping curve that overlooked the brown and green mountains ahead of us. Since then a childish sense of joy comes up at the sight of mountain ridges and the face of a girl who loved the rain and sparrows and poppies.“This is an agreeable place to live, once people get to k...

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“Mrs Lear” by Deborah Lysaght

Submitted to Contest #257

I know absolutely nothing about this email nonsense. So, I sent postcards. I assume my daughters, Goneril, the eldest, and Regan, got them, but they didn’t reply. Well, I say didn’t reply; they telephoned to say they’d be here. It was my 80th birthday; you see, and as Cordelia, my housekeeper, said, ‘It’s the big eight O! Mrs Lear!’ I was not entitled to a home help from the NHS. It’s means tested, you see, and quite right too. Initially, Cordelia was paid to come once a week to help one bathe and to take my Jack Russell terrier, Bluebell, ...

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“Romeo and Juliet: A Modern Retelling” by D.J.J. MIZZI

Submitted to Contest #257

Our story is set in the fair city of Varona. A beautiful place, bustling with excitement. A place where tourists and locals alike enjoy the restaurants, the shopping and the beautiful history. Two families in this city stand out among the rest, both of them alike in dignity. Two families with an ancient grudge, two families who have bloodied their own hands. And from these two sworn enemies come two fated lovers, whose death will bury their parent’s strife. But our story actually starts long before this. Our story starts with a young boy on ...

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“The Moon is the Sun” by Charlotte Sheffield

Submitted to Contest #257

TW: Domestic violence, attempted suicide, sexual violenceThis story is inspired by the play "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare “Marry me?” Lucas’s words tickled my ear as he repeated himself for the fourth time that day. He leaned over me as I sat behind my desk. I smiled while he planted a trail of kisses across my blushing cheek, ending at my lips. “Say it again.”“Marry me, Bri,” he whispered, this time his demand, against my lips. The blank white walls echoed his words around me.“I love how that sounds.” I wanted more t...

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“A Midsummer Night's Dream” by Carina Caccia

Submitted to Contest #257

Titania waked, and straightway loved an ass.— A Midsummer Night’s Dream “You were magnetic up there,” said Tatiana, starry-eyed and spellbound, as though the music and wine had entered her bones, the lyrics her heart. Her marrow and cartilage were alive with it, her tendons vibrating like guitar strings. She might have imagined the smile reach Jack’s eyes, the rouge in his cheeks, the lip-bite. She felt light, lighter than she had in a long time; she was dreaming, only she wasn’t.“Is that right?” said Jack, pulling up a stoo...

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“The Tempest” by Vickie Riggan

Submitted to Contest #257

The southern Arizona desert has an unforgiving climate in the summertime. Temperatures hover around 80 at sunrise and in the low 100s all afternoon and well after sunset. And then there are the monsoons – summer storms that pop up out of nowhere and blast through with gusting winds, thunder, lightning, torrential rains, and even sudden walls of dust called haboobs. Locals know to pull off the road and turn off their car’s engine when a haboob passes. Miranda Arden was not a local, so she learned the hard way. She made it ...

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“The Taming of A Shrew” by Beverly Goldberg

Submitted to Contest #257

Lil, I don't know what to do. I want..." "Brenda, I know--a baby. You keep saying that. Why don't you simply go to a sperm bank? We've been having this conversation for more than a year now, and I don't have any other answer, since you don't want to adopt either." "I'm about ready to do anything to find a husband, but the men I meet. Ugh. Maybe, I'll just have to compromise." "Well, your mom is always eager to set you up on blind dates, or has she given up?" "No. But you know what her friends' sons are like..." "Oh I do Brenda, I don't think...

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“The Gift” by Irene Oh

Submitted to Contest #257

The Gift (CHARLOTTE, 34 years old, is a white, middle-class woman. She is lying on her sofa, watching the TV in her pajamas with her hair in a messy bun. JAMES, 38 years old, is her husband. He is wearing a suit and has luggage with him.) JAMESI should go now. CHARLOTTE (without looking up)Go, where? I already bought groceries yesterday. JAMESHuh? No I— CHARLOTTE I dressed comfortably and wore no makeup because I didn’t think I’ll see anyone I know. But guess what. I ran into Bernice! I was so embarr...

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“Family Affair” by Alaina Armendariz

Submitted to Contest #257

Act 1 (A grassy field on the summit of Mount Etna in Anatolia. Enter Zeus and Hera, stage left) Zeus: Such a magnificent outing this has been! A more quiet afternoon I’m sure I’ve not had. (He reaches for Hera’s hand and kisses it) You are a formidable wife, after all, my queen. Of all my sisters I might have married, I’m certainly glad I seduced you. Hera (pulling her hand away abruptly): I’m glad you are pacified, husband. (Aside): Proving you are more like a babe than one could have imagined. Zeus: I must admit, I had doubts to your ...

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“A Levels” by Sophie P

Submitted to Contest #257

LOUNGE - MORNING JARED (17) gangly and casual with a permanent smirk saunters into the room to see the five anxious faces of his friends staring up at him from around the room. JARED'Sup? MOLLY (17) is sitting on a bar stool, feet clenched on the bottom rung. ALI (17) is sitting in a chair with their legs hanging over the side. ALEC (18) is leaning on the mantel, with a hand in his pocket. And ROSS (17) is sitting in the middle of the floor, legs crossed, as if he's been meditating. Jared looks at the faces staring at him disconcerted. JA...

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“DEAD RINGER” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #257

DEAD RINGER “Kara! Kara! Wait up!” The shouting was accompanied by panting. “Oh my gosh, I can't believe it’s you. Kara wait up.” She heard the voice behind her as she ran down the beach feeling the sand between her bare toes, the sun beating down upon her. She kept running. “Kara,” he cried again and she felt the tug as he grasped her arm and then aggressively swung her around to face him. “What are you doing,” she cried, pulling away from him violently. “Let go. I haven’t any money on me and I'm not wearing any jewelry.” He reached ...

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“Not an Accident” by Nyla Porter

Submitted to Contest #257

CONTENT WARNING: This story contains themes of sexual violence, bullying, mental health, racism, and physical violence in varying levels of detail. Please continue at your own risk. Living here, in this small, ignorant town, going to my small, naive high school, looking like I do, loving who I do, sucks. And that’s to say the least. For some background, I live in a small town in the countryside of Tennessee called Greentown. I go to a high school called Cookie-Cutter, which is ironic because it is much like a high school you would see on T...

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“Cyanide Apples” by Perseus Patroclus

Submitted to Contest #257

We were schoolboys, oblivious to the outside world. Children, pure and uncorrupted. Best friends. Star-crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet, every fiber of the world trying to tear us apart. At least that’s how it was in my mind, hoping one day he’d realize how much he actually adored me and I wouldn’t have to wait any longer. Perhaps it was more like Helena and Demetrius, me lapping at his heels and begging for affection, him unaware of my feelings. It seemed he was my one true love, even if he wasn’t fully aware of it. I tried not to lust afte...

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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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