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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#259: The Elephant in the Room

Once in a while, we all have to calculate what is and isn't worth saying. Whether it's admitting our feelings to a crush, acknowledging the brewing tension in a friendship, or speaking up in the face of injustice, we sometimes have to carefully decide what to speak up about, and what is better left unsaid.

This week's prompts are about moments just like these, when the metaphorical "elephant in the room" becomes unbearably large, and we must choose whether to speak our minds, or to leave well enough alone...

This week's prompts

Write a story about two people who aren't admitting their true feelings for one another, despite it being obvious to outsiders.

Romance – 57 stories

Place your characters in a tough situation, where nobody wants to acknowledge the reality of what's happening.

Angst – 83 stories

Write a story that includes the line, "Is nobody going to say it?".

Dialogue – 83 stories

In a small town, a powerful family have a dark secret that nobody wants to discuss. One day, an outsider arrives, who's not happy to simply drop it.

Mystery – 47 stories

Set your story in a world where conversation about one particular topic is banned — but there are ways to get around the rule.

Dystopian – 25 stories

Stories

“Denial at the beach” by Addison Frame

Submitted to Contest #259

I shove my suitcase into the trunk of the van along with all the other suitcases and duffle bags thrown carelessly into the trunk. I stare at the disorganization momentarily before I sigh and rearrange it all, attempting to make it more organized. At some point, I give up, tipping my chin up and looking up at the morning sky, birds chirping a song. "Anna!" a voice calls out. I round the van to look at short, red hair framing Sadie's face, stuck out of the window of the driver's seat. "Go get Carson, will you?" I nod, walking up the sidewalk ...

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“New Job Angst” by Bruce Hunter

Submitted to Contest #259

Today is my first day in my new job as operations manager for a national waste company. I caught a cab to the office as I was yet to pick up my company car. I had a meeting with the Branch manager Greg Barns at 8am. Sitting in reception I watched people coming and going in my own world, when a man walked into reception. “Mark?” he asked looking at me.“Yes.” I replied. I stood up and we shook hands. Greg looked to be 50 year old he was going bald and the hair he had left was grey. I followed him through the main office area where six women sa...

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“The Talk” by Nicholas Ponticello

Submitted to Contest #259

Today was the day Patty was going to leave Paul. He would walk into the apartment at five o’clock, grumble as he removed his shoes and tie, inquire curtly from the hallway what they were having for dinner, and Patty would end it right then and there. They were supposed to have pot roast tonight. It wasn’t her favorite dish, but Paul liked it. He insisted on it every Tuesday. Once she had tried surprising him with reservations to an upscale restaurant downtown. She bought a new dress and shoes for the occasion, called Paul’s office to make su...

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“A Plastic Pause” by Drew Pierce

Submitted to Contest #259

Connor stared at the humongous fish tank that severed the restaurant in two. A small treasure chest overfilled with bubbles, each rising to the surface to die. And as he watched a small school of neon tetras glide by aimlessly, Connor silently acknowledged that he would give anything to swim through the synthetic tendrils of plastic seaweed. "Do you even hear what I'm saying?" Michael asked. "Cause I'll tell you what, Con, you're running out of time, and the answer is sure as hell not in that tank." Connor wished the answer was in the tank, ...

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“Nobody Told Me” by Jennifer Leigh

Submitted to Contest #259

"What's wrong babe? Were you crying? I can't have you crying. I don't like it when you cry." How do you tell him? How do you explain everything that's upsetting you when you barely have the words yourself? Without making him feel bad? Or taking it personally and then having the conversation devolve into a fight? I don’t have the bandwidth for another fight. I wouldn't trade my life. I love my kids. I'm still crazy about him after over a decade together. But nobody told me. Nobody talked about what getting married and having kids would ...

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“Corporate Wellness Retreats” by Nora Thompson

Submitted to Contest #259

“We’re doing yoga!” Derrick said. Julis tried to keep his hands from shaking with rage. He knew that yoga was not code for anything, it was just yoga. What set him off was the idea of sitting in the same location as Derrick for longer than an hour, of watching his body move, twisting into impossible shapes and having to hear his voice over and over again. Julis had spent his teenage years fantasizing about Derrick’s body. Proximity, however, had caused this to wear off quickly. Lacy sat down next to him. She was late to the morning meeting, ...

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“Sally And The Jungle” by Cheryl Pope

Submitted to Contest #259

SALLY AND THE JUNGLE By: Cheryl Pope It was a beautiful morning. The sky was almost turquoise and wispy clouds were tinged with pink. Birds were singing, either merrily because it was such a great summer day, or angrily because Margie hadn’t been to the store to pick up birdseed for over a week. Margie looked up at the big oak tree where all the action seemed to be taking place. “Sparrows! You aren’t very pretty, and you aren’t very nice but at least you’re consistent.” Two blocks away Beth was just pouring her coffee. B...

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“He Remembered” by Maxx Randell

Submitted to Contest #259

Shining down upon the city and in through his window, the sunlight’s gentle touch was enough to crack his eyes open, forcing him to greet the morning. Exactly like every other morning, his cat pawed at his face forcing him to move over so it could lay down in front of his pillow. He was sweating ... again. Always sweating. No matter what he did, he always awoke sweating. “Hurry up! We’ve work to do,” his father yelled. Ever since war broke out, his father had been all about duty and honour. He wanted nothing to do with it, so his father con...

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“Thursdays” by Shaun Liriano

Submitted to Contest #259

It was Thursday. Bobbi did not mind Thursdays too much. At work, Thursday was referred to as Friday Eve. A breath away from the weekend. Although the weekend would disintegrate any ideas of rest or leisure like a snap from Marvel’s Thanos, Bobbi still looked forward to Thursday’s arrival each week. Thursday was a day to look forward to. Thursday was a trusted friend. Bobbi left Gateway Auto Sales as soon as her shift was over. She worked in the business development center, affectionately known as BDC. She managed calls, scheduled appointment...

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“The Dinner” by Michael Balliew

Submitted to Contest #259

My mother could be heard frantically moving about the kitchen, her quiet sobs almost muffled by the sounds of cabinet doors slamming and pots and pans clattering together. Leona, my sister, and myself sat caddy corner with each other at the end of our long dining room table. Her face was buried in a teddy bear that had most definitely seen better days. At the other end of the table sat our father, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. He was still wearing the clothes he’d worn when he’d gone on a supply run early this morning. “Dad...

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“The Rover” by Madeleine Foster

Submitted to Contest #259

When she was five years old, Aisha drew a picture of Mars and gifted it to her Mum. She had used her reddest crayon. A gorgeous red - unspoiled, its tip still pointed. An unworldly declaration of love. Thirty years later, with the red planet crumbling under her boots, the drawing struck her as a little naive. The vista that unravelled before her - its arid undulations, its butterscotch sky - were all brown. She held out her gloved hand and watched the alien dust land in the palm. It looked like soil. Like gravel. It brought to mind the...

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“The curse of Pint 6” by Sarah Cope

Submitted to Contest #259

The curse of pint 6 She stood across the bar, holding a pint glass tilted at a perfect 45-degree angle while the fizzy yellow liquid filled the glass, this was the pint she had been dreading pouring the most, out of the hundreds she had expertly poured over the last 11 hours, it was this one she really wished she didn't have to pour. it was pint number 6 for the blonde-haired blue-eyed guy, sat propped up in the corner on an old rickety bar stool, he smiled at her a crooked clumsy sort of grin, as she popped the larger down on a damp beer ma...

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“Don't you remember? ” by Abbi McDaniel

Submitted to Contest #259

As the spectral glow of the morning sun crept through the kitchen, the warm scent of vanilla and coconut overtook the air. Hm, she must’ve gotten a new perfume, I thought to myself. A feeling of familiarity, vague yet known, overtakes me. Glancing around, my gaze stumbles upon my hands. Was that scar always there? I wonder. Before I can reassure myself my wife, Nora, peeks out from the bedroom. “Hey babe, can you grab my work shirt? I don’t see it here and I’m running a bit late.” She flusters as she stands in the doorway. Makeup ...

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“I'm the villain” by Irving Soto

Submitted to Contest #259

Alert! The innocent citizens of Hypercity watch in total awe as entire buildings are reduced to ashes by the building-demolishing laser beams of Dr. Odysseus and his giant robot. But a noble and handsome hero heroically appears to stop the destruction. From Patagonia, comes flying the incredible (drum roll) Captain Infinity! —It’s me —said the handsome hero—, the incredible Captain Infinity. I’ve come to stop you and your robot, Dr. Odysseus. —I don’t think so “Underoos” —respond the villain grinning—. Nothing can stop my thirst for revenge ...

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“A Dish Served Cold ” by Arianna Noelle

Submitted to Contest #259

My coffee cup shakes as I pick it up, readily giving away my unspoken sense of unease like an innocent bystander pointing out the precise location of a hit-and-run (“right over here, Officer, look!”). I steady my cup as best I can before taking a generous gulp of the bitter liquid. “This isn’t going to be pretty,” I think as I watch my Uncle John (no, not the one I used to pick blueberries with on the family farm growing up, but the other one. The Uncle John who spent most of his twenties doing hard time for a situation that no one ever had ...

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$250

Prize money

295

Contest entries

143

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 19, 2024 EST

Won by Christine Foy Jackson 🏆

Title: Getting Better

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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