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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

“The Unpronounceable” by Grant Fowler

Submitted to Contest #259

I remember being sat in the bathroom, tense after a long afternoon in the kitchen with my friends… or so I thought they once were. It was the waning days of the summer coming to an end, and at the time it couldn’t have been any better at that point if I even tried, yet time seems to settle such feelings in the heart of the naïve.We were simply kids who were learning the sways and moves of the mind taking in the world of sensations, which excited us most; taste being our simple sensation that day.I still feel as t...

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“Marathon Loop” by David Dean

Submitted to Contest #259

MARATHON LOOPi MarathonFor several days now the fields had been green and yellow. They were merely fallow, not sown with any seeds, the grass growing well outside the town. The runners were the usual crop in vari-coloured gear; and they stood with great effort, with an urge to move, without smiling. Lacking the usual energy of weekend runners or the resolve of staunch club supporters, Hector paused whilst others chatted or tried to read the countryside signs for weather changes in case they got drenched. You could see the amateurs struggling...

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“Paying For Damages ” by Neha Magesh

Submitted to Contest #259

Lauren can’t even look at Milo, who resembles her husband more every day.Until last night, Lauren believed that life had dealt her a winning hand. She’d grown up wealthy enough that getting a bachelor's degree from a good school was a mere formality. She met a tall, similarly minded man when she was twenty, entered into a loveless but cash-flush marriage, and never had to use her degree for more than decoration. She jetted off to St. Bart’s every year and had three beautiful homes and two gorgeous, blonde children, a boy and a girl. She hadn...

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“Truth, Trauma and a Trans Am Tattoo ” by Laura Turner

Submitted to Contest #259

This story contains themes of misogyny and emotional abuse, in addition to mention of substance misuse and a wee bit of swearing. The Truth is, I despised my Uncle Dougie. Nothing about him felt safe. A tall boy in one hand and a Player’s Light in the other, he could not be described as kind, and too many beers spiralled quickly into mean and menacing.He wounded with his words.Hurling insults at innocent family members was his specialty. We endured, stuck in fear and disbelief. Except that he repeated the same pattern at every family gatheri...

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“Money Can't Buy You Everything” by Seth Conner

Submitted to Contest #259

“Is nobody gonna say it?” I asked intently. “Say what, Winston?” Marion’s rough voice asked in response. Years of smoking cheap cigarettes left his voice like that, all raspy and rough. Nonetheless, it had just as much of an effect of intimidation as I imagine it would without the effects of smoking. “Say how ridiculous this plan is, Marion. We’re all going to lose our lives trying to do this and you know that. It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you’re in a graveyard full of holes cops shot in ya.” I sat up from my seat and l...

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“Breaking the Silence” by Bob Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #259

Breaking the Silence By Bob Aldrich The room buzzed with laughter and clinking glasses as partiers mingled. Emily Blake hovered near the doorway, her fingers clutching a frayed edge of her scarf. She always felt so out of place, suffocated by the throbbing pulse of energy around her. She sipped her punch and scanned the room cautiously, hoping to avoid becoming dragged into an awkward conversation. "Hey, Emily!" A familiar voice pulled her from her thoughts. Rachel, her coworker from the library, appeared beside her, a wide smile shine...

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“'Is Nobody going to say it?'” by Wendy Rappeport

Submitted to Contest #259

Is Nobody going to say it?I’m stupid, naïve, gullible, a ‘softie’. I’ve been made to look a fool… and you could go on. I deserve it all. And I guess I was so excited that my manic spending was difficult for anyone to understand.Firstly, I’d bought the house next door, and secondly, two lots of land in the new suburb just opened up, so that we could build a house next to each other. And there were smaller things too, like dozens of Christmas presents for Gary, Matthew and Suzie, Leonie’s three children and $2000 worth of Tupperware to help ge...

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“Looking Good” by S.G. Williams

Submitted to Contest #259

“Alright, is nobody going to say it?” Silence greeted him from the three others who stood shoulder to shoulder with him. “She might look better dead.” The silence from the others broke with sharp exhales from their noses, and accompanied by biting lips. “What?” Greg continued, “I’m just saying you all saw what she was looking like near the end. It wasn’t a pretty sight.” “We all know she was worse for wear dumbass, cancer does that to someone. Doesn’t mean you have to go and say she looks better dead,” Greg’s brother, Geoff, said. “She’s sti...

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“A Venture of Value” by John Hofmeyr

Submitted to Contest #259

A VENTURE OF VALUE“Jennie Stockitt, report to the principal’s office immediately!” The mechanical voice scratched through the loudspeakers at 12:45 on the second Friday of the new school term while the school children were returning from lunch-break. “ENTER!” the stern voice came at the first knock. Light from the window behind the principal framed the image of her head reflected in the polished surface of the long table. A halo – how incongruous! Jennie quickly (and wisely) dismissed the angelic image before it elicited a comment. Careful, ...

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“Ability” by Lynne Lieberman

Submitted to Contest #259

I am not certain what you mean by sensitive content, but this is meant to be a disturbing horror story.Ability"Next order of business is adding more disabled parking spots to the shopping mall." Council President Kari banged her gavel on the block."Ten should do it," said VP Greg."More like twenty-five," countered Lavinia. "You never account for enough future growth."Morrisey rolled up to the bench. "Ten is plenty. Those of us on scooters don't need to park at all.""Motion to approve ten new disabled spots," said Greg."Second!" shouted anoth...

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“Phase One” by Chris Miles

Submitted to Contest #259

Jenner sat in the Situation Room surrounded by bigwigs. He felt small, and not just because he was the shortest and the youngest person in the room. But also because, as vice president of the United States, he was the least important person in the room. Jenner remembered getting the call from the suave, young candidate who said, “I want you to be my running mate.” It shocked him then. It still did.Of course, Jenner knew he was on the long list for the position. He was flattered, but figured it was just for show--his party’s way of getti...

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“Eileen's Truth” by Stacie Lynch

Submitted to Contest #259

Eileen was standing outside on the front porch of a grand home in front of double doors made of wood with beautiful intricate carvings. She was in awe of the details on the door but did not know how she got here. She knocked on the door because that’s what she thought she was supposed to do and then turned to get a better idea of where she was. The porch she was standing on was massive and appeared to wrap all around the house. She saw flowers and various plants. There were grape vines that were climbing up the trellises. Eileen walked towa...

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“You Think You Know Someone” by Stephen Massa

Submitted to Contest #259

Today was the day I was dreading for over fifty years. I never wanted it to happen, and yet here we are. I’m driving up to Bearsville from my little corner of New York City, from a borough you may have heard of called Brooklyn, from a neighborhood called Park Slope that you probably haven’t. Three hours (and two minutes, but who’s counting?) of my life I can’t get back. I was forced to spend three hours (and two minutes) listening to staticky radio since I forgot to pay my satellite radio bill. Perhaps forgetting is too forgiving a term - I ...

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“Who Am I?” by Jennifer Lafferty

Submitted to Contest #259

The American woman would never forget how she felt when she woke up that morning in an unfamiliar room and looked out the window to see the Eiffel Tower outside. She was sure there was no good reason for her to have suddenly traveled to Paris. What had happened to prompt this trip? Why couldn’t she remember? She got up and opened the door. Looking out into the hall at the numbers on the doors and the elevator, it was obvious that she was in a hotel, as she had suspected, but she didn’t know which one. The name must be written on something in...

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“Beneath the Moonlit Veil” by Jonathan Chen

Submitted to Contest #259

The small town of Pinebrook hummed with the life of its annual fair. Strings of colorful lights blinked overhead, casting playful glows on the faces of children running with cotton candy in hand. The air buzzed with laughter and chatter, blending with the occasional whirr of a ride or the pop of a balloon. Yet, amidst the cheerful chaos, a sense of unease lingered.Near the edge of the fair, a group of teenagers gathered, their faces flickering in the light of a nearby bonfire. Lucy Branson, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and excitement, le...

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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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