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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

“Open Your Eyes” by Jenn Tenney

Submitted to Contest #259

That light is so bright. Is it even possible for my eyes to adjust to it? I blink a couple of times. At least, I think I do. Now I can make out the fluorescent tubing housed in the ceiling tile. Who invented a light bulb that can burn more intensely than the sun? Good lord. I hope they got their money's worth.I see three figures standing on the other side of the room. A stranger is talking to my mom and dad. "...Caused her brain to swell significantly. Only time will tell if she will wake up...."I open my eyes again when I feel a tug on my r...

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“Zephyr” by Jennifer Luckett

Submitted to Contest #259

The wind blew my silk scarf onto the lawn. A fat raindrop splashed onto my left lens, and the bigger ones that fell chilled me to the bone. It was the first week in October, but the weather yo-yoed, mid-June hot one day, and mid-Winter frigid the next. This damn cold front made me want to curl up inside my house in front of a fire, reading and sipping hot chocolate. I hurried up the steps to Mom’s house and fumbled with the key in the lock when the door opened. “We weren’t expecting you tonight. Here, let me help you, Mary.” Miguel, my...

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“The Defective Cog” by Eloise Bowers

Submitted to Contest #259

“So, what’s the good news you had to tell me face to face?” Jake asked, sipping his coffee. Ashlyn wrinkled her nose at the sight of his drink, so diluted by milk that it was a preposterously pale shade of brown, barely a coffee at all. Even though she’d seen Jake enjoy this offensive concoction countless times, she was still repulsed by it. “Well,” she said with a smirk, dragging out the word to prolong the suspense, “I just happen to have won the fantasy story contest held by Words of Wonder Magazine, with my short story about ...

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“A surprising Revelation” by Marie Marks

Submitted to Contest #259

The groans and grinding sounds of gears filled the air until both elevator doors opened and a gang of guys spilled out and filled the lobby entrance with boisterous laughter and raised smack talk. Hearing those sounds, Alice played it cool keeping her head down and buried in the book she was reading while working at the front desk of Delahoussaye dormitory, one of the male dorms on the university campus. “Man, these elevators gonna get us killed bruh, fo’sho,” Brian declared in his thick New Orleans accent stumbling out with the guys who...

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“Reality” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #259

CW: This story contains themes of terminal illness and death. It also contains light mentions of alcohol and swearing. Viewer discretion is advised. Victor was only nine years old when he was watching his parents argue constantly, the two of them separated from him by a pane of thick glass that blocked their words from reaching his ears. He followed their increasingly erratic gestures and watched their faces flip through expressions like channels on a TV, but paid special attention to their mouths, scanning the shapes they formed to decode ...

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“Commune” by Alex McColm

Submitted to Contest #259

Sheets of rain streaked across the windscreen as Robbie Smith weaved through the winding country roads at a speed less than safe for his continued wellbeing. In his desperation he figured he needed a two or three hour head start on the police in order to avoid apprehension. He was well known in and around Inverness - petty theft , burglary , minor assault - mostly but he needed to escape the trap and armed robbery was a major step up for the delinquent. What did he have to stay for anyway? His dad disappeared a long time ago , mum chain...

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“A Case of the Mondays” by Ian Patterson

Submitted to Contest #259

Coming back from the weekends was when it was the worst. The beauty of two days spent under a boundless sky, to then be replaced by yellow lights, stained ceiling tiles, and the dull clicking of keyboards. Not that I did much on those days, sometimes I just stared at that infinite expanse from my window and counted the minutes until my temporary freedom was over. Or, if I felt productive, I did all the household things I didn’t have time for during the week. I hear feet approaching my gray cubicle across the thin, beige office carpet, and br...

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“The Rookie and the Lieutenant ” by Gracie Tranum

Submitted to Contest #259

"You seem to be in a good mood."Estella looked over at Dr. Myers. She gave him a weird smile. "Really? I feel normal."The man studied the trees. "Well, I've noticed the elevation in mood for a few weeks now." Dr. Myers shot her a smile. "You haven't noticed?"Estella shrugged, looking out into the trees with him. "I guess… it has been a little easier to go through each day."During the building repairs, Estella and Dr. Myers had taken to doing their sessions outside. Now that the offices were back to normal, Dr. Myers had the good idea of cont...

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“Felt but Unspoken” by Grant Fowler

Submitted to Contest #259

It finally clicked to me when I watched the bride walk away in tears and her friend helped her with the long silken cloth… It was her all this time…Sorry I lose myself when talking about it again…. It began summers ago when we were young ones, My friend, Lathlin, and Candace… Ex now because of what I did to her, but maybe for the best. We met in the end of middle school, where I met Lathlin and introduced her to Candace… I heard the excitement between them, and I was so happy to finally know I had a pair of friends to be with, it wasn’t exac...

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“Synthetic Anatomic Beauty Kimiko Processing ” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #259

tw: sexual suggestions It took thirteen weeks to build Kimiko. During that time, I skipped out of family dinners. Every night my dad would ask if I wanted him to bring a plate of chicken and peas or lasagna to my room, and every night I had to remind him that food crumbs could mess up her sensors. This gave me the idea to program her to listen for commands instead of act independently, so she wouldn’t display a curiosity for Dad’s cooking. “喜美子、あなたは私を愛していますか？” I asked her for the first time.“はい、ルカ。愛してます。” she answered exactly the way I...

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“What Happened to Tommy?” by Anna Creel

Submitted to Contest #259

The Johnson family; how would I describe them? Well, in 3 words actually; mysterious, rich, and famous. A reporter named Donna Cross, obsessed with finding the truth about what really happened to the youngest member, came from the next town over. She introduced herself to the Johnsons. The family consisted of 6 people. Sarah; the mother. Joseph; the father. Then there are the kids; Janice, Stephanie, Harry, John.There used to be 7 members, but the youngest member mysteriously disappeared.Tommy was just 4 years old when he went missing. After...

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“Unearthed” by Andrea Krist

Submitted to Contest #259

Valli deposited the bag of refuse in the bin then closed the lid. A second later she could hear the motor whir as the garbage was whisked away. It tumbled down a series of chutes that led to the collection site outside of the habitat her family lived in. Every complex within the protective dome operated the same way making things simple and easy--a stark contrast from the way things had been before. Even from their seventh story apartment window, Valli could not see over the wall that separated the dumpsite from the habitable space. Clean a...

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“Don't trigger the boats” by Shahnaz T.M

Submitted to Contest #259

Everyone knew who Farid Tarini was. A mysterious 41-year-old who had arrived out of nowhere, seemingly sent from the heavens to deliver them from the disease of war, famine, and hardship. Every man, woman, child, and dog knew of this fresh-faced stranger who had saved them from an early extinction. Everyone also knew that he was a robot. But we didn't talk about that. It was the elephant in the room. Except the elephants had gone extinct too. We didn't talk about that either. In a world where death had become commonplace, conversation ...

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“Smart Money ” by Nadia Mena

Submitted to Contest #259

Brooks and Bunker Office Supply was housed in a perfectly normal building at the end of a perfectly normal street. Like clockwork, every morning its parking lot slowly filled with midsized, nondescript sedans. From out of those sedans sober faced, travel coffee cup armed workers dutifully marched up the perfectly regular sidewalk and through the perfectly regular heavy glass doors. Beyond the glass doors, laid beige carpet and white walls in a narrow hallway that led past a reception desk and into a large room full of rows of cubicles....

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“The Wrong Man” by Valerie B

Submitted to Contest #259

King Tobe walked the halls of the castle. It was the darkest hour of the night and he was chasing sleep through the hallways of the castle as if it were a lover using hide and seek as foreplay. He had had neither sleep nor foreplay in so long he’d forgotten what both felt like. The loss of his wife, Queen Aylese, a year ago had left him wretched and haunted – a ghost of a man that even the goddess of rest avoided. As he wandered the halls, he took a mental roll call of the night guards. He had seen many of these men as infants on the breast...

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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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