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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#260: A Twist in the Tale

Has a friend ever recommended a book or a movie with the line, "The twist is amazing"? I usually hate when they do that. Even if they don't spill the beans on what the plot twist is, just knowing there is one can spoil the fun. I won't be able to resist trying to pre-empt the plot, and guess what that it might be — but a truly great twist is always rewarding, whether you expect it or not.

Here's a twist I'm sure you saw coming: this week's contest is all about them. Your readers will know there's one on the horizon. Can you still manage to surprise us?

This week's prompts

Write a story with a big twist.

Dramatic – 189 stories

Write a story in which a character learns something unexpected about someone they thought they knew well.

Mystery – 63 stories

Write a story about someone who realises the story of their life has been pre-determined — until they decide to divert from the expected path.

Character – 31 stories

Write a story that includes the line, "I didn't see that one coming."

Dialogue – 41 stories

Write a story using the most clichéd twist of all; it was all a dream.

Narrative – 105 stories

Stories

“Rituals & Regrets” by Ash Clawthorne

Submitted to Contest #260

It was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. Or at least, that was what Prince Harlowe Eadwig Graemes Everlye IIII had envisioned his entire life. A glorious day of celebration, feasting, and most importantly, love. It was what he had been promised. But instead today, with it’s perfect cloudless blue skies and blossoming trees, he was cursed to walk down the aisle towards a woman he hardly knew, for a land he had never visited, and for a throne he no longer wanted. Prince Harlowe thought all of this as he slipp...

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“From Inside the Boogie Man” by Sarah Wise

Submitted to Contest #260

My reflection is me; my reflection is you, sharing a moment in time that is both present and past. Suspended in a mirror that neither of us share but both of us are. A mirror we share, a mirror we are. It’s a tale as old as time—that of a mother and daughter. One soul split in two; whatever are they going to do? A near-perfect replica, two women with brown eyes—eyes I couldn’t meet in the mirror for a decade. It was always you reflected back at me. I saw you for so long that I forgot my own face, not seeing the monster that took its place. D...

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“We Need To Talk” by Melanie Yorke

Submitted to Contest #260

Contains strong language“We need to talk. What the hell do you think that means?” Cassie inquired of the photo of her Mum that sat on the mantelpiece. She carried on folding her laundry into neat piles and smiled to herself as she thought that if her mum was still here she would have frowned at Cassie saying “hell”. Cheekily she grinned at the photo and said out loud “fuck it mum, they’re all just words, just letters.” She laughed as she thought that mum would have smiled at that and then given that slight disappointed sigh and shake of the ...

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“ “The Midnight Carousel”” by Sasha-Gaye Harrison

Submitted to Contest #260

Once upon a moonlit night, in the quaint village of Somnium Hollow, there stood an old, weathered carousel. Its paint had faded, and its wooden horses bore the weight of countless generations. Children would gather there during the day, their laughter echoing as they rode the merry-go-round, chasing dreams that spun 'round and 'round.But it was at night that the carousel truly came alive. When the moon hung low and the stars winked mischievously, the rusty gears would creak into motion. The horses leaped off their poles, their eyes glowing l...

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“Tiny Pink Shoes” by Jason Basaraba

Submitted to Contest #260

The drive home from the hospital is quiet, I always pictured this day differently. We have so much to say but keep the thoughts to ourselves, as if it is taboo to speak. I want to say something and nearly do, but when I glance at her she is looking elsewhere.So, I drive on. Knuckles white as they grip the wheel, I watch as raindrops dance across the windshield, flying away free in the wind with each push of the wipers. The steady squeak of rubber on glass has a hypnotic tone that echoes with-in the hollowness of the car.I finally break the s...

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“A New Friend?” by KA James

Submitted to Contest #260

Claudia and her mother and father lived in an old house, in a normal neighborhood, on a nondescript street, Meadowburne Lane to be exact, in a small midwestern town so ordinary that most people driving through immediately forget the name of it before they have passed the town limit sign on the way out. At least, that’s the way it had been on Meadowburne Lane before the accident. Since then, life on the lane has occasionally become a little less mundane.Claudia and her mother both remember the night of the accident well. They remember it, but...

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“His Just Deserts” by Marissa Othon

Submitted to Contest #260

It was just another muggy, mid-week summer’s day and the street outside the bar was quiet. Inside it was too early for Vinny’s usual crowd. They were still at their desk jobs or out on the shop floor, sweating it out until quitting time when they would faithfully make their daily pilgrimage for happy hour to quench their thirst for company and something cold. Rocky waited patiently outside the door. He looked at ease and relaxed, casually scanning the street and the passers-by, with an occasional look over his shoulder toward the door behind...

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“Finding Emily” by Jennifer Luckett

Submitted to Contest #260

The day before Emily went missing, I ran seven miles in the predawn chill, slipped and landed on the icy pavement on my way back. I shook it off, my bloody left knee be damned, to finish one more mile. It’s really not safe to run solo, or go anywhere alone here. I don’t really care, because running is my escape from everything I hate about my life. The wind grazing my back, the solitude and the peace of it all fills me with the best natural high I can get. I strolled back to my room, showered, b...

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“Neon Night Nerves” by W. H. Goodwater

Submitted to Contest #260

The old diner sat at the edge of town, its neon sign flickering intermittently in the stale, warm night. Outside, the dark was eerily quiet, save for a lone dog barking somewhere in the distance, interspersed with the occasional rumble of a passing truck on the nearby highway.I took a booth near the window, more than ready to begin nursing a cup of coffee to sober up from a night of clubbing with friends. My tired eyes scanned the diner, barely registering the two women chatting in hushed tones two booths away. They seemed lost in their own ...

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“Hairy” by Chris Pye

Submitted to Contest #260

1The Scientist, a tall woman, crisp white lab coat, hair pulled tightly back, adjusted her thin spectacles and clinked the screen with her fingernail. Charles listened attentively.'This, here, is the gene that gave you hair on top of your head, yes? Screwed up by your testosterone. Why you ended up with male-pattern baldness. Just look at it! What a mess. Even from here.' Charles gawped at the VDU. All he could see were flickering lines of stripes, like a drone shot of black and white zebras streaming across the African plains.The ...

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“Such a Libra” by Holly Pfeiffer

Submitted to Contest #260

I pinch the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes. “I’m embarrassed. I really am.” “Start from the beginning,” Neelja, my boss, prompts me, eying me over the rims of her glasses. “And, Hansen, it will help if you tell the whole truth this time.” Silicon Valley isn’t known for its comfort. While a major step up from my cubicle, Neelja’s office is just sparse enough to be uninviting, but just dumpy enough to be unimpressive. In the corner, on top of a metal filing cabinet, a tetra fish makes his rounds. His name is Mark, according to the post-it ...

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“The Safest Man in London” by Shaun Griffin

Submitted to Contest #260

“The Southwark Slasher struck again last night,” whispered Jasper Thomas. “A prostitute. Drained every drop of blood from her body.” “I can’t imagine why he’s called the Slasher,” sniffed Arnold Penny. “Why do you say that?” “Well, there’s no blood for one thing. And, apart from a single cut across the throat the body is untouched.” Jasper sniggered. “Well, the papers can hardly call him the Southwark Drainer, now, can they? It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.” Benjamin Good looked up from his ledger and frowned. “Quiet!” he hissed. “I...

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“The Watsons” by Amanda Stogsdill

Submitted to Contest #260

The Watsons by Amanda Stogsdill"Hurry up, will you?" Teresa called over her shoulder. Butterfly puffed along, the strap of her heavy schoolbag digging into her shoulder."It's miserable. I'm sweating buckets!" The thirteen-year-old complained, "Why can't you drive?""Because, my car's broken down, remember? I have school too, you know. Shut up and keep walking." Teresa was also sweating, but wasn't showing it as much as her younger sister. With their identical features and hairstyles, you'd suppose they were twins. Except of course, for their ...

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“Waking Dreams” by Sophie P

Submitted to Contest #260

It wasn’t going well. I was beginning to think that being an estate agent wasn’t for me. It had seemed like the type of job I’d be suited for; I'd dreamed of showing a couple around a house, dazzling them with fascinating architecture, stories woven into the carpet of the bedrooms or the wood-panelling in the study. Or of helping a single mum find the bedrooms for her kids she never thought she could afford or the young entrepreneur find the office space to get their business off the ground. But, in typical fashion, I had only pictured what ...

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“My Path is My Path” by Tyler Harless

Submitted to Contest #260

Inside the PrognoTek cafeteria, the usual blended smells of cheap food, cleaning chemicals, and waste wafted through the air. After 18 years in The Program, Joshua became almost fond of it. The cafeteria was a place for decompression and somewhere to break up the monotony of attending classes, practical lessons, and training sessions densely packed throughout his minute-by-minute schedule from sunrise until lights out. You lived your days from meal to meal: a familiar phrase spoken by the participants of The Program. Not surprising, given th...

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$250

Prize money

429

Contest entries

131

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 26, 2024 EST

Won by Elizabeth Hoban 🏆

Title: You

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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