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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#261: Gratitude

Unfortunately, it's true what they say — all good things must come to an end! Today marks my last Friday at Reedsy, and my last week as the host of Prompts.

Before I get into this week's contest, I'd like to take a moment to thank this wonderful community, for sharing your creativity and enthusiasm with me over the past few years. I have been truly moved and inspired by your entries, and am consistently amazed by the talented, prolific writers who make up Prompts. It doesn't escape me how lucky I am to have read and enjoyed thousands of your stories, and to have been given a glimpse into the worlds of so many authors. It's been a great privilege.

With that in mind, this week's contest is all about gratitude. Whether your characters are thankful for a gift, a person, or a change in circumstance, I hope they find a way to express it.

You'll meet your wonderful new Prompts host Isabella next Friday; but for now, all that's left to say is — thank you!

🥇 Winner

“Dear Aunt Beth” by Sandrine Hu

🏆 Winner of Contest #261

January 27, 1997 Dear Aunt Beth Thank you for giving me a dollhouse for Christmas. I love it! Mom says I need to write you a letter to say thank you. Thank you!Love your neice Hanna December 26, 1998 Dear Aunt Beth, Thank you for the chemistry set! It is really cool! I already made a volcano! It exploded everywhere and the turkey got wet! Dad was mad but mom thought it was funny! Love Hanna April 25, 1999 Dear Aunt Beth, Thank you so much for taking me to Disneyland! I had the best time ever. I specially liked the...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Heart of the Matter” by Karen Hope

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

She adjusts herself in the stiff chair, trying to get comfortable. It seems each time she shifts, it’s not long before she needs to squirm around again, looking for that sweet spot. But then she reminds herself she’s in a hospital, watching her husband sleep soundly after his surgery. It’s not about her comfort. It’s about his. A baseball game is playing on the TV, the volume so low she can only hear a steady buzzing from the small bedside speaker. Her fingers ache to gingerly grab the remote from beside her husband and turn on her favorite ...

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“The Regenhardt Dilemma” by Rebecca Hurst

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

Nelly Regenhardt had been writing to prisoner B6732FH for nine hard years and had never received a reply. But she had seen The Shawshank Redemption, and came to understand that in the matter of correspondence, persistence always won the game. And win the game it did. Ten years after her husband had been shot in the head by the very man she had been writing to, she received a standard reply: Prisoner B6732FH will see you on (appointed date and time), at a venue very much decided upon: HMP Wingfield: Category A. But le...

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This week's prompts

Write a story about a character trying to find a way to express their gratitude to someone.

Character – 62 stories

Write a creative nonfiction piece about something you're grateful for.

Nonfiction – 69 stories

Write a story about a cynic who has been told to start a "gratitude journal," and does so — begrudgingly.

Funny – 55 stories

Write a story about an unsung hero.

Character – 54 stories

Write a story in the form of a series of thank you cards.

Narrative – 64 stories

Stories

“Dear Aunt Beth” by Sandrine Hu

🏆 Winner of Contest #261

January 27, 1997 Dear Aunt Beth Thank you for giving me a dollhouse for Christmas. I love it! Mom says I need to write you a letter to say thank you. Thank you!Love your neice Hanna December 26, 1998 Dear Aunt Beth, Thank you for the chemistry set! It is really cool! I already made a volcano! It exploded everywhere and the turkey got wet! Dad was mad but mom thought it was funny! Love Hanna April 25, 1999 Dear Aunt Beth, Thank you so much for taking me to Disneyland! I had the best time ever. I specially liked the...

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“The Fighter” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #261

CW: Mentions of suicidal ideation, mental health struggles, anorexia nervosa**First of all, I very much know how much it hurts. Quite literally, it does.You sit in your wheelchair as they push you bumpily and help you up the maroon leather-backed banquette at the very front of a coffee chain’s branch in the hospital’s lobby. You’re fully aware that the mobile chair is but standard operating procedure for leaving the medical centre, yet the mere idea of your willpower being excised along with that gangrene bit of your small intestine the surg...

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“The Teacher” by Peter Modesto

Submitted to Contest #261

She was a farmer’s daughter who earned her grade eleven diploma in one-room country schoolhouse just up the road from the farm. So, she was not prepared for the call that came that morning.After her husband had left for work at the factory and both her young sons were out the door, the phone rang. It was the school. This could not be good news.“Mrs. M., we’re calling to ask for your help. Our First Grade teacher, Mrs. Lamarche, is sick today and we’d like you to come and watch her class.”Relief gave way to shock. Her boys were not in trouble...

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“Fiddle-dee-dee!” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #261

The man himself is coming to tell us—Vice President Numb Nuts. He's such a spineless wimp. How did he ever become a vice president? I'll tell you how. It's because Boeing is not what it used to be. That's it. Its current level of incompetence is staggering. I used to be proud to be part of this company, but those days have long vanished. And sitting over there is another reason I've lost confidence: Clark Suck-face Truman. Look at him all smug and confident. I can see what he's thinking. He's such an open book. He's thinking of his thank you...

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“Thank You, Reedsy” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #261

Thank You, Reedsy Dear Reedsy,I wish to express my gratitude to all the creators, staff, professional support members and, of course, the talented contributing authors that make up the Reedsy community. As an aspiring author entering the weekly short story contests my linguistic pursuits have been enhanced and inspired by this online family.Before I relate my journey let me thank and congratulate Laura for her tenure as prompt coordinator in Reedsy Prompts for the pass five years, if I understand correctly, and welcome Isabelle to the positi...

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“The Heart of the Matter” by Karen Hope

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

She adjusts herself in the stiff chair, trying to get comfortable. It seems each time she shifts, it’s not long before she needs to squirm around again, looking for that sweet spot. But then she reminds herself she’s in a hospital, watching her husband sleep soundly after his surgery. It’s not about her comfort. It’s about his. A baseball game is playing on the TV, the volume so low she can only hear a steady buzzing from the small bedside speaker. Her fingers ache to gingerly grab the remote from beside her husband and turn on her favorite ...

Read story

“The Regenhardt Dilemma” by Rebecca Hurst

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #261

Nelly Regenhardt had been writing to prisoner B6732FH for nine hard years and had never received a reply. But she had seen The Shawshank Redemption, and came to understand that in the matter of correspondence, persistence always won the game. And win the game it did. Ten years after her husband had been shot in the head by the very man she had been writing to, she received a standard reply: Prisoner B6732FH will see you on (appointed date and time), at a venue very much decided upon: HMP Wingfield: Category A. But le...

Read story

“He Should Have Read It ” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #261

Story contains foul language “Got a pen?” he asked, waving a blue spiral notebook just inches in front of my face. “On my desk.” “Can you fucking get it?” “You’re literally standing right next to it.” Reluctantly, he picks up the pen and waves it at me as well. “Aren’t you going to ask why I fucking need it?” “I’m assuming you have something to write down in your notebook.” “Not a notebook, a fucking journal. The fucking stupid therapist is making me keep a gratitude journal for a week. You’re the writer in the...

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“Keep Walking” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #261

If I have a neat little heart attack, right here at the bottom of the attic steps, then the kids can throw away all that junk up there. But no, I had to tell them I’d do this myself. Why? I can’t imagine that there is anything up there that they shouldn’t see.Sam and I bought this house when the boys were still little. Around forty-five years ago. It’s going to be an ordeal emptying this memorial to my marriage, our younger selves, before I bury myself among the old and discarded. I’m sure it won’t be just the mountain of dust bunnies I’ll s...

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“HOPE” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #261

Hope Bradford had spent more than twelve years in the isolation ward of St. Margaret's Hospital. Diagnosed with a highly contagious and dangerous disease at the tender age of five, she had lived a life confined to sterile, white walls, cut off from the world outside. Her room was her universe, filled with medical equipment, books, and the occasional gift from a visitor who could only see her through a glass barrier. Hope was a delicate figure, her once rosy cheeks pale from years spent away from sunlight. Her long, dark hair, often tied back...

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“13 Entries” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #261

Entry 1The internet suggested I start a gratitude journal to help with my depression. Apparently, I have a negative outlook on life. I don’t see how it’s going to help, sounds rather stupid really. Let’s look at my life. Obviously, I can’t afford therapy if I’m turning to the internet for advice. I’m forty-years-old and living at a sleezy hole-in-the-wall motel because my wife, Heather, threw me out and moved in her boyfriend, taking everything, including the kids and the pets. I was allowed to keep my clothes and was given a hundred dollars...

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“Paper Cup” by Helen A Smith

Submitted to Contest #261

If only good things lasted. Maybe not forever, but for as long as we need them.This section of the riverbank has been my favourite haunt for the past year. There’s a chill in the air and my feet scrunch along a well-worn path. Ancient half-bare trees sway a little, their curling leaves settling after a languid descent. Soon they will be little more than trunks with skeletal branches; passers-by will observe them while clumping along carpets of rusty red and gold. Then they will turn to mulch, and traipsing visitors will long for the promise ...

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“Voyage of the Destiny's Dreams to the Mystery Islands ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #261

Captain Alfonse Belanger caught his breath. He felt the light morning breeze and smelled the salt air.His eyes scanned the vast ocean stretching to the west. The distant coastal mountains of South America rose in the east.It was the year 1898 on the ship called Destiny's Dreams. Soon they would reach the islands of unusual creatures, somewhere beyond the horizon.On the deck of the vessel, the sailors discussed him.“He’s an odd sort.”“Odd is fine with me.”“He performed the marriage for Isabella and me.”“Ever see how he goes into a trance...

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“The Backhanded Blessing: A Professor Deshpande Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #261

Thank you for your blessings. May the milk of human kindness never curdle. “Neither an especially profound expression of gratitude, nor a particularly lavish gift,” Saanvi observed, turning the silver vessel in her fingers. “A puja kalash, but probably not a pricey one.”“Looks like silver-plated stainless steel,“ Wei Zhao told Professor Deshpande. The University’s youngest tenured professor remained standing, her chairman presumed out of wholly unnecessary deference. “The engraving’s why I brought it to you.”“I’m relieved,” Professor Deshpan...

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“Fight The Good Fight” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #261

“Is the AC on the fritz again?” “I wouldn’t know. Power’s out.”“What?” I felt sweat dripping down my back. No air conditioning was not what I wanted to hear. There was too much work to do, and the room was already stifling in the early morning hours.“Yeah. Seems like someone didn’t pay the electric bill.” Carol looked at me square in the eye, hands on her hips. Was she daring me to argue that fact?“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Call them. Use my credit card.” “Are you sure, boss?”“I’m sure. ...

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$250

Prize money

304

Contest entries

97

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 02, 2024 EST

Won by Sandrine Hu 🏆

Title: Dear Aunt Beth

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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