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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!

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 – 53 stories

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

Narrative – 64 stories

Stories

“Biking off into the Sunset” by Logan Hessek

Submitted to Contest #261

I stand there half drenched from head to toe in my cheapest throwaway t shirt and khakis as I wrestle with the coiled-up garden hose above my head. The number of flowers in the garden center had been slowly dwindling for weeks, and my boss made it very clear that this seasonal gig would be over by the end of the month. My mind raced with thoughts about what I was going to do next. Sure, I was still living with my parents, but I had to keep this train moving so that I could change that and more. I mindlessly sprayed a tomato plant with p...

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“A Gratitude Journal” by John Desantis

Submitted to Contest #261

A Gratitude Journal I am thankful That in the midst of all these millions of atoms and molecules of this almost infinite universe I somehow managed to emerge out of nothing into the consciousness that am I That I was blessed and fortunate enough to be birthed to two almost perfect parents who made me feel like me That I had a younger brother who I could and ...

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“The Curmudgeon's Conversion” by Ellen Fannon

Submitted to Contest #261

The Curmudgeon’s Conversionby Ellen Fannon “Walter, I can’t live with your negativity any longer.” Missy stood with her arms crossed, her lips pressed into a thin line. “You’ve always been a grouch, but you’ve gotten worse as you’ve gotten older.” “What are you talking about?” Walter grumbled. His wife’s carping interrupted his irritation with his favorite sports team losing again. He shook out the newspaper and pulled it up in front of his face to block out the view of Missy’s...

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“THANKS, NO THANKS!” by Frances Goulart

Submitted to Contest #261

Frances.goulart@gmail.com THANKS, NO THANKS “Thank you? Are you joking? You expect me to be grateful to you. Really? You, you kidnapped me. You took me out of my bed at midnight. You must have because and I don’t fly. How did I get here? No, don’t tell me. A princess doesn’t travel in a sleeping gown. This not a proper outdoors dressing gown. And where are my slippers? “. “Those slippers came from my father the King. There, I am grateful to him for those slippers but not to you! He will be here to rescue me before you can put the kettl...

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“Grace” by Ashley Bochiechio

Submitted to Contest #261

How can I begin to tell you all the ways you’ve changed my life for the better? Self-doubt surrounds every thought I have of you. There's just so much shame—for my poor life choices and all the ways I let you down. Will there ever be a way I can say thank you without the suffocating sorrow I feel at my own ineptitude? Without your compassionate eyes and gentle smile, I would never have known that unconditional love was possible. You taught me what family could be, what it should be. Without you, I would have been a diaper-clad todd...

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“We Nearly Lost our Son” by Renie Smith

Submitted to Contest #261

Todd was born September 14, 1966. He was a happy, contented baby. If we’d stopped with him I’d have never understood mothers who were frazzled because the baby was getting into things. If Todd found something on the floor he gave it to me. It didn’t go into his mouth. While I was pregnant with our second baby and couldn’t get around much, Todd would sit on the floor near my chair and play with his toys.He was 14 ½ months old when Amy was born. He seemed to think she was okay and would come for me if she cried and I wasn’t there immediately. ...

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“Fahrenheit 212” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #261

My blood begins to boil as my resentments rise.The temperature in my suite is edging up to combustion level. I’m almost willing to endure the 450+F. that promises to destroy those things that bug me the most.I’ve been told I need to leave my apartment for 8 hours while this intrusive treatment takes place.I’m not happy. Water boils at 212F. Apparently it freezes at 32F.Hell’s bell’s for elections that’s mighty cold, I’m thinking about running and jumping into the hot pot.I sullenly turn to the one remedy that has served me well over the yea...

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“when they are dying ” by Love Cisco

Submitted to Contest #261

“John, are you there?” I wrote. There was a long silence as I laid on my bed that night, it was little after 9pm. I had just put my only son, king to sleep. The son I held tightly to my chest as he went through episodes during the night. King was only A year old when his daycare suspected he had autism in 2018. see, where I came from, I don’t recall this happening. I am a west African. I was Born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia until the civil war of 1989, I migrated here with my aunt and uncle. In our country We don’t label mental...

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“She Was My Friend” by Cindy Collins

Submitted to Contest #261

"I have a really nice purple haze." Those were the words that kept ringing in my head. Speeding home in my car, I was stunned. I kept replaying the events over in my head to make sense of it all. It was supposed to be a meeting with my hair stylist friend, who I hadn't seen in a year. A lot can change in a year. I got a text from Denise stating that I should visit her at her new salon location. It's common for hair stylists to reach out to update clients, and I thought nothing of it. It was convenient since I had recently relocated closer t...

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“The Greatest Gift I Never Received” by Carol Hendrickson

Submitted to Contest #261

The Greatest Gift I Never Received Carol Hendrickson I was her first, and for a very long time, her only granddaughter. Some of my earliest recollections of my maternal grandmother, Hanora “Nonie” Ruede, were of her showering me with affection, attention and gifts, often from afar. When I was a young child, she and her two sisters, my great aunts “Mamie” (Mary) and “Miggie” (Margaret), along with Miggie’s crippled daughter Catherine, arrived at each of my birthday parties laden with an ornately-decorated cake from West High Bakery...

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“The Phenomenal Power of a Fractured Mind” by Joy O'Sleibhte

Submitted to Contest #261

TW: CSA, suicidal ideation, mental illness I gritted my teeth so hard they squeaked. The physical compression was all that was keeping me from screaming. I checked the clock—2:25. Still ninety minutes left on my shift. The thing had been banging on the inside of my skull all day. It was as if there was a door in my brain, and some entity was knocking incessantly. It wanted to tell me something; I could feel its urgency like a physical sensation, but every time I considered letting it in, an unparalleled terror smashed into me. I returned to...

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“The Gift My Cat Gave: A Heartfelt Journey.” by Kendra Calhoun

Submitted to Contest #261

Like most of us, seventeen years ago my life was completely different. I was living in Killeen, TX waiting to get married. It was the first time living away from my family. Killeen is a small army town about an hour north of Austin. Outside of the army base Killeen is made up of bars, tattoo parlors and strip clubs. Growing up in the suburbs of Ohio, I was out of my element. I was in the middle of nowhere with no friends and a fiancé I barely knew. Whenever I found myself homesick, got upset or was angry I couldn’t take off in my car, drive ...

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“An Ephemeral Journey” by Henry Cembrola

Submitted to Contest #261

An Ephemeral JourneyBy Henry CembrolaAfter a long and arduous heartbreaking six year struggle of trying to see my two daughters for my visitation rights, to protect them from evil, something amazing happened. In 2003 after immensely heavy emotional pain I laid down crying to God asking, “Why is this happening to me?” “Why is this happening to my children?” I yelled to God at the top of my voice, “I can’t take this anymore.” I cried so hard I thought my heart was going to burst right there on the living room floor. My heart was, literally, in...

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“Torn-Up Sneakers” by M. M.

Submitted to Contest #261

I'm grateful for torn-up sneakers. It had been about a month since we called the relationship quits. Or rather, you called it quits for the both of us. I knew that there was nothing left to salvage, but my heart still yearned to fight for you, for us. I felt like I had so much more left to give, and now couldn't. We still lived together while I made other arrangements, but I could not bring my eyes to meet yours anymore. I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to make us work. Disappointed in the dates I had planned in my head, bu...

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“THE GIFT OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #261

I awoke this morning with the words “thank you” on my lips. This occurrence has been going on for at least the last fifty years. I’ve experienced joys and sorrows like most humans I know. With all of these experiences, there have been lessons taught and learned; sometimes repeated. Yes, I have found it is possible to learn from sorrows, as well as joys. I have come to believe that such learning is why I am living my life here on planet Earth. Here and now is where the potential to gain greater understanding is rife in every human experience ...

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$250

Prize money

303

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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