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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#27: Agatha Christie

It's no secret why one of the most-repeated writing tips is: to read. You can learn endless craft wisdoms by reading the works of literary greats — and also lesser-known authors, too. Reading, in general, is simply a valuable way to improve your skills as a writer.

This week, we're pulling inspiration from the author behind two of crime fiction's most beloved sleuths: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Yes, each of the below prompts relate in some way to themes, symbols, or other common elements in the writings of Agatha Christie.

Want to learn more about the Grand Dame of crime fiction? Check out our Agatha Christie reading guide!

This week's prompts

Write a short story that takes place on a train.

High School – 128 stories

Write a short story about a jury of people tasked with making a decision. (It doesn't necessarily need to be a court jury.)

Adults – 29 stories

Write a short story in which a specialist is called upon to carry out a job.

High School – 36 stories

Write a short story that ends with a twist.

Mystery – 155 stories

Write a short story that takes place in a quaint, idyllic, English village.

Fiction – 31 stories

Stories

“The Stranger from the Train” by Keri Dyck

Submitted to Contest #27

“Excuse me, miss.” A young man swayed as the train began to move. He clutched his carpetbag tighter and reached for balance to the seat. The woman he was addressing did not move, entirely engrossed in the book she held in her hands. “Excuse me, miss, is this seat taken?”She looked up then, the brim of her hat lifting to show cherry lips and chocolate eyes. “Oh, no, not at all.” She smiled, then went back to her book.He placed his carpetbag on the floor and sat down, carefully positioning one hand on the knee where the material was slightly s...

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“A Lose/Lose Situation” by Tori Routsong

Submitted to Contest #27

My husband slams the table, surprising the doctor and I both. “You’re lying to us!” To her credit, the oncologist doesn’t flinch as he leans towards her. “I know this must come as a big shock.” “We came here to help her depression and now you’re telling me she’s got a tumor in her head? Her head doesn’t even hurt!” I’m the her, and I suppose I should be advocating for myself, but I’m so shocked that I don’t particularly want to speak. There can’t be a tumor in my head. I came to the doctor because my therapist said I should seek medication. ...

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“Excerpts from memoires of prized lamb” by Ola Hotchpotch

Submitted to Contest #27

The causes of even the smallest event are virtually infinite and connected with the whole in incomprehensible ways. if you wanted to trace back the cause of the event you would have to go back all the way to AN ORDER and this is not an order the human mind can easily comprehend, though it may glimpse it sometimes. It is higher ORDERS. When we don't interfere with nature and let things be, we see life everywhere. Then the voices of silence come and you glimpse that higher order. In an Itopian place nothing can go wrong. It is a perfect place,...

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“The boy in the bubble” by Kari Hyp

Submitted to Contest #27

“Despite my Ghoulish Reputation, I Really Have The heart of A small Boy. I Keep it in a jar on my Desk” -Robert BlochWould you steal a human heart if you had no heart yourself? There were those days that the Hulgri attempted to steal little children’s hearts. These vicious creatures-often charged for smuggling the precious silver coins from Prince Axel’s towers in exchange for a heart or two down the Greinfait River across Mount Orage- were ugly as they were cruel. Dark-moss-gr...

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“The Train (Eternity)” by Taylor Ingrassia

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #27

Green pierces the dim light of the room. A whistle cuts across the din. The scratch of words on the thin paper in your hand tells you your train departs abruptly at 3 a.m. and, as the whistle and lights have warned, this leaves about five minutes to board. You pass through the crowds gathered on the platform, dialogue in countless dialects drifting apart from the rest to meet you momentarily. Each spoken word is different, yet familiar. Over your endless years of traveling this route you have had plenty of time to pick up on the sounds...

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“It ends with a twist” by Kat Gruszka

Submitted to Contest #27

Her hair was missing. He could not get this image out of his head. She had the most beautiful hair. He was sure every father thought this about their daughter. However, her hair was always perfect. It was smooth and shiny and this beautiful blend of blonde. He chose to believe that it was her natural hair color, but at this point, he didn’t remember. There was also a slight wave towards the bottom. She used to call them her “beach waves”. His vision started to blur a little. I guess it made sense that she ended up on a beach. She a...

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“Next treehouse illusion *a short story” by Kari Hyp

Submitted to Contest #27

" John, are you sure you're going to be okay up there?" I ask him, he's laying on his back on the top of the running train. He smiles-a genuine smile, one that not too many people understand nor do- and says, " Robin, I'm going to be alright. Don't worry about me."I believe him, and continue with the problem at hand: in order to not be caught. You see when you are the age of sixteen-years-old and you simply "snuck" your way into a train going to Geneva, Switzerland, you definitely don't want to get caught when you're only five hours away fro...

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“The Lady in the Red Coat” by Kelsey Mathias

Submitted to Contest #27

Eighty-eight was not so great for Marty Arons. There was a birthday party swirling around him in the senior facility, but he was mentally elsewhere, though physically imprisoned in his bed by the tubes and other indignities foisted on the frail body and spirit of a dying old man, tortured even more by a mind that was as sharp as it was that day so long ago…It was 1944 and the world was at it again, shooting and bombing. And for Marty it was truly personal. This war had sent him all the way to a little one-horse air station in the California ...

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“The Murder of Jonathan De Franco” by Mayur Multani

Submitted to Contest #27

*Knock knock* She got of her couch, and looked through the eye hole. There was a man who didn't look like a postman or a delivery guy. He knocked again and again. He had a suit on and dashed right in as soon as she opened the door. "Hey what the hell?" she angrily followed him. "Who are you?" "Get out!" she kept yelling.The guy shut the door, then rushed towards the windows in the living room and slammed them shut too. "I'm gonna call the police!" she picked up the telephone. He walked across, disconnected the television plug and the tel...

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“Family Tree” by Bruno Lowagie

Submitted to Contest #27

My grandmother, the mother of my father, used to be the most beautiful girl in the village. Every boy was jealous when she chose my grandfather as her boyfriend. He was an outsider to them because he had gone to college in the city.There was even more envy when the young couple married. They bought themselves a Ford Mustang for the occasion —an American car that clashed with everything the British countryside stood for. The villagers frowned upon the newlyweds, but the couple didn’t care about what other people thought of them. They were hap...

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“Outlaw Homecoming” by Annie James

Submitted to Contest #27

At the ticket booth the clerk asks "What is your name, sir?" "Jim Rawlings." I don't tell him my full name which in America is well known, decorating several wanted posters, along with my face. The clerk just writes it, showing no sign of recognition. I step out of the train ticket office into the sunshine outdoors. On the bench outside are several other people waiting for the train. I discreetly size them up from under the shade of my bowler hat picking up clues to their identity that most people wouldn't notice but my...

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“It's the Unusual Circumstances That Bring Us Together” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #27

It’s not an unusual circumstance to see a person boarding a train without a ticket. It happens all the time when people with little money have many places to go. In my case, however, it was because the cops got wise and I had to skip town in a hurry. Con men have to eat, we’re not an exception to the rules of life. I had spent the earlier part of my day dodging the conductor who was looking for tickets, and the two police officers searching the cars for me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have made off with the mayor’s pocket watch, but when I see shiny...

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“Memories” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #27

The train is a small, rickety thing. The sound of its wheels whirring and bumping over the tracks is everpresent, and the constant murmur of conversation in most of the cars can't drown it out.I don't mind it so much. The consistency of it is soothing. If I focus on it, I can almost forget I'm surrounded by people in this stuffy, hot train car and imagine I'm going on this journey for the first time, excited and nervous, my stomach in knots and my eyes bright with anticipation.The memories still bring back that sense of aching nostalgia, tho...

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“Running” by Pamela Saunders

Submitted to Contest #27

A small group of people assembled at the side of a country road by a field on the outskirts of a village. A sign read RUNNING TRAINING MEET HERE. Most of the group were waiting for the road-train, but one lady with a shopper bicycle was waiting for the butcher, since she had misinterpreted the sign.The rest of the group were laughing at her. Silly Miss Terri! They all knew each other, since they all lived in the village of Little Running. They were waiting for the train to take them into the nearby town of Long Running. The members of the vi...

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“Abel” by Emily Vega

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #27

As much as Abel loved his wife, the smell of roast pig in the sweltering Arizona summer air made him fall in love in ways he’s never experienced before. The sun was strong and held the kind of power that conducted heatwaves to reach their twisting hands from the ground to the sky, cutting through stale air and red sunlight. Abel had been sweating in places he used to be sure he couldn't sweat; summer in Arizona does that to you, no matter how quickly you move through and how much water you douse yourself in. “How many flies ...

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$50

Prize money

379

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 07, 2020 EST

Won by Natalie Frank 🏆

Title: Seaglass

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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