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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#273: Locked Away

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ReedsySecrets to share your stories (and potentially be featured on our social accounts)!

Ah, secrets. What is it about the unknown that’s so alluring? Do you relish the implicit power of knowing confidential information? Do you love the feeling of connection and exclusivity that being told a secret brings? Or do you enjoy dissecting other people in your head after you’ve discovered their deepest, darkest secrets?

This week, let’s write some stories that unravel long-buried truths — and maybe even a character’s entire life in the process.

This week's prompts

Write a story in the form of diary/journal entries about a secret or confession.

Short Story – 68 stories

Begin your story with someone either being followed or following someone else.

Dramatic – 52 stories

Write a story with the line “Don’t tell anyone.”

Angst – 80 stories

Your character is invited to a secret meeting. Who invited them, and what do they encounter?

Short Story – 40 stories

Write a story that hides something from the reader until the end.

Dramatic – 113 stories

Stories

“The Watchers of Bitterwind Road” by Vera N

Submitted to Contest #273

The narrow road wound through trees so thick that they blotted out the sky, casting everything in shadows. Seren Hartley gripped the steering wheel tightly as her car bumped along the uneven asphalt, the silence of the forest around her thick and oppressive. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard, 4:45 p.m. It would be dark soon. "How much farther?" she muttered, her eyes flicking to the GPS. The destination marker pulsed on the screen—Bitterwind Road, less than two miles ahead. The invitation had arrived unexpectedly in her mailbox...

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“and i felt the universe tilt” by Susie Phelps

Submitted to Contest #273

WARNING: This story contains hints of alcoholism and death. Take care. IN OUR WORLD OR ANOTHER, either ages ago or centuries in the future, a place on the other side of Earth or a place not so far from your own, time paused.In a small, quiet town, there was a boy sitting on the steps outside the library. Snow was falling, or maybe it was the frozen tears of the gods.The boy was reading a book.His ice-blue eyes moved across the page, his pale lips mouthing each word as he read.I stood across the street under a tree, watching him.I didn’t know...

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“Dreams That Fade” by John Britto

Submitted to Contest #273

Dreams That Fade In The Kitchen: Wednesday, September 19, 2023, Ames, Iowa, 8:26 AM Sitting at the kitchen table, Rachel Weber cradled her warm coffee cup with both hands, painfully aware she had mere minutes before leaving for work. The apartment was quiet—except for the soft hum of the electric clock above the refrigerator. She glanced out the window above the sink trying to gauge the early fall weather. The phone rang, shattering her rare solitude. She stood to answer the phone hanging of the wall and felt the chill as she walked past the...

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“Tick Tock” by Janna Cawlfield

Submitted to Contest #273

arco viewed the lively squirrel scampering around from his living room window as it ran from one tree to another and then up the second tree. As Marco sank down in the big, puffy armchair he wondered if his sister, Alice would be arriving soon so they could celebrate her 30th birthday with the dinner he ordered using Door Dash with cake and champagne he got on the way home from work. Their parents had both passed away years ago and it was just the two of them now. He had adored his sister from the time they were children. Alice was two ...

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“I didn't want that” by Parker Benton

Submitted to Contest #273

Ivory said no she swore she did. But he didn’t listen. She didn’t want to give but he still took. She SAID NO and he still did it. She never told anyone. Who would listen to her? She’d helped victims before. Held classmates as they sobbed. It’s never the victim's fault. Not even the girls that get paid are to blame when someone does it to them. Why does it feel different for her? Why does it feel like Ivory deserved what happened? Maybe she led him on, that’s what he said happened. He said she could have prevented it. Ivory sat in...

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“A life completely unexpected ” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #273

A life completely unexpected The hedgerows and fields were a seductive green with the occasional bended heads of the wheat fields as I looked out of the train window trundling its way North. I had been away for four years living with a group of aboriginals people south of Ayers Rock, not far from Alice Springs. It delighted me to see the English countryside livestock, enjoying the lush spring grass. They seemed docile and tranquil, so different, from the scorched barren lands of central Australia inhabited by wild animals.I was going ho...

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“In the Park” by Jane Davidson

Submitted to Contest #273

The park was beautiful. A bright green, grassy expanse sloped gently down to a stand of trees and then to a lake. There were two pathways winding through the landscape, and water fountains on both of them. There were benches and picnic tables, with a few people sitting at them while others wandered around, taking in the sights and scents of the area. Everyone seemed relaxed. Bella and Malcolm walked along side by side, but she knew he was really coming here because she liked it. He would sit and work while she enjoyed the park and made frien...

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“Worth a Gamble” by WRL Battle

Submitted to Contest #273

Five-hundred-thousand dollars. Five-thousand Benjamins stacked on top of each other, cramped into one black, leather suitcase. The bartender doesn’t look that impressed. I know walking around with that amount of cash with me is asking for trouble, but this is a classy establishment. No matter where I look there are at least two security officers within view, and everyone knows there are cameras everywhere. I would like to see someone try and snatch this suitcase away. I think the bartender didn’t hear me. Why else didn’t ...

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“Whispers of Guilt” by Maddy Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #273

**October 21, 2024** You can know someone inside and out; what they’re going to say next, the reaction they’re going to give, and how they’re feeling about most things. Everyone has their secrets that they deem not to talk about. I catch myself wondering what a person might not have told me, but realize I have some deep ones myself. I figured the ones we don’t tell are the ones we are ashamed or embarrassed about, I’ve found that to not be true to everyone. I’ve kept this secret for so long that it feels like part of me now—like...

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“Figs” by Kate Oberdorfer

Submitted to Contest #273

April 15, 1926 Dear Diary, I told a lie and someone died. There, I wrote it. Took me long enough. This secret has been living in my bowels for twenty- four days now. And I could not write it to you Dear Diary, because you are a mirror and I wasn’t ready for a mirror. He does not pay attention to me. He does not care. Why did...

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“Dear Diary” by Bekka Scott

Submitted to Contest #273

**Please note, this story is filled with sensitive subjects, trigger warning for sexual violence, mental health concerns, deviant behavior, substance abuse, and physical violence, gore, and corporal abuse, proceed with caution** Dear Diary: Today work was very pleasant. I was able to keep my hair tightly pinned up with the use of one less hair pin. I used it to get into the apartment three doors down. You remember, the man who grabbed my ass in the hallway? The one who told me he wanted to ravage me right there? Him, yes. It mad...

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“Dead Center” by Kristine McCraw

Submitted to Contest #273

Agnes’s Diary 1872 Written by Agnes Febron in Pennsylvania State Hospital I only wanted to scare Hetty. I thought the sight of the gun would stop the insanity. It was Hetty who came after me that day. She caught me in the canning room. She came not only to confront me but to kill me. She was angry with me because she wanted her sister to marry Laurence and I wasn’t going to let anyone ruin what I built with my husband. After all, I am the lady of the manor! I felt the s...

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“Guide From The Future” by Kathrine J. N. Rajalingam

Submitted to Contest #273

31 December 2094If you’re reading this, please don’t freak out. Everything I am about to tell you is all true. I traveled a long, formidable distance so that this journal can reach you and be a guiding light, steering you away from bad choices and leading you toward the right path. Sometimes life gives us a second chance, and that’s what this is. A second chance for you. For me. For us. So don’t take it for granted. This is your vade mecum. I know you’re confused and have all the right to be, but trust me. I want the best for you. For us. My...

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“For Her Freedom” by Jade Lucas

Submitted to Contest #273

February 2, 2017Dear Diary,Do I say 'Dear Diary'? I haven't written anything since I was a teenager, but my lawyer said writing might help.Prison days are long. I didn't think they would feel this endless when I first got here. My cellmate marks the days she has been here on the wall beside her bunk. I don't need to. I know how long I've been here. Five months. My lawyer said that writing might help me accept what I've done. But she doesn't understand. I don't think anyone will. February 8, 2017The women in here talk a lot. M...

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“Buried Secrets” by Richard Dauer

Submitted to Contest #273

The clang of the cell door opening rang out, sharp as hell in that cold concrete hallway. Diane stepped out, heart thudding, bed-check roll call—the same damn routine, day in, day out. Her name—it couldn’t come fast enough. Maybe today was the day. “Willshire, Diane. You have an approved letter at the inmate’s window in the mailroom.”Robyn’s letter. Finally.Her hands shook when she reached for the envelope, the paper thin but heavy in her grip.Stamped: APPROVED. Hit like a punch. The address stared back:Inmate: Diane Wilshire - #2456-96...

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$250

Prize money

353

Contest entries

162

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 25, 2024 EST

Won by Asia W 🏆

Title: Venus Buried

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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