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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 – 69 stories

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

Dramatic – 53 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 Diary of Nikki Sullivan” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #273

Friday, October 18, 2024Today, a number of us were furloughed from the plant. Thirty minutes before quitting time they called twenty-five of us into a conference room where most of us had to stand while they delivered the news. Most of us saw it coming. So many of our jobs were becoming automated, but we were hoping it was to help meet an increase in demand. We were working twelve hours a day, six days a week just a week ago, but with these machines running twenty-four-seven, they caught up with ease and made many of us expendable. I ha...

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“Open Session” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #273

Minutes for the Meeting on 4/14/2025 doc. by L. Root Pre-Meeting: Acknowledgment of C. Whitehall for bringing the snacks. C. Whitehall blushed. Questions about parking. Request to place questions about parking at the end of the meeting. Request made by G. Chives and approved by Chair Copson. Closed Session Initiated For notes from the Closed Session (doc. by L. Root) please send an email to L. Root at LRootMinutes.ClosedSession@cloudspot.com. Closed Session Ended Meeting Initiated - Open Session, Zero Members of the Public in Attendanc...

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“Shame” by Rebecca Hurst

Submitted to Contest #273

This story is based on recent, documented historical fact which some readers might find upsetting. Will is keeping his distance from an older woman who’s walking along Bishop Street, using shop fronts to keep from the rain where she can. A cathedral looms in the foreground, a mid-Victorian structure which lacks the grace of earlier temples by simply trying too hard. Everything is damp, grey, driving monochrome. He had been hoping to catch up with her when she left her home, but the flat Georgian frontage in a terraced, pastel street, of...

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“Between You and Me.” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #273

Trigger Warning: Death, Grief.The coffin wasn’t right. Austin raced through a mental checklist, assessing each detail of the wooden box before him. The ache in his shoulder confirmed it was oak. It’s dark stain contrasted beautifully with the purple flowers arranged on top. The curved, brass handles followed the lines of the timber perfectly. Everything was as she had specified, so why did it look wrong? What was out of place? Then it hit him, it was the trim. His eyes widened in realisation. It had the right swirls and beads, but the patter...

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“Love Letters from Belgium” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #273

July 27th, 1914Last night, I said goodbye to Thomas at Chelmsford station. He looked so handsome in his green woolen uniform and helmet, bound for the war in Europe. He was excited, looking forward to the action with his friends, looking forward to killing some Germans from the Central Powers. I don’t really care, but I think all this talk of death is foul and I told him so. He laughed and drew me into his embrace. His coat smelled of pipe smoke and cabbages from his family's farm. I traced the lines of his face with my hands, trying to memo...

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“How to Survive Until Tomorrow” by Thomas Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #273

STEP ONE: First you have to kill the dog. If you don’t kill the dog you won’t be able to get downstairs, and the house is already going up in flames, so you really don’t have much time and the dog is always right there at the top of the staircase, growling at you.There are a few ways to do this. At first, I used the Phillps-head screwdriver from under the bathroom sink, but if you do that your hand and arm will be injured from the bites and you won’t be able to fire the pistol with any accuracy later. Then you're done.The best method is to g...

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“The Strangeling Guardians Society ” by Arora Gleans

Submitted to Contest #273

The tree branch tapped on the window twice just like it had been doing for the past few days as Roslivipona Stone ran her hands through her scalp once and then one more time. She was too preoccupied to notice the branch. Roslivipona eyed her chin-cropped hair, which never grew longer; the two chunks of dark locks near her temples created the illusion of a devil’s horns. Roslivipona patted her hand near her temples each morning, only to find the spikes rigid in place. She sighed in front of the mirror, hoping her hair would cooper...

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“Jack the Ripper” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #273

The police car sped past on the road outside, siren wailing and lights flashing.Jack gasped. They were onto him; he didn’t have much time. He had to make as many as possible for Them, didn’t they understand that? Still clutching the juice-covered butcher’s knife, Jack ran to the window and peered out.The car screeched to a stop before his neighbour Sam’s house. Two police officers burst out of the vehicle. They ran up to the door, hands on the butts of their weapons, heads twitching from side to side. The front door swung open before they co...

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“flies to catch” by Emily Lees

Submitted to Contest #273

Some might say I’d been in the dating game for a few years. I had met a handful of men from time to time, but none of those encounters ever moved beyond a first date. I suppose it should have puzzled me, should have made me wonder what went wrong. But where others might feel the sting of rejection, I felt nothing, just a calm indifference, as if the absence of connection was expected. There is a certain richness in the quieter moments of life. Meeting new people, sharing fleeting conversations, glimpsing into lives so different from my own. ...

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“The Stalker” by Dita Dow

Submitted to Contest #273

Suri pulled her coat tighter as she hurried down the dark, rain-slicked street. The chill October wind whipped through her hair, carrying the musty scent of wet leaves. Streetlights cast eerie yellow pools on the glistening sidewalk. Suri's heels clicked rapidly as she walked, echoing off the brick buildings lining the narrow street. She couldn't shake the feeling of being followed. Suri glanced over her shoulder for the hundredth time, seeing only shadows and empty storefronts. Still, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She quicken...

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“The Secret ” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #273

The whirling winds gusted thrashing hands through the last leaves holding strong to their branches. The evening air was Fall crisp, not winter bitter just yet. Katherine and Nicole swung their arms in unison, speed walking through their quiet neighborhood just as the sun was setting on a week of soccer practices, piano lessons, and softball tryouts. “Well of course Madeline is going to make the team. She’s the only one who can actually hit the ball out of center field,” Nicole said matter-...

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“Creature Unknown” by Ashley Shafer

Submitted to Contest #273

Creature UnknownI’m running as fast as I can. I’m running so hard that I think my chest will explode, my lungs ripping to shreds. I trip over my feet, stumbling but not hitting the ground. I’m running through a very dense forest. You can only find game trails in the region where I decided to hike. This area of forest is raw, wild, and untouched. Normal people would not go this deep into the forest, hiking these massive hills with little valleys that hug the steep inclines. Why, oh why, did I decide that this was a good idea?! Curiosity?...

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“All That Glitters” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #273

I won’t die today. Maybe only next week. Or so I imagine the doctor says as he hustles out of my room, just before the big weekend. I heard him talking to my nurse, “Can hardly wait, gotta new boat and girlfriend, it’ll be great!” My doc kind of goes with the sunshine that streams through my window, all patterns of luminescence, dancing through the lace curtain which moves with the spring breeze. That and the curly Q special lunch with a surprise! Dessert a la supreme chocolate cake, minuscule portion. Part of my special recovery diet! The k...

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“The Last Enchantment” by Amanda Willcox

Submitted to Contest #273

At sunset the king's men arrested Sereneth. They'd found her at last. She'd expected they would. After all, the first method of estimating the intelligence of a ruler was to study the men he has around him. His masters-at-arms were not fools. Must have been the neighbours who gave away her identity when she'd saved the life of that last family’s newborn baby boy. Oh, how fickle is the temper of the populace! It is so easy to persuade them of a thing but it is hard to fix them in that persuasion. The people had, no doubt, been handsomely rewa...

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“C’est la Vie” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #273

The ancient vendor lifted a plastic sheet from his wares that lay on top of an even more ancient, if that was possible, olive-drab blanket. Ashes fell from his reeking Gauloises onto the faded US initials in one corner of the blanket. The old man looked up, his eyes hooded in the sort of contempt you’d expect from a dusty peasant trying to eke out a living with a display of mostly junk to a goofy smiling, and obvious, American tourist. “Hi,” said Mark. “I mean ‘bon jour’” At least he was trying. The tourist guide said the French apprec...

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$250

Prize money

355

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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