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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#277: Something Wicked This Way Comes

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

If you’re a musical lover like me, you’ve probably marked your calendar for the release date of the upcoming Wicked film adaptation. With gorgeous costumes, a superstar cast, and new renditions of beloved songs like “Defying Gravity,” the movie is sure to be a treat for Wicked fans around the world.

I first saw the Wicked musical in my late teens, and although more than a decade has passed since then, I’ll never forget how much it moved me. In addition to its breathtaking special effects and impressive performances, the musical also has heart. It shows the origin story of a notorious fictional character, the Wicked Witch of the West, and explores relatable, resonant themes — from identity and self-acceptance to the notion of “good” versus “evil.”

This week, let’s conjure up some stories inspired by Wicked. Set your story in a fairy tale land, write about a misunderstood, overlooked character, or do something completely unexpected with the prompts… it’s up to you!

This week's prompts

Write a story about an outsider or social outcast who will do anything to fit in.

Angst – 40 stories

Start or end your story with two friends who become enemies/rivals, or vice versa.

Dramatic – 22 stories

Write from the POV of a fairy tale character sharing their side of the story.

Short Story – 110 stories

Center your story around a character who longs for something they’ve lost.

Dramatic – 86 stories

Write a story with the word “wicked” in the title.

Short Story – 65 stories

Stories

“The Sparrow's Friend” by Katherine Walker

Submitted to Contest #277

"Come, Gather around all my friends." Called out the little brown and gray bird. "Listen to my tale of woe in honor of my lost friend." All sorts of birds flocked to where the sparrow sat on the bird bath. Robins with their bright red breasts stopped pulling up worms from the ground. Blue and gray jays perched on the high wires above the bird bath. Brown and red cardinals strolled through the crowd of birds pecking at the grass. A noisy woodpecker paused its grub-hunting tapping. Chickadees behind their masks joined with all the other flock...

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“Wickedly Sweet” by Amanda Stogsdill

Submitted to Contest #277

Warning- this story contains mild violence.Wickedly SweetThree children sat on the couch with their babysitter. They'd been given chores, but weren’t listening. The babysitter had an idea.It’s about a wolf and a little girl.” She started.“We know that one!” Rita said, rolling her eyes.“I want to watch TV.” Brian shouted.“I want to go to a friend’s.” Casey yelled over his brother. Only Rita was sitting, glued to her phone.Removing the phone, the babysitter said loudly, “If you don’t like my story, we’ll decide on something else.” The baby-sit...

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“The Concept of Time” by Kalina Todorova

Submitted to Contest #277

By definition, the concept of time is a long explanation as to why and more importantly how time works. Filled with formulas, and theorems and theories, that are not visible to a plain person's eye at first at least. In its definition, we can see that the concept of time is based on the fact that every single second is irreversible. Nothing can go back to what it had been before, nothing will be the same in a way. Not that it will hurt your mind if you misplace your piece of bread on the table, and forget to place it in the right order. But ...

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“Even Death Needs Forgiving” by Sabine Castro

Submitted to Contest #277

It’s fickle, loss. It’s fickle because humans deal with it in different ways. Yet I stay forever more, collecting those that are lost. I take their hand and guide them toward a peaceful eternity. Yet, I can do nothing for those who lose and live through the losses. I cannot lose my life, I am eternal. I will never lose for nothing will ever be mine. Yet, I have lost the thing I held the closest. I have lost my humanity. My forgiveness. As a result of this never-ending cycle of Life and Death, celebration and mourning, I have lost...

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“The Damned” by Ellie Murray

Submitted to Contest #277

The Damned Inspired by the Salem Witch Trials TW: death, verbal abuse, aggressive themes She was not careful as her palms cupped the chalice. Wine trickled along the edges, over her fingers, thick as blood as it lifted to tender lips. That well-chewed flesh instantly grew drenched with that sweet, drunken scent as Leona swallowed all within. She breathed out and licked away the remnants, m...

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“Remnant Ashes” by Daniel Dupuis

Submitted to Contest #277

“Mommy… it’s dark mommy… I can’t find Teddy,” James said. And then, a small bloom of light emerged. James stood there, half shrouded in darkness, looking down at the wood beams running along the floor. His feet were bare, his clothes tattered as they clung in strange drifts in loose threads of clothing. “Mommy, where are you? Where’s Teddy?” The house around him, looked strange to his young mind… a boy, all of six...

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“The Blades We Held” by Cameron Snider

Submitted to Contest #277

The stranger's grisly features could sparsely be made out in the light of a sparking whetstone. He had one hand clenching the head of a large sized axe, and the other on it’s shaft, moving the tool with the precision of an expert craftsman.Father was not far, arms crossed and tapping his foot against the wood floor while awaiting completion of the chore.“Come on, come on then… I’ve had about enough of this. Finish sharpening already and get out, you know what I risk.”The stranger paused his action, and let the spinning whetstone come to a ha...

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“THE WICKED WITCH OF DIRTON” by Roger Skrypczak

Submitted to Contest #277

THE WICKED WITCH OF DIRTONThe rural mail carrier had heard the stories of the witch who lived on his route. On the very first day on the job, the Postmaster warned him to be careful when delivering the mail to fire number W6666 Penny Hole Road. A retired former carrier who delivered mail to her address also warned him to watch out if she points her index finger at him. She seldom received mail, so he wouldn’t have to slow down as he passed the long dirt driveway with the old square mailbox propped up against a pile of granite rocks. He would...

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“A wicked thing to do ” by Lydia S

Submitted to Contest #277

I am tired, and it’s been a long day. The hike is beautiful and the view distracts me from my anxiety. I know I took a wrong turn and I’ve added at least ten kilometres to my journey. It’s getting dark and although I have supplies, and my head torch, I’d rather not be here. It is isolated and I am alone aside from a large hare that has just run across my path, and the sweeping condors dancing through the sky. My phone battery is dead. I took too many photographs, and then the chill of the evening took the final ten percent. I spent the ...

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“Adults are Wicked” by Tamara Lieberman

Submitted to Contest #277

This story is primarily a psychological story on a teenager being groomed by a predatory teacher. Violence is implied rather than graphic.*****Adults are WickedEmagine slumps over the splintering cluttered kitchen table for hours, her eyes burning from acidic tears and leeching exhaustion. To craft each word and mold every untenanted slide to impress Mr. Jacob, she thinks, If he can only see my effort and intelligence then maybe, just maybe, for once, I will be recognized as the best and not compared to the others with their lead chorus...

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“The Wicked Witch” by Holly Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #277

Everyone has talked about the wicked witch of the bog. How she ate children, turned princes into frogs, enslaved princesses… They never talk about the “witch” having a good reason to go against royalty. My name is Agnes. I was the kingdom’s mage. I started young at the age of ten, I have been studying ever since I was old enough to read. My father was a powerful wizard. He taught me how to turn people into monsters, and back again. I started my job at fourteen years old. To a recently married couple. A prince and a princess. They were perfec...

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“Wicked Deeds” by Lady Senie

Submitted to Contest #277

God, I hate being dead. It’s inconvenient. It’s smelly. It’s gross! Do you have ANY idea how many showers I’ve taken since my life expired? Yet here I am, still carrying around that ‘newly dead smell’. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, you know. I was in my prime! It wasn’t even a traffic accident or house fire that claimed my life. No. I was sitting in front of the boob tube, eating my usual Friday night lasagna, and suffered an aneurysm. Isn’t that just stupid? I think back on all the ways I could have gone out; this has got to be the l...

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“A wicked deed” by Tarja Mo

Submitted to Contest #277

Lydia stood apart from the other acolytes, as usual, during Morning Prayer. That day, she had tied her dress with a belt to give it a more delicate appearance, which earned her occasional disapproving glances from Elvera, though the abbess said nothing. Instead, the mother superior continued recounting yet another legend about Solara, the Goddess of Life and patron of all servants of the Monastery of Saint Heliopolis. But Lydia only half-listened, already knowing these stories by heart.Despite the Harvest Season coming to an end, the weather...

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“The Wicked Wiles of Pickett Piles” by Isabella Bair

Submitted to Contest #277

My father told me this story, which was passed down from his father and his father’s father and his father’s father, who used to live in the old country, Überland, when he was just a little child. Back in that land the citizens all lived in humble huts with straw thatched roofs and only in small little clans, very personal, very intimate. My great-grandpappy lived in a village called Naturliebshutten (I know, it’s a bit of a mouthful but don’t preoccupy yourself too much on the pronunciation, let us just continue.) It sat homely and cozy in ...

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“Daughter of the Telephone” by Chaewon (Chloe) Kwon

Submitted to Contest #277

The day I became the Daughter of the Telephone, the reds, purples, and blues threw stones at me. Grey ones, like they knew what I was made of. I lived in the grey house with no windows, where the only things I had were a bed, a table, and a mirror. Grey things, like me. Grey skin, grey hair, grey eyes. The child of the grey house, as if that explained everything. They hated me. I felt ugly. The ache in my stomach wasn’t hunger—it was emptiness, a cavity where something human used to liveThe stones hit my skin like bullets, ricocheting off th...

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$250

Prize money

323

Contest entries

120

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 22, 2024 EST

Won by Troy Phillips 🏆

Title: The Three Little Pigs Incident: A Building Inspector’s Report

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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