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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 funny Guy” by Elisabeth Mendoza

Submitted to Contest #277

I liked the laughs and that kind of expectant gesture they make when they know I'm going to say something funny. It's exciting, you know, to have so many people waiting to hear what you're about to say, no matter how ridiculous it is. That's what it was, I liked making them laugh. Is that wrong, am I guilty of that? He was the one who took it personally, it was just a joke. People joke all the time, that's how the world works; you don't go around asking people if you hurt their feelings.My parents tell me that he lacked strength, that h...

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“Tomorrow's Friday, go get a morning coffee. Seriously.” by Greta Bonati

Submitted to Contest #277

A man walked into a coffee shop today and sat down before choosing to go order. As though deciding whether ordering coffee was something he truly wanted to spend 3 dollars and 95 cents on. But I knew better. He was deciding if he should have come to this coffee shop at all. I can tell by the way his hair has ruffled in the back he took a bus. By the way his shoes left a trail on the tiles, that he walked straight through the town’s park to make it here before his 9 am shift. He can't turn back now. He’s already inside, plus people have watch...

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“Dining Disasters With Genevieve” by Duncan Sheppard

Submitted to Contest #277

Genevieve Alexander Wallace has finally sorted herself out in the Georgian house she bought in Kensington. It all came as a hinge surprise as her brother Jeremy was clearing out her parents houser after they had died and was about to bring several box loads of antique Chinese porcelain to a charity shop when Genevieve walked in the door and relaised they could be worth something. After taking them from him, she realised that they could be worth something, so she went to Bonham's auction house and asked if they were worth anything...

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“What a Shit Show” by Deer L.

Submitted to Contest #277

There is one night a year where everyone in this town gathers under one roof. You would think it would be in the cold of the winter or at church during Christmas time, but it happens sometime in the fall, usually when the weather is perfect. Not too hot or not too cold. Naturally everyone would want to be outside, gaze at the full moon, frolic in the fallen leaves. However everyone chooses to come under this roof, crammed into this old auditorium, despite the mice who scurry against the walls, floors squeaking beneath footsteps, ceiling occa...

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“The Voice of Thousands” by Bailey Graham

Submitted to Contest #277

You’ve heard the rumors more than anyone. It’s the only way you get to be a part of the conversation. Through the rumors, the conversations that fill the air. They circle around you, filling your head to the brim with hope. A creature, a light, an abomination lurking in the caves just outside of town. People have claimed to see it, have talked to it, and have come back with different descriptions and interactions with the beast. “It can grant you your deepest desire.” Desire is a strange way to describe what you want, but it does the job. ...

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“Famed by Erika Sams” by Erika Sams

Submitted to Contest #277

FamedBy Erika Sams Cameras flash white light across my body blinding me. I know they’re screaming my name, but their voices are muffled in my mind, everything around me a blur. My red dress hugs me so tight I can hardly breathe, my blonde hair cascades past my tanned bare shoulders. Behind me my face is plastered on the wall larger than life. My name is on posters and banners all across the world. Everything I ever wanted is happening, but at what cost? What literally blood is on my hands? It’s at this moment that I realize why they call it ...

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“Past Friendships” by Aiden Hasher

Submitted to Contest #277

Contains: Murder and someone dying The light was golden. The grass shimmered green and the big gnarled oak stood against the sunset, alone atop its hill. Only the shadows showed their colour. Everything else was dyed in a honeyed glow. My breath was ragged in my chest. Every step rustled and sweat dripped into my collar, running down my back. I made it to the tree’s shade and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.Geez, I’’m out of shape.We used to run up and down the hill, throwing ourselves down it to roll to the bottom, jumping up, a...

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“Unseat the Enemy” by Vee Ay

Submitted to Contest #277

She started high school in a new city, the first time she’d ever lived anywhere else. Everything felt strange and sharp, from the sounds of the streets to the way the sky seemed just slightly different here. She was alone, completely and utterly, which wasn’t new, but it wasn’t any easier. Her whole life had been shaped by loneliness, carved by the cruel laughter of those who had made her the target of every joke and jab. She wore her past like a second skin, heavy and inescapable, a constant reminder that the world wasn’t safe, and people c...

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“Long live the brotherhood” by Ellipsis Mark

Submitted to Contest #277

I had been an orphan for the last twenty-seven and a half hours. Twenty-seven and a half hours ago a bomb went off at the bank downtown where my mother worked. My father was an other thing that had been believed to slayed a few years ago, but no one knew for sure, and we didn't care. Mom and me never needed him. As mother and daughter, we always had each other. Until we didn't twenty-seven and a half hours ago.I walked by the river thinking what to do. I had a hideout at the very end of the city limit. We had made that little place back in f...

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“Recruiting with a noose around the neck” by Cosmas Broek

Submitted to Contest #277

His eyebrow is performing a very subtle spastic dance. That’s my sign that he is struggling. Confident of my victory I slide my wooden chip to the centre of the round table.“C’mon dude!” he clamours while stomping his fists on the table.He doesn't even need to see which number is on my chip, my face already tells him I won. He lets his head fall and shakes it as if this is the end of his life, but I can see the tiny smile on his face.“Please remind me, why do I still play with you?” he asks lifting his smiling head.“Because the others always...

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“Friendship is but fragile” by David Nutt

Submitted to Contest #277

Friendship is but fragile The opening scene is a Wednesday afternoon in the British house of commons. Sir Richard Ffinch was about to speak for the conservative party on defending the British hunting laws. I sat opposite him on the labor benches as the agriculture minister of the opposition party. As Sir Richard stood up to talk, all the memories of our friendship came flowing back to me like the tides cressing the beaches.That friendship formed years ago when we were in our college years, never lasted more than a year. Today I saw him...

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“Candlekeeping” by Geran Caywood

Submitted to Contest #277

We each held blunted longswords and wore everything but our war plates— those were being cleaned. Quintus pressed into my space with his blade presented, tip towards my chest; I felt the mud press up around my boots as I retreated with my blade in a high guard, tip towards his knees. His father growled in the church-tongue from somewhere to my right, behind the fence that had been erected for the sparring pit. I did not speak the church-tongue. They knew I did not speak it. Quintus jerked forward as my back came against the fence. I sl...

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“THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS” by Jolanta Polk

Submitted to Contest #277

On the first day of Christmas, Snow White sent me a partridge in a pear tree, which took me by surprise and made no sense at all. It came with a card signed by Snow White. Warm Greetings. The partridge was made of wrought iron, with sharp claws stuck to a branch, the tail extending behind in long copper and tin feathers. The pear tree was hideous and crooked, as if handcrafted in an outburst of madness by an artisan who recently graduated from a lunatic arts academy. “Go figure,” I thought. “Is this a kind of game she is playing?” “May...

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“The Woodcutters Problem” by Cathie Porter

Submitted to Contest #277

The detective glanced through the small window into the interview room at the man inside. He saw a sturdy man with unruly thick brown hair, head bowed low over clenched hands. His blue flannel shirt open at the collar showing the top of a gray thermal undershirt. Jeans worn and dirty, his heavy work boots scuffed from years of use. White foam cup on the table to his right. “Poor bastard” the detective mumbled, opening the door and going into the small cinder block room. The man looked up as the detective entered, face full of worry and fatig...

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“The Photo Shoot” by Elizabeth Rich

Submitted to Contest #277

They told me what to do, and I did it. Of course, things didn't turn out exactly like we all thought they would. It all ended in a disaster, leaving me a complete scrambled mess. I had received the call a few days before. The photographers wanted me. They assured me they had everything squared away with wardrobe, and my look was perfect for their new campaign. It's possible that in my excitement I neglected to ask for any details about the new campaign, whatever it might be, or who the client might be. Know this, Gentle Reader: I had been wo...

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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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