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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

“Beauty’s Beast” by Katy Dream

Submitted to Contest #277

Warning: Sexual themed content I have a good life. I really do. There is nothing about which I can complain. I am truly grateful indeed!I have a spectacular castle, staff who are really more friends to me than staff; fine things, a massive library. I have more than enough that I need, well read and quite comfortable with my lot in life. But I am truly in awe of my beautiful wife. She truly is a beauty...My Beauty. Heart of gold. She saved me. She loved me when I was not loveable. She moved into my heart and life and castle, and i...

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“No Matter. No Heart. ” by Isabelle K

Submitted to Contest #277

Absolute silence greets me when I place my hand against my cold chest, searching for a familiar da-dum, da-dum, da-dum. My brows draw together and the corners of my lips tilt downwards; this is a new feeling. Although, I’m not sure it can be described with that word- if you feel nothing, is that itself a feeling? (Can you feel numbness, the ultimate oxymoron?) No matter. I must get going! I roll myself out of bed, only noticing my feet have hit the floor when my eyes track the movement. Is the wood cold? I stretch, my empty cavity of a...

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“The Caretaker” by Gary Gallant

Submitted to Contest #277

The Caretaker I watched the old man rake the leaves under the ancient oaks. He shaped the leaves into neat, tidy piles, then scooped them briskly into giant, green plastic bags. Then he moved to the following graveyard plot and did it again, and so on, as we moved up and down the rows in the cemetery.“Do you ever talk to them?” I asked the old man“Sometimes I do. Sometimes, I think that they hear me, but there are a lot of headstones in the cemetery, and some days, I forget.” The old man moved slowly to the next plot. He moved that way, slow...

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“Leaving Orbit” by DJ ONeill

Submitted to Contest #277

Content Warning: Despair, Suggested Gore/Violence, Dark Imagery The expanse reached out mile upon mile, endless black layers rolling on top of each other. His heart thundered in giant, singular echoes as his hands reached for her, his fingers numb to the nails, as the hairs on his arms stood, evolution fruitlessly throwing spasms in an act of protecting the skin against the ice creeping to his elbows. The stillness closed around the smile, her smile, the lips and teeth seen clear even with thousands of dark miles in between them. Carefully,...

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“Eggs” by J. Aizu

Submitted to Contest #277

Such a craving for eggs I had. Indescribable, really, this craving. I don’t know where it came from—maybe the cat I met in the alley the night before, with its tail between its legs, or maybe the sour milk I poured down the drain that morning. Don’t ask me why. Either way, the craving for eggs was so large it could fill my bathtub. I opened the fridge. Of course, I didn’t have any eggs. What I had was a slab of butter, a red bell pepper, a packet of ground beef, and a tin of tuna. I like my tuna chilled. Makes it soak up better, somehow, all...

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“Duru Gintanamihan (A Tale of Tarot #10, As Written By The Fool)” by John Divinagracia

Submitted to Contest #277

There are many stories of a people reclaiming their homeland. Among the humans, the most famous are the Yishiva who spent seven hundred and fifty years retaking Ershen Ziophel, “The land of Ziophel,” from the Yishiva-hating pogroms of the Kurgzadts, the For, and the Galaamites. For the demons who emerged from Hell to build homes on the surface, they speak of Gorroma, the Promised Land of the Mordai, and how they fought against the mighty Medjay legions and transformed swamp and desert into a lush oasis and paradise for all demonkind. There i...

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“Sister - Graveyard Keeper’s horror Story” by LL Studio

Submitted to Contest #277

A short story from the medieval graveyard, where a young graveyard keeper digs graves to steal valuables from the buried. Today, it becomes fatal for him. He digs a grave, opens the coffin, and discovers that the poor woman's body has been dragged away by rats. He crawls through a tunnel full of squeaking rodents until he encounters a larger underground hole, where an unpleasant surprise awaits him. In a bumpy, dark-gray graveyard, long, trailing vines grew wildly on leaning gravestones and decaying benches. Some climbed high on the trunks o...

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“Gone” by Sarah Lou Ryan

Submitted to Contest #277

Trigger note: Story deals with themes of death / dying. Nothing graphic! Kate lies on the floor, hands clasped over her stomach, listening to her carpet sizzle. The bottle said to leave on for no more than five minutes. She closes her eyes. Three and a half minutes go by. The sizzling stops. Kate turns her head slightly to breath in the faint smell of bleach and counts out another ninety seconds. Taking the cloth which lay beside her, she rubs until a layer of white foam appears, replacing the red wine stain which had been there moments...

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“Coming Undone” by Shannon Haffely

Submitted to Contest #277

tw: blood, language, self harm (kinda?)Beneath my collar, the skin is red and raw, the deepening scratches burning with absence. Halter necks, collars with buttons at the hollow of my throat, or piles of laces that frill across my skin or hike up to my jaw—these have been my uniform for the last few weeks.When I'm home, I swap these exorbitant veils for the comfort of a faded pink crewneck sweatshirt. Age has loosened the collar. Not noose-tight, but it's tight enough. The sleeves are unraveling at the end: I can hook my thumbs through the t...

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“A Drop of Nothing” by Bohan Sun

Submitted to Contest #277

It began with a simple misplacement on a crisp autumn day.Leaves crunched under people's tennis sneakers as they enjoyed the cool and breezy weather for once in the summer heat of El Paso, Texas.The student sat forlornly in a classroom overlooking the grand park, a sanctuary in the weathered plains. Everyone longed for that cheap plastic chair, but that particular student thought it was taunting and ironic that they were trapped in a dull, painted-over brick building while everyone else was free to live. He was so absorbed in thinking that h...

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“One Day, Maybe” by Josephine Elsa M

Submitted to Contest #277

Rain splashes up into the air around my boots as I make my way down the puddle-filled sidewalk. The pink neon lights of the bars in my street reflect off the aftermath of last hour’s downpour and into the night sky. I can see the moon, high up and proud in the darkness. I roughly recall that tonight is exactly a half moon—half-full or half-gone, I can’t quite remember. My breath forms misty clouds in the air as I exhale, a taste of winter in the middle of November. I slow down as my destination comes into view. I can’t believe I haven’...

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“A Wicked Wish” by AnnaLaura Scandrett

Submitted to Contest #277

I wish I hadn’t dressed him in black that night. He was too hard to see in the darkness. They keep telling me it wasn’t my fault, but of course they’re just trying to keep me calm. Luca wanted to be a wicked witch for Halloween. We had recently watched “The Wizard of Oz” and he’d been fascinated with that green-faced lady from the moment she set fire to that straw rooftop. I was sure he would be terrified- he was only three after all- but he couldn’t look away from the screen and couldn’t stop talking about her in the days that followe...

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“Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Michaela Howard

Submitted to Contest #277

I would say I’m a good girl. I’ve always been a good girl. They accused me of poisoning my husband to be with my lover. I don’t think they’re telling the story right. Let me tell you how it actually happened. 3 Days Prior “Honey are you awake? I’ve got breakfast ready.” I flipped the pancakes to the other side, smiling at the golden-brown reveal. Scooping the eggs and bacon between two plates, I plopped on the p...

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“the wicked witch hunt” by Vadim Albukh

Submitted to Contest #277

Wicked is what everyone in this town fears and even at times accuses some people of being. Perhaps in other places being wicked is seen as something bad but not nearly as horrible as it is in this isolated town where the people are pretty much forbidden from leaving. It is said that one or two wicked witches live in this town. No one knows what they look like but it is said that they can disguise themselves as people which is how they are able to live among them. They also have immense po...

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“Wicked Souls, Kindred Spirits” by PJ Miller

Submitted to Contest #277

“Morning walks are typically the most peaceful, ordinary part of my day. In fact, since I started working in the forest, they have never been anything but ordinary, no matter how extraordinary everything else becomes. And yet, I’m making my way around the tree line today and find a kid buried in the snow, hand sticking up like a dead body. I put my coat around him and carried him back here, trying to warm him up. I put him by the fire, gave him some blankets and put his hands in hot water, but he’s still out. I’m gonna keep trying.” I ...

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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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