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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#29: Bildungsroman

Often, the stories we read in our youth end up sticking with us well beyond adolescence. We vividly remember our first encounter with imaginative Anne Shirley, the nail-biting rumble between the greasers and Socs in The Outsiders, the fierce camaraderie shared by the Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio, among many other memorable moments from the young adult books we read in our formative years.

This week, all five prompts feature popular elements that are frequently at play in coming-of-age novels. While you are certainly free to write a short young adult story, you can also choose to incorporate these prompts into any other type of fiction.

If you want to revisit some classic YA fiction to get your creative wheels spinning, check out our freshly published list of some of our favorite young adult books!

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone dealing with family conflict.

Nonfiction – 82 stories

Write a story about someone discovering something new about themselves.

Nonfiction – 52 stories

Write a story about two best friends.

Teens – 73 stories

Write a story about someone falling in love for the first time.

Romance – 80 stories

Write a story about a character struggling to decide how to handle a problem that is morally gray.

Short Story – 41 stories

Stories

“ Novice Rose” by Ayhan Murtaza

Submitted to Contest #29

Maverich Alexander Maxwell just woke up from a nightmare. The sun was already shining. He was really disturbed for he saw that his lovable best friend was in some sort of trouble. He prayed, ‘I hope it was a mere messy dream. Nothing to do with reality’. He got out of the bed and after getting fresh ate a toast. He just took one. But his loving and caring mother compelled him to eat two more. ‘Mom! You know I am getting damn late’, he cried on the fourth one. ‘I know dear’. &nbsp...

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“I call dibs!” by Peace Nakiyemba

Submitted to Contest #29

Feb 14thDear diary, I should stop starting my entries like that but this is out of habit. I went to the cinema today to celebrate my single-hood. Follow this story to find out why this is the event I’ve picked to write about from my day. It gets real good. The cinema was a bad choice. All those nauseatingly happy couples were all over the mall and made me feel a little out of place. But I stuck it out and got a ticket for the horror movie. I’ve got to live what I blog about. It was rather full and I sat at the very front. I think my he...

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“Dandelions” by Amanda Knopf

Submitted to Contest #29

As Blair was packing her parents’ car for the drive to college, she felt a subtle pain somewhere in her chest. She was supposed to be excited, but the thought of leaving her best friend nagged like a throbbing splinter she couldn’t get out. Blair had sensed that Celia felt this too and had been trying to hide her worry. At first, she had resented Celia for not being excited for her. Then, refusing to say “goodbye” early that morning, they’d made each other laugh and cry repeating “hello” in between bursts of “I love you” and “drive saf...

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“A Senior Moment (about 2 long-time friends--married)” by Julian Woodruff

Submitted to Contest #29

As he stepped out of their apartment, Roy zipped his heavy jacket to the top against the late November wind. He glanced back at his wife. “Are you gonna be warm enough, babe? It’s colder than a ...” “Witch’s tit?” Gloria finished for him. “Yeah, I’m fine.” No kidding! thought Roy. “I was thinking ‘polar bear’s grave.’” Algrieve’s—the mere thought of it depressed Roy. It was just the first leg on a multi-stop shopping expedition. At the start of days like this he and Gloria both had to take a deep breath. By the time they returned and everyth...

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“Dear Norma” by Zosia Appleton

Submitted to Contest #29

Shaking fingers tear open the grey envelope and drag the letter out. A photograph falls to the desktop, but the man simply glances at it before turning the letter over and starting to read.* * * The creation jerks across the floor, loose bits ripping the fibres of the once yellow carpet, now matted and black from grease. Its voice, ever repeating, shudders out of its speaker which ticks with every consonant and growls with every vowel.Do not be afraid, it says, but the man does not listen. The man just sits there and stares, as he has f...

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“Finding the Thread” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #29

I come from a family of knitters and needlewomen on my Mother’s side. Well, okay, with a few buts. To start with, and though I’m not that “PC” this is a decidedly pleasing thought, they weren’t all women! My Great-Great Uncle Manny (he was really called Manuel, and there were reasons for it, but was always known as Manny, and to his dying day rather proud of the fact that the first ever Labour MP, Manny Shinwell, went by the same name) was a fisherman and could knit both nets and cable sweaters with the best of the...

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“Too Many Whispers” by Rebekah Christensen

Submitted to Contest #29

I’m going crazy. That’s what everyone tells me. That’s what they whisper when they think I’m not listening. That’s why they take me to see people whose smiles are fake and who ask you millions of questions and take notes and nod and say they understand when they don’t. That’s why when people come over for dinner and eat dead animals and drink wine while I munch on granola bars, they say that I’m a unique girl and then when they think I’m not looking they start to whisper about me. And if what everyone says is true, and I am going c...

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“Wise counsel should prevail.” by Anil Jaswal

Submitted to Contest #29

Dhanu and his wife Lazy are deeply in love with one another. They have three kids. Eldest one is Neer, younger to him is Heer and youngest is Leel. The eldest Neer is PhD in English literature and is serving as a professor in a leading college in the city. And his wife Nez is also serving as a professor in the same college. They are happy working couple.The second son Heer is Btech from MIT and is serving as a research scientist in The Pines Lab. And his wife Hex is a social worker. The third son Leel is a struggling writer and is al...

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“Touch me, I'm sick” by Sarah Seado

Submitted to Contest #29

Sweat. A sign of a pulse pounding and body heat rising. Typically, a symptom of a fever. Which is exactly what I feel like I have right now. I feel delirious— awake yet somehow lost in a dream. How could this possibly be fun? How could falling in love be perceived as anything short of mania? I will never understand how people let love just happen. It’s a terrifying thing. It thunders through you and takes over your mind. The feeling, the urge, the obsession. The lingering thoughts about him. Ah, yes, him. Let’s talk about him ...

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“The Reputation of Wolves” by Deborah Landers

Submitted to Contest #29

The trail through the forest was cold by the time Gregor found it. He had been expecting this, of course. It took time for the people of the village to find him, the only hunter in the area who traded on his reputation for dealing with troublesome wolves. The forest of Dorian was a quiet place, though full enough of smaller dangers that compounded with every league one traveled through it. This fact was hardly unknown to the people of the village, but until now it had been something they could manage. Until now, the wolf had not hunted human...

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“Rebirth of First Love” by Carrie Van Hoose

Submitted to Contest #29

It’s been 25 years since I closed that door. A choice I made alone. I walked away from a love so pure. I didn’t want to hide in the shadows anymore. You married that girl. The one you started dating after you broke my heart. You married her, even after her friend nearly killed you in that accident.I’ll never forget that day. Your aunt burst into the Sunday school classroom and said she needed to speak to me. Confused, I looked at the teacher and he nodded in approval. We stepped out into the hallway and she looked at me, a deep sadness worn ...

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“Across the Street” by Jay Seate

Submitted to Contest #29

Across the Street By Troy Seate The Johnsons lived across the street while I was growing up. In their backyard was an old, defunct refrigerator. As it lay rusting, it reminded me of King Tut’s sarcophagus covered with marshmallow wrap. Mr. Johnson was a bit creepy. I’d just finished reading Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, so my mind was wired for the strange or unusual. Whenever he looked at me from across the street with that kind of hollow-eyed stare, I felt like someone...

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“Flaming Pistol” by Noah Wright

Submitted to Contest #29

He was going to pay for this. The blazing Miami Sun was scorching his back, reaching him through his car's side windows. The Cars wheels squeaked each time they hit even the smallest bump, and there was nothing Tyler could, or would do about it. He gently pressed down on the car's ignition, which caused the car to accelerate.The cool and fresh wind jogged through his hair, and he leaned his head back in order to appreciate just how nice and cool the atmosphere was. His anger started fleeing his body a...

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“Elegy of Springtime” by Maddie Logemann

Submitted to Contest #29

It was a funny thing, the way love bloomed under the early buds of a cherry blossom, then died away when the blooms started to fall. Spring had been full of pastel things unfolding, be it flowers or feelings of the same rosy ilk. After, summer was hot, withering, and it chased off the tail a love never meant to be. He still couldn’t help but miss her, though, when he watched the cherry trees fill in with green canopy overhead. A can of sun-warmed lemonade in hand, he sat at the riverbank, under the dappling shade of the very cherry tre...

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“Match Week” by Kimberly Yu

Submitted to Contest #29

Maddi Weathers tapped her foot on the floor, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. When it was finally her turn, she displayed her name tag, and the Council President handed her an envelope. As Maddi walked away, she traced her fingers over the letters on the front: “Maddie Weathers”. By now, she was used to the extra “e”. Pursing her lips, she opened the envelope and unfolded the enclosed paper. “Jayden Turner” was written at the top. Maddi furrowed her brows. She didn’t know anyone with the last name “Turner” in Zone 5 ... Jayde...

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$50

Prize money

328

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 21, 2020 EST

Won by Megan Dang 🏆

Title: Time Bomb

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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