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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#30: Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami's books have been international bestsellers and translated into over 50 languages. His stories are often surrealistic and melancholic, frequently dealing with themes of loneliness, and giving readers the feeling of being in a dream.

After publishing a Haruki Murakami reading guide this week, we were feeling inspired by this fiercely imaginative Japanese novelist. And that's why this week's prompts all feature an element common to Murakami's writing. We hope you'll feel just as inspired!

This week's prompts

Write a story in which someone finds a secret passageway.

Mystery – 68 stories

Write a story about someone who loses their cat.

Sad – 62 stories

Write a story about someone who receives an unexpected phone call.

Dialogue – 63 stories

Write a story in which the lines between awake and dreaming are blurred.

Fantasy – 125 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing déjà vu.

Nonfiction – 39 stories

Stories

“The Liar” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #30

Carrie had a nickname at home, ‘the little liar’. Being the baby of the family, ‘little’ spoke for itself. Jenny, Carrie’s older sister added ‘liar’. The sisters used to play together. They were inseparable. Their mother said they were like twins, only born six years apart. It wasn’t so much that Carrie lied, as she didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. Her indiscriminate truth-telling became troublesome for Jenny. Like the time Carrie told their parents Jenny skipped school. Carrie had been happy to see her. She didn’t mean to get Jenny ...

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“Mindiacid the playacting” by Ola Hotchpotch

Submitted to Contest #30

They say scientists have found out ways to teleport things within 10 feet. Particles are discrete packets of energy with wave like properties as studied under quantum physics and matter is 'stuff' of universe consisting of protons and electrons with wave like behaviour?I don't know much about these things but I know what I feel. My story starts in somewhat a movie- like opening which is actually the backdrop of the real thing. It looked like a perfect house surrounded on all sides by tall eucalyptus trees spreading a fresh smell all around....

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“The Disappearance” by Lilly Blossom

Submitted to Contest #30

The phone was ringing. I heard it in my mind...a dream from which I had not yet awakened. The dream was filled with wonders: clouds turning into cotton candy, grown adults sliding down whimsical slides that led into endless possibilities...all on an island. I think everyone was on an island. No matter, the phone rang and while at first, it was incorporated in my dreaming, it didn’t take long. It didn’t take long for me to come to my senses and wake up to the reality of my miserable life. Danny had died and my mother was still in the hospital...

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“A Whole New Life” by Aisha Hashmi

Submitted to Contest #30

Jill could hear the phone ringing, and the timing could not have been worse. Her head ached, and after a full day at work, had to get the kids, Jake and Jen, fed, then put to bed. She had no time to stop and take a call. She heard her husband Matt telling the kids to go to their rooms and play, and shouted that he would grab the call. Jill wondered who in the world would call at this time of the night, Trying to get a hint as to who the caller was, she turned off the overhead fan above the stove.. Matt was talking, but she could not hear him...

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“Lost in my head” by R. K.

Submitted to Contest #30

An automated voice tells me to step into the chamber. I enter, ducking a little to avoid hitting my head on the low frame. "Please stand still during this step, any unexpected movements will complicate the mind mapping process". I position myself so that I can remain motionless for the next five minutes. I am the last one remaining in my group to go through the machine so they will all be waiting for me to finish. I close my eyes as the buzzing noise closes in around me.What I and those ahead of me are doing today is vital for our survival i...

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“Sea-dreams” by Mia Hunter

Submitted to Contest #30

On a Saturday afternoon, the doorbell rang loud and clear in the Stones’ residency.Suzanne, 18, was the only one at home and she rushed to the entrance.Her father hadn’t been home in a long time and that had her worried. Since no one visited the house anyways, Suzanne had every reason to believe that her father had returned.She opened the door with an expectant heart but was let down by the sight of two strangers instead. One tall and one short.“Hello, are you Miss Suzanne, daughter of John Stones?” Asked the taller, hefty guy. The short, fu...

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“Searching San Saba” by Terrye Turpin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #30

He chose San Saba because of Tommy Lee Jones. Two hours from their home in San Antonio, the place was a far enough drive to feel like a vacation. He pulled up the town’s website on his phone and showed Colleen, his wife, the images—a street lined with old-fashioned brick and stone buildings, pecan trees, a bridge over the Colorado river. “The hotel has a special rate for weekdays,” he said. “And there’s a winery nearby.” They couldn’t afford much more than that, Dennis Hardy had lost his job right after Christmas. Five months with no pr...

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“Walking in White Wedding Dresses (reprise)” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #30

“Every thread costs a dollar,” I whispered to myself as I smoothed out my long wedding dress that reached past my ankles. “So, Georgie, if you run past me with those scissors again, or if god forbid you accidentally snag my dress--”Dad grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me aside. “Alright, Deliha, I think that’s enough,” he coaxed. “You’re stressed, I get it. Your mother was stressed at our wedding too.” His eyes softened at the mention of my mother. I felt the same sinking pit in my stomach he was feeling. You see, my mother passed away...

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“August Airs” by Natalie Frank

Submitted to Contest #30

The phone drills through the heavy August air, cutting through the mosquitos and the heat to reach my ear. I smile lazily, untangling myself from the mess of limbs that is Charlie Parker. He is snoring softly on the hammock as I pad across the soft grass, cradling the rotary phone receiver in one hand, a hand-rolled cigarette in the other. “Beverly Wilson, please call me Bev,” I drone, waiting for the telltale breathing or sniffle of a human. I receive silence before a deep, male voice speaks. “Beverly, it’s Doctor Johnson.” “Oh,...

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“The 50 Houdinis” by Oliver Paradox

Submitted to Contest #30

"ELENA!," my little sister's voice booms through the room. I take off my headphones. "Geez, Audry, you didn't have to be so loud," "Yes, I did. I've been trying to get your attention for an hour!" she responds. I raise an eyebrow. "An hour?" "Yes! I started at 9:38, and now it's 9:41!," Audry snaps. I sigh. Audry is five, and doesn't know much about anything. She claims she knows everything there is to know about time, though, because she has this little pink digital watch. Therefore, I know it's useless to correct her. “Okay, then. What is ...

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“The Seed ” by Lola Rojas

Submitted to Contest #30

As I open my eyes, I am aware that I am standing in a garden. There is a house next to it, which I know is mine. I feel so comfortable out here that I decide to stay in the garden a while. I look up and I can see that the sky is many shades of orange and red. The sun is setting. It is dusk. The air feels warm like a summer day. I can feel the breeze on my skin delivering a gentle hug on behalf of my friend the sun. It wraps itself around me and says “I love you " before releasing me. I feel so content in this moment.&nbsp...

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“Jace” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #30

The wardrobe to Narnia. The rabbithole to Wonderland. All the stories where ordinary, almost boring things turn out to be magic make you start to realize that anything can be magical. Miraculous.That's how my magic was - beautiful, majestic, shining and barely real, and then gone forever.It started with a rainy day when I had no umbrella. I huddled under the awnings, keeping my head down as water dripped off the roofs and onto my hair.I sighed, checking my phone for the millionth time. My mom was supposed to pick me up, but she was late as u...

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“Elmer ” by Kimberley S Klein

Submitted to Contest #30

This trip was the pits! Lost, little Elmer Grant thought this in the darkest corner of his mind as he stomped his way through the busy main path of the zoo towards the restroom. The curse word he had used wasn’t that bad! He’d heard Daddy say it often even around the dinner table in front of him and his siblings. Mommy would give him looks that she usually gave the kids when she was -shudder- disappointed in them and Daddy would half-halfheartedly apologize, but Elmer knew he was only doing it to get out of trouble. Something Elmer realized...

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“Chat Perdu” by Ujjwala Ananth

Submitted to Contest #30

It’s been ten days since Millie went missing. For the tenth day in a row, I wake up breathing easy. There's no suffocating weight pressing down on my chest. Only ease, and silence, and solitude. I lay there for a few moments, breathing deeply, waiting for the alarm to sound... only to realize, after a glance at the clock, that I’ve slept through it. I throw the covers off; of their own volition, my hands make as if to shoo away a stubborn creature. My feet land gingerly on the floor, as if to avoid stepping on a stray tail. I make my way to ...

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“A City of Stars” by Arthur Tiberio

Submitted to Contest #30

And then they spoke, saying: "Tell us about the lake."Problem being, he didn't much remember seeing one. He stood (or was it sitting, but suspended?) in the center of the room, feeling both lit and unlit, cast in darkness and at the same time basking in the brilliance of a thousand suns.And then they spoke again, and they said: "Tell us about the lake."He scratched his head and sighed. "Erm," he said. "Well, I . . . that is, it's, ah . . . it's deep. No, scratch that -- very deep. Right." He cleared his throat, his lips straining from the ef...

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$50

Prize money

357

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 28, 2020 EST

Won by Marte Van Der Linden 🏆

Title: The Traveller

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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