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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

“When We Were Lucid” by Huda Usmani

Submitted to Contest #30

When I was in middle school I had a close friend who realized when she was dreaming, We sat on the platform conjoining the monkey bars and the riveted chain planks that lead up to a spiral tube slide. I was sitting cross-legged, and she had her legs stretched out, one dangling off the side and the other leaning against me. The winter fled a month prior, but remnant winds still thrashed. I wore my winter jacket that day. I virtually wore it zipped all the way. I took to licking the middle piece of the collar from the inside. Every t...

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“A Life Dreaming” by Forest Swisher

Submitted to Contest #30

You find yourself in a bright room, surrounded by giants. You are wet, and it is cold. You miss the warmth you’ve always known. You don’t know what it is to be cold or warm, only that this is cold and before the thundering sounds and celestial lights, you were warm. You squirm in discomfort, vocalizing your displeasure. “It’s a girl!” You don’t know what these words mean. You feel hands on your body, the chill of the air. You can’t tell what sounds you are making and what sounds the giants are making. You are frightened. Your fear dissipates...

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“Sleepwalkers” by Megan DeRouin

Submitted to Contest #30

Sleepwalkers I rolled onto my side and opened my eyes to see David’s bare back. I listened for a moment before I turned over again and stood up. I wiped my eyes and caught a glimpse of my heavy, ruined make-up and I cringed. She had gone out again. “Celeste?” David questioned behind me and I stiffened reflexively and reached to fidget with my wedding band before I realized that she had left it at home. I turned around and offered David a half-hearted smile. He was not a bad man...

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“Seven Years on a Train” by Helena Marie

Submitted to Contest #30

The charismatic sound of shifting gears awoke Marlowe from a heavy slumber. When she gained consciousness, her head throbbed with pain like none she had experienced before. She felt with her hand the ground beneath her; rough, ridged, and cold to the touch. Deep within it, Marlowe sensed a light tremor shaking the surface, the feeling reminding her of a car speeding on uneven, rugged terrain--bumpy. She gradually opened her eyes, blinking to focus in on a strange picture in front of her, the image of a luminescent ball of light swinging...

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“Money: The begging of evil” by Sejabaledi Mangena

Submitted to Contest #30

"Yes, come to the train station, I need you", he said and because I missed him, instead of asking questions I went.The water was slowly dripping from the roof outside, it was a little bit chilly since the whole week was raining and when you stay alone, boredom messes with you and it consumes your mind. There was no service so I could not even be on social media, I was so bored to the point where I was even having a conversation with myself and I got bored from that too since I can not answer and ask at the same time. The telephone started ri...

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“Welcome To My World” by Boreas North

Submitted to Contest #30

Welcome to my world. Welcome to an entire universe of perfection. There are no hateful parents, no sick elders, no lousy children. Here, the four horsemen of the apocalypse have yet to reach. And, of course, that means there is no lying, either, so when I say "Welcome to my world,” I mean it. Welcome to a world of my own, a world that is so perfect because there is no one else. There aren't any people to disappoint you because there are no people. It wasn't always like this, though. No, I used to live in the "Real World". Yes, I remember it ...

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“ Mon precieux chat” by Romeo Lee

Submitted to Contest #30

Maria has lived her life alone with her cat. Her husband long dead. Her children have forgotten how their mother had cared for them. Her little cat Nina is all she lives for now. She makes sure she is fed and groomed, and leaves out every Saturday to buy Nina her favorite food. She sits in her chair little Nina on her lap as she watches whatever soap opera is on. One day she left out to buy Nina her food and without noticing she left the door open. Just a crack. Barely noticeable. After a few minutes Nina saw the crack. She started wond...

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“"Distopian Utopia" ” by IM SALAZAR

Submitted to Contest #30

A year had passed since little six-year-old Candace’s mother had died. She and her father moved away since their old house was haunted by too many fading, painful memories. This new house was quite old and decrepit and, really, the furthest thing from “new” there was. Everything was crumbling and falling apart, but it had to do. They had very little money, left with the debt of hospital bills and mortgage from the old house, and her father’s student loans, still. He had three jobs- seldom sleeping, seldom eating, just barely getting by. So, ...

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“We Are All Just Stardust” by Hannah Carter

Submitted to Contest #30

Do you ever just— I don’t know how to finish that sentence. That thought. That feeling. I would open my mouth to say something to people if I knew how to explain it, if I thought they cared. But my friends, my family—no matter where I go, I always see the same thing. Their phones. The back of their phones. Do you ever just want to talk? No. That’s not what I’m feeling whatsoever. Because when...

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“Disconnected” by Paul Scott

Submitted to Contest #30

A sinking feeling crept into Jerry’s bed sheets and straight into his very chest. His heart stopped for a beat, and he saw her again. Purple veins streaming down her neck, eyes closed, as if she had drifted peacefully to the other side in her sleep. Jerry tries to open his mouth, to scream, to yell for help, to wake her up from her never-ending slumber, but before he can do anything, a large thudding explodes in his ears. As he reaches up to block out the sound, the women’s eyes pop open, breaking open a greyish brown ooze that had begun to ...

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“Just a Dream” by Samantha Sawh

Submitted to Contest #30

My head hits the surface with a loud thud. I cry out as my eyes snap open into a bright, pink light. I grumble to myself as I realize that I’m sitting in my car, clutching my steering wheel. Huh? My head must’ve drooped down and hit the wheel. Did I fall asleep driving again? I glance down and see that my car is in drive, but it’s not moving. I look back up. Vibrant hues of peach and pink paint the dusk sky, with puffy clouds persisting overhead. My car rests on a long road, stretching out straight for miles disappearing into the horizon. Ei...

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“Xkeap” by Romeo Lee

Submitted to Contest #30

I live my days alone. I walk the familiar streets of my home. I turn the corner and find my apartment. I head inside. I kick off my shoes and lay on my pull out couch exhausted from my long day at a dead end job with people I hate. The place where I will slave away till i am worked to death. I look towards the kitchen, but I have no strength to cook. I look at the phone but with no patience left.I close my eyes hungry the thin blanket exposing me to the cold. My heater hasn't worked in months and it's a especially frigid January. Somehow des...

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“Thank You For Fixing Me” by Maria Windsor

Submitted to Contest #30

I am disgusted with myself for somehow getting myself trapped in the series of events that led to me lying, dizzy and delirious with heat, in the sand at 3:00 in the morning. My clothes are damp with sweat, my body aching with fatigue. I can hardly think of where I would be tomorrow, my bank account drained, no job to fall back on… it’s funny how years of hard work can be destroyed in a week. I laugh weakly. Life is funny. I laugh harder. Life is pointless. I laugh until my raw throat constricts and I’m left inhaling sharply and writhing to ...

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“Vacant Possession” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #30

Glenda was surprised, but not (she hated the phrase, but had to admit it was expressive!) gobsmacked when she got the call from Edward the Estate Agent. Somehow his name and his job description just seemed to go together. But she had to admit he’d never given her and her partner Colin any cause for complaint. As a tax inspector’s daughter, she knew she was probably predisposed to give people in the “problematic professions” the benefit of the doubt, but Edward seemed genuinely eager to please but reluctant to push. ...

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“A Star and a Kiss” by Emilie Conroy

Submitted to Contest #30

In a glimmer, the corridor of Grayfall fell away, revealing the life force of centuries and lifetimes around him. Instead of lockers and plaster walls, Cyndric found himself in an aisle of piled cairns and slate gray monoliths. The clothes on his back changed shape and substance, flannel and cotton to leather and linen and small metal studs.Now he saw that he stood at the end of the aisle. Paving stones broke through moss and grass and earth. A man stood to his left, garbed in a dark hooded cloak but wearing a warm smile f...

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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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