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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#32: This Magic Moment

Last week, we challenged you to write stories about life's ordinary moments. This week, we're thinking along the same lines... but with a twist. And that twist is: magical realism.

Magical realism is a literary style that weaves threads of fantasy into depictions of everyday life. For instance, a story might be about someone sitting on their couch and channel-surfing — that's the "realism." Then they might walk up to their TV and step right through it like a portal into a fantasy land. That's the "magical."

An important distinction of magical realism is that it doesn't explain the fantastical elements or occurrences. The magic that's woven into the story just is: a character turning off the rain with the snap of a finger is as commonplace as another character opening an umbrella.We hope you enjoy the prompts — and if you're looking for a more in-depth explanation of magical realism, as well as some of the genres best reads, check out this blog post!

This week's prompts

Write about someone who works an average job — but incorporate elements of magic into it.

Fantasy – 76 stories

Write about a person who meets with the ghost of an old friend for tea every so often.

Fantasy – 111 stories

Write about two people in a relationship. One of them has special powers, the other does not.

Fantasy – 77 stories

Write a story that includes characters who are aware they are a work of fiction.

Fantasy – 74 stories

Write a story about someone who can pause time or re-live old memories at will.

High School – 65 stories

Stories

“The Girl That Couldn't” by Harmony Douglas

Submitted to Contest #32

She stared at the door to her best friends bathroom the sound of her beating heart filled her ears as she tried to calm her breathing. She knew what laid behind that door, and that scared her even more. She was already too late, she was always too late. Tightening her grip around the doorknob she twisted it open. As the door slowly creaked open she saw as her friend Ethan fell to the floor. The blood that should be in his veins flood from his wrist, and onto the floor. Avery the girl that couldn’t. The girl who could stop him. Av...

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“The Woman of Wonder” by Ronda Everson

Submitted to Contest #32

I have a friend that only history knows. She calls me from time to time to visit in her tepee and teach me. When I leave and come back, no one knows I'm gone. She has powers that the white man doesn't know. Her life was in 1772, a time that there where only the original people here, in a place they now call Oklahoma. She was the queen of the prairie, the wind swept, hot desert, but she could make it seem like a cool paradise. She was the most talented shaman of all the peoples. People now a days think only men did her job, but they ha...

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“The Memory Box” by Vanissa Mcmillon

Submitted to Contest #32

I ran my fingers alongside the rustic frame of a box, a very old one. It had been passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me. The memory box always comforted me when I longed for my mother's arms but never again will I feel her warmth. She died nearly a year ago when I had discovered it in her room addressed to me. At first, I thought it was a jewelry box, an empty box with a tune, but when I winded it back the tune must have put me out because I was sure I was dreaming. “Mommy, I love you this much!” six-year-old me hel...

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“Her Story” by Elizabeth Brent

Submitted to Contest #32

After the doctor had delivered his prognosis, Margaret reviewed her bank accounts and her small investment portfolio. If she cashed everything out, and figured in her social security, she would have ample funds to take a room at the Palisades for six months. That would be more than enough time. Margaret and the Palisades hotel had a history. She had spent the happiest days of her life working there as a waitress during the summer between her junior and senior years at Michigan Normal College. At that time, the hotel had been a bustling...

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“re-live that day” by Brooke Thayer

Submitted to Contest #32

I was walking home from work, my mind wandering. What would happen if I could re-live my memories? Which one would I re-live? All my memories are bad, seeing my past, living in a poor household. I never had much growing up. My dad left us when I was 7 years old. I don't remember much about that day, only that he left because of me. Flashback It was mid-winter, the town covered in shimmering white snow. The only sound was the thumping of hearts. All was quiet outside, but inside was a different story. “ All you care about is your daught...

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“Whispers of time” by Tahlil Om

Submitted to Contest #32

It has been two weeks ever since i found out about the whispers, And it has been one year and a half ever since my love left this life.I didn’t even get to say goodbye, my love died and left me all alone.It felt as if my heart was crushed into a million pieces.After that i was just a walking body, no soul, no human-like.It’s like half my soul just vanished.I had no desire to do anything, until i heard these whispers calling for me.It was his voice, calling my name.It was a friday night and i was in my bedroom reading a book that i know I’ll ...

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“To be an immortal” by Kalea Acuna

Submitted to Contest #32

When my eyes open, the space on the bed beside me is still cold and empty. The room is pitch black besides the small sliver of light that peeks through the hideous purple curtains that I had despised so much, but have come to love since her passing. My entire body feels numb and my head is swarming with bees of depression, but then I remember. It doesn't have to be like this. I snap my fingers, and time now stands still. The chirping birds outside have frozen mid-flight to their nest, and the monotonous television show has frozen mid-frame. ...

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“It's Only In My Head” by Lynda Freeman

Submitted to Contest #32

I was having a drink with friends in a hotel bar, and my head was spinning when I realized that I had been in this very lounge thirty years ago. Wow, this is where I met a guy whom I fell in love with over a mere holiday weekend. What a time warp this was; the lounge looked the same but had updated furnishings. Golly thirty years was a long time to keep the same barstools.Labor Day weekend was a big deal around here more so back then than now. The world series of men's softball was going on, and Jack was a pitcher for his team. They were fro...

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“She is Me” by Gabrielle Neidhardt

Submitted to Contest #32

She smelled of coffee and cigarettes. She looked as though she had lived a thousand lives. She spoke as though she were from another time. She was unique and I loved her. Everyone who knew her, wanted to be her. She was kind... and yet, still terrifying. Everyone's perfect person. We died when she did.I find myself pacing through the rooms of the funeral home. Every room empty, including hers. I was too late. The casket is closed. Do I dare peek inside or will the man glaring behind me forbid it.I sit and contemplate what I could've done dif...

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“Untitled” by Fred Aiken

Submitted to Contest #32

My life coach told me the best way to learn from mistakes is to hold on to them and never forget what they taught us. A week later, my roommate discovered the secret to time travel and founded his own company. I think it’s called Time is Money, Inc., though I’m not certain about that, so don’t quote me. Anyway, I decided to take advantage of my life coach’s advice with this new found discovery of time travel made by my roommate by reliving all my past failures. I know it doesn’t seem super intuitive. I guess most people would probably like t...

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“Time stop my booty” by D Myers

Submitted to Contest #32

“GET YOUR BONEY BUTT IN HERE, COME GET YOUR SPANKING!” Dexter’s Mom yelled. Dexter sighed, this was going to be his 6th spanking in nine months, all because of a little mishap. Once again, Dexter mixed the wrong combination of elements and made a “mini-explosion” in his science room (laboratory). Dexter’s bum was already beet red because he was sitting on it, for almost 24 hours straight, trying to master his latest creation. This time he was working on the most “specialist” especial type of elixir potion. Dexter joined a local science conte...

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“A Sometimes Machine” by Darren Tayloe

Submitted to Contest #32

There I was on my deathbed, looking Death dead in the face and he tells me, "You can have it all back." I was dying of cancer. I didn't stand a chance. Then he looked at me and smiled a smile so innocent, I swear I almost cried. He said, "I can hold this off, and you are welcome back anytime to draw the curtains, but until then you can enjoy the trip." Then he thrusted me back with such force I was pushed back into my first memory.I was drowning, and the presence of Death ...

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“Let It Be” by Chinmay S

Submitted to Contest #32

After I realized about my super natural abilities, I used to spend time with myself, reliving various past memories of my life. It is not much different from what you do on daily basis, thinking of your favorite moments in your mind, losing yourself into it; except just that I am physically present there, feeling everything all over again. One thing I really hate is not being able to change anything in the moment. I am there just to see it, feel it, relive it. It is like having another me inside of myself, who cannot control what is happenin...

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“trapped yet free.” by Dhanya ~

Submitted to Contest #32

He closed his eyes. Silence. Silence was always good- he had loved it from the first ever time he had felt it. Silence was not just quietness, calmness, it was a feeling of freedom. The soothing feeling that nobody was judging him. That he was truly alone, with himself and the world inside his head.He thought about her. Her alluring smile, the way her lips turned upwards and her eyes crinkled and her dimples formed and her laugh, that beautiful sound, the tuneful melody of her joy.He opened his eyes.No.He didn’t like that memory.Again, he cl...

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“Tucker and the Blonde Puppy” by Clara Wilde

Submitted to Contest #32

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."Violet found that principle rather hard to understand. All the quotes from all the dusty books in all the cobweb-laced libraries seemed to look over people like her: people who could stop time.If Violet had to divide her identity into two parts, she would put her strange ability on one side and her coping mechanisms on the other side. That was ironic because Violet didn't have coping mechanisms. She lied and pretended and twisted her way away from moving on in only the sl...

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$50

Prize money

403

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 13, 2020 EST

Won by Thiago Loriggio 🏆

Title: The Tragedy of the Trainee

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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