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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

“Long Time Gone” by Alyssa Smith

Submitted to Contest #32

I walked into the drizzling rain, the light pitter-patter making my hair damp. Mom had called me crazy for thinking that Noah could come back, she said I needed something called "closure." She had tried to get me a therapist in the past, but it had never worked. I knew Noah came back, he always did, unless that tea raised itself. I stepped into the wet mud, hearing the slow squish underneath my old, torn up sneakers. "Noah? Hello?" A slight howl screams from up above as a slight chill pulled me into the trees clearing. I saw the faint outlin...

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“Bittersweet” by Lucille Greye

Submitted to Contest #32

Annie Turner pulled out the metal chair and sat down, waiting expectantly for her companion to make an appearance. She leaned her cane against the table. A young waiter walked up to her table and asked her what she wanted to eat and drink. Annie ordered a cup of hibiscus tea. Longingly, she gazed at the bagel with cream cheese that lay, uneaten, on the plate of a man who sat nearby. If only she wasn’t so old and half her teeth hadn’t fallen out, then she would have ordered one. The tea came, finally, but sat unnoticed, wisps of s...

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“Love” by Karen Piagesti

Submitted to Contest #32

It goes without saying. Every last Thursday of the month, come rain or shine, we meet at the bus stop for a stroll along the little quay. Sometimes we will remember to bring a slice of bread to break up for the swans, who will scramble along hurriedly to be the one to get the most; and other times one or both of us forget, or have been too rushed, or distracted. The swans would look at us expectantly on those days...but that would quickly turn to resignation, those clever swans - which always left me feeling a little guilty. Susan...

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“The Tulips In The Garden” by Patricia Weathersby

Submitted to Contest #32

Every spring there comes a time when the flowers of my garden bloom. They adorn the green, grassy, landscape with a rainbow of beauty in all shapes and sizes. The yellow tulips are my favorite. I care for them for months on end, washing their delicate petals, and cleaning their fragile stems. Their beauty can only be obtained one day of every year. When it is time for me to sit and have a spot of tea with an old friend. Yellow was her favorite color and the warm soil reminds me of her once beating heart when it slips through my fingers. What...

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“Tea, Party of One” by Melcina Martin

Submitted to Contest #32

How am I just realizing how annoying my alarm clock is? Did my mom turn the sound up? I reach over to snooze it but it had already stopped. It takes me moment but it makes me realize today is the day! I have a secret that I have yet to reveal to anyone apart from my pet Raven who I call my pet on account of her recent frequent visits to my window at my parents’ house in the mornings. But I don’t think she believes me. I used to get frequent visits from my best friend and we would go on all sorts of adventures. You know the kind that 16 year ...

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“Missing You” by Jessica Bell

Submitted to Contest #32

“I can’t wait to see her again!” I quickly started packing my book bag, cramming the textbook and already finished homework inside and zipping it quickly. My best friend and classmate, Nikki Miles, looked at me curiously, raising an eyebrow.“See who?” I stopped in my tracks, settling back down in my seat, trying to figure out how to lie about this. I’m usually a terrible liar, so I tried to think. “My aunt Sue. She’s in town and I haven’t seen her in forever! She really likes tea, so we sometimes meet and talk about it.” Nikki is still looki...

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“Forever Yours” by Cindy Bennett

Submitted to Contest #32

Phoenix stared into the empty closet, with feelings of trepidation as she closed the sliding doors shut for the very last time. The whole house echoed with old memories, some good, some not so good. Phoenix was going to miss the life she had made for herself in this temporary home. But move on she must! As tomorrow promised a new and exciting adventure, in her "forever home" along with her two cats, Mr Sparkles and HissyKat.Morgan sat quietly fiddling with the fringed edges of the tablecloth, laid neatly upon the antique oak dining room tabl...

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“I Do Depart ” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #32

“This is my granddaughter, Olivia,” said Mrs. Woolarak to Mrs. Danby. “She's going to die any day now, so I thought it might be nice to introduce the two of you.”Olivia Woolarak nodded gravely. It was a great responsibility to be dying. Everyone wanted to meet you, and say how sorry they were, and take you to Disneyland or buy you the pony you had always wanted, although Olivia Woolarak had never wanted a pony. A giant spider, maybe, or a hellhound would have been nice. It was exhausting having to politely accept everyone's condolences when ...

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“And his name, was Gregory.” by Ellory Reiling

Submitted to Contest #32

I look at the watch on my wrist and groan in anticipation. “Come on, come on. He’ll be so mad at me if I’m late again,” I think. But, the people in front of me don’t go any faster. I tap my foot as I stare down the red hand on the sign across from me. I hear a voice behind me say something.I squint my eyes and look behind me, “What is it you said?”“I said maybe you should get a car, aye? Instead of walking ‘round like the rest of us and being so rudely impatient!”“Who are you to tell me anything, you-” I open my eyes to see it’s just Gregory...

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“It's Okay” by Jessica Moore

Submitted to Contest #32

I busied myself in the kitchen while waiting for Justin to arrive. After filling the kettle and setting it on the stove to warm, I pulled two mugs down from the cabinet. I turned to the table in the breakfast nook and began to set it, my hands shaking nervously. It wasn’t the fact that I had a guest coming over that made me anxious. Nor was it the fact that it was Justin. I’d known the man since grade school. We’d been best friends for years. We even had plans of moving to the capital together and taking jobs at one of the top restaurants in...

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“Therapy” by Joe Colaizzo

Submitted to Contest #32

"Good to see you, Betsy. How are things?""They're ok."Tuesday at three o’clock was the usual time for Betsy's appointment. Sometimes she needed to switch but, for the most part, her husband Frank would work late on Tuesdays, so she still had time to get dinner prepared. Tonight, she was making fried chicken cutlets and corn. That would be pretty easy. She hoped Frank would like it.The office was small. A basic beige color on the walls but limited natural light. There were times when it felt a bit claustrophobic, but she was over that now. Sh...

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“Sea Salt and Geraniums” by Michelle Cook

Submitted to Contest #32

The smell of geraniums makes me think of sex and Fred. Perhaps it’s the metallic tang, like electricity, or adrenaline on my tongue. Did I always feel like that, or is it just since we started meeting in the vibrant perennial section at the Botanical Gardens? The atmosphere sizzles with the aroma, giving me an indecent thrill. Ironic, really, with a name like Lily, that I should be so taken with geraniums.I love this part of the Gardens, by the cafe, on my regular bench. It’s indoors, with enormous windows that stretch to a dome overhead, an...

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“TeaTime With Grandma ” by Juanita Ellingson

Submitted to Contest #32

“If you leave that tea to brew any longer you won’t be able to drink it! You will have to add half that jar of sugar for it to be any good!”,said a very familiar voice behind me.I chuckled and shook my head. “I like my tea on the stronger side, and you don’t even drink tea....we have this conversation every time.”“And you would be wrong every time...I may not drink tea but I know how to make it properly.” she snickers.I turned around and smiled at the little old woman who now sat at my kitchen table. She was removing her oversized white hat ...

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“We Meet Again” by Barbie Cakebread

Submitted to Contest #32

Some days begin and end pretty much the same. You wake up either happy to have another day ahead, or not. These days it’s mostly not. It wasn’t always like this. I used to love being woken up by sound of the kettle beginning to boil. I knew that at any minute, my beloved would bring me a coffee and Rusty our kelpie, would jump on the bed, lay on her back and await her belly rub. It was all so simple and I didn’t know it. I would get frustrated at the amount of dog hair on the bed or complain th...

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“Ghost Writer” by Jane Thomson

Submitted to Contest #32

She looks just like me.No really, she looks just like me now. People always used to say we looked alike, even when I was in my twenties. “You’re the me I was meant to be, sweetheart,” Mum used to say. “Pretty. Normal.”“I’m not normal!” I used to object, back then.In Mum’s world 'normal' is a compliment. She spent her whole life trying to pass as normal. No one in my generation aspires to be normal (not unless they really aren’t, like, they’re actually mad or something). They want to be crazy, a freak, ‘you’re insane, girlfriend!’The waitress...

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$50

Prize money

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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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