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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

“Cheating” by Dafni Ma

Submitted to Contest #32

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ERIN HALLChapter 1‘Keep a distance, you idle dog’, she said steadily and with a voice that seemed to belong to someone else. He held his hand in front of his chest, burning from the sudden strike it had just received. ‘I have kept my silence and good humour while we were in the company of our respectable friends, but that does not mean that I have forgiven you in any sort of way’. He tried a shocked face that looked more like a mask than an expression. ‘And,’ she continued, ‘I don’t believe that you think me stupid enoug...

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“A Story of Pepperoni (and Ham)” by Clive Kerrell

Submitted to Contest #32

5:53 am, my shift hadn’t even started yet and I was already on the clock to solve problems. Being called in by the manager of the factory should have alarmed me, but I hadn’t had a cup of coffee yet and I had left my fight-or-flight response somewhere in my bedspread this morning. “Good morning Don,” my manager Jeff begins, “do you know why I’ve called you in today?” I shake my head. “Over the last few months, the inventory system has picked up on something strange…” “Yes, I know that our production numbers have been down. Since Jen le...

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“A MERMAIDS BEST FRIEND ” by Vickie Culbertson

Submitted to Contest #32

Karen Sue smiled. As her caregiver/companion, I asked her what she would like to eat. Karen Sue's eyes lit up like robin egg blue hue, as she replies "Meatloaf." Karen Sue shows me a notebook of Anna and Elsa on the front cover, the popular characters of the movie, FROZEN. I say outloud, "Sisters," "Yes, Karen Sue, you do have a sister and her name is, Rebecca, right?" Karen Sue is thirty-five years old and has/was born with Downs Syndrome.Each person with Downs Syndrome is an individual. Karen Sue is short in stature, flattened face, always...

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“The Price She Pays” by Julie DaRosa

Submitted to Contest #32

She was very well aware of the price she would pay. She was selfish in all reality, she had two beautiful children and a husband who loved her. But it was worth it. To smell him again, taste his mouth, feel him in every sense of the word. To be so unequivocally herself again, the pureness of it all. Hannah knew that every time she said the words that she was shortening her life by a day, and how do you know how long your life actually spans? Another ten minutes? Ten years? Twenty? Would she be a centennial? Or was she robbing her children of...

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“Remote Control” by Mica Rossi

Submitted to Contest #32

Remote Control “Hi, Mom.” Eleven-year-old Kevin Schuster flashed a lopsided grin at his mother and then bent back over the model car in his hand. He could feel her eyes on him while he spread glue on the edge of the miniature grille. She stayed quiet until he levered the piece into place with a pair of tweezers, but he knew she was waiting. She asked him the same question every night. “You get your homework done?” “It’s Saturday. I did it last night.” “All of it, Kevin?” “Yeah, all of it. Honest, Mom.” “Okay.&nb...

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“The Memory Stick” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #32

The Memory Stick It was his favourite memory stick. And it got its information from a chip planted just in the right place in his brain: where senses intersected. The stick could take him back to a time, only a few months ago, when life felt better for him romantically. When he plugged in the stick he could see family members smiling at each other, and at him. He could hear laughter, and he could smell the sizzling aroma of hamburgers fresh from the barbecue. And the feeling of the wind against his bare arms could g...

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“In Pursuit of Freedom” by Elizabeth Hawkes

Submitted to Contest #32

Hues of purple and gold danced across his vision, melting across the bar. He found it fittingly majestic. Warming candlelight reflected off of oak wood, casting a pool of amber-like an apprehensive spotlight. He glanced around. Hands found their way nervously to his hair. He flinched at the metallic taste of blood as he chewed his lip restlessly. Leg bouncing. Stool wobbling. Eyes, flicking back and forth like a cornered animal. Frantic thoughts jostled around his mind, all screaming over one another, voices interweaving and collectively dro...

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“The Dreamer” by Olivia Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #32

I know what this is. This whole “life” thing. Great thinkers around the world have dedicated their lives to the question. What is the meaning of life? Or they ponder “why are we here?” Well, I will tell you why. I’ve recently been having those dreams again. The ones my mother would tell me to keep to myself. “People would think you were crazy!” She’d tell me, as if being crazy is some awful thing. If being crazy means knowing the truth to our existence then go ahead and call me crazy. I’m proud to be one of the few that have discovered...

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“Forever Young” by Steve Kaye

Submitted to Contest #32

“So, what are you gonna do?”“About what?”“Your marriage.”“I don’t know.”“You’re miserable. She checks up on you at work. She reads your e-mails when you’re not home. She even reads your texts when you're sleeping.”He was right. His little cousin, who wasn’t so little anymore, was right. Benny Cohen was fifteen years younger than Dean. The relationship was more than two family members. Dean Gibbs thought of his cousin as the little brother he never had. Benny learned to appreciate his cousin’s guidance. Upon entering high schoo...

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“Takeaway” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #32

“Milo! Have you seen my handbag?”The deep rumbling that came from Irene’s teenage son’s bedroom seemed to indicate not.Irene did not want to ask her husband, who had disappeared into the downstairs loo ten minutes ago, despite her continued pleas for him to use the upstairs facilities if it was a job that was going to take more than five. Duncan, ten years her senior, hated people conducting conversations ...

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“Single Strand of Silver” by Heera A

Submitted to Contest #32

It was always the same moment where I stand in front of the mirror, wiped away the paint from my face, stripped myself bare of the thick clothing I had to don for the day, and allow my body to be free of constraint, my wings springing with ease after being released from their glamour spell, and when my eyes catch my own sparkling, violet irises in the mirror and my burgundy hair falls neatly behind my pointed ears, that I feel the most vulnerable.Yes, I know it is silly and perhaps downright humiliating that I, who sprung from the loins of a...

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“Lonely In Space” by Carille Durbin

Submitted to Contest #32

Lonely in Space Don’t let anyone tell you anything different, space is lonely. It’s only exciting in movies or books. Space is deep, dark, and depressingly lonely. And cold. And dark. And lonely. My name is Kimearrah and I'm from the planet Thrae. It is a beautiful planet with sunshine, water, and lush vegetation. The only problem is that Thrae is also lonely. I'm writing this as I travel inside my spacecraft. This spacecraft is called a personal craft because it is built for one person. The livi...

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“See You Soon” by Mellie Alethea

Submitted to Contest #32

You sit at the small table, just waiting. It’s quite sad to see a grown woman sitting alone at a tea table surrounded by stuffed animals with a sad-looking feather boa barely laying on her shoulders. But you do this for me. You do this for me, though you don’t know when I’ll show up. I never show up on time, but you say that’s a good quirk. ‘Makes everything a little more interesting,’ you had said. ‘Keeps me on my toes.’ You sigh to yourself and lightly push a teacup over. I smile at your boredom because even though I’m not here yet, ...

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“Death to the Puppet Master” by Bruno Lowagie

Submitted to Contest #32

Dina was done being defenseless. She laughed at Charles’ futile attempts to convince her that he cared for her, that he loved her, that he had always loved her.She didn’t listen to him anymore. The way she saw it, he left her no choice. She had been his puppet and he had been holding the strings. It was time for Dina to cut those strings and set herself free. Sure, there was romance involved when they first met. He had rescued her from an unenviable position. She was in a dark place and she had been praying for someone like him to come ...

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“On Angel's Wings” by Clara Wilde

Submitted to Contest #32

I avoided looking at the ghost's nearly see-through eyes. No matter how much time had passed since her death, the grief hit me like a tsunami every time I caught her eye.She, on the other hand, was much less bothered. Carefree in life and unchanging in death, she didn't seem to notice that she was a dead thing and I was alive. Or was she dead? I could never decide if the soul of a deceased person could be strictly counted as dead. And Naomi's softly glowing spirit felt so alive. Her hazel eyes glowed and her hands moved animatedly as she tal...

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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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