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#33 Bad Hair Day

The best stories are the ones that make us feel something; the ones that tap into some kind of universal emotion or experience. And there is one feeling that stands out as being particularly universal. More than joy, sadness, fear, or love. More than the excited nerves of a first day at school, or the sweet relief of a spring breeze after a long winter. Something that connects us all is the feeling of... a bad haircut.

This week, your challenge is to write a story that evokes the feelings of a bad hair cut. (Whether or not your story involves this actual plot is up to you!)

🥇 Winner

Pennies and Years

Phoebe Barr

Winner of Contest #33 🏆

I’d know his face in a dream, I’d know it in a thunderstorm. It sets my stupid heart fluttering and my fingers trembling in the scissors, every single time. Even today, when it appears at the barbershop window like a mirage, drenched in the rain, his hair looking like it’s been caught in a lawnmower, my pulse feels like it’s going to burst joyfully from my neck. I don’t know his name. The way I know him is a long story. It starts with the girl I was a decade ago, in messy pigtails and overalls, the girl who ran wild throughout th...

181 likes

159 comments 159

⭐️ Shortlisted

Etoile

Christina Steele

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

I dreaded today. All the reasons came flooding in as I lifted the warm blankets and placed my feet into new protective pink slippers. Barefoot had gone by the wayside. A soft panic grew and faded as I prepared myself to face the inevitable. Logically, this was the right decision. At seventeen, life wasn’t fair. In the scheme of events, today’s task was minor. Yet, it was a line of delineation, wasn’t it? A point of change, of no return. I changed into my jeans, red runners, and the last concert T-shirt with its Black Flag band logo. I p...

21 likes

A Cold Cautionary Tale

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

1.In a subterranean cavern, unfathomable depths beneath the ground, sits a man.If you can call this pile of bones a man.If you can call this undead contrivance, that has walked the Earth for thousands of years, a man.If you can call this bloodthirsty, magic wielding horror he used to be, that he was, a man.He couldn't, not any more.He stared at a flickering candle flame that sat on the large stone table before him. That would be quite unnerving to an observer for he had no eyes. Not conventional ones at least.He had traded his eyes of jelly ...

19 likes

The Beast on Her Back

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

The enchanting night that lay sprawled before Rosita only moments before, offering itself up for her pleasure, perished with a seemingly simple request from her beloved Abuela.Earlier that afternoon, Rosita had caressed the satin of the dress that flirtatiously tickled her knees and hugged her chest exactly as it should. It was certainly the most captivating garment she had ever owned. The color was that of daffodil petals, and she smiled when she considered hers must echo a butterfly’s feelings when it first spread its wings and was mesmeri...

14 likes

An Ocean in the Desert

Paul Losada

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

$1635 was a hefty price for a couch that didn’t match the rest of the living room. Knowing it was 30% off retail didn’t provide much comfort either. “Fuck,” Ken Whitmore muttered. George, his neighbor that helped place it, glanced at him. “What?” “I should have bought it in teal. Bunt sienna is too over-powering.” “I think it looks fine,” George said. “I think it looks funny,” Ken replied. George squinted, trying see what his friend saw. “I don’t know. I guess it’s a little brighter than everything else in the room but who cares? It’s a grea...

12 likes

The Haircut

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

Well . . . it’s short, I thought as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I ran my fingers through the surviving strands while their siblings lay limp on the floor at my feet. I didn’t want to admit that I’d made a mistake, so I told myself that I’d get used to it . . . that it was time for a change, anyway . . . that even though I wasn’t a hairstylist, per se, I hadn’t fucked it up too badly, considering I was holding a pair of child-safe scissors - the kind with the rounded tips that, on the sharpness scale, sat somewhere between a butt...

8 likes

This week's prompts

Write a story about a character who can't make up their mind about something.

Character – 64 stories

Write a story about a character who's too polite to tell someone they don't like a gift given to them.

Funny – 49 stories

Write a story about a character making a big change.

Teens – 65 stories

Write a story set in a salon or barbershop.

Fiction – 70 stories

Write a story about miscommunication.

Fiction – 48 stories

Stories

Pennies and Years

Phoebe Barr

Winner of Contest #33 🏆

I’d know his face in a dream, I’d know it in a thunderstorm. It sets my stupid heart fluttering and my fingers trembling in the scissors, every single time. Even today, when it appears at the barbershop window like a mirage, drenched in the rain, his hair looking like it’s been caught in a lawnmower, my pulse feels like it’s going to burst joyfully from my neck. I don’t know his name. The way I know him is a long story. It starts with the girl I was a decade ago, in messy pigtails and overalls, the girl who ran wild throughout th...

181 likes

159 comments 159

Magical Hair

Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #33

It was too late to run away. My mother scooped me up in her arms, though I kicked, flailed, yelled for her to let me go. It was too late to wish for something I could remember, but never could have again.Riding in a car made me feel sick. My parents always gave me the stomach medicine that churned and twisted inside of me, every time the car doors opened. It was about time that I got rid of the booster seat that I was strapped to, to keep me safe if there was an accident. All this time, in the car today, I wondered if, when an accident did c...

42 likes

Bella Visit to The Barber Shop

Tina Laing

Submitted to Contest #33

It was a lovely sunny day in the little town of Maples when Anna and her dog went for a walk into the woods to do some bird watching. There is water flowing in the brook not that far away and Anna can smell the fir trees in the air and Bella, with her hair so soft and golden, decided to go exploring in the woods to look for something to fetch for her owner. How the sun shined on her hair and then she started barking at something in the trees. Anna went over to see what she was barking at and it was a squirrel gathering some nuts to eat. Bell...

33 likes

Pageant Child

Submitted to Contest #33

The girl sighs, as she adjusts her bow in the mirror. She steps back, looking at her half-girl, half-woman body, just to make sure that the bow matched the rest of the school uniform. She preens, crowing her head slightly forward. “It’s a cute look for the first day of school—with the glitter, and the pink lining. It’s definitely something Mom would pick out.” She whispers to herself, smiling at the memory of catching her mother slipping it into her closet last night. Her shoulders slump, and her smile fades, as she stares harder i...

30 likes

Just One More Try

Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #33

Monotone. Tedious. Exhausting.Day to day, night to night. Same chores, same job, same schedule, same life.How could one take it all? Painful how the days were all just the same. Every day painted with the same ugly, boring, gray paint.Every morning the same words would repeat.“Maybe I can make today different.”Nothing would fit, bringing back the reality of a monotone, tedious, exhausting life. Go up the stairs of the apartment fire escape. Lay a blanket down and lie in the cold wind of the night. The ledge was so close, take a couple of ste...

27 likes

A Car Mishap

Maggie Bruggeling

Submitted to Contest #33

She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts, she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers dreaming ‘bout the day when you wake up and find what you’re looking for has been here the whole time…Taylor Swift’s voice blasts through my earphones and I tap my finger matching the rhythm on my knee. I lean my head back on the headrest, suddenly glad my sister called shotgun. Glancing over to her, I see that mom is talking her ears off about how unhealthy the lunch she ate yesterday was, but of course that doesn’t include the side salad she had. Which ha...

26 likes

Is It Worth It

Phoebe Barr

Submitted to Contest #33

It’s the same debate every morning. Like a court case happening in my head. When I wake up and there’s a weight on my chest, like I’m trapped under a fallen shelf and I can’t move, like every breath is an effort against it, it’s the same tired old argument again. You need to get up, says the lawyer for the plaintiff, and the defense lawyer begs, stay under the covers, just this once. I’m tired of it. In so infinitely many ways, I’m tired. I lie flat on my back and stare up at the ceiling, examining the hairline cracks just barely visib...

25 likes

I'm Falling Out of Love...?

Submitted to Contest #33

I stared across the room at the boy I once thought I loved. I tried to tell myself I felt the same way that I used to. I just needed to manipulate myself to believe I loved him. I couldn't imagine hurting him. He caught me staring and flashed an apathetic smile, which made me sway even more to the side of breaking up with him. I've kept this to myself for over a month and I felt as if I was going to explode. Later that night at church my mind was filled with the constant battle between whether I wanted to stay with him or break up with him. ...

23 likes

He Loved My Hair

Submitted to Contest #33

The Rose Gold Salon was just on Main Street. A cute little boutique ran by Mr. Gianni and his three daughters who worked as the Rose Gold’s very own hairstylist crew. The sisters worked diligently, occasionally peeking out of the window of the salon, noticing the people walking down the sidewalk in the hot summer air. A few clients had already stepped inside as a walk-on or if they had an appointment, this kept the girls very busy. Another customer walks in around twelve thirty-five, a well dressed elderly woman, gracefully strolls int...

23 likes

On The Morning Of

Phoebe Barr

Submitted to Contest #33

Their eyes are all on me. It’s nothing new, feeling like twenty gazes are boring into me from all sides, but most of the time I can convince myself it’s in my head. Most of the time I can remember I’m dressed exactly the same as everyone else: dark blazer over white button-down, conservative pencil skirt over itchy panty hose, heels just low enough to make me shorter than the men and just high enough to make walking uncomfortable. Today I know I stand out. My big day, the day I’ve been building up to for weeks, and I know I look like a mess....

21 likes

Etoile

Christina Steele

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

I dreaded today. All the reasons came flooding in as I lifted the warm blankets and placed my feet into new protective pink slippers. Barefoot had gone by the wayside. A soft panic grew and faded as I prepared myself to face the inevitable. Logically, this was the right decision. At seventeen, life wasn’t fair. In the scheme of events, today’s task was minor. Yet, it was a line of delineation, wasn’t it? A point of change, of no return. I changed into my jeans, red runners, and the last concert T-shirt with its Black Flag band logo. I p...

21 likes

The Battle of the Northern Mountains

Cholmondeley Frink

Submitted to Contest #33

This is an account of the battle that took place in the Northern Mountains (giant’s territory) in the rain of King Ruegrad, Lord of Survure, Ruler of Stockthorn, King of the Southern Marshes, Emperor of Long Islands, Conqueror of the Rugged Waste, Subjugator of the Northern Giants, Sovereign of all the Realms of Argrethian, and Knight of the most Holy Order of the Royal Guard. It occurred in this way. The giants had always been a nuisance to the countries who bordered their territory, and as King Ruegra...

20 likes

A Cold Cautionary Tale

Shortlisted for Contest #33 ⭐️

1.In a subterranean cavern, unfathomable depths beneath the ground, sits a man.If you can call this pile of bones a man.If you can call this undead contrivance, that has walked the Earth for thousands of years, a man.If you can call this bloodthirsty, magic wielding horror he used to be, that he was, a man.He couldn't, not any more.He stared at a flickering candle flame that sat on the large stone table before him. That would be quite unnerving to an observer for he had no eyes. Not conventional ones at least.He had traded his eyes of jelly ...

19 likes

It's All Gonna Be Okay

✎💎 ℂａŁ𝔢в 𝐖𝐄𝓲Ǥ𝐓 ♡💀

Submitted to Contest #33

My friend Anna worked at the barbershop down the street, which is where I met her. She was more of an older sister to me, someone I've wanted my whole life. Today is our six-year "anniversary." Every time I need a haircut, she's the one to do it for me. My hair cut was scheduled today at 3:30pm. I was extremely nervous today because I had to tell her something that I couldn't even tell my own parents. I tell my parents that I'm heading out. "Be back by 5 alright?" my mom tells me. I smiled but remain silent. I head out to the barbershop and ...

19 likes

Lost Boy from Birmingham

Submitted to Contest #33

It was such a peculiar day for everyone living in the town of Birmingham. Despite the unusual dark clouds, not only physically but also mentally inside the brain of every citizen, human nature called them to accept the abnormal feeling of the air. Neighbors stepped out of her houses to take in the grey look that had been set upon their usually bright neighborhood. The trees seemed to drop their leaves a little lower, the grass had lost it's happy green color, doors were shut, and only the occasional sound of any evidence of human life was he...

19 likes

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Contest #33

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$50

Prize money

296

Entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 20, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: Pennies and Years

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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