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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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!)

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

“Release” by Jason Griffith

Submitted to Contest #33

In room 23 in a run-down, seedy motel in Bakersfield, California sits a man on the small, surely dirty bed in his room he purchased for the night. He's naked, overweight, and sweating profusely in the fan-blown, dry desert air of the room, a .357 magnum in one hand, as he stares at the paper thin wall in front of him.He leans forward to listen more intently to the sounds coming from the adjacent room. A man and a woman, from the sounds of it, mid-coitous, the head board of their rickety bed thumping in an almost rhythmic bump, semi-animalist...

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“A Real Butterfly Journey” by Corné Lamprecht

Submitted to Contest #33

It was jet another day in the life of Layla. She hated the circumstances she worked in, but dragged herself to work, day after day. As this was her life. She had to financially contribute to maintaining their household. She couldn’t wait for her daily lunchtimes, as it was a short break that she could escape her circumstances. This day wasn’t any different. On her way back to work, she remembered something that she had to bought and forgot about. She ran to get it… She knew that she was going to be in trouble when getting back at w...

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“Bad Herb Day” by Jori Sheppard

Submitted to Contest #33

“It WHAT”, He shrieked, slamming down animal skin parchment and stone tablets. The tablets clatter and the one made from delicate sandstone crumbles half into red dust. The young person below him flinched. The Chief was no abuser and usually was a gentle giant, but the waves of pure fury that rolled off him terrified the person crouching under his throne. The chief rose to his feet, a great heave from his stone crushing hands and his heavy legs took his globular body. Veins in his muscled arm pumped blood rapidly, almost as if they were shiv...

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“ Joe Alone” by Will Sully

Submitted to Contest #33

Joe twiddled his thumbs and tapped his heel on the carpet, waiting. He tried not to look at the large mirror stretching lengthways across the wall to his left. He’d made that mistake twice already as he sat in the cold metal fold-out chair. He needed a haircut. He’d known it for weeks, but his looks never took precedence over his classes, his job, or his writing. So, he placed reminders in the back of his mind, pushing them to the bottom of his to-do list. The problem with his list is that he never reached the bottom. Not that the list was l...

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“Wesley Harrison: Road to Recovery?” by Mzatiwathu Banda

Submitted to Contest #33

Tick-1-2-3-Tock. Tick-1-2-3-Tock. Tick-1-2-3-Tock. I can hear it, so I know he can definitely hear it. The clock was the Mentos, and there he was a Coke bottle just bubbling up, squirming in his seat ready to explode. My face tenses up as the strength of the Pantheon holds my smile back. I love it. Thirty minutes before the meeting, I rigged the clock to time each second a beat off. Which is off enough to be inconspicuous, unless you’re obsessed with time like the Clock King. Every wrinkle on his grimace when he hears the “tock” is ironic...

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“Tempted” by Jeri Torrance

Submitted to Contest #33

I pulled out two plates and placed the eggs in the center of the plate, then set the buttered toast on either side like I had been doing for the last 30 some odd years. I grabbed the silverware and napkins and carried everything into the bedroom for Ruth. She lived there and only left the space for her twice a year doctor visits. I was able to get a flat-screen television last year for her to watch comfortably from her bed. The TV trays that we ate our meals on were put away in the closet after every meal so that I co...

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“A streak of bad haircuts ” by Maria Campos

Submitted to Contest #33

She ran and ran, and realized she had to do something about changing her appearance soon, or her running would not get her far. Red hair and green eyes, the least common traits in the human population, were not the most useful when trying to be inconspicuous.As she rounded the corner and spotted one of the many saloons that lined the streets, she prayed the one she entered would have someone nice, who didn't ask many questions. She didn't want to implicate anyone else, but she had no choice if she wanted to survive.As she entered, she was gr...

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“Bad Hair Day” by Sam Fisher

Submitted to Contest #33

On Wednesday mornings Margaret went to Curl Up and Dye for her weekly wash and set. Margaret’s usual cup of tea was always waiting for her, a mini jammie dodger perched on the saucer. Margaret never ate the mini jammie dodger. Bad for the dentures. Pamela would greet her with the usual lipstick-stained smile and take Margaret’s coat. Gesture to the row of pleather chairs lined up in front of the row of spray-mottled mirrors. Every week the same rigmarole. It was becoming a bit of a nuisance. Pamela always made a big song and dance about...

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“ MY HANDWORK” by RADIUS HAVWAALA

Submitted to Contest #33

One day I went to Sleepwell Hair salon located at the junction of Masompe and Mulala roads. “I want a wave,” I told the hairdresser. The lady looked at me with a sunken face and rolled her eyes in frustration. She glared at my shaggy hair spoiled by a rioting pile of dandruff. I could see her disdain but just before she could answer, I heard a grunt of someone clearing her throat. I swung round to see who it would be in a salon where we were just the two of us. The shock awaiting me went beyond words. A Mona Lisa portrait ha...

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“Looking good” by Joanne Millar

Submitted to Contest #33

Moira wasn't the sort of person ever to really get her haircut, but her daughter was getting married in a fortnight and she wanted to look good for the photos to look back on over the years. Her hair had always been long, straight and glossy. Envious for anyone, particularly as she was nearing fifty. She realised that she needed to look more her age so she thought she would go in to get a trim.As Moira neared the salon a young 20 something woman strolled past her with shoulder length blonde hair and a fitting blocked fringe. Her hair blew to...

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“Cuauhtemotzin” by Neil Sharma

Submitted to Contest #33

The Apache Tribelands1521The Mountain Bear, the great priest, and overseer of the tribe watched from the mountains below him. A great coyote, painted in the colours of dark black, and red ribbons of silk weaving around him came down the mountain. The coyote snarled. ‘Why do you disturb my quarters?’ He said.The Mountain Bear raised his staff. ‘Oh Great Coyote, the Spirit of the West, bless me. You have invited me into your dream. I only ask that you give me the interpretation of what I am seeking for.’The coyote raised his head. ‘You must ma...

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$50

Prize money

296

Contest 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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