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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

“The Women at the Salon” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #33

“My mom likes my hair out of my face.” She pulled her hair back in the mirror to show the hairdresser. “But she’s dead so let’s give me some bangs.” Then she let it go. The hairdressers do their own hair when there are no appointments. They talk to one another or to the mirror like they were the hairdresser and the customer. One dons her gloves and paints her hair in a deep red. She does this often enough that her partner never knows what hair color they’ll come home with. They wait underneath the hairdryers flipping through magazines like ...

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“ Just Kidding!” by Alaina Logan

Submitted to Contest #33

Evie bit her lip as she flipped through the dog-eared magazine at the hair salon. Her mother pointed to different haircuts, while Evie pointed out every little flaw, even if it really didn't show or matter. "Oh, honey, you'd look cute in a pixie cut!" Mom exclaimed, pointing to a style that was extremely outdated. "When's this magazine from, Mom?" Evie flipped to the front and groaned. "The eighties! Mom, I need the latest style, like I said. It would look great on me, but I can't show you until I get a new magazine or you lend me your phone...

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“The Next Day After I Graduated from High School” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #33

The Next Day After I Graduated from High SchoolBeings that I was ranked 167 out of 168 graduating seniors in 2019. The one person I was ranked higher than did his work assignments from the county jail in Mississippies, don’t mind my spellin cause I ain’t never been good at nothing but tellin jokes and smokin reefer. Maybe not in that order. I really didn’t have too many options with a 1.0 G.P.A. I truly wanted to go to Med School and me and my guidance counselor Miss Behemoth applied to 104 Medical Colleges all over the world. She used to bu...

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“ “Best Friends”” by Laura Simmons

Submitted to Contest #33

I tried it at so many angles, in so many lights. I tried it on different surfaces: the coffee table, the center of the dining room table, the top of the break front, the curio cabinet. Nope. I sighed deeply. This gift was given to me by my best friend Kathy, not just a B.F.F, as the lingo goes, but a true best friend, one who has stuck by me through thick and thin, and who’d continue to do so in the future, I had no doubt. But the gift she gave me! It was... well, frankly, I hated it. I couldn’t display it in my home, I just couldn’t. It thr...

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“Ryan's Eyes” by Avery Park

Submitted to Contest #33

I lean against the shelves stacked high with hair products. Shampoos, conditioners and hair colour are piled around the room. I can hear the snipping of scissors and the broom sweeping. I can smell the many beauty products. I can taste the lingering flavour of hair spray. Today is haircut day. I told Mom twenty minutes ago that I need a haircut. I need a new image. I need something that will make me get noticed. Or rather, something that will make Ryan notice me. Ryan. Just saying his name gives me a happy feeling inside. He has dirty ...

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“Uh oh...” by Sara C.

Submitted to Contest #33

He looked in the mirror trying to smooth down one side of his hair to match the flattened other side. Why was one side flat and the other still in his blond ringlets? He must have slept wrong again.“Looks like someone is having a bad hair day, Steven,” laughed Jason as he came out of the bathroom stall. He was followed by his friends Brady and Ivan, who also chuckled.“No, I’m not!” he protested then paused, thinking. “What’s that?”“You don’t know what a bad hair day is?” Jason jeered. “Good luck getting your picture taken,” he added then wal...

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“To Be or Not to Be” by Felicity Edwards

Submitted to Contest #33

The phone rang as the old lady limped across the room to answer it. “Hello Nan, Its Kirsten, I thought I would phone and see how you are doing. I need to pop to the shops and wondered if you would like me to bring some stuff for you.” The old lady smiled, “Bless you, that’s so kind of you to think of me. Since this virus thing has taken hold, as you know, we have to self isolate. I have managed a few things online, but it is so hard. I used to walk around the supermarket. I knew which aisle things were on and could get it all over and...

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“Always Tell the...” by Emily Ku

Submitted to Contest #33

Me. Zariza. Surely I’m polite. Once people actually know me, they say, “You’re very sympathetic.” I had no idea what that meant. After all, I was only in second grade when this happened. I knew no one, and I was very, well, despised by most of my fellow second graders. How was I despised, you say? Well, it started with my identical twin. I have a disease that I was born with. I couldn’t talk until I was about 6 years old. Ever since then, my mouth couldn’t move. I loved to read though. Mom says that I’m a special kid. I knew all the answers ...

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“Not So Bad, After All.” by Aisha Hashmi

Submitted to Contest #33

Wow. How could it possibly be that my hair's such a disappointment? I am at the salon, staring into the mirror in front of me, apron wrapped around my neck, waiting as the stylist slightly wets my hair and combs out my curls. I am silent, staring into my own eyes. I'm about to cry. I truly hate my hair. I can still recall the first time I was actually aware of looks and saw myself in a mirror; actually registering and analyzing my own looks. Horrified is one word to describe how I felt. I thought ...

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“Hairy Kari’s Bad Hair Day” by AL Paradiso

Submitted to Contest #33

[All 5 prompts included, 2916 words] “What a wonderful birthday gift! A hair stylist appointment with hard to get Andre, and spa day including sauna, full body massage, and a hot mud bath — not in that order, I hope. Thank you so much, my love. I can’t wait.” Well! If he didn’t like my hip-long hair, he could have just told me. And a massage plus the stylist? Did he forget I don’t like strangers touching me? What’s wrong with him? I suppose it was a sweet gesture and I shouldn’t be too hard on him. I hope she loves how thoughtful that is. ...

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“When Push Comes to Shove” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #33

When he was a little boy, Eric had had a neighbour who used to say, “He changes his mind more often than he changes his shirt” about someone who dithered and vacillated. Well, that certainly sprung to mind when it came to Bobby Millican, one of their regulars – and he gave new meaning to the word “regular” - at Hairs and Graces. Mind you, on second thoughts perhaps it didn’t apply, as Bobby had a vert impressive collection of shirts, too, and as Eric’s colleague Louis observed, he most certainly didn’t...

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“The Power of Resolutions.” by Tom Kottackal

Submitted to Contest #33

This story ‘The Power of Resolution’ is based on the third prompt “ Write a story about a character making a big change.” The Power of Resolutions. By Tom Kottackal.Alex is a fourteen-year-old boy studying in Standard VIII. He was a hyperacti...

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“I won't be silenced anymore...” by Ragini Das

Submitted to Contest #33

It was a white ventilated room where a mild quota of fresh air was hitting from the open window at the end of the room, the room consists of many wires, equalizers, mics, lights and there were wooden bookshelves at one corner which smelled as the pixies of knowledge all kept together amid an abundance of the crowd. The new books were kept rested on the edge of the panel. The lights were bright as a beaming sun, chatterings were getting loud from the audience side, a mic testing was done by counting a one, two, three for the panel discussion ...

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“Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Kids” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #33

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover Kids I met Mr. Grapes an anomic individual (a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people), when I was around ten years old and he changed my young life completely. I had skipped school or as they used to say, I played hooky from school. Far beyond my house was a paper recycling plant where Mr. Grapes happily resided. On the outside above his doorless frame a sign that read: Trespassers will cause m...

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“"LIFE IS MISCOMUNNICATED"” by Vickie Culbertson

Submitted to Contest #33

My most embarrassing moment as a young adult was my freshman year at Appalchian State University. The distance between myself and my parents was 506.8 miles. This Thanksgiving holiday it was mutually agreed that we would communicate by Skype. I had told my girlfriend that I was going into our bedroom to speak privately with my mother. When I left our living room, Aimee was on the couch, watching a chick flick, "The Notebook".Skype is a computer program that allows you to make free voice and video calls between two computers, tablets, or smar...

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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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