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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#35: Spring in Your Step

In the Northern Hemisphere, the first day of spring began on March 19th. The changing of seasons often brings about a renewed sense of motivation (hence "spring cleaning") and creativity. Indeed, many poems have been written about spring — such as Emily Dickinson's "A Light Exists in Spring" — and authors have long been inspired by the season:

 

"That is one good thing about this world... There are always sure to be more springs." — L.M. Montgomery

 

This week, we're also inspired by spring, and so are our prompts.

This week's prompts

Before bed, you put your clock ahead one hour for daylight saving time. When you wake up, you realize you've gone forward a lot more than one hour.

Fantasy – 81 stories

Write a story that takes place at a spring dance.

Spring – 89 stories

You made a promise to yourself you'd finally do it on the first day of spring. Today was the day.

Spring – 145 stories

Write a story about someone who finds something interesting peeking out from a melting snowbank.

Winter – 88 stories

Write a story about someone walking through a park on a spring evening, told only through internal monologue.

Character – 141 stories

Stories

“A spring-cleaning of the mind.” by Peace Nakiyemba

Submitted to Contest #35

They all say I should be moving on like it should be as easy and natural as breathing or how winter always makes way for spring like clockwork.Ooh that makes good poetry. I should write that in a poem when I get home. How will I start it? Life and its seasons. That makes a good title. Getting rid of the past like spring-cleaning. No…Spring-cleaning. That is the perfect title. Then getting rid of the past like spring-cleaning should be my first line. I should write this in my phone notes before I forget it all. I’ll get it out when I’m calmer...

2 comments 2
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“Old Wooden Bench” by Evelyn Hanes

Submitted to Contest #35

Old Wooden Bench by Evelyn Hanes: I walked through the field and took in my surroundings. Moonlight dancing upon the dew covered grass and tall oak trees rustling with the wind. The cool dirt felt soft underneath my toes and the quiet hum of insects filled the air. Snow melting off the bushes created small stream ways in the grass. The outline of an old bench sits on the hilltop. Looking up at the navy blue sky above me, I could see the stars and a faint milky white outline of the other side of our galaxy. It's been awhile since I came out h...

11 comments 11
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“A Better Me” by NsikakAbasi Caleb

Submitted to Contest #35

         Rushing through me was a bank of emotions I had held in for a couple of months. I had finally decided to pick the happy book. This is a story of a promise I made to myself. You know how you stand over a catalogue for a long time thinking of which book to pick. That was me. My name is Melanie James, a sophomore in College of Pharmacy. I'm on spring break and I'm spending it at my Aunt's place with her family. There is this book I've been neglecting for a while now titled "BE HAPPY". But I ...

8 comments 8
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“The First Day of Spring” by Amanda Davison

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #35

I wake up to the grating buzz of Craig’s alarm. He rolls over and silences it with a heavy hand before letting sleep reclaim him. Any other morning I would have rolled back over with him and tried to steal an extra ten minutes of shut-eye before the alarm pierced the quiet again, but today I am wide awake. It’s the first day of spring. I marked the date in my calendar with shaking hands during the dead grey of November, when the crisp chill of fall had passed through and robbed the world of colour before fading into the dreary...

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“I Guess I'm A KIller In The Future” by Takora M.

Submitted to Contest #35

I, Jordan Lavrof, am a convicted murderer. I don't know why I did it, or when I did it, or where I did it, or who I did it to, or any details about it at all. I didn't even know I did it in the first place! The only reason I know about it is a long, long story, What? You want to know how it happened? I'd rather not tell you, you probably wouldn't even believe me, I don't even believe it myself! Ugh, fine. But, you've been warned. This is a long one, and is kind of confusing, it all starts with a timeskip. Well, it was March 7, 2020...

17 comments 17
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“The Dead of Night” by Tessa Smith

Submitted to Contest #35

The growing shadows across her wall indicated the days closure, and as she stood to close her curtains in preparation for the night she stared longingly into the darkness when her phone suddenly buzzed, flashing with a notification. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, and suddenly the room seemed to have gotten much darker. The pattern of her breath halted irregularly, and she began to hear the dull rush of blood in her ears as it drained from her face. She gingerly fished the device out of her pocket, a slight tremble taking over he...

11 comments 11
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“Hearts of Fauxbergé” by Neha Dubhashi

Submitted to Contest #35

The March snow was speckled with earthy tones, hovering in that spot between spring and winter. The sky thundered behind me, sounding somewhat childish in its fury. I knew I had to get home. Soon. Before they found me.As if the sky agreed, gales of freezing wind whipped past me, untangling strands of my haphazardly strung together braid. Leaving me to enjoy the black mess of wavy tangles in my mouth. I exhaled sharply, freeing the mess in my mouth, letting out some stress.The rumors about junior year were true. The weight of my workload was ...

1 comment 1
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“The Place Where the Birds Don't Sing” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #35

I know it’s not much of a defence, but I really didn’t know how much damage it would eventually cause. This confession of innocence doesn’t undo the events that followed that fateful Wednesday morning in mid-March, I know that, but hopefully it will be understood that I didn’t mean for any of it to happen — either by accident or design. I doubt I could have stopped it, anyway. But if there’s one person who could’ve possibly seen it before it hit, it was me.On that note, I think it’s worth pointing out that I did...

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“"The Task" by Christopher Valle” by Chris Valle

Submitted to Contest #35

Today's the day. They day I finally do it. I’d made a promise to myself that on the first day of spring I would do it. And so today I’m going to do it.  “It’s not that hard just do it,” I told myself steeling my nerves for what's ahead. I rolled out of bed with the knowledge of today I would do it. No backing out today I would finally do it.  I grabbed my jacket and a banana and headed out the door to get the stuff I needed. The whole way there I had my headphones in and was in the deepest mood of my life. I had made my decision an...

5 comments 5
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“So Small and So Beautiful” by Natalie Frank

Submitted to Contest #35

I’m holding her in my arms, and she is so small and so beautiful. Her pudgy pink fists grasp air, clenching and opening uncertainly. Her closed eyes are wrinkled and worried like a newborn kitten’s, and I trail my fingertips over her soft cheeks, wondering if this is her first dream. Her eyelashes flutter at my touch, and she leans slightly into my hand, her pudgy face warm against my palm. I love her. But it is March 20. The first day of spring. I hate March 20. I promised myself I would do it on March 26, but she came 6 days early, so I ha...

2 comments 2
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“Wailing Sirens” by Brandon Rich

Submitted to Contest #35

A couple of mornings ago, I woke up with an idea. It was they type of idea that only lasts for a second—the kind that you wave from your brain almost immediately, but not before it leaves spores on your thoughts, spreading its impression. The thought reappears on a walk, or making groceries. Sometimes its an hour later, maybe days; every time it shows up it stays around just a little longer. Eventually the idea I woke up with became that kind of thought which keeps showing up again—the kind of thought Mom used to call “peeking desires” Its t...

3 comments 3
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“Forbidden Fruit” by Neha Dubhashi

Submitted to Contest #35

Outside, there was music. Dance. Laughter. Joy. But inside? There was solitude. Calm from the preening idiots in court. Delilah knew she might arouse suspicion by staying inside the castle. After all, the famed Spring Ball was a festival where all creatures, regardless of faith or fealty, were welcomed into Verdeen society without a second thought, if only for a day. Escaping the festivities was unusual, at the very least. Delilah trod the floor lightly, the points of her silver heeled feet digging in the plush velvet. She glanced around car...

7 comments 7
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“Brushstrokes” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #35

Charlotte couldn’t believe it, but why should today be any different than every day of her married life?Bob, her husband of six (was it only six?) interminable years had left his miserable coffee cup in the sink for her to wash.Washing it was no big deal. It took only a moment to rinse. But why did she have to do it? And why this beat-up old cup? There were so many dents she was surprised it held coffee anymore. The enamel had chipped off in places exposing the toxic metallic wonders beneath.But it was Bob’s cup. It was a memento of some cam...

6 comments 6
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“The Day” by Lilly Blossom

Submitted to Contest #35

Ethan Hemsworth is the cutest guy alive. He is also the biggest dork. But I am in love with him. I adore him. He is my friend and he means the world to me. There is only one problem. He doesn’t know any of this. To him, I’m just the colleague who tries way too hard to make him smile. But now, now he is leaving. He got offered his dream job up in the big city and will be leaving at the end of next month. My heart is already broken. Ethan is my perfect guy. He’s intelligent, funny, easygoing, and loved by all. His blue eyes are as bright as th...

4 comments 4
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“Time Unraveled” by Neha Dubhashi

Submitted to Contest #35

When Aliyah Ziddi was four years old, she stole candy from her older brother’s Halloween stash. When he went crying to their mother, Aliyah felt guilty, but upon seeing her brother squawking in the typical fashion of a six-year-old-boy, she burst out laughing and earned herself an hour in time-out. When Aliyah was eight, her friend Rosie’s parents were getting divorced, and she advised Rosie to throw a tantrum to get them back together. Rosie’s parents employed a therapist for their daughter and sent a very long, concerned email to Aliyah’s ...

3 comments 3
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$50

Prize money

544

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 03, 2020 EST

Won by Naomi Coffman 🏆

Title: Spring Queen

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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