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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#37: The Game is Afoot

The draw of a puzzle — be it a jigsaw, word cross, or Sudoku — is the opportunity to call on our skills of deduction; to start with what seems like disparate pieces of information, and end up with the complete picture.

Mystery novels are the same! They intrigue us by leaving a trail of clues, prompting us to try and work out what's really going on as the story unravels.

Our love of mystery books is what inspired our recent post on the 30 best mystery novels of all time, as well as this week's prompts. Come, writers! The game is afoot.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a valuable object that goes missing.

Mystery – 91 stories

Write a story about someone who keeps coming across the same stranger.

Mystery – 182 stories

Write a story that takes place in the woods.

Mystery – 180 stories

Write a story that starts with the reveal of a long-kept secret.

Mystery – 129 stories

Write a story about a rumor making its way through the grapevine.

Mystery – 47 stories

Stories

“An Afternoon Alone” by Karen Kinley

Submitted to Contest #37

The woman behind the counter gave me a weak smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Here you go,” she said and handed me my bag. As I turned to leave the deli, I nearly bumped into the customer behind me in line. The young man’s hands were jammed into the front pockets of his jeans. His cap, turned backward, sported a small tiger paw.I mumbled “I’m sorry” and kept going. Outside, the brisk air felt good on my skin. I crossed Madison Avenue, the traffic thick as usual. A nice long walk was what I needed, so I kept walking and headed for the par...

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“Never Trust A Stranger Named Rob” by Artemisia Pearl

Submitted to Contest #37

“Oh my gosh! Rob! I found the letter! Her clues paid off!” I exclaimed. A little over a month ago, Rob was a stranger. I thought he was stalking me. But now I know. We are siblings. He is my older brother that I never knew about. My mom died before she could tell us. But now, it’s like we have known each other for years. “Alright. What’s it say?” He asked. I opened the envelope, careful not to break it. I unfolded the paper inside and held it in between us, so we could both read it. My Darlings, If you are reading this letter, I need you to ...

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“There are Worse Ways to Know Death” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #37

I first met him at birth. Imagine it. My mother, covered in blood, sweat, and pee after five hours of active labor, desperate to get rid of the things in her uterus. I came out first. Followed by a stillborn twin. “I’m sorry for your loss,” the doctor said as he handed off my twin to a nurse. They ushered Felix--as they would have named him--to a cuddle cot while they cleaned me off. A little while later, the nurses came back with Felix and I… and a camera. Family photos were actually a common practice with stillborns. As the poor nurse grit...

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“The memory of lost things” by Marte Van Der Linden

Submitted to Contest #37

Everything I have ever loved fits inside an old shoe box that I keep under my bed.I haven’t looked at its contents for years, but tonight I find myself reaching for the box. With some difficulty, I pull it out from under the bed. Then I brush off the dust and open the lid to reveal a hoard of memories, glittering like gems. There’s rust too, and flaking paint and faded ink. I lift the items out one by one and set them on my desk. The carefully arranged row of knickknacks and trinkets mocks me.The oldest item is a paper airplane. It’s yellow ...

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“Stranger Danger” by Ujiro Asagbra

Submitted to Contest #37

He had a fetish. Before he took them, he wanted them to know he was around -looming, waiting and when he got them paranoid enough, he struck! He had always liked tall, slim and “homely” looking young ladies. He had first met the last two at a grocery store doing a little shopping, and then he had stalked them. He made it look like random coincidences like he would follow them to a grocery store and walk past their cart, staring at them, making sure they saw his face. Then he would follow them to an eatery and sit at a table next to them. He ...

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“Soulmate” by Kenya Truitt

Submitted to Contest #37

Katrina paused as she stood on the corner of Tyson and 56th Street. Her eyes caught the figure of someone who was familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why. She thought back to the days before when she was commuting to work. Her usual seat behind the bus driver was always occupied, and by that same guy… Or maybe it was just her paranoia. Or maybe not. Katrina hesitated outside her apartment, watching the figure of the male as he crossed the street. He was taking long strides directly towards her. As he cam...

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“The plight of a broken bond” by Huma Fatima

Submitted to Contest #37

As she sat there over the craggy boulder, she wondered at the possibility of life without her which went on in its convectional way. In front of her sight was a cramped yellow hut where we had spent a promising time of our vacations five years ago. However, it now seemed to have shrunken with despair, no wonder it appeared even more confined and small. She turned her face towards me and beamed radiantly. I knew her appearances were only limited to my vision, for whenever I told my family about it, I was frowned upon and my experiences were t...

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“Janice.” by Marsha Webb

Submitted to Contest #37

Janice works in the village pharmacy, a small store with only three people working there but it serves the community well. Janice is forty two, married with two grown up children. She loves working at the pharmacy, she gets excited whenever the new ranges of cosmetics and lotions come in, although she is not medically trained, she feels working at the pharmacy gives her more of an air of importance than working in a normal shop but most of all Janice loves being in the centre of the village gossip.Tuesday morning and Janice is busily stackin...

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“Dinner at Mother Ehts” by Natasha Arnold

Submitted to Contest #37

The Thin Thickets roamed wherever they saw fit. From the valleys to the hills, canyons to the mountains, these fuzzy creatures could be found at every corner. Thin Thickets were stunning creatures. Scholars suggest that Thin Thickets were the first creature to exist, floating in the Universe until reaching Earth. A human could easily mistake these as specks of dust or freshly picked cotton, it truly depended on their size. They came in a variety of colours from pink, blue, grey, and peach. Most would adapt their colours to match their surrou...

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“The Stranger” by Mary Donahue

Submitted to Contest #37

One day I was walking down the street of New York and I saw someone who was walking behind me for a long time. I got scared so I went into a store for awhile. After an hour or two I went back outside and there was the strange man still walking behind me. By that time I called the police. I was so freaked out. when the police showed up the man was gone.The man had dark brown hair and looked maybe in his early 50’s. When I got home I sat on my bed until I heard a knock on the door. when I opened the door it was the same man and he asked to com...

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“My Blood's Secret” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #37

“Hey dad, what’s up?”“I wanted to talk about your sister.” He was speaking fast, and I could almost smell the alcohol on his breath through the phone-line.“Oh, okay. What’s happened?” A dozen different scenarios raced through my head, but he sounded angry not upset. She’d done something, not had something happen to her.“Stop telling her to get a blood test. Her baby will be fine.”“But- isn’t it worth checking? If she’s a carrier for sickle cell-”“She isn’t. Your mother wasn’t a carrier, and neither am I.”All I could hear was the static of th...

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“Red Sky at Morning” by 𝕔𝕛 𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣

Submitted to Contest #37

I first met him during one of my late-night excursions on the beach. I had been prone to insomnia since school, you see. It was why I applied for the job at Ocracoke. The calm, repetitive work that the lighthouse offered was a nice break from my symptoms, but sometimes, on grey nights when the light wouldn’t go as far, sleep eluded me. It was a chilly night in late summer as I recall. The sun hadn’t shone all day, leaving the sand like ice under my toes. A single moonbeam pierced the dark clouds and fell like a spotlight on a sol...

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“A car accident, a secret and a doctor ” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #37

Alicia Madison leaned against the wall in the hallway right outside the emergency room hub,and took two large breaths behind her blue surgical mask. Sweat was popping up around her forehead.Behind her goggles, a few tears were in her green eyes. She blinked a few times, and when she finally could catch her breath, she took her gloves off, and threw them in the trash can beside her, and lifted her goggles to where they lay on top of her head.Her dark brown, long hair was covered with a surgery ‘skull cap,’ and her dark blue scrubs were covere...

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“My Broken Piece” by Saranglogy R

Submitted to Contest #37

The school bell rang, signalling teachers to get out of our classroom and leave us to have break. My teacher finally stopped dictating the questions, picked her things, and left the classroom.I heavily sighed and leaned on my chair by rubbing my temples. Mathematics.The subject which hates me a lot. I tried to like it but I guess it doesn't. I opened my eyes when my friend Selva, shook my shoulder."Babe, let's go to canteen. I am hungry." She said by rubbing her tummy which consisted of few layers of fat. I couldn't ignore her since she was ...

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“The Nephew.” by Estelle Westley

Submitted to Contest #37

With the crisp air chilling her cheeks, Amanda picked up her step as she made her way to the coffee bar. This had become a morning ritual, but today she was enjoying the walk even more. The sun was out and the air was clean.She took up her favourite spot, the table overlooking the trimmed lawns that ran down to the lake. This morning there was a buzz in the air and more coffee addicts around than usual, creating a buzz that annoyed Amanda.Sally put a coffee in front of Amanda, she never changed her morning ritual of coffee first and then a s...

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$50

Prize money

629

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 17, 2020 EST

Won by Hayley Igarashi 🏆

Title: Your Move

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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