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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#4: Woodstock

Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the 1969 music festival that attracted an audience of more than 400,000 visitors, and was known as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music." Its a legendary cultural event, and a large variety of books and documentaries have been dedicated to telling the story of Woodstock. So this week, we thought we'd take inspiration from it too.

Each of the following five writing prompts are titles of songs that were played at Woodstock. As far as writing prompts go, they're pretty broad and open to interpretation, so we're looking forward to seeing the many different directions and stories they lead to.

This week's prompts

Write a story based on the song title: "Beside The Sea"

Fiction – 33 stories

Write a story based on the song title: "My Generation"

Fiction – 22 stories

Write a story based on the song title: "To Love Somebody"

Nonfiction – 46 stories

Write a story based on the song title: "You Can Make It If You Try"

Nonfiction – 14 stories

Write a story based on the song title: "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Nonfiction – 19 stories

Stories

“Teach Me” by Michaela Woodward

Submitted to Contest #4

The numbers on the house matched the ones in the crumpled ad she held, and her feet shifted to stay grounded on the cement as she waited. Waited for her body to move, do something. She was nervous and she knew it, but she tacked her quavering up to the cool breeze and shuffled her scarf so that it hid more of her face. Her jaw stung with anticipation, and after a minute of her heels and cheeks twitching, she threw her shoulders back and knocked on the door. Some of the paint chipped away when sh...

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“Wedding Blues” by Olga Gridin

Submitted to Contest #4

Tina raised her glass. “Let’s drink to love.” Barbara said, “Define love.” Barbara’s fiancé touched her hand. “It’s the feeling of unity between two people.” Barbara looked at him. “Only unity?” “Care for each other creates a sense of unity.” Grandpa Joe said, “Well spoken, Steve. Feminine feelings are fragile. When you and Barbara exchange vows next week, don’t forget that women are more sensitive than men, and they need caring words and gentle gestures.” He looked at Tina. “M...

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“To Love Somebody” by Carol Mark

Submitted to Contest #4

To Love Somebody by C Hostetler The feeling in Tori’s chest was tangible. She wished it came from a more pleasant cause. Instead, it came from the knowledge of her placing blame, and the responsibility for correction; all on her own shoulders; all unnecessarily. She felt a shiver go through her body. It ended in the pit of her stomach, and left her nauseas. She wasn’t perfect, and may have pushed a little too hard sometimes through the years. But, if she had realized the truth sooner, she could have made a difference in both...

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“There be Dragons” by Catherine Howard

Submitted to Contest #4

Sally May was lonely again. She banged her foot against the kickboard of the kitchen breakfast bar. Her mother looked over at her and sighed. “Sally May” she said “try to make an effort for your father’s sake”. She then turned back to the open cupboard in front of her. The Company flats came full stocked with groceries to help the occupants in their first few days but goodness only knew what was in the myriad of brightly labelled cans and packets she thought. Sally May didn’t care. She jabbed at her Ipad to bring it back to life, flicking th...

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“The Moon Hunt” by Michelle Iruobe

Submitted to Contest #4

One of the Wright brothers probably dreamt the strangest of dreams on one of those nights prototypes of their famous invention failed. I always thought it would be Orville instead of Wilbur. His sunken, dark eyes in photographs seem to give him away as one who slept a lot. And dreamt a lot. Imagining the frustration my fictional Orville would have felt on one of his unsuccessful attempts at flying, and imagining him sleeping tiredly after on a pile of metal instruments dreaming away, I cooked up this fantasy. &nb...

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“THERE CAME A BIG SPIDER” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #4

There Came A Big Spider…Chandran, after reading an item of news from The Hindu paper said aloud “Because of these people only, it still rains on earth”. Bhuvanaa busy in her morning chores, heard him say something, turned to him with a questioning look. He read out the news item loudly for her – “Kaushal, a multi-billionaire turned philanthropist by setting aside half of his wealth for charity. Bhuvanaa told him that of late, quite a few are very lenient – particularly from the corporate sector and spared a chunk of their bounties for social...

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“EDUCATION” by Maitreyee Joshi

Submitted to Contest #4

Piyu came running home with glee after hopping down the auto which dropped her home. Her father was sitting on the sofa in the living room and watching her coming back from school, called her. She went and stood in front of him; the school bag still on her shoulders. He put the newspaper he was reading, aside on the sofa, lifted her up and placed her on one of his thighs and asked,"How was school, Piyu?"Piyu said, "Very good, we played in the toy house. It has a yellow roof, and red walls."Her father asked, "Did you study anything?"Piyu star...

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“NEW MOON” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #4

“Gentlemen.”“Mornin’.” The deputy said. His son politely nodded at the waitress.“Care for coffee this morning?”“Yes. Black.” “I’ll have the same with a little cream if you got it.”“Sugar?”“No thanks, ma’am.”“I’ll be back in a hurry to get your order.”“Thanks.”“I often wonder how many times I been here in my lifetime.” The deputy said to his adult son. “Care to take a guess?” The son asked.“Hard to say. Damn near every day when I was first gettin’ started out as a junior deputy. Not so much anymore.”“Ya? Why do you think that is, da...

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“Friends out of context” by Fernando Autran

Submitted to Contest #4

“Not bad, not bad at all.” Freddy checked the ropes for a second time just in case. He then circled the prisoner sitting in the chair, each step reverberating in the silent warehouse, till he stopped in front of him. “Well, I give up. I really don't know how to untangle this mess, and I did a seminar about escapism.” The sound of pleased cackles (or something that sounded similar) surrounded Freddy. He smiled at the shadows and sat while he lit up a cigarette. “When they put their head into something they really go al...

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“I Know You Love Me” by Kristin Granek

Submitted to Contest #4

You know that I love you. I love you to the moon and back, or to the farthest reaches of the universe. I love you so much. And I'm reminded of how much I love you every time I walk along these lonely beaches. No matter how many people line the shore, no matter how many children splash in the waves, I am always reminded that I love you...and I am alone. I bury my toes in the hot sand, trying to shield my feet from the burning sensation. Maybe I should just let the pain wash over me. Maybe it will dull the aching I feel in my heart every tim...

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“The Pod” by Lazelle Cronje

Submitted to Contest #4

It’s been twenty years since we left Earth. Not by choice or because we wanted to go on a crazy new adventure. We were forced. Earth wanted us gone. We destroyed everything beautiful about it, and when we were done she shooed us away. Who could blame her? She was exhausted. My bedroom window has a clear view of Earth every once in a while. The NH-Space station, the one I’ve been calling home since I was five years old, has been orbiting Earth since the year 2173, the passengers of the ship longing to return one day. If I’m honest, I don...

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“There is no you and me” by Colleen Braun

Submitted to Contest #4

There is no you and me I stroll lazily down Inch Beach and burst out laughing hoping no one hears me. The silliness ties my brain in a Celtic knot because Inch Beach is actually three miles long. Who named this lovely place Inch Beach and what were they thinking? Seems like their math skills are about as accurate as mine. I guess names like life are mostly a never ending mystery. The aroma of the sand strikes my senses and brings back long ago forgotten memories. I remember a homework assignment from ...

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“The Rebellious Kid” by Catarina Damas

Submitted to Contest #4

The sea. Something beautiful, yet terrifying. Like me.I have so many thoughts on my head that I have been known to be always off the world. It isn’t a lie though. Many people think that I must be thinking about something scary, like cutting someone’s head and cooking it for dinner, but I always find myself going to that one place. The sea. Blue, sometimes green or even gray, it changes based on that day's weather, like I change my clothes because of the rain or the intense sun.From a long distance, I can’t see the strong waves that are alway...

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“Family Vacation on the beach” by Stephen Aiken

Submitted to Contest #4

I remember, when I was a kid, probably about four or five, our family went on vacation to Miami Beach. This was back in the early '60, so of course, Miami Beach wasn't nearly as developed as it is today. Back then there were sand dunes and coconut palm trees as far as the eye could see; well, as far as my eye could see, anyway.As soon as my family's car pulled into the parking lot, of Miami Beach, and came to a stop, I jumped out and ran towards the ocean. And mom yelled at me not to go in the water, I said OK I would not go in the water. Oh...

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“Overboard” by Jaylen Hyden

Submitted to Contest #4

OverboardShe clings to the piece of waterlogged driftwood, her lower half submerged into the frigid waters of the sea. Her breathing comes out in haggard, wheezing huffs that tightly constrict her lungs. Salty residue stings the back of her throat and the whites of her eyes.Everything hurts, her head pounding and spinning. Wired barbed twisting and burrowing inside her head the more she struggles to stay awake, an cochapany of white noise and metal on metal combined echoing against her inner skull.She pushes herself up with her good arm, eye...

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$50

Prize money

134

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 30, 2019 EST

Won by Tula Singer 🏆

Title: Lela

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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