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#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

“Moonlit Surf” by Leon Prince

Submitted to Contest #4

If I could describe the beach during it's different time periods--night and day--I would describe it as being like two different worlds. The beach during the day was a world of chaos. It is loud. Crowded. Rowdy. I hate the beach during the day. She hates it too. The beach during the night is the better world; during the night, the beach is stunning. There are no more people--most people prefer to swim in the direct radiation of the sun--so the beach is quiet. It's quiet, yes, but it is also filled with so much noise. Not the noise ...

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“Rising Tide” by Alex Boyer

Submitted to Contest #4

Waves crashed against the sand in mesmerizing rhythm. His eyes fixed downward, solely focused on the galaxy of miniscule and ancient pebbles between his legs. "How long had it taken for them to assume these tiny forms? How incredibly far had they travelled over the eons?" he wondered through a worn and defeated inner monologue. Foaming surf and screeching gulls intermittently gave way to the sound of only the subtle breeze as if nature's respite between breathes. He looked up slowly, the cool azure sea and luminescent sunrays shining down u...

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“The sea beside me” by Isis Arguello

Submitted to Contest #4

I had never loved the sea. As far back as I could remember the sea was something I feared. Just the smell of salt in the air and the cry of the gulls brought upon me a terror so revolting it would leave me breathless and shaking. Relatives often told me that it was a subconscious reaction from a memory long washed away by the tide. Of the stormy night where the life of my parents was taken and I a mere child somehow had survived. Despite this knowledge, I did not know how the sea tied in with the incident. Perhaps it was better that way. A...

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“Don't Box Me In” by Michael Williams

Submitted to Contest #4

Tongo and Louie were arriving back to the apartment when Albert peered out of his window. He preferred sitting at the picnic table, as he enjoyed watching the passersby. He would wave, and often get a wave back. Occasionally, he would make a new friend! The simple things that most people never think about were very important to him. He understood that he was mentally-challenged, and it was the parade of passersby that served as an ongoing lesson in how an average person would look, dress and socialize. It was his method, and that's that! He ...

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“Summer Love” by Georgia May

Submitted to Contest #4

I sigh. “Do I really have to go? I’d only weigh you down. Go and have fun without me.”“No, Aiden. I’ve told you a thousand times, this is a family holiday, so we do things as a family. I don’t even understand why you don’t want to go.”I launch into autopilot, listing all of my frequently-used arguments for being anti-beach. “Because its hot and sandy and loud and boring and busy and oh yeah did I mention sandy?”“What if we let you bring a book?” My mother pleads, still busy packing up the bags.“Then I might, just maybe, consider it.”“And foo...

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“The Island by the Sea” by Ricky Herring

Submitted to Contest #4

The smell of coffee filled the neat and orderly room with its white-washed walls that were once home to many pictures of his little family. He sat at his desk, staring out at the horizon above the beautiful, foamy seawater. He was numb inside and though the 'Irish' coffee was a welcoming contributor, the thought of her smile, the one that lit up the world more than any sunrise, was a distant memory. As was the joyous laughter of their son, Luke, who ran through the house giving it his best to keep away from his father who half-heartedly atte...

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“Luck of the Draw” by Grace Potter

Submitted to Contest #4

The only person who remembered the Fall in my family was Granny Georgis."I was around your age, Clary," she said, sitting across from me at the kitchen table, adjusting her teal spectacles. "I could feel that earthquake in my chest. It took out all of DC, and several other cities around the country as well,"Granny Georgis paused and sobbed a little before continuing."We were left with nothing but rubble and broken corpses. One of them being your Great-Grandmother,"My eleven-year-old self twirled a lock of dusty brown hair around her finger, ...

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“That Summer Evening” by Lol Lola

Submitted to Contest #4

Aunt May was the toughest women ever known to Young Smith. He would wake up every morning, despite the cold harsh weather, and manage to get to Aunt May’s house. The house was neither big nor small. It gave an ancient aura to Young Smith, which he liked very much. There was a book shelf at one corner of the kitchen, where Young Smith would often visit and when he had enough time, always sat next to the window sill, turn each leaf of the book peacefully and read out the words aloud. Even though Aunt May hated noises, she never complained it t...

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“THE CONVOLUTION” by Harshitha Satish

Submitted to Contest #4

“Block HAppointments for the day: Mr. Richard Fry and Mrs. Julia Fry – Meeting at 12:00 noon with Register no. 834, Room 23, bed 16.”, read the bulletin board across the entrance hall of the convalescent home. My hands in hers and hers in mine, we stood there looking at the notice board and scheduled an alarm at 11:30 am in our watches to ensure we are ready thirty minutes prior to the appointment. My wife and I sat near the reception desk with our ID tags around our neck that indicated we come from Block A of the rest home, dedicated entire...

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“Musings of a Millennial” by Rebecca Summers

Submitted to Contest #4

The new modern curse word as controversial as religion or political stances: Millennial.The qualities bestowed on us: lazy, entitled, spoiled could really just be a product of the age we live in and other generations measuring success with a yardstick that has grown a mile long. We are at a time when inflation puts things that could once come easy with hard work; car, house, college, into an unattainable status without crippling debt. It’s not only inflation. If home prices had remained on par with inflation since the 1940’s, we could work h...

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“Prepping (prompt: My Generation)” by Lisa Dickey

Submitted to Contest #4

“I bought a gun,” my brother told me. “A what?” I said. The connection was super crackly, so I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. “A gun,” he said. “Just to be safe. I have a family to protect, you know.” “Oh, please,” I said. “To protect from what? You live on an army base. Are you expecting Genghis Khan and his hordes to show up?” “Ha-ha,” he said. “You’re a laugh and a half.” Whenever we argued, it was as if we reverted right back to our middle school selves. “You think I’m overreacting,” he said. “I know. But you’ll ...

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“Electric Memories” by Greg Roensch

Submitted to Contest #4

I'm an electric guitar. A 1967 cherry-red Gibson SG Special electric guitar. And with all the recent talk about Woodstock – this being the 50th anniversary and all – I’ve been thinking back to my time at the historic concert. You see, I’m not just any 1967 cherry red Gibson SG Special. I’m the Gibson SG played at Woodstock by none other than Peter Townshend of The Who. Many of you won’t believe me when I say I was Pete Townshend’s guitar. You might say, “Hey buddy, I’ve seen the Woodstock film and that guitar was battered at the end of ...

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“MY GENERATION” by John Docherty

Submitted to Contest #4

MY GENERATIONNasho's, that what they called us, or Conscripts, referring of course to National Servicemen, and the fact that we were not volunteers, but had been conscripted into the Army, to increase the numbers. On the 5th of November 1964 Cabinet decided to introduce a selective National Service scheme. The government had concluded that Australia had inadequate Defence manpower and aimed to increase the strength of the Army to 33,000 by the end of 1966.Between 1965 and December 1972, over 800,000 men were required to register for National...

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“Herstory” by J. Nabila Obayed

Submitted to Contest #4

"Ricky, stop jumping on the bed you cheeky little monkey," Nora yelled at her son. Her 6-year-old son came back from school, and without changing the uniform, he started to jump on the bed. Nora finally stopped him and sent him to the bathroom to take a shower. While Ricky was taking a bath, Nora looked at the bed, and so many old memories raced in her mind. Nora was a kid of 80s, and she used to jump on this same bed with her cousins when she was a kid. It was, in fact, Nora's father's bed and was being used for three generations. Nora had ...

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“Millennials” by Kaitlyn Simmons

Submitted to Contest #4

Millennial's. The funny thing is most millennial's don't care enough to know what a millennial is. The newest generation; the two thousands kids. We’ve all grown up with Disney Channel being the most technology we'd ever see while simultaneously portraying the life we all wished to live. Most trouble we’d get in is sneaking out to the big green bulky power box to pretend were smoking cigarettes. Now, we have upgraded, juuls are permanently housed in the palm of our hands. I'm a millennial myself. I know millennial's suck. Technol...

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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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