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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#41: Fuzzy Friends (or Foes?)

Hey, writers! I'm Tracy Gold, an editor, writer, and mom to a toddler, horse, and dog. And this week, I'm taking over Reedsy Prompts!

As an editor, I've enjoyed working on young adult fiction (like Amanda Searcy's Watch You Burn), non-fiction (like Gary Vikan's The Holy Shroud), and sci-fi/fantasy (like Nikki Richard's Demon in the Whitelands). Visit my Reedsy profile to learn more about me and my work!

My theme for this week is "fuzzy friends." From Hedwig in the Harry Potter series to Enzo in the The Art of Racing in the Rain, nothing captures hearts like a beloved animal. Animals can be powerful antagonists, too: just look at Jurassic Park! Perhaps what I love most about books featuring fuzzy friends (or foes) is that they mine the depths of the human heart by exploring how we interact with animals. I hope these prompts help you sniff out a good story!

This week's prompts

Write about an animal who changes a person's life (for better or worse).

Kids – 232 stories

Write about an animal species that doesn't exist in real life — an alien, new discovery, imaginary creature — it's up to your interpretation!

Middle School – 145 stories

Write about an animal who goes on a journey.

Kids – 69 stories

Write a story featuring an animal who subverts expectations (like a snuggly tiger, or something more magical, like a literal fish out of water).

Kids – 69 stories

Write about an animal who causes a huge problem.

Middle School – 99 stories

Stories

“The big, white bird ” by Elöise Lötter

Submitted to Contest #41

This story is about a boy and his pet. And don't think I'm talking about a boy who lives on a farm and befriends a small lion cub. No, this story is much more intriguing. And it starts at a hospital. It was the winter of 1918. The great pandemic named the Spanish flu just spread all across the world, killing millions of people. At that time, I was working as a local nurse in America, Washington DC, to be exact. I have seen many people come and go in that time, but no one drew my attention as much as the young boy named William who arrived in...

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“The White Dragon” by Jill Pax

Submitted to Contest #41

Harry Windham leaves his quaint home at exactly 4:30 am on a cold Monday(he is a very precise person, he likes routines and symmetry), takes only his yellow Jansport backpack and a bulky coat. The sun hasn’t risen, still hesitant to behind the mountains and trees. He jumps into his red car, starting the engine and drives down and out of the neighborhood. The traffic is enough to get on his nerves, enough to make him want to turn back and drive back home, but what he is doing is necessary. He pulls into the parking lot, checking for the...

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“Zaful and Me” by Sheryl Reddy

Submitted to Contest #41

Everything was different than how I remembered, but it was better. My eyes were lighting up at what I was seeing. I looked around me and noticed the streets looked the same as where I live, but they were futuristic. There was less of everything and the air was cleaner. There were floating lights that resembled jellyfish, but they floated and gave us light. Wait, us? I hadn't noticed anyone else. I did notice flying objects that resembled small glass domes, that looked similar to the vehicles from the "Jetsons". Am I stuck in a cartoon from t...

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“Dear Doctor Warner” by Nicholas Westbrook

Submitted to Contest #41

Dear Doctor Warner, It has come to my attention that your department is planning to cut funding to my research into the Alicanto (poecile alicantus). With that in mind, I am writing to urge that you reconsider this decision and continue funding my research, which I assure you will be worth the while. As I'm sure you know, I first came down to South America looking for the dreaded Titanoboa in the Amazon. I had gone to the established research site, but imagine my surprise when another university had already made their camp there....

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“Bottle tops” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #41

Henry reached up on tip toes, his Thomas the tank engine wellies squeaked against his chubby bare legs. He blew a spiral of floppy golden hair away from his eyes as he traced the trail of ivy up the tree with his perfect little fingers. It crawled its way over the gnarly old bark, twisting and turning, searching the crevices and nooks that the old tree offered. A puffed up proud black bird belted&n...

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“Forest of Magic, Featuring: Snuggle bugs” by Lily Simmons

Submitted to Contest #41

It had all started one gloomy day when Eve wolk up. She knew she was exhausted and drained from her past school week. It was dreary outside but she decided to go for a walk. She had gotten ready for her day and climbed down the stairs. Her parents had, however, gone to work. She found enough food to scramble together a quick breakfast. Once her meal was ready, she ate quickly then rushed outside for a walk. She started down the road, but soon realized she wanted to take the trail in the woods. She went around to the backyard of her house and...

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“Unique Egg” by Carol Keefer

Submitted to Contest #41

“Unique Egg”By Carol Ann Keefer “It’s mine!” Sissy exclaimed“No., I want it!” Suzie said The attic was dusty with a thick layer of dirt covering the once well-kept room that their grandmother had always kept neat and tidy. Furniture, scattered about, piles of clothes toss aside as Sissy and her younger sister Suzie opened a cedar chest. Buried in between the blankets and quits was an odd wooded box, holding it up in the dimly lit room. The craftsmanship was exquisite, to the smallest of detai...

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“SOMETHING NEW......” by The Poetess

Submitted to Contest #41

I stood on the tree quietly. holding my arrow and bow loosely making up my mind on how and where to shoot, my high boots just above my knees, my brown tights and a white shirt with a ripped arm hodiee. I look over at Zake......he’s my wolf, eagle and my horse. He not that hairy, since i don’t like it. His eyes are in different color just like mine we both have white in common. Yup he has huge claws with fangs. a unusual symbol which glow in the dark and yes! He can control the glow. I have trained him it’s like the first mistake when battlin...

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“Pixie Fit” by Kylie Oyler

Submitted to Contest #41

I stared at my computer, and its blank screen. This year I was enrolled at Penn State for a humanities major, or to study people and how they work mentally. With a one-hundred point-end of the semester essay ahead of me, I wasn’t ready. I was flunking five of my classes, and this essay might make it six. Everybody told me I wasn’t ready for college; my parents, my teachers, my coaches, and even my best friend, Bailey, who left for North Carolina University to play soccer. Even I knew I wasn’t ready for college, I just wanted to start my...

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“My Purpose” by Jessica Tomaselli

Submitted to Contest #41

I don’t know whether I should be grateful that I know my purpose in life or whether I should resent my pragmatic existence and creation. You see, scientists made me to protect Earth’s civilizations from an extraterrestrial foe that they provoked. I have not been given a name, I am simply called The Warrior. Defined by my job. I guess that isn’t all that different from many others, but I wish . . . well, what do I wish, that I had love in my life? Who would love me? I am the only one of my kind. The government has refused to allow them to cre...

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“The Feocoda” by Eden Myers

Submitted to Contest #41

It was a day that I would never forget. The sun was shining but not in the way we preferred. Instead of embracing the meadow in a warm hug, it weighed down on us with oppressively thick humidity. I squinted my eyes and saw the silhouette of Connor in the distance. I offered a small wave.“Trashy day to play ball, eh?” He yelled from the other side of the field.“Yeah” I responded with a laugh. He pulled out a dirty ball from under his thin t-shirt.“I snatched this from a kid in Town Square earlier today. Don’t tell your pops, he already h...

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“Daisys adventure ” by Lilac Walker

Submitted to Contest #41

The trail had mist ubiquitously. The soggy midnight was just as much murky as it was drab, but that didn’t hold me. It never would. Mama escaped me just last week and now I’m on my own. Im just a baby, 7 years old. My sister repeated it every day when Mama squawked at me. She’d go right into Mama’s face and state, “jeez Louise, Mama! She’s just a baby, you know!” Mama would become fired up. One night mama just left, leaving me and my sister. My sister took off too the next morning. I knew I couldn’t continue all by myself. In the timber...

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“Curiosity Helps The Dog” by Excel Ojeifo

Submitted to Contest #41

Just as the ram-branded truck drove by the farmland, we leaped off its compartment and softly landed on the soft grass below us. A few metres ahead lies a life, an adventure. A new world.I really don't understand why most of us would rather prefer to live comfortably in our owner's home rather than venturing out to the unknown. I mean, is dog food what we really think it is? Are there trees we don't know of that are better than what we do know? Well, I guess you could say my sudden disappearance occurred thanks to these questions. Curiosity ...

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“Buddy the Escape Artist” by Lisa Slaikeu

Submitted to Contest #41

Giggles filled the air from the little boy in the family. This only meant that he was about to do something that the rest of the humans in the house would not approve of. Then the little boy went to the front door. My ears perked up as I heard the front door open. No one in the family never let me go through this door. Now was my chance! Forever grateful to the little boy, I ran out the door. “Brother!” the girl in the house shouted. She was the human I considered to be my mama out of the four humans who lived at the house with me. Her hair ...

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“City Slickers” by Laura Austin

Submitted to Contest #41

Roscoe was beginning to worry- a lot. The hike had been his idea. The back woods of Kentucky were beautiful and rugged, but they weren't hiking that far from human civilization, only about ten miles or so. But in which direction? He glanced back at his wife and four year old son. They were being troopers about this, but they couldn't keep walking all night. His wife, Sheryl, had begun to sense trouble and had sent him expressive looks, but he hadn't wanted to admit to being lost. Now, he knew that she knew, but there was nothing to be said a...

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$50

Prize money

614

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 15, 2020 EST

Won by Jack Basson 🏆

Title: A Cat of Ganymede

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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