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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

“Of Alley Cats, Crows and Mice” by Joan Kearney

Submitted to Contest #41

“I was born in the basement window well of that hardware store, the white alley cat with black spots pointed to the right of the building, my mother told me this when I was just a one-year-old kitten. I had three brothers and two sisters, and we spent our infancy clinging to her and nursing. We’d cry when she’d run off to catch food for herself, but she always came back and that’s why I am proud to be here tonight announcing that we have acquired fourteen mousetraps for our nursing mothers.”The crowd of strays erupted into high meows and stu...

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“Little Golden Shell” by Ludovica Ballou

Submitted to Contest #41

I hear the golden wind chimes sway in the breeze as I open the back door. I unzip my periwinkle jacket and lay it over the white loveseat I have outside. I happily walk to the hose, fill up the glass pitcher I keep outside and look around in amazement. Flowers are blooming with vibrant colors. The fruits are ready to be made into different types of lemonades and the vegetables are ready to be tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. I hum a song I can’t remember the lyrics to while watering every plant, flower, fruit, and vegetable I see in si...

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“A Bear's Oath” by Olie Zhou

Submitted to Contest #41

Sun rays flooded the cave. Hitting Uther right in the eyes as he opened them. He yawned and stretched. Part of his winter fur shedding to the ground. A smell like death whipped through the air. Uther groaned. Assuming it was the smell of coal arrows. Used by hunters every season to capture bears. Uther being the undefeated, short-face, bear had the responsibility to protect his species from becoming extinct. Since humans had an odd fascination with collecting bear claws. It made Uther sick to...

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“Camille the Caterpillar or Not a Children's story” by Tim Grimo

Submitted to Contest #41

Somewhere in the undergrowth, a fleshy knot stirred in its shell. At one end, a black, featureless mask encased a trap-jaw.Tentatively, as if waking from a slumber it didn’t remember falling into, the knot unwound itself to face the gelatinous wall of its womb. A pair of minuscule mandibles began chewing through the membrane: my first meal, and the beginning of its sentient life. For the sake of anthropomorphism, she was known as Camille, because it had a nice ring to it, Camille the Caterpillar. As she finished the last bit of she...

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“Karateka Miso” by Jaime Toscano

Submitted to Contest #41

*EEEEEEEE YAH! BANG. BIP. BOP. BROKEN!* Miso chopped through a stack of mini bricks that were lying on the damp soil beneath him and the others. "And that, young woolly worms, is how you break through the concrete. You must find the most vulnerable point, and WACK! Find the strength within, no matter how mighty the bricks may seem." The little 'pillars stared in awe at Karateka Miso, a caterpillar the size of a pinky finger who had just chopped through a pile of stone cubes. The little ones looked down at their white belts, and then at Miso'...

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“The Bowl” by Aaron Dorondo

Submitted to Contest #41

“Have you ever even gotten in?” Alexander asked. “No, but I’ve never needed to this badly before, so I am certain the gods will allow me entrance today,” Adonis responded. From where they stood they could see the temple, but at this distance they wouldn’t be able to make out the inscription above the door. The line they stood in snaked on seemingly endlessly behind them, bending around a curve that wrapped a hillside and disappeared. “How often do you do this? And who are all these people that they can just show up and stand here waiting to ...

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“Imagine If...” by Hannah Burgess

Submitted to Contest #41

Everything hurt. I swam through the rancid water, stained a dull grey from oil spills. A plastic band cut into my back, the salty water digging into my wound. I swallowed another mouthful of this filth and coughed. I struggled to continue, fighting against the tide against all costs. I could not swim forever or they would get me. Those fanged beasts that could smell blood from miles away. They could kill a small thing like me in a matter of seconds. Home couldn’t be far. I had to keep swimming. As I lifted my head towards the surface I heard...

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“THAT PUPPY IS A LION” by RADIUS HAVWAALA

Submitted to Contest #41

The heat was oppressive as the sun raced through a cloudless steel-blue sky. Pwinga walked through Ndema forest, the Remington hunting rifle stuck on his body like a third arm. He had spent the whole day hunting but didn’t kill any animal. Rounding a thick shrub he heard a startling sound shake the afternoon silence. It forced him to glare with big round eyeballs. His mouth flew open drawing an ugly O, his heart was gripped by a terrible premonition of danger. Holding his breath like a swimmer; he walked slowly towards the sound until he was...

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“Bobo Amina Harrison pen name Regina Owens” by Regina Owens

Submitted to Contest #41

BOBOByAmina Harrison (pen name)“MOM, HE IS AT IT AGAIN,” a six years old child yells as her pet cat Bobo is tearing away at her clothes as well as some paper in her bedroom. “Okay, Bobo; mom will be very upset,” the pet cat a Cheshire one looks at the child name Chrissy with its soft, watery eyes now Bobo will leap from Chrissy’s bed and runs out the bedroom now Chrissy looks a little amused even though whenever Bobo misbehaves like tearing away clothes maybe laying around or better worse Bobo uses her claws to scratch at the furnishings in ...

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“COUGAR ON COPPERMESA ROAD” by Gail Walkowich

Submitted to Contest #41

COUGAR ON COPPERMESA ROAD by Gail Walkowich The golden sun slowly set behind the purple Rocky Mountains as I pulled onto my half acre, western paradise on Coppermesa Road in Morrison. Stands of conifers and aspens stood as sentinels around my proper...

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“Sapphire eyes” by Haadia Haq Nawaz

Submitted to Contest #41

PLANET ETESSIAThe air in the town of Mojabah was not still anymore, it was a force of its own, a grumbly giant, roaring and spitting darkness. It tossed and turned the southern town in a whirlpool of hot wind and dust. The honeyed sky had witnessed this destruction many a times, but this was not an ordinary sandstorm. As far as sight permitted, no standing building was visible except The Highland. Luckily for the inhabitants of Mojabah, the storm was always foreseen. The mystery of this prediction had the superiors and intellectuals scr...

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“Break in” by Hannah Lawn

Submitted to Contest #41

He felt along the live wire of the electric fence, staying close enough to sense the buzz pulsing through it and far enough not to risk a shock. There was always a weak point. And if he couldn’t find it, he had the tools to break it if necessary. He never went anywhere without his prongs, he couldn’t, even though carrying them was dangerous. Some of the other guys had lost them in fights and they were tough to get back. You had to wait it out. But in a way not carrying arms also gave you a bit of peace. You stood out less to the authorities ...

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“Chasing Butterflies ” by Emma Clint

Submitted to Contest #41

“It died.” “What did?” “The butterfly we caught.” “You kept that?”—a pause—“Of course it did.” Mumbling something, the boy turned his head back toward the window, his left leg swinging from the bay window seat, making rhythmic taps on the hardwood floor. Shik. Shik. Shik. The boy to whom he had addressed these remarks finally looked up from his book, to say, with a slight air of annoyance, “What’s that, Bertie? Speak up.”Albert swung around to face the room, planting both feet on the floor with a sharp and satisfying...

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“Fuzzy fission ” by Celeste Kuun

Submitted to Contest #41

Cats are more trouble than they're worth. Now, before you go branding me a cat hater, let me tell you a story of Mr. Tibbins. I work at the Brightwater Nuclear Facility. Never heard of it? Good. It is a top-secret facility that houses nuclear weapons for impoverished third world countries who decided to invest their country's dwindling financial resources in something a bit more Avante Garde than medicine and food reserves for the people. Let me tell you, it was all the rage in the 80s.Our job at Brightwater Nuclear Facility is to ...

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“A Mother's Love” by Rachelle McKeown

Submitted to Contest #41

Jeff Jeff always enjoyed his morning runs and today was no exception. He had woken up early enough to make the thirty-minute drive to the trail he liked to run in the Whites and had just started his workout. The air smelled vaguely of pine and birds chirped happily. He could barely hear them over his music, but his eyes were extremely in tune to his surroundings. He was always looking down, making sure that he was avoiding roots and any squirrels who might dart into his path. He remembered the time he had tripped over a root and had landed f...

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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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