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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

“Pigeon. ” by Avery Mason 🍍😇🤩

Submitted to Contest #41

Cats have been my enemy for a long time. Their annoying meows, and purring, their rough fur, and sharp claws. I still don’t see why people love cats. I can’t forget what those little rats did to me a year ago. I was at work minding my own business when Callie walked into my clean cubicle.“Hi Colin! How are you doing.” She was smiling while petting something. “Um Callie, it is a pleasure to see you, but what is that THING?” She smiled wider.“Oh! This is Pigeon my cat! I thought by bringing her in for a while, it would make my coworkers h...

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“Never Again” by Tvisha Yerra

Submitted to Contest #41

“A hummingbird? Scared of heights? I never thought such a thing could happen, but I guess I knew you were a weird one!” my classmates tease me. I blink the tears out of my eyes, and fly away to the one place I felt safe.Katsumi was waiting for me, in the abandoned rabbit hole. I smile and lean on to her shoulder, muttering to myself. She frowns, “I always knew you were one bad egg, Aspi.” She flies away in disgust.I sit there, confused, on the lonely branch that managed to twist it’s way to the ground. A bush rustles behind me, and some...

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“The Wolf Child” by Iris Koga

Submitted to Contest #41

The girl stood in the middle of the antique shop, her deep brown eyes reflecting the soft glow of the metal desk lamp on the check-out counter. Hollowed cheeks emphasized the prominent bones under heavy eye bags, and her tattered rags draping her skeletal figure stained with dirt. She could not any be older than eight or nine years old; the hunger in the lonesome gaze resembled the same glare of the beggars that sometimes gathered alongside the streets outside, rattling their tin cans at any passerby. Mrs. Lee felt uneasy. It was almost clos...

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“My Able Comrade” by Peter Ayeni

Submitted to Contest #41

“Allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuh Akbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar” we heard echoing from a distance, about one hundred meters from where we were hiding; it was 4:00 am already. We were in “Sambisa Forest”, one of the most hunted forest in Nigeria; a place with the most notorious criminal gang in the Continent. Everyone was still alert, we were waiting for any strange move before we knew the next ...

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“Always by your side” by Amelia K

Submitted to Contest #41

I was born in the middle of March. My mom gave birth to me and my brother and sisters. Everyday we would sit in a large playpen waiting for someone to take us into our forever home. I would wait for hours on end, but no one would come for me. After my siblings were gone, I lost hope. I knew I would be at this place for the rest of my life. But one day, I saw a red pickup truck pull up into the dirt road. I saw a little boy in the back, who was smiling at me. “Daddy Daddy I want that cute golden retriever puppy,” ...

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“Hope ” by Adrie Byman

Submitted to Contest #41

I am not a writer. I am not good with words. My story is about hope (or rather the lack of it). I hope you can benefit from me. My story.Another cold, windy, San Francisco night brings another equally chilling attitude. I shove my hoodie over my head and trot the dimly lit sidewalk that leads to my apartment, ramshackle and filthy. But who’ll ever come to visit me? Good question, Ean. Maybe I should just walk in front of that car. I’ll go quietly. No one will know or care. I’d die a slow lonely death but it’d probably end that way anyways. I...

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“Ants” by Kelechi Nwokoma

Submitted to Contest #41

Four things on Earth are small, yet they are extremely wise…“Nanina, it’s time to go to forage.” the older female ant says to the younger ant. Nanina wakes up from her sleep and sees the rows of worker ants walking in a single file towards the exit hole. She’s so excited! This is the first time of her entire ant life that she’s leaving the dark, underground confines of her colony’s nest.“I’m ready, Marissa!” she squeals, running around her sister happily on her six feet. Though small, Marissa was an extremely good runner, which is a great as...

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“Behind Closed Doors” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #41

What I would give to be a cat. Cats don’t pay rent, they don’t cry over breakups, and they don’t stress about politics. Cat’s are the luckiest animals on this planet, and they don’t even know it. Or maybe they do, the smug bastards.I know that everyone says that their pet is the best, but trust me when I say that my cat is the best cat of all. If you put all the cats in the world together, Doc Fluffer would come out victorious. I don’t know how she would do it, I just know she would.She may have never attended medical school, but she is tota...

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“bright blue meteorite” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #41

There were wild horses on Mars now, and everyone knew it was Sampson Fields’ fault. The classic tale, an unstable genius, a complete mental breakdown, a lashing out, a break-in at the laboratory where the foals were kept in sterile stables hooked to tubes and monitors. He set all of them free the day after he turned in his resignation letter. Rumor was he’d written it in his own blood on a crumpled lab report. But just a rumor. It was in fact typed in twelve-point Times New Roman and formatted very correctly. No one ever saw him again. ...

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“The Sands of Santa Monica ” by E. Jude

Submitted to Contest #41

The day is sweltering. Heat rises like gas from the sand of Santa Monica State Beach. My head feels like a helium-filled balloon, that is about to take off and climb into the winds of the Californian air. I was hanging around downtown Santa Monica for hours. Feet blistering, my grubby sandal straps cracking in the heat, when I diverted from my, up until then, meandering course. I had turned left, and that is how I ended up on the beach overlooking one of the most spectacular skies I have ever seen.&nbs...

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“Not Mythical, but Magical” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #41

Her name was Denise, but everyone called her The Donkey Lady. She supposed she ought to mind, and supposed she once had, but now she was perfectly happy with it, and sometimes had to think for a second and check herself before filling in such official forms as she couldn’t avoid. She’d been the Donkey Lady on the beach for six years, but it seemed both to herself and others as if it had been for decades. She’d had other jobs; she’d been in catering, and had even had a spell in an office, but now s...

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“The Practice Cat” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #41

Pretzel was the Practice Cat. Perhaps that was an unfortunate turn of phrase, but all it meant was that he was the resident cat at the Wolds Veterinary Practice, not that he was used for experimental purposes! He had not been adopted on purpose; he was just there one morning, sitting neatly and expectantly on the doorstep. Michael Moore, the vet, and Christine Campbell, the nurse, did their duty, and made sure he was in good health (he was, though he appeared decidedly peckish) and then did their best to find his owner.&n...

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“Flight of the Magnolia Warbler ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #41

The sun began its descent on the horizon, part of its journey hidden by the towering trees and crumbling human ruins. The air took on a hazy, orange hue and the muggy warmth of the day gave in to the coolness of the encroaching night. I hopped from tree to tree, swishing my tail from side to side in anticipation for what was to come. For tonight was the night. I could hear and see my brothers and sisters fluttering around me and I hopped onto a low hanging branch to wait for the last of them to arrive. One of them landed near me and tweeted ...

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“The Scent of Life” by Erick Morin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #41

The wind blows northeast, the sun peeking through the clouds, a harbinger of the rough days to come. Feet gather around the mechanical moving boxes, a strategic formation. There is one voice booming, giving instructions and detailing expectations. A gust of wind brings a multitude of scents: asphalt, lumber, concrete, mud, tears. Urgency radiates from the single voice—the feeling of sorrow and hope. Bruno sits there waiting for the voice to stop, looking beyond the houses, or what is left of them. “We need to inspect the area, we need to fin...

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“Chariot of the Sun ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #41

Phlegon was wide awake in his grand stable. The darkness of Nyx and the brightness of Astraeus and his cloak of stars was blanketing the world, the mortals below oblivious to the beauty of it. He would soon change that. Phlegon sensed the coming of Eos, the Dawn, saw her two steeds Lampos and Phaeton being harnessed to their beautiful, pink-silver-azure chariot. They stood there quietly, nickering softly at the young nymph that put their harness on. Phlegon snorted. He would let none harness him to his golden chariot unless it was the great ...

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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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