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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

“No More Sunsets” by Stacy Conley

Submitted to Contest #41

Eleven-year old Dixie sat on the step to small porch of her grandmother’s house, tracing her name in the dried cement. She paused at the end of her name to scratch Sweetie’s head. Dixie’s mom had brought the pup home as a surprise three months ago. As she sat there, Dixie watched the sun dip behind the mountains. There were no sunsets in East Kentucky. “ I guess it’s just you and me now,” Dixie whispered to the pup. The lab mix didn’t respond, but climbed into Dixie’s lap. Angel stood in the yard sobbing, holding on to...

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“A Bad Night” by Ellory Reiling

Submitted to Contest #41

I always sit on the bench that sits on the back deck. It always makes me feel nice and the soft air makes me happy. The birds always make me feel less lonely. The empty halls of a mansion don’t make me feel any happier than I thought they would. Ever since I won the lottery, bills have disappeared but new problems have risen. I’m lonely all the time. Depression sets in at 8 A.M.. I don’t feel like I can trust anyone. My friends only ever talk to me now if they need money, my cousins have said that I’ve changed too much. My ...

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“my dramatic guardian ” by Batool Zehra

Submitted to Contest #41

18th September, was the day when i started to feel humanly hands around me. Soft, alluring and warm. It took me a while to realize that I was no more in my mother’s liquid-y womb but in a real, cold world. A world, in which we live and die so soon that we are not able to grip the essence of life nor the true meaning of love. I was kept in an antique card box wrapped in a thick cloth near the gleaming window where the sunlight didn’t let me open my eyes until it was gone away somewhere, somewhere I never ventured. A godly, womanly hands took ...

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“Mad Max!” by Jamila W. Harris

Submitted to Contest #41

MAD MAX! Max was a very angry man. He was so mean and angry that everyone who crossed his path immediately got out of his way. Since a child, life had been cruel to him. His mother threw him away in a trash can and left him there to die. It was on a bitter, cold ,night in a grimy, urban city in America. His first comfort was the soft feel of a cat that slept there every night, looking for the remains of the garbage thrown away from the restaurant that loomed above the garbage cans in the back alley. The cat, a short hair, domestic breed alw...

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“I Never Thought I Needed you.” by Danyelle Coded

Submitted to Contest #41

'I can't do this' I sobbed as I looked in the mirror, blood ran down my arms and onto the white ceramic of the sink staining it red. A discarded kitchen knife lay on the floor where I threw it against the wall. The image in the mirror showed me how pathetic I really was; waist long black hair was greasy from days of being unwashed, tears coming from dull lifeless green eyes laid tracks through dirt covered pale skin, teeth covered in a gross yellow film from not being brushed. The cuts in the pale skin weren't deep enough to hit anything imp...

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“The Revelation” by Bushra Siddiqi

Submitted to Contest #41

If we want to learn about love, care and compassion, then we must learn lessons from nature. Humans are undoubtedly superior beings, who are equipped with unimaginable powers of producing eloquent speech and thought. Most importantly, we have the ability to ponder and reflect on our past actions or work towards our goals that our hearts desire. While Ms Noura Hamid was lost in her stream of thoughts, she came to a sudden realization that we share so many things with our living beings which exist in the conscious world! This little haple...

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“"No Mo' Dogs"” by Danielle Jauregui

Submitted to Contest #41

Riley was a mangy mongrel and my very best friend. It might come as a surprise to you, but I feel I learned more and gained more form Riley’s passing than from Riley’s life. My parents weren’t your typical parents who try to sugarcoat things. They didn’t tell me about some magical farm up in the sky, how Riley was in a better place or any b.s. like that. They were Catholic people, don’t get me wrong, but animals? There’s just no way that there’s room up in heaven for all the animals to go, too. So they didn’t pretend like they thought there ...

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“Hayley” by Wesley Wu

Submitted to Contest #41

“Oh my God I’m going to miss you soooooo much!” Said the girl, throwing her arms around the boy and hugging him tightly. She kissed him, straight on the lips. “I’ll miss you too, Hayley,” said the boy, arm around his girlfriend’s waist. He opened his passport again and scrutinized the boarding pass sandwiched between the second and third page, eyes scanning for the gate number. C13…, his eyes looked up to the black sign hanging above him, with fluorescent lime-green dots arranged into a combination of characters: C13. Looks like I’m in the r...

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“Land of the Mid-Night Strays” by Rocky Hirajeta

Submitted to Contest #41

Nantahala, at over 530,000 acres, was the largest National Forest in North Carolina. Every year, thousands of nature-enthusiasts visited to touch what the Cherokees called “Land of the Noon-Day Sun.” Four main trails wound through the wilderness of old-growth forest, mountains, rivers, and wildlife; smaller paths extended, tangling through the land, but the trails could only go so far.At least once a year, Elena Worthing, with her father Harvey and her little brother Nathan, made the hour-and-a-half-plus drive from their home in Asheville. T...

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“Sixty Days with Scott’s Sheepdog Named Megan” by H.R. Hall

Submitted to Contest #41

Megan pounced into my life in need of love and an urgent haircut. Her coat was so long that her eyes were hardly visible, and it was remarkable how she bounced around without tripping on her tangles. When the friend of a friend was headed to a rehab program, he needed to find a temporary home for Megan. I had just quit my job when I saw his post on social media. I always wanted a dog, but my busy work schedule and commitment issues got the best of me. Scott would generously pay someone to watch Megan for sixty days, and with the end of sixty...

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“Blondes have more fun” by Anna Forsyth

Submitted to Contest #41

Sunny likes to eat cat poo. Or goose poo. Or any kind of faecal matter that she can sniff out really. But that doesn’t mean she should. Still, you try stopping that eighty-pound pile of golden fluff and bad thoughts from doing anything. Yeah, exactly. Sunny is a dog that cannot be cajoled or guilted or instructed to do anything but that which she chooses to do herself. My parents like to call some walks ‘Sunny’s Choice’ where they let the leash go slack and have her choose the route they go. I remind them that everything about her entire exi...

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“You'll Never be Alone” by CJ M.

Submitted to Contest #41

Hi, I'm Kai. Meet my friend, Alexa. I have been friends with Alexa since the incident. She has never talked about the incident, so I will stay by her side. I am not an ordinary human. I am actually not a human at all; I'm a fox. Yeah...a fox. Alexa and I are close and she knows that she can talk to me and I will listen. "Alexa, are you okay?" I ask; she has been locked up in her room all day. "Yeah, just go away Kai," she says through sniffles. "Okay, sorry." I say before walking away. "No, I am sorry, I'm just stressed. That moment; it...

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“Emotional Support Monster” by Patrick Tuttle

Submitted to Contest #41

"Why did you give Gertrude the Baker a bat as a familiar?" Esmeralda asked, placing her pointed hat on her desk and leaning back in her chair. Her silvery curls spilled out, framing her sharply featured face. I shrugged and gave her my winning smile. "It was her arms," I said. "They were the flabbiest I'd ever seen and she wouldn't stop waving them around and shrieking in excitement. Boom. Bat familiar, perfect match." A column of swirling smoke rose from her pipe as she held it between her teeth. "It seems you didn't think about the fact th...

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“In the ocean somewhere” by Noah Vincent

Submitted to Contest #41

At thirteen a bee stung me and my mother barely got me to the hospital in time. So, you see, I knew what almost dying felt like. And it felt as cold as the water felt that day. The water was freezing and my heart was as empty as my head was full. Wishing to be alone I ignored every instinct in my rational body and didn’t called a diving buddy. And honestly, never before had I gone on a diving alone because that is just dumb, and im not dumb. Until I was.That day had started with a stomach turning, heart squeezing fight with my wife. The kind...

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“"The air is still and I am a hunter..."” by Abdul Kabir Qureshi

Submitted to Contest #41

The wind rustled quietly through the sleeping trees, bringing with it an air of ease and serenity. The moonlight barely penetrated the lofty branches above, leaving the ground dark and dingy. The wind traversed the soft ground, nimbly vaulting over decayed logs, dodging wildflowers and plants, clung to the barks of trees like children clung on to their guardians. All was well. But then the wind stumbled upon something unusual. It was a peculiar troupe of vines and grass, something the wind noticed was out of place. The whole thing was m...

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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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