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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#42: End of Story

Reaching the end of a story is a bittersweet thing. Upon reading the final word of a particularly good piece, you’re often hit with a sort of story-hangover: the ache of wanting to stay in the world of the tale, yet knowing there’s no more story to be read.

A truly excellent ending can mitigate that pain — which is why, as a writer, it’s crucial to nail the end of your own stories! Of course, this can mean different things for different pieces. A great ending might underscore a story's theme, or it might pose more questions than it answers; it all depends on context and execution. For more info, check out our tips for crafting a memorable ending here, and then dive into our ending-themed prompts below!

p.s. — We're hosting a Live Copyediting Workshop! On May 20th, Editors Tracy Gold and Julie Artz will take to YouTube to copyedit passages submitted by writers like you! For a chance to have your writing featured, click this link to register for the event and you'll receive submission instructions by email.

This week's prompts

Write a story that ends with the narrator revealing a secret.

Mystery – 162 stories

Write a story that ends in the past.

Teens – 68 stories

Write a story that ends with a character asking a question.

Narrative – 260 stories

Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

Short Story – 214 stories

Write a story that ends with one character waiting for the arrival of another.

Kids – 199 stories

Stories

“As Long as it Takes” by Megan Skaggs

Submitted to Contest #42

I left her waiting once. It's been many years ago now.I left her sitting and waiting anxiously at a train station. Her knees bounced up and down in anticipation, she wrung her hands out of nervousness. She waited there alone, for so many hours, as one train after another arrived and departed. Her heart breaking a little more as she watched each one leave the station. I’m sure that so many questions were running through her mind: Is he okay? Did I do something wrong? Is it my fault? Is he hurt? Is he with another woman? Did he leave...

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“Clutter” by Synia Sidhe

Submitted to Contest #42

2020 A.D. A jet-black convertible sped towards the locked gates. "Sweetiepie, no! I have the combination!" "No time." The driver graveled, before the car plowed into the gate, knocking it down. "Medea Suzanna Mettle!" 1980 A.D. "Look kiddo," Henry, a 47 year old college Administrative assistant to a now bankrupted college, tossed something old to his son. "An instrument, just like you wanted." Clark, his teenage son, caught it. He turned it in his hands. "What the hell, is this a recorder? Dad, I'm not in fourth grade....

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“Lights off” by Lea Vida DEL MORO

Submitted to Contest #42

They said that “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder” and eyes are the greatest reflection of our lives but in my case it is not. I am natural inborn blind and my family didn’t supported my operation because of poverty back then when i was a child but when i finally succeeded to get a chance to reach my dreams now i have the possibilities of seeking a donor for my operation. &...

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“The Answer” by Aimee P

Submitted to Contest #42

One bright, ninety-degree summer morning, two brothers played basketball in an apartment division basketball court. Their names were Atlas and Apollo. Their similarities only stretched to appearances; their brown curls tangled together with the antics of boyhood, their dark skin becoming darker with the heat of the sun. On a day such as this, Apollo felt light as a feather, while Atlas felt that he had the world on his shoulders. “Apollo,” he said, holding their ball captive for a minute as he tried to get his thoughts off his chest. “...

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“Waiting for Loretta” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #42

The house seems so quiet, thinks Lillian. She has never minded quiet; never been one of those people who feels uneasy and on edge if they don’t constantly have a radio on. She switches the radio on, fiddles with the channels. But whether music or talk, everything only seems to make the house noisier, and not less quiet. Lillian isn’t given to dwelling on the past. Oh, as she tells people (or more often herself) she isn’t one of those people who has drawn a curtain over it completely and ...

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“Made of Fear” by ℤ ℍ☮️

Submitted to Contest #42

DAY 5 - 9:00 AM“Guess what, Luis!” Martin calls from his window, “They found the fingerprints!”The gun rockets onto his neck, the chamber locks and the bullet flies into his veins, a flower of red blooms on his skin.He falls to the ground. As white as a sheet.DAY 4 - 7:00 PM“Luis, can Iet you in on a little secret?”The two men sat around an outdoor table around their swaying backyard campfire, which was filling the air with fiery sparks.“Tell me.” Luis nodded.“I’m Owen Moore, would you believe it.”“Oh.” Luis’s face started to dampen, his hea...

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“Hearts Of Men” by Stefen Sly

Submitted to Contest #42

Danger was part of their lifestyle, cunning its way to the top, it drove through the heart of men, making criticism of them. It was at the heart, mind, and eyes of everyone that lives in Dwand land. People call it a fantasy, others believe it's a sign, some say it's a warning, but most especially it's a pest.Jones was laughing heartlily at his partner who laid on the floor rolling over his stomach, it had been a rough day and he wanted to take a break through the night. He had missed whiskey with rum and drops of bitter, expecting it fo...

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“Four Years Later” by Zakaria Attioui

Submitted to Contest #42

Aurora’s living room welcomed the summer sunshine, providing light and warmth to her apartment. She wore a colorful dress with the same colors of her flowers on her living room windowsill—red, pink and violet. She hummed while walking to her kitchen to fill a large jug of water from the sink. Today will be a great day! A smiled super-glued to her mouth as she skipped across the living room to the window. “Some water for you,” she said, as she provided her impatiens with water. She continued down her line, humming and talking to them—and even...

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“Fifteens” by Imogen Bird

Submitted to Contest #42

Everyone gets to speak for fifteen minutes, that's how our democracy works. Actually, I should say everyone must talk for fifteen minutes, that's how the law works.I'm queuing up outside this drab television building with too many other people, it's drizzling slightly, but we have to stay here, not enough space inside. It's like when I went to the embassy to get my US visa, all waiting, minimal talking, a quick look of suspicion and a stamp later, I walked out a bit more free than when I went in. I'd felt like they were doing it on purpose, ...

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“The Spire” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #42

The Spire stood outside the Temple; its sandstone pillar aged by the sun. It had always been there, for longer than anyone could remember. Fikri walked past it as he did every day. He never really gave it much thought. But today he couldn’t help himself. He had woken earlier than usual, startled by a strange dream of stars and doors. Fikri sighed, wondering what to do with the time as he sat on a bench. He sat there for a while, sandals scuffing the red sand of the desert. He glanced at the sundial. He had time. It wasn’t dawn yet. And sin...

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“Where are you” by Emily Li

Submitted to Contest #42

I'm walking down the dark ally. Swoosh! What was that? I thought to myself. An Elf!"Stay stay back!" I Stammered."I'm not here to hurt you." The Elf said with a deep voice and a grin.The Elf's eye glowed. "I need your help.""With what?" I stammered."Hmm, you probably need to know my name?""What is it?" I said."Your name is Avery isn't it so brave to be in the lost continent where only dragons and elves live." Said the elf."I don't know all I know is that my plane and I crashed here through a raging storm," I said."Hmm you either stay here or...

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“A Broken Past” by M.Zubair Alam

Submitted to Contest #42

Tired, fed-up, and depressed, Sarah is sitting head down between her knees, on the couch. She is imagining deeply a way out of the current bleak situation. It has now been almost two months without a job, sitting idle, watching seasons, and working on her novelette. Sometimes, in the evenings she make her way in a park or checks in a rustic-style coffee shop located at a highland with a small stream of water flowing by its side. She is immensely broken from inside. Nothing ever preceding it had let her succumb to this extent in her...

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“The Ageing of Seasons” by Angie M

Submitted to Contest #42

It was the most soulful spring Matt had witnessed in a long time. Wildflowers crept up from the wily cracks in the sun-baked cement; cornflowers were etched across the graveyard like buttons on a Christmas sweater.Matt was gazing down at the scraped earth in front of him – strewn with yellow roses, magnolia ribbons and ten-cent ‘In-loving-memory’ cards. The granite headstone gazed back at him. A voice broke his trance; for a moment he thought it was the cornflowers speaking.“Hi,” she said, “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”Matt looked to his ...

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“Anyway” by Leumas Llewtnac

Submitted to Contest #42

As I recall it, it was only that day I’d read in the paper that there had been robberies. A man robbing people at gunpoint, wearing a short-brimmed hat as some sort of half-baked disguise. Now, I never thought I’d actually have a run-in with the guy. I mean, I’m not saying it was the guy. All I’m saying is that a gentleman in a hat approached me, and said: “Hello there.”Me, I was already frowning, I’d had a bad day. So it may have been in a somewhat patronising tone that I gave my own reply of “Hello there.”Now, don’t let me get ahead of mys...

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“Grandmother's Footsteps” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #42

Some of my friends say I’m odd. They all probably think it. But they make a point of saying that it’s nice odd. It’s not the kind of odd that’s embarrassing or awkward. “Sometimes I can’t quite make you out, Irene,” my friend Sonia said the other day. “You’re a conundrum. A contradiction.” Irene is an aspiring writer and a darned good writer too, but she does sometimes seem to feel compelled to prove the fact by over-use of alliteration! “How so?”&nb...

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$50

Prize money

903

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 22, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: The Firebird's Answer

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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