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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

“Cobblestones” by Öykü Yeşil

Submitted to Contest #42

It was a very quiet evening. He could not believe the size of the cobblestones on the ground. He never took the time to look at them before. Some were the size of his hand. He wondered whether they had a different name. After almost twenty minutes of careful inspection, he came to the conclusion that cobblestones were not very interesting materials. He was growing impatient, it was at most 10-minute walk from her home, how could she be so late? Well, she was getting older, perhaps she was slowing down? When she appeared 10 minutes late...

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“The Old Trampoline” by C.M. Storm

Submitted to Contest #42

“I love you,” Tucker muttered. He wanted a response. He didn’t expect one, but he wanted one. He wanted it more than anything else. But she was already asleep. He sighed and shifted, turning and looking up at the sky. The old trampoline was falling apart. Held by rusty chains, the net on the outside was folding, wilting away. “I win!” Lilly cried, collapsing on the new trampoline. Tucker giggled, watching her. He was still breathing heavy, they had raced to see who could jump higher. T...

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“Broken” by Vanie Lea

Submitted to Contest #42

And here I stand, broken.I have spent a long time with you, always watching over you. I have been there when you were happy, laughing with joy about a passage in your book, about the delicious food you ordered, about your new job. I have been there when you cried, all heartbroken and your cheeks full of tears when the character you loved so much passed away, when your love wasn‘t requited. I have been there when you were angry, frustrated and full of rage, throwing your book into the corner, just to pick it up again a few minutes later, beca...

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“Terror” by Paramie Jayakody

Submitted to Contest #42

Terror.Terror.Abject terror. She woke up. She couldn’t remember her dream. She only knew that whatever it was, it woke her up gasping and shaking, and with overwhelming feelings of…..guilt? Where did the guilt come from? She didn’t know. Why did her head hurt? And why did her hand ache so much?Shaking away the lingering echoes of feelings she’d rather not think about in the early hours of the morning, she got up, remembering that- oh no. She groaned. It was the senior dance today. She didn’t hate dances, not at all. In fa...

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“Slitherinx” by E S

Submitted to Contest #42

Morris stumbled up the steep icy hill mumbling about stupid dares. Torrents of snow rained from the sky, coating the underdressed boy in frosty white flakes. His bare arms wrapped around his shivering body as he progressed to the top of the hill. His thin tank top, basketball shorts, and sneakers were no match for the freezing elements. He chanced one last glance at his friends waiting at the bottom of the slope. Their smug faces told him they hadn’t changed their minds. Morris let out a long sigh, watching the puffs of breath disappea...

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“Finish Line” by Tim Benson

Submitted to Contest #42

What is it about athletic competition that drives someone to try and do things they might not be physically capable of doing? Is it simple vanity or an overblown sense of pride? Is it some primal need to conquer someone or something? I had been thinking about that for months, ever since I’d decided to take up competitive bike racing. And the day I got the race application and map in the mail was the trigger for getting me to stop thinking and start doing.It was hard to match the details on the course map with the actual terrain and landmarks...

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“A Miracle” by Emika Asani

Submitted to Contest #42

Pilar bit her lower lip. Her immaculate smile was extinguished like a flame of an oil lamp.“I love you,” she gasped and the warmth left her hand. Her head fell back.Max’s throat relaxed a little. A ray of light ignited a bead of sweat on her upper lip. He instinctively turned towards the source of the orange light. On the horizon, the sun shone through a crack in the overcast sky, lead versus gold. The sun seemed overpowered. It plunged into the ocean, its lower half dissolved in a pool of red, yielding to the dark purple until it vanished.A...

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“The Norns” by Denise Ogilvie

Submitted to Contest #42

THE NORNSThe train rocked from side to side and the words on the page blurred. Valerie Carrington removed her reading glasses, pinched her nose and rubbed her eyes. The drab, shadowy suburbs of London flew past, a ghostly canvas hanging from the forbidding winter sky. Staring at her reflection through the grimy window, Valerie brushed a wayward curl from her face, wincing at the sight of the grey streaks running through her thick, unruly red hair. ‘Have you thought about dying your hair,’ her mother had said just yesterday. Followed by a cu...

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“Eternal Life” by Ariadne Isoton

Submitted to Contest #42

In a village halfway up a mountain pass, in early spring when the first larkspurs bloomed, a boy was born to the weaver’s wife. He came into the world feet first, with his eyes open, and did not cry, but stared around suspiciously until the midwife turned him upside down and smacked his feet, bringing forth a hoarse cry that assured everyone his lungs worked. He was named Cedar, for the hardy evergreen trees that grew tall and lived long. Cedar grew fast, and began walking and talking early. He ran everywhere, as if he were in a hurry t...

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“The Question of Survival” by Essy Dean

Submitted to Contest #42

"You should never have done it!" "And what should I have done? He was in danger." "He's a stranger. You don't know anything about him." "I'm not like you. I can't be cruel for no good reason." "I'm not being cruel, I'm being practical." Matilda glared at her older sister. She and Eleri had never gotten along. Things had only gotten harder after their mother had died and their father had run away. People wondered what had happened to their father. Matilda and Eleri had never corrected them. Rumors were most interesting than the truth. "And wh...

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“3 minutes...” by Noor Ali

Submitted to Contest #42

Alex wakes up his eyes illuminated by the sunlight coming thought the window, he covers his eyes using his right hand. Alex feels a sore on the left side of his neck. He moves his left hand towards the side where he is feeling sore. As he touches it he feels something. Something made of plastic and silicon. He has no idea what it is and he is already getting very irritated because of the pain. He moves his finger around it and finds out that it’s like a chip. Alex has no idea at all about how the chip is on his neck and who has placed it ove...

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“I Am From Nowhere ” by Lala Louis

Submitted to Contest #42

I am from nowhere. I had no birth and I expect no death. For how am I supposed to die, if I never truly lived? But what does it mean to live? I, in my flesh and blood state, wandered through my days mindlessly pursuing what any other person of flesh and blood pursues. I wanted it all. I wanted the classic american dream lined with that white picket fence that I saw as the benchmark of success set by those above me. I worked so I could go to school. I went to school so that I could work. I wanted to work, yes, but not like I did before. I wan...

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“In my End, is my Beginning” by Karen Piagesti

Submitted to Contest #42

The fig squelched between my teeth, releasing its soft flesh and thousands of little seeds onto my tongue. It was a taste and texture experience I couldn't get enough of, so vastly different from anything I had ever known. Like a rainbow explosion of colour for my mouth, it tempted my senses into places I had never known existed. It was exquisite, a joy so deep it made me feel like weeping.You see, my world started out grey. I was born in a world of grey, of sludge and cold with the smell of firewood lingering in the air around me. I lived i...

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“Options” by Gordon Petry

Submitted to Contest #42

1252 WordsOptions The end. It’s finally over Annie thought. My final option was gone. Her mother’s “sympathetic” phone call had been basically, “I don’t want to say I told you so, but I told you so.” It was the same words with the same phrasing, the same intonation Annie had heard most of her life, not really vicious, but with condescension thicker than her four-year-old Jimmy’s self sculpted peanut butter sandwiches. Annie had even renamed her mother’s words as “I-T-Y-S’s.” Jimmy and his two-year-old sister Jamie were about the only two thi...

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“Was it All Just a Joke?” by Terri Dieter

Submitted to Contest #42

The lights were flickering. The wind was raging through the house. The papers were shuffling, and it did not look like she was at her own house. Leyla woke up screaming, but she did not remember ever falling asleep. An afternoon nap maybe? That did not seem like something Leyla would typically do though. It all started on a blustery, dreary spring day when Leyla’s parents had to go out of town. They gave her specific rules not to use the stove or do anything with heat and outlets. Leyla pondered what she could do without these necessit...

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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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