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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

“Widow With Twins” by Amber Fling

Submitted to Contest #42

I feel a finger poke my left arm that is supporting my head on my sweet, precious pillow. I pretend I don’t feel this poke, hoping it will go away and let me rest. Just ten more minutes, that’s all I need, honest.I feel another poke, this time a double, just above my ear, through my hair. This one is a little more urgent as in, ‘Hi, I am standing here and I am ready for your attention’. My brain is half tuned in and the other is still lingering somewhere along the rem cycle, wishing the other half would come back to join it. I stay sti...

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“A Hidden Plea” by Nicholas Westbrook

Submitted to Contest #42

“You’re gonna want to send someone to clean up Aisle 16…” “What?” Matt asked. He’d been three hours into his shift stocking the shelves and it already felt like eight. It beat the hell out of check out, but people were buying food like it was the end of the world. Matt couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a full shelf for more than an hour. The only reason he took these shifts was so he wouldn’t need to talk with customers like this girl. “There’s a mess in Aisle 16,” the girl urged. She had long, blonde hair tied up into a messy ...

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“Just Another Messiah” by Faustine Fell

Submitted to Contest #42

My gaze bore down at the helmet. I picked it up, holding the ebony glass eyes level with my bloodshot, red ones. Feeling the smooth surface of the cold metal, almost from that of a gun, a revelation seemed to beam through the dull shading of it, of scorched auburn and crow feather. I would not be able to change what they did, yet I could certainly make them burn in an eternal Hell for it. ...And that's just what I'll do. My legs hug a vintage motorcycle as its tires screech and burn upon the cracked pavement. I pull in the clutch and ...

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“In the name of Mid-Week Summer Holiday ” by Arjoma Moulick

Submitted to Contest #42

I don’t know what kind of summers you have been living in but the summers I have been living in the range from humid hot to dry and scorching summer heat. I would have loved a mild summer but Bengal doesn’t have a mild summer as far as I know in twenty years of my experience. With my daily excursions to my workplace where I work till evening and sometimes late night as an accountant trying to match the endless balance sheet day after day and accounting for the money spent by each company employee on the excel sheet. What has my life become- ...

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“Chapter 1” by Devyn Porter

Submitted to Contest #42

Knock… knock… knock. I startled awake at the sound. Judging by the increasing thud on the door, they had knocked more than once. It was frantic. “Coming” I mumbled as I roused myself from the couch that had been my prison for the last 17 days. The coolness of the hardwood floor under my feet jarring my senses, I staggered to the window. Being careful to not call attention to the curtains, I peered out into the front lawn. By normal standards, it was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the grass was green, and the damn squirre...

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“White Tuna on Marble Rye” by Rod Carley

Submitted to Contest #42

WHITE TUNA ON MARBLE RYE By Rod Carley Our mom was dying. It was the Sunday night of the Labour Day weekend. She was ninety-years old, and she knew she was dying in the next twenty-four hours. Don’t ask me how she knew, but she did. She complained of back pain during the summer. We all noticed she’d lost a few pounds at the August long weekend family barbecue. It didn’t cross our minds she was sick - Mom’s weight fluctuated depending on the season. She decided she ...

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“Minor Mistakes” by Foxtrot Campbell

Submitted to Contest #42

The taxi pulled up outside the restaurant, the automatic door beeping as it slowly slid open to release the man within. He was jumping to get out and track down the table he had booked yesterday for this critical occasion.His brogues clacked loudly on the pavement with every step, the volume matching his intensifying sense of pressure. Dressed his best suit, which he had dusted off from his wardrobe the previous evening, he readjusted the neck of his yellow and purple striped tie, for what felt like the hundredth time. It was a Christmas pre...

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“A dream Or...?” by Kisa Zehra

Submitted to Contest #42

Golden rays of the sun shone on the ponds, The birds seemed to be chirping. A casual glamourous morning. The sun was peeking from in between the clouds, and was eager to wake me up, because I felt the rays on my face. Unfortunately, the sudden beeping of the alarm clock, was not quite pleasant. A hand emerged from the bed, trying all it could to grab for his opponent, finally succeeds, and the dreadful sound stopped. A typical and rather stubborn side of mine would have told me to go back to sleep again, which I did for a few seconds. Until ...

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“MY JOB: ALWAYS A TRICKY SITUATION ” by NIDHI CHANDOLA

Submitted to Contest #42

Introduction: An outlookDedication, hard work, sincerity and zeal to learn things have always been my primary concern whenever I take any responsibility, whether it is my personal or official work. But the irony of the time is, all such things don’t matter in our society any more. The time has changed, exploitation in every field has become a trend and I am too trying to cope up with this type of design but it seems difficult and suffocated at once and I just want to get away from this circle.Always I come up with a thought of noble deeds an...

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“Terroir” by Albert Katz

Submitted to Contest #42

I like to call her ‘Lilith’, and her name for me is ‘Nan Qui´ , after how we are known by others, though of course neither of us have names, or, if we ever did, it was long ago .Our kinds seldom meet, and even more rarely interact and yet she and I have bonded, in a way. On those occasions our paths cross we take a sojourn and go out to eat together, the only erotic thrills she and I can ever experience together. We share stories of our conquests, a form of pornography, really.I let her talk first as we make plans for our meal. She tells of ...

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“Selling Advice” by Meghan Saini

Submitted to Contest #42

I pushed my cart, a little miffed. People need to stop freaking out after hearing things they didn’t like hearing. The men- they looked more like boys- struggled in the trodden dirt of the clearing. One of them was an odd fellow, shivering in the middle of summer while on a ‘walk’ in the woods. I only used this path because it was smooth. I shook my head and walked along, pushing my cart. There were few people that could deal with listening to their fates and stay sane which is why I sell advice instead of fortunes. I glanced back to see the...

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“Assassin's Training ” by Rebekah Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #42

Jacob woke up to a loud bang in his dorm room, he looked around to see where the noise came from, it was Logan his bunkmate, he had fallen off of the top bunk. “Are you alright?” Jacob asked Logan who was now rubbing his back with a groan “Yeah, I will be,” Logan answered laughing at himself and Jacob helped him off the floor laughing along with him. Littl...

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“On Repeat” by Amy Strong

Submitted to Contest #42

Water dribbled down his chin as he pulled the bottle away from his mouth. He took a deep breath and started chugging again. Sweat drenched his shirt and his pants. Standing across from him was the hiker that found him in the trench. She reached out and gently put her hand on his arm.“Easy. You’re gonna make yourself sick.” She had an easy southern draw, clearly a tourist out here in the desert. She gave him an easy smile and he pulled the bottle away again. Using the bottom of his shirt, he wiped his face off.He had been in that trench since...

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“ Impossible is Only a Matter of Perspective ” by Tessa Gray

Submitted to Contest #42

It was impossible, that’s what I would’ve said if anyone had asked me about it. I would’ve told them in no uncertain terms that conversing with the dead was simply not possible. But then it happened. The impossible happened and as it turned out it wasn’t so impossible after all.The morning began ordinarily enough. I was awoken by the unwelcome and unmistakable sound of my alarm clock. I pressed the snooze button and briefly considered unplugging the thing. As tempting as the idea was I discarded it, knowing that if I did my mother ...

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“Life Drawing Life” by Iris Shepard

Submitted to Contest #42

My dad has a complicated relationship to art. I found a 3 x 5’ canvas in the shed, behind the broken tiller, dirt dauber nests in the corners of the wooden frame. The painting was abstract, a riotous, surrealist piece in muted pastels of my doodles. I knew it was my dad’s work because they were the same doodles he sketched on scratch paper when he was on the phone, the same curlicue faces with big eyes and whimsical smiles that he drew during church on the bulletins. Loops and tunnels and twisting eels of color all pulsing across the c...

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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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