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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

“On the Run” by Anastasia Ifinedo

Submitted to Contest #42

My life was pathetic. Under the cover of a cloudless night, I'd dashed into the woods. The rain hid my scent and covered my tracks. Still, I knew I wasn't safe; it was only a matter of time until the police caught me. Maybe, I'd kill them too. The dogs were barking, eager to sniff me out. I could hear their owners ordering one another. Find her, a man said. You're only making this worse for yourself, darling, another soothed. Lies. They'd say anything to stop me, but I'd never fall for their tricks. I will escape. Or they die....

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“Glances Through Windows” by Michael Loss

Submitted to Contest #42

Author’s Note:Hey guys, it’s Michael. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my stuff!I just wanted to give you a head start on what awaits you:This is a complex story told backwards: each section represents an event that makes its way linearly until its end, the following section occurs before the previous event. (Exactly like Memento: a story told from end to beginning)----------????----------What good is trying to look into someone’s soul if their eyes are closed? If the eyes are the windows, the mind is the soul’s essence, it...

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“Shadow of a Doubt” by Megan DeRouin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #42

Shadow of a Doubt I’d heard the rhetoric before. I’d see it on television how men in overly starched suits, wearing too much expensive cologne laid out phrases of words that hardly meant anything at all. I had thought I knew what to expect. Now it felt too real. He was a man, not much older than I was. Maybe twenty-five, a few years out of college working a starter job in an office somewhere that had business casual as the dress code. He kept tugging at his red tie as if he wa...

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“Ants” by Smudge Himmel

Submitted to Contest #42

Peter was staring at ants. It was an easy thing to do: crouch down and watch as their red and black bodies spun over the pavement like a roller coaster in two dimensions. His breath fogged against his glasses. It wasn't a cold day, far from it, but wearing a medical mask over his nose and mouth had that effect. The elastic straps pulled uncomfortably at his ears. The sun was hot on his neck and gleamed off of the ants' carapaces. Peter pulled out his phone and without looking dialed his friend Celia. After five rings she picked up. "Peter?" ...

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“Coats of Many Colors” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #42

She is standing there, looking at me. She says nothing, but bends her head first to the left and then to the right, ever so slightly. I think she’s studying me. There’s not a lot to study, because I am plain and simple. I mind my own business and do my job. I have seen so many things in my life. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen. You may not want to hear or see what I’ve seen.In any event, I’m going to err on the side of caution. I don’t want to be known as not being able to keep secrets. If people thought I would reveal parts of thei...

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“It's Not About Chocolate” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #42

We were sitting on the village green of Brunswick and waiting for her to arrive. It was a balmy early summer day, although Maine rarely has weather that could be classified as balmy. It was mid-afternoon and the sunlight was perfect in a way only coastal sunlight can be. We were ready and were convinced that this was going to be a very big deal, because, well, for a lot of reasons. I guess the easiest way to tell you what we were there for is by describing our conversation, how our voices were like a chorus. You need to know how we had gotte...

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“What's in a Name?” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #42

“Why can’t we call her Shalimar?” Stewart Lovell sounded far more hurt and puzzled than angry. He was the kind of man who hated confrontation and most certainly didn’t want it now, when his wife Wilma had given birth to the most wonderful and beautiful and miraculous small human in the history of the whole world, ever, only a few hours previously, and he still couldn’t get his head round the fact that he was her father. Looking at his two fantastic girls, he felt his heart and soul brim over with joy. So why was...

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“Star Kiss” by Keith B.

Submitted to Contest #42

Out of all the rock concerts Chris had been to this was the loudest and most electric. He would not had guessed that a childhood crush of his would be a lead singer in one of the most promising indie rock bands of its’ time. Chris stood in the middle of the crowd several feet back from the medium size stage. He was shoulder to shoulder with very excited, sweaty, drunk young male and females, who were also pushing, screaming and smoking. The girl in front of him was lifted up onto her boyfriend’s shoulders. She joyously raises her hands in th...

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“They killed, We killed.” by 16 Shades Of Irony

Submitted to Contest #42

It was yet another mundane day. Piles of files scattered my desk and I kept going through them. My holster and badge rested beside my chair and my eyes drooped from the boredom. Even the sounds of laughter and talk seemed to be mute for they couldn’t shake me from my state of drowsiness.“Hey, Conolly, wake up.” I snapped my eyes open and reached for my holster only to look up at Jaxon Matthews, my partner, and informant. “Matthews, when will you ever learn that you should never sneak up on me?” He looked at me ridiculously. “Woman, I did not...

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“That Final Dot” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #42

“Yeah, this sucks.”The two of them stared at the crackling flames and observed how they licked the leftover words of the story. Redundant adverbs, some passive voice and a whole detailed description of a love scene, all burning to cinder. “I don’t want to kill you any more than you wish to kill me,” said Kozech, a human war general. His gauntlets and helmet rested by his feet and his two-handed sword remained firmly planted in the chest of an undead ogre, who lay flat on the ground nearby. Kozech didn’t even bother to pull the weapon fr...

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“Summer Ritual” by Jessica Orenstein

Submitted to Contest #42

It was a humid summer night as Sydney, Sasha, and Simone, the "three S's" as they were often called, sat on the beach just after midnight, a week before school started. The water stretched out in front of them, smooth and calm, a mirror, reflecting the moonlight. The sky was dusted with 1,000's of stars that twinkled and winked at the girls, just as they had done each year, every year, since the summer after 1st grade. This had been their special tradition for as long as they could remember- a precious ceremony, where they ...

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“Dogs, Cats and the Occasional Bird” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #42

It was almost five, so close to knock off that I was tempted to steal those precious minutes and already call it a day. The name's Donald by the way, Donald Ronald PI. I'm in the mystery business, but for now my bread and butter has been coming from finding lost dogs, cats and the occasional bird, you know, the feathered kind. I needed some honey. I was desperate for something, anything to sweeten the monotony. That's when she walked in; five foot two with shoulder length hair the colour of purity. She wore Gucci knockoffs and a cheap perfum...

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“" New Beginnings "” by Vickie Culbertson

Submitted to Contest #42

Once again the phone went to voice mail. Teagan leaves a message for Pilar, " I know you don't want to speak to me." "Please call me back! " As Teagan thoughtfully considered how to explain to this successful young woman that her life up to this point had been layer upon layer lies. Everyone in this family knew the truth, and everyone played their roles to perfection. At her mother's death a secret was revealed that Lydia Lunsford was not Pilar's mother, but in truth her grandmother. Teagan herself had been unwillingly persuaded to secrecy t...

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“Hilarious” by Niveditha Praveen

Submitted to Contest #42

“There is nothing wrong to have the gun in my hands now."He aimed at his assistant and shot him in his head.Then with the gun, he ran to the next room for his next target, the chief of operations, when the firing started from outside. Some days ago – Hussain was leaving the Birmingham Railway Station when he got the call from his roommate Jamal. He needs to pick up the call, because unless it was very important, Jamal will not call him, when he is at work. He parked his cab nearby, pulled down the glass between him and the passenge...

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“Baby Steps” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #42

“Take it nice and slow,” says the warder who is escorting Barry to the high security prison. “Baby steps!” His voice isn’t really unkind. It’s just the kind of thing that prison warders say. Force of habit, Barry supposes, as much as anything else. As if he had a choice, shackled as he is! He wonders if he could risk saying, “Well, I could hardly break into a jog, could I?” But he doesn’t particularly want to say it anyway. The warder steers him up the steps of the van, and perhaps he thinks he is help...

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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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