Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

← All contests

#43 Kidding Around

Want a quick way to lift your spirits? Revisit the books you loved as a child.

 

This week, we got a chance to do exactly that while writing a blog post on 100 Classic Children's Books, and we quickly found our minds swirling with imagined places and whimsical characters. 

 

While our prompts this week are inspired by those same children's books, whether you write a children's story or not is up to you. Pick up your pen and let your imagination do the rest!

 

p.s. – Are you interested in coming behind the scenes of the Reedsy Prompts contest as a judge? Head here for more information!

This week's prompts

Write a story about transformation.

Nonfiction – 172 stories

Write a story about the relationship between a parent and a child that spans several years.

Adults – 122 stories

Write a story about someone who discovers a mysterious object in their home.

Kids – 116 stories

Write a story about an average day turned upside down by an unexpected visitor.

Kids – 111 stories

Write a story about an unlikely friendship.

Kids – 110 stories

Stories

Chances

Submitted to Contest #43

2003. The ridiculously looking Christmas tree scrapes the ceiling as dad barely manages to maintain his balance on a ladder to hang the fairy. It’s presence belongs in the heart of its home, the forest, but instead it is here, dominating our small living room. But why is everyone grinning? My siblings surround the tree in hope of decorating the green thing. Packets and boxes of previously used decorations lie on the floor. The snake-like tinsel, the miniature half-eaten candy canes and the loose strips too. Mum reaches forward to plug in the...

58 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

An Unlikely Father

Submitted to Contest #43

Po was a panda who lived with his dad They ran a place where noodles were rad.Po liked to play with his action friendsHis funny adventures never come to an end.One day Po was late to workHis dad said, “Come on, in the store you must lurk.”“Dad,” he said, “I had a dream!It had to do with noodles it seems!”His dad said, “Oh great, that means it’s your turn!Go, go, go, there’s money to earn!Take the cart and go to the mountain,The Dragon Festival’s about to begin!”Po huffed and puffed up those stepsMaster Oogway was about to choose who was...

57 likes 33 comments 33
Read story

Ander's New Cable Knit Sweater

Submitted to Contest #43

“No, I don’t want to go to the Cabinet Seminar with you tomorrow, Sapphy.” Ander crossed his arms across his chest and scowled at his sister, who was trying once again to convince him that he should go with her to some ridiculous event. Whatever. “I’m not going.” He ignored the tickets sitting on the table and rolled his eyes when Sapphy widened hers; some attempt to make herself look more innocent, but instead made her look like she had eaten too many gas station bean burritos and wasn’t sure where the nearest bathroom was. “But, Ander...

57 likes 26 comments 26
Read story

Foolish Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #43

The weather went out of its way to mock me that Sunday. I scowled at the sun, hating how it revelled in its unmitigated brilliance while I mourned the lack of my own. It was in times like this that I wished for snow in our tropical isle— perhaps, its iciness would temper the burn of rejection that I felt. The journey back home from Augustine University felt like a walk of shame, with each heavy footstep taking me further away from my dreams of becoming a successful writer. Professor Rawlings said that it would take time and the rig...

56 likes 33 comments 33
Read story

Slow and Steady

Submitted to Contest #43

“You didn’t finish so very far ahead of me, you know,” said Hare, when the other animals had moved off and the stars were spinning through the sky. Tortoise looked at him, blinking slowly. “Come again?”  “We crossed the finish line practically at the same time.” Hare did his best to speak slowly enough that Tortoise could hear; no one understood him when he spoke as fast as his thoughts ran. “I was only a few seconds behind you. If I’d woken up a few seconds earlier, I still would have beaten you.” “That’s true enough,” said Tortoise ag...

56 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

The Little Thing In Life...

Submitted to Contest #43

When people say they can’t, it bothers me. People take one look at trying, and just give up. It makes me just pity them, when they shake their head and walk away, thinking that they won’t, and never will. I wish I could be that person walking away shaking their head because at least I would be HUMAN. I wish for a lot of things, one being a new bed. Over these past years I admit I have changed a lot. Well you probably won’t understand though. I also admit to my faults of being a quitter. There are a couple of things in life I would like ...

54 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

A Record Player With No Records

Submitted to Contest #43

Introduction "Henzi! I'm leaving for work!" Little did I know that would be the last I heard of my father. He was a tall man, with shaggy black hair, and chocolate brown eyes. My father was a muscular man, but so soft like a teddy bear on the inside. He had a love for records and record players. He really just loved everything music. He created a name for himself, and was known all across the country. William Jonter; it was a stage name. His real name was Noah Harvester. It was my 18th birthday that day. I had already graduated from high sc...

54 likes 26 comments 26
Read story

Blue Star

Submitted to Contest #43

   10 years earlier       In a deep dark jungle, a team of 5 scientists discovered a weird object and when touched causes grave danger. This object glowed bright blue and was in a starlike shape. They discovered the object when they were doing a secret investigation at Mount Linai. Bob, one of the scientists, touched the object. All of a sudden, there was a loud boom and all five scientists were zapped from existence, never to be seen from or heard again.      “H...

51 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Kevin Walter Bob John

Submitted to Contest #43

This boy was at the beach, and he was being irritated by several strange children. They were in the water just miles and miles away, and yet they were so extremely loud and obnoxious that he could hear them anyway. They were yelling names at him. They weren’t bad names like Fatacake, Heartfeet, Bonsai, or Justin Beiber, but instead they were names like Kevin, Walter, Bob, and John. Yes. The boy could hear the voices carrying across the water like small vessels of supreme annoyance. He stared at the motley crew of bellowers. He glared at the ...

51 likes 29 comments 29
Read story

The way of a transgressor

Submitted to Contest #43

In 1959, Errol Flynn died of a heart attack, but that’s not the entire truth. I poisoned him, and that was what led to his death.I am now seventy-six years old, and of sound mind and body. If you’re reading this, then I’ve gone to the great beyond, and I give you permission to share this confession with anyone you like. I don’t regret what I did; I only regret that his death was quick and painless.I am beginning to get ahead of myself, but that’s to be expected at my age. I met Errol Flynn in 1958, when I was fifteen years old.Errol Flynn wa...

51 likes 28 comments 28
Read story

Innocence

Submitted to Contest #43

Dear me when I'm older,  2/13/2001Do I have a big house when I'm big and old? Am I tall? Do I still hate math? I guess I'll be smarter when I'm older and super wise. Maybe I'll have glasses. My favorite sport is cheerleading, but I'm very bad at it. (Don't tell anyone, but I only play because my friends do.) Today I also broke a lamp while trying to get better at cheer. My father was super mad at me, and my 3 sisters laughed. I'll be so ruined if anyone finds this, especially my sisters. One last question, when I get older, will I ...

51 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

The Mystical Tree

Submitted to Contest #43

Isla Ellington was a young girl, only the age of ten. She had curly brown locks that flowed down her back, ending right above her tailbone. Her eyes sparkled with the lightest blue, reflecting the sky on a cloudless day. A small gap held place between her front teeth, making it an easy target for the kids at her school.“Why don’t you get your teeth fixed, Isla? Or do you pronounce it Itha.” The boys in her class would smack each other on the back, congratulating the other on the insult. Isla had no trouble speaking and she found the comment ...

50 likes 47 comments 47
Read story

Dear Mother, Dear Daughter

Submitted to Contest #43

May 22, 2010Dear Mother,I do not believe that we have a good relationship right now. You have been very rude to me lately and you have been making me do even more chores than the normally crazy amount that you give me. I don't understand why, it's not like there's another child you have to take care of. It's just me. I am very upset, and angry, with you. Why can't you just be the old you?-HannahMay 22, 2010Dear Daughter,I can tell that you are upset and angry with me. And I understand why. I have been giving you even more chores than normal ...

49 likes 27 comments 27
Read story

The Great Birthday Reunion

Submitted to Contest #43

The birthday boy sat in a chair made of donuts and caramel apples. There was a squirrel head made from cake batter and frosting resting upon his left shoulder, because he hated those buggers and wanted to represent this dislike on his special day. He looked graciously out at his adoring friends. There were only around eight of them, but they were adoring nonetheless.  Snow fell from the sky and landed on the edges of their noses. They lived in a place where the seasons whirled around like sirens. There was also a lot of crime in the are...

49 likes 25 comments 25
Read story

Transformation – “a change that changes you”.

Submitted to Contest #43

                           Transformation – “a change that changes you”.Transformation – “a change that changes you”. They say everything is constant in this world except change. Things change , people change, attitude changes but no one could define change as in what is it in real. Is it  that things change from outside or is it something that changes within us? .With my life experience I feel that even...

48 likes 25 comments 25
Read story

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel
Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.