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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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 – 118 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 – 113 stories

Stories

“The One Without the Wardrobe” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #43

Stop trying to pretend, thought Lena Peterson, stop even trying to pretend to pretend! Things like that might have been fine when you were seven or eight, but now you’re ten going on eleven, and it’s not the same at all! It wasn’t even as if she had been sent to stay with her Grandfather – Grandpa Godfrey, as she called him – because of the war. The war had been over for ten years! No, she hadn’t been evacuated for her own safety, but sent to the sanctuary of Grandpa Godfrey’s house in t...

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“In the moonlight” by Marte Van Der Linden

Submitted to Contest #43

There were four of them in the litter. Felix was the biggest. He could stagger about on unsteady legs when he was only two weeks old, and was sticking his nose out of the den just a few days later. The next pups were Thora and Varg, who were inseparable from birth. It was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began in the whirl of grey fur and wagging tails. And then there was Luna, the runt of the litter. She had small ears that were usually folded back against her head and dark fur that made her hard to spot in the thick undergr...

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“The Hole in the Fence” by Elle Clark

Submitted to Contest #43

There was a hole in the fence. It was the first thing Beth had noticed about the garden when they moved in. While Dad fussed and faffed in the house, pulling in the building blocks of their lives from the moving van, Beth had explored the garden. The bright, spring morning was the first sunny day after months of winter darkness and she had been eager to breathe in the brisk, slightly warmed air rather than the dust and the recently painted aroma of the house. The garden was bare - a perfect photo for the estate agents - and Beth thought bitt...

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“Abusive ” by Thotsuki Bakuhoe

Submitted to Contest #43

I walked down the stairs and saw my mom with a luggage in her hand. " Mamma? Where are you going?" I asked.My mother turned so fast. She looked like she just saw a zombie. I walked up to her and hugged her. Her eyes watered. She hugged me back but hesitated to say anything. " Get out of here Brooke! We are over! Get out of my life!" My father yelled, throwing empty bottles at her. My mother looked scared, she kissed my forehead and opened the door. She looked back at my father, who was sleeping on the couch. She sighed and whispered in my ea...

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“In the known. ” by Anja Z

Submitted to Contest #43

It has been one week since I know three weeks since I been. I could already imagine feeling the life force grow inside of me. How did this happen? O wait, I remember, back in Michael’s club. How could I have been so stupid?The first day I realised I was so shocked I grabbed a cigarette and went outside and smoked it in less than 2 seconds. Then I remembered what my mom had told me. “Smoking is bad for a baby.” O mom how I wished you were here now, but you can’t be you had to leave for Tony’s sake. My little brother he was four at the time an...

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“What Happened” by Farida Yakubu

Submitted to Contest #43

“Maira! Maira, please let do this just once what can really happen after this, we are just going to have fun and that’s all” Zoya said, she keeps disturbing me about the party that is going to take place today in the late hours, party is one thing I really don’t like but I have a lot of things going on in my mind and I just want to forget them. Kyda and Husna are also going maybe if I tag along it might be fun.“Ok fine! I will go along with you but where are we going to spend the night when the party is over because you know we won’t be allo...

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“Chocolate behind his ears” by Verda H

Submitted to Contest #43

His head was swollen and pink the first time she saw him, and when they swaddled him onto her chest she let her sweaty forehead rest against his, and she saw his dark brown eyes for the first time. The trip home from the hospital was a nerve-wracking affair, full of baby car seat anxiety and newly mothered clingy-ness that resulted in her sitting at the back with him – who dozed off not even five minutes into the ride.As most kids when they are three, he was obsessed with chocolate. His cheeks were permanently stained a light brown giving hi...

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“A rainy day” by Nunga Dorcas Mirande Amalia

Submitted to Contest #43

Clac! Clac! Clac! The rain continously hit the window, gently at first then harder."Nhuuuuuhhhh nooooo" 8 years old Toby sights and scold at the rain. He knew his mother will never let him go meet his friends at the "playground " after the rain stops but Toby and his new friends ,Julian and wren felt old enough not to be kidding around since they discovered the old factory.They couldn't figure out what was created in that factory, but they liked the complicated mechanisms they found there and every time they told their parents they were goin...

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“Not Quite a Box of Magic” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #43

Albert stared at his feet, dangling in the air and hitting the wall with his heels. His friend, Oscar, stood next to him, arms outstretched to balance himself while he walked the same wall Albert was sitting on.“My dad said there’s no such thing,” Albert said, watching ants crawl up the vertical concrete wall. “That it only exists in fairy tales.”“Yeah,” agreed Oscar, “my dad’s the same. He doesn’t believe in it either. But my mom tells me it’s all around us if we only pay enough attention to it.”“Do you think so too?”“Nah, that’d be way too...

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“The Window and the Hay Cart” by Claire Taylor

Submitted to Contest #43

I sit perched on the edge of the window, my legs dangling out over the seas of people in the streets. This used to draw attention from the tenant, but he’s long moved past my “lack of self-preservation.” I could probably use a bit of healthy caution, honestly. If I had some, though, I’m sure I’d be stuck with some man who I don’t love and children I didn’t want. I tap my heel against the structure of the tenement. Music plays from the streets, three stories below me. Voice...

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“Hey, Stupid!” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #43

Staring down at the screen of her phone, Megan cringed at the sight of her friend’s Facebook post. It was a picture of a woman standing on a sunset beach, staring happily into the distant waves. Bold pink glittering letters were stamped on the photo, saying: ‘Hey stupid! Stop. Breathe. Smile.’Yeah right, she thought as she tapped her foot nervously. What’s taking so long?She taped on the heart icon next to the like button because that’s what Facebook friends do and scrolled down her news feed, too distracted to read, but too anxious to sit s...

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“Catalyst” by Heissell Ramirez

Submitted to Contest #43

“Here you are Mrs. Sanchez, the keys to your new apartment. Welcome to The Palm Gate,” said the building attendant.“Thank you, happy to be here. Oh, and by the way it’s Ms. Sanchez, not Mrs,” replied Ana.“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn't know.”Ana stared at the building attendant as he made his way out of the apartment. After he had shut the door behind him she looked down at the palm of her hand where two freshly cut gold keys sat. “Who will I give the spare key to?” Ana thought. The realization that for the first time in fifteen years sh...

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“Like oil and water” by Anushka Binoy

Submitted to Contest #43

He watches the girl sit on the swing, like a broken doll gently swaying. Her legs dangle and the wind playfully flings around her auburn tresses. She is not like the other children who were here before: their laughter rang in the air and their cries tumbled down the hills. But she does not do that; she neither laughs nor cries. In fact, he struggles to think of what else she does, apart from sit on her swing. He is lost in a world of thought when a high-pitched squeal brings him back to reality – the girl cowers behind a tree, her white knuc...

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“Polar Opposites” by Anna Mosqueda

Submitted to Contest #43

Darkness is just a feeling, but it's also my personality. I've come to the conclusion that I'm superior over everyone. They don't talk to me because they're intimidated. The people that do talk to me, they want to be like me. I walk through the halls with a subtle smirk on my face that turns heads and summons laughs. Laughs of nervousness of course. Sadly, none of that is true. My reality just barely crosses the line of being forced to sit beside the trashcans in the school cafeteria. My mind and body have adopted the aura of the goth kids a...

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“KING COBRA AND HIS PRINCESS” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #43

Mark Gonzalez disliked people, but he loved his wife and daughter. Mark's wife, Victoria, died tragically several months ago, so he only had his teenage daughter, Sarah, in his life. Mark was a space pilot. As a boy, he dreamed about building a home in space away from people and Earth. Mark's dream came true, sort of. He dreamed of space travel, but he dreamed of traveling through space alone. Transporting thousands of vacationers into space on a luxury starship was not Mark's desire.Mark worked as a space pilot for twe...

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$50

Prize money

636

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 29, 2020 EST

Won by Guilherme Copati 🏆

Title: Reunion

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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