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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#44: Just the Beginning

Two weeks ago, our theme was story endings. This week, we're circling back to the starting line and focusing on story beginnings.

From Zora Neale Hurston's "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." To Jane Austen's "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." And George Orwell's "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Memorable lines stick with us because they're what propel us into the world of the story in the first place.

For more inspiration, check out our tips for crafting intriguing opening lines, and then dive into our beginning-themed prompts below!

This week's prompts

Write a story that starts with two characters saying goodbye.

Character – 248 stories

Write a story that starts with a life-changing event.

Novel – 175 stories

Write a story that starts with someone returning from a trip.

Character – 111 stories

Write a story that starts with a character-revealing something unusual about themselves.

Character – 142 stories

Write a story that starts by establishing its setting in a different time period — without explicitly stating what that period is.

Historical Fiction – 114 stories

Stories

“The Great Battle Axe of Qiuyue Zhang” by Abby Irwin

Submitted to Contest #44

The explosion rocked the whole building and Hui stooped low to avoid the hanging ceiling. Another explosion came from a long way off. This war had to stop and Hui was determined to be the one to stop it. 7 days later Hui whooped with delight and accomplishment as the metal ladle spun in a circle stopping as it reached the halfway point. It had worked! Hui’s invention had succeeded which might just help them win the underground war. Hui stopped as the ladle spun again and stopped, quivering between the sword and where it was tr...

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“The Lad With the High Quality Cap ” by Elaina Goodnough

Submitted to Contest #44

I have memories, just like any other normal person. Memories of love and loss, hope and peace, hate and destruction. My mother died of cancer when I was three. I remember the day she died. I laid my head on hers, I handled her face sweetly as I asked my father why she didn't wake up. I remember the time my father remarried, I was seven. I stood stiff in a little white dress as my father stared teary-eyed at my new mother. Memories are a relative thing, sometimes I remember the minute something happened, and other times I only remember small...

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“The Sixth thorn” by A.J Blink

Submitted to Contest #44

It was a cold austere November evening when Lady Rosaline Roberts decided she was better off without happy endings. The clock advertently chimed six overhead her just at that moment the resolution positioned, and her fate was sealed, or so it seemed. Still, a little fire stoked relentlessly in the core of her indifference, apparent by the glare her eyes would emit and the sharp breath she would draw when someone, jokingly smears her with the endowment “sixth thorn.” It was a name she never would consider getting accustomed to, but it seemed ...

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“The Pariah Of Battlefield Elementary” by A O

Submitted to Contest #44

I was once the bell-bottom-wearing pariah of Battlefield Elementary School. I hadn’t thought about that for years. Then, last week, I was in a hurry, parking the BMW, bypassing the school pickup line, and wading through a sea of swarming kids to the place where my daughter’s fifth grade class usually stands after school. I was by my Brianna and another girl, both unaware they were being observed by an adult, when the memory of my sojourn through Battlefield rushed back to me like a tsunami. Battlefield Elementary was situated out in a V...

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“Fleet” by Steve Stigler

Submitted to Contest #44

He slipped into the sudden stillness of their homemade decontamination room and closed the door, extinguishing the strobing beacons behind him. Placing the grocery bags on top of the washing machine, he began disrobing according to the guidelines issued by the CDC, back when the CDC still existed.His coat and the outside of his gloves were contaminated, presumably. He unzipped, then grabbed the front of his coat and pulled away, shaking it inside-out, then rolling it into a bundle. The coat, used to his weekly forays, curled in on itself lik...

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“Celestial Life” by Josh C

Submitted to Contest #44

If I asked you to describe an Angel, how would it look? Would it have wings, a halo, or maybe a flaming sword? Perhaps you think of a naked baby with a bow and arrow? I’m guessing you wouldn’t describe an orphan, with no job, no friends, living for free in a studio above a bakery. You wouldn’t describe me, basically. But I am an angel. I have a unique ability. I can understand people. Not just in an empathetic way, like understanding that someone is upset, or reading their body language, but really understand them. I see or hear what th...

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“The Curse” by Helen Molly

Submitted to Contest #44

A long time ago, a young boy lived in a house on a farm near the forest. His parents kept him at home often, so he was schooled at home, and lived a sheltered life. Rarely was he allowed to go outside, and it was only at night. During the day, he would be given lessons by his mother, and at night he would go out with his father. They would watch the stars and talk about different topics. One night, the young boy asked if they could go exploring in the woods. His father changed the subject to something different, and the boy forgot his questi...

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“Speak Easy” by Kate Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #44

Unbeknownst to the owners of the home, wine had been secretly slipped into their mailbox. Eugene had done it in one graceful motion, sliding the dark glass right next to the newspapers. He smirked. When alcohol was scarce, knowing that you had a bit of it for yourself was always a good moment. Eugene skipped up to Mr.Haskel, who was already knocking on the door in a somewhat drunken motion. Haskel wore wine stained suspenders buttoned to voluminous trousers, he had the air of a man who lived large and liked large things. The door s...

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“Good morning. Goodbye.” by Elena S. Kodermaz

Submitted to Contest #44

“Good Morning. Goodbye.” he whispers and lets Wild Horses by Rolling Stones take his place. For a moment he stops, closes his eyes, and lets music cuddle him. Afterward, he hangs the headphones on the microphone in front of him and winks at the sound supervisor behind the fingerprinted glass.“Great job as usual Dan.” Says the young new lever as Dan walks out of the recording area.“Bye Jack.” Dan smiles warmly, the boy always greets him this way out of politeness. In reality, he only listens to his radio show for the last half-hour,...

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“No Coffee, Please.” by Mike Olsen

Submitted to Contest #44

“Hey, do you mind if I join you? The place is packed and I am having trouble finding a table.” “No, that’s fine, go ahead.” “Thanks. I don’t usually ask to sit with strangers.” “That’s fine.” I ensured her, sliding down my side of the booth to make space for her to sit opposite. “You’re a writer?” she asked, starting up a conversation. “No, I’m a teacher. I teach online classes.” I explained. “Oh, sorry, am I interrupting?” her voice softened with embarrassment. “I’m at lunch. I work out of an office down forty-seventh and third. I tea...

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“Sky Worthy” by Aimee P

Submitted to Contest #44

“I’ve always wanted to be a pilot.” “Really?” Judah and Katie lay in the grass in front of Judah’s house. Both had been best friends for as long as either could remember, and grew closer each year they spent together. “Yeah, it’s just always interested me. The mechanics, the different types of planes, helping people, everything. My grandfather was a pilot at some point too, y’know. I think that’s also where I get that from.” “And so the models in your room, they’re not just from some bygone phase like horse girls?” Katie teased, rollin...

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“What I Thought I Knew” by Aneka Williams

Submitted to Contest #44

“Will you marry me, Danielle?”Edward’s voice came from behind me and I slowly turned around to see him awkwardly bent on one knee and his hands outstretched with a large silver ring neatly stacked in a tiny box. I must have started crying. Or laughing. His happy expression shifted to one of uncertainty and I realized I must have answered the question wrong.“Yes,” I clarified, “Yes, I’ll marry you”His courage surfaced again. He jumped to his feet and tenderly pushed the ring onto my index finger. I kissed him in front of everyone at the cafe ...

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“Waxes and Foxes ” by Princess Eno

Submitted to Contest #44

I love melted wax.On days where customers order for birthday cakes, chocolate takes the highest order. I wouldn't blame them. It tastes better in chocolate, the gleam and yummy black goodness mixed with properly melted wax. My first chocolate was given to me by my first love, who clad himself with a frown, in crooked looking glasses and permanent wrinkles etched over his forehead. First love didn't taste like hot chicken pepper soup with herbs and spices that left my nose runny. No, it was no hot romance. Almost forbidden,but with no he...

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“In The Act” by Chelsy Maughan

Submitted to Contest #44

Dust lifted into the air like a small cyclone, kicked up by the ill hemmed bottom of a young girl’s dress. A young boy ran across the packed road as he chased after a large wooden hoop that he rolled with a stick. The boy narrowly missed a disgruntled horse drawn carriage, a woman gasped loudly in the distance and the boy stopped dead in his tracks. A woman, his mother, placed her dignified hand around the hoodlum's ear and pulled him along. Her purple dress flounced behind her as she walked, with a shrill voice she lamented the boy. J...

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“The Outbreak Of 2021” by Mary Donahue

Submitted to Contest #44

It was the summer of 2021 and 4 students were off to Saturday morning detention.Heather ( The popular girl )Steve ( The jock )Nichole (The athletic rule follower )and Thomas ( The wimpy, religious, nerd.)They all headed to their seats and were watching an educational video. Then suddenly the tv turned to the news saying “ There has been a zombie outbreak this is not a joke this is a warning. Everyone shall head to shelter and board up windows. I repeat this is not a joke please stay safe. Everyone got out of their seats and started fighting ...

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$50

Prize money

790

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 05, 2020 EST

Won by D. Holmes 🏆

Title: A Gamble

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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