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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

“HOMECOMING KING” by Andrew Grell

Submitted to Contest #44

HOMECOMING KINGBy Andrew Paul Grell The Farrier shop was still there. Hiram saw the tools through the open gate, each tool in its own place. Antique tack adorned the walls. Obviously, the farrier was new, a woman at that. Good on her. Keep the horses calmer. She looked a bit like Carter, the old farrier. She waved and smiled when she noticed the potential stranger staring into her shop. Hiram waved back and wondered if he had gone to P.S. 7 with her. She didn’t seem to know the short-ish man in road-worn clothes.Hira...

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“The Long Way Home” by Joyce Schook

Submitted to Contest #44

We were up bright and early. Today was the day. My sister was coming back home to stay. It felt like forever since I heard the sound of her voice or witnessed the warmth of her smile. She lit up rooms with her glorious face. I miss her so badly that its hurting my heart.I never realized just how much until she was taken out of my life. I just want to hug her and tell her how special she is to all of us.Mother put me in charge of setting the two tables. I polished our best silver early this morning and washed and dried our most beautiful chin...

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“The Space Between” by Katie Rodante

Submitted to Contest #44

It was eleven at night when I heard the door unlock with a click. I grabbed the remote, paused Real Housewives and turned off the TV, knowing he would poke fun at my choice of entertainment. The door opened with a squeal of the hinges and caused my heart to thump. I combed my fingers through my hair and hoped I looked presentable.When his face emerged from behind the door, a wide smile gave way on my face. It had been a week since I'd seen him in person, though we had video chatted while he was on the other side of the globe. "Hey," Grant sa...

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“A Strange Birthday” by Master Park

Submitted to Contest #44

A man as desperate as someone looking for a long lost child walked right into a cafe. His eyes and beard dripped tears which, I think, he didn’t seem to mind. He stood at the counter, his hands shivering.‘What’d you order, Sir?’‘It’s nothing,’ he said and walked out.He shook his head and muttered – ‘I’ll run away once Abaan’s birthday is over. And I must never come back.’ Then, he rubbed his beard and slapped his own face like a madman.Yogendra Jaiswal, a forty five year old police officer, then walked into the fifth cafe that night.This tim...

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“The Spy for the Cloud Kingdom” by Rachel Emily

Submitted to Contest #44

It was a cool fall morning when I had to bid my mother farewell for longer than usual to go on my next mission. I am an agent for the international affairs of the crown of the clouds. Or as I like to say the IACC. I don't live in any ordinary world. I live in the world of magic. My mother fled the magical world for Earth. She was caught on her way out and the Queen of the Cloud Kingdom made her promise to have her child work for their kingdom. Which would be where I come in. I live in the Cloud Kingdom but...

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“A sketch ” by Tanisha Verma

Submitted to Contest #44

Nature was never a part of my soul until i passed my high school and tripped back to the Uttrakhand hills with my family . I was one of those kids who used to wonder that there is no need for us to go out on a religious expedition for holidays . But had no other way out apart from joining them.We left for uttrakhand packing our luggage all set in the train , we were 9. The 5 of us , the kids of the family , we were all together dinning and as usual like any other trip , ascended our births and slept.And here we were in haridwar , I...

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“Ants in a line” by Clover Diaz

Submitted to Contest #44

I have always had a soft spot for ants. Some think I am unusual in the way I think of them. The way they walk without argument in perfect synchronization. I envy them, so different from people. Clearing all obstructions from their path. People are harsh and can't work together without arguments. Sometimes I feel like a single ant, small and insignificant. I wouldn't mind being an ant if it meant I could have a colony. Deep in my heart I wish all people could change, but I know that some people just can't. For the way I see ants others do no...

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“A Legendary Fox” by Jason Heiser

Submitted to Contest #44

In Ancient Japan there is a legend of a race known as the Kitsune a mystical being capable of transforming themselves into humans. The legend states that these beings are tricksters possessing magical powers as well as one or more tails depending on their powers and should be avoided at all costs. That last spotting of one of these creatures was over a thousand years ago and times are changing. Thought to have gone extinct or into hiding it’s time for us to come back into the world and see if we can coexist with society. My name is Fred...

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“Strength” by Nitya Bull

Submitted to Contest #44

STRENGTHAGE THREE YEARSI hate her. She didn’t let me have ice cream. It’s her fault I broke the plate, she made me so angry. I don’t want to sleep at 8. She’s the worst. “I hate you! This is starvation. I’m going to die and it will be all your fault!” I pound my fists into my blanket and kick my feet into my soft mattress. My heart breaks at Kira’s cries. My food sits untouched next to me. Grant is out late again, busy with work. I don’t know what to do. Tears fall into the freshly baked apple pie I made for dinner....

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“Hidden” by Ella Jane

Submitted to Contest #44

We are not your normal siblings. I am Sasha and this is my brother Kale. We may share the same body but we don’t think alike. See my brother and I are joined at the shoulder. Parent #1 and #2 keep us hidden. They tell us that the world wont take us as we are. So living in the Blanton forest away from everyone, except our nanny Clair, is our normal. “You are crazy Sasha! There is no way I am going on a hike again! I cant possibly deal with it. They are so boring!” Kale complained. “ I want to get out there before it rains...

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“Consequences” by Adrianna Smith

Submitted to Contest #44

They say, in life you make choices. Choices have consequences they say. But what ever happened to mine? Why did I never face the consequences of my actions. Maybe this is my punishment. Maybe the paranoia and bitterness is my judgement. I write, but what for? It brings no clarity, it brings no end to my suffering, to my madness. I remember it perfectly well. I will write each detail as maybe it will be drawn from my brain so I may never remember this again. It was a cold winter morning. The air was brittle and sharp, like shatter...

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“Girl Down” by Cheryl Ferguson

Submitted to Contest #44

“In this room all of my dreams become realities, and some of my realities become dreams.” Willy Wonka was the first to put my life into words. Unfortunately for me, the result was usually anything but a room that was fully edible.I had just jogged through a long, sloping S-shaped curve when I felt the ground shaking underneath me. I stopped and clutched the trunk of a nearby elm, waiting for the rumbling to end. That was the biggest tremor I had ever felt. I kneeled down in the path, trying to calm my nerves.“Help!&n...

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“Today, I Want to See the Ocean” by Haruko Otonashi

Submitted to Contest #44

Your name is Fujisaka Wasure. Age 27. Gender female. Do not panic if you realise you don’t remember your name. It was unpleasant, to say the least, to wake up to this message scrawled upon my forearm, in terrible handwriting, in what looked like black permanent marker. My head was spinning, I searched my mind in a frenzy, only to come up blank. That was right. I didn’t remember my name. I pulled up the nightgown I was wearing. There was another message—an accompaniment to the first one. ‘You forget everything wit...

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“The Spy Game” by Lucy Matthes

Submitted to Contest #44

With ten minutes to go, I sprint down the office building corridors, endless row after endless row. The absence of people in the night compared to what it would be like during the day was eery and unsettling but I was glad no one was in there. I glance at my watch again, eight and a half minutes. I stop and sigh, definitely not enough time to get out of the winding corridors of the office building that was about to explode. Wonderful! I love being a secret agent, the upside of this is for once I actually know my fate. The starry sky in ...

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“Killing Kelsey Cooper” by Ericka Barker

Submitted to Contest #44

First things first: I don't really exist.Or rather, I didn't until about...three months ago? Yeah, yeah...it was three months more or less, because it was in August that I decided I was sick to death of Kelsey Cooper (even the name is annoying, as I think you'll agree; so bland, so white bread, topped off with alliteration, which I’ve always found cloying) and suddenly realized that I would have to get rid of her.So I did.Oh, not right away. Don't be silly. Something like this can’t be rushed into. It requires planning and preparation. That'...

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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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