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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 End or Just the Beginning?” by Nancy Doan

Submitted to Contest #44

“Goodbye Jason,” My girlfriend of five years sadly said with a certain look in her eyes.What is that look? Longing? Regret? Hope?She needs to go to the air force while I have to go back to accounting. Our relationship wouldn’t have worked out in the first place. Gosh, I need to respond, or she would think I zoned out.“Goodbye Maria,” I said as I turn away with tears covering my eyes.As I took four steps, I turn around to Maria walking away. I could have sworn I felt a pair of eyes looking at me. Did she turn around to look at me walking away...

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“Countdown” by Alexandrine DeSalmone

Submitted to Contest #44

Prologue“Doctor Wilson, could you just run through the procedure one more time?” Megan asked, her voice shaky and weak, like a dying leaf, barely hanging on to a branch.“Honey, you already asked that a million times, repeating the surgery won’t remove the tumor any faster,” laughed Gabe. “I’ll see you in a bit,”“I…I love you so much,” she whispered, placing a hand on his.He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I love you too. And Charli,” he said, turning to a young girl standing on the other side of the gurney. “And I love you the most, my little...

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“Hailey: An autobiography” by Anya G

Submitted to Contest #44

"Mom!" Hailey cried as she burst through the hospital doors. Hailey's mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer 3 months ago and the doctors had said there was nothing they could do."Mom!" Hailey burst into the small hospital room to find her mother lying there with cords all around her. Beep. Beep. The steady sound of the heart monitor echoed through the room."Mom! Please, please don't go!" Hailey sobbed."My dear girl," Her mother moved Hailey's hair away from her face. "Everything will be ok." She tried to console her daughter."No! I can'...

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“Bleeding Hearts” by Janet Joos

Submitted to Contest #44

Matt recalled bathing in a pond not far from the train station. He called out to his brother Logan: "Hey Broth, it might be better to stop here rather than at the station. We can finish off Ma’s basket of food and clean ourselves up a bit Rest our horses and let them graze a bit as well. You’ll have mine as well, remember.“ Logan just nodded his head. The horses were tired from the almost 20 hour trek they had just completed from the prairies of Savannah, Georgia. It was late afternoon, a day after having celebrated their dad’s seventie...

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“Long shadow” by Peter Leslie

Submitted to Contest #44

“I would come with you, if I could,” said the first of the two figures, eventually.From behind, both figures were made into silhouettes by the sun setting in front of them. Side by side, they stared across the desert. They had been stood in silence, their shadows slowly lengthening behind them.“I know,” said the other.“That’s a lie. I wouldn’t come. It’s pointless, Eabha.”Eabha made no reply, except to shrug.“Why are you going?”“Somebody must.”“No, it’s pointless! No-one who has tried has ever come back. You’ll just die. Like all the others....

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“Departures” by Lola Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #44

How did we end up here? I touched your hand . It was one of the only parts of you which didn’t have a wire or tube or something medical and important looking which I was scared of knocking. You felt cool and fleshy and not like you at all. I pushed down the thought that kept seeping and bleeding through, that the goodbye I was trying to both summon and hide from was too late. That this body before me was a mere casing for something which had already flown free.This place wasn’t where you were meant to be. This wasn’t you. Far from the ...

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“The Leftover Slice” by Jaime Toscano

Submitted to Contest #44

"I hear footsteps," Peeza whispered, cautiously. She prayed it would be her this time. That she'd be the one plucked from the Box. But there were no guarantees. Ever. Cecilia, armless and legless and with only three sides, did her best to inch closer to the edge of the Box as to increase her chances of getting picked. To Peeza, this was maddening. Unfair. Cheating. At once, a pretty hand full of silver rings and purpley-painted fingernails reached into the Box and pulled Cecilia out by the crust. Peeza barely had a moment to react, but ...

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“Opening Up to a Colorful World” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #44

Zeke and Amelia waved goodbye to Amelia’s parents and siblings as they dashed towards the cabin’s back door and whipped it open. Laughing, they then jostled their way through the screen door, letting it slap closed as they hopped out onto the sidewalk. Ready?” Zeke asked although he knew the answer. He moved his head so as to jerk a bang of his red hair out of the way, but the night’s cold wind swished it away for him. “Yeah.” Amelia agreed ex...

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“The End of a Friendship” by Ishani Arni

Submitted to Contest #44

(Bella)It was a time I anticipated but dreaded. All the memories from when we were younger, engulfed my brain and my eyes welled with tears. How could she leave? I refused to look at her, I knew I would break down. Katherine stared at the cardboard boxes, unable to process anything either. She sat abnormally still, and the marker she held in her hand fell onto the unpolished oak floor. College was inevitable, but we demanded more time together. Everyone hears stories of the best friends that forget each other due to life having separate plan...

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“Staying At Home” by M Solarova

Submitted to Contest #44

“Alright, bye Tatiana!” Just like that, before I can say respond, he closes the door and he’s gone. Well, bye Max. I have breakfast to attend to anyways. As I’m eating, I notice a beautiful bird land on the birdfeeder on our balcony. We are on the third-floor and it gets a lot of traffic. I so enjoy watching them and hearing them sing. It’s something Max and I share. I remain perfectly still while watching the blue tit–a common one in our area but very pretty just the same. They fascinate Max because, he says, they’re basically dinosaurs tha...

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“Our Universe” by Absidia Delta

Submitted to Contest #44

“Will I see you again?” her voice cracked. His back was facing her, and he turned his head over his shoulder. He paused and pursed his lips for a second, as if he were giving his response some thought.“Probably not.”He continued to walk through the shrine ruins, without ever looking back at Earth.This is the story about Earth and Universe. Though, it isn’t just any universe. It’s the universe.In human terms, we often call it our universe. Long before all the living creatures, there was only Universe and the accomplices. We now call...

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“Time to Move On” by Emma Gersho

Submitted to Contest #44

“Goodbye Luce.”“Are you serious right now dude?” I questioned. “You asked me to stay.”He bit his lip, blood oozing his mouth agaped again. “But you’re not doing what I want.” I scoffed. “You literally have no one else who’s gonna deal with your shit. You’re gonna be alone.” “I don’t care.”I shook my head ludicrously. “Bye then.” I rolled the blood stained sleeves of my pullover up, taking out my phone to send a text. 5 months later 2am. My Converse scraping the floor with the redundant tiled pattern as I paced back and fo...

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“End of the Line” by Ashanti Dixon

Submitted to Contest #44

"Goodbye old friend." Lionel said. "I'll see you again soon.""Goodbye Silver Lion." Trevor responded. Lionel held back his tears as he squeezed the trigger and shot his best friend in the back of the head. He always knew it would come to this, because in this business having a friend meant having a liability. Painlessly, the Walther PPK delivered its retribution without remorse and without regret. That's when he realized the cold steel was an extension of himself.One month earlier... Lionel sat up from his ice bath feeling rejuvenated in bod...

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“The Beauty of the Beings We Love.” by Lorien Walker

Submitted to Contest #44

The setting sun is a breathtaking sight, especially when it's laced with fire. At nine yearsold, I stood there mesmerized, watching the place I once called home scorch the ground withmost of my family still inside. I could barely register the sound of mom calling for me over therest of the noise. I could hear the fire crackling and the house collapsing. I could hear the soundof fire trucks and police sirens. Screaming, my little brother is screaming for me from mymother’s arms. I can hear him calling for my father and the rest of our sibling...

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“I Dare me!” by Maria Barbieri

Submitted to Contest #44

It’s amazing how through one simple dare, a person’s life can change dramatically! Back in 1993, I had taken on a part time job selling advertising for a local community paper. I took it on reluctantly in not knowing I had the gift of ‘sales’ hiding within me! My upbeat, energetic and strong verbal skills in two languages were an added bonus leading to a far greater opportunity. One afternoon while dropping off my advertising contracts for that week, I hear my employer on a heated telephone conversation. In simply asking what he was so upset...

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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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