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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

“Snakes and Saltwater” by Kourtney Kay

Submitted to Contest #44

He screams to her over the whipping wind, “You should never have told me you can’t swim.” For a moment, she thinks she hears a twinge of regret in his voice but she can’t be sure. This boy she trusted, cared for… doesn't matter. It’s too late now anyway. His strong fingers bury deeper into her hair like snakes burrowing in sand to escape the rain. The rain. The wind would be bearable without the rain. It’s cold and tinged with salt, cutting into her face and mixing with tears to blur her vision. He pushes her further along the rocks. O...

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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. "...

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“The Envelope from California” by Poorvi Sharma

Submitted to Contest #44

I’m running. I’m running as fast as I can. Daring to look back just once knowing deep inside I won’t find him there. And with relief, I don’t see him. I hear something drop, but I can’t look back. Not ever, not now.Amelia Torres walks drowsily along the sidewalk of the dark, spare street. Today has been an unpleasant and difficult day and her manager had done nothing except add onto the distress. She had already decided she would walk into her little home, get herself some champagne, and put on her favorite show.At last, she stood in the lob...

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“Childish War” by Fumi Ersan

Submitted to Contest #44

Lately I’ve been having this recurring dream, it’s happened so often I can even call it a memory if I wanted to; I suppose I will. The feeling of the metal table against my back sent shivers down my spine, both due to the cold and the fact that I was strapped down to it. I could hear various screaming in the room, as well as sounds of struggling. Turning my head to the side, I see a boy whose face I don’t know, but somehow...I can’t really explain it. I hear footsteps enter the room, and when I turn to see the figure, the dream ends.“Ma...

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“The Silver Cross” by Lauren Lesiuk

Submitted to Contest #44

I unlocked my shared apartment and headed inside. I was tired of school, work, and my friends. Everyone and everything seemed to be against me. I was diagnosed with depression a year ago and life has been really hard for me. My boyfriend, Chase, helps me get through my day. Chase was the best thing that ever happened to me. We were going to go out on a date tonight, but I texted Chase to tell him that I was too burnt out.He didn’t respond to my text. I wasn’t worried; he was probably still at his part-time job, Starbucks. I decided that I wa...

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“A Caterpillar turning into A Butterfly ” by Said Y

Submitted to Contest #44

Jay was always afraid of this big world; she never spoke up. Her silence was everything to her. Every time she tired speaking someone always shut her up or ignored her. Silence became her comfort; she eventually found some people who loved hearing her voice and built her confidence to speak up. Jay was always afraid that people will make fun of her stutterers, but she overcame it. Being surrounded with people and rehearsing her words in her heads she became a confident speaker. As a little girl she always wrote in her diary, she made up sto...

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“The Old Mine.” by Mayara Sousa

Submitted to Contest #44

The screech of the brakes jerks me awake. I sit straight, looking around me until I notice that the cart is empty. I feel the train leaning to the right so we are at the beginning of the curve. I am the only one left in the cart which isn’t uncommon for a Friday night. Everyone tries to leave as early as they can to enjoy the rest of the day before curfew.As usual, my boss wouldn’t let us leave until the insane amount of work finished. Work that wasn’t ours to do, but that is irrelevant to my boss. The pressure of finishing everything made m...

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“Believe Me ” by Bonnie McD

Submitted to Contest #44

The car spins to a halt in the centre of the road. The man with a beard walked towards it, his gun hanging at his side, the rain beating off the shoulders of his leather jacket. He stops at the window.The second man, sitting at the wheel of the car raises his head, eyes shut against what he knows he will see. There is nowhere left to run. At last, he opens the window and begs. “Please. Please. Don’t”The gun cracks. Thunder in its barrel. The echo drowned out by the blaring of the horn as he slumps forward against it. Lighting a cigarett...

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“Gina's Guardian ” by P.J. Lowry

Submitted to Contest #44

It was the saddest day of young Gina’s life. To say she had taken the death of her mother badly would have been the understatement of the decade. Young Gina’s grades taken a total nose dive, and she stopped participating in any extracurricular activities. She would spend every single day locked away in her room, refusing to speak with anyone. When they originally learned about the cancer a few years back, her mother had brushed it off as if it wasn’t something that was going to bother them. Just another bump in the ro...

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“Home is where the Heart is ” by Joshua Bennett

Submitted to Contest #44

Charles Warren, otherwise known as Charlie, to his friends, sat back in his seat and tried to relax, but he was anxious. His plane would be landing in Nashville shortly, and his mini-vacation would soon be over. It had taken a year of planning and effort, but the weekend he spent at Hershey was the happiest he had been since he went to D.C. three years prior. He didn’t get to travel much, but when he did, he always felt comfortable and found himself soaring higher than what he ever imagined. Life had been cruel to him, considering his b...

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“Dinner With Len” by Arthur Burke

Submitted to Contest #44

Guy Mecham is returning to Summit Station near the summit of the Greenland ice sheet. He took a brief trip to the States to present a talk at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. Guy is leading a study researching the earth change affects on the upper atmosphere. His speech was on the changes to the upper atmosphere that are taking place and how they affect technology in space. Guy is happy that his trip was only to Maine this time. The flight time is far less than his last trip to Japan. He left Bangor, Maine not far fro...

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“Unspoken” by Alice Truss

Submitted to Contest #44

The front door of Alden Crane’s home is a striking forest green with a brass handle and door knocker. Alden never cared much for the color, he thought it looked out of place amongst the baby blue paint of the rest of the house, but his wife, Lily, had a stronger opinion than him and ended up winning the day. Everytime he looked at the door he felt a small but persistent irritation, a physical reaction to the jarring color. But today was different. The door was even darker than usual, with the only light shining on it from the street lamps bu...

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“The Boy Named Theros” by Pantless-Karma !

Submitted to Contest #44

As the hero of the village I, of course, started off my day by being thrown off my ride. I heard snarling and strings of curses come out of my driver’s mouth as I dusted myself off, trying to fix my now messed appearance, only to be hit with flying luggage. I fell to the ground once more, pebbles piercing into my knees and the palms of my hands. I inhaled sharply as I pushed myself off the ground again, making sure to duck any other things my adversary was throwing at me.I flicked the pebbles off of my hand, grumbled, and turned back to the ...

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“A Matter of Life And Death” by PearlyBelle Thompson

Submitted to Contest #44

The shadowed figure came over the hill and looked down upon the valley farm. It was so different from the city he had been in for the past few days- more green, more alive. The city had been terrible, and too busy for him. It was all work, work, work, and no beautiful views to savor as a reward. It had welcomed him into its squalor and horridness, invited him to wallow in the filth. Of all the places he had visited, the city had been the worst. The announcement that he could leave was sweet music to his ears.The crops grew on the south side,...

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“Beautiful Things” by Character Of Yours

Submitted to Contest #44

Slowly and steadily, their steed climbed up the mountain pass. The nomad watched as the familiar grassy plains of the valley suddenly ended at the base of the mountain’s steep, dark cliffs. The arid stench of the mountain, like rust and burnt wood, was a blunt reminder of what life at its top used to be like. They’d known how isolated the mountain was from the rest of the world, but it didn’t hit them how long that journey was until they were passing through a ceiling of clouds. They saw then that the path stretched endlessly ahead, and they...

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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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