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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#48: Superpower

The faces of superheroes have long emblazoned everything from our t-shirts to our lunch-boxes. For over a decade, the Marvel movies have dominated box offices, and for almost a century, superhero comics have remained prized possessions.

A Smithsonian article describes the broad appeal of superheroes: "At their best, superhero origin stories inspire us and provide models of coping with adversity, finding meaning in loss and trauma, discovering our strengths and using them for good purpose. (Wearing a cape or tights is optional.)"

This week's prompts are for anyone who's ever wondered, "If you could have one superpower, which one would it be?" And as always, our prompts are open to interpretation! Whether your entry includes familiar superhero tropes, or ends up being a piece of literary fiction about someone who just so happens to move faster than the speed of light is up to you.

This week's prompts

Write about someone who has a superpower.

Middle School – 333 stories

Write about someone who always comes to the aid of others.

Teens – 108 stories

Write the 'origin story' of a person who goes on to achieve great things.

Fiction – 128 stories

Write about a person who collects superhero comics.

Middle School – 89 stories

Write a story that features a protagonist with an archnemesis.

Character – 112 stories

Stories

“The Watchdog Unit” by Phoebe :)

Submitted to Contest #48

My eyes shot open. the blinding light of the room poured into them. for a moment, everything was still. There was no sound, only white, clean light. Then it began. I felt as though my entire insides were on fire. I didn't even have the strength to let a scream leave my lips. I just writhed around silently as the pain slowly over took me. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. But then it stopped. As suddenly as it had appeared, all the pain was gone. It must have been death. It was the only plausible solution. A sweet relea...

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“Make A Wish” by Taryn Holmes

Submitted to Contest #48

My name is Caroline Starr. People nowadays call me the Fairy Godmother. Maybe a tad on the dramatic side, but I do appreciate the sentiments behind the term. The truth is, I just like helping people. This year I am turning 120 years old, not that it shows. In truth, I haven’t aged since the day I turned 32. I still remember finding out I was an immortal. That was sure a surprise, at first I thought I was one of the lucky ones that always looks young for their age. But that excuse only gets so far, trust me, I know. I tried to fig...

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“Photoshopper” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #48

I once had to fill in a job application form that asked, “If you had a superpower, what would it be?” and I wrote down, “photoshopper”. Now, I realise most of you will probably tell me that’s NOT a superpower – I mean, we’ve all tweaked stuff on our phones, haven’t we? (I have a particularly fetching photo of myself with a friend where she is surrounded by stars and I am sporting reindeer’s antlers and a little black button nose.) But I want you to try reading that word again: it’s not photo shopper but photos hopper. For some reason I can’t...

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“We're all in this together” by Eric Deitch

Submitted to Contest #48

Perhaps this may come across as pretentious, but I always help people. Forgive me if that is the perceived connotation, but it is not my intent. I’m just going to tell some stories of some small things that could have helped others more than I knew. First off, a bit of backstory. I travel the world for a living. I’m a research scientist and educator. I have been everywhere and seen everything. I see how other cultures live and know, to our human detriment, we aren’t always equal. Thus, I help out when I can because I am more privileged tha...

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“Grace” by Ken Coomes

Submitted to Contest #48

“I’ll help,” Grace offered, with a baby on her hip and another crawling between her legs. She felt so tired. But Penelope needed her help. “But you’ve got six kids of your own,” Penelope countered. “I’ll try to find somebody else to watch my Nicky.” “Don’t be silly,” Grace argued. “A gaggle of 7 kids isn’t any more difficult to watch than a gaggle of 6 children. The more you put together, the more they find ways to entertain themselves.” Except for when they aggravate each other, thought Grace. Sometimes I wish Penelope wanted to watch a...

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“LIVING GOD” by UJJWAL DUTTA

Submitted to Contest #48

Nikhil Ghosh ─ more popularly known as Nikhil Master ─ in our locality is a person who somehow manages to run his family by the scanty income he makes by teaching a few students of the Tenth Standard as a private tutor. A private tutor in a village like ours does not earn much. Students are from poor families. Parents provide him with a little money as remuneration. Some parents even simply cannot afford that. They give vegetables to their dearest teacher of their sons and daughters. Somet...

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“The Shore” by Cyndy Reads

Submitted to Contest #48

“Anna, would you mind giving me a hand with the laundry?” Anna looked up, Janine’s exhausted face slack as she stood over the laundry baskets. She nodded, getting up from behind the desk in the nurse’s station and walking over to help wheel the baskets. “Thanks Anna, I owe you...

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“FACES OF WAR: A hero's story” by Rodrigo Juatco

Submitted to Contest #48

A stone-cold killer lies in wait. The killer is camouflaged on a rooftop in the center of a war torn city. The morning sun beats mercilessly down upon him. The killer, however, is undaunted by the intense heat, by the biting insects, or by the discomfort that comes from staying perfectly still for so many hours. His TRAINED-EYE is determined. It carefully scans his quadrant for a target among hordes of potential enemies. Any one of them could be a hostile. Often times, you never knew friend from foe until it was too late. Frustration, brough...

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“Granny” by Sandra Claros

Submitted to Contest #48

. Grandma had her shaking legs covered by a blanket . She had been keeping her hands hidden under her crossed elbows up to that moment, when, suddenly, she took both of her wrinkled hands to cover her supple face . A tear rolled down her face. - I must not give up – sitting on her bed, with her head downwards. She looked st the picture over the window sill, where we could easily identify an old smiling man, in a black suit. - But you left , you gave up – looking at the picture and taking a ...

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“How I Became a Professor” by Constantine Santas

Submitted to Contest #48

How I Became a Professor a story by Constantine Santas Dedicated to my grandson Michael Now that I am a retired professor, I can tell you of a small episode in my youth that changed the course of my life. Without it, who knows what would have happened to me, where and how I would have ended up, life being as unpredictable as it is. But let me tell the story. It happened during the winter of 1941-42, the first year of the Italian occupation of our island, when my Uncle Sta...

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“The Unlikely Hero” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #48

THE UNLIKELY HERO Caspar Wylie was proud of his achievements. He had always wanted to be a school teacher and had remained at the same school for nearly thirty years, five of them as a senior master. He did not have time for idle chit chat, small talk was in his opinion a waste of time. He liked to see his students stand to attention, though his conscience did prick him when he saw a student cower in fear, it meant that the child would never come to him when he, as a teacher, was needed. Having said that he had many students ...

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“The Fifa championship” by Anika Goyal

Submitted to Contest #48

One day Hannah was walking in the jungle with her best friend Kelly. They had been pals since their childhood. They both were laughing at each other's jokes and enjoying themselves. As they went ahead a loud rustling noise came from the bushy bushes. Hannah and Kelly were really scared and held each other's hands tight. They continued walking when all of a sudden Kelly fell down a huge hole. Hannah knew what to do she quickly took out her phone from her baggy jeans and called the emergency helpline. In less than an hour the ambulance cam...

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“Inspiration” by Adam Wright

Submitted to Contest #48

The store was poorly lit and Michael had to squint to see the titles on the graphic novels. He had walked past the aisles of men and women in capes, past the independent titles with questionable black and white art on the covers, and past the titles aimed at the really young kids littered with shiny ponies and round faced cartoon characters. He had made it to the bargain bins where you could get up to twenty comics for two dollars or fifty for five. The place where throw away stories went to die a quiet death but were afforded a last ditch o...

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“Comic Collection” by Monica Chaddick

Submitted to Contest #48

The boy, Gregory, walked dejectedly down the sidewalk towards home. He walked alone, not by choice, but because he was the different kid, the bullied kid, the kid that no one wanted to hang around. He couldn’t help his differences, but that didn’t matter to the other kids. Even some of the teachers and staff gave him a hard time. The only thing that made him happy was his comic books. It had started out simply enough. When he was about seven years old, his Dad had...

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“IT FEELS LIKE A SPIDEY DAY!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #48

(Write about a person who collects superhero comics.) I remember quite clearly the last morning I headed over to Billy’s house. The dew was heavy on the tall grasses of July. My jeans were wet to the knees but this wasn’t the first time, most mornings in summer found me wading through the wet fields to drag Billy out of bed. I could imagine quite clearly how he would read comic books late into the night and then miss the best part of the day. ~~~~~ Mornings were best, dew on spider webs showing the intricate ...

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$50

Prize money

770

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 03, 2020 EST

Won by Jeff C. Carter 🏆

Title: Primum Nil Nocere

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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