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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

“"Friends Forever"” by Lydia Sarrou

Submitted to Contest #48

It’s been quite a while since I last saw her. I remember when we used to play at the playground, when we were just two tiny children, having fun with one another. We grew up together, in the same neighborhood and we were always like sisters. We might didn’t have the same blood, but that wasn’t what made us sisters. We were always together, everywhere. Our moms used to be great friends, due to our friendship, so it was quite often for both of us to be eating together at each other’s houses or just have dinner all together. Once I reme...

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“Ordinary Superhero” by Ella Cunningham

Submitted to Contest #48

I've collected superhero comics since I was old enough to point a chubby finger at whatever took my fancy. I always have, and I doubt this obsession is going to ebb away any time soon. There is something just so captivating about people who commit their lives to help and save. Perhaps it's because I wish our world was actually crammed with kindness, instead of malice. Perhaps I love them, because I wish these heroes would scoop up our choking planet blanketed in fumes, and cradle and comfort it, and then tenderly place bandages over the scar...

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“Annihilating Andy” by Kate MacDonald

Submitted to Contest #48

Many many many years ago, yes, I am that old, I started work as an Electronics Tester. I was fifteen and a bit and the only girl in a department of men. I had my rubber stamp, number 1062. It was my first job and I enjoyed every aspect of it, except one, more of that later. At first, because I was so young I could not be insured to work on the big stuff e.g.: The ISIS Gyro (Integrated Sight and Interceptor System) I think I'll be safe mentioning it now, although I did have to sign the Secrets Act when I first started. I got very excited, the...

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“Ruthless Mysticon” by Stella Elewa

Submitted to Contest #48

INT. NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON - AFTERNOONMysterious private detective THE GRIFFIN A.K.A JULIA GRIFFIN is arguing with bold lawyer DREW WALTERS. JULIA tries to hug DREW but he shakes her off.JULIAPlease Drew, don't leave me.DREWI'm sorry Julia, but I'm looking for somebody a bit more brave. Somebody who faces her fears head on, instead of running away.JULIAI am such a person!DREW frowns.DREWI'm sorry, Julia. I just don't feel excited by this relationship anymore.DREW leaves.JULIA sits down, looking defeated.Moments later, loving librar...

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“Clash of the Comics” by Leigh Snelson

Submitted to Contest #48

Every day I stare out of that window. Every single day.And every day he is there, staring back at me. Across the busy street, from his window.Of course, the street always seems busier on his side. At least, that is what he would have me believe. His shop is always busier than mine. That’s what he always claims.To be honest, I am starting to believe him, why else would I be here, on the checkout counter, doing my tax return. I haven’t seen a customer in nearly forty minutes. My shop is as empty as my bank account. But I have faith, while he i...

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“BLACK SHEEP” by PAMELA ABWAO

Submitted to Contest #48

THE BLACK SHEEP Petero left the classroom towards the physics laboratory. He hated the subject and had never performed beyond thirty percent. His father wanted him to be a doctor or at least a scientist. He had tried to study so hard but had never succeeded. He only liked drama and music. His father said that these were not occupations but time wasters. Petero had managed to secretly form the drama club. However, he kept this from his father for fear of being rebuked. This is the main ...

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“Blue Calico” by Kristine Murdock

Submitted to Contest #48

My daddy was killed on the road, and only my mama’s pearly white bones have a resting place. As for me and my cousins, we’re all without our parents. We just live out here in the west, where people are still goin’ out exploring. We travel from place to place, sleeping under a wagon here, an old abandoned shelter there. Sometimes--most times--we just lie out on our backs atop the grass in the wide, open air. Those times, it seems there’s not a thing between us and the stars. The stars help us remember; you see, Grace’s mama was a storyteller....

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“Haru and the Painted Desert.” by Sarah Daniel

Submitted to Contest #48

The desert sands blew up into the air as the wind swirled around her, nothing but red rock and dust. There was a storm every other day, and she hated the sand seeping into her mouth, ears and nose. It was torture. The winds kicked up again, a wave of wind and sand coming at her. She could see the silhouettes of transparent soldiers that charged at her in the wind. She knelt there with her staff, her hair in knotted dreads upon her scalp stained a dusty sienna from the red dirt around her. "This is my Desert..." she muttered. She stood in her...

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“Plant power” by Ellysia Mason

Submitted to Contest #48

Long ago, I’m told there were humans just like me. Except, I’m not sure how on earth the were able to survive. In the great space war, it is said the alien’s first attack triggered something within humankind, bringing forth everything we could have imagined. Everyone around me is gifted with a power of some kind. Flight, teleportation, animalistic enhancements. Except for me, I don’t have anything but my hands and my head. Both very plain, very human. Most people in our world have superpowers and the strongest of them help keep our w...

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“The Reality of being Super” by David Watson

Submitted to Contest #48

" What is the meaning of life?", I ask myself," Do we wander around Earth just to be like everyone else? Or are we meant to be more than just an infinitesimal speck in the Universe? Should we create something and leave behind a legacy?” These are some of the things I was asked during my philosophy class. Part of the reason why I took philosophy was to broaden my horizon and learn more about the meaning of life. My professor was Dr. Schwartz-a famous, world-renowned philosopher who had the respect and admiration of some of the most prestigi...

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“Ready to Talk” by A.J. Brown

Submitted to Contest #48

She was a beautiful woman, that was for sure, but if they thought he was going to start talking just because they brought in an attractive woman then they didn’t know Frank Shaffer. It did surprise him that they left her in the interrogation room alone with him. Considering what the accusation was, he’d think they’d have to at least consider him dangerous, and leaving dangerous men alone in a room with a good looking woman normally wasn’t a good idea. Granted they could have gotten in there pretty quickly if he tried anything,...

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“It isn't a superpower.” by Ilona Thomas

Submitted to Contest #48

Getting out of bed at 5:30am on every weekday doesn't feel like a superpower.So I do it.My alarm goes off at 5:30am, most days I wake somewhere between 5:28am and 5:45am. I wash my face with face-wash that works for me and my budget, I brush my teeth with the toothpaste that was last on sale, and I comb my hair with the brush I was gifted as a teenager. Making good fiscal choices isn't a superpower.Sometimes I moisturise, sometimes it's with hand-creams or body moisturisers because they were a gift, or they come in bigger tubs than face crea...

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“Whispers” by Benjamin Goldstein

Submitted to Contest #48

I don't know if anyone will ever read this. I know that's cliché, but I have to start there because it's important. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know how long I've been here; I don't know how long I've spent trying to find a way out; and, most importantly, I don't know how long it's been since I stopped time. I suppose I should go back a bit and explain that. You see at some point I was offered a wish. The how I've never been clear on, but the why is because I saved a woman's life. I don't know who she was, but in the aftermath and ...

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“Lady Luck” by Peony P.

Submitted to Contest #48

Your odds of being struck by lightning in any given year are 1 in 700,000. Your odds of being killed by a tornado are 1 in 5 million, although those odds rise to 50 in 5 million if you live in a mobile home. Not even probability is free of classist influences. Your odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 60 million—much lower than your odds of dying in a car accident. Your odds of winning the lottery depend on how many people are playing, but they hover around 1 in 300 million in most cases. What if you could change those odds? Not just for ...

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“Trans” by Spider Baby

Submitted to Contest #48

Mika thought the hardest hurdle would be the surgery. But the truth was that the post-partum hump, when you were still navigating gauze and getting to know your body again--getting to understand the indents, the silicone or lack thereof, the shifting fabric of your own organs--the sagging flesh and stolen body parts, in truth, was by far the worse part. When Mika looked at herself in the mirror, she was not like she once was. Her skin was different--the stitches and incisions made her look like a practice medical dummy--perfectly thread...

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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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