Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“Unlearning and Learning ” by S U

Submitted to Contest #48

There was once a boy whose eyes glittered when they scanned past hundreds and hundreds of glazed pages filled with his favorite heroes. His eyes glossed with boredom and dislike when he looked at his fellow humans. He was cynical would be a dire understatement; to be put exact, he didn’t just distrust them, he believed trusting them was a fool’s errand. Jacob would pass his idle time rearranging his comics or flipping through them. He stopped hanging out with his only friends when his closest friend cheated off him on a test. Even though it ...

Read story

“Comix ” by Nikita Linivenko

Submitted to Contest #48

Apart from the adults-only Hentai section in back, Milo C. felt this was a pretty respectable little store; not bad for a Jay and Slient Bob’s Secret Stash knock-off. Nestled on the hippest block of downtown Portland, far away from the reach of Kevin Smith’s lawyers in New Jersey, no doubt planning to rake ’im over the coals as we speak, Milo, who looks as though Elvis Costello dresses as Dante Hicks from ‘Clerks’ every day of the week, doesn’t just collect comic books, he traffics in comic books. He peddles that shit like a madman, every si...

Read story

“My sacrifice” by D A

Submitted to Contest #48

Albert lifts his glasses to rub his eyes. He proceeds to pinch himself and yelps. Nope, not a dream. Rob Con, aka The Magic Claw, stands just two isles down, swaying slightly. Albert has a mental flash of Falcon, teetering on the edge of the Elbow skyscraper, almost on the verge of losing… and then striking back, his motions graceful. Comic books are his everything. He has tons of them. Each and every shelf lining the walls is his treasure trove. The books are meticulously organized according to the series, the year, and the dimension. The...

Read story

“Waiting for the 201, Notoriously Unreliable” by Natalie Rarick

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #48

“Is that yours?” Her eyes are wide, so big they might look like they were bugging out of her head if they weren’t so beautiful. I guess, technically speaking, she could be referring to the sketchbook. Is that sketchbook yours? Or the charcoals. Or even my shoes, for that matter, almost the same shade of dingy gray as the sidewalk beneath. But I know she’s referring to the drawing, which of course no one is ever supposed to see ever, and yet she’s looking at it like it’s nothing. Well, she’s looking at it like it’s something, whi...

Read story

“Children of a new age ” by CJ Shutt

Submitted to Contest #48

The rain poured down hard, the kind of rain that makes you expect Noah was going to show any minute. The pounding sound of rain slamming on asphalt permeated the air. In the parking lot of St. Joseph hospital it was no less quiet than the onslaught of rain further down the road. The staff slipped into the building, dodging raindrops, or shielding their heads with whatever was available to them. A shadowy figure also lurked in the shadows this night, watching the staff and waiting for an opportune moment. After the shift change the park...

Read story

“The Beast of Walpole Avenue” by Suzette Ward

Submitted to Contest #48

Monday, August 3 He’s out there somewhere. Waiting. Watching, Ready to attack. I know he can recognize my outfit. It’s known around the world. To most, I’m a hero, the man who will save their day; to others, I can be their worst nightmare. I know it’s true because that’s what they told me during training. I trying to be a hero today. I’ve even been a hero to him at various times, yet still, he hates me. My colleagues tell me it’s my imagination, but I know it’s true. I’ve seen the fury in hi...

Read story

“Chess Moves” by Ken Coomes

Submitted to Contest #48

Matt looked the chessboard over, very carefully. Then he moved his Rook to h4, announcing “Check.” He raised his head to look at Sam, sitting across from him. She wasn’t studying the board - she was looking at him with that cute little half-smile of hers. “Are you sure you want to move there?” Sam asked. Matt’s gaze lingered on Sam’s face a few seconds more, then he returned his attention to the chessboard. “I thought I did, until you said that.” Matt looked over the board again. He noticed Sam could take Rook with Knight, revers...

Read story

“Darkness, my old Friend” by Akeyla Battles

Submitted to Contest #48

"Hello darkness my old friend...I've come to talk with you again..." A voice softly sung. The words shaking between the waterfall of tears and the pain caused from the multiple wounds crisscrossing her body. She held her side where blood continued a familiar rhythm as the song she knew by heart echoed in the vast cavern; her body shivering from blood loss and the unforgiving air current as she curled against the only standing rock. Her uniform was torn in multiple places but it was to be expected in a heroine’s work. The white o...

Read story

“What a Year Brings” by Esprit Bijou

Submitted to Contest #48

There were years that brought uncertain questions, and there were years that brought wavering answers. Sometimes those answers, sustained by time and hope, would be right there in front of our eyes but only could hope for us humans to reach them in the midst of our troubling thoughts and desires. I scouted for my bags amongst the array of carriers. Bags that were pleasantly pleasing to a plethora of people but could only matter dearly to only one’s eye. Leis...

Read story

“King-sized decision” by Greg Ford

Submitted to Contest #48

It had been nearly a year since David Leonidas Reid encountered the celestial brightness at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area in southwestern Texas. Since then his life, as well as that of the one closest to him, had not been the same.Since that evening along that stretch of road between Alpine and Marfa, Reid found himself literally a changed person. Following that encounter, Reid soon discovered he had the strength of 10 bears, the eyesight of a falcon, the stealth and speed of a puma and the ability to breathe and swim underwater. Soon afterw...

Read story

“Regret” by Eve K

Submitted to Contest #48

Regret. The one word everyone is familiar with. The word no one dares to speak of. The single strand of five letters bundled in the deepest, darkest abyss in one’s heart. Yet that word strikes a little deeper into mine. For me, regret is the one thing that follows me, wherever I go, whenever I go, offering nothing but its whispering dark. I’ve come to accept it, all of its bitterness, its weight, its wretched hands twisting every hint of freedom. What can I say? I’ve already become one with it… Born with the brightest laughter anyone has se...

Read story

“DRONE - by CC DARLING” by Claudine Darling

Submitted to Contest #48

Chapter 6 – The University of Advanced Aero Platform Dynamics – Drone Laboratories, Houston, Texas Stella didn’t want any long, drawn out goodbyes with her parents. She continued to pack her things for college, cry a few tears thinking about leaving her home and her Mom and Dad. But when the day she had to drive to the University, she kissed her Mom and Dad who both helped her get her bags out the door. She knew her Dad had something up his sleeve. But she didn’t know what. As they walked out the door, her Dad cal...

Read story

“Trust Your instincts ” by Tessa Gray

Submitted to Contest #48

The inside of the closet was dark, as the insides of closets often are. The girl sat with her back pressed against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped tightly around them. The floor around her was scattered with boots and shoeboxes, hangers and pieces of clothing which had fallen from the rack overhead. There were shelves above her, three of them toward the top of the closet. The lowest was full of wellthumbed and much beloved books. The one above that held knickknacks, family photos and some glass orn...

Read story

“The Ideal Superpower” by Susana Monreal

Submitted to Contest #48

Can you imagine a phenomenal world in unison. Is this really where we should be in 2020. Thinking of those before us, and those after us may not be able to comprehend what is happening now. All that is expected as a society, as beings who cares for others is the existence of what is now and ever being. An accord of hearts, thoughts and minds. A place in a moment of despair. Brought up to something more than disharmony. When all that is found is discord and friction at every corner. An embracement of ...

Read story

“They craved for you, you deserted them” by SIDDHI AMRALE

Submitted to Contest #48

You were born on the fluffiest of cushions and in the cradle of the kindest of hearts.Your cries got muffled in their warm embrace on the first go and your wailings lost their voice with their constant love. Right on the lap on your nanny, she swayed you tenderly with her affection; when the thorns of the world tried to prick you, she always managed to lift her lap up and thus sway you away from the pain; when she thought you were in trouble, she put you off to a sweet baby sleep, got up carefully not to wake you up, planting you in ...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢