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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

“There she goes again” by K.D. Ruthers

Submitted to Contest #48

"Oh, come on! Not again!" 23-year-old Alexandra Lex complained into her phone."What's wrong? What happened?!" 27-year-old Sarah Lex, Alexandra's sister, questioned."Nothing too important. Just another mugging." Alex sighed. "It's like the seventh one this month. I just want to get coffee in peace. Why must people always get mugged across from The Cafe? It's ridiculous!"Sarah chuckled on the other side of the phone."I heard that Sarah.""You know, most people would just ignore the misfortunes of others instead of beating up random muggers.""Ye...

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“The Savior of The Poor” by Elisabeth Montoya

Submitted to Contest #48

I always thought of myself as the good guy. I helped those in need, those who couldn’t survive in the deep economic pit this city has fallen in. When the money was gone, the violence started. I just wanted to help. I knew the police were corrupt, that they would target the poor and the homeless for “dirtying the city’s appearance”. It didn’t matter that almost 50% of us were now moneyless and near starving. There were activist groups, of course. They mostly just pitied us, though, made us sound like we were dirty, sad animals near death, li...

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“My Hero” by Donna Chadwick

Submitted to Contest #48

My Hero:Close your eyes. Picture a shiny, red convertible. The top is down, music of the 70’s and 80’s blaring through the speakers. The smell of marijuana lofting through a warm breeze. A beautiful, dark haired woman with tanned skin and dark sunglasses driving by without a care in the world, singing along to the radio. You can’t look away because there is something completely captivating about this lady. She smiles at you and waves as she passes by and you are left standing there in awe, wondering if that really just happened. You just saw...

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“Big Fat Freddy is Always Ready” by Cathi Sutton

Submitted to Contest #48

Everyone should have a neighbor like Freddy! He's the go to guy for help fixing a clogged drain. He and his wife Nan throw the best BBQs on the block. He will be out driving his snowplow way before the city crews get started, on deep snow mornings. He cuts his grass in the afternoon when everyone is up, (instead of like the neighbor on the other side, who seems to prefer to do his at the crack of dawn), and boy can Freddy dance! We got to know Freddy when we moved into our home eight years ago. Before the rented moving truck was half way unl...

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“The Black Sheep” by Gracie Smith

Submitted to Contest #48

They call us black sheep, we are the outcasts of our families. The ones who know how to get things done because we always had to do things for ourselves. Jeff, a short man with a personality that stands taller than he ever will, and I, have always been the first call when someone's life is crashing down. I used to call him when my life came crashing down, and the last call I made was followed immediately by my arrival on his front door step. My knuckles were swollen, my face was coated in streams of blood (from a car door catching my ey...

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“Community Run” by John Meiners, Jr

Submitted to Contest #48

Community Run by John ...

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“Kindness is not obligation but an action.” by Zexsoul .

Submitted to Contest #48

There is this guy that always helps out but no one realises about what he did, do or will do. He is so unnoticeable even when everyone knows he is there, just ignore him. He is there, collecting scraps and recyclables even though he has a proper job as cashier in a convenience store and another delivery service job. Somehow, everyone thinks he is just searching for some extra money with their rose tinted glasses. “Here you go. This is some of cans that I have,” some people that helps out with his recyclables and yet no one knows of his nam...

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“Not too busy...” by Anthony David M

Submitted to Contest #48

Travelling was a necessary evil. “How I wish I didn’t have to do so much of it?” thought Yosam, as he set out on his donkey for yet another business trip to Jerusalem. It was a circuit he did regularly, to safeguard his interests in Jerusalem and in Judea. He made sure he had supplies to last the long journey and stuffed some wine and oil too, into his carry bags, just in case. He had ensured he had taken enough money and a little more for this journey. The menace of highwaymen continued, so he packed a stout stick to ward off such marauders...

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“The Aid of Others” by Nix ♞

Submitted to Contest #48

He moans and moans. I sit there. I rub his back. Under his shirt. I rub it under his shirt. The skin feels terrible. This happens when he tries to stop. He aches, and shakes and sweats, too, and sometimes he sees things, even. I wonder if he stops seeing things, if he stops seeing me, he must, I figure. I figure, in order to see something, you have to stop seeing something else, don’t you? That’s what they call zero-sum. There’s seen, unseen, a winner, loser.Now and then I leave the room just to check, when the feeling gets big enough, ...

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“Plates” by Nicole Won

Submitted to Contest #48

Everyone has collections. As kids, we're told to start a collection of stamps, snowglobes, baseball cards, maybe even rocks, for those who spent a few too many hours solving puzzles in the classroom and not enough at recess. James was one of those kids in his childhood, always turning in his tests while half the class was stuck on problem 4. He heard about the idea of starting a collection from a friend, who gathered arrowheads he found in the woods, and James worried for a while over what he could collect that wouldn't involve rummaging aro...

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“Father” by JULIET EJEZIE

Submitted to Contest #48

Father’s phone rang halting the journey of a forkful of pasta into his separated lips, the kind lady from the drugstore who was battling with cancer felt that it was her time to leave this world, her husband an unbeliever didn’t see the need for a confession but he would do anything for the beloved woman who he had known for almost half of his life. Father cast a sorry look towards mother, apologising for not having dinner with us for the fourth time this week. He took his coat which always hung on the kitchen door, an emergency coat he had ...

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“The Healer” by The ShoeMaker

Submitted to Contest #48

In a dark bedroom, a scrawny teenager on the edge of his bed made his hands glow green. Cracking his knuckles, Rick observed the light green hue that shone from his skin like a glow stick. Tiny tendrils of green electricity traveled across the palm of his hand, darting here and there and disappearing as fast as they appeared. He didn't know how they worked, but he knew what they did. All he needed was a single touch, and his power would bring someone to their optimal condition. Bones fractured straightened up, chronic disorders removed, miss...

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“Four Wheel Freedom” by Rajesh M

Submitted to Contest #48

Tedex, Chennai Anchor : Hi all, Let’s welcome our today’s guest speaker Ms.Amudha to stage please. Let’s put your hands together guys A girl with wheelchair approaching to middle of the stage. Whole audience is surprised and confused. Murmuring voice heard all over the stadium, after few seconds all went silent and she start speaking Amudha : I thought that am going to live my whole life within the four walls of my house along with my wheelchair. But on one day I expressed my feelings and because of that am here now guys Amudha started...

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“Fuse” by Amy Wang

Submitted to Contest #48

It was the guinea pig that gave it away.When Emil was twelve the family still lived in the dingy apartment down the street from the canning factory. They lived with his grandmother, who seemed to have stayed in her rocking chair for so long that she had fused into it. She did little but knit, the whole day through, her eyes glued to old recordings of operas and ballet performances that played about on their little TV set. (The camerawork was so shaky that he decided they must have been recorded illicitly. He imagined his grandmother as ...

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“The Story of Hope” by Aaditya Saxena

Submitted to Contest #48

Of all those that came at the Pandora’s bar, none was as elusive and interesting as Hope. She had no friends but acquaintances as she liked to call them. “People”, she used to whisper, easily swayed where and when the tide is right. She herself wished to get to know them beyond their seemingly pertinent talks about chance encounters with life and faith and love and sometimes Zeus himself but she was always overlooked. Apparently, she was only good enough company when hearing about their complaints about the slackness of business or a dispute...

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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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