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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

“Trail-Man” by Edgar Aleksandrovic

Submitted to Contest #48

When do you become a hero? Is it by watching their parents and following their example? Is it by being inspired by movies, tv shows or comics? Is it by being at the right moment in the right time? Who knows? No matter who you ask their defining moment of becoming a ‘hero’ is different. Some become a hero when they put on their costume. Some when they do the right thing. Personally for me…well I don’t even know. What even is a hero? I’m pretty sure to some people I was their worst nightmare, and to others.. yes, a hero. If you asked me, which...

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“Born with a Purpose ” by Erin Barnes

Submitted to Contest #48

(Jeremiah29: 11- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.) “I’m so sorry Reverend White, but it looks like your Prostate cancer is back” Dr. Roberts says with a sad face. “Now there are options this time around we can continue with the Chemotherapy and Go from there. Reverend White looks up at him with a smile and says “Son I don’t think we can beat cancer this time, I could have died 21 years ago but here I am, I asked God for a chance to see my Dau...

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“Nera” by Fumi Ersan

Submitted to Contest #48

“Alneratia, I want you to promise me one thing.” The black haired girl looked upwards towards her mother, nodding to confirm that she was listening. Her mother smiled at her child’s obedience, “you’re a good child aren't you?” “Is that the promise?” To this response, the mother softly smiled, leaving the girl in confusion for a few moments trying to wrap her head around why her mother was laughing at her. Did she do something funny? “No, that’s not it. I want you to promise me, that no matter how painful things end up being, you’ll wea...

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“Elsa Blomstedt” by Joanne V

Submitted to Contest #48

From desperation, sometimes, comes the unbelievable. Despair is not always grown from the end of the road, the bottom of the lowest. Despair can grow when your life stretches behind you with nothing at all in it. Nothing at all. She looked at her books sitting on the shelves. She knew there was life in books. True love and far off places. Books held adventures and cliff-hangers, suspense, danger and war. Friendship, laughter and children. All the things that don’t exist in nothing at all. She had read all these books. Some many many times....

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“MEANINGFUL LIFE” by Imama Hameed

Submitted to Contest #48

It Was In Summer....... WHEN A GROUP OF ADVENTURERS DECIDED TO EXPLORE THE MYSTERIOUS FOREST OF ORENDA. ...

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“The Fireman” by Delano Mighty

Submitted to Contest #48

I don’t remember much about that night, but I remember distinctly three things. One, the flickering brilliance of a fantastic fire. Two, the screaming voices of my sister and mother. And three, that it was my fault.I woke up the next day, covered by a fallen area of roofing, to the sharp smell of smoke, soot and ash. I was bathed in it. It stifled me as I tried to breathe. My blackened hair and shirtless form were rivalled only by the darkened walls surrounding me. Pushing the wood off my body, I sat up in the midst of what I once called hom...

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“The Birth of an Angel” by Brigidh McKeen

Submitted to Contest #48

December 1987, she was born Dianna Hartel, at her birth she was 6lbs, 5 oz, 21 inches long, and a full head of hair, raven black. She had been born in Michigan at 10:45 pm. For her two Blond haired parents this was only the smallest concern they had, Dianna had small wings, just like a newborn baby bird they were featherless, instead covered by downy fluff like a baby hawk. “Kat darling, I uh….. I know she is mine.” But what had been the cause of her mutation. “Well George my love, they say it is the man's DNA that decides these things, so w...

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“The mixture” by Philip Baker

Submitted to Contest #48

The mixture gave me unlimited strength. From the moment it got into me I could sense my muscles strengthening, my mind working faster and smarter, my memory got...almost impeccable. I can remember every single person, every face, and every text I read. Why did it happen to me? Why was I the one that happened to come across this imperceptible substance and not someone else? That is yet to be discovered. But the person I was, died the moment it happened. And a new one emerged, someone I can barely recognize and understand. It leads me the way ...

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“Temet Nosce” by Roya Z

Submitted to Contest #48

I was here before, I have seen it all. The smashed pieces of metal, melded into each other, resemble an impressionistic piece of art, grotesque and visceral, thought provoking, only it isn’t: it smells like burned flesh. The blood is spread on the ground, its color turning darker and darker as the night goes on. I wish I was not here, I wish I was in my bare room, looking at the moldy walls of the bearded man’s house. The man calls himself my uncle, and I know he isn’t, and he knows that I know, and yet we never talk. We have never talked. I...

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“The adventures of Princess Magma Ramanujam...” by Shruti Ravinder

Submitted to Contest #48

She stood tall on the dome of Saint Paul's Cathedral, looking down at the twinkling lights of the bustling city that she loved so much. It was close to midnight and still the city of London wasn't showing any signs of quietening. Buses and cars were honking at each other stuck in traffic jams, the stench emanating from the exhaust of these vehicles making the air thick and suffocating. She always thought they resembled little Lego pieces which are carefully placed one after another while an occasional motor-bike or bicycle whizzing through l...

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“THE SIDE EFFECT.” by Gerard Watson

Submitted to Contest #48

DaQuan Jones lived in a project in Brooklyn, New York, with his identical twin brother, Amari, and his mom, Marquita and dad, Lamar. Family and friends called Amari, Mari, and DaQuan, Quan. The family-owned and operated a successful soul food restaurant in the neighborhood. Marquita cooked in the kitchen and managed the books. Lamar served as the host and greeter. Quan and Mari would wash dishes and sweep up after school. Lamar and Marquita feed the homeless. They called one of their steady customers the Professor. He nev...

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“Underground Comic” by T O

Submitted to Contest #48

The city lights illuminated the slippery layer of water that coated the street. The moon dimly lit the night sky. Kamran slipped her way through the business workers who were hurrying home after their over time shifts, and the groups of party-goers who were quickly filling up the sidewalk - on their way to the bars and clubs for a Friday night out. If she had known it was going to rain, she would have brought an umbrella. Instead, she resorted to stuffing her head under the hood of her dirt stained sweatshirt. Her hands sat snuggly in her po...

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“End Times” by Overcooked Balut

Submitted to Contest #48

Splat! Blood splattered everywhere. A man let out his final pained groan as his dazed eyes landed on the sword that pierced through his chest. When he felt the coldness of the blade penetrating his heart, his pupils constricted as his body slowly lost its strength. AAAHHH!!! As the man collapsed onto the ground, an anguished cry rang out as another man rushed towards the sword-wielding man. The swordsman swiftly turned around, his movements didn't display any panic and with a single slash of his sword, another life ended once again. ...

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“The Job Interview” by Mike Olsen

Submitted to Contest #48

“In here Mr. Alder, the doctor will be right with you.” I stepped in and immediately realized that I was not alone. The nurse had closed the door behind me before I could say a word or object. Across the room, sitting alone in an armchair, a woman stared holes right through me. She seemed even less impressed that we would be sharing the therapy session together. She rolled her eyes and averted her attention elsewhere as if to signify that she was done with me already. I took a seat at the round table in the center of the room and activ...

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“I’m Not an Angel ” by Brigidh McKeen

Submitted to Contest #48

Dianna looked in the mirror of the girls room, she brushed her curly brown and raven mottled hair out of her eyes. She was tall for 12 years old, 5 ft 8 inches and lean, other girls her age were starting to blossom. Dianna had grown in other ways. At 9 years of age her wings had truly started to fill out and stop being patchy like a fledgling bird. She looked ordinary other than those two things. If she could hide her wings you would have not seen her anyway other than a very tall athletic and gawky child. Some days Dianna ...

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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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