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!

#5: Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's novella The Old Man and the Sea was published for the first time in Life Magazine on September 1st, 1952. The story went on to win the Pulitzer Prize the following year, turning Hemingway into a bonafide international celebrity. And remember, this story was published decades after some of his now most famous works, like A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bells Tolls. A good reminder that it's never too late to achieve literary acclaim!

To celebrate the last full-length work published during Hemingway's lifetime, this week's prompts reflect topics and themes from some of his best-known works. (No need to have read any of Hemingway's books to use these prompts, but if you're looking to get better acquainted with his works, check out this Hemingway reading guide!)

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone who finds life meaning in an unexpected place.

Fiction – 34 stories

Write a story about two unlikely people falling in love.

Romance – 40 stories

Write a story about someone who decides to confront their fears head-on.

Character – 35 stories

Write a story about someone striving for a "comeback."

Adventure – 11 stories

Write a story about someone who is tired of their day-to-day routines.

Sad – 36 stories

Stories

“Personal Expectations” by Krystal Wells

Submitted to Contest #5

A long, slow drag off her Camel Light, Alissa was trying her hardest not to stress. If I fail, I can take it again, she told herself. She knows she passed the Language Arts and Social Studies portions with flying colors, but the Math and Science portions were freaking her out. She took today off from work to take the G.E.D. Another factor to her stress, but she told herself it will pay off in the long run. If she passes she won't have to worry about taking another day off from work. There were other people waiting outside with anxious faces....

Read story

“Melodies of Time” by Erick Molina

Submitted to Contest #5

-Stand up, tell us what’s your name and what would you like to be when you get older.-My name is Daniel; I am 12 years old and when I grow up, I would like to be a Literature teacher.Daniel Mitchell will always remember his first day at his high school. Many of his old friends had went to different schools, some were in his own school and others would not see them again in his life. That day was very exciting for him, seeing several boys of his age going on the same class as him was something he had never seen before, some would become his f...

Read story

“The Surprise ” by Sandra Lester

Submitted to Contest #5

The bright morning sun was rising from the East through the bay window where Sally Jo Martin sat, in her big, comfy recliner, sipping her morning coffee. Outside the open window, she could hear the birds singing cheerfully as they flitted about her front yard. Inside, she wished that she had that same freedom the birds were sharing so early in the morning. Yet, she was up, about to embark on her daily routine. In the beginning, Sally Jo had enjoyed the wonderful life that she'd basically fallen into...

Read story

“Job speck” by Robert Kohlhammer

Submitted to Contest #5

Another hot summer with glorious blue skies and lemon zesty clouds was drawing to a close, but for David the shelving of the new bestsellers in the book store was as it always had been, in need of refilling. As the sun shone , the temperature inside the store increased , which made David sweat like a coffee machine filtering , leaving all the sediment behind. Indeed, the days were getting darker earlier and all David wanted to do was do something exciting. However, he was stuck here like a book end , always covering up his frustration w...

Read story

“Dear whomever it may concern” by Samantha Marie

Submitted to Contest #5

Dear whomever it may concern, The curtain of lies I have laid before you will now be drawn away. I’d like to say I’m doing this for you, but honestly I can’t keep putting others above myself. I’m doing this for me, and me alone. At some point, hilariously premature to my fascination with long letters and final words, I would’ve walked through fire before I allowed anyone to see my true emotions. The steps to this point are even a mystery to me. However, each word is a complex and planned part to my introduction and adieu. To begin: I love yo...

Read story

“Trials of Another Day” by Carol Rogers

Submitted to Contest #5

She looked out the window at the blue jay as itroosted on the bird feeder thinking how nice it would be to be a bird without aworry. What would it truly be like to fly on the breeze with open wings screechingan alert as one swooped in to steal bits of food? She watched a moment beforeturning back to the kitchen counter to continue cutting vegetables. The knife slippedeasily through the hard carrot as she sliced them for the dinner meal. Next camethe onion, then the celery, the potato, and finally the meat. The stew wouldsimmer all day as she...

Read story

“Snow Bound” by Jonathan Crawford

Submitted to Contest #5

“Do you have the expense report?” said Mr. Poe, poking his head into Logan’s office.Logan didn’t answer.“Hey, Logan. Get your head out of your ass. I have a meeting in ten minutes, if I don’t have that expense report it’ll be your head,” said Mr. Poe stepping into the office.Logan shook the blank stare off his face, “Sorry, what were you saying?”“Meeting? Expense report? Your life on the line?” said Mr. Poe.“Right,” Logan shuffled through the stack of papers on his desk placing select sheets into a manila folder, “Here, last quarter and the ...

Read story

“Norman's Day” by Lucy Finn

Submitted to Contest #5

The alarm rang, 7:32am, bleating in a new day. Norman reached over to slap out the noise, knocking the clock and the stale glass of water over at the same time. He sighed, “Again.”Struggling to lift the sleep from his eyelids, he pulled off the covers, sat up and placed both feet on the floor. Realising he had only one sock on, having lost the other in the sheets at some point the night before, and said socked foot was now in the water puddle, Norman sighed again. The clock, not in the puddle or sensing Normans frustration, mocked him by gla...

Read story

“Extreme measures to counteract boredom. by Katherine M. Kean” by Katherine M. Kean

Submitted to Contest #5

Everybody has one birthday, usually when they reach a decade, where they suddenly feel tired, old, and used up. The intensity of this feeling varies depending on the person, and on the age in question. When Patricia hit fifty, the shock sent her reeling, and she felt as though she had bitten the dust, hard. It happened at a very precise moment, when she was making her New Year’s Resolutions. This had always been problematic for her, her difficulties linked to the fact that her birthday fell on December the 30th. She usually spent most of the...

Read story

“Vampire Fun” by Win Stark

Submitted to Contest #5

36 hours ago, Lilah was not expecting to be in this predicament. She sat, soaked from head to toe, though slowly drying. Next to her sat her friend Violet, also soaked. The two didn’t talk, but whenever their gazes met while they waited on the bench, they had to work really hard to stifle their giggles.**flashbackLilah walked through the hallway briskly, occasionally pausing to readjust a frame on the wall. Her black boots clicked on the floor tiles as she walked, and her long dress, also black with long bell sleeves, fluttering behind her s...

Read story

“Dreaming From 9-5” by Jaylia Smith

Submitted to Contest #5

Penetratingly emotionless, aggravatingly mind-numbing bings and beeps ring in his ears and sink into his brain, rattling around his skull as a pulsing migraine. His head thrums with every keyboard tap, every fake, enthusiastic, “Hello! This is...” as some poor sap answers the phone, only to be met with anonymous, unsolvable frustrations yelled at them by some faceless stranger, as the air conditioning blasts lukewarm air from too small of a slotted opening in the back of the crowded, lifeless office. His work continues to pile up in fr...

Read story

“What Advantage” by Hunter Dansin

Submitted to Contest #5

Come into my mind and stay awhile. Please stay and don't leave and let me indulge because it is all I have. In the world, you see, I am a man who talks and fixes problems over the phone and goes home and eats and sleeps and answers the phone with a cheery voice so you will leave me a good score so I can keep my job and punches out and makes dinner and sleeps and passes on the hard problems to a supervisor and complies with your demands and listens to you vent and asks you personal questions to try and be relatable and works overtime when the...

Read story

“Another Wednesday” by Ann Markow

Submitted to Contest #5

Marg Powers gently seated herself on the corner of the bed, careful not to disturb her sleeping husband. As she stared at his sheet-wrapped form, she contemplated how she'd do it. Earlier that Wednesday morning, around six, she'd eased out of bed. She dragged herself into the bathroom and stared in the mirror at the woman she'd become. The former elegant beauty who had the brains and the talent to take her anywhere she wanted to go in life, now more closely resembled a bag lady. Her once glorious hair stuck out in short, bedraggled clumps. T...

Read story

“Passing Times” by Sally Desouza

Submitted to Contest #5

‘Teachers will now be expected to wipe down all desks during each of your students’ passing times, to remove any vandalism and offensive marks,’ Mrs. Jacobson said. To this end, she handed each teacher a 500 count box of lemon-scented multi-purpose wipes. She explained that more boxes would be made available in the front office, should the first be used up (which it most certainly will). Graffiti is becoming commonplace at Brackenridge Middle School. Mr. Elliot raised his hand. He always seems to question Mrs. Jacobson when she tri...

Read story

“Repeatedly” by Jeanell McFarlane

Submitted to Contest #5

"I've done this several times before", muttered Jeff. He looked up and glanced around to see if anyone had heard him. All clear, he sighed with relief. He looked down again and stared at the endless lines that ran down the page in front of him. “Agh”, he said half aloud and half under his breath. He was staring so hard; the lines were becoming blurred! He gave his head a slight shake, side to side, now up and down, side to side and up and down. He stood up and stretched his hands to the ceiling while trying to balance on his toes. His legs q...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

156

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 06, 2019 EST

Won by Yves. ♙ 🏆

Title: World Got Smaller

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 ⭢