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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#50: A Moment Like This

Throughout this contest, we’ve read wonderful entries that provide sweeping overviews of characters' lives (such as "The Tree"), as well as submissions that offer glimpses into distinct life-phases (like "Time Bomb"). We’ve also been captured by stories book-ended by the start and end of one particular moment in time: such as "The Price of a Nice Guy" (a woman gets a flat tire and parks on the side of the road), "Who Speaks to Death" (a story told through a single text conversation), and "To You" (a 50th birthday party).

In the spirit of those last three examples, this week's prompts challenge you to embrace the short story's ability to really dive into and explore one single scene.

This week's prompts

Write a story about a proposal.

Valentine's Day – 211 stories

Write a story about an argument that seems to be about one thing, but is actually about another.

Dialogue – 121 stories

Write a story about a person experiencing pre-performance jitters.

High School – 162 stories

Write a story told entirely through one chase scene.

Thriller and Suspense – 143 stories

Write a story about a summer afternoon spent in a treehouse.

Summer – 303 stories

Stories

“a promise times more” by Reana W.

Submitted to Contest #50

My fingers trembled as I accepted the call. “Hello?” I said shakily into the phone. “Aiden?” I called out adjusting my voice, as I prayed for him not to question. Crossing my fingers and pleading for him to mishear my quaver. But it never really helped, because he always asked. And if it wasn’t loud, then it was quiet in his silence. Making every year the same excruciating moment of pain, webbing out from my annual lie. Because the mind has a funny way of making sure we nev...

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“The Wishful Curse” by R. E. Dressler

Submitted to Contest #50

I slapped down another pair of jacks onto the musty wooden floorboards once again. A cool autumn breeze whizzed through my oversized hoodie like spears, causing my skin to prickle. “And another win for the third time,” I boasted to my best friend, Brady. He stared at the two playing cards, baffled. After a moment, he frisbeed the remaining cards within his hands across the dusty ground towards me. Another gust of wind suddenly howled through the cracks of the boards, nearly picking up one of the staggered cards along in its fury. Slamming do...

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“The Tragedy is the thing” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #50

“So, Susan,” Bill asked, “How do you not like Shakespeare?” “I’m just not fond of him,” Susan said. “I’d prefer Hemingway if you’d like to know.” She played with her silverware, wondering why they were in this overpriced restaurant. They probably shouldn’t be here even though they’d hardly seen each other all summer, and this was their end of summer reunion dinner. Still, she had just gotten through buying her books, (three hundred dollars for one stupid textbook for crying out loud!), paying for her dorm room, and a pair of two-h...

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“Light Bulb” by LeighAnne Ferreol

Submitted to Contest #50

Jenny felt around in the darkness, looking for the bathroom switch. Her fingers finally brushed against it. Click. The room stayed dark. She tried again. Click. Nothing. Click. Click. “You’re gonna break that thing if you keep flipping it like that,” Greg commented. “It would have to work first before I could break it, Greg,” she snapped. “I told you, the switch is fine. I just need to replace the light bulb,” he sighed. “Then why don’t you change the light bulb, Greg?!” She asked angrily. “Hey, calm your ass down. I’ll get to it...

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“The Rookie” by Veronica H.

Submitted to Contest #50

Today was the day Michelle would earn her Final Certification. The twenty-one year old college graduate was no longer a trainee. Today, she would handle her first real client on the job. After today, there would be no more run thoughts, roleplaying, shadowing others. Her training would be done if she managed to not bungle this first solo assignment. She would be official.The restaurant she sat in was busy. Dozens of late brunchers occupied the place, their mimosa-fueled conversations filling the spaces between tables and booths with the...

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“First Read: A Cotillion” by J.A. Sampson

Submitted to Contest #50

It is after midnight and I sit back-to-back with my mentor and director on the cold, granite steps of the historic Old Post Office Pavilion, a massive Romanesque Revival-style structure with a Clock Tower that soars 300 feet into the bluish-black sky. It occupies an entire city block on the north side of the Federal Triangle along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, and is now the home of the National Endowment for the Arts, created in the sixties to embody hope, to nurture American creativity, and to elevate the nation’s culture. It fina...

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“Dinner And a Movie ” by Matt Render

Submitted to Contest #50

“Terrible” says Dennis. “Yet another classic example of someone's overly sentimental, pixilated and simplistic view of American culture....” Here we go, I think Another one of Dennis’ diatribes... Another dinner and a movie with Dennis. Another Wednesday date night. I feel the frustration building inside me. Why does it always end up this way? The most perturbing part about it all is that somehow, I actually still care. I actually wore my new earrings for this. Nevertheless, I try to maintain my civility. Maybe the ...

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“The Outsiders, The Bully and The Treehouse” by Joan Kearney

Submitted to Contest #50

As soon as I noticed that Will and I walked the same way home from school, I knew I had to know more about him. We were just eight and I was the new girl in the third grade at Saint Michael’s. I spent that first day just observing the other kids who were mostly friendly except when they teased and bullied William Murphy.William was a small kid with reddish brown hair that was always a mess. He kept to himself and was almost always reading. I felt like an outsider myself too. I wasn't just a quiet girl that looked pretty much the same as ever...

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“Incomplete Symphony” by Aritra Banerjee

Submitted to Contest #50

The clock on the wall pointed to 56 minutes past 21 hours. The room was a large, spacious one. It was evident that its owner was a person of considerable wealth. The wall on one side had been replaced by glass, and one could see the entire city from here. The furniture in the room was scarce, but a large number of books adorned the bookshelves. In the middle of the room was a table, and on opposite sides of it, sat two men. “Mr Francis, I still think Ivan is too young to be involved in something like this.” Francis shifted his gaze from the ...

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“The Perfect Mess” by Kaitlin Schneider

Submitted to Contest #50

June 7thDear Diary, Tonight, I dove back into the dating game for the first time in years, and I have to say, it went great! I’m not sure why I was so nervous, considering it’s so easy to talk to him. Well, I should say text. Maybe that’s why I got so nervous when we met for our first real date tonight. Maybe that’s why I spilled the mint ice cream all over the front of my shorts as we sat down at our table outside the Baskin-Robbins. God, that was so embarrassing! We’d known each other for all of 10 minutes, and I go and do a stupid thing l...

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“Batch Hatch Hardo and the Amazing Race” by Ben K

Submitted to Contest #50

Zipping up his all black racers jacket. Batch Hatch Hardo puts on his leather racing gloves, pulling each one as tight as possible before fastening the wrist straps. Wrapping extra tape around the open wrist to protect the skin and joint in case of a crash. Batch gives each wrist a firm slap. Sliding his wool sock covered feet into thick black boots he gives them a zip and pulls each buckle strap firm and tight. An extra layer of tape around the knee joints and elbows before the pads come on and he's ready for his helmet. The sleek al...

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“Treehouse Escape” by Ajay B

Submitted to Contest #50

Mothering. Adulting. Caring. Cleaning. I was over it. All of it. At least for an afternoon. I hadn’t been in my old treehouse in years. Much of it looked the same, but my dad and uncles fixed it up for the next generation of kids to enjoy. My old tire swing got new chains. My old rope ladder was traded in for a wooden one. The roof was raised and shingled. Window panes were installed, and they added a deck and a telescope. The old bucket pulley got an upgrade as well. A brand new, shiny silver bucket and a new pulley system replaced wh...

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“The comedian” by Bianca Hails

Submitted to Contest #50

The carpet lightly crunched when she nervously paced up and down the room in her heels. She had done this so many times, had been on that stage every week for years, but tonight - tonight was different! It was the first time ever that someone she really cared about was in the audience. Up until tonight, her comedy had only been for strangers. Occasionally she would try some of her jokes out on her students, but they only laughed because they had to. Most of her material wasn’t suitable for teenagers anyway. They didn’t need to know about her...

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“A call from the woods” by Ankita Tripathi

Submitted to Contest #50

Sam had been driving for two hours. Another hour and he would be standing in his hometown; where he grew up.After his parents joined better firms and relocated to a better place; returning to this place became even more difficult.Ashley was the reason for this unplanned journey after three years.He was twenty-two when he had to leave his childhood home behind, but leaving Ashley was the most painful decision.'I'm not in a healthy state of mind. I can't handle myself, forget about a relationship. I might hurt you, Ashley. I think it would be ...

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“NOW PRAISE WE WEAK TALE-BEARERS” by Scott Smock

Submitted to Contest #50

The crowd was there, as had been promised by the Entertainment Council, and this was both exciting, and nerve wracking, to Harry Prescott. He was a Tale-Bearer and had found his way to Shiloh to read his books to these entertainment starved people in exchange for room and board. He was joined by Andre Johnson, who was the Historian of the pair. Earlier that day he'd gone through Shiloh, talking with the elders and watching with amazement as their eyes lit up while speaking of their past. Now it was Harry's turn to help the people forget abou...

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$50

Prize money

940

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 17, 2020 EST

Won by Emily Hemmings 🏆

Title: Life in the Trees

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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