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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

“The Challenger” by Ken Coomes

Submitted to Contest #50

Sherry sat in the center lane of three, waiting for the traffic light to turn green, tapping her fingernails on the steering wheel of her 2020 Shelby GT500, Hermes. She named all her vehicles. Hermes, the Olympian God of many things including speed, was aptly named. She wasn’t about to call her car Nike, after the Greek Goddess of Speed, Strength, and Victory. The name fit, but Sherry couldn’t bear thinking of her car being named after a shoe, or a company that made shoes. Looking to her left she saw a Toyota Prius-C, driven by an...

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“Emily vs Suki” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #50

Emily stared down the dog, who sat at attention in the middle of the living room. “Right,” Emily said firmly. “How hard can it be?” She held up the harness, and the dog was gone. “Oh god damn it.” There was a crash from the hallway, but by the time she’d made it there was nothing but the shattered remains of that old, lime green vase that had sat there her whole life. The vase looked awful, and Emily had lost count of how many times she’d tried to get rid of it. Seeing it lying in pieces on the floor stopped her in her tracks though....

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“Trade” by Lily Jones

Submitted to Contest #50

It was summer, when the hot winds blew against Emma's face, and the humid air clung to her skin like leeches. Summers in Florida were never too pleasant; it was hot, wet, and the pools were always so full it was hard to enjoy them. Most of Emma's friends went to Universal Studios or Disneyworld, but Emma stayed at home in her small home with her mom and dad. She stumbled through the forest to an abandoned treehouse, one she hadn't seen in years. It had been so long since she and Mia had played in it. Her father built the treehouse ye...

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“ The Treehouse” by Dorothy Claybourn

Submitted to Contest #50

I grew up in a small Neighborhood. In total there were about 30 kids that My Sister and I grew up with. We had all kinds of fun. There are a greenbelt and a creek behind the neighborhood and up a hill on the other side was the better neighborhood. Now, none of us kids were allowed to play here because of snakes and other dangers. One Saturday We all met up and decided to explore more of the wooded area. We were young and had no fear of a.k.a. young and dumb. We found an old tree house way up in a tree, hidden by other trees and you wouldn't...

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“Do You Remember...” by Jaclyn Warren

Submitted to Contest #50

“Do you remember…” Aline trailed off, running her sun spotted hand across the worn wood of the treehouse. It was soft with deep ridges. Each ridge reminded her of another time. Her curly red hair hung limply down in front of her shoulders and she brushed it behind her before reaching a hand back out to the wood. Her finger hit the hand carved initials. TB + AG. Her heart ached as she traced Tristan’s initials. Tristan Boreas and Aline Garcon. How young and naïve they had been. &nbsp...

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“Holding Hands” by Madelyn Sanchez

Submitted to Contest #50

It had been a long, hot summer day and with the local pool being closed, the only escape from the scorching sun was the treehouse. In the afternoon, a light breeze blew through the hole in the wall Dan always called a window. It was made last fall on the worst day of his life. Today, though, was a good one. Dan and Ella were sitting on the warm oak flooring of their secret place, away from parents, teachers, doctors, and any problems the two had. They were reading, Dan a comic book and Ella a magazine about animals. Dan liked the animal maga...

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“The Secret ” by Hannah Cairns

Submitted to Contest #50

The Secret By: Hannah Cairns Introduction It was summer and the two teenage girls had nothing to do for the season. They were both keeping secrets from one another so they started to get distant. One of the girls (Kate) called the other to meet in the treehouse they hung out in when they were little. Kate just couldn’t seem to keep the secret bottled up inside anymore. Kate wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she knew it was going to be bad… Part one Kate My alarm went off and I wanted to burn it. My mom says that yo...

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“That one special summer afternoon” by Fatima Faisal

Submitted to Contest #50

Happiness coursed through my veins as I closely looked over the glazing mountains, the old memories suddenly hitting me like a loud bang. The cold breeze whistled past me as I cast a fleeting glance towards the outside world from the tiny window. I unconsciously smiled, putting the strands of chocolate brown hair behind my ear. The day felt beautiful, with no one to disturb me in regards to worldly matters. Gazing at the adorable creatures of the wild, I felt extremely glad that I made this decision. I stretched my long arms and made a sharp...

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“Fidget Cubes, a prince, and a treehouse” by Jane Syphert

Submitted to Contest #50

Isaac could proudly say that he was not like other girls. For one thing, he was a boy. For another, he was sixteen and still played in a treehouse. You couldn't quite call it playing, seeing as he spent most of his time there staring at one of the walls and thinking. He liked thinking. He liked it so much that he would evade the palace guards so that he could do it in peace. He had also built and furnished the treehouse out of pocket, despite being a prince. The common folk were always happy to make him work for money. He loved that th...

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“Another Abandoned Treehouse” by Niki Urquidi

Submitted to Contest #50

The sunlight squeezed through the cracks in the wood slat roof to combat the silence that filled our old treehouse. I couldn’t help but think how much bigger it used to seem, but then again I was much smaller the last time I visited this place. We used to come here each afternoon, you and I, venturing out of our own houses and through the woods to meet each other at this sacred place. It was close enough to run to, but far enough to be hidden from the outside world by a layer of trees. Invisible and safe, just how we liked it. But today, I w...

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“Treehouse visit” by Debbie Teague

Submitted to Contest #50

The morning after yesterday was not just any morning as Lucy would soon discover. It was a morning when she would go off on a journey. The day would be a day of discovery. What would she find on her journey? Something to eat, someone to help. Would it bring a treasure? Danger? She hoped not danger. Time would tell. Bravely she set off, all the while trusting in the universe to keep her safe. She first went over a little bridge that covered a babbling brook, past the patch of lavender flowers - oh the ...

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“There is a Ghost in my Tree House” by Angela Morrissey

Submitted to Contest #50

Aimée sat down in her tree house. It was a slightly dilapidated box made of different types of wood with the paint peeling off. The week had been like any other with the young woman enjoying her Textiles class at school. Now it was time to relax as she usually did all day on the weekend in her sanctuary and secret place. It was only noon and she had the entire day to relax in her special area. The sun shone through the window providing a bright light in the tree fort. ‘What are you doing here?’...

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“Summer in the Treehouse” by DERRICK CHU

Submitted to Contest #50

One sunny summer afternoon, Fred and Paul were in their treehouse. You might think they are just another pair of buttheads having nothing to do, but that is where you are wrong. You see, Fred is actually a genius. Like a genius genius. Like I.Q. 256 genius. See what I mean? Paul is a very skilled hacker, who has once hacked the white house. He almost got caught, but good thing he shut down his computer just in time. You might be thinking, “Wow! They will be really dangerous if they get into the wrong hands!” You are absolutely correct. It is...

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“Overthrowing Queen Bee” by Allison Courtenay

Submitted to Contest #50

“Hey! Hey, wait up!” Called a little boy. He rushed air in and out of his lungs, pleading his little legs to carry him faster through the tall grass. “Kay! Kay! Hey, you guys, wait up!” He practically doubled over by the time he reached the trunk of an old oak where a skinny girl a few years his senior stood, picking the bark off the tree. She pried loose a long piece and waved it at the boy like a wand. “It's ‘Your Majesty Kay’ to you! Come quick, Sir Jaxon! Sir Micheal is awaiting your arrival!” The girl tossed the bar...

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“Memories of Wood” by Nemo Doe

Submitted to Contest #50

Well here I am folks. The kid whose teachers "expect great things from". Sitting in a treehouse he built with his dad at eleven years old. Nothing to be done about it I suppose, my mom kicked me out while I was researching. There are so many places I can go, but I can only attend one college. I look around myself and take in everything. The handles on the ladder that long since broke off, resulting in a broken arm. The fence, falling apart. The tree which splits in two, resulting in two holes in the ceiling. I've spent countless hours starin...

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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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