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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

“How Could You?” by Haley Duncan

Submitted to Contest #50

“I can’t believe this,” April shouted at her husband Brian from their kitchen. “How could you?” It was late in the afternoon and April had just gotten home from doing volunteer work with kids at their town’s library. Meanwhile, her husband had been home from work for about two hours. He always has a weird schedule, but April had noticed that it was even weirder now that they had a baby on the way. When she questioned him about it last week, he told her that he had started taking as many shifts as possible in an effort to acquire as much mo...

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“Mania” by Shenice Pierre

Submitted to Contest #50

“I don’t know what to do anymore?” “What do you mean?” he asked, peering over the rim of his glasses, looking at his wife. “You don’t talk to me anymore. I can’t keep guessing what you want without you saying a word. I can't read your mind,” she stated quite calmly standing before her husband. “It shouldn’t be this way. How could you just sit there when our marriage is in shambles!” He paused, his gaze so completely and irrevocably confused. Then the slew of questions proceeded: “What do you mean? Shambles…What’s going on? Are you alright? D...

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“Schrodinger's indifferent cat” by MANU SWARAJ

Submitted to Contest #50

“The real question is, does the cat get a say in this?” said Jerry, his gaze fixed on the air vent.“I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter,” said Page, he was irritated. What was he thinking? Jerry will never understand this, and once that happens, he will start making fun of it. Page will have to play the joker again. “What do you mean you don’t know?” asked Jerry.“It’s hard, that's all I can say.” “What did you say was the name of the old scientist?”“Schrodinger”“Yeah, he is wrong. That is stupid.”“You could be right,” said Pag...

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“Don't drive so fast.” by Sandra Wheatley

Submitted to Contest #50

16th July 2020 Sandra Wheatley sandrawheatley@live.co.uk wordcount 1311 ‘’If you don’t slow down, I’m going to get out of this car and walk’’ ‘’You are hilarious, we are miles from the town, where are you going to walk too?’’ ‘’That is beside the point, the point is, will you please slow down, you are driving like a maniac and I don’t like it. A good driver does not make his passengers feel unsafe. Besides that, we are on a country road and you do not have a clear line of sight. If something comes around the next bend doing the...

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“Fortunes” by PK Spice

Submitted to Contest #50

“I need more time to think about it.” Justin growled as he tossed his cigarette butt off the cliff. “I’m sick of arguing about it!”Cora sighed as she debated what to say next. “Can’t you give me a real answer? Why won’t you do it?”Justin tilted his head and squinted at her as he lit another cigarette. He inhaled deeply, held the smoke in a bit longer than usual, then slowly exhaled as he tried not to lose his temper.“You’re expecting an awful lot from me.” He paused and pointed the two fingers holding the cigarette at her as his anger grew. ...

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“The hallmarks of a great speaker” by Vincent Stevenson

Submitted to Contest #50

The altercation at 8.03 pm was as unexpected as it was disturbing. Nobody was prepared for the marital flare-up that evening. Had the janitor not taken his Easter holiday, we could easily have lost the venue for good. The speakers’ session began at 8 pm on the dot. The jovial and expectant audience assembled in the art centre’s drawing-room where still life works of fruit bowls, urns and coffee pots adorned the spotlit walls, and outside the French windows, the trains of wisteria signalled another glorious late spring evening. As ...

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“Embrace” by Sophia Barnes

Submitted to Contest #50

BreatheJust breatheIt's not going to be like last timeYou promised yourself, remember?Besides, they're relying on youThemYour teammatesYour friendsThe schoolIt's up to youYou're the only one who can do this,the only one for the jobThey pass me by, telling me,Do good, okay?You got this!But they can't really be thinking that, right?They're probably thinking about last time,just like meGod, she's such a screw up.All of that big talk, and she can't save a single goal.Yeah, that's probably what they're thinking right nowBut that's okayIt's what I...

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“Simple Things” by Lu Brosamer

Submitted to Contest #50

Langston Hughes once wrote, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” This was it. I was holding fast to my dreams. Today was the day that my dream might actually come true. I might really be able to be who i've always wanted to be. All I have to do is just step on that stage, and perform. I always wanted the picturesque, simple life. White picket fences, my very own iron, my husband coming home to a homemade apple pie, and our beautiful kids running around on grass as green as an emeral...

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“One Shot” by J. J. Crown

Submitted to Contest #50

In her mind, Alyce had done this a million times, but now that the moment was here, she wanted to throw up. "I can't do this," she said, shaking out her right hand as if it were on fire. "This is real." "There would be no damn point if this wasn't real." The voice was her mentor, Logan Maddison. Over the past year, he had been grooming her for this. He knew that Alyce had raw talent. He saw that in her from the first moment he laid eyes on her. But talent will only take you so far. That was the mantra he told her over and over, urgin...

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“The Funny Bone” by Victor Sokolov

Submitted to Contest #50

“Ah hell.” I murmur. The car pulls to an abrupt stop, the sound of soft rain just barely heard over the laughing and speaking of the club. “Not getting cold feet now, are you Coops?” I turn my head away from the bright sign of the club and look at my chauffeur for the night. “Welp. If I’m being completely honest, Jackie, It’s less cold feet and more everything below my collar bone has gone to absolute zero.” Jackie cracks a smirk. “Well, that really sucks! But you’ll do fine. Also! Do us both a favor and save the jokes for the stage, wont...

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“BINGO” by Amanda Devine

Submitted to Contest #50

Daniel sat silently in the Bingo Hall parking lot. His left hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white in protest. In his other hand the classifieds were plastered with nervous sweat, clinging to him like a suffocating second skin. The cool Fall air made him all the more aware of how out of place the sweat drops felt dripping slowly down his face and neck. It was only an interview. There was no reason for his stomach to be in knots besides the hunger. Yet he was still anxious. He glanced at the ad he had circled the ...

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“You're gonna do great!” by Stuti Kapadia

Submitted to Contest #50

“You’re gonna do great!” Those words ran through my mind more times than any song that has been stuck in my head. And as a pianist, I have had a lot of songs stuck before. Those words were the last words of encouragement I had heard from my best friend, Isabella. She would always be there at every performance of mine. I never really cared much about her words of encouragement. They never really worked. How would she know if I would do great? But after her accident… I came to despise those words more than anything. “You’re gonna d...

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“The Scared Olympic Ice Skater” by Lynda Aduba

Submitted to Contest #50

There once was a girl named Miranda Dominguez. She was an Olympic ice skater for the USA team. She was only a seventeen years old girl going to the Olympics. Her mom and dad were from Mexico and they crossed the border so she could be an American citizen and live in America. She practices so hard with her personal trainer named Meghan Davids. Miranda had always wanted to compete in the Winter Olympics because her dad said that her aunt Melissa Dominguez had also competed in the Olympics when she was sixteen. Miranda´s grandparents had only h...

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“5 minutes” by Teresa Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #50

5 minutes. My leg is bouncing up and down, my fingers tapping a furious rhythm on my knee. I wipe my sweaty palms up and down on the side of my slacks for the 20th time. Okay, I think. I need to calm down. If I don’t, I won’t be able to think straight, I won’t remember anything,I’ll freeze up and go red with embarrassment and the crowd will all start laughing...alright, not helping. Calming down is all I need to do right now. It’s surprising how hard such a simple task is to complete. It’s like a circle...you can’t concentrate enough t...

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“You can do this.” by Leslie Nigel Campbell

Submitted to Contest #50

In life there are two main things that can make or break you. Others and yourself. Both can either can propel you towards a dream or drive you from it. That's what Leslie's grandmother told him when he was a young boy trying out for the choir and a lot of the kids laughed at him when he didn't make it in. When it happened he wanted to give up and never try again. But she told him he had something special and that he shouldn't hide or shy away, and to believe in himself. And that if he quited it was him who let them win. And to this very day ...

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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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