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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

“One Final Performance” by Elle Clark

Submitted to Contest #50

My hands are shaking and my head feels weirdly fuzzy. Good grief. Is this stage fright? I haven’t had stage fright for years! To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think I could get it anymore. When you’ve been performing as long as I have, each show feels old hat, run-of-the-mill, like you’re flogging a dead horse. I’ve had to ramp up the drama each time just to keep it exciting for myself in the last few years. That’s the real reason I’m retiring, I guess. I’ve been telling myself that it’s because I’m just getting too old to go throu...

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“Mason Jar” by Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #50

Author's Note: This story is the sequel to a previous story I wrote called Nowhere. If you would like to read Nowhere you may, but there really isn't much you need to know from that story in this one. :) Also, this is dedicated to all the people who are different. We all are; it just takes others a while to see that part in themselves and acknowledge it. Thank you. ********************************************************* The woman at the cash register bagged my items and put them in a cart, trying to stay as far...

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“The Night That Didn’t End” by Aarshia Ray

Submitted to Contest #50

“What was that?” I woke up on a shivery winter night and started searching for my specs. “It’s so dark, seems the middle of the night… what a nightmare I had.” I thought, resettling to sleep. “Hey no! That’s not a dream. Someone’s banging the door. But at this hour! What is the time now? Where’s my cellphone? Goodness, it’s 12!” I paused. Another bang followed… making me really frightened now. I’m alone at home and it seems someone’s trying to break down the door. Should I… open it? Of course not, I decided, burying myself under t...

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“Close together yet far apart. ” by Anja Z

Submitted to Contest #50

He stands there. Fidgeting with his sleeves, then with his hair, looking at the ground. Wondering , thinking of the perfect opportunity, the perfect moment. Then he thinks of her with her golden hair and perfect smile: Her small yet strong body, so delicately beautiful, yet so magnificently strong. He looks up and notices her walking towards him. She’s wearing her normal attire. As a warrior to the Crown he knows she cannot wear any other attire when she is on duty. He looks down to his attire. A Green high buttoned up jacket not ...

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“Time to think back” by Nirosha P

Submitted to Contest #50

My heart was beating fast. My mind was racing. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up. I glanced at the rear mirror and saw that they were getting closer. Looking ahead, I see a hedge of bushes on my right that led to a different road. I glanced behind again and noticed that they were trailing me and their lights indicated that they expected me to turn to the left. They obviously expected me to turn left because there was no road to turn right since the hedge of bushes were there. I bite my lip. Was ...

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“Singing Soul Sisters” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #50

I reached around to the back of the speaker and plugged my microphone in. I checked the volume then walked over to my lead guitarist-Danny (or Danielle). She was putting in her hoop earrings.“Are you all set?” Danny looked up at me and nodded.“Should be. The only things that aren’t set up yet are JoJo’s drums and the lights at the end of the stage.” Danny put in her other earring and I looked around.“Hey, it’s okay. You’ve done this performance a million times before.” I nodded and walked over to LuLu, my bass guitarist/JoJo’s sister.“I’m al...

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“Two Winters” by Katy S.

Submitted to Contest #50

The icy winter wind was flying throughout the forest, telling all the inhabitants to fall asleep. The old oak was telling the young oak of this." Fall asleep. Do not be afraid. The spring wind shall wake you up when the sun shines. "" Will I not be cold in winter's reign? "" The snow will blanket you. Do not fear. "" Tell me a story. "The old oak was quiet for a moment. " Many seasons ago. I wasn't taller than a sapling. The sky above my leaves wasn't blue, nor black. Trees around me were falling asleep in the cold, still...

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“Hope and Happiness” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #50

NightCrawlers: Victims of a Parasite that turned into Nocturnal Cannibalistic Hunters whose only instincts are to kill and eat.If there was ever a time that Datura needed to get blackout drunk, it was now. She wished for nothing more than to down every bottle she could get her hands on, forget absolutely everything, then puke her guts out the morning after. Before Datura shunned the idea—persuading her son away from just the thought of it—but now it was the only thing on her mind.Could you blame her? She was stuck on the floor, with an arm a...

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“The Treehouse” by T.M. Kay

Submitted to Contest #50

Sure the floor was crooked and the walls were uneven and had a sheet for a roof that leaked when it rained but it was ours and me and Jimmie built it.It was August, 1945. Me and Jimmie Anderson ran away from home. We were hiding out in our treehouse on account of because Jimmie got grounded. It really wasn’t his fault or nothin. We needed a roof on our treehouse so Jimmie asked his Momma if we could use a sheet and she said it was ok.He got grounded because his Momma told him not to use her company sheets. I guess Momma’s have regular sheets...

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“The Baton Swinger” by Sayujyaraj Ghimire

Submitted to Contest #50

The unmistakable piece of Mozart's 'Piano Concerto No.21 K467' escalated throughout the hall leisurely. Even though having the music played at a snail's pace, it had the power to frantically speak the rare emotions and sentiments of one's heart. The music was extraordinary, which undoubtedly inspired a profound passion for both players and listeners. The music itself was so phenomenal that it made me spellbound as it produced choral vibes within me while running my fingers through the keys. However, the flow was disrupted as I miss...

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“Crime in the Time of Corona” by Jonathan Blaauw

Submitted to Contest #50

The world had changed almost overnight. One minute everything was fine and dandy and the next – thanks to a bat in some far off place nobody had ever heard of – people lost their minds and started buying up all the toilet paper. Joey supposed you could say everyone had gone bat-shit crazy. And that had just been the start; things had gone from bad to worse since. Joey didn’t need the local news, with its constant reports on the dying economy, to tell him that. Like so many others around the world, he found himself out of work and in desperat...

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“The Man in the Suit” by Nandan Prasad

Submitted to Contest #50

The man in the suit walked out of the station gates. He moved to the side of the staircase leading down the station and stood silently, watching the world go about its business.There was the pani-puri seller, his stall at the bottom of the staircase. He was doing booming business, even though it was just after lunchtime.At the opposite corner of the staircase was the balloon seller. He didn’t only sell balloons, though; he also sold wooden dolls, little plane figurines, those long cylinders that exploded into streamers and some liquid when t...

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“Death Valley Daze” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #50

I'm a dead man. Should of seen 'er comin. Three weeks ago, I thought my luck finally turned. Got a solid seam of silver running along a fracture. Loaded my mule, Bessie, with a hundred pounds of high grade ore. And it still ain't nowheres near played out. Bessie give one a her twitches as means she smells somethin she don't like. I glance around and spot er right off. They's four fellahs about two miles back while I'm a good day an-a-half out of Bisbee and ain't no law betwixt here an there. Line a fir trees bout three miles in front o m...

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“Divine Intervention” by Cassidy Caldwell

Submitted to Contest #50

The proposal was simple enough: Get in, get the girl, then leave. Harvey was concerned about all three parts. He sat there across from the Big Boss, who was smoking an unlit cigar (lung cancer wasn’t an issue in heaven, but the act itself was strictly prohibited nonetheless) with his feet propped up on the table. Harvey was reminded again that Big Boss was notoriously the least angelic angel in all of heaven. It boggled his mind that this was the guy in charge of almost every earth-heaven interaction. Was God having an off day when He hi...

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“Designated Driver” by Alexi Delavigne

Submitted to Contest #50

“I propose we get ice cream.” Kaitlin is slurring her words so much it takes her twice as long as normal to get this sentence out. She has had far too much to drink. Even you, who do not drink regularly, have had a couple of glasses of wine. But your two friends Kaitlin and Rian have been drinking heavily for the past three hours, gulping their way through bottle after bottle. Although you have consumed a comparatively small amount, you can feel a slight giddiness about you. But you don’t think you’re impaired. After all, you're ...

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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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