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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 Rift” by Cara H

Submitted to Contest #50

The Rift I “Alex, do you remember this?” Seventy-year-old Sabella Laaksonen handed an old Polaroid picture to her sixty-four-year-old brother. A rangy pre-teen girl with strawberry-blonde hair and freckles across her nose stood beside a young dark-haired boy with a similarly freckled nose. A rope ladder extended into the tree behind them, leading up to a treehouse. The boy held a hammer and the girl held a saw. “You’d think it was us that did the work and not Dad,” Sabella chuckled. “Now we’re both gray and I don’t think it would be wise fo...

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“The actor supreme. ” by Tim Simpson

Submitted to Contest #50

“I can’t do it! I just can’t I want to back out home now!” “Listen to me” She grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him. “There are so many people out there!” He pulled the curtain back to gaze out into the massive crowd that was busy finding their seats. “Charles focus on me! You have rehearsed this part for months. This is opening night the show hinges on your character you have to go on.” She said in as slow and steady a voice as she could muster. “He looked her in the eyes and said, “I play a talking tree! I am forty years old...

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“Oh Holy night!” by Fuh Colette

Submitted to Contest #50

On Saturday, 5th November, 2016 was the day I'd finally decided to overcome fear and shyness. Melvis ( my best friend's elder sister), and I had made plans to join "Celestial Chorus Choir" for more than a year but didn't have the guts to. Back in my secondary school days I used to be in our local Parish's youth choir; Saint Gabriel's Choir. That wasn't challenging because I was the youngest and was often pampered by the adults. It wasn't a problem if I missed a note, besides the whole choir was a mess ( not just literally). Here I was in a n...

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“Perfect Presentation” by Alicia Powers

Submitted to Contest #50

I look at the clock. Five minutes remain until the meeting. I want to practice the slides until I can recite each one perfectly, but I have run out of time. “Memorize the transitions,” I remind myself, a piece of advice I have often received from my graduate school advisor. I can recite the transitions between slides, but now that the presentation is approaching, I am drawing blanks on the substance in the slides. I will have to hope that, in the moment, my words will come through. I take two breaths and unplug my c...

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“Glossophobia” by Bloggs V.Knife

Submitted to Contest #50

' Don't worry, I'm sure everyone will like your performance.' said the little girl who sounded braver than me. 'I-I'm not scared, I just am a little nervous.' I said . I'm not completely lying to her. I thought I would never perform again. After what happened last time. Not a chance. But that changed after my little girl persuaded me to perform for her birthday. I mean, I can never deny her puppy eyes. 'Daddy, why are you so scared. It's just a song. And you sing better than everyone else!' she exclaimed trying to convince me. I let out a he...

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“Conquering From Within” by Krittika Chandhok

Submitted to Contest #50

"There is some sort of counter-intuitive truism stating that it's all your head. I am not quite a fan of this abstract, mainly because the harder I try to believe in it, the more obnoxious any situation becomes. When your heart is beating faster than the velocity of a Buggati Veyron, an accelerated breath and a feeling that I can collapse at any moment, it's vague to say that". I say this out loud to my therapist who gives me a deadpan expression along with a few nods after listening to my remark. "Seems like you're under the influence of p...

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“The Dance Recital” by Monica Chaddick

Submitted to Contest #50

Sarah was crying - again. She had been crying at the drop of a hat for the last three days. This time, she was crying because her stomach hurt. Earlier, she was crying because she couldn’t find the color that she wanted. Before that, she was crying because her coffee milk wasn’t ready. Every little tiny thing seemed to set her off lately. Yesterday, she had cried so much that she made herself sick. If it wasn’t her brother annoying her, then it was her cousin or...

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“That One Lonely Soul” by Nic Siemer

Submitted to Contest #50

It’s all I can do to stay sane. The corner is dark, inviting on nights like these. The bar crawls with people of all different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. The open floor throbs with bodies swaying to music. It’s spacious but crowded. Full of heat, sweat, pain, magic. I can pick out a few too young to be drinking, staggering on heels too high. I always wonder how they manage. Their souls are new, too full of life to be lurking in bars crawling with souls feeding off those much younger than them. My corner is always cozy, safe from all. Es...

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“Just Like You Said It Would Be” by Yvonne McCoy

Submitted to Contest #50

My head hangs above the toilet as dry heaves shudder through my body. This is the way a lot of famous musicians started – nervous and playing their first time at a small local bar, right? Except, I don’t want to be famous. I just want to be me. But I’m not even sure what “being me” means. The music stops and the echo of light applause rings out from the venue, signaling only one performance left before it’s my turn. I draw in a deep breath, knowing I can’t stay in here all night. I straighten up and tug at the hem of my sweater, first pu...

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“Shaking” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #50

Thirty minutes. I had thirty minutes before I was supposed to go on stage. Thirty minutes before the lights would shine on me. Thirty minutes before I made a fool of myself in front of everyone. "Would you just relax, Mari," Astra, my best friend, said, but I couldn't. I was pacing a hole in the floor. Gosh, my hands were shaking so bad, I knew vibrato wouldn't be a problem. But, what if I dropped my violin? What if my bow was shaking? What if… In thirty minutes, I would get up on stage and play my violin for the talent show. Astra...

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“Cabaret Dreams” by Morgan Douglas

Submitted to Contest #50

The Portland-famous cabaret singer Lena Medley was about to go on stage for the umpteenth time. This time in an intimate gastro bar in the Pearl District. Try as she might to feel like this performance would be just like every other one she had done over the years. She knew that tonight was special and she wanted to perform at her best. In order to make her once estranged mother proud. They had reconnected about a year prior and Lena was still trying to forgive her mother for leaving when she was a teenager. Her mother, named Kelly, was comi...

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“The Robbery” by Sukhbir Pathak

Submitted to Contest #50

A week before there was an accident which happened near the Grover street. It was a terrible accident but nobody was hurt. There lived an old couple for past 40 years, they had a shop called “Sizzling Dim Sums”. It got destroyed inside out. A plate number which was not of this town was found on the road where the incident took place. The police investigated the town and found the security footage. The footage showed that around 2 am there was a car which hit the store and ran. This was all the police got from 2 minutes footage. People ...

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“Slathering Beast” by Michael Ball

Submitted to Contest #50

Blinding speed, you grip the reins tight as you watch the ground passing quickly beneath you. You bank to the right to avoid a grand living tree that swings a mighty arm in your direction. "Hey... Stop..." It seems to say after you in a slow booming voice when you narrowly avoid its reach. You turn for a moment. You pray that the tree has slowed the progress of your pursuer but you only look on in horror as it bounds around the growth without slowing for a moment. Fear grips your heart. You look upon the ravenous slathering beast w...

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“Hot Pursuit” by Angela Morrissey

Submitted to Contest #50

I can’t believe I’ve done it, no, not me – just an innocent street kid in my seventeenth year of life and I’m already facing death. They had my back up against the wall and now it’s worse. The Malaysian cops are after me and I’m at the point where I’ll get hanged if I’m caught! I’m now hiding in a jungle in Malaysia. I’ve just run away from two custom officers that had seen the deadly death threat. Oh, man! When I saw the two officers come up to me with that “you’re in for it” expression on their faces I just knew tha...

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“Another Day in Paradise” by Lydia Tonani

Submitted to Contest #50

"Can you walk faster?" whispered Rose, a few steps ahead of me in the hallway. "Give me a break," I said with a sigh. As soon as we walked out the doors, Rose finished her champagne glass and started to pull clips out of her hair. I opened the automatic car doors and sat down in the driver's seat while she sat beside me. "Did you get them?" I asked. "Of course, I did," she replied, taking out her last hair clip. "Where is it?" Rose looked at me and pointed at her neck and ears to the most expensive, exquisite jewelry that has eve...

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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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