Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“Little Rascals” by Ronica Gapu

Submitted to Contest #50

Patter .Patter.Patter. I could hear our little feet moving faster and faster as we ran for dear life's sake. The wicked witch was trailing behind and I could hear her approaching closer and closer. We reached the ladder at last and my brother helped me up . Clutching the rope tightly, I began climbing . Once I was up , my brother followed after me .When we were now in the tree house our hearts began beating at a steady rate and we both exhaled deeply. "Where are you little rascals !" she screeched from down below . My brother held my mouth f...

Read story

“Forest Treehouse” by Jovan Ivančević

Submitted to Contest #50

Lovely afternoon in the woods. Small animals are gathering around. „Let`s play some game“, one shrieky voice among many wants to be heard. There is a debate - what kind of game, asking for definition of game by another lonely voice; chasing, fighting or hide and seek, to which they are very custom, especially when wolves or wolverine visit their patch of forest. Black bird chirping involves her in the conversation: “I know, we should arrange our own tree house and play within as humans do!” All eyes turn up towards her, with a lot of murmur....

Read story

“A Woodland Tree Adventure.” by Ojas Shende

Submitted to Contest #50

I had made a treehouse when I was only 5 years old. Treehouses are special and magical escapes from “life,” where we could hang out in nature without being bombarded by adults and chores. We lived in the state of Idaho on a farm near a woodland area. The mountains were pretty far from here but we would see them through the window with no tree branches or leaves in our way. My friends and I gathered scrap wood from the farm near our houses.We searched for a small area where there are certain trees with different heights to make a proper treeh...

Read story

“The Jeweled Town” by A. Marya

Submitted to Contest #50

"Look! Some people are coming!" He pointed at the forest ground.The children flung themselves near the window in anticipation. Seconds ticked by, but there was no flash of bright clothing, any telltale hint of giggling, or even a rustle in the leaves."You're such a liar, Joey!" Gabby exclaimed, her pigtails swinging like vipers. The others shot him pointed glares—annoyed at his disturbance. Joey sat scowling at the ground."I'm not lying," he mumbled. "They were right there." But no one was listening anymore. They bustled away, returning to t...

Read story

“Above the Valley” by J Lindsay

Submitted to Contest #50

It’s strange how some memories stick out in the mind. They become solid, formative, immovable. Most memories are fleeting. Often weeks, months, years can pass by, each almost indistinguishable from the last – perhaps you remember your first time on a plane, or the first time you saw your dad cry. But these memories stick out as anomalies in the foggy soup of our past. Then something can happen that is so at odds with what surrounds it, it becomes almost like a fixed point in time. It becomes so much a part of who you are, it seems im...

Read story

“Star crew” by Pablo Mascaraque Glenn

Submitted to Contest #50

"Initiate systems check." "Roger that, Commander Itri," replied Sterling. "Initiating systems check. Mission Specialist Estrella. Fuel?" "All in order, boss." "Mission Specialist Hoshiko. Airlocks?" The question hung in the air for several seconds, an old-timey radio-like crackling the only reply, interrupted by the occasional high-pitched grunt. As he waited for an answer he became fully aware of the ship's stifling heat, which was only made worse by the insulation layer that lined the inside of his space suit. Several beads of sweat formed...

Read story

“Monster Cannonade” by Ari .

Submitted to Contest #50

High up in his treehouse, Wolfie scoped the ground for the enemy. His binoculars settled on a group of boys, and he allowed himself a grim smile. “There you are.” His drone was a beautiful instrument, with heavy black blades and a claw that opened and closed. It hummed to life, the blades of its wings whipping the air. With all the slow care of a just-hatched dragonfly, it rose into the air. Wolfie flung open a treasure chest of fat, trembling water balloons. From the chest he drew a baby-blue water balloon and fastened it to the hook. I...

Read story

“Artie’s Treehouse” by Zoë Salamandick

Submitted to Contest #50

A light breeze rushed through the leaves of the sycamore tree. It’s large branches creaked and groaned, as if fighting the wind that would never knock it down. It had been standing for decades; roots touching the centre of the Earth and limbs reaching for the sky. I climbed up the rope ladder hanging from the tree and pulled myself up. Perched at least ten feet from the ground, sat a wooden shack. It was built of now rotting wood and the leftover shingles from Artie Mitchell’s father. Originally Mr. Mitchell had built the tree...

Read story

“My Tree House ” by Joseph Fornabaio

Submitted to Contest #50

My Tree House I got up early one Saturday morning and went into my tree house , I met my buddy Danny in there to look at some old comic books. “what’s up Danny”“hey Eric’ “ Hey how’s...

Read story

“Four Little Words” by Anthony Caggiano

Submitted to Contest #50

I’d practiced this. I knew the words by heart. I’d practiced them at least a thousand times before. I knew the gesture just as well. Four words, one knee. Standard marriage proposal stuff, no big deal. Get down on one knee and say four simple words and everything you’ve ever wanted in your whole life is yours. It’s that simple. The beautiful woman, the perfect life awaits. Yet I sweat cold deep inside and hesitate. I had already attended to the shopping part, exactingly picking out everything to be within precise specifications...

Read story

“AND IT CAME” by Debaprasad Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #50

Sandy relaxed on his seat as the train left Allahabad Station behind. For a two hour's journey he didn't require to travel by an air-conditioned train, especially in this November morning. But this one traveled faster than others. And money shouldn't be an issue. They promised to pay the traveling expenses. He looked around, and brought out his smartphone from trouser pocket to take a selfie. He looked at the photo with satisfaction. It looked perfect for a twenty-six year old; trimmed auburn hair, clean shaven oblong face, snugly fit ...

Read story

“The surprise” by Janis Tremblay

Submitted to Contest #50

For most people today is an ordinary day. But life reserve a complete different plan for Charly.It was around five that morning when Charly opened is eyes,he was unable to sleep,probably due to the fact that is lover Jason told him he had a big surprise for him at exactly height that night.Lime every morning Charly needed is coffee to start the day.He was always moody when didn't have one.He sat at is table looking through the window of is small apartment.It was still dark out there, but he could see the lights of the town from up ...

Read story

“The Beginning Of Our Future!” by Jayda Madden

Submitted to Contest #50

Bryan came up to me at school today, it's the last day of my senior year in highschool, and he asked me if I wanted to go to the cabin this weekend by the lake with him and some of mine and his friends. Me and Bryan have been dating since the seventh grade. We are so happy together and I can't wait for our future together, so of course I said yes, I always want to be able to hang out with him when I get a chance. He told me he would pick me up after school tonight at my house and to be ready. The day flew by so fast, i didn't even realize we...

Read story

“A visit to a distant planet” by Amanda Munedzimwe

Submitted to Contest #50

A VISIT TO A DISTANT PLANET Its name was Mars and it was big in size. It's colour was red. And red on earth was a danger sign. As we advanced, the planet seemed to get bigger in our sight. We landed with a bumb on the Martian soil. As we stepped out of our rocket, hot air stung our cheeks and we quickly put on our helmets. The scenery was unusually serene and quiet. The calmness was strangely disturbing. But it was not for long. Fixing our eyes on the horizon we saw a cloud of locusts the size of human babies flying in our direction. We q...

Read story

“The Sunset” by Rimi Chowdhury

Submitted to Contest #50

She sunk her feet a little deeper into the sand as the waves rushed to embrace her. She was staring hard into the eyes of the setting sun, perhaps wishing it could be frozen in the dwindling light of the day. “I’ve never liked sunsets, you know,” she turned around and said in a matter-of-fact way. “I know. You fear the approaching darkness. It reminds you of that evening when you were playing hide-and-seek with your friends and they had left you locked in the dark barn.” She squinted her eyes, the way she did when she wanted to suppress a ...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢