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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

“Remember Our Friendship” by Infinity Star

Submitted to Contest #50

I looked around at the once newly made tree house, placed in the wrong tree. The tree house was much more open, like a balcony. I looked over toward her hair short and messy, black that made me forget of her once natural hair so long ago. We sat in the tree house, I was in the hanging chair that I felt I could hide in and never be found. my knees hugged and I look around seeing how so much has changed. "Remember when you first told me that your dad was going to make a tree house?" I asked. She was on her phone trying to find something that w...

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“History in my Branches” by Josh Robinson

Submitted to Contest #50

Day One Stallion Oak is more than a thousand years old. It was here when an English king lost his eye to an invading force of Norman bastards; it was here through every generation that came after as they fought off invasion attempt after invasion attempt by armadas and air forces, starvations and blitzkriegs. It was here when an apple fell on a physicist’s head and ignited his curiosity; it was here when a young codebreaker bit a poisoned apple and killed himself. It was here when plagues ravaged the people around it, and it was here whe...

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“The Memories We Hold Onto” by Kai Easterbrook

Submitted to Contest #50

Louisa stands at the bottom of an old oak tree, looking up into the sky. Shadows are decorated across her face -- both that of dark silhouettes of branches and the shadows of memories from. She is standing at the place she spent most of her life. When Louisa was eight, her father built her a treehouse. Back then, it was her castle. A lovely little box made of cedar and nails, decorated with all sorts of things, all which hold nostalgic value. The more she looks, the more Louisa sees. She notices a grey feather, the very same that spa...

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“Tacenda” by Mr Jingo

Submitted to Contest #50

The sun is setting. I feel a strong sense of trepidation as I ascend the moldy, aged planks to the Stephens’ treehouse. The family’s Burtonesque backyard trees stretch far above the roof of their two-story home, and since the treehouse was initially built for Robyn’s older sister Wendy, that makes it slightly older than I am. Theoretically, any of these planks could crumble beneath my weight. Hell, the last time I made the climb, I was probably still in elementary school. The thought of falling makes me sweat even more than I already am, and...

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“The Last Living Boy in the Suburbs” by Connor Andrei

Submitted to Contest #50

The world had ended and Bobby was the only living soul that remained. He peeked out of the little window of his treehouse fortress at the desolation that lay all around him. It was quite a grim sight to see and it proved almost too much for the boy. He had to look away, hiding away from the window behind the blue bean bag chair where he used to sit and read on hot summer days. The landscape around the little treehouse was practically flattened by the force of the nuclear blast. Nothing of Bobby’s home or any house in his neighborhood survive...

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“My Treehouse” by Sheri McComb

Submitted to Contest #50

My Treehouse By Sheri McComb I’ve had a rough childhood. When I was two years old my mom left us to go live in a commune in California. My dad never mentions her and I barely remember her. Dad put all of our pictures of her in a drawer and sometimes when he’s at work I sneak into his room to look at them. I’m afraid I’ll forget her completely. She was really beautiful and everyone says I have her smile. I look at her smiling face in the pictures a...

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“Bestfriends Are Cool” by Izzy G

Submitted to Contest #50

He shudders, huddling closer to the thin plywood wall, picking at a splinter in his finger. He nibbles his chapped lips and glances out the hole in the wall that stands as a window. Mitchel winces and glares at his short fingernails, because clearly they were at fault for him not sanding the ladder up to his personal slice of heaven when he had the chance. He huffs and blows his bangs out of his face for a second before gravity forces them to graze his eye lashes again. A bird chirps and his eyes go back to the window, where a bird is visibl...

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“An Afternoon Summoning” by My Name

Submitted to Contest #50

“Mom will catch us if we do this at night. We have to do it now while she’s busy with Uncle Julius,” she explained to her brother, Mark.“Jane, there’s a reason why Mom doesn’t want us playing this.” Mark then pointed at the blazing afternoon sun that was shining through the entrance. “And besides, the old lady at the library said that doing this at any other time of day will make it hard to communicate.”“Hard but not impossible,” I said as I hung up the thick tablecloth to block the sunlight. The only thing illuminating the interior of this ...

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“During the Dog Days ” by Ronja Wang

Submitted to Contest #50

You slide the straw between your lips and suck apple juice into your mouth, swallow it hard. It is the shaky exhalation of summer, everything painted soft and dry purple by the sun. We’re out in the backwoods, up in the trees in that little house your Daddy built so many years ago. The green paint is peeling, but the insides are worn soft, my back pressed against the wall and my knees tucked to my chest. “What do you wanna do?” you ask. You are the most beautiful girl in this shitty county, a fact I’ve always been aware of but re...

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“Their Treehouse” by Charlotte Yong

Submitted to Contest #50

The third step up the ladder creaked like it always did. Four, five, six, seven and at last, Drew hauled himself up and into the treehouse. Lila was already there, sitting cross-legged beside the rickety drawing table, the soft afternoon light making her skin glow as she turned towards the entrance. They’d spent forever trying to build an escape hatch in the far corner. They dreamed of having an easy way to jump out of the treehouse, either a fireman’s pole or steep slide to quickly hide in the bushes when their parents came looking for them...

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“What Makes a Home” by Claire Broschinsky

Submitted to Contest #50

I haven’t been inside this place in forever. It’s hot and stinky and kinda dark. But it doesn’t matter because it’s my home now, home sweet treehouse. I remember it used to be fun to have my own spot, I think it will be fun again, hopefully. I shove my suitcase into the far corner and pull up the rope ladder, one weather-worn rung at a time. I toss it aside and peer out the window; I seem to have made a clean getaway. Not that anyone will notice I’m gone anyway, I’m pretty much invisible these days. Everything’s changing; everything’s a mess...

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“We'll Be Fine” by Musa Ango

Submitted to Contest #50

Jared didn’t like heights. He lay on the wood panel floor of the tree-house, not wanting to be seated high enough to look out the windows and having a view of the drop below. He didn’t know why he he’d climbed up here. Well, he knew why he’d climbed here; Alex hadn’t given him a choice. Climb up after him or look dumb standing at the base of a tree. He could have just gone back home. But he really didn’t want to be alone now. He observed the house from where he lay- the tarp curtains that Alex had tugged aside when they’d come in, the sh...

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“Our First Day” by Jaspreet Kaur

Submitted to Contest #50

‘Hey, Fred! Look there! We’ve a tree house here as well’, cried Alex, entering the garden of their new house, along with their father. They had been living in a comfortable house in Philadelphia for around 10 years. Mr and Mrs D’Souza had decorated it themselves with some of the most unique and special accessories. These included a few Picasso cushions and souvenirs they bought on their honeymoon in Paris, some mesmerizing still art paintings they bought on their trip to Italy and a beautiful carpet they had bought when they went to India. ...

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“A memory for life” by Elena S. Kodermaz

Submitted to Contest #50

“So, I heard that Gabriel likes you.” Sara’s words leave no space for different interpretations, as we march together the 100 meters that separate our homes to that of our classmate Rosie, who celebrates her tenth birthday today. “Marybel and Gabriel are getting married. Someone’s looking harried. They are having many babies…” she sings as a mock towards my red cheeks. “Sara stop! We’re 10, nobody is gonna marry anyone.” Sara frowns. Her porcelain complexion darkens, and she sizes me with a look of disgust. She always does that when so...

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“Outcasts” by Ashley Wong

Submitted to Contest #50

Grappling at the final few branches above her, Miriam hauled herself up onto a platform. She sat down with a grin, her hair tousled in places. She took a few breaths to calm herself down before peering over the ledge to make sure Jeffory was following. “Hurry up!” Jeffory looked up, squinting at his friend. “I’m not as good as you! Give me a few minutes!” Jeffory was a boy Miriam’s age with ashen blond hair. He was lanky, thin, and was an outcast back at his village. Miriam was the same. They had met the first time when both she an...

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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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