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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#51: Two Hundred!

It's the 200th edition of the Reedsy Prompts newsletter! This means that we've officially sent out 1,000 short story ideas over the last couple of years, inspiring tens of thousands of stories. (Speaking of which, did you know that before our contest was hosted on our current site, we used to publish the winning stories on our Medium blog? Find over 100 older winning entries here!)

To celebrate, we've decided to revisit the most popular prompts of the last year. We hope they prove equally as inspiring the second time around. And here's to the next 1,000 prompts! 🎉

This week's prompts

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Middle School – 405 stories

Write about someone who has a superpower.

Kids – 148 stories

Write a story that involves a mystery — it doesn't need to be crime-related, it should just include something that remains unexplained until the end.

Mystery – 206 stories

Write about someone who returns as an adult to a place they last visited as a child.

Character – 237 stories

Write a story about someone who's haunted by their past.

Character – 252 stories

Stories

“The Stories We Wish To Erase” by Jade Young

Submitted to Contest #51

She was fighting a war against herself from the moment the heel of her stiletto landed on the pavement. She was a fully grown woman with the curves and assets to prove it. Her manicured nails were filed to perfection. Tendrils of raven curls blended in with the black of her dress. From the outside, she appeared unaffected and stoic; the perfect and elegant woman she’d managed to grow into through her own merits. But with every unwavering step she took towards the house, she found herself resisting the urge to turn around, get into her car an...

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“Dead Violets” by Lata B

Submitted to Contest #51

TW: Suicide This is the story of a broken man. A soul ripped; heart-torn man. He was always intrigued by trains. How they moved. How they tiptoed through the railroads. No one could love them more than he did. Every dream was filled with trains speeding by. He would beg his parents to go on the train every chance he got, and he would always pick the window seat. On bright days the trees would run past as he tried to count each one. When it rained, he watched to see each raindrop fall ...

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“Next in Line” by Kelechi Nwokoma

Submitted to Contest #51

In the dead silence, all the details suddenly fell into place for me with a burst of intuition.Something Nancy wanted me to be oblivious of.Something that made Allen carry a handgun around, though he knew I hated it.Something everyone already knew about — everyone but me.Something I sensed was coming soon, anyways.Something I knew would get me, no matter the lengths I took towards obscurity.Something I feared … something that haunted me each night…I can never escape this nightmare, can I?***The dream started out the same as always, but the e...

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“A Message That's Not From Dr. Phil” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #51

**talking to a friend while looking at stars above**Can’t say that I’ve been in loveThough I do like to pretendCan’t say I’ve ever broken upHad a relationship real enough to end.I don’t know what to say to youBut I’m sorry that you’re sadI kind of feel like slashing thingsOn your behalf; is that bad?I know that you still love themThough you’ve had to move alongWould you cry if I broke their face inOr are you singing the same song?Because it’s not fun to talk aloneWhen you’re staring into spaceI don’t know what you’re thinkingEven though it’s...

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“Prisoner of my past.” by Djenat Remmache

Submitted to Contest #51

Although I know that the key to happiness lies in the present moment, the past never ceases to haunt my thoughts, especially a particular day. What happened that day is my biggest regret, it should never happen this way. I am haunted by my past. I’ve spent restless nights just thinking about it and have never forgiven myself for it. Now, what could I have possibly done? I killed my father. No, I did not physically slit his throat, bash his brains out or shoot him, but my inaction led indirectly to the accident that led to his death and ...

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“The Nightmare Warriors” by Orenda .

Submitted to Contest #51

With a glass full of chill vodka in one hand and a doraemon pen in the other, Wren stares at the ever so puzzling math problems lying in front of her.I do be regretting my college choices. She scribbles some anime figures on the surface of her desk, fills in a few random numbers in the blanks on the paper, texts her friends and after awhile, throws her hands into the air as if surrendering to the questions.“Why don’t you solve your own problems, eh?” And with that, she pushes her chair, the legs producing an annoying screech on the floor, th...

161 comments 161

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“Broken Memories” by Niveeidha Palani

Submitted to Contest #51

"Tell us another one, Mama!" Mia, Mrs Ryder's youngest daughter urged."Yeah!" Sarah joined. "I love your stories! They're really magical!" she squealed.Mama tutted. "Girls, you have school tomorrow, one story is enough.""Please, it doesn't have to be about fairytales. It can be about...about, your village life when you were a kid!" Sarah cried, her eyes glinting.Mrs Ryder turned ghastly and pale. "Who told you that I lived in a village?" she choked.Sarah shrugged merely. "I heard you and Papa talk in the room."Mama stood up abruptly. "S...

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“ Hopeful Sky. ” by Javeria Ashfaq

Submitted to Contest #51

Joe, while talking to her friend Louise, randomly looks up to see one of the darkest night sky, with its countless shinning stars spread across the horizon. She unintentionally smiled and told Louise that she could still remember the time when she would see herself as the sky; as its constant changes exemplified her every day with the variance in the weather. “Ah when I…” she paused, wiping away her tears of joy to complete her sentence. Taking her time, she thought that it gave Joe her youth best recollections. “Indeed when I was a kid…” sh...

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“A FLASH FROM THE PAST” by Daine Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #51

I was always very childish. Never knew the bad side of anything. To me everything around me was beautiful and was just perfect until one day, something happened, something that just changed my perspective of looking things. . A photograph is like a memory from the past. It can capture almost every little detail you forgot during the moment. I couldn’t have been more right.It all started on a snowy winter morning. I just love taking pictures and was planning to make it my profession. I woke up with a start and then opened my window. “Yea...

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“Intoxicated” by Monica G

Submitted to Contest #51

Coming to this birthday party was perhaps the dumbest decision of the century. The memories are hard to avoid here. I feel like I’m having a very realistic flashback. However, I need to stay, it’s my friend’s birthday after all. I can’t call her my best friend because she is my only friend, so that makes her the best by default already. But she has a lot more friends than I thought. There are at least 30 people here. The smell is unbearable. It’s amazing how sensitive you get after you stop. Like cigarettes! I used to smoke, regu...

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“The Newly Fallen Dark” by Elle Clark

Submitted to Contest #51

There’s something to be said for the newly fallen dark. People praise the moonlight of the true night and dance in the bright sunshine of noon. They revere the pink blush of a sunrise and they worship the golds and scarlets of the sunset. Mornings and afternoons, with their variety of brightnesses are useful and who doesn’t love a good pre-dawn stillness? But the newly fallen dark gets forgotten. Too dark for the rich, deep hues of black, blue and purple to be impressive. Too new for the first rays of moonlight and the first kisses of starli...

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“Chaos is a Friend of Mine: Part Four” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #51

Ochd. I woke up. “Hey.” I looked up. No one was there that I could see. “Hey.” Where was I? There was someone who was still trying to talk to me but they were too far away and there were miles and miles of my head saying what are they saying and I couldn’t think straight anymore. “I see you waking up, Solly. Don’t be like that. It’s your first day of school and you don’t want to be late…” That woke me up again. My eyes slowly clicked into focus and I saw the person talking to me clearly. She was a slight lady, sitting o...

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“The Cost of Honour” by Elle Clark

Submitted to Contest #51

The impact drove the breath from her and for some moments the only thing she was capable of doing was gaping. Her body clawed for breath and her fingernails tore in the dirt below her until she was able to take her first, ragged breath. She lay there, taking rasping, greedy gulps of air for a minute or so more. Behind her, the light in the middle of the Gate dwindled to a spark and then, without any fanfare, winked out of existence. Alisha’s lungs gradually realised that there was nothing hindering them anymore and her body calmed....

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“Chaos is a Friend of Mine Part Two” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #51

The next day, I came back and there was the girl sitting by me again and she looked at me and told me her name was Saberdeen Darsablio. And I said, “Okay.” Because if I said anything else that might get me attached and Chaos told me not to. No one told Saberdeen that, though. She kept talking and talking and talking to me all the week long and on Friday she asked if I could come with her to a party. It will be fun, she said, come and see, she said. And I said, no I won’t go with you. That was in my rules. No clubs, no parties, no nothi...

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“Stairway to the Stars” by Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #51

Tonight, I silently gazed from my perch on the roof, at the stars...white pinpricks of light bursting through the pitch-black sky. I crouched low into a squat, lifted my head to the universe, and howled to the heavens, howled like the wolf always in my dreams, ready to take me above. Ready to take me to the stairway; my stairway to the stars. Stairstep one I don’t remember who I am but I want to be free. Free from the common people because I am not like them, free from the attachments I don’t understand. Now all I can do is climb; keep on ...

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Prize money

1248

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 24, 2020 EST

A winner will be announced soon.

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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