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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

“Color World” by Sarah Freeman

Submitted to Contest #51

Jessie was BORED. Inexplicably BORED. Unimaginably BORED. Ever since she’d finished college, everything was boring! What Jessie WANTED to be doing was drawing, but artists aren’t paid enough to pay the mortgage unless they’re so extremely gifted or so extremely lucky, and Jessie was neither. What she was was lying on the floor of her apartment, miserable. After ten to fifteen minutes, she got up and drank some chocolate milk out of the bottle. After finishing that, Jessie grumped over to her bed and sat, thinking. She had finished her ...

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“What is deeper- the ocean or the trauma?” by Authoring Studio

Submitted to Contest #51

Raven's breath had become fast-paced. She was feeling very dizzy. Faint screams were banging off in her brain, echoing with every word she spoke. She held up a shaky finger and yelled at her mother, "PLEASE don't mention the sea to me! How many times do I have to tell you? Why don't you listen?" Her mom shifted guiltily. "I'm sorry, honey. But it would be better if you just tell me why I-" Raven got up from her bed, menacingly crossed her bedroom, and put her face close to her mom's. She spoke with a deadly tone. "Get out of my room. Now." H...

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“The Downfall of Miguel-Michel Hernandez” by Sarah Freeman

Submitted to Contest #51

Miguel-Michel Hernandez, or MM as he liked to be called, had a power. A superpower, one might call it. His power was that he was always, always able to escape. The nineteen-year-old knew this, and took advantage of it as much as he could. He performed daredevil stunts because he knew there was no way for him to fail. He even committed crimes that would’ve landed him a lifetime of confinement—but, obviously, he escaped. MM was the classic oh-so-cleve...

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

Submitted to Contest #51

Sia. I could see her eyes flashing and I remembered the time I broke my nose because I called her a vampire. I didn’t want that to happen in front of Saberdeen, or worse, to her because of me. “Yes. I would.” We left at lunchtime. I hadn’t been to a lot of weddings but I was almost certain they didn’t end with the bride and groom covered in cake and crying on the ground. And I knew that ...

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

Submitted to Contest #51

Aon. Chaos is a friend of mine. I came to know the true meaning of chaos being my friend when I was nine and three months. We were having a birthday party for one of my fat siblings, and I had been put in charge of carrying out the cake. The cake was a colossal waste of money, in my opinion, and it was ugly too. It was towering and massive and smelled like dog food. Also it was pink. Well. I decided to improve that cake. My idea of improvement was simply to douse the entire thing with chocolate s...

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“Pulchra es Stellas” by Avery G.

Submitted to Contest #51

“Chloe! Bedtime!” My mom said.“Yes mom! I’ll be down there in a minute!” I yelled back at her.I took a few more moments to look through my telescope. It was clearer tonight, though light pollution was still annoying me. I found all the normal constellations, Ursa Major, part of Orion, and Taurus (The Bull). I would have found more, if I didn’t have my stupid bedtime. My mom is strict. Nine o-clock. I started to get up from my spot on the fire escape. It was a perfect spot for my telescope, as it was small and easily accessible. I a...

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“ Josh – The boy who wanted to touch the stars !!!!!!!!!!!!” by Alkaa Sharma

Submitted to Contest #51

Josh – The boy who wanted to touch the stars !!!!!!!!!!!! It all began in a small town where a bright young ambitious boy, lying on the cot of the terrace in his old house pointed out at the night sky, “Look mother there goes another one!!!!” he pointed out to one of the stars . The sky was all dazzled up with stars shining like diamonds. It was a beautiful night sky. “Josh” sleep now you have to go to the school tomorrow ...

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“ The Resurrection” by Note Book

Submitted to Contest #51

The Resurrection The Auction Nefertiti and Paul rushed in towards the Iron Gate only to find a signboard which read 'All Auctions are Closed Off'. Nefertiti, as you all might know, was the most beautiful Egyptian queen of 1300 BC. She resurrected in her secret tomb in Egypt. Paul is a 50 year old man; a retired archaeologist who is settled in Cairo. ...

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“The Mission” by Akshat .

Submitted to Contest #51

As Blackbang trudged through the snow, he thought of his mission: kill the nefarious ringleader of C.R.O.W., a syndicate that targeted the top leaders of the world. That would be relatively easier than his other missions: kill an assassin from a rooftop 3 acres away, kidnap a gang leader, and many others that had earned him the title of “Shadow.” He had accomplished all of this through one thing: his superpowers. The only organization that knew about it was the one he swore his allegiance to P.A.N.T.H.E.R. P.A.N.T.H.E.R.was the mos...

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“Consequences” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #51

I remember that day when it all happened...“Come on, Cora! It’ll be fun, I promise! And guess what? Roman will be there.” Linda added a mischievous tone to her last words, and I rolled my eyes. She was trying to convince me to go to the “popular” girls’ party. They were the girls at our high school that thought that they were princesses, and they had one big party each season. Normally I wouldn’t go, because I was the girl that just stuck to her little friend group and learned about space.“Linda. It’s. Not. Happening. Kailey and Riley need m...

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“The Man Who Owned the World ” by Anna K Firth

Submitted to Contest #51

“Once upon a time,” Hilda says, then opens an eye and peeks over at me. “Watch the stars,” she says, “don’t look at me, you have to keep your eyes on the stars or the story won’t work properly. Now.” I look up at the sky and try to focus on the constellations penciled up there in the murky blue, and not on Hilda’s scratchy breathing beside me. “Once upon a time,” she begins again, and pauses an instant, probably looking at me to make sure I’m not looking at her, but my eyes are glued to the sky. “There was a man who thou...

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“Sorry Won't Cut It” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #51

"This is stupid. What do you think you'll find? Evidence? Because I'm pretty sure all of it went up in flames." Travis slung his backpack over his shoulder and waited for Sharol to continue. "And what if you run into someone you know? It's not like you can have a conversation with them; they all hate you!" Travis walked around the kitchen, looking for his keys. He found them in the basket they kept the mail in. "What if the police see you? What do you think they'll do? They'll take you in to question you. And you said when you first...

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“A Record Player With No Records 3” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #51

Saturday-July 13-2020-9:00 PMHey. Henzi here. And I’m going to tell you (yes, Diary, you) everything that happened.Exactly one year ago today, I found a record player. That record player belonged to my father, who had passed away years before. I thought that it would be a nice family heirloom. But then things started to happen.I was cleaning out the attic with Jeff and Hattie, you know, my neighbors, and we were just doing our thing when Jeff came across the player. He said that there weren’t any records, so I would have to buy some if I wan...

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“Atlas Takes a Breath” by Courtney Stuart

Submitted to Contest #51

i. There are stars in the sky. ii. You don’t always have to see something to know that it exists. Atlas of old knows this, for he carries the weight of the entire world and sky on his back. It’s a groaning weight; the human heart is a heavy burden to bear alone, and he has to carry billions upon billions of them. Alone. Sometimes, he catches glimpses of the sky above him, and sometimes, like right now, he can see the stars. Sometimes, it’s enough.&nbs...

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“The Mysterious Letters ” by Aarshia Ray

Submitted to Contest #51

“Oh! We have reached,” I said as the car swerved left, entering a once properly trimmed garden, but now had rather unruly bushes.“I am so angry with Tina; she had promised that she would come.” Pam was really upset.“Yes, Veronica’s gone for a vacation and Stella’s gone to her gran’s and now Tina...” said Susan.“Hey, I forgot to mention, she called me yesterday. She told me that her elder brother had come home for the Christmas and thus she was unable to come. Gals why don’t you enjoy the beauty of this place!”“True, it’s an enormous garden,”...

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$50

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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