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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#52: In Reverse

Hi, writers! My name is Caroline Leavitt, I’m a New York Times bestselling novelist and developmental editor. This week, I'm thrilled to be taking over Reedsy Prompts! Visit my Reedsy profile here to learn more about me and my work.

What I love the most in a story is when something called a reversal happens: when you are expecting one thing and something else pops up instead. I love that thrill of surprise, the thing that I never thought was going to turn up in a story. Reversals build tension and drama, and allow you to reveal new sides of your characters by placing them in unexpected situations.

Hopefully, these prompts challenge you to consider the ways in which a character’s world can suddenly turn upside down, where everything they thought they knew may be just plain wrong.

This week's prompts

Twenty minutes before you are about to get married, you find your mother and your fiancé kissing passionately.

Romance – 112 stories

Every year, one person is sent to the moon. This year, though you hid in terror, it is your turn to enter the rocket.

Science Fiction – 125 stories

You thought he was dead, but there he is, right in front of you on the street, smiling at you.

Mystery – 412 stories

"Come with us,” two burly men in gray suits say, grabbing you by the arm and handcuffing you. “You know what you did.” But you have no idea.

Horror – 112 stories

You are the only one in the supermarket during a blizzard. Feeling creeped out, you decide to leave, when suddenly you find a baby abandoned on the floor.

Winter – 197 stories

Stories

“Follow Your Dreams (Part One)” by Avery G.

Submitted to Contest #52

I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this!Alissa Robertson was in the bathroom, locked in a stall. She was sweaty and pale. She had thrown up 3 times, and she still felt terrible. Takeoff was in 3 hours. She wasn’t ready. She will never be ready. “Alissa?” A soft voice called from the other side of the door, knocking. “Are you there? The Daily Galette and other newspapers want to interview you. This is your big day!”“Umm, yes.” Alissa’s shaky voice said. “I-I’ll be out there in a second.”“Okay Alissa. Just call if you need ...

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“Separate Neighborhoods” by Raquel Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #52

August 15th, Wednesday9:45 PM1923You lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Your mind flashes back to Bakari, as the burly white men drag him down the dark road. Tears slide down your pale cheeks, remembering how he cried out your name in his husky voice. *****“Are you sure nobody will see us here?” You asked Bakari after you had walked up to him. He didn’t respond. For days, both of you had met up in the same place: a graveyard. The stones on the graves looked like they would tip over at any moment if a gentle breeze...

129 comments 129

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“In The Weeds” by Courtney Stuart

Submitted to Contest #52

'One of the hardest things you will ever have to do, my dear, is to grieve the loss of a person who is still alive.’- Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle ☉I thought you were dead. This the first thought that crosses my mind when I catch sight of you crossing the street with your head bowed from an invisible weight of a gilded crown and a rubbery smile that stretches all the way from here to India. You’re supposed to be dead, aren’t you?I almost didn’t see you at first. It’s too dark out, and it’s easy for me to trap myself in the four cor...

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“Chased by an Unavoidable Face” by Bibisha Shakya

Submitted to Contest #52

You would think that crying myself to sleep almost every night this past year because I feel utterly lonely would make me question my way of doing things. Alas, I am still as stubborn as I was many years ago when my mother pointed out that I was going to, one day, be where I am today. But where am I, exactly? Why do I so often feel like I am being misconceived and mistreated? Might it be that I am not as good of a person as I think I am? I am no saint and never have been one. However, does that give consent to all my past mistakes to retalia...

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“The Class(y) Acts of Ultimate Snakes” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #52

Lalalala, wedding day, wedding day, who's afraid of her wedding day? Me? No, surely not. I'm excited! There's cake! And friends! And, oh yeah. That guy. The one I'm getting married to. I try not to think of him right now, because he's not actually in love with me and I'm definitely not in love with him. He's not bad. I'm not bad. We just both want things we can't have, and you know what they say. If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. And I'm with this guy, so I guess I can make do. I met him at a dog park, o...

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“Nightfall ” by Prathamesh Chavan

Submitted to Contest #52

The rain was pouring millions of litre water on to the earth, Nothing could stop this fierce storm. The country had arrived at an abrupt stop. Only military police were allowed to do duty and guard the country because this rain could not stop those worst Tonga kingdom. And this would be the best chance to seize their golden ring and kingdom. All militaries were on guard throughout the country but to the far east of the kingdom lies old Taiga forset. The rain was in no mood to stop beneath a tree there lies a motionless human figure under th...

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“The twisting moments” by Tariq Saeed

Submitted to Contest #52

• • Shanza and Fanza were very beautiful and charming .It is not to b wrong to say they were the ideal of every woman.Their dressing up, their way of talking was so stylish and purking up that every body was their fan.They both were very gilded and their opulence was so great that they were the talk of the town.Fanza and shanza were both imp thins.They had a cheerful character.• In every wedding,In every function they were widely invited and as they enter every body used to turn up and would passed a smile to them.They both very fr...

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“The Curse” by 𝐋𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚

Submitted to Contest #52

Every year, one person is sent to the moon. This year, though you hid in terror, it is your turn to enter the rocket. You had always believed it to be a silly tradition anyway, for how serious could an old, yellowed and withered contract be? You could hardly even make out the words anymore. And besides, what was the point of following this tradition when it wasn’t even your country's main religion anymore? But you knew not to speak your skepticism aloud. You knew that anyone with the slightest bit of doubt in the goddess would be sent i...

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“Bunny and June” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #52

The notice came at two in the afternoon, on a paper smelling of lavender, old socks, and a hint of person who never bathed for lack of time. It was written in blue ink on a piece of standard stock paper and read as following: Resident Bunny Smokes must adhere to the procedures as soon as she can. She has been elected to be the next Moon Hostess. Failure to comply will result in execution at dawn by means of a.) cake b.) duck c.) inhalation of chalk d.) boring river walk e.) long lecture talk f.) finger and toenail lock Thank you for complyin...

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“The Walmart Cult” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #52

All you wanted were banana chips. It seemed a simple enough request. You wanted to slip in the store, buy your snack, successfully avoid contact with the cute check out clerk, and leave with your sweatpants intact. But that's not what happened. You walked into the store and grabbed a basket; headed down the aisles where your treasure lay. As you walked, you became eerily aware that not a single person besides you and the workers, cute clerk included in that mix, are even in the store. That could have something to do with the whipping blizzar...

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“In The Walls” by 𝔸. Triangle

Submitted to Contest #52

Note: I know the prompt mentions we have to meet the guy in the street but we’re not telling anybody that I cheated and put him in the walls instead. Don’t ask, just read. The hidden eyes and hidden faces of his past haunted him far beyond the painted walls of a place some would call his “sanctuary.” Others would call it the place of his awakening. Some would give it the simplistic name of a house, a home. But it was known to him as a living hell. Right after his parents tragically passed in a hit and run biking accident, Gerald found his ...

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“Complete” by Authoring Studio

Submitted to Contest #52

"Gray! Over here!"I whipped around to find Rose calling out to me. I smiled. She was the best sister I could have ever asked for."You have been a completely different person ever since you started college. You know that, don't you?" I laughed. She skipped towards me by the lockers."I only know that I am the sole genius existing in this world," she said childishly, turning up her nose. I shook my head. "Yeah, milady. Now, if Her Highness is done with her self-praise speech, may she please notice that this servant of hers is starving?"She deli...

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“The Mail Doesn't Come on Sundays” by Alby Carter

Submitted to Contest #52

My sister's alarm clock was abnormally loud. Every day at 6:00 a.m. she woke us both up with a never-ending loop of Michael Jackson songs. Even worse, she always 'forgot' to turn it off when she left, leaving me to march down to her apartment and unplug it, lest my eardrums burst. Her apartment was below mine, but our walls were thin and her phone's volume was always turned to the highest point possible. I’d like to say I always made the best of it, but that would be disloyal to my character. Today, however, the Ted talk she’d sent me was st...

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“Five Stages” by Elle Clark

Submitted to Contest #52

The first time you see him, you’re on your way to his funeral. Your black car, driven by someone you don’t know, follows the hearse, which is driven by someone else you don’t know. One thing you’ve found in the last few weeks is that there are a lot of new people to interact with in a time where you have never wanted anything more than to be left alone. He is standing on the corner, on the last turn before the cemetery. He looks the way he did when you last saw him, when you had to identify his body. His limbs are at the wrong angle, ba...

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“Funerals, Fakery, And Fish n’ Chips” by 🎀 Ɪᴍᴀᴀɴ ᴋʜᴀᴋɪ 🎀

Submitted to Contest #52

There is silence, punctuated only by the sounds of people crying. Samuel is gone, and there is nobody left now to hug me. I look down to see that Sam’s mother has gripped my wrist in one hand, and is silently sobbing into a handkerchief. I squeeze her hand, but how can I comfort anyone when I feel so lost?During the funeral, I stare aimlessly at the ground as I process what had happened twelve days ago. Twelve days earlier:“Excuse me,” says a woman in the restaurant, “is this seat taken?”“Yes, it is,” I say immediately, placing my hand ...

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$50

Prize money

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Contest entries

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 31, 2020 EST

Won by Natalie Strawbridge 🏆

Title: intro to disaster preparedness

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.

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