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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

“Here's to Julian ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #52

are you deadare you deaddid you fall and hit your headare you deadare you deadcan you never leave your bedare you deadare you deaddid you hear what I just saidor are your eyelids brokenare your toenails rottingare youdeaddeaddeadNeedless to say, the teacher did not appreciate my song. In fact, she didn't like it so much that she picked her whole desk up, stepped towards me, threw the desk out our fourth story classroom window and said, "Get out."I said, "Will I be dead, dead, dead if I don't?"And she promptly threw an eraser at me. It bounce...

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“Fall into the Bottle Bank ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #52

I stepped back into the light, tilting my head this way and that to get a better look at Victoria. She had just floated down the stairs of her house and was wearing a long silver dress, one that dragged to the carpet and made me dizzy in the best way. Good thing I was alive to see it. See, I missed last year's prom due to being, like, dead and all that stuff. Victoria being the considerate girlfriend she is, decided to put her dress and my finely cut jawline to use and staged a mock prom in her backyard. It was a welcome back from the dead/p...

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“Who Killed Sally Evans?” by Aditya Pillai

Submitted to Contest #52

“Wait, I am not sure I understand. You saw her?”“I saw her.”A beat.“Be serious.”“I am. Do I look like I am lying?”His eyes burned with righteous indignation.“You think you saw her, then.”“I am not crazy.”“You never know.”A sharp intake of breath.“You have never not believed me before.”“You have never said anything this unbelievable before.”I stood up. This was going nowhere.“Wait! We can go there together! We can see her! Maybe she will be –”“We can’t see dead people, Sam.”Stare.Defiance.I knew him well enough. I only believe what I see, and...

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“Into the Oblivion” by Sayujyaraj Ghimire

Submitted to Contest #52

10:45 amSoftware Firm, Twenty-fourth floor,Torre Eurosky, Rome,Italy.For the first time in my life, I breathed a sigh of relief. Life as a software developer was very hectic. My workplace had never expanded beyond a couple of square feet; it was restricted within plywood walls and contained a timber desk and a soft, leathery chair (a cubicle, to be exact). I was given an outmoded computer with separate monitor, keyboard and a box-like vociferous CPU that made a maddening, rattling sound. The only thing I could flawlessly do was type some gib...

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“Secrets” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #52

"His whole life, Ronald was in his temporary home. He is now in his real home with the Lord. He is resting in peace. Ronald would not want everyone to be sorry for him, or to cry and grieve. He would want all of us to be happy for him, for he is now in a better place with our Father. We love you, Ronald. Amen.""Amen." Eileen stayed sitting as everyone else stood up and went to the lobby, most likely to talk about all of the good times with Ronny."Eileen, correct?" Eileen looked up and the pastor was looking down at her."Yes, Pastor Gene." Pa...

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“Are You Ready?” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #52

"Come with us." Two burly men in gray suits grab you by the arm and handcuff you. "You know what you did." But you have no idea. They shove you into the backseat of a black car with tinted windows. So tinted that you can't see out of them. Your heart is racing, and your palms are sweating. The handcuffs are digging into your wrists, and you are biting your tongue to prevent the urge to shout out. You don't know what these men could do. "Now, do not say a word unless we ask you a question. Also, do not touch anything unless we say it is okay....

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“I Can't Lose You...” by Rosa Rainbowz

Submitted to Contest #52

3 years ago “Hey, it’s Mother’s Day,” my brother said, facing me. “Okay…? So…?” “I was wondering if you wanted to ride with me to her house.” He smashed his fingers together pleadingly, looking at my eyes. “Please, I’ll owe you. I know I just got a car but-” I sighed. “Save it, Carlos. You can go yourself. I’m kind of busy.” “Promise me you’ll FaceTime her tonight?” “I promise, lil bro. Now go ahead. Tell her Happy Mother’s Day for me, alright?” “Sure.” He nodded at me, tilting his navy blue cap. He grabbed his hoodie from a hook next to th...

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“Generations” by Alexi Delavigne

Submitted to Contest #52

I recognized him immediately. My stomach twisted uncomfortably as my eyes met his. There was no mistaking it, it was him. The man from the photographs my mother had kept hidden in the back of dresser drawer.His hair had a few more streaks of grey, and his face had gained a few wrinkles, but it was definitely him. The same brown eyes, the same smile. Yes, he smiled as he saw recognition in my face. I wondered, did he also see the confusion and fear?He stood at the end of my driveway. I had been picking up Ryan’s toys and had happened to glanc...

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“JUST AN EXPERIMENT TO ROBE IN ALL FIVE THOUGHTS ON WHICH DIFFERENT STORIES ARE EXPECTED OUT OF A WRITER.” by Sanjay Manchanda

Submitted to Contest #52

It was a weird dream. Woke up, precipitating, in middle of the night. Though a cold January night, but I was sweating within. Something which happened years ago on that cold winter night in 1995, when blizzard struck the city. I recalled being alone in the supermart and could hear warnings of the storm approaching and engulfing the city within an hour. I decided to let go the rest of groceries and rushed towards billing. My feet stopped, hearing a feeble wail of the child. Looked across but found none. And then I dropped my phone and be...

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“A Fictitious Voyage” by Arya Preston

Submitted to Contest #52

Poison rain descended from the canopy of azure. A force so slow yet unforgiving of the endless fields that thrived from its vivifying nutrients. It was deserted at first glance, a distorted illusion of a once-promised land merely saturated with acres of suspiciously upright flowers, ivory-tinted yet blinding like burning magnesium.I wandered barefoot, feeling every sharp pinch of those pebbles piercing my skin. A trail of red freckled along the wavering cobblestone, its eroded curves sinking into the earth beneath. Tendrils of sea-green vine...

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“Mistaken ” by Anja Z

Submitted to Contest #52

Contains harsh language. Running through the dark and silent forest feels pathetic, yet you run. You run for your life. You haven’t even run for 10 minutes, yet your body feels as though it can’t run anymore: your follower just on your heels. You jump over a tree trunk, but slip and fall. Lying face down on the ground you turn around and catch a glimpse of the ever so bright moon, its illuminating colour making you forget about your goal, just a little bit anyway, before you hear it.His voice.Echoing through the forest like a wolves howl ech...

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“What A Book Brings 2” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #52

I made my way through the aisles, checking things off of my grocery list as I put them in the cart. I was trying to get in and out fast; I didn’t want to get caught driving in the blizzard. It had been on the news last night that a severe blizzard would be coming through my small town. The loudspeaker came on just as I was about to go to the check-out. I stopped to listen. “The blizzard will be here in TWO MINUTES! I repeat, the blizzard will be here in TWO MINUTES! The store is closing down. We are not letting any new shoppers in, but we’re...

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“soul thief” by Eden Conner

Submitted to Contest #52

Dear Journal, The men in gray suits are coming. They always have been. Coming to collect those of us who have sinned against society. Trust me, we are the baseball cards that fit oh so perfectly into their greedy, child like hands. Their explanations for collection are about as nonexistent as the money in my family's pocket. Dad's hands are cracked and filled with oil and despair. Mom's once curly hair flies in a poofy mound atop her sweaty forehead. No matter how many hours my parents work at the suit factory, we seem to be in a con...

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“Isolation Therapy” by Jonathan Blaauw

Submitted to Contest #52

Less than 30 seconds. That was all it took to change Dr. Amanda Robertson’s life forever. One moment of madness during a Morning Live interview wiped out 15 years of ceaseless toil that had seen her rise to the top of her chosen field. Now it was all gone; her professional reputation was destroyed and her career was over. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it burned in one. That old adage had taken on stark relevance for Amanda in the days following her spectacular on-screen meltdown. It summed things up perfectly. Plenty...

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“No choice” by Imane Sah.

Submitted to Contest #52

Between the hail and the rain, I was okay where I was. In this warm room, seeing the streaming sunlight that comes regardless of clouds; I was content to watch the ever-changing picture that is the world beyond mine. The newly washed roofs gleam as brightly as mirrors, the blossom tenacious on the branches that dance. It was a rainy day, one for the books, tea mugs and cozy socks. But in another side, I remembered my friend who died just a year ago on this same day. Rain has always been my calming sound. When I was little my mother would ...

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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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