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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#54: Second Chances

"Third time's the charm."

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

The English language is full of aphorisms that get at a universal truth: human beings aren't perfect, and oftentimes we need to keep trying (and trying again) in order to get something right.

This week's prompts all revolve around the theme of second chances. Whether your characters are circling back to something from their past, getting a start on something they put off for a long time, or simply in the process of learning after a swing and a miss, we're looking forward to the 'second acts' you come up with!

And speaking of layered characters, on August 12th, bestselling novelists Caroline Leavitt and Gina Sorell are hosting a free webinar on creating believable characters. RSVP here!

This week's prompts

Write a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.

Romance – 283 stories

Write a story about someone going back to school as a mature student.

High School – 88 stories

Write a story about someone looking to make amends for a mistake.

Adults – 223 stories

Write a story about someone struggling to learn a skill that in no way comes naturally to them.

Funny – 154 stories

Write a story about a TV show called "Second Chances."

Novel – 108 stories

Stories

“THAT LOST SWEET SMILE” by Ugwu Tochukwu

Submitted to Contest #54

She smiled and closed her eyes, trying to remember how this sweet day began. She woke up that morning in her two bedroom apartment with a rush of excitement. She didn't know why she was excited, but waved it aside as one of those days when she dreamt of Jason, her long lost high school sweetheart, whom she had not seen for twelve good years. Anytime she had those type of dreams, she would go about her normal day's activities with anticipation and expectation, sometimes even to the point of hallucination. This affected her so much that she ...

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“Dolphins” by Anjali Klinder

Submitted to Contest #54

When I was younger, I didn’t believe in soulmates. I thought love was fake. I came up with excuses down to my limited knowledge of the biology of mating. In my mind, humans didn’t stay together because we were meant to be polygamists, like dolphins or tigers. I thought we just placed ourselves too high on the evolutionary scale, that our natural instinct was to be with as many people as possible, keep the species going or whatever. But dolphins still love each other. They give their girls marine sponges and seaweeds like we give ours flowers...

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“You Are Mine” by Natalia Anglada

Submitted to Contest #54

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and scrunched my nose. My damn hair didn't want to keep in place! I ran my fingers through it, trying to calm it down, but it still ended up looking like I had just gotten out of bed. And not in the bad boy way rock stars wore it. "Stop it right now," I commanded. It was not shocking when my hair didn't obey, but it was no less frustrating. I let out a scream. Why was this happening now? I had my jacket on, my best shoes on my feet, and ten minutes to spare before leaving so I would be fashionably late...

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“The Lingering Melody of Days Long Past” by Susannah Webster

Submitted to Contest #54

A chirping bell rings noisily above the glass door as Callie nudges it open. The warm air evokes the fall of a small sigh from her chapped lips as her long chestnut hair settles around her small shoulders. The cozy Starbucks café is a pleasant escape from the busy downtown street and its crisp early autumn air. With grace to be desired, Callie shrugs her backpack to the side and pulls out a leather wallet, longingly imagining her favourite blueberry scones as she searches it. In the momentary distraction, she nearly stumbles into the counter...

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“The Words You Won’t Hear” by Christina Vasquez

Submitted to Contest #54

There’s a place on Ives where tree roots have kicked up cobblestones, rearranging the brick sidewalk into breaking waves. I remember the morning you tripped on a corner and I couldn’t catch you. You fell, bled, and I fell too— soaking in the pain that seeped out your skin. We sat by that silent asphalt stream, and seeing your twisted up ankle hurt me more than I could understand. I used to wait for you outside your classrooms, after third period and fifth, each week experimenting how I arranged my limbs when I greeted you. I wanted to...

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“I should not be there ” by Mari Storm

Submitted to Contest #54

I SHOULD NOT BE THERE From the beginning, it was awkward. I was trying to keep a low profile with the English teacher that probably could be my daughter if I born in this country. My first language is Portuguese, and I came to America to marry an American man. I retired very early and with 52 years old, I was free to leave the job and the country, so I did. However, living in Indiana is not the best Englis...

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“sweet 35 - highschool edition” by Ree Cee

Submitted to Contest #54

" one , two ,three.. all of the graduation hat's were in the air touching the sky." in the group of these happy young adult there was samuel john smiling from heart trying to belive what just happened , what he has just achieved it felt like dream a real vivid dream... beep beep beep his eyes opened alarm went off and he was thinking about my dream it was sure a weird dream but what was happening in his life was much more wierd and real. ' next week is my graduation ceremony..' Samuel told logan his partner. 'yeah, what are you g...

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“Delia's Degree” by Crystal Sawyer

Submitted to Contest #54

Delia knew that she would have to get a divorce. Her husband was obviously cheating on her, and she could not just stand by in complete oblivion. Her job was another issue. She was unhappy working from 9-5 for someone else without any hopes of making her own dreams come true. One lonely night, she grabbed her keys and drove to her mountain cabin for some fresh air. When she woke up, she took a stroll down to the river and made herself comfortable. It was to the tunes of the babbling water that she devised a plan...

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“Student-Teacher Confab” by Robert Rogers

Submitted to Contest #54

“I could be teaching your class, you know.” That’s his opening shot.We settle in a booth at Butch’s Diner, opposite one another on plastic-covered bench seats, and arch our backs as a tray-balancing waitress shakily, with one hand, plops down two mugs of coffee. The diner’s a convenient dozen blocks west of the campus where I teach. Mark, my coffee mate, is a new student, one of a growing number of senior-adult back-to-schoolers. The sun’s just up this mid-November day, and incoming patrons are blowing into and rubbing together their hands.M...

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“Different” by Antonio Júnior

Submitted to Contest #54

Everything feels the same, even though it's been a while since the last time I came here. To be really honest, I don't know how and why I am in middle school again. All the sweet things that made me love this place are here: Leila, the woman at the entrance that would greet each and every kid that arrived, the small gardens at every corner, the smell of comfort that I associated to the classrooms, the teachers, and the furniture that makes me feel like I have gone back one decade in the past. Unfortunately, the part of this place that I don'...

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“Second Chance at School” by Debra Widdicombe

Submitted to Contest #54

My first chance at High School was not an unmitigated disaster, as some teachers may have thought, but part of growing up. Being a teenager meant going through the growing pains of learning about myself, my strengths, and weaknesses. It was a time of succeeding and of failing. At the time, when I reached graduation, I decided to delay my passion for classical music and composition, to follow a standard Accounting and Business tertiary education that my parents had come to expect from my HSC results. Many years of work later and I suddenly ha...

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“Mask of Grace” by Fatima Faisal

Submitted to Contest #54

Her captivatingly elegant movements are a magnificent sight to behold. The girl’s silky long hair cascade down her slim shoulders, as she alluringly wraps her slender and pale fingers around the wisps of her perfectly-trimmed strands. She gently pushes them back, towards her slightly rounded ears with light delicacy. Her each and every action is extraordinarily fascinating with no dynamism. She is attentively reading the current page in the enormous classroom laid out as a structure of a giant rectangle. The silent gust of wind goes past h...

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“The road less travelled ” by Nikky D James

Submitted to Contest #54

She walked slowly, still in shock. Her hands were shaking while holding her purse, the only item she had been allowed to take with her. The coffee she had just gotten from the cafeteria with her friend was still warm on her desk, lost in time in front of her photos of her family and the documents she had printed for the current case she was working on. The moment repeated over and over in her head. “we have to let you go”. Shock or surprise was not enough to explain what she was feeling; she felt betrayed, by her superv...

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“Bed of Roses or Snakes and Indians” by Susan Nagaitis

Submitted to Contest #54

Bed of Roses or Snakes and Indians by Susan Doran -Shore Life for Helen had never been a bed of roses. She seemed to always struggle. At school she had always needed to try twice as hard as anyone else to get, what for everyone else, was just so easy. After agreeing to get married at 17 because she truly, believed that no one else would ever ask her, she began an overwhelming life of sadness and pain. However, the one thing she had going for her was her determination to never give up on her dreams no matter what anyone said s...

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“RED” by Bookmark Here

Submitted to Contest #54

Tina already saw red. The weight of her backpack dug deep; she shifted feet as scouring the common area. A swamp of faces overfilling the ample space. Variety of sizes, many ranges of skin tones and many much younger than her. No recognizable faces among them. Tina looked down at the paper; her hands dampened and wrinkled the sheet. The red ink smeared from tears. Her first graded assignment, and she had failed it. Tina tugged her phone awkwardly from her back pocket of her jeans, trying her best not to stumble as the force of the backp...

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$50

Prize money

856

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 14, 2020 EST

Won by Mollie Rodgers 🏆

Title: Where the Water Meets the Sand

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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