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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

“The Scales of a Winner” by Nick Christman

Submitted to Contest #54

“This show you were on. What’s it about?” I ask while following my friend, Natalie, to my living room. I’ve never seen her so excited to show me something. When I let her into my apartment, she charged past me with her laptop under her arm. Seeing her so determined makes me feel drawn by curiosity as well. Natalie turned to me and skipped backward while she talked. “It’s called ‘Second Chances’ and it’s a game show where people are given money depending who’s willing to give them a second chance.” She didn’t take a breath at all during that ...

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“IF ONLY” by The Last Unicorn

Submitted to Contest #54

I’ve met a guy once. His name was Ed. We met at a chatting site back in high school. We used to talk about almost everything. Though, we lack the basics. He and I had undeniable connection. I would fantasize about killing myself while he would daydream bout different extraordinary characters. Our duo was dynamic, that’s for sure. But that was before… This is the “now”. Many years passed. He and I have gone separate ways. He became a lawyer. Proud his family became. And I became a pastry chef at a small-time bake shop. I became a mother of t...

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“EYES NEVER LIE,DARLING!” by Matrika Shukla

Submitted to Contest #54

The Plage De La Côte Des Basques, Biarritz, was a beautiful beach on the banks of Bay of Biscay,and correspondent to it’s beauty, basking in the heat of the sun with a layer of sun-screen applied on the exposed parts of her body, was Matrix. Lying on a thin mattress from India,which was a gift from her mother,was apparently the only piece of item in her life, that reminded her of the loving family she had left behind in the year 2019 when she went to study in Paris.This was her dream, to travel as far away from her country as she could possi...

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“The Atlas of Love” by Ramona Rennie

Submitted to Contest #54

I was busy packing the albums from the bookshelf. Packing up all these things was like pacing away memories. I had created in this house.I had lived in this house for twelve years. I remember it was broken ;the the electricity had a short circuit and there were racons nesting in the attic. I painted my kitchen in a turquoise colour. I even grew the dandelions outside my windowsill.As I packed the last album in the box. I looked down at it. There pasted on it's cover was a picture of me and Sebastion Philips. We were high school Sweethearts a...

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“The Camera Tells All” by Kay DiVerde

Submitted to Contest #54

“Smile for the camera,” George heard the photographer say as he waited for his turn for his senior picture retake. He was disgusted he needed to have a retake, but his mom insisted she really didn’t like the first set of pictures.While George waited, a tall, thin girl walked into the waiting room. She checked in and George heard her say her name was Elle Mac. That was very interesting. That’s not how George imagined she would look like. Elle dated one of his friends the previous school year.Elle cautiously sat down near George in the waiting...

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“Forty Nine” by Bob White

Submitted to Contest #54

Forty Nine By Bob White I never would have guessed that forty nine years ago driving away from this quaint town in an old Ford station wagon, with ...

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“Grá” by J.P. Lynch

Submitted to Contest #54

Grá by J.P. Lynch grá noun. Irish. m. 1. Love The day: Frigid with a soft drizzle, and a stiff breeze carrying the sea-spray in off the Atlantic, creating a damp gust that permeated all but the most impervious coats; all in all, a standard climatic state for this particular locality at this particular time of year on the Irish western sea-board; a Saturday, mid- December, just past 12 noon. The town: a typical tourist town in the winter, devoid of visitors from the salubrious regions of the Pale with the...

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“Life does give second chances” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #54

I looked up and there he was – on the other side of the road waiting to cross at the traffic lights. Was it really him? Would I recognize him after all this time? I wanted to get out of the car and run to this person I once loved, and still loved. After all these years the thought that he was here in Australia was hard to believe. He looked tall and slim, slouching a little – hands in pockets. As he stood leaning against the pole, not moving or looking around, I felt the need to hug him and for him to hold me like he once did. ‘Why would he ...

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“The Painfulness of Flying” by J L

Submitted to Contest #54

It was a stormy afternoon in March. Hot, like every day, but not as hot as the Wednesday before. He was wearing a light blue shirt. She was trying very hard not to pull on the loose threads on the bottom of her top. He opened the door for her.Her ponytail was giving her a headache, and she hadn't slept well. When the waitress came, he ordered coffee, and she asked for green tea."You still don't drink coffee?""Yes", she let the syllable end in a quiet laugh and immediately after asked herself why she would do that. Nervousness."How is work?",...

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“SUNSHINE” by Tooba Fatima

Submitted to Contest #54

Prompt #1 Write a story about high school sweethearts coming across one another many, many years apart. Total word count: 1319 SUNSHINE The sun was shining directly in my fa...

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“eyes of love” by Pragya Dubey

Submitted to Contest #54

The tears smeared the doodle of what looked like a giant fire engulfed by undenying pure and true dark that brina's pencil created or more like her thoughts did as she sat in last bench of her class while every one else went out in the grounds to play games not with any ball or disk but with their eyes it was high school after all who wasnt taking a dig at flirting as they saw in the movies but not maddy he was out there to cherish and celebrate beauty , he was an admirer of the perfect shape colour and caste too while maddy called out her c...

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“Sophie's Dream Man” by Autumn Orozco

Submitted to Contest #54

Three gray dots glared at Sophie from her computer screen. She felt a knot form in her stomach as her anxiety grew. She knew this had been a mistake; after all these years, Harrison would not want to hear from her. She regretted sending the message to him. "Stupid girl," she whispered to herself. Sophie's husband had unexpectedly left her a month earlier. He had left her for a much younger woman and never bothered to explain why. Her mind was jumbled and her heart bruised. They ...

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“Yesteryear” by Anela L

Submitted to Contest #54

It began as any other day and ended just like one. I was leaving the office, coffee mug in hand, backpack in the other. The life of an insurance adjuster was not an exciting one. I moved to take a sip from my canteen and found it was empty. With a long day behind me, and a longer night ahead of me, I entered the nearest coffee shop, Homebrew. After receiving my mocha latte with an extra shot of espresso and whip on top, I took a seat outside at the handicap table with the umbrella. There wasn’t any handicap people in sight and I needed a p...

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“Illicit” by Ana Marie P

Submitted to Contest #54

“Look. I might sound rude, but I wanna get straight with you." Lae opened up to Amy out of the blue as they were taking their dinner."The other day, I had dinner with my college buddies in Dine ‘n Wine. Anything rings a bell?” While utter confusion might have been written all over Amy’s face, her palms started sweating and she felt her ears turn hot. It couldn't be, she thought. Amy convinced herself that Lae was just trying to talk about how good the food is in that newly opened restaurant. “No? Well, I saw you there the other night.”T...

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“'All the time you're laughing'” by Muhammad Ali Bandial

Submitted to Contest #54

It's true what they say about unrequited love. I would know. It definitely wasn't 'love at first sight'. But it was something. There were sparks. We hardly knew each other. Well, ok that’s not true but like star-crossed lovers in every high school movie, we existed in two completely separate worlds; one the prom queen and the other, a hopeless dreamer, nowhere near her league.What nobody tells you about working in the public sector is that it is a tonic for creative output, of the imaginative kind. After I had spent countless hours pouring o...

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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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