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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

“Life’s Consequences ” by Aarathi Guru

Submitted to Contest #54

Life’s Consequences By: Aarathi Guru Monday, Jan 1st 2000 “No! I can’t do this anymore sir! I can’t keep doing a job that I don’t like! Maybe I am really good at it but I hate this job! I HATE it!” “Guru wait-”. Those were the words I last remembered from my last job. A software engineer at Charles Schwab. I didn’t know what came over me. I had spoken my heart out which cost me my job. What I really wanted to do, was drip irrigation farming, back in my homeland, India. ...

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“Hurting Love” by Wairimu Gathungu

Submitted to Contest #54

He was the perfect definition of handsome: tall, dark with broad shoulders. His face was like that of a newborn baby. His brown eyes seductive; an absolute turn-on. His teeth had been rinsed in pure milk. His smile drew you in and his calm demeanour, though deceptive, added an aura of maturity to his stead. He walked with slow, calculated, confident steps. There was care in his step you would have thought he was afraid of hurting the ground. He moved with so much grace, it was impossible not to stare. When he spoke, wisdom oozed from deep wi...

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“The Knock on the Door” by Lily Hartly

Submitted to Contest #54

The knock on the door is unexpected. Tom isn’t expecting anyone. He was just planning on ordering his regular Friday night Chinese food and watching reruns of Law and Order on TV. He doesn’t even like Law and Order, but his TV is broken and he can’t figure out how to change the channel. Still, he was excited to relax after a long week, so when the knock on the door comes, he is a little annoyed. He thinks about just pretending he isn’t home, but whoever it is knocks a second time and Tom figures he should just get this over with. He ...

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“Beneficial Atonement ” by HBR Patel

Submitted to Contest #54

The cold wind was piercing his skin. The darkness of the night made it easy for him as his eyes were unable to gauge the depth. Paul was standing at the edge of the cliff with his police uniform lying near his legs. Naked against the wind, he was shivering yet he was firm on his decision to jump from the cliff. The last few months were pretty tough for Paul. He was arrested by his own Police Department due to chargers of murder leveled against him by the family of the victim. There was no hope for Paul’s acquittal as the charges levele...

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“BLACKMAILER BY PROXY” by David Jenkins

Submitted to Contest #54

I was just paying in my latest instalment to my Post Divorce Fund when I heard someone calling my real name. I made a great effort to ignore it and keep a poker face. I didn't want the cashier wondering if I was laundering cash, Keeping my nose clean has become the name of the game lately. I completed the transaction and headed for the door when Phil caught my arm “Going deaf, Dave, are we?” he asked “ Or are we too posh to acknowledge old friends?” I laughed, “It must be over twenty five years since I've seen you, or any one else from our s...

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“PANDORA AFTER” by Melodie Karczewski

Submitted to Contest #54

Pandora was laced in the arms of her husband. His warm body comforting her trembling figure. He murmured his forever love for her as she rocked, eyes tightly closed from the horror she’d unleashed. Hours past on the cold bedroom floor. Her trembling subdued as the sun peeked it’s face and returned the light blue to the sky. She slept, the gods laughing at their inevitable invention and sounds of the first guttural cough echoed throughout the city. Days later, news reached the palace ears of a village child with contorting limbs and spine. ...

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“Only flowers” by Marina Horvat

Submitted to Contest #54

As I open the door, the bell chimes. There is no one inside the shop. The sun is shining on the dozen upon dozen of glass vases, leaving rainbows in its wake. The scent is overwhelming. Hundreds of flowers, devoid of root and drowned in water, each competing for their last breath. So sweet and heavenly that it borders on the line of too sweet and too heavenly. I can feel it inside my nose, and mouth, and throat. A flowery noose. “Do you need help?” The florist has come from somewhere. I shook my head, no. I try not to think too much about ...

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“DON'T LET ME DIE” by Audrey Taele

Submitted to Contest #54

The red and blue lights, flashing from all directions, were more than just smudgy illuminations in the slanting rain, as fire trucks and police cars gathered around an overturned vehicle. Logan stood by the side, amongst many other horrified onlookers, but the only difference between him and them was that he didn't understand what was going on. For one, he was even confused as to how he had gotten there in the first place. The accident had occurred very close to his house, and he wondered if the victim was from around the area, but t...

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“A last chance” by Jimena Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #54

“When did these ghastly thoughts start? Where did I start to fear what I want?” That’s what I kept asking myself every night after I left her, alone and hopeless. Endless nights of sorrow and regret. It felt as if I was drowning in a shallow pit with no exit. My throat clenches up at the thought of what I did, my body simply giving up as if it knew there was no fixing it. I yelled to the top of my lungs out in the cold weather, feeling how the air went into my mouth hurting my throat. My desperation to mend my fallacy was eating me up ...

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“The Ocean” by A. Neptune

Submitted to Contest #54

For as long as I could remember, the ocean had terrified me. A deep, dark, and seemingly endless expanse of water ready to swallow me up never to be seen again. Or a sea monster grabbing my leg and dragging me down. Maybe I'd just tire and sink like a stone.I stepped down the wooden stairs from the porch and onto the white sands, surfboard tucked under my arm and the sun beating down on my pale face. The waves rushed to shore and the cool wind blew past me. It may have been peaceful, if I hadn't been so damn nervous."Nate!" A voice called fr...

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“Computer Stress” by Elisient Vernon

Submitted to Contest #54

“Use the mouse,” the manager said in an impatient tone as she walked away. “What was she talking about?” I wondered as I sat in front of the computer. All I wanted was to fill out an application form for a job at Target, but there was no form on the desk in front of me. “What is a mouse, anyway? Was there a rat in the small cubicle where I sat?” The manager returned. There was an impatient look on her face. “Sir,’ she said, “there are other people waiting to sign up.” “But I don’t see the form,” I retorted. “It’s on the computer,” the ma...

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“Skyros” by Bruce Charles

Submitted to Contest #54

Odysseus looked at the island Skyros and felt anxious about what he would soon have to do. Calm down, he told himself, just follow the plan and everything will be okay. He kept repeating that to himself, but he had trouble believing it. Even the best plans can go wrong, and his mission to Skyros was evidence of that.Noticing his expression, the medic asked, “Are you okay, Odysseus? You don’t look okay.”“I’m fine,” Odysseus lied, “just feeling a little seasick.”“No, I can tell it’s something more than that. You’re thinking about your wife, ar...

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“Sacrifices ” by Hinaata Aslam Aslam

Submitted to Contest #54

“Mom I really love you but I can’t fulfill your wish..” This was the sentence Kim already used for thousand times to defend himself.. “Why? And I don’t understand what’s so difficult about that?” His mother never let him win the argument. “I don’t know, I really can’t, I mean its so difficult for me to understand numbers and all the dramas they let us to go through”, Kim really didn’t know what was the issue with him but since his childhood he always struggle with understanding numbers, calculations and formulas but his mother wanted h...

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“Piano Fingers” by Kara O'Rourke

Submitted to Contest #54

I pull the fingers of my left hand away with the palm of my right into a deep backwards stretch. I repeat on the other side. I shake out my hands, my wrist joints crackling with the movement. I place my hands back onto my lap, fingers extended towards knees in a relaxed position. My mother always told me I had pretty hands—pianist hands—with long, slender fingers others envy for flawlessly hitting big, juicy chords and fluttering arpeggios. But playing the piano has never come easy to me. When I confess to strangers and friends that I’ve ...

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“ODE TO THE MATHMANIA” by Maitreyee Joshi

Submitted to Contest #54

You had diagnosed yourself to have Mathamania. Why? Numbers made you go crazy. The moment you saw numbers they danced around you like ugly ghosts, or say honeybees out of the honeycomb, circling your head to bite.You remember, as a seven year old, how your Dad was very particular about his kids doing well in Maths and languages, and his reaction when he found out that it's not exactly so with you. Your teacher had sent a note to your parents to inform them to take notice that you are not learning the tables. That day when he came home, ...

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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.

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