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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#55: In On a Little Secret

One of The Hobbit's most memorable scenes is when Bilbo encounters Gollum in the Misty Mountains. We know Bilbo has the ring in his pocket, and that Gollum refers to the ring as his "precious." But Gollum doesn't yet realize it's missing, and Bilbo doesn't know who the ring belongs to.

This scene utilizes dramatic irony by providing readers with key information that the characters are unaware of. It creates suspense, tension, and immediately invests readers as we anxiously await the events we know will eventually unfold.

This week's prompts all revolve around the theme of secrets. We encourage you to get creative with how and when you reveal information to characters — and readers!

This week's prompts

Write a story about a meeting of a secret society.

Mystery – 155 stories

Write a story about an old family secret surfacing generations later.

Adults – 141 stories

Write a story that either starts or ends with someone asking, “Can you keep a secret?”

Kids – 421 stories

Write a story involving a conversation that’s packed with subtext; the characters aren’t quite saying what they mean.

Dialogue – 78 stories

Write a story where the readers are in on a secret that the characters are unaware of.

Novel – 101 stories

Stories

“Men's club” by Diymba J Nyuykongi

Submitted to Contest #55

Men’s clubHe strained and tilted his head; right- left, as an effort to focus his impaired vision into the pot. A pot, he held with his left hand, while his right was making circular motions inside as he groped the object of his search getting scarcer and harder to find: that was the Old-Man. &n...

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“Six Thousand Days” by Sophie Marin

Submitted to Contest #55

Harlow crept down the darkened stairwell, one old, creaky step at a time. She should have known to skip the fourth step to the right and to avoid holding the banister about three feet before the ground, since it was fairly unstable, but her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. Just that morning, she'd caught her grandmother speaking into thin air— and although at first she had thought that her mamma was simply speaking to herself, Harlow had gasped when she heard a second voice in the old study. But when she burst in, peppering her mamm...

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“Sylvie and Pike” by Sam Newsome

Submitted to Contest #55

Sam Newsome Sylvie and Pike The family was gathered at the New Year. The patriarch of the family, old Sam, was now ninety-five years old and had the entire large family crowded in the living room for the traditional story-telling. “Children, I have a story for you, perhaps it’s more of a confession, but if I don’t tell this now, the entire story may be lost forever.” &nbs...

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“Rita's Last Sunset” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #55

Rita’s Last Sunset Rita sat in her favorite chair outside in her backyard as she has done for the past 50 years waiting for the sun to go down. She loved the colorful sky at this time of evening. Tonight the sky was full of pinks, yellows and blues. This had to be the most incredible sunset that she had ever seen. And she had seen a lot of sunsets in her life. She had seen exactly 98 sunsets and as many sunrises. Everyone thought she was blessed. After all, her life hadn’t been bad at all. She had gotten married to her ...

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“Half Truths” by Angela Morrissey

Submitted to Contest #55

Samara looked at the address again as the taxi sped off. Her late sister’s scrawl had always been difficult to read and the name and address surrounded by love hearts at the back of her travel journal was no exception. Samara looked up at the monstrous dwelling in front of her. Had her sister really had an affair with its resident, which she had described in great detail in her travel journal? The twenty-five-year-old waited after she rang the bell before the door was opened. Samara looked up at the young man who stoo...

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“The Full Circle of Truth” by Nanci Arvizu

Submitted to Contest #55

It’s unnerving, really. To discover things that make your stomach twist about people you thought you knew and people you never met. How could someone do such a thing? My grandmother was the kindest person I knew. Which wasn’t saying much, considering the people we both knew. I think this was one of those unsaid things, about the quality of the people we called family. Even if they suck, they’re still family. If anything happened to anyone, she was the first on her feet and into the kitchen to cook because food helped everything. No mat...

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“Blood Will Out” by Barbara Eustace

Submitted to Contest #55

Bryony looked in the mirror assessing what she saw. Large, brown eyes, check. Cute nose, check. Cupid’s bow mouth, check. Shoulder length chestnut hair, a nice chin, firm outline, not too pointed, good cheekbones. Check, check, check. And then there were her ears. She was sure they were getting bigger. It wasn’t fair. She moved her hair out of the way, took a selfie, then sighed as she checked it against the ones she’d taken over the previous weeks. They were definitely bigger, more pointed. ...

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“Prudent PI” by Louise Hughes

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?” Diego asked out of the blue, chewing on his thumb nail and shaking his leg impatiently. Reina was sitting in the window seat of their small office, reading a book and waiting for Brandon who’d gone to get coffee. “What do you mean?” She sighed. Diego rolled his eyes and shot up off of the couch, pacing in front of Reina. “What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’? Can you keep a secret?! It’s a simple question, Reina!” He snapped, as he faced Reina and flailed his arms in anger. It was Reina’s turn to roll her eyes. Die...

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“The Stranger Next Door” by Marilyn David

Submitted to Contest #55

Claire surveyed the chaos that surrounded her. Perhaps her mother was right and she would always regret it. She clambered over a large crate until she found the cardboard box marked kitchen utensils. “I do hope we’ve made the right decision moving here,” she sighed.Simon endeavoured to ease the tension as he placed Molly in her high chair.“Give it time Hon,” he forced a smile.Rummaging through the half empty box she continued to grumble, “We’ve been here two days without speaking to a soul.”Simon jostled a rattle in front of the baby,&...

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“Flame” by Burbs L Burberry

Submitted to Contest #55

The embers of the fire glowed half-heartedly as he fell. The rain hammered against the window, lightning streaking across the sky. She cupped his chin and looked closely at his face. He was definitely dead, eyes rolled back into his head and the last of the foam leaking from between his lips. She dropped her grip on him and his head fell back. She sighed, and went to close the curtains. Walking back to his body, she brought his arms in close to his chest and pulled his legs around onto the rug. Kneeling down, she rolled the edge of it ...

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“The Ghost Who Kept A Secret” by Alexandra Kelly

Submitted to Contest #55

"Can you keep a secret?" Cassidy, a little girl that was no more than right years of age with light brown hair, blue eyes and always dressed in a sky blue Victorian era dress, looked up at a circle of friends who came across an abandoned orphanage one day. The group of friends were startled when they first came across this little spirit girl. The group of teenagers around thirteen were too frightened to answer her until a boy named Lysander piped up. "What kind of secret?" asked Lysander, the boy who decided that he wanted answers as to ...

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“The Murder” by Amanda Despot

Submitted to Contest #55

Watching. All I do anymore is watch. I am not noticed by those I watch. When people are alone, there are so many lies. I guess they feel safe so their true selves come into the light. Most lies are partners cheating, people that have various addiction problems and similar. Can I tell you a story of my favorite lie? There is a man in town who has been arrested for murder. He is accused of killing his mother with an ax. It was a huge story in this little town where the biggest news is usually the size of the tumbleweeds. His mother was found d...

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“Keeping Secrets” by Dan Willmot

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?”No. I know you’re meant to say yes when somebody asks you that but what’s the point. I know I can’t. No one can, we all cave eventually. Yet still, the insubordinate idiots that are my peer insist on divulging their every fear to me, their every embarrassing moment, their lies their regrets. Everything that makes them themselves they pour into my unwanting ears. Drowning me in a sea of guilt and fearful loyalty. Until I pull the plug, then the anger and seething rage bear down on me as their words tumble out of my mou...

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“Secrets” by (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ 𝕀𝕤𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕒 𝔾𝕦𝕫𝕞𝕒𝕟 ¤¸¸.•´¯`•¸¸.•..>> ꧂

Submitted to Contest #55

The knife in my hand felt cold, but not as cold as my blood that ran throughout my whole body. I was shaking, blood stained the carpet beneath me. The kitchen knife I held had wet blood dripping down into the sweaty palm of my hand.Victoria wasn't quite dead yet, only passed out. But that would change. I would make sure of it. The blood was warm, and the stench made my nose burn. It smelled metallic.Her limp body put a smile on my face that I couldn't control. I was scared of myself, scared of how much I was loving this. She had knife wounds...

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“Hunters” by Ashley Wong

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?” Standing in the dim room with the moonlight shining in through the window, I looked Mary up and down. She was by far one of the most powerful hunters there were in the world. Her gold-silver hair fell around her face, her eyes piercing through me with her gaze. Hunters in this world were the ones who killed. There were many rumours, but everyone knew they existed. They’d come and take lives when your ‘time’ is up. Still, no one knew what ‘time’ represented - was it age? Money? Good and bad deeds? No one really knew...

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$50

Prize money

896

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 21, 2020 EST

Won by B Easton 🏆

Title: Secrets for the Living

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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