Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

“The Stifle of Summer” by Sue Catrama

Submitted to Contest #55

Emma and Joe were too young to understand what they did. Joe had two brothers much older then he which he looked up to and hung on their every word. He was a teenager but not like his brothers were at his age. He was more interested in gaming and being friends with Emma then in the relationship his brothers thought he was in. She was oblivious as to the label Joe's brothers and friends put on them. All they knew was that they enjoyed each others company and one of them was going to be the gaming champion by the end of the summer. One mid sum...

Read story

“What Stinks?” by Beth Peters

Submitted to Contest #55

Here was the thing about Opal: She smelled. Opal smelled the way that a dumpster full of nothing but half-emptied yogurt containers smells at noon in the middle of August. Opal smelled the way that a baby with a particularly finicky gastrointestinal tract smells when he’s just woken up from a six-hour nap and nobody’s had a chance to change his diaper quite yet. Opal smelled so very bad but she had no idea that she did. Our heroine was born without a sense of smell and all throughout her girlhood, it hadn't mattered...

Read story

“The Walnut Tree” by Angelina Tutarkova

Submitted to Contest #55

There is something radically callow about city girls on summer holidays. Tangible entitlement perfumes the air whenever they visit the country. It demands reverence upon arrival, the bend of a knee, if you will. Nature’s, people’s, whoever’s. With no care in the world nor a task on their schedules, they starve for isolated freedom and feel so deserving of it, too. As if their privileged lives have been so exhausting to live. I call it a day to remember. Showers of warmth bring pollen-drunk beetles into a wal...

Read story

“Legitimately” by Fall Write

Submitted to Contest #55

"This is no way it's goin' to work, August." Margareth said pulling her luggage. "Okay then, you leave and do not ever come back telling me I didn't tell you to work things out." Augustine said waving his hands while talking. Margareth leaves the condo and never shows up again. After a couple of days, Augustine flies back to America to finish his remaining two weeks of his masteral at med school. He just visited Margareth to clear some misunderstandings but they ended breaking up. After nine months, Margareth gives birth to a healthy baby bo...

Read story

“The Dream Inspector” by Philip Baker

Submitted to Contest #55

«And now, the injection of methylpyrrolidinium and fluorosulfonylimide in the blood, is gonna produce the right amount of relaxation compounds, that will bring the brain to the desired relaxed state without losing its critical judgment ability.» said the man in the white robe.A long white robotic hand moved mechanically to the back part of the patient's brain interjecting a long needle right in the center of the cervical spine, pouring a green liquid.«It will only take a few minutes before the subject reaches the required mental state to beg...

Read story

“Amelia” by Victoria Bogatz

Submitted to Contest #55

Read my story A Year Of Voicemail first! Trust me. I pick up a box, grunting at its weight, and silently cursing my mom for making me help our new neighbors. I drag it inside and set it in the entryway, where Ms. Charlotte promptly jabs scissors into the strip of tape connecting the two flaps. She unfolds the flaps and begins pulling out a toaster. As I walk back to the truck to get the last box, I hear her say, “Jim! You marked the kitchen appliances as shoes!” The last box sits in the back of the truck bed. I climb in and see that the ...

Read story

“The Assassin and Walter” by Jeremy Fagan

Submitted to Contest #55

The tracking device, poised on the end of a short blow-dart, did not flash a green light or do anything to otherwise draw attention to itself. It was embedded in the rubber lip of the back of Walters shoe, just an inconspicuous bump, no bigger than a pencil eraser. The Assassin had placed it with a perfect shot from two tables away at the small cafe where Walter had enjoyed his coffee every morning for the last 10 years. Walter was tall and richly dressed in an impressive suit, gray blending handsomely into his well trimmed beard and tr...

Read story

“Blessed People” by Jordan Wright

Submitted to Contest #55

There was something about sneaking out of the house while my wife slept that made me feel like a criminal. I knew that she’d thank me forn it later, but keeping her in the dark sent a chill up my spine. “You’re late.” I jogged over to an old brick warehouse at the end of my street panting, waving my hand dismissively at the man leaning against the building with a cigarette in his mouth and a cap that sat so low you couldn’t see his eyes. “Sharon took a while to go to sleep tonight.” I replied. “Hmph” the man replied, flicking his ciga...

Read story

“The Migration” by Margaret Veinot

Submitted to Contest #55

Ua sat quietly on the rock and observed the group assembling before him. He had called the meeting to get the opinions of the membership and see if the recent new developments were cause for concern and if so, how it was affecting the group. There was the usual jockeying for position, some thinking that those they represented would have more influence if they were in the center of the group, others were leery of some of the group members and shifted positions so as not to be close. Ua did another quick look to see if most were pres...

Read story

“The order of the red snake ” by Evalina Williams

Submitted to Contest #55

I do not want to go, but I have no choice. Well that is not necessarily true, I have a choice I could die. Glancing towards the window, I could run but how far would I get? The doorbell rang, the chime hanging in the air like a hummingbird. Sweat sprang out and lined my forehead. The doorbell rang again, my stomach lurched. How the sound of a tinkling bell could be so powerful was beyond me. My brain froze and my feet seemed to be glued to the wooden floor of my bedroom. Move, I ordered my legs, sluggishly they obeyed. Father had placed...

Read story

“Full Moon Meetings” by Jo Timberlake

Submitted to Contest #55

Lucy peered around the corner and seeing that the coast was clear, motioned to Erin and Hayley behind her. The two girls ducked out, running low and quietly whilst Lucy kept her ears and eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Erin and Hayley, locating and lifting the object they needed between them, made their way back the way they had come. Lucy was watching them come closer when she heard a cough. Everyone froze. The two girls carrying the heavy object made eye contact, both looking like white eyed horses about to go bolting. Lucy glanced a...

Read story

“Mission LaVir-20” by Hanifa Ansari

Submitted to Contest #55

"3700 dummies have been sent to the families of dead around the world this week." Dr. Philip reported to Dr. Gilbert, the head of the project. He nodded to him before speaking to Dr. Smith. "How many more subjects do we need Dr. Smith?" She pushed her glasses before speaking. "Doctor, we have witnessed 17800 deaths till now, we still need 1200 subjects to complete the count of 20000." She spoke in a stiff voice. "Okay." Dr. Gilbert nodded to her as well. After a minute of silence he looked up at Dr. Das. All the other exper...

Read story

“THE NIGHT THE SUN CAME OUT” by Lara Nicholson

Submitted to Contest #55

Whining, Sunny pawed at the door while Julian shuffled around the hallway gathering things and putting on his coat. He had the leash and the ball but knew he was forgetting something. Sunny whined louder with growing anticipation, becoming so distracting that Julian gave up and opened the door to the cold autumn night.It had been a hard transition from summer; Julian had started the final year of his degree in architecture - requiring a lot of his time and attention - and Sunny was having trouble adjusting. Knowing it was hard on Sunny, Juli...

Read story

“For the Love of Eugene” by Mia Tang

Submitted to Contest #55

An auburn-haired woman sits at the head of the table; she gives the table two grave knocks. “Alright, let’s begin.” The low murmur settles into a severe hush. “Grace, please lead us in our pledge today,” She points cordially to the woman next to her, who nods decisively in response. “Today,” Grace raises her glass slowly. “Today was a good day. A great day, even. Some may even say it was a revolutionary day. A day to be remembered. A day to be celebrated. So, let’s remember. Let’s celebrate, so that we may think of this day wh...

Read story

“The Composer” by Cynthia Grove

Submitted to Contest #55

Cassandra never really did understand why they had sealed off the fireplace in that particular room. Massively made of beautifully carved marble, it stood its stance in the sitting room like some awesome sentinel guarding his post. When Cassandra bought the house, (literally for a song), she discovered its age and history to be enchanting. It owned a presence and displayed a sense of character to which few houses could dare attest.When Cassandra said she bought the house “for a song”, she’s was not being metaphorical. The eccentric, aged com...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢