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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

“NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD” by Paul Rouse

Submitted to Contest #55

Seen this in the newspaper? Macmillan's been going on about how well-off people are in Britain these days. "Never had it so good," he reckons. I've got news for you, Harold. They're not the only ones.Of course, it takes a few days for the English papers to get here, but I can live with that. It's all part of the pace of life. Mañana. Or whatever the day after mañana is. Nobody seems to bother that much. Least of all me. It took me a while to adjust, but now I've settled into a nice leisurely routine. Wake up with the sun streaming in through...

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“Weekend Getaway: Saturday Afternoon” by Sadie Black

Submitted to Contest #55

It watched. The mass of seaweed and twigs rose out of the water and slithered through the underbrush. Its luminous gray eyes would be visible to those who looked, but the rest of the sloppy creature was indistinguishable from the forest floor. Scales glittered between globs of muck, sodden reeds, and dead insects. Birds ceased their songs to watch and squirrels moved to higher ground as the creature crept into the forest. It perched upon a large, flattened stone in a relatively cleared area of the woods and trained its eyes on the ye...

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“THE MISERABLE LIFE OF BOB THE DOG” by Chinagorom Mgbudem

Submitted to Contest #55

The Andersons were a typical American family living off of one man’s income. They lived in the suburbs with a nice lawn out front and a miniature garden. Their family was made up of carl the husband, Sarah his wife, Caleb and Celine, their twins, along with Maxwell and baby Nora. Finally, there was bob the dog. Carl grew up in a middle income family. He was the only son of his parents who had instilled in him the values of hard work. He went to a school for the rich and influential in other to build his social circle from an early age. He at...

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“Diane's Ring” by Christopher McCauley

Submitted to Contest #55

At the end of her first week of being a teacher, Diane’s grandmother, Mimi, gifted her a ring. It was a simple silver band with a single opal set in the middle. She had bought it on a trip to Australia when she was young and had worn it every day. As a child, Diane always admired the ring and would spin it around on her grandmother’s finger. Mimi knew how much her granddaughter loved the ring, and this seemed like the perfect time to give it to her. Mimi had been a teacher herself, and now that Diane had followed in her footsteps, it felt li...

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“The fall of the Republic of Siran ” by Charlene Noye

Submitted to Contest #55

2100 A. D District 7 Town no. 12 in the Republic of Siran “Can’t you think this through, please,” she cried begging him not to go “I have considered this hundreds of times. I want to go,” he replied blankly, looking at the family photo. The picture stood at the entrance of the main hall, just above the fireplace. During winter he spent his time reading near it, wrapped up in a woolen blanket, and giving an occasional smile towards the picture. His family broken, he realized to himself. “You want the same fate as your family, don’t ...

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“Shadows of a ghost” by Toby Ireland

Submitted to Contest #55

We found ourselves in the Romanian - Slovakian town of Alesd in the region of Bihor in the Eastern part of Romania. 200 years after the Otommon empire killed off Romanian men, there were meadows and fields, so in 1821 when the empire had significantly weakened, they called on Slovakians and Chech people to come and work and live there in the country. So during the Austro - Hungarian empire, coming to Romania meant a much better life as everything was there for them.The rain had held off so far, on this warm, but grey Sunday morning in the mo...

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“Look before you Leap” by Angela Martin

Submitted to Contest #55

Look Before You Leap Angelia Martini "Thank you Doctor, for taking care of my pet, she was so faithful to me. Here is the paperwork and you do accept credit cards don't you? Just give me one more moment , I want to say good-bye". She looked down at the cat and whispered to her. "My name is Victoria, I want to thank you for freeing my soul from that cat's body. I'm not sure what will happen to you at this point, but since you were good to me I will share some information with you. If you reincarnate...

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“The Fateful Four” by Rocky Hirajeta

Submitted to Contest #55

One Friday night, the oak door of The Whistling Dog flew open. The night was clear and tranquil, so every soul in the bar knew it was no breeze that did it. It was a man: Mitch Larson, tall, bearded, with a thick overcoat and a tattooed face; the jukebox had finished playing ten minutes ago, and he stared into the silence. Moving forward, casting a cursory glance toward the stairway on his right, he walked to a barstool far from the other drinkers. The bartender, Jesse Wilkes, sixty if he was a day, approached, his round spectacles shining ...

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“CLOAKED” by Rhonda Allen

Submitted to Contest #55

The dictionary definition is; something that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth, camouflage, disguise, mask, whitewash, obstruct, occult, paper over, screen, shroud, suppress, veil. Near Antonyms for cloaked are, bring out, present, clarify, illuminate, advertise, air, broadcast, get out, proclaim, publicize, publish, spread, bare, disclose, display, divulge, expose, reveal, show, uncloak, uncover, unmask, unveil. This definition defines how one action can be used for both good and evil, which do you use it for? Funny how much your li...

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“The Purple Vest” by Edward Wilcoxson-Soto

Submitted to Contest #55

When I was a young man in Northern Ohio I was always close to home. My family was really tight knit and very careful to keep eyes on the children. It never seemed odd to me, maybe all kids were watched this way, I always felt loved and was well cared for so there was no reason to talk to a teacher or friend about the goings on at home. We had normal family gatherings, birthdays, holidays ect. but it wasn't until I was about 12 that I found out that other families did not have the weekly gathering we called (Circle time) In the years when I...

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“WHAT A PRAYER CAN DO” by Solomon Katlholo

Submitted to Contest #55

WHAT A PRAYER CAN DO My name is Solomon Katlholo and this is my story of what a prayer can do. I went to Gaborone on the 29th of September 2016 to celebrate Independence Day with my friend Donald Keakopa, but it turned out not as planned. The person I was supposed to celebrate with apparently was on duty at his work at Total filling station, so i decided to go watch a match at the stadium on the Independence Day on the 30th of September 2016. That’s when I took a leap of faith going on a vacation to Rustenburg, right after the independent ...

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“The First Trillionaire ” by Will Russell

Submitted to Contest #55

Ralph chugged down a fresh influx of tar and let out a wry smile. He took the image of perhaps the most content man in the universe... heedless that he would be dead in a mere matter of seconds.Inside The Clubhouse, winning leers were fixated unanimously. The suited men took a similar image, dressed head to toe in dull suits, with similar pale leers of arrogance wiped across their immaculate faces. They circled together in a cult- like huddle, awaiting their leader.'Is it done', spoke a boisterous voice, way before the speaker could be seen....

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“Work Meetings” by Sara Blanch

Submitted to Contest #55

Swami rubbed at the glittery tattoo that marked the underside of her right wrist, the faintly shimmering celtic symbol iridescent in the pale morning pre-dawn light. She felt almost like a guilty teenager, yet instead of sneaking in late she was sneaking out early...the exact opposite. The irony of this was not lost on her and she found herself smirking as she silently dropped from the 2nd floor balcony, landing softly as she headed up the silent street towards the local Botanic gardens. The gardens were eerily majestic at this time of mor...

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“The Greenhouse” by Porsche Jay

Submitted to Contest #55

Felicia paused at the door. She wondered if the invitation was real. The Fellowship of the Black Hellebore was something she dreamed about. Most people dismissed it as a myth, Felicia knew it was real. She reached for the knob of the diner, not sure what to expect. The invitation she found on her bed had nothing but a picture of a black Hellebore, (one of the rarest, and deadliest black flowers) 12:27, and the name of this 24-hour diner: Gran’s. She wasn’t sure if the 12:27 meant am or pm and decided to come at am on a whim. S...

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“Sisters Sworn to Secrecy” by Louise Hughes

Submitted to Contest #55

“Welcome all sisters, to meeting number 2 of...well, our ‘secret society’. As we discussed last week, Sister Jane had the task of coming up for the name of the club. Jane, have you reached a verdict?” Sister Geraldine asked solemnly. Standing up awkwardly and smoothing her tunic, she stammered. “Uh...well, there were a lot of...interesting names. A-and, it was hard to pick the one that everyone would agree with...” The sister’s began murmuring and giggling softly, before Sister Geraldine interrupted. “Ah, yes. Remind us, Jane, ...

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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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