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!

#56: Introductions

Hello, everyone!

Since it first started four years ago, I've had the pleasure of running this contest: writing weekly prompts, reading your wonderful submissions, working with our committed group of judges, and connecting with this steadily-growing community of writers from around the world. It's been an experience I've thoroughly enjoyed, and for which I am very grateful.

Today is my last day with Reedsy, so I wanted to use this Friday's newsletter as an opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to all of you! The level of literary chops present in this community is truly marvelous, and I look forward to reading all the future short stories you have yet to write.

I also want to introduce you to your new "writing prompter," Jenn! Jenn has been with Reedsy for about a year and is a fiction writer like most of you. In her free time, she’s an avid swimmer, reads widely in any and all genres, and dabbles in all kinds of different hobbies. She’ll be sending you her first batch of prompts next Friday!

And on that note, this week's prompts all revolve around the theme of introductions.

I wish you all the best of luck on your writing journeys! And I'll see you around Reedsy Prompts 😊

– Arielle

This week's prompts

Write a story from the different perspectives of two people meeting for a blind date.

Romance – 129 stories

Write a story in which two people who know each other are introduced — but neither person admits to knowing the other.

Fluff – 190 stories

Write a day-in-the-life-story about a first-time parent and their newborn child.

Adults – 100 stories

Write a story about two people meeting during unusual circumstances and becoming fast friends.

Teens – 225 stories

Write a story about an established group of people welcoming (or not welcoming) a new face into their midst.

Kids – 129 stories

Stories

“Agent Three by Blessing .O.” by Olusegun Blessing

Submitted to Contest #56

PROLOGUE "You saved my ass out there today. Thanks" said One. "I'd do it again" Three said. The water from the shower head cascaded down her shoulders. Drowning out the usual shouts of "FBI!!! Don't move!!! Hands where I can see them!!!" whenever they burst through a door, washing off every form of filth, purging her of bloodstains and making her feel brand new like a baby wrapped in a shawl and placed in a cot after a bath. She dried her hair softly, slid a t-shirt and...

Read story

“Life Unexpected ” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

Submitted to Contest #56

I was dating this girl; her name was Jade. Jade Williams. We hit it off immediately. After dating for about five years, we got engaged and Jade became pregnant. We were so happy. I thought everything was going great but there came life, changing everything.About seven months after Lia was born, the great life we once knew was gone. Just like that. We had all went to bed like it was any other night. In the morning, I got up and got dressed in comfy clothes and smiled knowing that I'd get to stay with Jade and Lia today because Sunday was my d...

Read story

“Ten Months” by Rambling Beth

Submitted to Contest #56

There was silence in my house for the first time in ten months. Although I knew I should feel relieved, my body was numb, and it hurt to think. I tossed and turned in my king-size bed, fidgeting until even my sheets fell off. I’d planned on getting a mattress protector a year back, but then the baby had arrived a month early.When I’d given birth, they’d taken the baby from me, said she wasn’t breathing. I sat in that hospital bed, alone, trying to stop tears from pouring and blurring my vision. Jeremy had left me as soon as he found out I wa...

Read story

“Meeting of Minds” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #56

-1- THE BIG LITTLE THINGS I hope he doesn’t start calling me Judy. I know my dislike of the abbreviation is utterly irrational, and try to tell myself it’s because of some childhood trauma with a Punch and Judy show. I neither like nor wholly approve of them, but it still just wouldn’t be true. But I still prefer my proper name! I let my cousin Aaron get away with it as he has a lisp, though not nearly as pronounced as he thinks, and I’ve always had a soft spot with him. It strikes me Barry isn’t remotely bothered ...

Read story

“We called him Mikey” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #56

Holding him in my arms gave me a feeling I couldn’t define. Every time I thought I’d found the word, it suddenly felt lacking or not big enough. People had told me it would be like this, but still, I wasn’t prepared.Who could prepare for one tiny being to change their entire life? I'd known I had a baby coming. I’d known for more than eight months, but he’s everything I imagined and so much more. He is precious beyond words.I don’t want to let go of him. The nurses hover much too long. Since they won’t let me hold him while they push on my s...

Read story

“Duel in the Lumber Yard” by Itay Frenkel

Submitted to Contest #56

“What’s taking so long?” Shelly yells through the closed window.“Patience is the greatest virtue, Shelly,” Howard answers.“There are cars here, you could have stopped at a gas station, this is public indecency.”“And risk driving with a full bladder?”“Shut up, Howard.”Howard obliges. Silently, he finishes his business, zips up his fly, climbs back into the car, and hits the gas. The road is wide and nearly empty, a highway somewhere off in the country. The couple is seated in the front, their son Mikey in the back. Shelly’s heated seat f...

Read story

“First? Day of School” by Clara D Berry

Submitted to Contest #56

“Honey, do you have your lunch?” I watch my mother’s lips in the rearview mirror of our car. She is worried, which makes sense since it’s my first day at a new school, despite being three months into the school year.“Don’t worry, Mom. It’s right here. I also have my backpack, my new notebooks, crayons, and a book in case I have free reading time.” I’m trying to calm my mother down, which is ironic because really I should be more nervous than she is. After all, I’m the one starting a new school in the middle of the school year, and to top it ...

Read story

“The Greatest Gift Of All” by 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚎

Submitted to Contest #56

I am going to become a mother.A mother, to a newborn baby. I’m going to raise a child; how do you do that? How do you raise a child?I’m barely out of college and sing and write songs for a living, I can’t be a mother.My fingers shake uncontrollably at my sides as I lay in my hospital bed. Worries flying through my head like songbirds. I squeeze the thin sheets in my fists, the papery fabric crinkling noisily under me.Cool air from the vents above my head, dances across my damp face, my heart beating rapidly. My hospital room is small and whi...

Read story

“Strange Inmate 2” by Chimamaka Adeniyi🙅

Submitted to Contest #56

Tris stuck to the bars and almost shivered.“Fendi,” She whispered, as if afraid that if she used a louder voice, the entire world in front of her would hear it.“Fendi, did you, did you just ...” Fendi shook her head like a well delved therapist, turning her body away from the huge hologram that glowed before them.“ Actually no, you probably just heard that in your head Tri, you have a cute imagination.” Fendi smiled.Tris wanted to slap her. Of course she’d heard it in her head, but who said it? Fendi! No other explanation. After all she...

Read story

“A life full of sketches ” by Derrick Kakooza

Submitted to Contest #56

I have always wanted to be an artist. To capture the most beautiful moments in people’s lives – with a brush and paint, or simply a pen and paper. I once thought that the sight of my paintings would bring heaven on earth. Make a sad soul cheerful. I started out as a pizza delivery guy after graduation. It’s not what I had in my mind but it turned out to be an interesting adventure. Thomas would sneak alcohol and cigars every Saturday. I once saw him smoke during working hours and I let him. That’s how we become friends, partners in crime....

Read story

“They Leave, We Leave, I Leave-” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #56

Everyone eventually leaves, yeah maybe not now but soon, later they all leave. They leave, We leave, I leave. It's a cycle, a sad one, but its the truth .. “Oh my goodness your going to love her, Athena..” Lily says. “Tiffany is the best, the besstt!” smacking my arm over and over. “Okay” I say moving away from her so that I am out of her range. I’m not really a fan of ‘Tiffany’s’. Not after that Tiffany. “What are you glaring at??” Lily says looking around. “Omg is she here??” Lily says quickly gaping. “Does my hair look good? Make up?” Lil...

Read story

“Everything Is Made Of Itself” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #56

I once heard it said that the hardest thing you will have to do on any given day is simply to wake up. Then again I may have made that up myself. It certainly sounds like the sort of thing I would say. In my particular situation it can be more difficult than usual to draw a solid line between self and other. As a result I often get confused about which tidbits of wisdom I created and which I discovered. Luckily, as I have come to discover, that difference means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. However it is something I am fo...

Read story

“Jill & Bruce” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #56

Jill’s heart shivered when she saw Bruce for the first time. The young woman didn’t expect her blind date to be so handsome. After Jill saw Bruce, she wanted to thank her best friend, Rachel, for setting her up on a blind date. Jill hoped that her date felt the same way about her. Since Jill was a psychologist, she tried to read Bruce’s body language toward her. She studied Bruce’s gestures while sitting across from him at a table. Jill liked everything about Bruce, and she couldn’t understand why. She liked the way his lips moved as he spok...

Read story

“Mission Implausible” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #56

Note from HQ:As we have no desire to compromise the safety of our personnel, their real names are to remain undisclosed for the duration of Operation Zakarov. All undercover agents will be referred to as their given aliases henceforth. We hope you understand.Perhaps the only thing more lavish than Sergei Zakarov’s garden is his appetite. Yesterday it was Indonesian beef tongues braised in sweet soy sauce, recalls Neon Ladybird as she assumes her usual spot by her employer’s right shoulder. What will it be today? Something that hails fro...

Read story

“The Arcane Truth of Neon Light” by B.T Beauregard

Submitted to Contest #56

Tranquil Travels Motel blends in with the barren desert. Dust covered and soul-draining. Its neon sign glows a deep blue, creating the only light for miles and adds a drunken glow to the worn stone pathway, spreading out across the land with a somber intensity, in competition with the twilight stars. It sways, buzzing, blue and blurry in the stiff and deadpan air. A mirage, a fever dream, sauntering away from reality. A silhouette rambles down the road, enticed like a moth to a flame, perhaps it is the urge to escape the deafening ...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

773

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 28, 2020 EST

Won by Amalee Bowen 🏆

Title: Hello, Meredith

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 ⭢