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#57 Legacies

Everybody hopes they’ll be remembered. It’s a big part of why writers write, artists paint, and singers sing. It drives some to rise to great heights in politics or business. It’s part of why people have children.

But whether you hope to build a legacy through words, kind deeds, grand ambition, or a strong familial line, the truth is, we don’t always know how history will look back on us. All we can do is put our best selves forward, and hope that our integrity and values will resonate long after we’re gone.

This week’s prompts invite you to delve into people’s hopes for the future — and the legacies that may or may not be what they dreamed of.

🥇 Winner

Et Tu?

Iona Cottle

Winner of Contest #57 🏆

The lights had been dimmed in the auditorium, and this was Melissa’s favourite time. Okay, perhaps auditorium was too grand a word for the little box room tucked into the middle of the exhibition, but with only the light from the projector she imagined it was her great stage. Then she could pretend she was presenting her stunning PhD thesis, rather than re-reading the script the museum provided. Sure the job was fun, but it hardly had the grandeur she’d been aiming for when she went into academia. As soon as that started paying properly, she...

370 likes

112 comments 112

⭐️ Shortlisted

That Dogwood Town

Shortlisted for Contest #57 ⭐️

Old man Mawson was a timeworn, craggy giant of a man who was older than the hills and who had been the second man to settle in that part of the country. Who was the first man? It was Mawson’s older brother, reportedly murdered by the third brother after a mix-up of who chopped down a certain bloodred-barked dogwood tree in the third brother’s yard. Mawson, the real culprit, buried his older brother in his front yard and kept all secrets and the grave tended for the next seventy years. Mawson had huge beady eyes and ears that stuck straight ...

124 likes

The Deerstalker Debacle

Shortlisted for Contest #57 ⭐️

“It will be your greatest achievement,” said his editor. “Thousands of copies sold, and your name forever remembered as one of England’s greatest writers.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sneered and took a drag from his pipe. “If in 100 years I am known only as the man who invented Sherlock Holmes, then I will consider my life a failure.” … John Wilson sewed the last seam into pla...

35 likes

This week's prompts

Write a humorous story about the descendant of someone remembered for an insignificant act.

Funny – 72 stories

Write a story about someone who’s famous for something they never actually did.

Character – 119 stories

Write a story about someone breaking a long family tradition.

Angst – 170 stories

Write a story about someone who travels to the future, and isn’t happy about how they’ve been remembered.

Science Fiction – 131 stories

Write a story that starts with someone writing their will — one they know people won’t like.

Dramatic – 183 stories

Stories

Et Tu?

Iona Cottle

Winner of Contest #57 🏆

The lights had been dimmed in the auditorium, and this was Melissa’s favourite time. Okay, perhaps auditorium was too grand a word for the little box room tucked into the middle of the exhibition, but with only the light from the projector she imagined it was her great stage. Then she could pretend she was presenting her stunning PhD thesis, rather than re-reading the script the museum provided. Sure the job was fun, but it hardly had the grandeur she’d been aiming for when she went into academia. As soon as that started paying properly, she...

370 likes

112 comments 112

That Dogwood Town

Shortlisted for Contest #57 ⭐️

Old man Mawson was a timeworn, craggy giant of a man who was older than the hills and who had been the second man to settle in that part of the country. Who was the first man? It was Mawson’s older brother, reportedly murdered by the third brother after a mix-up of who chopped down a certain bloodred-barked dogwood tree in the third brother’s yard. Mawson, the real culprit, buried his older brother in his front yard and kept all secrets and the grave tended for the next seventy years. Mawson had huge beady eyes and ears that stuck straight ...

124 likes

Beautiful Baby Girl

Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #57

“Darling, must we walk all this way? I am going to be late for my travels and have no time for your antics.” Rafael moaned, not even minutes after he complained of sore feet.“This will take no more than a moment of your life,” Eliza responded while leading her husband down the paths she knew by heart. The soil felt like silk along her feet as she hummed the tune the wind was carrying.“Are you sure you should be walking so far? You shouldn’t be moving so much while the baby is close.” Rafael poked while looking back at the town, which was not...

114 likes

November 9

Submitted to Contest #57

November 9, 2000Lucky. Lucky. Lucky. I am a very lucky person. Neil Armstrong became famous as he was the first person to walk on the Moon, Bob Ross for his extraordinarily good artistic skills, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) for his wrestling guts but I...I became famous for something I never did.On November 9, 1999 I encountered with the Press for the very first time. It had been around noon, when they arrived. The scorching sun had them sweating as though they had just taken a bath. After asking my whereabouts and my daily routine, they came s...

99 likes

Ocean eyes

. .

Submitted to Contest #57

Starla- What seemed to me like a sudden thump,entered my spine like a hole inside a heartAghastI felt awoken by a surpriseColour pouring down, Limbs full of painA canvas that only held the darkness of blood.Sweet noises evoked.Yet only danger hid within,‘Death is like the coal that fire leaves behind’. Like I had always told myself.‘Time passes like a horse’s gallop.Their hooves hitting the ground like waves overlapping sand. The waves like a bride’s dress as she dances in the moonlight.’Whispered a voice from behind. I was in...

96 likes

187 comments 187

One Too Many Hands in the Bowl

Lyn M

Submitted to Contest #57

Do you ever just get that urge to smash something? The feeling that you simply have to grab the nearest breakable object and send it careening towards the hardest available surface with as much force as you can possibly muster? You imagine it colliding violently with the floor, the wall, the counter; you see it shatter into a million tiny fragments, destroyed beyond any hope of repair. No? That’s alright. My mother wouldn’t have understood it either, which is why I was forced to resort to some very desperate measures after I became th...

90 likes

And The Rest Goes To . . . My Hippocampus?

♡ ℂ𝕣𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝 ♡

Submitted to Contest #57

I carefully brought my shaking hand onto the yellowing parchment. The large calligraphy at the crown of the paper read Last Will and Testament. It was no secret that I would soon become a mortal, not for a myriad of reasons, but for one enormous one. I was diagnosed with Euphorium Aglacia Dernis, a harmful disease that slowly drives away all immortality from gods. The quill connected with the old paper, and in circular, swirling motions, I inscribed the words, “I, Chantara, goddess of waterfalls, give my last will and testament...

86 likes

135 comments 135

Opaline's Will

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃

Submitted to Contest #57

...equal amounts of money for all 10 of…. Opaline sighed and looked outside. It was raining outside and inside the house. She wiped a tear off her face as she recalled why she was even writing this will. ***She was walking down Walker Street, talking to her servants. “Next month is the family reunion, and--” Opaline did not have time to finish, as she clutched her chest and fell on the floor. A swirl of emotions rose in her chest as she desperately tried to stand up. Her legs were paralyzed, and her bag fell over, spilling the cont...

85 likes

Document 779101

Submitted to Contest #57

“Yeah, my grandfather was a bit of a photographer,” Carson said, shrugging his shoulders. He tried not to blush at Scarlett’s scrutinising gaze while he removed ‘Illustrations of a Broken Man’ from his rucksack. “This is his book.”“Someone you’re related to wrote a book?” Scarlett asked, raising a plucked eyebrow. “Sorry if I don’t believe it, Carlton.”“It’s… it’s Carson,” Carson said, but Scarlett ignored him and snatched the book from his hands. Carson kicked his legs together as she stared at the cover. It wasn’t the prettiest book, he kn...

83 likes

Forth Majeure

Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #57

And here is the resting place of your great-grandfather, Salvador Earnest Forth. The renowned Sally Forth. Found dead in his cottage with an iPhone in his hand at the age of 96. Yes, I am aware you didn’t get to meet him while he was alive. He was an interesting man. Well, maybe less interesting and more mercurial. Well, maybe less mercurial and more of an arsehole.I met him only twice. Your grandparents regaled us with legendary Sally-stories, probably more useful as cautionary tales. Sally Forth! He would call out ...

79 likes

Studying in the Darkness

Hriday Saboo

Submitted to Contest #57

Authors note: This title was suggested to me by Amany sayed. Thanks i liked the title a lot.Previous title: The Girl Who StudiedThe ritual of child marriage was very bad. Girls used to get married at a very young age and weren’t even allowed to study. These girls were expected to do house chores. The same thing happened with a girl who had exceptional intelligence. She was very good at maths and science but after her marriage she was not allowed to study. It was only two days since she had come. Her stuff was still being moved to her n...

76 likes

So Not A Gamer

B Hall

Submitted to Contest #57

An older gentleman in his early fifties sits at a large, mahogany desk inside an elegant and luxurious study. Books and antique trinkets are displayed along the wall to ceiling shelves behind him. The lack of windows makes it so natural lighting is nonexistent, and the air of the room is stuffy but professional. Despite his unkempt facial hair, it is clear this man generally has a refined demeanor about him, but recent troubles have caused him to become a bit neglectful of his personal care. He looks to a paper and pen that ar...

76 likes

A Poor Man's Gifts

Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #57

In a cottage by the wailing sea, An old man, a poor man, Wears his coat nearly seventy years old, His deathbed made two weeks early, Fresh linens draped over the pillows. He sat, somberly satisfied, Raspy coughs churning in his belly, A visit, Maybe one last visit to a special place. Somewhere he needed to go. Poor man, rich man, He smells the air ‘round him, Takes in a breath, realizing, He is at the train station, Pen and paper in his pocket, Waiting and watching for the right time. There is nobody who can find him, S...

68 likes

The Bath...

Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #57

I wake feeling refreshed as I did not for years. Benedictus Figulus's combination of Leonardo's machine and Paracelsus's formula stands proven. My hands are those of a maid, not a matron nearing old age. The catacomb in which I hid the pseudo-sarcophagus while the alchemical principles worked their physic upon my decrepit body stands laden with dust, a thick sediment over an inch deep. Had the long vents which allow shafts of sunlight to enter failed, I should be in darkness. Sitting up, my hair tangles with my body, long as a damsel's...

66 likes

"naomi," or 1 million butterflies pinned to a wall

Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #57

I don’t know much. That’s what college was supposed to fix. I read big books with big words, Susan Sontag, Karl Marx, Arendt, Foucalt, Nietzche, Sartre. Each flip of the page was a hand on my shoulder, twisting me in a new direction. I graduated dizzy and confused, uncertain what anything was, whether anything was real. Ask me what I read for my senior thesis and watch my eyes dim and fog. They only taught me to question the world, and they provided no answers. I don’t know how to write a will either. I thought that would come later....

63 likes

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Contest #57

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$50

Prize money

675

Entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 04, 2020 EST

Won by Iona Cottle 🏆

Title: Et Tu?

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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