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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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.

This week's prompts

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

Funny – 73 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

“"naomi," or 1 million butterflies pinned to a wall” by 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....

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“Her Name is Eleanor (Afra and Gervassi cont.) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #57

Gervassi’s head filled with static as the doctor was speaking. Five minutes earlier, he had sat down in the waiting room of the Trauma Center and hoped for the best, not daring to look at anyone else. He was too afraid their gaze would betray all the things he didn’t want to believe. The accident had been terrible, he knew that much, but what was worse was the feeling that he had caused it. After all, he was the one who told Eleanor to leave. He should have known better than to let her go alone, especially when she was in such a bad state. A...

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“Spin like the Lilies (Part 2/2)” by <inactive> .

Submitted to Contest #57

Author’s note- All songs here were written by yours truly! Hope you enjoy! My personal favorite song that I have ever written is Spin Like The Lilies which is what inspired this story’s two parts. I, Merielle Olympe, am a troublemaker. I have gotten in detention three hundred and seventeen times in my whole school career, have been evicted out of classrooms at least five times a year, and have broken thousands of rules while cheerfully jamming to Blackout on my prized headphones. Yet, there’s always been one rule that I didn’t break. A rul...

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“The Last Saturday in Dollop County ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #57

Local High Schooler Saves Ballet From Acid Rain By: Fidelia C. Marrbhles Our small town was hit by a storm like no other when the green, acidic rainclouds formed overhead last Saturday. The scientists had been warning us for years, but did we listen? Oh no, that isn’t the way we do things here! We rebel at the sight of any inconvenience and loathe all specks of minor change in stubborn habits! So of course we didn’t listen. We kept right along our merry way and guess what? Maybe the town’s hall is destroyed because we didn’t want to use r...

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“The New York Window” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #57

Mamma throws open the window, blasting hot air into our apartment. She twists the knob on the radio, and Italian music threads its way onto the gray streets of New York. Abruptly losing all self-control, she breaks into a dance. Hips swaying, fingers snapping, lips humming. Her mouth forms the unfamiliar lyrics like she has heard the song all her life. Wrapping an apron around herself, she bounces over to the kitchen, inhaling sweet fruit and salty nuts. The oven opens, and I spy my favorite dessert on a rusted metal tray. Delicately ...

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“'Tis a Lie!” by Kristin Neubauer

Submitted to Contest #57

It’s 9:45 am and Dr. Ingalls’ next client will arrive in 15 minutes. He’s a new client – this is his second session following a first session that went something like this:Dr. I: So tell me, what’s on your mind?Client: I know not how to respond to so general a query.Dr. I: Is there something specific bothering you? What’s brought you to psychotherapy?Client: With the greatest respect, sir, that ‘tis a familiar question from one I have only just met.The interview proceeded as such, leaving Dr. Ingalls with the following notes to review a...

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“Nut Judge” by Chimamaka Adeniyi🙅

Submitted to Contest #57

Let’s go,The honorable court and the idiotic judge may we rise.I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten how they say it, okay, it goes;“All rise for the Honorable judge,”Just as I thought.We are seated here today to witness the welcoming of a national hero, a man with due honor, a man that should most definitely be coronated king of the village instead of that foolish, senseless, no good, fish-head 'chief' that does nothing but develop the village, building roads, giving potable water, providing free schooling, promoting local businesses, cheaper food...

108 comments 108

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“Spare Hearts” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #57

You wake up and the world is gone.Instead, there are hills of scrap and a smog-choked sky and a face staring down at you.“Aaahhh!” goes the face. Whump! goes the body it’s attached to when it teeters backwards and lands among rusted slivers of things that were once whole. You are pleased to discover your audio detection systems are still functional.You appear to be on one of the numerous scrap hills adorning the land as far as your optical units can see. In fact, you are embedded in a slope, and there is all manner of dust and debris cloggin...

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“What Would You Do?” by ♥☪ᙏҽɬσɳყ Ƒɾҽ𝓶σɳԃ☪♥

Submitted to Contest #57

Hey there. My name is Rosalie Parks. I was always an ordinary girl. I read books, watched television, went to school, got bullied, wrote stories, etc. I was always one of those people who wanted to be famous. I wanted everyone to know me and scream my name and if you can believe it, it became true. You know except for the fact that I'm living that dream from a dead girl's life.Whoa, right?Let me lead you to the moments my life had changed - forever."Hey look everyone, it's Rosalie." One idiot says."She looks so pretty." A bimbo adds."She's s...

142 comments 142

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“To My Four Hearts~” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #57

To my Dear kids and Grandkids~Hello its Grandma Thora, or mama to my precious children. You’ve all grown up so much. My dear dear grand kids, I know many of you have never met me and it breaks my heart that the day you see me will be in my cold shell which carried my long gone soul. I’ve always wondered why you never visited me, I started you, I built you in my stomach for 9 months. I begged for money everyday just to give you, my precious children a future. I became rich! I got you into the best schools…but yet, I guess it was never enough....

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“Avianicism” by Leya Newi

Submitted to Contest #57

“Lils, what just happened?” Jonas was facing me with wide eyes. I looked at him, then noticed something out the window. A crow. I screamed and cowered behind the couch. “Jonas, shut the window.” “Wha--” he turned around and didn’t see the horrible monster perched on the windowsill. “SHUT THE WINDOW!” I yelled. “Okay, okay! I’m shutting the window!” Jonas shut the window then turned to face me. “Lils, are you okay? That was really weird.” “WE JUST TRAVELED THROUGH TIME AND YOU’RE TELLING ME ABOUT WEIRD?” I screeched. I took a deep ...

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“My Rock” by Itay Frenkel

Submitted to Contest #57

His alarm woke him up before sunrise. There were clouds in the sky, a frown on his face, and misery in the air. He tried once again to place the strange smell in his room, maybe his son had been eating chips in there? No, that wasn’t it. It smelled like garlic and something stronger, but what? He got out of his king-sized bed, washed his face, shaved, brushed his teeth, showered, slapped himself on the face, and smiled at his reflection in the mirror. Anything to stay awake, to function, to go on living. It was Sunday, his day off. Usually...

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“Bananas and Womanhood” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #57

You’re probably heard of my mother. Her name was Anneliese, Ana for short, but that won’t ring a bell for you. With an exaggerated sigh she’d mention people back at school called her Ban-Ana, and suddenly you’d be guffawing uncontrollably. “You’re the girl who’s birthday party was a total flop! Literally!” “Ban-Ana, you want a banana?” “Oh, wait, you’re just going to use it to make disgusting perfume!” Let me tell you how it all started with my mother. . . from the very beginning. There she was, twelve, liv...

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“The Return of the Usa” by Jonathan Blaauw

Submitted to Contest #57

Tanna Island, Vanuatu, Southwestern Pacific “They came from the sky.” The legendary tale always started the same way. No matter how many times he heard it, Kailani always felt a delightful shiver of expectation when the story began; the story of the mysterious gods, the Usa, and their miraculous visit to Tanna all those years ago. This year, Kailani would be listening to the ceremonial telling of the account even more attentively than usual, given what he was planning to do the following day. The secret he held close to his hear...

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“Charlie Casanova” by Melissa Hassan

Submitted to Contest #57

“Simon Dias? The Simon Dias, is your grand uncle?” the gentleman sitting opposite him asked obviously intrigued. “Shhh! Not so loud, we are in a library for goodness sake!” whispered Shehan, regretting having blurted his ancestor's name out by mistake.“My word! I can't believe I am sitting with the grand nephew of Simon Dias!” replied the man.“Oh! Gosh here we go again, why couldn't you just keep your big mouth shut, you are such a blabber mouth!” Shehan thought to himself, cursing silently.“Yes, Simon Dias is my grand uncle!” Shehan co...

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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.

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