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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

“PESTERING NUISANCE” by SHYAMALA BHUVANACHANDRAN

Submitted to Contest #57

Neelakantan asked his son Mohan to get him an apple and one orange. Mohan went to the kitchen to ask his wife. He knew it might not be there. Still, if one was there, that would suffice for the day. She made a wry face and told him bluntly. “How do you expect fruits now? You know very well all the fruits brought yesterday and the day before had gone into the fruit salad. You yourself found them insufficient. Was it not so? You always invite such great foodies for parties! Was anything left behind for you or me? Now, you are asking apple–ora...

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“The last Will and Testament of Clarence Erwin Harvey” by Teresa Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #57

The ancient leather chair creaks on its mahogany legs, carved to look like lions. The years have etched creases and cracks into the leather, but the use just makes it more comfortable. The crackling fire shoots sparks upwards, only to be snuffed out by the cold air in the chimney. Rows and rows of worn aged books line the dark wooden shelves, gold letters scratched on the bindings. The atmosphere is just as I like it: solemn, quiet, somewhat mysterious from the generations of secrets whispered in between these walls, and as always, quite con...

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“Ivory Rose” by Hikmat A

Submitted to Contest #57

Date: July 21st, 2019 Signed: Richard D’Ivoire, of sane and sound mind, under no coercion. I appoint my daughter, Ivory Rose, as executor. He started to loop his signature onto the sheet, but the paper was slightly under him so he had to strain his arm to reach the signing space. The metal cuff on his hand dug into his wrist, causing the wounds there to reopen. Blood began to drip. He hurriedly shifted his hand outwards so it wouldn’t spill onto the ornate paper. It fell down onto the concrete in...

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“The Inspector and His Suspicions” by Debaprasad Mukherjee

Submitted to Contest #57

"Achho..o..o......" As if a hand grenade had burst in the bedroom of Choube. Only effect it had on him was he turned to other side. As a result, the huge bed creaked and squeaked a little. Choube was sure the the teakwood-bed won't give way, the way he was sure another grenade was on its way in tandem. And it came, a touch heavier than even the first one. He pulled his blanket over his head. He would have a peaceful slumber for another half an hour or so before the morning tea was served. But his luck didn't hold. He sat up up on the b...

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“The Unlucky Avery Stewall” by Shayna Moon

Submitted to Contest #57

“What’s all this commotion in the hallway?!” I heard my teacher Mr. Jenkins yell from behind a sea of students crowded in the hallway. “It’s fatherless Jaz, she’s at it again!” I heard peppermint Penny from hall A respond. I have no idea what her issue is with me, but she has been the vain of my existence since we met in first grade. I was born in a small town called Blakensmith. We sit on a small island that was apparently cut off from the rest of the world during the Pangea split, somewhere on the far east of the world. There are two othe...

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“Little Old Lady” by Susan Hudson

Submitted to Contest #57

LITTLE OLD LADY Susan W. Hudson Once upon a time, in a bustling southern town, there lived a little old lady. She lived with her two girl cats and her beloved girl dog in a small, quaint house. One day, the little old lady noticed some activity in and around the empty house next to hers. “Oh my, I’m getting new neighbors!” The little old lady was thrilled. “I hope they are nice,” she thought. The little old lady watched as the new neighbors moved their belongings into the house. Several days passed before she got a chance to meet them. S...

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“The misadventures of the antisocial King” by Bella P.

Submitted to Contest #57

Damn that first old man. It’s been one hundred seventy-three years, four days, nine hours, thirty-four minutes and six, seven, eight… seconds, since that day (approximately, of course). Initially, strangers believe it is crazy to keep counting each second that goes by, since it had all ended. But that’s just it. Visitors do not understand the traditions of that iper, mega small town (seriously, when kids get bored, they start counting the number of houses and those numbers end way before their boredom disappears), and honestly… neither do I....

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“Rumors, Murders, and Me” by Nataleigh Sandberg

Submitted to Contest #57

Karron had always known Angelica as the smart type. She would never do anything stupid- she was the kind of girl who would do some adventurous stuff that wasn't dangerous. Like white water rafting. Okay, that was a little dangerous, but it was beside the point. She wouldn't jump off a building. She wouldn't drink alcohol. Angelica was a sneaky good girl- she was a bad girl who never got caught.Everything began a few months ago. The Gang was strolling through Pawling High School, preparing for a big history test about foreign wars. Kaleb, who...

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“A Hero of Something Else” by Kk Nelson

Submitted to Contest #57

Akatha stared at the portrait looming over her. Her amber eyes were sad and longing. Turning away after a moment, she studied the rest of the room. It was filled with portraits, busts, and statues of heroes, the ones people read about in history books. She walked to a picture of a fairy. She wasn't the type of fairy we on earth imagine, small, playful, and pretty. She was a warrior with many scars, and she stood taller than Akatha. She gave her life fighting for justice. Akatha, who fought along side her, did not. She turned around to her po...

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“Music On The Road ” by Fall Write

Submitted to Contest #57

Am D Gsus C...."One step I'm soaring,Two steps I'm roaring,Three steps I'm living,Four....AmFive....D",Liv just finished his new song composition and now practicing it to perfect his guitar chords. This is the last song of his album that is going to be released by the end of the month. He composes all of his songs in all of his albums and just one of his greatest pride in the industry."Your album is magnifique! It's very musique country. Except the third song of the album which you said was your last to finished, it sounds musique pop to me....

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“Magic Muggle Food Contest” by Amita Bhat

Submitted to Contest #57

“But you absolutely must enter! I shall certainly do so. It should be quite enriching.” “Corelia, be you sick in the head? An entire meal? With no magic? That cannot be possible!” “What folly!” Corelia sighed. Boys could be so exasperating. She and her three friends, Leonardo, Bartolommeo, and Angelo had been bickering for several minutes as they walked down the cobbled streets from their sorcery lesson. Their magic teacher, the most learned wizard in all of Italy, had presented them with a new challenge: to compete to prepare a delici...

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“David: Giant Killer” by Frank Chavez

Submitted to Contest #57

David: Giant Killer I hear the crowd outside, chanting, “Saul has killed his thousand but David his ten thousand.” I look over at Michal. Pretty, doe-eyed Michal. And Johnathan...beautiful...sad-eyed Johnathan. They wave and urge me to step out on the balcony, let the crowd see their hero. David. David the shepherd. David the musician. David the giant killer. I sigh and step through the curtains…and into the late afternoon sun. A slight breeze flutters through my hair, tugs at my tunic as I look down. Below me I see a sea of faces extendi...

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“Five Days of Highs and Lows” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #57

August 21st, 2008. The happiest day of my life. A summer storm washed away the countryside as I drove your mother to the hospital. Her contractions were steady, and the incessant rain clouding the windshield filled her heart with fear, the fear that lives in every mother when the safety of her child is at play. You were still on the cusp of birth, but she was very much a mother already. She had always been. “Slow down,” she repeated. “I swear, Tyler, if you drive us into a ditch in the middle of nowhere, you better learn how to deliver a bab...

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“Bloodlines” by Jaimee Choi

Submitted to Contest #57

It was a May 3rd same as any May 3rd I had known in my 13 years. I had begged Mother to let me go to school, to be normal. I had even faked an oral report to try and get out of it, but Mother insisted she had already gotten this and every May 3rd cleared with the school board. She always got what she wanted. “I just don’t even know why we have to go see Gerry. We just saw him last year, I’m sure he’s not gotten around to much in the penin-- pentent-- in jail.” Mother glanced at me, mostly side-eye, not wanting to give me the ...

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“The Samaritan” by Eric Mock

Submitted to Contest #57

Okay, time to meet a superhero, Sara thought. She looked up the gleaming, glass 60-story skyscraper before her. She had just stepped off the bus in front of the office of The Samaritan. She still couldn’t believe her editor had given her the assignment. Once a year, every year, The Samaritan picked one news agency to do an exclusive with him. And this year he picked The Pacific, and The Pacific had chosen her. No matter what magazine did the story, it was usually a fluffy piece about how great The Samaritan was. And she couldn’t...

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$50

Prize money

676

Contest 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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