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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

“Weary and rusted ” by Anja Z

Submitted to Contest #57

I Cecil Lowbrow hereby write my will as follow. The day was dark the hour were late. She sat on the plush chair underneath me. Writing, a thing I have seen her do often lately. As she wrote she spoke. She didn’t speak with fondness like she does with her cats nor hatred like she did over the telephone, she spoke with determination. I didn’t find it off though. People were sometimes determined, I have noticed over the years, or sometimes they just knew that time were ticking by and that they too need to get everything ready for the so ca...

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“In the Books” by Maggie Deese

Submitted to Contest #57

Ruth Elis sat on a squeaky, worn chair located on the top floor of Ollowood Library. She had a plain sheet of paper laid out in front of her, eagerly waiting to be written on. She dipped a quill pen daintily into the ink bowl, wiping off the excess before laying it down on the page. Ruth had just turned eighty-four years young only two days ago. She did not have any family nor did she have friends to keep her company on that special day. Instead, she spent her day with the worn, aged books of Ollowood Library. She was alright with that, thou...

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“Grandpa Joe & His Tobacco” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #57

Grandpa Joe Willoughby was the best tobacco spitter in Oklahoma City. This is what my papa told me. He told me he was a hard man who loved his moonshine and his horses. But what my Grandpa loved the most was his participation in The Annual Tobacco Spitting Competition. They say he could shoot that stuff out his mouth fast and far. My papa told me he watched my grandpa kill a man in a local bar using his tobacco spitting technique. No, wait a minute, I’m sorry. Papa told me he killed three men in a bar using his tobacco spitting techniques. H...

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“Changing The Waters” by Libby Carter

Submitted to Contest #57

Waters women have roots all the way back to America in the mid 1600s. The oldest known Waters was a woman named Isabel Waters. She was a strange woman of few words, and the other women of the small town on the coast of North Carolina had theories about her. Isabel was widowed by her husband Thomas Waters at a young age. She had an amazing ability to reason. She was the only one able to reason with a notorious trouble maker around town named Fredrick White. Fredrick also happened to be best friend’s w...

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“The Concept Of Travel” by Artemisia Pearl

Submitted to Contest #57

Earth 47 - 22 years ago "I can't even with you, Kol! How could you not tell me something like that!" Alexa screamed. She was quite angry and turning red. "Alexa, dear, it simply wasn't something you needed to know. My time-traveling powers are my business. not yours." Kol responded, much calmer than Alexa. "YOU CAN ALSO TRAVEL TO DIFFERENT PLANETS AND DIMENSIONS, NIKOLAS!" Alexa raged. Kol was very tired of her behavior. "Are you done? It isn't a big deal, Alexa. I don't see why you think it is." "Kol, you should be able to tell me anythi...

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“The Other Sky – Our Shallow Grave” by Sampada Sharma

Submitted to Contest #57

“The water level rises every day, brother. The border between us and them is now too close to the mainland.” Gabriel’s unspoken uneasiness hung in the air between them.The sky was painted gold, chasing the wending darkness of night. The brink of darkness held at bay by splashes of pink and purple. Soft amber light dipped into the folds of turquoise brocade and painted silk, the sea spilling out into the blistering white sand.Alexander toed the water’s edge watching as the Ocean masked and peeled away at the sand. The silver lining. The edge ...

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“Hidden” by Kira Krieger

Submitted to Contest #57

With all that has happened these past few months, my life has been the public announcement of a town crier. It’s quite daunting when I think about it. It’s scary living in a glass box. Tessa was the only way I made it through. She’s an open book. Didn’t believe in keeping secrets of her own. Whenever I was blue, she would regale me of a story about her childhood or her fiance or things the boys did before I came. Merlin was limited with his stories. All of them - the few he shared - were before the age of ten and after he went to Ca...

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“The rebellious Princess: Weeping Willow” by Lourdes Cruz

Submitted to Contest #57

Today was the day. The royal family of the enchanted forest sang joyfully, as it was the turn of the youngest princess to choose her future husband of the noble spirits among the ceremony. Amir, her father, was the king of all trees, while her mother, Kiri, was the daughter of a noble shrub. The family was excited to see who their daughter would end up with. Princess Willow's elder sisters, however, would not be attending. Despite their absences, the family tradition would continue. Willow was petrified. She was trying to figure out how ex...

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“What The Future Holds” by Jorja Orne

Submitted to Contest #57

“Anderson!” Jamal yelled. “Yes, sir?” He asked as he walked into his office. “Please prepare the manor’s staff for tonight's annual ‘Anla Gala Charity Event’, I need everyone to be in tip-top shape. I have some very important people coming tonight. Someone who could really help Ferinian Corp.” “You mean the mob who you’ve been borrowing money from? I thought you were more prosper than that.” Anderson snarked. “You are in no position to criticize me! I’m doi...

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“Lady of the Manor” by Andrew Krey

Submitted to Contest #57

“ENOUGH!” Time may have stripped the power from his body, but not his words. He would be heard. “If you ask me if I’m sure one more time, I’ll use another solicitor’s office and you’ll lose your fee as my executor!” Arthur knew how to motivate men; he’d made his living out of knowing, and for this man it was money. It always was with lawyers. “My apologies sir, I have a legal obligation to –” then the lawyer stopped himself in time, before saying ‘ensure’. Arthur held the eyes of the lawyer in silence; a silence he intended to make as unc...

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“A victor's expense” by Goblin King

Submitted to Contest #57

Tattoos covered his bare chest, flowing from one powerful arm to the other and coating every surface in between. As he bounced back and forth the ink did little to hide his enormous muscles. Sweat dripped off them and onto the ground below, littering the mat with darkened spots. I studied him as he moved, taking note of anything that could help me during the fight. His size stood out as a defining feature. Each of my previous opponents had slightly varied in height, but none had dwarfed me like the man who then opposed me. The expressio...

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“advanced disaster preparedness” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #57

Today is a damp day. The August heat broke a few days ago; we turned the air conditioner off and opened the windows. We reveled in the breeze that fluttered our curtains and the fresh air that filled our lungs. But last night, it rained, and the damp air creeped through the windows, leaving our furniture and clothes and skin feeling sticky. I’m reminded of the summers I spent at camp, sleeping in a cabin and waking to find myself wrapped tightly in a sleeping bag that had dampened overnight. Those thick and dewy mornings always burned into h...

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“Montis Absentia Pt. II” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #57

They’d walked on through the fog for what seemed to be hours, but they’d not stumbled across the signposted town. Their footsteps did not echo, the walls of grey that pressed in at them from all sides dampened the sound. Steve still walked with limp, but he hadn’t grumbled about it at all. “A spelling bee?” Mary grinned at him. The blood had congealed on her forehead. “Are you pulling my leg?” Steve held one hand in the air, the other he didn’t move much, and Mary suspected it was broken. “I’m not pulling anything. I swear to God—” he pl...

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“Ancestors And Who They Were” by Jorja Orne

Submitted to Contest #57

DISCLAIMER: Everything I write is fiction. Nothing in here is true, I just have a weird imagination. “Cheryl Hamorgale! Get down here now!” Abby yelled up the stairs. “Goodness, mother! I’m coming!” Cheryl stomped down the stairs, “Mother, you scream so loud people can probably hear you in Antartica, and we live in Illinois!” “Oh be quiet, eat your breakfast.” Abby placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Cheryl. “Mother. Did you save your throw up and put it in a bowl for...

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“The False Fame” by Jena Shah

Submitted to Contest #57

Eden Wheeler sat by the window sill, her hair flipping by the cold breeze. The thought of the biggest promotion of her life for her "Nobel" prize-winning book “Me Through The Dark” stretched the smile on her very face as she spent seconds thinking about it, but at the same time a thought deep inside still agitated her. Soon enough, the slamming of the door made her attentive, she eyed towards the door as she saw her friend walk in.“I can’t!” Eden could see her getting annoyed.“What can’t you Ava?” Asked Eden.“I can’t pretend to be ...

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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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