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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

“The Choice we make” by Esther Salami

Submitted to Contest #57

Each time I saw the headline or post; #1 New York Bestselling Book: The white horse by Teen-Nigerian writer, Laura Orah; a literary success! I fell apart. Though things weren’t always mild for I and my mum, we led a comfortable and calm life even in dad’s absence. Together with my nine-year old brother, James, we lived four miles away from my college in Adankolo. Many students found that unbearable but it wasn’t the case for me. Mum was scarcely around all the time and when she was, you barely noticed. She was a quiet woman while James...

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“Ain't Got it in Him” by Vincent Charles

Submitted to Contest #57

It’d been a long time since Jimbo had seen his family. Or at least that they’d noticed anyhow. Ever since his so-called moment in the sun, his relatives all went back to their lives in a few corners of Robertson County.The calls started to wither away too and at the same pace. It was drips and drabs. No more newsies at the door either, but he’d said enough.In front of him lay a desk blotter with a yellow sticky note carefully centered for him not to miss. The wind from the fan kept lifting the non-sticky part up and down with a rhythm some b...

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“Without A Purpose” by Karen Kitchel

Submitted to Contest #57

I grew up bouncing from foster home to foster home. My only one life-long friend was a teddy bear I named “Happy.” I really wanted to believe there wasn’t another “Happy” in this world, and he belonged to me. However, at my first foster home I see a little kid named Bruno who has a bear that looks remarkably like mine. We only spend a short time together but I remember feeling very sad when Bruno was sent to another home. I get lucky at age nine when my foster family turns out to be an upscale couple who think I’m cute....

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“THE QUATERNITY” by Abi Kiruba

Submitted to Contest #57

Nighttime, heavy rainfall, and silent walls. The crowd has died down, kids settled comfortably in their beds, the parents wait anxiously for the good news. The crackling of thunder arrests their hearts for a mere second and they fear if the baby will be scared. The loud scream of the queen echoes through the empty halls followed by the loud shriek of the newborn princess. The people rejoice. The princess grows up to be a beautiful young maiden, tall, beautiful, pitch-black hair, stygian eyes that hold a lot of mystery behind them. Th...

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“The Siren” by A. Tangen

Submitted to Contest #57

The crisp air swirled around my hair, picking up my dark locks and whirling them around my ribs. It was a strange contrast, the warm water that my body was used to, and the cold, foreign air that plagued the land. No matter, I insisted to myself, I wouldn't be up here for long. I brought my gaze upon the ship softly sailing away from the land, and wicked smiled slipped across my features. Mother had sent me to the surface, insisting that I would never be declared siren queen if I didn't take the life of a land prince. It wasn't as if I had n...

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“The Wassi River” by Lee Dohann

Submitted to Contest #57

Fred locked his office door. It was the first Friday in a very long time, that he was leaving the building alongside his colleagues. It was a long month, with tax deadlines and endless compliance reports. On top of that, he lost two senior administrators. The previous day was their official final day, but as with all resignations, the notice month was just a mere formality. Their presence did not guarantee one last month of productivity. He reversed out of the parking bay, and noticed the new guard at the exit. That’s what happen when you b...

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“An Anniversary To Remember” by Karina Andrada

Submitted to Contest #57

The darkness envelops quiet Reeding Street and with it the small dining room where I've been slaving away for the last three hours. The pasta al fresco will go cold so I'm placing it carefully in the oven -along with the garlicky asparagus and pesto. I've called Natalie's mother to make sure Ava's arrived safely, even though I know I shouldn't do that. I don't really need the soccer mom breakfast club judgement right now, but it's hard to trust that your kid's safe when you're new to the neighbourhood. The move has been so hard on Ava that...

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“Traditions No More” by Taylor Crosby

Submitted to Contest #57

Spaghetti noodles dot the night sky. They’re writhing like tentacles. Reaching toward me. I can hear them too. They’re loud. Way too loud to be normal. Squishing in and out. In and out. In and out. And the moon’s laughing at me. Its eyes of cheese stares right through me, mocking my very heart and soul. The stars aren’t there. Somewhere in my mind, I know they’re supposed to be there, but they aren’t. No giant balls of gas tonight. Well, hold on, what’s that smell of sweet potato chips mixed with bad breath? Oh, yeah. Whoops. B...

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“My own little light” by Leah Ashton

Submitted to Contest #57

I come from a long line of Monster Hunters. it was something that I abhorred because the creatures we hunted weren't always monsters. I saw these creatures as they were. Most were harmless. I had never came across one that was deadly. I would often set them free when I found them in traps. I did this so much that my parents stopped bringing me along. I decided I wasn't going to go into the family business. I had even made friends with Lily. Lily was a siren. I met her while on a family vacation to our home in the islands. Lily saved my life....

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“A Shattered Mold” by Korede Ojelade

Submitted to Contest #57

Sixty-seven days! That's how long till the firm clocks 50. The buzz is palpable, one can feel it. It really is that thick. Everyone's excited. Everyone that is, except Drina. She winds through the marble lobby wordlessly, megawatt smile firmly in place, mutely acknowledging congratulations from the fawning employees, the expected accolades from industry peers, desperately wishing she were someplace else. Only in the privacy of her home does she allow her true self to emerge. Keeping up a double image can’t be easy. Lately, it's as though s...

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“Dear Future Descendant” by Madeleine Hays

Submitted to Contest #57

No one in my family has gotten married for at least the past five generations, but probably more. Now, this may sound weird, which I understand completely. Most of the time, it’s that everyone in the family is expected to get married, someone decides not to, how scandalous, etc. But my family has never been one for conventional. I suppose this legacy began with my great-great-grandmother, Lydia. Back in World War One, it wasn’t so uncommon for women to remain unmarried for a little while since all the men were off dying around the world. B...

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“Celebrity ” by Lee Dickinson

Submitted to Contest #57

1 When I grow up, I want to be famous. Proper famous too. Not like those B-listers who go on big brother. Famous for a little while then never heard of again. I’m not going to be one of those who are famous for something crazy too. Like that girl who said she fell asleep after asking for one star and the tattooist gave her like fifty odd. I’m going to be beloved. A national treasure. Or, at least, I’ll be talked about enough. I won’t even be able to go down the street without some form of disguise because people will just keep bothering me...

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“As Genius as The Invention of Sliced Bread” by Jordan Huxley Smith

Submitted to Contest #57

Buried deep within the dense concrete jungle, a small building lies surrounded by tall towers. In contrast to its contemporaries, it is in great need of repair. Within this decrepit building, however, sits a large and immaculately clean laboratory. Perfectly sterile. Bright and white. Shiny silver machines with colourful blinking lights are dotted throughout, creating a labyrinth of narrow pathways that all interconnect like a tangled web. Aside from the quiet humming from the machines, the room is quiet. Frozen within time. Suddenly, the ...

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“Dr. Jerkenstein and the Time Machine” by Mason Bufkin

Submitted to Contest #57

Dr. Jerkenstein and the Time Machine Dr. Jerkenstein paced back and forth in his lab. He ran the calculations again in his head. I believe I have done the math correctly, he thought. I save my place in history with the time stamp, and I can go forward X amount of years. Dr. Jerkenstein passed the machine back and forth between his hands. The greatest invention in history was basically an old calculator. Reggie squawked and ruffled his pink feathers before he devoured the carcass in front of him. Lyra told Dr. Jerkenstein that it looked like...

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“You Got What You Asked For, Didn't You?” by Jay Skerrell

Submitted to Contest #57

Barnaby Longfellow sat at his large, polished oak desk and drew out his late father’s gold fountain pen from a drawer set just down to his right. In front of him, a notebook of the finest Basildon Bond writing paper lay flush on the desk, the brilliant white pages staring up at him, in anticipation of Barnaby’s finest cursive handwriting flowing across it. Barnaby placed his fountain pen in the freshly opened bottle of ink, pressed in the pipette and drew up the smooth, ebony liquid from within.Taking a moment, he glanced out of th...

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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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