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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

“Keep Living Or Give Away” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #57

I, Jim Walter, presently of, Denver, Colorado, declare that this is my last will and testament… Yes, I am writing and finalizing my will. I know who deserves to take over my assets, my legacy, my belongings… It does feel weird when you have been around for over a century on this planet. I am Jim Walter. I am still going strong and I believe I can reach 110. I have seen a lot in my life. Good things, bad things, indifferent things, and things you learn from. One thing that has been really difficult to accept is that I have o...

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“Sweet, Crow Pie” by Ayaka Spencer

Submitted to Contest #57

One day in June on his 44th birthday, John Latimer received some very distressing news. News that got him thinking about what should happen to his earthly possessions after he is gone. And so he sat down, his pen in hand, and wrote out his last will and testament. Smiling happily at all the trouble it could cause. John had always been a very quiet man. Soft-spoken, he rarely spoke his mind, more observant than chatty. He lived simply in a small, easy to maintain home in a nice quiet suburb. With a small front yard garden that h...

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“A Dying Nation ” by Anthony Albanese

Submitted to Contest #57

“We, the people of a dying nation, have suffered for too long. Our nation’s sufferings in the last decade equate to more than any other nation throughout the existence of humanity has experienced. Our land is uninhabitable. However, we give it to scientists and well-natured entrepreneurs in hopes that they can revive this land and revert it back to its previous flourishing state. If anyone did not deserve the punishment our nation received, it is Mother Nature. If anything is to be learned from this war, let it be that we as humankind have ...

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“Alan's New World” by Caleb Brawn

Submitted to Contest #57

Alan woke up late. Not entirely surprising considering he stayed up way too late the night before watching reruns of Lois and Clark (Dean Cain will always be his favorite version of Superman). He must have dozed off before he set his alarm for the morning. Springing out of bed faster than he did the day he forgot to set his alarm and almost missed his cousin’s baptism, he quickly grabbed his dirty clothes from the day prior off of his desk chair and threw them on as quickly as he could. Running downstairs, he found that his aforementioned co...

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“DAMSEL: A DISTRESS.” by Abi Kiruba

Submitted to Contest #57

As I kept staring at the wall behind the crowd and felt myself zoning out at that one question, I felt my past nightmares coming back to haunt me in broad daylight. The voices of the curious people around were soon deafened out and the sight I saw wasn’t really what I was seeing in reality. I stood there amidst the jealous wolves and the curious kittens surrounded by air that reeked of money, cigars, and mistresses. I stood there with recognition to my work in my hands and a question in my mind and a burdened past in my heart. I stood there ...

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“What You Started” by Grace Lovesagoodblanketfort

Submitted to Contest #57

I stared at the blank word document. As much as I wanted the words to materialize on the page, so elegantly as they had before, they wouldn’t. The only difference between then and now was the fact that it now had to be my words. My emotions fluctuated from panicked, to angry, backed to panicked, then finally to disappointed. “I’m a fraud,” I said aloud, not intending to. “No you’re not,” my dear wife insisted. She was comfortably spread out on the couch behind me, scrolling through her ph...

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“Mistaken Identity” by Colton Stossel

Submitted to Contest #57

The day began like any other. Brian Powers woke up to the chatter of his alarm clock radio, with the usual DJ blabbering the usual nonsensical celebrity gossip the public so desperately craved. In an obnoxious voice made for radio, the DJ announced the latest blockbuster starring none other than superstar Brian Po… “That’s enough gossip for one day,” Brian muttered as he rubbed his eyes and shuffled to the bathroom and brushed his teeth.Brian left his ordinary apartment and entered his unremarkable car to go to his tedious office job in the ...

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“Dear Officer Hardy (This is a Metaphor)” by Zoey K

Submitted to Contest #57

The letters had been pouring in for months. When I first got here, I got at least 100 a day. I read a few, maybe ten, and became so utterly revolted that I threw up all over my bed. It took a few hours to clean it up. After that night, I'd only read one or two a week—when I felt lonely enough to stoop that low. Most of them were hate mail. Nothing I'd be willing to write, much less repeat. I'd occasionally find one written to me by a true crime extremist, usually a young woman begging for a reply or a friendship. Somehow that disgusted m...

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“The Lie” by Yndia Barrows

Submitted to Contest #57

The drive back home wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I was used to the plane rides, places of conformed tight knit spots and the easiness of getting lost in thought. A one hour plane ride felt like peace. But this four hour drive was hell; open, observed and too self aware. Back home I was made aware of the fame I procured at the end of high school, a bitter and not so rewarding situation. In the city where I lived most of the time I was able to seep away as best I could into the crowds, making the paparazzi who did find ...

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“He Did Get Around” by Bob White

Submitted to Contest #57

He Did Get Around By Bob White Not sure there is ever anything funny about going to a funer...

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“A Moment In The Spotlight” by Caroline Chumbley

Submitted to Contest #57

It all started one Tuesday morning, my alarm went off at 7:30 am, the sun was rising up high in the sky as I slid out of bed. Suddenly, I realized that my phone was blowing up with notifications from every social media platform! Oh my gosh, did I accidentally post something embarrassing on my Instagram page!? Phew, it wasn’t that. I was getting millions of comments saying “I love your music”, “when are you coming out with your next album” or “you're such a great singer!” all my pictures on my social media pages had over a million likes on ev...

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“Naked Tuesdays” by Chris Riffle

Submitted to Contest #57

“Mom, Dad,” Amy paused, “Mom’s lover Dave. Dad’s lover Peter.” She sighed and pinched her nose. “I’ve gathered you here because I wanted you all to hear it from me.” “What is it, sweetie?” her mother said. “Should we be worried?” Peter said. He had his arm around her father’s waist. “No it’s not that big of a deal.” &nbsp...

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“My favourite colour is White” by Prachi Pati

Submitted to Contest #57

The cacophony of sounds outside was a sharp contrast to the uncomfortable silence inside the room. But that was just a pause in what had been a heated argument amongst the four people sitting in the room. It would be incorrect to call it an argument or a discussion. It looked more like an interrogation. An interrogation of the twenty two year old girl in the room, Sheila. “You know what I’m saying is not unheard of, grandma! This is the twenty first Century and believe it or not, people do have the option to live their own life and to ...

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“My own story” by Autumn Solomon

Submitted to Contest #57

Older movies have the basic white rich families with their children expected to hold up the legacies their parents left behind. Most of the time, those legacies are holding a reputation, staying rich, keeping contacts and not burning bridges. These movies will most likely end with the child “bravely” defying their parents wishes and instead becoming who they want to be which always ends up successfully and beneficial to them. It is also most likely that in these movies the main character(s) will end up finding a great love and/or reconciling...

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“FORLORN HOPE” by Idris Lukmon

Submitted to Contest #57

"Jamal"I nearly cringed from my father's scratchy voice, adjusting the phone to my left ear and reducing the Fuji music that escaped the speaker on the dashboard."Yeah?", My response was accompanied with a frown, eyes trained on avoiding the potholes and bumps on the tarred road that led to one of the family's garage."Mike confirmed you left the estate with none of the guards in tow__" I rolled my eyes expecting the line that usually followed. "__You should know by now that the streets of Port Harcourt ain't safe for ...

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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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