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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

“Righting a wrong ” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #57

“America in the 1980s seemed to belong to conservatism, materialism and consumerism – people liked routines, loved their flashy cars and brand-name preppy clothes and enjoyed spending money. It was also an age when big movies started hitting the screen, and music videos were introduced thanks to cable network stations, like MTV,” Jillian Smith stopped next to her podium, and made a dramatic turn, and went into a dance pose with one leg slung on her desk.She looked back at her 35 students – all college freshmen – and started to laugh. Her lit...

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“Practice What You Preach” by Autumn Williams

Submitted to Contest #57

Trigger warnings: domestic abuse, suicide Jenna Davidson was an astonishing woman. She was the epitome of society’s standards of beauty; she was funny, intelligent, talented, and very business savvy. Her ultimate goal in her life was to become an international public speaker and advocate for woman who suffer in silence from domestic violence. Jenna made short work of climbing those metaphorical ladders at her job, and even sooner than she had expected, she was leading multiple anti-domestic violence protests and rallies. But, these pr...

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“Stealing Credit for Confusing People with Watermelons is a Crime Worthy of Death” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #57

In more recent news, math textbooks are suddenly more accurate. -Me, five seconds after leaving Costco with all their watermelons while rocking a pair of sunglasses I bought at Dollar Tree because I was broke from buying so many watermelons. It’s a sacrifice. One could say, I’m a her— “Are you internally monologuing about being a hero for buying a ton of watermelons and leaving them on random people’s doors again?” Kalie, my best friend, asked me as she skipped out in front of my shopping cart to catch a falling melon. Man, this girl h...

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“He's a Liar!” by N S

Submitted to Contest #57

Sometimes it can be quite daunting to justify your actions and thoughts to people around you; the varying cultural, the geographical conditions and when you are dead you don’t even stand a chance. “Time travel always fascinated me, and the western movies added fuel to my explorative mind. I always wondered how it would be to travel to the future. Learn the secrets behind new inventions and bring the thoughts back to the present, rather past. It would be so exciting to have a futuristic better life in our present.”, wrote Hussein in his tiny ...

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“The Deerstalker Debacle ” by Saige Severin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #57

“It will be your greatest achievement,” said his editor. “Thousands of copies sold, and your name forever remembered as one of England’s greatest writers.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sneered and took a drag from his pipe. “If in 100 years I am known only as the man who invented Sherlock Holmes, then I will consider my life a failure.” … John Wilson sewed the last seam into pla...

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“Bright Months” by 💛🧡Lizzie Parker🌻🍊

Submitted to Contest #57

The date was 2054, August 14th, when the first baby in Georgia was born with a power. Then in September another baby was born with power. Then again the next Month, and again after that, only in Georgia. Once every month a baby was born with power. Every Month has a different power. The American government rounded up all these babies and put them in camps scattered across the Nation, but one time something extraordinary happened. A mother gave birth to twins in January. One twin didn’t have any power and the o...

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“A Life Changing Shoehorn Discrepancy” by Lee Jay

Submitted to Contest #57

John Schaufensterscheibe immigrated to Canada in 1793 with his young wife Gerta. John was an inventor and a visionary - he loved to tinker with things. He loved to make wooden items - everything from surprises for die kinder (the children) - to decorative nutcrackers - to handheld corn seeders and mortar and pestles - just everyday things: nothing too fancy or modern. After a busy day of working the fields John would dread having to bend over to take off his muddy shoes, especially since he was a very tall man, so one day he used ...

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“The Artist” by Katina Foster

Submitted to Contest #57

The last thing Frankie remembered was moonlight on metal and thunder. She’d just finished installing the last of her enormous sculptures in City Park. She’d hired a crew to help her move and bolt down her large pieces, paying extra for their discretion and willingness to work at night. The crew had packed up and left once done, leaving Frankie and Joe alone in the park while it started to sprinkle. Frankie and Joe weren't exactly close, but he was a big supporter of Frankie's work, and the only other person she'd told about the commissi...

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“Forget Me Not ” by Arianna Noelle

Submitted to Contest #57

I died two deaths that year; once when my heart stopped beating, and again when the sound of my voice became nothing more than a distant memory to the people I thought would love me forever. As living, breathing beings who have never known a time in which our lungs weren’t taking in air and our eyes not looking for a clock to tell us how long we’ve been doing so, it’s only natural to wonder what comes after.Where do we go when our earthly forms finally decide to fail us and the last words that slip from our mouths become the epitaph on our g...

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“Peckish Packer” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #57

It was snowing when Alferd entered the pub on Bradshaw Road. He stomped his boots and shook the snow off his coat before sitting at the bar.“What can I get you?” asked the bartender. Alferd thought the man looked smart – a black button-down, black slacks and carefully gelled hair.“Whiskey.”Alferd glanced around the pub while the bartender busied himself. A couple talked quietly at a table by the frosted window. A Christmas tree sat hunched over in the corner. Holiday music spilled softly from a small speaker behind the bar and black and whit...

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“Will for All” by Pepper Mint

Submitted to Contest #57

Under the dim lamp light, long, thin fingers were holding an expensive-looking pen. The fingers hesitated for awhile, then they scribbled their owner’s last will on the white paper. “I hope they can understand at the very end,” mumbled the husky voice of the man who finished signing his name on the paper. “Mr. Atwell passed away this morning. All of his lineal family members gather at the Atwell Manor. “Receiving the message of their father’s death, son and daughters of Atwell alarmingly set off to the Atwell Manor. First to arriv...

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“Bisection Method” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #57

Molly“To my daughters I leave my life’s work. You will always be my crowning achievement (inasmuch as I can take credit for you), but second to you there is this: snail slime.“Do you remember the first time you held a snail? I must have placed one in your chubby, outstretched palms. Maybe we found it on one of our walks after the rain, Lesma—leaving its glistening silver trails over a pungent sidewalk. Or maybe searching through the bushes for flowers to make your perfume, Zoa. Do you remember the way its body would bend, that long foot curl...

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“Master Kragon, Trollhead Bowler” by Harken Void

Submitted to Contest #57

Kragon’s axe dripped with hot dwarven blood. His own blood raged within, filling his heart with the thrill of combat. He breathed in heavy breaths, falling to an aggressive stance, ready to face the remaining warriors… but they dropped their weapons and fled. “Cowards!” he bellowed and threw his axe after them. The double-edged steel monstrosity rammed itself into a tree trunk, clipping the tip of a dwarf’s helmet, causing the man to triple down on the running. The rest of the orcs came up to Kragon, their weapons clean as the day they were ...

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“The Dreaded Will!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #57

(Write a story that starts with someone writing their will — one they know people won’t like.)My birthday was a couple days ago! It was not a good thing! Well what I mean is even though I received more than a dozen cards in the mail, flowers from two different sons and families, a gift from across the world and all the normal stuff, it was still the pits! With a capital P.There is something about the actual number that flips a switch in your brain. These levels that people imagine signify something. Just turned thirt...

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“Scarlet-Stained Secrets” by Skyler Grey

Submitted to Contest #57

Fox News Washington, September 1st, 1994: The Scarlet Bay Prison in Spirit Falls is a prison, torture chamber, and a place it takes a miracle to get out of. This is the place where serial killers ruled the roost and screams of raw terror could be heard at all hours of the day from below. The place where your status depended on how many you’d wounded, how much blood you’d spilled. Purely the sight of the magnificent building can make you turn and run the other direction. This isn’t just a run-down prison. It’s a fairytale, a horror scene, and...

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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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