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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#59: Location, Location, Location

One of my favorite parts of writing is picking interesting settings. When used effectively, setting can establish the tone of the story (a murder mystery in a manor house vs. a big city) or even determine the stakes (a sinking ship, a house on fire, a person lost in the woods). Certain settings are perfect for their genres, but it can also be fun to use setting to establish incongruity and a sense of unease.

 

Additionally, your character’s reaction to the setting reveals a lot about their personality. Are they comfortable because they’re in a place they know well? Or does the familiarity make them claustrophobic? 

 

This week, really dig into where your story takes place. What do these settings look, smell, and sound like? What does the setting offer to the plot? How do your characters feel about being there? When it comes to setting, not even the sky is the limit!

 

(Struggling to know how to best make use of your setting? We’ve got a video right here that will help!)

🥇 Winner

“The Witch’s Daughter” by Louise Coley

The King sat on his throne, legs swinging in the afternoon sun. The wilderness spread out before him — a boy’s paradise of twisting dirt tracks webbed with ancient tree roots, full of shady hollows and secret hideaways. Behind him, the copse thinned until it met the road that would take you back to the village, but before him was the arena of countless battles, the base camp of every perilous expedition, a land of untold adventure. And 

155 comments 155 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Wedding Coordinator” by S. John

Dearest Reader, if you are a wedding-coordinator, please be advised that your boss might be withholding a secret inhuman-identity. If you are considering a job as a wedding coordinator, then be aware that “wedding coordinator” is code for “virginal sacrifice.” If you are like me and already aware of this troublesome fact, then my condolences. We are trapped, as the human offerings of a wedding between Gods. I hope your ...

32 comments 32 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“I Left My Heart” by Julie Ward

There’s a popular song that has made its way onto greeting cards and memes and plaques printed in the loopy calligraphy that seems to be everywhere these days. “Home is wherever I’m with you.” I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it. Because there’s one thing I know for certain. People who hang those plaques and send those cards have never been in love with a city.   I fell for San Francisco gradually, over yea...

30 comments 30 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Evening Sun” by Stephanie Kaye

The roofers arrived at seven a.m., their guttural voices slicing the thick air into thirds. I wrapped my bed sheet around me like a cocoon and peered out the open window, still woozy from sleep. There must have been seven or eight men in the crew, from what I could tell, though the opacity of recent days distorted reality just enough so that my eyes gasped only for more light, in lieu of a sharpened view, one that lent a more angular look on things. The men were of varying ages, and from what I could tell, they must be related: they all s...

15 comments 15 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“ And on that day, he saw her.” by Emma Rose

It came without warning, fierce and unforgiving. Unpredictable. The village was eerily quiet in the days, weeks, months, leading up to it; shadows and smoke filling the air but never quite reaching the village. The tiny town carried on, the best that they could, living in constant fear. Waiting, waiting, waiting….. - Not that ...

12 comments 12 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Final Kiss” by Allorianna Matsourani

The old clock on the windowsill by my bed advises me it’s seven o’clock, and another Monday morning confronts me. As I peer at the street from my fourth-floor bedroom window, I assure myself that I will venture out today.Although the sun barely lights the sky, Brooklyn is awake and announces its verve through a crescendo of motion. A procession of cars, buses, and delivery trucks glide along the one-way street in a synchronous line. Across the street, among the pedestrians ambling along the sidewalk that rims Prospect Park, I spot ...

7 comments 7 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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This week's prompts

Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.

Romance – 135 stories

Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Novel – 201 stories

Set your story in a place with extreme weather, but don’t use any weather-related words to describe it.

High School – 69 stories

Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.

Sad – 232 stories

Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Teens – 138 stories

Stories

“The Witch’s Daughter” by Louise Coley

The King sat on his throne, legs swinging in the afternoon sun. The wilderness spread out before him — a boy’s paradise of twisting dirt tracks webbed with ancient tree roots, full of shady hollows and secret hideaways. Behind him, the copse thinned until it met the road that would take you back to the village, but before him was the arena of countless battles, the base camp of every perilous expedition, a land of untold adventure. And 

155 comments 155 WINNER 🏆
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“And Then There Were None” by Batool Hussain

Lonely.The colours of the next town remind me of children's toys. Every red is the exact same one, a brilliant cherry scarlet. Every blue is a bright royal hue, neither dark nor light. There are no trees, perhaps the foliage does not cooperate to be the same shade on every leaf. The street-lamps are the same canary yellow as the rain-slickers and the taxis. There is no pink, no grey, no orange or violet; but it is more than that. Nothing is sun-bleached, nothing scratched or chipped. The street is free of litter...

72 comments 72
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“Magic of Love💖” by D. Shikha

“Ugh, I hate this place!” Darcy says and falls on the couch. We are in a room in an old castle. This castle is a really big one with huge walls surrounding its garden but it’s abandoned. The Royal family left it, just after Darcy was born, and moved to the new castle in the middle of the country. Now it is the home to spiders and rats. Some people come to clean it but they just do it from outside so its condition inside is awful. But unlike Darcy, I love this place.Darcy is the Royal princess who is sent here...

272 comments 272
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“Every Second” by Francis Izuogu

It was a cold afternoon, looking out the window, all I could notice were the thick trees and bushes along the path, the road wet and filled with mud, I looked through the rear mirror; I could see we were the only ones on this path, and I had this heavy feeling in my chest that all was not well. “Charles, are you sure we shouldn’t turn back?” I asked my husband. He ignored and kept on driving. The sounds of thunder clappi...

40 comments 40
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“The Fire in Her Eyes” by Amany Sayed

She looked down at her scuffed boots and smiled. A small smile, but it was there.  Brand new neighbors. She got up slowly and brushed off her skirt. A boy her age. She walked to the window and pressed her forehead against the cool glass. Introduce him to everyone. The group was waiting, she knew that...

94 comments 94
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“Universe” by B. W.

Have any of you ever wondered about Other Dimensions or Universes? have you ever wanted to go there? Have you ever been trapped there? Well i have and this is my story.. I sigh as i lay on by bed and talk to my friend, Lillian over the phone. Since i moved here a couple of days ago she was suggesting that Maybe me and her should go and see a movie together. It would have been fine...

262 comments 262
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“Walmart's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

It was Evie who wanted the kids, Orville remembers. Orville would have been content drinking coffee with his Evie in the mornings, looking out the window, watching the birds at the bird feeder, quietly listening to her go on about this and that.  “When does the school bus come, Ollie?” Evie asks. “About 3:30,” Orville replies for the third time. “I want to make some cookies for the girls. How about oatmeal raisin?” Evie suggests, her eyes look hopeful, full of purpose. Orville ...

55 comments 55
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“My One” by Writer Maniac

I sip my steaming cup of coffee, as I look out from the window of the cafe. The backdrop of skyscrapers is artificial and comforting at the same time. Trying to touch the sky may be metaphorical for us puny humans, but for those huge buildings, it is their life choice. The people look like they are ready to become popsicles in this freezing winter. The tips of their noses are pink as they...

57 comments 57
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“Faith” by 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃

      “......an’ I had to tell him that he wassa beening too uptight, eh?” Jonathan smirked. “Yes, that does sound like him. Really, Alden is really uptight. Oh, that reminds me, I planned a trip to your town. I hope you don’t mind me visiting you and Agatha, old friend?” There was a pause. Then the man named Johnathan spoke. “Yeb, er, I ain’t minding ya! Me and my wife willa seeya ther!” Beep. 

69 comments 69
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“ Cold Comfort” by Charles Stucker

A wendigo howls outside the igloo, its relentless fury wearing on the young, pregnant widow whose husband died in my arms just before the long dark began. A full turning of the moon will occur before we see the sun again, and the beast outside will prowl for days, before its fury sates. In the dim light of an oil dish, I measure the food which the elders left for us."Bear-Slayer," she invokes my name. "What will we do?""Joyous Seal, stay here." I tuck my namesake's skin, a thick white fur, snug about her. "I will hunt for mo...

27 comments 27
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“ Pianissississimo” by Rhondalise Mitza

I pin lyrics up on my walls, even though I’ve never heard the music to go along with the words. Prisma says music used to be everywhere you turned and even when you were sitting completely still, the songs would still manage to find you. She says there were machines, all kinds of machines, that you could listen to whatever song you liked. There were these collections- she calls them playlists and her eyes get misty when she tells me about how Gray made over seventeen of them for her, one for each year they kne...

38 comments 38
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“She who Holds the Universe” by Amiable Sorceress

My feet stick out awkwardly from underneath the small blanket, trying desperately to get warm in the cold night. Frustrated, I get up and toss the blanket on the floor, comforting my feet with wool socks. It is useless to try and stop tomorrow from coming; it is the Star Child’s destiny or whatever. Anger bubbles up inside of me but immediately disappears to give room for the empty. The windows are drawn tight like they...

15 comments 15
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“The Creature With a Pelt of Stars” by Zea Bowman

The last glimmer of starlight dims and goes out as the holes in the sky are sewn up. I look around me, hoping to somehow find out where I am, where I came from, and who I am. But all I see is black."Haley." A female voice calls out softly to me, almost a whisper. I drop a crumpled up piece of paper I didn't realize I had been holding, but I pay no attention to it. I turn around, but see nothing. The floor of wherever I am is covered by water, about half an inch deep. It is warm."Who are you?" I am confu...

33 comments 33
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“Werewolves, Vampires, Cannibals, Oh My! ” by Rhondalise Mitza

"Werewolves."She glared out the window, eyes on the moving van ahead of her."Vampires."Her friend was eating French fries from a KFC bucket, dark blue Converse resting up on the dashboard. They were playing the game where they guessed who the newcomers were."Cannibals." She laughed and smacked her friend in the shoulder. They knew better than to play the game. If the Mayor heard them, he would surely be upset. "Definitely not. That would be a stretch, even for us." She plucked a French fry from ...

43 comments 43
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“The Opposite of Forever” by Doubra Akika

I wondered if they knew.They looked so happy, like in that moment, they were infinite. I wondered if they knew it wouldn't last for very long. If they did, they didn’t show it. They reveled in the moment. They were okay that something was going on now. Noisy children, dogs and laughter.Human beings don’t fascinate me. At least they don’t anymore. We’re predictable creatures, all of the time.I knew how this was going to end. I was too blind to accept it. Flickering images. Memories I should let go of are the ones I cli...

40 comments 40
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$50

Prize money

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Contest entries

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 18, 2020 EST

Won by Louise Coley 🏆

Title: The Witch’s Daughter

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.

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