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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#61: Blast from the Past

Ah, nostalgia. For some, it’s a fun excuse to revisit a few of the more comforting or exciting times of our past. For others, it’s a way of life: clinging to the memory of a simpler time, or at least a time when things felt simpler…

But whether the past is something you look back on fondly or would rather run as far from as possible, it’s safe to say that we’re all shaped by our early experiences. And the same should be true for your characters! Even if you never include their backstory, delving into it as the writer helps create someone that feels fully developed and real.

This week’s prompts are therefore all about the past, and the many ways we choose to remember it. So put on some throwback tunes and break out the photo albums — it’s time to take a trip down memory lane.

This week's prompts

Write about a character passing down their favorite childhood toy to a new generation.

Adults – 122 stories

Write about a character who goes to — or purposefully avoids — their high school reunion.

Adults – 139 stories

Write about a character who smells something familiar and is instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it.

Short Story – 219 stories

Write about a character discovering something new about their past that changes how they remember an important moment.

Dramatic – 139 stories

Write about a character who’s obsessed with an era they never lived through.

Adults – 100 stories

Stories

“The Song That Fire Sings” by Maya W.

Submitted to Contest #61

There were three times in Prometheus’s life in which he played with fire. The first time was many, many years ago, though time means nothing to the gods. He remembered it well, the stark look on his father’s face, the cold surroundings. “Take this,” his father had said, holding a single flame in his large, callused hands. “Take this, and burn what you can. Take this flame, and use it to cause an inferno.”It had surprised Prometheus, but it was a pleasant surprise, this gift. With what his father held in his hands, he could destroy, but ...

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“ With a Little Help” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #61

Trigger warning- strong language. Never wanted to go to my damned reunion, but my parole officer said it would help me socialize. Whatever the fuck that shit means. Ten years out of high school and I've spent eight in stir, just for running a chop shop. Now, I got five more on parole before I'm a free man. So, I put on my best fucking clothes, not much on the shit wages I make while banned from my only trade. And I come here to make nice with all the shits I knew before I got busted by a rigged system. Typical stupid crap. Weak punch and sug...

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“The girl at Boy's ” by Vanessa Marczan

Submitted to Contest #61

My wife takes a big, deep breath and smiles. 'Can you smell that?'We are sitting on little plastic chairs at a little plastic table in an open-air hawker centre, a great al fresco food court, at Gurney Drive in Penang, Malaysia. The sun has set. The hawkers are setting up, unfolding the limbs of their metal carts. The sound of music and chatter in a smattering of languages, laughter mixed with knives chopping, water pouring, plastic plates being stacked. The preparation of every kind of food you could ever desire, Chinese, Malay, Indian...

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“Leaves of Memory” by Amanda Meireles

Submitted to Contest #61

Once again, she was sitting on the bench all alone. The girl with big black eyes and a black hood. What was her hair color? The boy asked himself. He had never seen her hair color. He imagined that it was red because once he saw a lock of the hair on her face and it looked red.She was always so concentrated and immersed in what she was doing that she barely noticed what was going on around. She had focus.On that day, she carried a book with her—a large one. Every day she went to that park and sat on the bench. Alone, all alone, she...

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“The Three Musketeers in Apology” by Vajeda Kardar

Submitted to Contest #61

The Three Musketeers in Apology We, the three musketeers, Ron, Jai, and Kishor. All for one and one for all. -Alexander Dumas We human beings are the learners for life, and experience is the best teacher. Experience gradually transforms into knowledge. Just as is the difference between growing up and growing old. I remember my teenage days when my friends Jai, Kishor, and I were old enough to judge between right and wrong but were young (not grown up) enough to do it anyway out of curiosity. There is a point when curiosit...

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“A Roaring Dream” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #61

A Roaring Dream By: Haripriya “Hello...bloggers! I am a dino-nerd. Yes, I just admitted that. I loooooooove dinosaurs. They are such cool, and magnificent, yet fierce and bold creatures. Wish that asteroid had missed the Earth! They would have still had chance to survive a little longer! The Cretaceous period is where big baddies existed. For example,... entering the Tyrannosaurus Rex A.K.A the T-rex! There are so many more dinosaurs which were carnivorous than the T-rex. Lik...

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“I Am Not Going To Try To Make This About Me With An Apology” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #61

I can remember that hot, sticky night so many years ago, laying in front of a fan blowing air in through the screen door, and pretending to be asleep while the adults had the kind of conversation they would not have had if they realized an eight year old boy was listening. My father had recently died, and there were always people at the house, making sure that my mom was okay and that me and my two younger brothers were being taken care of. I had used my own grief to leverage a campout in the living room so that I could listen in as they tol...

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“russian sage” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #61

I hate Russian sage. Such an ugly little plant, faded purple, as if you’d taken something decent and put it through the wash too many times. I hate that planted so much of it around the house without asking me. The smell gives me a headache. The smell reminds me of the summer my mother was in love with Lenny. I told you about Lenny, I know I did, and I told you about the sage too, the beaming bushes around the hotel’s perimeter, crowding the lamb’s ear, the black-eyed susans, the knee-high grasses. I’d sit on the curb and pluck leaves and cr...

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“" Some things are best kept a secret"” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #61

“Some things are best kept a secret” By: Haripriya I recollect the time I had to go on a nature walk. At first, I didn’t really like the idea of it. Nature to me one year ago meant bug bites, weird smells, dirt, mud, and danger lurking in every corner. Well... now I am a completely different person. I love nature! I love going outside to feel the cool breeze and sunshine on my face. Sit and lay on the soft, yet bumpy grass. My favorite part of the nature walk was going ...

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“WHO WERE THEY?” by Rinky Lotia

Submitted to Contest #61

January 20, 1959. 16 years, 10 months and 18 days had elapsed since that incident had happened. But I still remember it as fresh as the day. I was just crossing the street that lead to my house from the forest which I cross while coming back from school since the forest road is the only option at that time of the day. All shouting and cheering I was coming back home with a candy in my hand that I had bought from outside my school. Everything was normal until I realized hat i wasn't the only one walking back. I had a few stalkers around me. S...

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“Dying Perfume” by Skyler Woods

Submitted to Contest #61

Sleep paralysis is a devastating condition. I was 7 when I first had sleep paralysis. My mother tucked me in that night. I could remember the citrus fragrance of her perfume. Her scent would always comfort me. After she tucked me in, I quickly drifted off to sleep. The night seemed quiet, but the peaceful atmosphere in my bedroom didn't last. I woke up around midnight. A smothering sweat drenched my little body. I couldn’t move my arms and legs. I could only move my eyes and my lips. It took my eyes some time to adjust to the thick dark...

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“Dating Surprises” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #61

“Hello, Bitches and Players, and welcome to Dating Surprises!” The director stands opposite the cameraman, against a blank white wall in Crescent Moon Dojo—our first shooting location—speaking with exaggerated enthusiasm. “Our contestants for tonight are Laura and TJ. Laura is an accountant from Westwood. Her turn-ons are chocolate-covered strawberries and trashy romance novels. Her turn-offs are big ears and cheaters.” I wince to hear him say aloud the lines my co-workers typed into my profile. This is such a bad idea.“T.J. is a bartender f...

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“I’ve Never Hugged A Horse!” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #61

(Write about a character passing down their favorite childhood toy to a new generation.) They say looking back is futile. Whatever is back there cannot be changed, it is too late to alter history or the facts, even on a very personal level, but I know, in my mind, looking back can bring understanding. ~~~~~ Christmas was a few weeks ago. We, my husband and I, have a sweet and loving five year old son. The weeks before Christmas were one continuing, non stop series of lectures. After putting o...

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“Legacies ” by KarLynn Erickson

Submitted to Contest #61

Olivia had been busy since she entered the office at a7am. She had no time for lunch and now that she was on her way home for the day her stomach let her know she was famished. She turned left on Third Street and pulled into the parking lot of her favorite take out place, The Golden Wok. She loved the fact that she could stop at any number of restaurants in the city at any time and they would be open. She also loved that fact that they delivered! But not tonight. She was far to hungry to wait for delivery. ...

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“the thought that counts” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #61

I forgot to buy my niece a birthday present. It’s unforgivable, really. There’s absolutely no excuse. Forgetting my nephew’s birthday? Understandable. I see him twice a year at most, and his birthday is in September, the same month as at least four of my closest friends, and I can’t keep track of the days. Go on, ask me when his birthday is. See? I have no idea. My niece, though. I see her all the time. I pick her up from school, because I’m the only one who isn’t at work when school ends, and I can’t let my sister enroll her in an after...

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$50

Prize money

719

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 02, 2020 EST

Won by Phoebe Barr 🏆

Title: Olive Bread

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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