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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

“Cottage and Tea” by Letitia Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #61

Cottage and Tea Clementine Hopkins is a 32-year-old Human Resources Director who is somewhat introverted. Although Clementine lives in the present, she is captivated by The Victorian Era. She loves the clothing, vocabulary, furniture, old books, right down to the mannerisms. Her love for Victorian style, vintage, and antique things are unquestionable. Clementine is particularly interested in The Victorian Era, the period that matches the reign of England’s Queen Victoria from 1837-1901. Now that Clementine ...

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“The child and the bear” by Lesley Bailey

Submitted to Contest #61

The child was being a nuisance. It was making excuses not to go down to sleep. First had come a story, then a drink and now what was it?“I can’t find her.” Came the pathetic little voice out of the half-darkened room. I was losing my patience. She drew breath. “I can’t find her” came the voice again.“Can’t find who?” She was shorter than she could have been – but she’d had enough, a full day at work; dinner, bath, the bedtime ritual – a long day, and a timid, sickly child. The child had knocked the stuffed toy to the floor. Stooping down, sh...

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“Puddles” by Andrea Brobst

Submitted to Contest #61

Taking an old blanket, I pushed aside the carpet of dust formed on top of the heavy wood chest. My once trove of secrets and obsessions that morphed as I grew. At the age of seven it held Matchbox cars, wrestling action figures (and anything else I did not want my little brother to touch). Age twelve it held football memorabilia, at sixteen it held band shirt with dirty magazines folded neatly with them. Its final charge was to hold things I could not bear to part with after college and ready to take on the world. The lid squealed with surpr...

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“Ithoyizi, or a Boy and His Toy” by Tommy Merriman

Submitted to Contest #61

“What is this?” The awe in the boy’s voice sounded like the labor of building a thousand grand pyramids. His eyes widened with the wonder of a newborn fawn seeing her mother for the first time. His fingers touched the toy with the timidity of a bomb expert deciding whether to cut the red or the blue wire first. Despite his weakness and tiredness, the boy’s father beamed down upon his son. He recalled the moment his own father generously gave him this very same toy. Such a simple gesture, but one full of meaning...

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“My wire man” by Agu Chinedu

Submitted to Contest #61

When I was little, say around the ages of 7 to 9, I went from watching any cartoon children would generally watch to watching only actions cartoons. Born in the northern part of Nigeria, we had a few channels that were allowed to air programs freely, pro-western programs specifically as the region was predominantly Muslim and at the top of the list of that group of channels was mbc an Arabic based network which also aired Western movies, but then I was more into cartoons, so every morning by 7, before school, I would tune in to mbc3 to catch...

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“Henry's Room” by Wolf Williams

Submitted to Contest #61

Henry had waited all afternoon for his aunt to take the children away. Now she had, but the hour was late and his mind remained on the clock as he hurried upstairs. Behind him, from down in the dining room, his grandmother called for him to bring down two more tablecloths from the linen closet. "Can you just wait a minute?" he grumbled. After a full day of scrubbing floors and washing windows, following one order after another, he just wanted to be clear of it all and to do the one last job that remained, and then to sit on his bed alone for...

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“In Attics Up and Down the Country” by Keeping It Symbolic

Submitted to Contest #61

I have to admit, and maybe I should be ashamed to say it, but when I first set eyes on Golly George again all I could think about was the fond memories of youth he evoked in me. I couldn’t see what was wrong with him, son. And it made a break from sifting through box after box of the life your mother and I shared. Gosh, what a thing to survive, tucked up there in a dusty corner of the attic. And how could something that gave me so much joy over so many years be so bad, really? Please try to look at it through my eyes, my boy. I didn’t mean a...

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“Alix” by Janet Caplan

Submitted to Contest #61

ALIX By Janet Caplan Over the years and several relocations, Alix remained with me, leaving her drawer in one home and returning to it in the next. The move we were now undertaking was different – an extensive downsizing was in order and I gave everything a second thought. Yes, I like/love it, but do I need it? I was now into dresser drawers and that’s where I came across Alix. She, along with countless pieces of junk jewelry as well as my collections of seashells and rocks were up for grabs and so I’d asked Emily to come over. “Here yo...

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“Ride to Reunion” by James Morris

Submitted to Contest #61

John was reluctant to go, but he knew he had to face his past to get on with his future. His ten-year high school reunion was going to be awkward, at best. He knew no matter who he ran into at the function, they would judge him only on what they had heard on the news and the rumors from school. The last time the class saw Tina was at his high school graduation. Ironically, that was also the day she got arrested in front of the entire graduating class. John still remembered the look on her face as the police put handcuffs on her and placed ...

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“Haven't Changed a Bit” by Heather W

Submitted to Contest #61

I stand in my front hall and inspect myself in the mirror. New little black dress, the first dress I've bought in decades since I'm a jeans-and-sweatshirt type? Check. New hair cut, so I could blow-dry my 'always in a ponytail' strands into something sleek and elegant that flows over my shoulders? Check. New dye job, to hide the grays and return me to my teenaged brunette? Check. New me? Sadly, no check. I'm all cleaned up on the outside, but inside? I haven't changed at all since high school. I still live in the house my grandmother lived i...

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“The Last Dance” by Annika Dauer

Submitted to Contest #61

Tonight is Ophelia’s high school reunion. She got the invite weeks ago. Too bad she won’t be there. She decided she would stay home instead, drinking to old memories and remembering old times, both the good and the bad. Ophelia still lived in the area, just around the corner in fact. She just decided she was going to eat pizza and bing watch series she loved as a teenager. For one night, she was going to be young again. It would be enough. Too bad she RSVPed to go. Too bad she is expected to be there. Her oldest friends were gathered, just w...

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“Everybody Lies on the Internet” by Cassie Poormokhtar

Submitted to Contest #61

I carried it around for a week, picking at the seal absentmindedly before setting it aside. I’d been out of high school for years. What could they possibly want? A list of things I knew it wouldn’t be: a lost report card dooming me to repeat senior year, a demerit, a job offer, a reminder to order or pick up a yearbook, a letter of recognition. Finally, I ripped it open: cardstock. An invitation? I read it several times. “Fuck. Ten years?” What the hell had I done with ten years? Nothing. I’d seen what my classmates were up to onl...

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“Fantastic swap” by Dươq Phương Anh

Submitted to Contest #61

I hold the red card in my hand, twiddling its intricate ribbing. The wax mark was imprinted with the letter Katherine for the recipient's name, and it looked like it was my name. I put on a self-made H&N altered from the original dress, which is the designer's job, to make everything special and shine. I drove my Audé, it had been a long time since the last time I last used it, five years. Ever since that horrible accident, I had hardly found the courage to get in that car again. But today is another occasion, I never expected th...

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“Piper Andrews” by Kortne Noe

Submitted to Contest #61

The form from my twenty-fifth high school reunion you ask why I am feeling on out? If you knew me in high school you would be wondering why. I'm trying to figure it out as I go along. I just start with my name , Piper Andrews. Who is Piper Andrews you might ask the invisible girl that survived all four years of high school. I don't think don't think nobody ever noticed me in less they was making fun of me. I think it was easy to make fun of an red head with braces, lots of freckles. I was what you called the ugly duckling in highschool, and ...

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“Never Again” by Juwairiya Fatema

Submitted to Contest #61

Trigger warning: suicide ideaton/attempt Never again will I ever attend a high school reunion, never. Those revolting memories of my high school days and the last time I went to a reunion will haunt me forever. I have never ever slept comfortably since the first day of high school and the doctor says that my insomnia is in the worst condition possible. I don't even know when I will be able to sleep properly again. I am tired of taking sleeping pills and crying myself to sleep. I hope I can escape my dark past and live happily and norm...

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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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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