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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#62: Forward Thinking

Last week, we took a trip down memory lane. This time, we’ll be looking forward: to the future, and all the infinite ways it can unfold.

Of course, in the real world we can never know exactly what will happen — that’s what makes it both exhilarating and terrifying (or sometimes both at once). And while you as the author may know exactly how the story will end, the characters are just as ignorant as the rest of us.

This week, we invite you to dig into your characters’ hopes and dreams for the future. Do they long for it, or dread it? How are they trying to prepare? Who knows, maybe they’ll even get a glimpse at events still to come…

🥇 Winner

“No Hard Feelings” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #62

Dear Winston,By the time you’re reading this, I will already be a human popsicle. I know you don't support my decision to freeze myself. Still, I want to make you understand it... Winston Solis held the letter in trembling hands. Hazia’s exuberant penmanship swarmed over several handwritten pages like ants on a mission. There she was, having the last word again. But something about the cursive made Winston’s ribs ache and his breath catch. It seemed more a piece of her than the sweaters she’d left behind in their townhouse, or the ...

168 comments 168

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Eight-year Cycle ” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #62

"Pa, let me make your tea." He looks at her as she weaves her hands into her hair. He likes how she reminds him of snowfalls. He doesn't know who she is except that in eight years, the police would find her in her kitchen, an empty packet of cigarettes beside her bloodied form. He's seen that before and it doesn't scare him anymore."Of course. Add a lot of milk." He tells her."But..." She stops herself and begins to walk away."What?" He asks.The morning is purple as if someone has drowned it before. She pulls the curtain apart and begin...

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“All Tomorrow's Lives” by 𝗢wen 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #62

I am in Colorado, flying above the forest. This body extension is a drone, and I hover above the beginnings of the wildfire that will burn an area the size of Manhattan. There is a plume of black smoke, and the air has become turbulent. Twenty people will die in this fire, most of them firefighters. I can only assume this is the best outcome. I have no access to the information in my past, but if I were to judge by the mobilisation of crews here to fight it, and its proximity to the town of Kittredge, I believe it could have been a high-casu...

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“Future Cryonics” by Shannon Ethel

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #62

“I can save your life.” The words reverberate in Felix’s skull, mocking him. How can five words make him shake? How can five words stop everything? They are so straight forward. Clear. No double meanings. No softening. Just there. Not like the words he’s heard before. You have a terminal diagnosis. Five percent survival rate. I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do. Why can’t they just say the obvious? You’re going to die. He stares at the woman in front of him, takes note of her pointed features and long legs. Not his typ...

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“A Rose I Remembered” by Tony Hadley

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #62

The last thing I can remember upon waking up is the day that I die. I can’t remember what date it will be, only that it’ll be midday, and I’ll be walking down a crowded wet sidewalk in the city. I’ll see a pretty blonde haired girl look at me a short distance away and smile. Then, I remember, there will be a startled look on her face as someone shoves her into the street. I remember I’ll step out into traffic to grab her and pull her back. There will be a loud screeching of tires, then nothing. I sit up on the edge of my bed, playing that ...

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This week's prompts

Write about a character who can suddenly only “remember” their future, not their past.

Thriller and Suspense – 129 stories

Write about a character who’s had their future foretold from birth — but isn’t sure if they believe it.

Fantasy – 152 stories

Write about two characters on the verge of a life-changing event, but one has rigged the outcome.

Dramatic – 90 stories

Write about a character preparing to go into stasis for decades (or centuries).

Science Fiction – 108 stories

Write about a character putting something into a time capsule.

Science Fiction – 141 stories

Stories

“No Hard Feelings” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #62

Dear Winston,By the time you’re reading this, I will already be a human popsicle. I know you don't support my decision to freeze myself. Still, I want to make you understand it... Winston Solis held the letter in trembling hands. Hazia’s exuberant penmanship swarmed over several handwritten pages like ants on a mission. There she was, having the last word again. But something about the cursive made Winston’s ribs ache and his breath catch. It seemed more a piece of her than the sweaters she’d left behind in their townhouse, or the ...

168 comments 168

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“3:00 A.M.” by Alby Carter

Submitted to Contest #62

It’s late, and my head still hurts from the fight I just had with Mom. I lay on my bed, chewing down hard on my bottom lip. My eyes scan the room for a hair band until I see one on my wrist. I don’t remember putting it there. I tie my hair up into a high ponytail that could use some work. I slip a couple of bobby pins into the back of it. My old mirror is cracked and shoved onto the top shelf of my closet, so it’ll have to do. I’m still demolishing my lip when I tip-toe to my bedroom door. One of the bobby pins is pulled from my ponytail int...

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“That Night” by Liza Anne

Submitted to Contest #62

The door slammed against the wall as she threw it open. There wasn’t much time and she knew it. Her feet pounded against the ground as she ran onto the nearly abandoned rain-soaked dirt road. It was frigid and dark. She was panting as she tried to stay steady on the slippery path. The footsteps behind her increased their speed. Her vision blurred from the bright headlights of a passing car. It was just enough to distract her from a hole in the road and her stomach lurched as she tripped. He caught up to her just as her head slammed into a ro...

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“The Eight-year Cycle ” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #62

"Pa, let me make your tea." He looks at her as she weaves her hands into her hair. He likes how she reminds him of snowfalls. He doesn't know who she is except that in eight years, the police would find her in her kitchen, an empty packet of cigarettes beside her bloodied form. He's seen that before and it doesn't scare him anymore."Of course. Add a lot of milk." He tells her."But..." She stops herself and begins to walk away."What?" He asks.The morning is purple as if someone has drowned it before. She pulls the curtain apart and begin...

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“The Population” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #62

They rushed him to the hospital. Timothy laid on the wheeled stretcher. He was ready.A few weeks ago, he got an email saying that he had been accepted into a science camp. Timothy was overjoyed. He had been trying to get into that camp for three years.Timothy counted down the days until camp started. Nothing else mattered to him. If he got grounded for not helping out around the house, he would just lay in bed thinking about the camp. As long as he got to go to that camp, everything was fine.Finally, the day had come. The camp bus drove by h...

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“A savior?” by B. W.

Submitted to Contest #62

This has something to do with the novel that i'll be working on soon that i think that i'll be calling 'demi-god savior?' this isn't the exact stuff that will happen but eh. I'm just trying to make some stories now and i hope that you enjoy. Mika. Ryder. The two of them had been friend's for as long as they could remember, almost since birth. At least that's what Ryder liked to tell her. Though in a way he WAS kinda true about that. They had met after a week after birth, that was close enough. They had met each other that early because ...

260 comments 260

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“Welded Armour” by Greydon Blight

Submitted to Contest #62

From the moment light broke through my thin, damp eyelids, I was told I would kill a great evil. My father, so sure of himself that I would grow strong enough to lead an army, that not only would I be willed enough to lift the sword, but brave enough to drive it through evil’s heart myself. He celebrated the night I was born, found in the morning with his face buried deep in the hay of pigs. A fight over coin, coin that was for our food, spent on women who preferred their patrons more sober than he. An old man not strong enough to handle his...

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“Behind The Wainscoting” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #62

When I’m gone, finally gone, our children will find this. Behind the wainscoting. I remember you’d insisted on this—this tacky beaded white wall paneling, always insisting on what you thought you knew was best. Did it matter if I wanted the interior of our home decorated in rough sawn oak or weathered pine to create a distinctively rustic look?No. Of course not. See how easily I can tear off a tacky beaded white wall panel with this crowbar? This little brown steamer trunk will fit nicely into the crawl space. Behind the wainscotin...

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“To Be A Clairvoyant ” by Tanishka Mali

Submitted to Contest #62

Friday, June 19 2980 Thornton Ave, Flint, Michigan Jase Hiawatha, a high school teacher in his late twenties was found dead, in his pool. The night was dark; both his wrists along with his throat had been slashed open. The water in his pool was glistening in a dark shade of crimson, from the blood that was slowly dribbling out of his veins. Saturday, August 22 6740 Orange Ln, Flint, Michigan A second victim to the same evil. Hudson Gunner, a sales executive in his mid-thirties, was found dead as well. The cut marks were similar, too. Eden Bo...

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“Fufu the Hero” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #62

“You will bring peace to the earth,” my dad said. “So start acting like it.” I hated it when my parents lectured me like that. They firmly believed that I would make world peace someday. On the day I was born, my dad took me to go get my future foretold. The fortune-teller told him about a prophecy that said I would bring world peace. The prophecy said that on January 23, a child would be born. That child would immediately go to get his fortune told. They would have the power to heal themselves. It also described how the child looked, and ...

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“The Lavish Jungle” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #62

She was going to win and she knew it. She had practiced for this so many times. She knew she had what it took to survive one week in the jungle. She knew she wanted to enter this contest when she first saw the ad on TV. The goal was to survive one week in the jungle. The person who survived the best would win five million dollars. This was more money that Jeneatte had ever seen in her life. She was one of the first people to sign up for the contest and had been practicing her survival skill for weeks. John on the other hand, wasn’t looking...

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“Her Haunting Future” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #62

When she woke up, it was early morning. She got up and dressed. Harmony brushed her teeth and then went downstairs for breakfast. Her dad was in the kitchen cooking.“Good morning Harmony,” he said cheerfully.“Good morning dad,” Harmony replied, trying her hardest not to bust out laughing.Her dad was wearing the wacky apron that she got him for father’s day. It said, “I’m a cooking genius.” Underneath the words, there was a wacky cartoon Albert Einstein. Harmony had bought that for her dad as a joke, she never actually expected him to we...

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“Finally” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #62

He’s kissing a brunette. She’s beautiful. She’s slimmer than I will ever be. He runs his hands over her body in a way he has never done to me.They’re giggling in between passionate kisses, seeming like they enjoy it too much. I scream. They break apart and stare at me in horror. Dallas’s face starts to shrink and enlarge. Her face starts turning blue. The floor is opening into a black hole, and I’m being sucked in. I don’t let go of her neck. I wake up, screaming. Dallas holds me in his arms and rocks me, slowly shushing me.“It’s okay Milli...

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“The End” by Kristin Neubauer

Submitted to Contest #62

Warning warning warning: This story deals with a violent assault/kidnapping/confinement. It’s not graphic, but it is dark and disturbing. Younger readers should skip this one. Let me know if you think I should take it down.Bag over head.Scream.Rough hands.Scream.Cords cut into wrists.Scream.Trunk door slams.Scream.The bag over my head smells like vomit. Something sharp digs into my back. The car is hurtling down a road.I can’t breathe.Still I scream.I’m screaming as the hands drag me out of the trunk. I’m screaming as they sho...

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“Reborn” by Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #62

Who am I? My eyes flutter open landing on a short female, a “Dr. Sanders” as it says on a rectangular card pinned on her shirt. There are crowds of people running around, testing things, like they’re in a hurry. Laboratory. The word comes to me quickly, though I was fine with the “not knowing” I had always been accustomed to. The Dr. Sanders places a hand on my shoulder and smiles. “You’re finally ready.” I can tell from the color of the sky that it is going to be a different kind of day. The Dr. Sanders, as usual, presses a few butto...

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$50

Prize money

620

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 09, 2020 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: No Hard Feelings

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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