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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…

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

“Now And Then” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #62

October 11, 2000 I, Lillee Indymin, sat at my school desk, jiggling my leg up and down. Five minutes left and I would be free for the weekend. Mrs. Donnel droned on and on.“And accountable talk is when you use sentence starters. Can anyone tell me one sentence starter?” She expected twenty hands to raise, but all Mrs. Donnel got was twenty groans.Fortunately, at that moment the bell rang. There was a rush of chairs slamming into tables, people whooping and hollering, and running feet. I joined everyone else, running to my locker. After openi...

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“Field trips when your name is Beatrice” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

Submitted to Contest #62

“Come on, people! If we’re gonna finish touring this museum today, we’re gonna have to hustle!” Mrs. Harui shouted over our excited voices. Mrs. Harui is my science teacher, and today we were going to the science center. I’m ok with science, but it's not my favourite subject ever. My name is Beatrice, and my friends and I are the exact same (kind of). Rea likes art, just like I do. Jumi loves hummus, just like me, and Mary likes to practice skateboard tricks, even if she gets hurt in the process, JUST LIKE ME. So we basically did everything ...

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“Opportunities Aplenty” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #62

“I can’t believe I actually did it! I can feel my hands shaking, feel how shaky they are!” Sylvia pressed her hands against the exposed skin of Kitty’s chest. Kitty took hold of her hands and grasped them tight.“Your hands are more cold than anything else,” Kitty chuckled, leaning down to peck her cheek. “Trust me, you have this in the bag. Nobody deserves that extra funding more than you do.”“I’m not so sure. Dr. Vargo didn’t have anything good to say last time I went to him.” Sylvia gained that high pitched voice that always arises when sh...

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“Best Served Cold” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #62

"Your Grace, I regret to inform you that the constant provocation of lawless elements from your duchy have forced my lord, His Majesty, the Emperor of Barundia, to declare war upon you." The popinjay ambassador from the power-mad tyrant bows as he speaks. "Do you wish to respond?""I would like a week's time to arrange my abdication," I answer. "If I can manage affairs with my subordinates, my people will not suffer.""We know your coffers are full. Should they be plundered ere the week is done, no place shall hide you from our lord's wrath.""...

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“Time to let go.” by Jace A. King👑

Submitted to Contest #62

Leo's POVI look around the old and dead yard as the men around me ruin everything I made for myself, everything I ever loved, and my life. They yell at each other like cavemen fighting over who gets the girl. They scream about what should go where and who is supposed to do that. I look down at the tattered green and yellow box I'm holding in my old and wrinkly hands. Slowly I open it, looking at the contents, I let out a long and shaky sigh. I have a picture of my late wife laying on top of the rest of the objects, she is smiling at the came...

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“The ATLAS Program” by Akshat .

Submitted to Contest #62

“Name please.” “Ryan Nero,” Ryan answered. “ID Number?” “ASD34523.” The guard nodded and opened the doors to the underground chamber, revealing gray stone walls, and a high-tech looking computer at the end. There were two platforms on either side of the chamber, holding carbon fiber pods with a bluish substance inside them. Ice. As Ryan walked into the chamber, he peered into the pods, with curiosity rippling over his face. He saw ghostly pale faces inside, eyes closed, almost like dead bodies. Which they practically were. Ryan w...

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“Am I...? (Part 3)” by Authoring Studio

Submitted to Contest #62

Hell is truly a good place. Take it from a person who has been there for twelve decades.Hey again- this is Iris. Iris Jones- the werewolf. I am rather tamed now, actually. The devil who took me away was rather kind. What was his name again…? Ah, yes- James. We had to first go and meet his friend, the angel. Benjamin.“Hey, Ben!” James called out as soon as we reached his doorstep on earth. A clearly sleepy and irritated person answered the door. “What is it this time, James? I swear, if it is another of your pranks, I’m gonna turn you into a ...

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“A Twisted Contest” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #62

A Twisted Contest “I can’t believe it! I can’t, I mean, we were so close to the date!!” I squealed excitingly. “Yes, we are. Now calm down Alisha. Don’t get too excited about it...” warned my best friend, Leya. In another week or so, the most amazing contest was going to be held, “The Annual Artist Fair!!”. I was precisely getting all my supplies ready for that contest. Though it is one week ahead, it never hurts to be prepared. Leya was trying to calm me down because I accidentall...

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“I am lost” by Hriday Saboo

Submitted to Contest #62

Authors note:So like how do you spend your Sunday? Chilling out with friends or having a small family party (or the worst case scenario, completing your homework) or whatever. But this is not the case in Jack, Ronnie, Anne and Rose’ life. Check out what happens on a beautiful Sunday with our four heroes – Jack, Ronnie, Anne and Rose. (Disclaimer: The things displayed or written in this story is totally fictional. So no need to worry about them.) It was a cold winter morning. Anne, Rose and Jack were lazing on the two beautifu...

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“ Luck of the Draw” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #62

Henry McCall sauntered down the street, calm, confident, ready for anything. People looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze. He rested his right hand on the hilt of his revolver, a Webley. In his gambler's clothes, dark pinstripe trousers and vest offset by a teal cravat, with a bowler hat on his head and a walking stick in his left hand, he presented the epitome of a British gentleman. Even his dark-blonde mustache, curled with wax, seemed elegant and refined.The main street of Gholson, Texas, with businesses and homes lining it, blew with ...

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“ The Ugly Truth (Part 2)” by Niveeidha Palani

Submitted to Contest #62

Authors Note: Hi everyone! I finally got a story out on Reedsy despite the assignments that were crammed and stacked onto my head! This is a sequel to "Grandpa Laurence", my previous story on Reedsy. Enjoy!Grandma Lolla took a shuddery and shaky breath as she placed a sealed envelope into the capsule, inhaling nervously. She held her back, groaned weakly and pushed the spade into the ground. She covered the fresh soil over the shiny capsule and sighed. Beatrix would soon understand the meaning of this.It had been five days. Five days, since ...

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“Thousand Letters to Celestina (An Original Story)” by Miguel Balinado

Submitted to Contest #62

It was a fair, sunny day in the year of 1876, there is a woman named Celestina, her beauty is that of a radiant sun. A sun so bright that has captivated me from the moment that I have laid my eyes on her.The beautiful woman, adorned with luxurious colonial-era, Spanish clothing sips a cup of the finest coffee in the country.Suddenly, The bark of the tree from which I am sitting at shatters in half and I now find myself writhing in pain. My butt cheeks swelling from the fall from the Narra tree I was sitting from.Celestina noticed and immedia...

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“Waiting Until 2056” by Zea Bowman

Submitted to Contest #62

novembir 2 2013 i put a peese of cande in the time capsol toda there are 2 things in it now. mommy said aftr lots of yers of puting things in it we can bary it undurgrond and i can look at it in a lon time. rite now i am 7 so it wil be alon time befor i can opin it. i wondr if the cande will be good enuf to eat when i opin it agan. August 16, 2016 Hello diary it has been a while. I think that this writing will be better thogh because I have been to school for 6 years so I know a lot more about grammar. It will not be perfect yet. ...

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“The Rightful Heir: Part 1 ” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #62

The Rightful Heir: Part 1 Autumn. Such a lovely season to all. When leaves start to fall and change into shades of red, orange, yellow, brown, and so on. The grass will be covered with thousands of them, as they are ready for the new year to begin. A new start. The chilly breeze blows from side to side. Making the weather ever so pleasant. The time of the year when everyone is getting ready to experience such beautiful sights. Yes, it is the time of the year where the little, new princess was born. Such a l...

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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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$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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