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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

“macaroni salad” by Masha Kurbatova

Submitted to Contest #62

The great thing about being successful: no one could question your actions anymore. Instead, every action became a tip for success. Before the book deals and the interviews, how many times had she been made a jester for liking cold, starchy salads drenched in mayonnaise and onions? But now, every sloppy forkful of macaroni salad seemed the mark of a great poetess. She’s feeding her muse. If paparazzi were around, she put on an extra little performance, picking up steak and spinach leaves between two fingers, eating with no fork. She’d learne...

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“Incognizance” by Adith MS

Submitted to Contest #62

I opened my eyes and ears when my conscious said, what was that? My eyes wandered around the room. What is this place? I don’t remember those purple painted walls. I don’t remember that golden clock with a broken side. As I looked around, I saw a phone, broken, shattered, lying on the wooden floor. There were two doors, a red one in the front and a purple one at the back. Where am I? Who am I? I tried to answer all those questions, but my mind was completely blank. There’s just this huge cloud of darkness. Suddenly, something hit the front d...

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“Only Human” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #62

“A good Screecher is a dead Screecher.”—Commander Sigit, Year 4096After an eternity spent wiping the blood of two different races out of her eyes, the only thing Rani wants to do is melt into a puddle of numbness. The chrysalis before her can grant such luxuries; tailored to fit her proportions, it whispers sweet promises from against the wall like the mouth of a coffin.As if to remind her she doesn’t have all day to decide if it’s a good idea to suspend all biological functions for three-and-a-half centuries, a muffled explosion from somewh...

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“Images” by Amanda Meireles

Submitted to Contest #62

“Snowy. It’s snowy. The ground is covered with snow. A cabin. A cabin in the middle of that distant place is decorated. There are Christmas lights-- Blue, green, red, yellow.A Christmas song can be heard from far away. A tree with red decorations inside the house.Steps. Hard steps due to the snow. Someone walks towards the little cozy cabin.Now, I see a car. A blue car covered with snow. It’s parked next to a garbage can.The door is opening. Someone is going outside.A woman. Middle-aged woman. Black hair, purple shirt, a leather ja...

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“Of Fairies and Munchkin Cats” by Yolanda Wu

Submitted to Contest #62

Trigger warning: Descriptions of depression, suicidal thoughts, mentions of self-harm.People asked him sometimes whether he got anxious around cars. Or whether he hated cats.Olive always found those question strange.He owned a car. It was small and red and dusty. His dad had gifted it to him on his eighteenth birthday. And he owned a cat. She was white and furry and bad-tempered. She was adopted into his family when he was ten.Well, the family that consisted of Olive and his mum.His dad lived in the city with his brother, Laurence.His parent...

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“James and a Witch” by Jagdeep Singh

Submitted to Contest #62

Once upon a time, there was a couple named Albert and Alexa who lived in a town in a very small house. Albert was an ironsmith and Alexa was a housewife and expecting a baby. She was satisfied with everything they had but not Albert. He wanted more money to give his wife and their to be born child a big home and a luxurious life. In order to do so he spends most of his time on work. Sometimes he used to stay late to earn more.On a fine Sunday morning, weather was deliciously mild and soothing. They always wake up before sunrise. Alexa asked ...

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“A Capsule of Hope” by L M

Submitted to Contest #62

Cassidy: Today’s newspaper article from the New York Times, a letter to the future, and a picture of my best friend and I at the lake on a camping trip. It is a random list of items all enclosed in a used glass jelly jar, and a cardboard shoebox surrounding the objects. There is no rhyme or reason to the objects that are tucked away inside the jar, just last-minute thoughts thrown together trying to be cohesive. The summer is here, and there is nothing to do, but I must keep busy otherwise I will be given a list of chores by my mother. So f...

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“'Charted' Territory” by Raquel Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #62

Trigger warning: SuicidePink sunlight flooded the room, caressing every surface with its light, rosy fingertips.Zaneerah stared out of the open window, hands fidgeting with the dull sand-colored quilt on her bed.Behind her sat her mom, who held a wooden comb and a piece of Zaneerah’s hair.The brush connected with Zaneerah’s hair in soft strokes, brushing each piece with such delicacy-.Zaneerah cried out as the hairbrush discovered a tangle in her silky smooth hair.“Sorry, Zan,” her mother said, her eyebrows furrowed and her full, red lips pu...

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“Future Memories in Red Minor” by Katina Foster

Submitted to Contest #62

When Martin came to, he found himself sitting at a kitchen table. He didn't know how he got there, or how long he'd been sitting there, but he wasn’t overly concerned with these details, either. He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. Now, I leave to meet my friends, he thought. He walked towards the front door, then stopped as a strange sense of déjà vu came over him. Martin stood for a moment with his hand hovering above the doorknob, trying to catch hold of the feeling in order to probe it for more detail. He sense...

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“The Ferry Ride” by Ruth Midgley

Submitted to Contest #62

(Trigger warning: homophobic language) They had been in line for hours, their rusted red hatchback pinned between a truck and minivan. Not knowing how long it would be until they got on a ferry, they had set up camp at a picnic table nearby, close enough to their car so Rick could keep an eye on it. Everything they owned was in that car. They had sold all the rest. "Just fucking ridiculous. Is everyone and their dog trying to get to the island today?" "I did ask you if we should book a reservation," Lynn said q...

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“All Because of a Cookie” by Gip Roberts

Submitted to Contest #62

You will rise to the top. Victor had lost count of how many times his mother had told him that. It was just a dumb fortune cookie. But to her, it was stone-written prophecy. The very name Victor was chosen with that in mind. Victor of what? He doesn't get it. He's never been victorious at anything. Vindictive, but never victorious. Does anyone else really know what it's like to be a complete failure? Everyone's good at something, so they say. And everyone is, except for Victor. Like swimming upstream, with everything you've always want...

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“Hot Air” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #62

Dorian has always been insufferable, but never more so than since he decided to live forever. We all saw the announcement on the news last month, when one of the tech-mogul trillionaires announced a trial run of his new cryogenic chamber. We all saw it, that is, all of us except for Dorian. He was a day shy of completing his forty-day, technology-free, woodland retreat. And I, being a remarkably good friend despite his aforementioned tendency to be insufferable, called him up two days later and told him the news. As expected, Dorian didn’t l...

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“The Shoebox” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #62

I stare at the chaos in front of me and clutch the shoebox tighter in my arms.I’ll admit—I’ve pushed “cleanliness of my bedroom” to the back of my mind lately, right next to “homework” and “college applications.”Heavy footsteps thump across the hallway and Dawn peeks her head into the room. “What’re you doing?” she asks, rubbing her bulging belly. She’s visiting for the weekend because she “misses us.” Yeah, right. Like Mom and Dad didn’t tell her to hop on the next plane as soon as she could. I know why she’s here.I’m grateful, really. But ...

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“Heading Up” by Itay Frenkel

Submitted to Contest #62

***Author's note*** This short story was originally supposed to relate to the prompt, but it didn't quite turn out the way I intended it to. It doesn't relate to the prompt much if at all, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. ***Author's note***“Guess what? I got a job at your office, but don’t worry, it’s not going to be awkward. If anything, it kind of makes this sexier, don’t you think? One day we’ll run the place, like a power-couple or something,” Max said. Clarissa smiled but didn’t say anything.A week later, she said this: “I’m sorry ...

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“The Long Walk Home, Back to the Future?” by Stephanie Albright

Submitted to Contest #62

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the EMP,” Jeb said, startling me and disturbing Lily’s dinner.“I can’t even remember life before and even if I could it would be a waste of energy,” I said, soothing the baby.“Why do you say that?” he asked.“Because that life was wrong, it was unhealthy. If we had a chance to restore it, I wouldn’t take it. Would you?”“A few minutes ago I would have said ‘yes’ without thought, but now I need to think it through I guess,” he said.I was upset with his answer and I was trying to not show it....

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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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