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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#68: Meet in the Middle

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that the internet loves to argue. Perhaps one of the stranger fights I’ve seen is what constitutes a “sandwich” — you’d think the definition would be universal… and you’d be very wrong.

But whether you classify hot dogs, pitas, and burritos as sandwiches or not, one thing we can agree on is this: no matter how similar the components, there’s endless variety to be found when you combine the ingredients in different ways.

With that in mind, this week we’re celebrating the infinite diversity of fillings. To do so, we’re going to provide you with the beginning and ending of your story — and it will be up to you to fill these two slices of literary bread with whatever you can imagine!

This week's prompts

Start your story with two characters watching a sunrise and end it with one of them seeing the moon reflecting off a lake.

Adults – 301 stories

Start your story with someone admitting a secret and end it with someone telling a lie.

Dramatic – 180 stories

Start your story with someone robbing a bank and end it with two people driving on an interstate.

Dramatic – 86 stories

Start your story with the line, “This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives,” and end it with, “By then it was too late.”

Sad – 132 stories

Start your story with the line, “It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same,” and end it with, “[…] and that was all that mattered.”

Adults – 178 stories

Stories

“A FABLE OF RURAL INDIA” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #68

[This story is set in rural India of over 150 years ago.]It had been nearly 24 years since she had last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. She was now 38 but the memory hadn’t faded. She had played in this house in the village of Rampet when young, petted by grandparents. Fond memories still lingered. Her name was Rani. She was actually a citizen of the prosperous village of Chembu, a day away by bullock cart, where she owned large tracts of agricultural land which yielded her a good income. So she chose to neglect this old hous...

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“Delirious” by You'd Think A Writer Would Have A More Creative Name .

Submitted to Contest #68

1482 wordsRated 12+; violence"I've never said those words. Not once!" she screams.Our sun has been giving us life for 4 billion years. Small organisms felt its heat and made oxygen. In another 4 billion years, it'll explode and destroy us. The whole galaxy is gone. A spark of pain, and then nothing. That's how Clarke feels right now, standing on a hill, staring at the city, next to Laurelie. A first, a pain so great it can't be fathom it, then nothing.Laurelie pulls her hand away from Clarke. Her eyes are masked with shame, but undernea...

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“East to West” by Matthew Turner

Submitted to Contest #68

“What are you doing up so early?” Io’s voice was hush despite them being the only two around for miles. Those dark moments of dawn seem to demand a quiet voice. “Look,” Erzo said pointing to the east. She only knew it was east because there was the small sliver of orange buried under the immense rich purple of the night sky. They were strangers in a strange land. Everything had fallen apart while they were away and the only word from civilization was clear enough, they were enemies of the state. Every one of their kind. Anyone with th...

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“Funeral rites” by Adah M.M

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. Not even the decor had changed. She had told herself that coming here would help to soothe the pain and anger she felt but standing here, in the hall that would serve as her father's funeral hall, she felt nothing at all. She walked through the hall, avoiding the curious gaze people threw her way. It was no surprise no one knew her. She had disappeared for years and only came back when her father was dead. In a way, she was the prodigal daug...

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“The Absurd World of Mandy Rose” by Courtney Haynes

Submitted to Contest #68

MANDYUsually, a sexy hot thing making demands would be the highlight of my day. This, however, is not the highlight I expected.To start things off, for most of the week I was pretty damned sure I had just failed all four of my exams, putting the nail in the coffin of my lackluster college career. Everything was floating around in my mind a mishmash of questions. Please write out the quadratic equation. Locate the Pyloric Sphincter on the pig. Explain how Jean-Paul Sartre’s belief in the absurdity of the world connects to his concept of ...

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“Over the Moon” by Ingrid Bacsa Mott

Submitted to Contest #68

Over the Moon Ingrid Bacsa-Mott Carlo and Stephan had boarded together for two years in the Derbyshire village of Buxton. They had known one another since they were children and Stephan was always the one that stood out. Carlo was small and shy and depended on Stefan to support him as a “big brother” at school. They were very different in character, and while Carlo was a serious student, Stefan would always be more popular. Both lads passed their exams with flying colours, but Stefan was always a favourite with th...

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“Herself” by ℤ ℍ☮️

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been 24 years since she'd last seen it but the place looked exactly the same. Mirrors cornered her, boxed her into her greatest nightmare. Eden spun around and the world turned into a kaleidoscope, fragments of crooked noses and asymmetrical jaws flew past her. As if she was spinning on a roundabout, it went faster and faster until the world turned into a sheet of brown; angles entangled together.Her head started spinning, so fast she couldn't keep control. Her mind was a canvas of black. She didn't want to open her eyes, to let the n...

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“In An Instant ” by Tessa Gray

Submitted to Contest #68

You’d watched the sunrise that morning, as you did every morning, sitting beside Cassandra in the Hamic you’d built for her a few months earlier. It had been so peaceful, so calm, so ordinary. There’d been nothing about the morning to indicate that the day it gave birth to would be one full of sorrow and regret. The sky had just begun to turn pink when Cassandra had suddenly stiffened. You’d felt the change instantly, her entire body becoming taught as a bowstring, the muscles in her leg where it pressed against yours going rigid. Your g...

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“I Want To Get To Know You” by Jade Hamel

Submitted to Contest #68

I crept through the bank as quietly as I could. I knew nobody was there, but there was such thing as cameras. I walked past a large room and when I looked inside, I almost screamed in delight. There it was: the vault. It contained about Ninety Billion dollars inside. I ran up to it, knowing there were no ''booby traps''. No one in the whole world was stupid enough to try and break into this particular bank. No one except me, Hina Masuko, world's greatest thief. I have never been caught. Ever. And I never will, for that matter.I placed the la...

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“A kiss back” by Esther Ojifinni

Submitted to Contest #68

As the sun rose, the sky became a rosy pink. The lake swirled with fish, who made quiet little bubbles. "You'd better be heading home Andromeda," I said. Andromeda shook her fur. "No thanks. I'd rather be here than talk with that witch." I smiled. "She's not a witch. She just strongly dislikes you." I pointed out. "I'd rather be here with you!" Andromeda said. "But you need to go home! Imagine if you went missing, and she found out you snuck out? I'd never see you again!" I said. Andromeda pushed me into the lake with a splash. "Hey! What wa...

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“Always and Forever” by C Britt

Submitted to Contest #68

Golden-orange tendrils of light chase the last bits of darkness from the air. The sky, unsure which color to wear, tries them all on: purple, red, pink, orange, blue. The green forest comes alive with the sounds of birdsong. Sunlight races over the hill and through the trees, making shadows dance across the ground. Lucas sighs. A plume of steam flows from his mouth. He shivers as he presses his palms against the cold stone he's sitting on, but he savors the sensation. "This just might be the most gorgeous sunrise I've ever seen." He turns...

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“Wolf” by Michael Nicolson

Submitted to Contest #68

Wolf Michael Nicolson ...

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“Desayuno chapin.” by Phil Flockton

Submitted to Contest #68

Desayuno Chapin. We’d travelled Central America for eleven or twelve weeks, (mostly by rattling, lumbering chicken buses, fast winding downhills and slow open roads), and having crossed into Guatemala from the cloud forests of Honduras we had arrived early morning at the Puerto Barrios ferry terminal. A few others were chatting at the food stall. Perhaps now the house is empty, for at least a few days, their life can get back to normal (I have told Willie – the grass mowing man – to leave the yard uncut).It was first light as we stood on ...

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“I Am Not” by Ark Vandal

Submitted to Contest #68

My very first memory is also my last. Its vague in places but vivid in others. We sat on a sandy beach—he and I—watching the spread of paint the rising sun had streaked across the sky. Hues of gold and pink, orange, the shade of candlelight. I still smell the salt of the ocean on the wind and the quiet scent of perfume in the crook of his neck. We sat and played and cried and laughed till the sky cloaked itself in black and stars brightened into being above us. I can’t remember his name. I can’t recall his face. Only that he was important to...

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“Horses, Tears, and Redemption” by Maurice Mullen

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she had last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. At least this is what Lisa thought as she was driven through the large arched gateway that announced your entrance to The Manner House. She stared out at the skeletal trees that lined the driveway as the cab drove her up to the front of the large plantation style house. Stepping out of the cab she looked up at the imposing house with it’s two stories of vast hauntingly empty verandas that wrapped around the building. Lisa was immediately overwhel...

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$50

Prize money

877

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 20, 2020 EST

Won by FJC Montenegro 🏆

Title: Silence

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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