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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

“Lavender Dreams” by A B

Submitted to Contest #68

“One night, a long time ago, I saw something. Something I’ve never admitted to anybody before. My parents were fighting in their room. Screaming. I sat on the stairwell, watching them from the shadows. I remember hearing his hand striking my mother across the face. It was a blow so intense, it knocked her back off her feet. When she stood, she rushed him. The next part is all so blurry. The next thing I knew, my father was lying on the floor, gurgling and sputtering, as my mother stood over him. After that, I ran to my room. I didn’t want he...

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“75 Wedgewood” by Angela MacMurray

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. She stared blankly up the driveway at the house that used to be hers and felt a rush both of nostalgia and regret. The house at 75 Wedgewood Court had passed from owner to owner, a great starter home in a family-friendly neighborhood. Often families would buy the home for a few years only to sell it once their kids were a bit older and less likely to frolic with the children in the houses nearby. Rachel vaguely remembered a blonde girl named Brynn....

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“Sister's Getaway” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #68

Sheila couldn't believe what she had just heard and wasn't sure how to handle it. She didn't expect it on this day of all days.When she agreed to this weekend getaway with her sister at Foxwood Hills State Park, she had no idea what would happen.Both of them had decided that it was time to get together and get to know each other again. They had grown apart over the years with one of them living and working in another state and the younger in college. Their parents were concerned about the two of them too, so they decided that ...

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“The Coming of Isaac” by Maria Hall

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Many people mistake that day as their wedding day, but plenty of people can have several of those. No, the happiest day is to know that the person you love is alright, and safe. To feel their warmth in the bed beside you. Though, no one ever thinks of how sweet these things are until they’ve left you. When the German bombs started raining down and the guns began to ring into the night, like most of the other men in the neighborhood Lizzy’s husb...

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“Songkhla Lake” by Colin Devonshire

Submitted to Contest #68

Songkhla Lake “Here Comes the Sun. Watch this,” he whistled. The couple sat on a rock arm in arm. “Beautiful, you know I’ve never seen the sunrise like this in England?” “You mean not over a flat lake? You’ve seen it plenty of times, but over council house roofs.” “Yes, on my way home after a late shift at the hospital,” she laughed. “Not quite the same, is it?” “No dear, I feel a lot will change living here.” “And just think, on your sixtieth birthday you celebrate by watching nature’s beauty in Thailand.” “Thank you, dar...

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“Unveiled” by Mandy George

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been almost 20 years, Samantha kept her secrets from the entire world and bottled it inside where she meant for it to remain for her lifetime. Night and day, she thought about those deep dark secrets that haunted her each night. Every area of her life was affected by these secrets and she was unable to perform well at high school or at anything for that matter. Samantha always assured herself and tortured herself to the point of believing that she would die at a very young age from sexual diseases; specifically aids. Furthermore, sinc...

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“REALITIES” by Oluwapelumi Adewole

Submitted to Contest #68

Of a truth, I hated the fact that we had to follow the blasted family traditions. I could hear mother calling for night devotion. Who on earth still does that? I was enjoying a flirtatious chat with the new boy I met from school Ade, from the corner of my eyes I watch my silly sister Shewa as she tied her scarf hurriedly and picked up a bible from the shelf. I cursed as I rose to my feet. I dragged myself to the living room picking up the biggest bible and tying the dullest scarf . Everyone was already seated when I arrived; dad, m...

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“Stay” by Zena Jalloh

Submitted to Contest #68

“Do you believe in the butterfly effect?” he turned to me, long strands of wavy hair falling into his eyes. Even though we were on the roof, it was still hazy, partly from the smoke and our breath heating up the freezing air.“What’s that?”“You don’t know about the butterfly effect? Come on Val, aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?” Tony smiles and my stomach churns at the way he says my name. Valerie, but it’s always Val for him, or babe, or sometimes even poopy-head. “Shut up,” I rolled my eyes, swatting at him. He’s such an ...

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“A Well Thought Out Plan” by Ria Walsh

Submitted to Contest #68

The kids were at school, the housekeeper was given the day off and the spouses were sat in front of each other. It was strange how they sat, hands crossed and on opposite ends of the obnoxiously long glass table. It was something too business-like to be in a family setting.Daniela rubbed her thumb in circles while her husband twirled his wedding ring around his finger. Daniela wondered why she’d been summoned and why her husband looked like he wanted to run to the nearest window to jump out of.“There’s something I need to tell you,” he ...

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“Divorced” by Angie DiCervo

Submitted to Contest #68

Theresa was barred from her children, home, and business place until she appeared in court; she would never think of doing something like that to her family or a loved one. He did things without thinking about the consequences. It was not personal; it was a military mindset. Thursday night, she went to dinner with her girlfriend, which she hasn't spent time in a long time ever since he quit financial services. She got home at ten-thirty at night, the police car put their headlight, and she wondered what was going on. Two police officers appr...

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“A Cabin Vist” by Levi Alexander

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same, Grey entered the cabin, memories flooded her mind, of all the times their family came up for holidays. "The hidden cottage." They muttered, that's what their mom would call it, as her mother's story played in her head, they repeated it, "follow the road down to Mulvoid Lake, take the hidden path through the forest of mist, the cave of terror. You'd end up in the enchanted woods." only now, they realised how weird it all was, for...

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“Glitches ” by Djuanna Lester

Submitted to Contest #68

“Move!” Gabby hopped back in the car, throwing the bag of coins in the back of the car as I moved the gear shift, pressed my foot on the accelerator, and took off. “I can’t believe it’s happening. Check Ins are today.” She sighed, clearly holding back tears. Check Ins. They’ve been around since Fallsted was first formed. My parents made the rules clear. Don’t be out at night. Mask. If you get found, lie. September 22nd, every year. Fall Guards break into the cities, capturing the imperfects, the defects, those who are...

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“the girl who used to smile in the rain” by Mia S

Submitted to Contest #68

Your fingers are cold as you hold my hand. We sit on the dock and watch the sun rising up through the sky, like a brilliant orange balloon, like a manifestation of God Himself floating away, leaving us transfixed down below with nothing left to believe in. The world is perfectly silent and we hold our breaths, not daring to ruin it. You stare at your toes as they brush the water, what’s left of your hair falling in front of your face. You should have shaved it by now but you haven’t. I wonder what you’re thinking about, although I know ...

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“Her Constellations ” by Zinnia Hansen

Submitted to Contest #68

The light was soft, painfully soft. The exquisite gold of the sunrise muffled our passion. I reached for her hand, but she pulled away, regarding her own reflection in the lake with clinical poise. I understood then, in the smallness of that single wordless movement, how I chafed her. My human smile, my human lips, my desperation; she ached for the clean emotions of love and hate. Our relationship was filthy and confusing. We sat on the edge of a round lake, surrounded by tall pines and implicit shapes veiled by the thick summer air....

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“Reparation Ridge” by Tyler Runde

Submitted to Contest #68

Cecilia wakes briefly to the sound of the tent’s flap unzipping, and then again to her boyfriend, Cooper, urinating into a bush twenty feet away. The ground presses hard and lumpy beneath the floor of the tent and through the thin insulation of her sleeping bag. Her body feels stiff and somewhat battered after only a single night of roughing it. The tip of her nose and her forehead, the only parts of herself exposed to the air inside the tent, are chilled from the previous night’s plummeted temperatures, and she holds onto the tightness in h...

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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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