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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

“Happiest day of their lives” by R L Brewer

Submitted to Contest #68

Not sure about this one. Tell me if it doesn't make sense. This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. The old cliche, the big wedding with all the trimmings. Along with the big cost blowout with the perfect dress and the flashy cars, it was going to be a tough act to follow. The bride was dressed in her lacework and beading, makeup perfect, exhausted by breakfast. The flower girl was already in tears and the baby page boy had dirtied through his nappy onto the white trousers. Great grandmother, grandmother and several aunti...

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“Shattered Glass” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. The invitations were sent out months ago. The RSVP’s were already in, the pretty burgundy dresses were brought for all ten women, the smallest pink and white dresses were bought and fitted for the littlest members of the bridal party and of course, the bride and groom were all ready for the ceremony. Three years ago a chance meeting turned into a proposal of marriage. Athena started her day just like she did on every other day. She hated Mondays because Monday’s took he...

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“The Tragic Honeymoon ” by Proteller James

Submitted to Contest #68

Janie McCrory This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, janie giggled and Shrieked as harry tickled her and smacked her from behind, she tried all her possible best to wiggle away from his mischievous touches but she was a second too late and he scooped her up in his arms. He looked her dead in the eyes and saw the glint of happiness and passion behind those green eyes and he knew just perfectly that she was the right choice for him "I love you" he groaned, she was about to reply him back but he tossed her ont...

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“Ready or Not” by Jessie Winterspring

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Or at less, it should have been for Colette. She turned eighteen that day and got her wished to have Garaboldi escort her for her debutante party. He was her father's friend, a good fifteen years younger than her dad, but still many years older than her, eleven years to be exact, but she can’t help get attracted to him. Garaboldi wore his curly, dark brown hair short. He was 6' 0" tall, solid-built with dark skin, and got piercing brown eyes which makes women sigh, but he also ...

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“Happiest Day For Who??” by Judith Buskohl

Submitted to Contest #68

“This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.” Paula looked at her brother, Simon who had been standing beside her most of the day for moral support. She was glad that he had been there for her to support her when she felt like passing out. Since that awful day of their parents had got killed for seventeen dollars, her life had seemed like it was upside down and changing every moment. This morning, she had felt like the sun was going to shine on her and chase away the clouds of depression away. As the day...

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“A Day To Remember. A Day To Forget” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, but fate had other plans for the bride and groom. The weeks that led up to their wedding day were spectacular. Beth had been fitted with a beautiful silk and lace wedding gown, strapless and elegant, while her five bridesmaids were dressed in chiffon gowns with V-shaped necklines and a slit up the left leg. &...

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“The Wedding March” by Lane Keely

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Everything about this wedding had been meticulously planned; down to the number of white roses in the bridesmaids bouquets and the brand of shoe shine the groomsmen used. There was just one, slightly important problem, Craig hadn’t shown up yet. “What do you mean ‘he isn’t here yet’? I can’t get married without someone to get married to!” That’s the bride, Denise. A usually sweet girl, Denise was quite frustrated with her husband-to-be’s tardiness and was storming around ...

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“Something is Missing” by C Britt

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. Although in recent years, the white paint had started peeling off the wooden siding. Not to mention the shingles that had come loose in the latest storm. And of course, the weeds had nearly consumed both the flowerbed and the gravel driveway. But looking beyond all those ravages of time, Carrie could still see the house as it once was: the home her grandparents had built as newlyweds.She stands now at the corner of the yard, facing the old hou...

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“Constant Cloud in the Land of the Midnight Sun” by Sjan Evardsson

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The short, forty-story blocks in a cluster at the head of the inlet. Below, the dock and boat launch, and even the fish farm boats seemed to have been frozen in time. The wind on the rooftop park blew Jak’s tangled curls of dark blue hair into a halo around her mahogany face and bright brown eyes. She put an arm around Sina. “This is pretty much the same as when I left here.” "It feels so small," Sina said. The afternoon sun gave her olive skin a...

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“Our Own Sort of Paradise” by ∙𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕪 𝕡∙

Submitted to Contest #68

It was a quiet fall evening, in which no birds sang, no cars hummed. The frigid air bit Abigail’s cheeks, and she shivered, wrapping her scarf tighter around her. The bright leaves looked like flames as they fell and piled up under the old oak she used to climb. Abigail let out another breath, warming the air around her. Finally, she stepped off the old creaky porch and headed down the well worn path to the woods. It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place l...

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“The Inner-Monologue of a Retired Assassin” by Yihong Chen

Submitted to Contest #68

Trigger warning: suicide It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The same tables and chairs. The same ink paintings. The same wooden statue of Buddha sitting next to the same old TV. I almost feel like I can smell the same perfume in the air, and see the same her in the same dress sitting on the same small couch, smoking the same cigarette and smiling at the same me. And I’d be standing right there in the same spot, in the same black suit, gi...

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“Miss Sunshine, Mister Moonlight” by Noctis Isitt

Submitted to Contest #68

The sky turned from the dark colors of the night, slowly to a gorgeous orange and pink color. We always sat on the bench, me and my sunshine. We watched the sunrise and sunsets together, and later in the night we went stargazing before bed. This woman is the love of my life, has been since high school, and I can't remember a time when we were apart. She leaned against me, her smile as bright as the sun itself, her long golden locks brushing against the skin of my neck. "It's beautiful today.." "As it always has been. Just l...

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“maybe sunrises are overrated anyway” by Julia Swain

Submitted to Contest #68

There was something about a sunrise that always made Summer Saunders smile. Maybe it was the warmth that she felt, or the fact that she was a morning person through and through, or maybe it was the fact that it always felt like a clean slate, a fresh start for her, like no matter what mistakes she had made the previous day she could always start new and be better than she was the day before. And boy, did she need that today. She hadn’t meant for it to happen like this. Sure she always wanted to be a mother, but not at nineteen ye...

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“A Day in the Life” by Madelyn Gregory

Submitted to Contest #68

As warm as it was as Julie and Meagan watched the October sunrise, Meagan could not feel the warmth. The sky gradually lit up as the gold spread across the horizon. The pine trees around the lake lit up yellow for a few minutes before greening again. “How glorious!”, Meagan sighed. Julie could not feel the glory of the sunrise, but she smiled and took Meagan’s cold hand, “I will get you some breakfast,” said Julie over her shoulder. “Sure, whatever you say,” replied Meagan half heartedly. &nbs...

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“Our Moon” by Carrie Keesee Vermette

Submitted to Contest #68

It was a quiet Saturday morning for newly married couplie Carolyn and Marcel. Both the young age of twenty three. They had stayed up all night so they could look out there balcony, looking out into the foggy grey morning to watch the sun rise just as they did every Saturday morning since they have been together. "Just beautiful, breath taking" Carolyn would always say. He loved the way her dark hair blew in the soft breeze of the autumn air, and the way her green eyes sparkled and seemed to dance in the light. He smiled at her, " I could st...

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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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