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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

“The Things That Remain Constant” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #68

It was hard to believe it had been twenty-four years since I had last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same when I, Penny Norwich, left Syracuse, New York, my hometown. My mother Glenda Pierce had passed away suddenly in the care facility she was living in. She was watching Wheel of Fortune with about a half dozen other residents when the Angel came for her. My younger brother Dale met her at the airport. Now as he neared fifty years old, his hairline was rapidly retreating, his friendly pooch had expanded a ...

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“A Governess Named Gretel, A Crow, And a Crone” by D.M. Ravshanov

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. It was by all accounts, still just as breathtaking as the day she had found it. Her grandmother (one of the greats-Too many greats to be listed in succession here) had recorded it all down in her diary, and that diary had been passed down from generation to generation. Weather-beaten and magical, it had led her here to this spot as a child. It was here where she had leaned her back against the solid spine of a tree, drinking in the adventures of Ha...

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“A MOTHER AGAIN” by Violetta Editorial

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same, blue sky, open air, with tall trees that reached the sky. Past the vineyards, beyond the trees, was the old house that was once home. Like a loaf of bread taken out too soon from the oven, it seemed to have collapsed inward on itself. The windows that were no longer rectangular had no glasses, and the termites had feasted on the wooden framed doors. The grass around the homestead was the same height as the oak trees that once acted as swings for he...

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“Specter of Love” by Lori Riggleman

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The same pain, the same fear, the same horror. Jerran clung to Amy’s arm like a life preserver in a storm-tossed sea. Memories flooded her dried-up thoughts, crashing like waves and threatening to drown her. Her knees faltered, and she nearly crumpled to the floor. “Hang in there, Baby. I gotcha,” whispered Amy. Jerran had told her new wife it was going to be hard, but until she stepped through those doors, she couldn’t have imagined how hard. How ...

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“Playing Darts” by Josephine Andersen

Submitted to Contest #68

Playing DartsTwenty four years would pass before she would see the place again and see it unchanged but now Lucy came out of the tunnel and swung the van around on to the gravel road leading down to the river. It was the last week of work on the bridge and they were going to celebrate. It had been a long, difficult year, driving sixty two kilometres to work and back home every day, taking up two hours in travelling time. It was a nice drive, though and once through the tunnel you got sight of the river with its clear water, rippling and...

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“Sunset” by Xie Murasaki

Submitted to Contest #68

I’ve found myself chasing sunrises and sunsets. In the Big Sky country, the sun rises and descends in waves of color, pastels of orange and pink and neon blue. The clouds meander above the mountaintops, projecting a kaleidoscope across the sky, wisps like paint strokes dot the scene. It is in these mystical moments of reflection that I consider the work to do and work that has been done Sunrises are a great spectacle, but you must rise early enough to experience it. My sunrises tend to be dominated by shades of blue and orange with rays of ...

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“Two Becoming One” by Eyton Robinson

Submitted to Contest #68

I’m looking forward to this, it’s the reason why I’m up so early, The weather station said sunrise would be at seven fifty five this morning, I glance at my watch, fifteen minutes left, I look out, still dark. Those fifteen minutes felt like eternity but once the sun’s rays began breaking through the silence of the night, protruding across the sky, engulfing every crevice of it, it was worth that feeling. The water bounced the rays of light from its surface, making it seem like the sun was watching itself rise. It painted the clouds closer t...

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“Love At First Fight” by Kalleigh Joslin-Termeer

Submitted to Contest #68

As the sun rises over the lake once more, the island I call home falls into a deep slumber-hoping to arise the next dusk. The skies above are painted with colors of coral orange and a deep crimson that marks where the sun once set. I shift my sight towards my scarlet haired friend, who is humming a familiar tune- The Phoenix Valor. She has a sense of hope in her tune-one that leads me to believe that we don't live in our own fairy tale. We live for each other, in one big story. The history of the past, present, and the future to ...

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“Time's Broken Wings” by El Barto

Submitted to Contest #68

It’s common knowledge that “time flies when you’re having fun,” and the fact that time is slow when you are doing something boring. But what happens when your day is filled with both? Perhaps more? Is it how normal days are actually supposed to feel? Days are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter, but what about in the fall? Who knows. Frieda got up very early that morning, despite the fact she had intermittent, restless sleep. It was still dark when she slipped out of her deep, plush mattress and stretched her arms and legs ou...

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“All things are attached” by Twisha Ray

Submitted to Contest #68

It was the happiest day for Sarla on the occasion of passing post graduation in architecture with flying colors. She started her own office in the heart of Bengaluru city. On the first anniversary of her office, she got a prestigious client Mohan Construction company Limited based in Pune Jayant was a structural engineer who joined the same company just six months before Sarla got this assignment. Sarla was quite surprised to see Jayant at the new project site. She and Jayant were childhood friends. They were meeting after six years. Th...

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“Guilt Under Moonlight” by Asya Ejderha

Submitted to Contest #68

He couldn't sleep again. He lit a cigarette, watching the sun as it rises. He couldn’t help but smile at the memories it brings to the surface. Memories he desperately tried to forget… She used to wake up right before the sun rise, tie her hair and watch the beautiful view from the balcony as she sips her coffee before getting ready for the day. He could imagine it like she was still there, somehow the memory got clearer as he tried to avoid it. It almost felt real; he wanted to hug her again. He even found himself standing up. When did he g...

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“Days and Night” by Greg Gorman

Submitted to Contest #68

The sun was coming up. Lisa and Paul had officially been up all night. Long nights were nothing new to theatre students especially when the shows were being put on. There is always some type of celebration for opening night: Dinner somewhere. Maybe a get-together at someone’s place. Something to celebrate the payoff for the weeks of rehearsing and making sure everything was done right. Everyone is on edge when going down to the wire. Everyone’s tired. Everyone’s punchy. Lisa was certainly both of those. Between her classes, her job, and this...

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“Meet in the middle” by Khair Harun

Submitted to Contest #68

Asia gets up with a groan. His back feels the numb from sleep he isn’t supposed to get. But he did it anyway. He pulls his hand to his face, rubs the sand off his wrist. A slight curl, a feeling of defeat, slowly coils at the corner of his lip.Yeah. Watches. You wish you still have one. The salty air lingers around him. He throws his eyes around, examining the darkened interior. At the corner lurk stacks of dust-colored laptops and tangled wires. From where he is sitting, the wrecked technologies are like dismembered corpses. He removes his ...

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“She Babbled My Name From The Guillotine” by Nihil Infolane

Submitted to Contest #68

“I'm getting beheaded tomorrow” I didn't even look her way. My eyes were transfixed by the sky. Already, on a side, the deep blue-purples and first stars, lighting up. Coming alive. “It's really exciting, you know?” Her voice was always like that, soft, like a whisper, barely rising above the background hum of the cicadas. I followed the gradient, watching the sky blend into gorgeous pinks and yellows playing on sparse clouds. “I am not even sure if you, yourself, believe all that you told me about reincarnation. The beautiful ...

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“My Lake” by Caitlin Adams

Submitted to Contest #68

The sun had just started to appear in the sky. It grew out from the lake, glinting off the water’s surface and turning the whole body yellow, orange and pink. It looked magical, like a portal to another universe. I had always been a morning person, for exactly this reason. The lake by my house always turns into something that looked like it belonged in a book that romanticized real life, it would take me through the looking glass and into Wonderland, where I could meet Alice and the Mad Hatter and live a much less mundane and much more excit...

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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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