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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

“Trying to be a Romantic Might Get Me Kill” by Bernadette Beauchamp

Submitted to Contest #68

At the point when dawn was about to peak its way over the mountains, Jeff and Estrella decided to leave the warm comfort of his truck and continue their conversation on a bench next to Lake Hodges to watch the sunrise. Jeff got a bunch of blankets from the bed of the truck and they cuddled together. "I cannot believe we were talking all night," Jeff said. "I know, that was a pretty amazing first date. This is an amazing first date," Estrella said. They watched as the trees and the top of the hillside glowed with yellow and orange. Colors wer...

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“Calluna” by Emily White

Submitted to Contest #68

Today was the day. Cal knew that there would be no other chance to ask about the woman in the picture in Pa’s room. Ever since Cal found the picture in the back of Pa’s ancient wardrobe, the woman frequently arose in her dreams, with scents of lavender and softness wrapping around Cal’s frail body. The woman fried eggs for Cal in the morning, pedaled a teal bike with her into town, and rested under the sunset with her at the end of the day. Although she only slept on a twin bed, Cal became startled by the space around her, the absence of wha...

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“TRUE LOVE” by Trishul Kote

Submitted to Contest #68

It is said that true love always finds you’re way. But we as human being sometimes have to sacrifice our love for the sake of parents, society, caste, religion etc. In my life love happened in a very strange way. I was a healthy youngster who used to have long hairs during my college days. My love started during my college days. Guess what? I haven’t loved any of my classmates, juniors or seniors of my college, but it was with a teacher with whom I started to love and I wanted to marry her. Yes, she was my teacher whom I deeply fell in love ...

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“Isla's Decision” by Ana Paula

Submitted to Contest #68

The bell finally rang, pulling me out of my staring trance. I’ been looking out the window for about three minutes without actually seeing anything. I’d finished my final test fifteen minutes before but didn’t hand it in. I wanted to be the last to walk out. I needed to tell him what I’d been keeping from him these past few months. Mr. Pollar had taken his glasses off, his weary eyes too old for his thirty-something face. Three years I had been obsessing over those deep brown eyes that tell a million stories when they look at you. And right ...

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“The Switch Up” by SAFIYYAH COLLINS

Submitted to Contest #68

I get to school again with regret just like the day before. Not sure if I'm wanting to spread the news with my best friend or not. But first i should probably let some of my readers know what's going on here. So all through my school years up until now I've had the same old enemy. Her name is Veronica Lodge. Every little bad thing that's happened these past years have happened because of her. And you see i also have had the same best friend for years now. Brittany Smith. But recently i came out as bisexual. And well me and Veronica have had ...

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“Not me” by Joey Snell

Submitted to Contest #68

"I didn't know what else to do," I admitted, not able to hold my sister's gaze. I twirled a strand of my long blonde hair around my finger. "I never should have gone along with it.""Why?" I could imagine the colour draining from her already pale face, a face that would be marred with confusion and her eyes welling up with tears. That's what I was sure I'd have seen, if I'd been brave enough to look at her face. Which I wasn't."I promised," even I could hear the pleading justification in my voice. Back then, I'd felt pushed into a corner. I h...

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“Maturity” by John Losasso

Submitted to Contest #68

Maturity J. LoSasso “I am not divorced. Yet. I think it’s only fair to tell you before we go any further,” Paul said. He put his drink down and took his hands from her shoulders. Randi put her wineglass on the glass top of the living room table. Paul could see her face cloud. She tilted her head toward him and said, “You mean, we’ve been hanging out for the past four months, almost every weekend, and now you decide to tell me this.” “I wanted to tell you sooner. I didn’t know how.” “How about, ‘I’m married’?” Randi asked with more than...

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“Stalker ” by KDM KDM

Submitted to Contest #68

Steven's diary had only one line, on one page. His biggest secret."I confess that I am a stalker and I want more." His story started to deepen on an ideal night, born out of the want, he held deep down.Creeping inside was the craziest idea, but Steven was waiting for this chance, for hundreds of years. At least, it seemed like that to him. Finally, she was not around.Excitement. Lust. Ache.He just wanted to smell that underwear, so badly. He has imagined it so many times before.He came close to regret his actions, while hiding in the closet,...

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“Her Well Intended Plan” by Linda Brodsky

Submitted to Contest #68

“Well, our secret is out now, isn’t it?” Carmen said. Inside her head, the greeting sounded pithy, a lighthearted opening gambit in a meeting that she had every reason to believe would be excruciatingly uncomfortable for both participants, but even as she spoke the words, she wanted to suck them back in and banish them to the mental junk heap where the worst of her ideas languished. The words floated between them, now, like a verbal stink bomb. Revising this woman’s first impression of her was as probable as having leprechaun wait ...

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“When He Forgets” by Sushi Wasabi

Submitted to Contest #68

"roses are red, Skies are blue. I stare at nowhere, Thinking about you." After Apollo my masculine, handsome, poetic, kind, charming, and sweet classmate said to me, our other classmates went wild and started creating noises. "Nadia will you be my girlfriend?" He asked charmingly. "Yes!" I answered, as I'm trying to hide my smile but failed, and so i just bit my lower lip to suppress the emotion I'm feeling. His face lit up when he heard my answer. He euphorically hug me like he doesn't want to lose me, i hug him back as tightly as I c...

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“What She Left Unsaid” by RD Smith

Submitted to Contest #68

It festered with him for the better part of a decade, but Lucas had finally had enough. His time in college was almost up. Even though that made him an “adult,” he was about to actually be an “adult” with “responsibilities.” So dammit, it was time to start acting like one. His hand-me-down car was parked on the top of Valley Crest’s tallest hill; it was the closest thing to a skyscraper his rural hometown had. Blinking slowly to register the gravity of the moment, Lucas let out a quiet, deep sigh. “It’s time to be a man,” he aggressively...

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“NO SECRETS REVEALED.” by Petra Wangui

Submitted to Contest #68

''Yes, it's true, i'm not proud of it but it is what it is.'' Anna said with a frown plastered on her wrinkly face. Her dark brown hair covered her face, in shame or due to a habit, Mila couldn't really tell. She took long deep breath even though she had has her suspicions from the first time they had met. Anna was an ex convict at the local jail. Mila had a billion reasons to be frightened and leave but she decide against this. After all she was the only key to finding her sister, at least as far as she knew.She sipped some more of her cof...

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“Harper's Confession” by K.J. Stephen

Submitted to Contest #68

“I have killed many, many people.” His admission broke through the silence of the dark, musty room around them. A lone sliver of light escaped through the crack left in the doorway above, a million tiny dust particles hanging in the light. Outside, he could hear the pitter-patter of the rain against the side of the house and a thundering storm reported to be just a few miles away. When Charlotte didn’t respond, John continued speaking. “I feel guilty about it all the time. I know it’s not right. I know I should be thrown in...

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“Talking Turkey” by Monique Slater

Submitted to Contest #68

Fiona turned to Ben and said, "I have to tell you something." "Okay, shoot. Fi, you know you can tell me anything," Ben said. "Just don't say you hate Thanksgiving." He chuckled and then shot me a sideways glance. "Wait. What? You don't like Thanksgiving?" "It's not that at all. As you know, my family is Australian, and Australians don't really do Thanksgiving." "Yeah, but you grew up in Canada. They have Thanksgiving there." "Canadian Thanksgiving. It's different, or at least it was for us. It wasn't a big holiday for us. Your family, ...

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“Obsessed with you.” by Rachaita Chakraborty

Submitted to Contest #68

Did you want to hear a secret? Here's it, you don't know where I am right now, what I am doing right now. Do you know how many strangers you see in a day? Oh, I get it, you are stuck at home with this pandemic barking around. Through the internet then? You've seen me but you'll never know what I look like. Probably your neighbour, probably that one stranger who commented on your post, perhaps the new unknown follower on your media account. Anything. Anyone. Anywhere. You won't even know how I watch you, your every action, how beautifully you...

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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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