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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

“Reflection” by Kenn Rho

Submitted to Contest #68

MONDAY 5:30 AM Forty-four percent of people are morning people, thought Katie. What a large number considering how little you hear of people appreciating mornings.She sipped coffee and watched the sun as it slowly ascended the stairway of the sky. People often write poetry when they can’t describe the beauty of something through prose-- but, in Katie’s opinion, even poetry could not do mornings justice. She considered them to be an experience that had to be appreciated in the flesh. The chirping of birds, the warmth of coffee, the peacefulne...

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“Starlight and Moonbeam” by Starlight Geminine

Submitted to Contest #68

You yawn, leaning against my shoulder. I can’t help but laugh as I lean down to murmur in your ear. “You’re gonna miss it.” “And who’s fault is that?” you grumble, though you open your eyes and sit up. “I’m not the one who woke us up before dawn.” “Trust me Starlight, it’ll be worth it,” I reply. You let out a little huff, and I lean down to press a kiss to the top of your head. Moments later, our patience is rewarded as the sun crests the horizon, the sky turning vivid orange and red as the meadow in front of us lights up. I glance ...

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“Petals” by Malady Cross

Submitted to Contest #68

Breakfast and the sunrise were one in the same for a sunflower. Helian breathed in the lingering dawn, its once frigid breeze warming somewhat. The sun had brought the blossoms along his arms, shoulders, and chest a bountiful meal, but the crown on his head was the happiest. He and the flowers were of a single body, yet he could hear their unique voices. They chanted about their fullness. Helian chuckled, running his finger over the loudest. He tilted his wrist forward, letting the flower bathe in the light.A fleuralite’s skin was ripe with ...

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“Ghost Lake” by Skylar Carr

Submitted to Contest #68

I wished that moment would last forever, as we watched the sunrise together, but I knew that it wouldn't I knew that we couldn't stay there forever I knew that but why did everything have to go so wrong. Here’s what happened, we meet at a coffee shop I worked there and he was a customer he was rude and I was doing my job it was love at first sight, not really, we had been friends for years but we started to get feelings for each other. We had been planning a trip to the lake where we meet for weeks when it finally arrived we packed up and sp...

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“Reflecting on Christine and Molly” by Susan Hudson

Submitted to Contest #68

Reflecting on Christine and Molly Susan W. Hudson They sat on the deck overlooking the lake as they did every morning. “Red at night, sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailor take warning,” Christine muttered to Molly. The sky was fiery red and excruciatingly beautiful. Was this truly a harbinger of things to come? Molly turned her big beautiful head up and locked her black eyes on Christine’s sky blue ones. They had been figuratively tethered together for thirteen years. Molly was an accidental dog. Christine was on her back...

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“The Gray Brittle Life” by Abby Christine

Submitted to Contest #68

Dear Diary, This morning I was watching the sunrise and listening to the news, with a cool November breeze running chills up my back. When you're raised by that “zen” mom, you know to meditate, enjoy the little things and nature, and to trust your gut because it knows best. I stopped thinking this way of thinking was weird, like, when I was 10. Anyway, I was listening to the news and it was some medical thing that was affecting a bunch of animals and causing rabies. Something felt… wrong. A clip of a woman having an over-the-phone in...

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“Changes ” by Akhila Jogineedi

Submitted to Contest #68

New year , 2019 After dancing for 2 hours straight we are tired enough to go home and sleep Dancing , drinking , loud music and large crowd is kind of fun . Our first new year as lovers to be frank I’m not totally a party type person . When he said let’s go home “ Keshav. , I want to see the first sunrise with you “ I asked “ Okay , I’ll take you to place which you have never been before “ “ Yeah,” I shouted out of excitement It’s around 3 am in the morning , roads are empty “ Keshav, you promised me on em...

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“Sun, It Rises” by Chris H

Submitted to Contest #68

"Do you usually go on dates this deep in the mountains?" he asked with a bit of nervousness. It's not that he was nervous about the location of the date itself, but more so that he was on a date at all."You said you liked sunrises, didn't you? Or did you just say you like them? Well, either way, from up here we get the best view near town," she said with a hint of derisiveness.'Near town? I would hardly call this near. It took us an hour to get here,' he thought to himself. He was hesitant to push it further, for fear of making himself sound...

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“All Is Well When the Moon Smiles Up at You” by Isaiah Ramos

Submitted to Contest #68

“Are you sure?” the Younger asked quietly. His arms rested on his knees as he watched the sun slowly rise over the tops of the mountains, bathing the wooded valley and the lake below with its warm light. The older man breathed calmly beside him, rigid as the stone bench they sat on, yet at ease. “Yes, very,” he replied. The Younger clasped his fingers together and sighed. “Well, then I guess this is it?” He looked at the Elder, the Elder back at him. “There’s nothing I can say to make you reconsider, is there?...

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“Walking the Peace Trail ” by Sam Capo

Submitted to Contest #68

“Close your eyes, breath. Let your consciousness expand all around you. Feel your barriers dissolve and feel the connection of everything all around you. Feel that all matter and energy is one, coming from the same Source.” Angel straightened his back ever so slightly, relaxed his shoulders down away from his neck, and released a deep and lengthy exhale. They started each morning this way. Before first light, his father and he would find a secluded ar...

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“Why It's So Pretty” by E Shouse

Submitted to Contest #68

"The sun doesn't really rise, honey," he explains. "It's actually the earth moving that makes it show out there on the horizon."I know the earth moves, and the sun stays in one place. I am an intelligent person with a high school education and two years of community college.Still, the term sunrise exists. When I say "watch the sunrise," I'm just using a figure of speech. You shouldn't have to watch every word you say.I just sit and sip my coffee and nod. I have a lot to do today.He continues, "So as the sun's light comes up, the little thing...

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“The Memories We Leave” by Gloria Salazar

Submitted to Contest #68

"What exactly are we doing out here Dad?" Cass whined pitifully sleepy at her father as they stumbled along in the near dark. "You'll see", her father, Sam, had teased her not unkindly. In a swift motion he gathered the young Cass up in his arms with a grunt of effort. "Trust me it'll be worth it." Cass laid her head sleeply on his shoulder. "Tell me when we get there." He chuckled as little snorts of slumber rose to his ears. She was not much of a morning person but she was going to love this; if he could get them there in time. He quic...

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“Junior Year” by Sydthecrybaby .

Submitted to Contest #68

As the bright orange and magenta hues of the sky started to darken and disappear amongst the horizon, I formed my index and thumb into a circle creating the OK symbol whilst following the sun as it went down. Its rays peeked out from between my fingers and the golden beams trickled my face. I heard Janica sigh next to me and watched as she threw her body backwards onto the soft surface of the grassy plain we were sitting on. She then proceeded to sling her right arm over her eyes as if to shield the sun from her face. Clearly, something was ...

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“A Pale Reflection” by Tye Foon

Submitted to Contest #68

I had been lying in bed for a while, watching the sun rise and shine through the window, reflecting off of the face of my wife. She had always been so bright and cheerful, the definition of a sunny attitude. I slipped out of bed, slid into some casual clothes I had left on the floor and slinked out of the apartment. It was a warm spring morning. April the fifth, the day of our wedding anniversary. Our first wedding anniversary. I was going to make sure it was a very special one. I walked down to the corner store and popped in. I ordered...

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“The Last Day” by Kiryn Bell

Submitted to Contest #68

The sunrise was so beautiful on a normal day, but from up here it seemed even better. The den sat a few feet from the cliff which surrounded one side of the lake. The waters were still dark as the rays of the rising sun had yet to hit them, but there was now enough light to make out the waterfall that hid the path up to the den and the thousands of trees filling the forest around the lake. There was some movement behind me and it didn't surprise me when I heard a soft voice say, “Wolfie? What are you doing?” I turned my head toward the smal...

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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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