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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 Secret” by Jenne Gentry

Submitted to Contest #68

“Can I tell you a secret?” She whispered, leaning towards me so the guard on the other side of the bars wouldn't hear. “Um...” Secrets were risky, especially in here, so I knew this could go either way. Considering the petite young woman was brought in by no less than three of the high-security prison's guards, intuition told me this secret was going to be particularly dangerous. But I was bored and had nothing else to pay attention to at the moment, so...“Sure.” I replied. “I have multiple personalities.” She said, quietly. Humph, not w...

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“White Lie” by Susannah Webster

Submitted to Contest #68

A long blink. A steadying breath. Sweaty palms. “Can I tell you a secret?” “‘Course. What’s up?” Diana doesn’t take her eyes off the movie. “D’you remember Dylan Jameson?” Diana looks startled. Lucy knows that saying his name is like flicking a switch in her brain from light blue to thick grey. Diana turns to face her, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Yeah. Why?” “You remember when you told me you and him cancelled your date because of some family thing you had?” “Yeah.” If Lucy didn’t know her friend had lied, she wouldn’t catch the ...

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“Witness” by Ray Van Der Veer

Submitted to Contest #68

“He wasn’t your real father.” We were sitting at the kitchen table, two days after we had buried Dad in the cold February earth, the early thaw lending itself to quick work for the grave diggers, the sun shining down on the Father, new to the parish and one I’d never met, intoning debts of gratitude and hopes of eternity for the beloved, the twisted logic of the trinity slipping and sliding through his homily, a wind gust whirling as I threw my handful of dirt on top of the coffin as if to spit it back out at me. And now Mother sat there, st...

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“A Tragedy Just Waiting To Happen” by Zea Rose

Submitted to Contest #68

"You are right," the friendly smile seemed to off melt off his face, " it's nothing but a show. My entire personality is just a mask. A little too good to be true wasn't it." I knew it. I felt the satisfaction of finally gaining the upper hand. I guess anyone who spent too much time with him was bound to notice. Or just anyone as obsessed as finding a fault with him as I was. I gazed up at his towering form all smug like but the look was quickly wiped off my face. His incredibly beautiful face was....different. It was like ...

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“Penny for Penny, Eye for Eye” by H. Lee Russell

Submitted to Contest #68

Abraham Danver never amounted to much until his third heist. Born in New Mexico and adopted by a crowd of bandits at the age of seven, he grew to admire the lifestyle of an outlaw. Despite the murder of his parents, the boy didn't seem traumatized; Jordan Hilliger, boss of the bunch, said the boy had "no life in his eyes." The disconnect seemed to help him in the future. After Hilliger's death, twenty-year-old Danver became the newly appointed president of The Red Bully gang. &nbs...

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“Lots of People Say "Holy Moly"” by John Dodge

Submitted to Contest #68

The unexpected alarm made me drop the money. Stacks of hundred-dollar bills tumbled to the floor. I shivered. A lady passed out. Her hair covered some of the money. “Come on! Come on,” yelled Dennis. I picked up the money as fast as I could. The lady’s head was in the way. “Holy Moly,” I mumbled. “Hurry up, hurry up.” I couldn’t get it all. The alarm hurt my ears. No way to stop it. I glanced back at the lady teller. She saw my awkward exit. “Let’s go! Let’s go,” said Dennis. H...

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“The Best Made Plans...” by Harold Bowlby

Submitted to Contest #68

1367 wds. Harold Bowlby THE BEST MADE PLANS… Robert and Elwood had planned so meticulously that it should have worked perfectly. They made several dry runs and worked out every glitch and contingency possible. Rob the bank; head for the interstate; get off at the first exit; one block to the park; change cars; head for Wyoming; (who would look for them in Wyoming? Who robs a bank and heads for Wyoming?) and they would be rich and free. Robert stopped the car across the street from the bank. Elwood exited and got i...

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“A life unlived ” by Edith Jones

Submitted to Contest #68

In the small town of Massachusetts, there's only one grocery store, a post one, a bank , a barber shop , and a bar. It seems everyone goes to this town to just drink and walk the streets. This place isn't popular by any means but of course it might be exciting for someone that loves that small town feel, or someone that wants to rob a bank and get away with it. I had been driving for hours in search of this eluded place, just when I saw the sign that read Welcome to the Town Tiny Beings. Population 5...

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“Pancho and Lefty, Eternally is Here! ” by Nikita Linivenko

Submitted to Contest #68

This is it. The sweat’s lashin’ off your arse, slippin’ between the crack, and all you can hear is the Gun Club’s “Eternally is Here” poundin’ through your head. The .44 Magnum in your stubby little grip is, despite what the gun-slinging copper on TV said, not the world’s most powerful hand-cannon. You slide the duffel to Walden. He pilfers it for dye packs. You stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Hell or High Water country. Wide fuckin’ open.Seconds.Breath.Breathe.Back to seconds.No, scratch that. We have time.The long arm of the law on...

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“The Plunderers” by Richard Bishop

Submitted to Contest #68

Bank robbery and waltzing have a lot in common. Both have defined rhythms, and they’re better with a partner. After waiting my turn, like an everyday customer, I handed my note and a paper sack to the blonde girl behind the counter while pulling back my sport coat to show her the butt of my pistol. The note read: This is a robbery Remain Calm, so no one gets hurt. Fill the sack from your drawer. Have a nice day. When she scanned my note, her eyes bulged and flicked from side to side. Her frightened blue peepers filled with disbelief as she s...

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“Old Man John” by Noah D.S.

Submitted to Contest #68

WEE-WOO, WEE-WOO, WEE-WOO. Police sirens blared outside of the bank. An old man, along with his many cronies, stood outside the baroque building. The doors were locked, disallowing anybody from entering. These men were responding to a few civilian calls about a bank robbery. "Come out now with your hands up!", stuttered the old man through the megaphone. He wore a faded blue uniform that day, and little did he know this would be his last day on the job. One of his young subordinates, Officer Bryan Ryan, strolled up behind him. "Let me han...

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“The Inside Job” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #68

It has been months in the planning. We are finally standing in front of the bank and it is 1 AM. It took lot of convincing to be here tonight to attempt such an act… I was in New York but now I am living in New Mexico. In Albuquerque to be precise. It has been only a few months in this state. I rarely stay longer than a year in any given city. I don’t have a permanent address, no family, and no close friends. I spent quite some time in the penitentiary for theft, loot, robbery and illegal activities. I met Jimmy at the Bank of Albu...

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“the beginning of the end” by Isabella Bowdre

Submitted to Contest #68

A single drop of sweat had collected on Zemirah’s temple. She breathed heavily into her face mask. She clutched her bag handle then wiped her clammy palms. The line to the teller's desk was growing shorter by the minute. Zemirah was becoming anxious thinking about all the possible problems that would occur within the next 10 minutes. Zemirah’s leg buzzed. Quickly, she silenced her phone and searched her notifications. There was a message from Francesa: “look up z!! u cant get spacey rn >:(“ 2m ago Zemirah’s cheeks reddened as ...

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“Tourist trap” by Callie Grier

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, but instead they were stuck at some tourist trap in the middle of a nowhere town for a whole weekend. But i'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. “Mom please stop, we are gonna be fine!” Cody crossed his arms and pouted as his mom licked her finger and smoothed back his messy brown hair. “I know honey, I know” she paused and grabbed two little backpacks filled to the brim with clothes. “I just can’t help but be worried about you two” Cody looked up at ...

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“It's not my fault” by Faith Osawe

Submitted to Contest #68

My mother fell to the ground her tears pooling on the Marble floor, I was frozen I wasn’t functioning, my brain could not digest what I was just told. The thing I feared the most had hit me harder, harder than the incident that had happened twelve years ago. Slowly reality seemed to hit me, I could feel the tears coming down non-stop, the gripping pain in my chest just seemed to worsen by the minute. The whispers of the Guest that were waiting in the large hall increased by every second, just like me, reality hit them hard. My family members...

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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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