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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

“How Could You?” by Maya Ross

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. Happy and together… My eyes opened, seeing my beautiful girlfriend beside me. Her curly hair in a messed up state and snoring away, but find her cute none less. I kissed her cheek before I got up quietly and begin to plan for the day. Today is our anniversary. 5 years long. I knew deep in my mind that I wanted to propose to this girl for a long time, but with the money I lowkey saved up from my job, it’ll be enough for the ring. Today, it’s going to be her special day. I made e...

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“Missed Opportunity” by Lawrence Nkwazi

Submitted to Contest #68

MISSED OPPORTUNITY "This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives." These words were spoken by an aged war veteran. He had just taken few sips of coffee before he uttered those words and in no time his eyes closed. Mr Covax Peter Mutale known simply as CPM was an old man who fought in the second world War under the British Protectorate Forces from Southern Africa. He spent months in Burma and when he returned in 1949 he spent sometime in Mombasa, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa. He only returned home in 1955, and interesti...

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“The greatest sacrifice” by Adriana Wendling

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, where did it go so wrong? The room was in chaos, people running to the exits, the crackling of fire and the breath-quenching smoke filling the air. The crowd pushed and shoved until finally I exited the building. As I gasped for clean air, I turned to ask Ally if she was okay and realized she was no longer behind me. Fear surged through me and I began pushing back into the church to try and save my beloved. Let me start at the beginning, it was our wedding day. The day ...

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“'Til Death Do Us Part” by Evander Lovell

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, yet Gerald didn’t feel the slightest bit of joy. Gerald couldn’t help but glare at the poor girl who attempted to fix his tie. He didn’t want to get married to someone he didn’t know nor love. Marriages were arranged before a child’s birth by the Prophetess. She was the one who decided fated pairs in the Empire. Opposing the marriage, divorcing later on, or having an affair resulted in death. Loyalty was everything, after all. Alone in the room now, Gerald wanted nothing more than r...

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“Almost but Never Together” by Rhyme Yoo

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest days of their lives, Janus decided to take Sachi to her most favorite place in the world and to finally make their relationship official after being together for a long time. The day after that Janus is preparing for a lot of stuff and planning about what they should do after, he hasn’t mention anything to Sachi that day he wanted to make it a surprise and make her the most happiest girl in the world. He called most of his best buddies to help him ran an errand while he’s busy decorating on his own for hi...

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“The Wedding” by Megan Crouse

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Margurite had spent the last year planning her wedding. It was to be a simple affair, out in a park in the full bloom of springtime. She had finally gotten her makeup done, but her chocolate brown hair was still a messy bramble of frizzy curls. No matter, there were still tables, chairs and all sorts of things to be set up Someone had to supervise. As she stepped out of the small cabin where she had been getting ready, she inspected the scene. The gazebo, where the reception was to be ...

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“Never Too Late” by Rebecca Bogan

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives and no matter what it cost her, Savannah was determined to make this dream wedding a reality. She gently brushed her fingertips in a circular motion against the center of the window pane, gazing down on the empty street below through the patch of fog she'd managed to clear. Her warm breath quickly filled that tiny space up again, and she turned away, disappointed. Where was the florist? Rain was supposed to bring good luck, not bad. If only her mother hadn't insisted on her getting marr...

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“Cerulean Blue” by Hali Hensley

Submitted to Contest #68

It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. This thought occurred to me while I lied sprawled across the pavement, blinking toward the clear blue sky. No clouds, just a vast cerulean. There was a light breeze moving the hair around my face, dancing with a leaf across the grass by the guardrail. It was a warm breeze, soft against my skin. It cooled the blood that puddled around my leg. I lifted my head up-- maybe the slowest I’ve ever moved before-- and my eyes scanned the scene around me. &nb...

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“Happiness in unhappiness” by Affair Writer

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, or at least that's what they thought. Earlier this morning his wife over cooked the meat that they were supposed to enjoy, yet they finished it with non left. Later on, they had received the wrong coffee from what they ordered. After finishing their usual coffee, they went straight to the place that they've been aching for. He left the pile of work that he had, she left the laundry untouched. Rain then falls, more cars are in sight. They went from 80, 60, to 20....

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“Do Ends Meet?” by Somdatta Gangopadhyay

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. ‘Congratulations!’ said the nurse, as she was holding an eight and a half pound baby girl wrapped in a linen cloth, extending a warm smile to the mom, Prerna. ‘You have given birth to a beautiful baby girl!’ Prerna who was still lying on the maternity bed, and was struggling to somehow sit up, couldn’t believe the nurse’s words, but managed to extend her arms toward the baby and her eyes fixed on the baby’s face as that was the only part she could see. Taking the baby within her arms,...

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“Swimming in Circles” by Kevin Leonard

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. For Ariel, that was certainly true. She looked down at the sleeping baby that lay on her chest and felt another surge of maternal love pulse through her. She put a hand on her child’s downy hair. Sweet Dorothy. It made her want to weep and scream and shout with how viscerally she loved this girl. How could she have made something so perfect? The sweat and stench of labour, the underlying pungent sterility of the hospital, it all seemed to fade away now that this beautiful child had arr...

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“THE BIRTH OF AN ONGOING NIGHTMARE” by Mike Williams

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Janet and Bill planned and dreamed about this day for quite some time. They both grew up in this small, cotton farming community. They knew each other in the same grammar school, and later dated each other during the freshman year at their town’s only high school. &nb...

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“Wedding Day” by David Hilder

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. My little girl Sheila, all grown up and looking like a fairy with her feathery white dress. And Tom, her man, his stern face melting into a silly, boyish smile. Sheila was the only one who could make him smile like that. They looked at each other so tenderly, as if each was totally in awe of the other. Standing side by side at the front of the chapel, they were complete. He was her world and she was his. This was their day. I wasn’t about to ruin it for them. What was I thinking? This...

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“Under the Green Canopy” by Angeline Ruth

Submitted to Contest #68

[11/16, 7:48 PM] +91 95964 46311: 1. It had been twenty-four years since she'd last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The rubber trees stood erect, creating a green canopy that shielded the community of squirrels that scampered from one moss-speckled branch to another from the harsh elements of nature. The familiar smell of latex permeated the air as she walked in the dark, dank rubber plantation, accompanied by the croaking of frogs that were...

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“The rose garden” by Leonie Anne

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same -just in a slightly smaller format, as she was not that seven-year-old girl anymore. The garden grew smaller overtime, though the roses did not alter in looks. The white porch of her grandfather’s house still held plants in various sizes and a reading corner that was placed next to the swing she loved so much. She used to sit on it while her grandfather would read her something from Harry Potter. When she looked in this direction ...

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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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