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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#7: Scrumdiddlyumptious

Did you know: September 13th is Roald Dahl's birthday — so a "gloriumptious" Roald Dahl Day to you!

Roald Dahl was a children's book author, best known for classics like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Gian Peach, and, well, the list of his beloved children's books goes on and on.

Dahl not only created whimsical worlds within his stories, he also created new diction, inventing words such as "gloriumptious" (pure marvelousness), "biffsquiggled" (being confused or puzzled), "churgle" (gurgling with laughter), and "ringbeller" (a really good dream).

This week, our prompts are all elements pulled from Roald Dahl's phizz-whizzing (splendid) books.

This week's prompts

Write a story with a child narrator.

Kids – 37 stories

Write a story that mixes everyday situations with surreal surroundings.

High School – 26 stories

Write a story where a chocolate cake plays a significant role.

Funny – 34 stories

Write a story about a person longing for family.

Angst – 44 stories

Write a story infused with dark humor.

Funny – 15 stories

Stories

“The Chase” by Steve Roberts

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #7

Bummer!I could hear dogs in the distance. They were louder than they had been a few minutes ago. My breath came in thick gasps, pain stitching my side as I fought for air.I hadn’t run this far in years.As I ducked under a low branch the lower edge painfully scraped the top of my head. ‘Who am I kidding?’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ve never ran this far.’ I topped out the hill and slowed my pace to a walk, giving one last glance behind me before I started down the other side. I could still hear the dogs, but couldn’t see them...

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“Emotional Support Monster” by Patrick Tuttle

Submitted to Contest #7

“Why did you give Gertrude the Baker a bat as a familiar?” Esmeralda asked, placing her pointed hat on her desk and leaning back in her chair. Her silvery curls spilled out, framing her sharply featured face.I shrugged and gave her my winning smile. “It was her arms,” I said. “They were the flabbiest I’d ever seen and she wouldn’t stop waving them around and shrieking in excitement. Boom. Bat familiar, perfect match.”A column of swirling smoke rose from her pipe as she held it between her teeth. “It seems you didn’t think about the fact that...

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“The Spoon” by Arthur Tiberio

Submitted to Contest #7

The golden spoon of Ms. Hampshire was well known, in these parts, as a trinket of inestimable family value. It had been many decades since it had seen any practical application, but it was said that Baron Vindelin Hampshire, he of incredible antiquity and near-mythological achievement, had once proffered the utensil to the then King of England himself. She kept the spoon under lock and key, in a far-removed basement chamber of the house, and her esteem could survive this thanks to the efforts of a great-grandmother who had been on good terms...

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“The Boy who Cried Cake” by Calina Croz

Submitted to Contest #7

There once was a boy named Jerald. Every day Jerald worked sitting in a bakery watching the chocolate cake. His job was to make sure nobody touched the chocolate cake.This chocolate cake was very special. It had been made when the town was founded. (100 years ago) The villagers never ate it, for it was too beautiful to eat. Now it was considered a huge part of the town and its people.One afternoon Jerald decided he would play a little prank on the townsfolk."CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!!!!!!!!" he cried. "Somebody's eating the cake!"All the towns...

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“Talking with dead husband” by Shazia Bano

Submitted to Contest #7

Life is like a maze-puzzle, in which start and finish point is already decided by a Supreme Power, we all are trying different routes in our own way to reach the finishing point. For Julia also, one path which was to live with her husband Martin, was closed. Martin chose a short-cut leaving her alone to try all other routes available.Every month on the same date, Julia visited Martin’s grave with a cake baked by her. That day she chose chocolate flavor as it was his birthday today and chocolate was his favorite flavor. Every month she would ...

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“Marcus Quercus” by Ann P Johnson

Submitted to Contest #7

My name is Marcus, and I’m mad. I’m sitting in the Principal’s office, and it’s my Mom’s fault. George and Arnie are bullies. They didn’t get in trouble for pulling my shirt out of my pants on the bus and calling me “stinky pinky.” They always do that when I wear this shirt. I hate this shirt. Mom says it’s peach. It’s not. It’s pink. I’m tired of George making fun of me. So today I had some acorns from my tree in my pocket, and when we were ge...

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“A Disappearing Spell” by Juliet Martin

Submitted to Contest #7

I had a best pal - Richie. We liked to do all sorts of stuff together. For a long time, our favourite game was at lunchtime at school we would spin in circles. You have to stand on the grass and look up at the sky and hold your arms out at the sides, then close your eyes and spin and spin as fast as you can. Sometimes we bashed into each other or other people like two pinballs in a pinball machine – that’s what the arms-out were for. You had to keep going, no matter what, until one of us shouted STOP and we had to stop still and open our eye...

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“Monsters of Doubt” by Olivia Fairfax

Submitted to Contest #7

“Oh no. George prefers red wine.” “No, no, I'll try the white.” “You never drink white wine!” “Well I like to be able to change my mind.” George took the offered glass. “You never drink white wine.” Marjorie huffed. And it was true George never drank white wine, especially not the sweet white that the Abercrombies served. He disliked it intensely. He might be predictable, he might never change his habits but he wanted the freedom to do so if the fancy took him. “No thank you,” he would say, if asked directly. “I prefer red wine, dry ...

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“Randomly Random” by Cheza Vidal

Submitted to Contest #7

Even as Daisy sat comfortably on the chair, the jittery feeling in her stomach never subsided. It had a mind of its own, an involuntary, uneasy feeling that wrapped itself around her belly as soon as she sat on that chair. It was the butterflies in her stomach, she thought, which had multiplied by the minute. She couldn’t wait any longer. The day has finally arrived, but he still has not. In fact, he was already ten minutes late.A rapid knock came from the door, followed by the sound of clicking and the door opening. The man was six foot tal...

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“Testimony” by Chloe Smalley

Submitted to Contest #7

The body lay in its casket, wide eyes empty as it stared blankly up at the sky. Bob Dylan entered the graveyard quietly, crossing through the maze of graves with careful patience, trying not to step on any of the graves. The last thing he wanted was any more bad luck. The world was already unlucky enough. He halted in front of the casket and sighed. “Who is he?” O’Brien asked, appearing from behind a nearby mausoleum. His suit was slightly rumpled, but Dylan didn’t mention it. Dylan looked down at the body and tried to recall the expre...

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“Ice Cream” by Jay Kasperbauer

Submitted to Contest #7

By anybody’s measure he was not intelligent. He was incapable of making informed decisions or conclusions. There wasn’t a subject in which he was versed. Just nonsense and blank space in his mind. At a young age he was put in classes with the other slow learners. Him and the others worked at a slower pace and covered less subject matter than the rest of the students. He knew of his enrollment in the special classes, it’s not like anyone tried to hide it. It didn’t matter to him anyway. Throughout his or her life, a mentally deficient person ...

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“Hear my voice” by Chris Casburn

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #7

Hear My VoiceThey’re rowing again. It never ends these days. If it’s not Brexit then it’s about his drinking. Mum stopped a few months ago, and ever since then, it’s been a constant source of arguments. He tends to get leery after a few drinks, touching and mauling her. Nothing violent but she shrugs him off, and that’s when the shouting starts. “You’re off your face, again.” “Don’t bloody start. You’re like a broken record. It was just a few drinks with Dave after his success in the local elections. He only beat the bloody Tories, you know....

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“The Life and Times of the Why-Child” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #7

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WHY-CHILD Mum came out with that business about my initials just being coincidence again today. Well, I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it as Mr Prentice says when we come up with some excuse for our homework not being done. Say what you like about Mum, but she’s not stupid, and she has a way with words and all that, and I can’t believe that it didn’t dawn on her that Wilhelmina Harriet Yarrow gives you WHY. I’d rather she was just honest about it. Or would I? Lucy, who’...

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“To hell with Hollywood” by Robert Moore

Submitted to Contest #7

You won’t believe your eyes, I’m willing to bet. A letter in your mail! Who still writes today? I can imagine you from here: “A pervert. He saw me in a movie and he's polishing his whistle while thinking about me, that disgusting old man.” You wouldn't be wrong, at least for the “old man” part. I’m at the end of the line. But that's another story. My lawyer, a brat of not even thirty, wanted me to contact you by e-mail or phone. “That's the way it is now, Mr. Davis,” I said no. Well, to be very precise, I said, “Shit”. I wanted to talk to yo...

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“The Widow” by Mackenzie Morris

Submitted to Contest #7

Set at a whopping 375 degrees, the old oven struggled to get up to temperature. I kicked the hissing box of scrap metal causing the partially hinged door to fall open. “Shit.” I muttered. I slammed the door shut and set down the overloaded paper bags. My shoulder throbbed wearisomely, and the oven, unbothered, continued to whistle and wheeze behind me. I unpacked the groceries arranging them into an orderly pile and assessed my damage. There were some eggs, a bag of potatoes, and a small slab of red meat but the rest of the items were for my...

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$50

Prize money

156

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 20, 2019 EST

Won by Adriana K. Maxwell 🏆

Title: Don't Drink The Stars

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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