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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#70: To Err Is Human

The other day I realized I’d made a pretty big mistake in the book I’m writing. This isn’t anything new. Writers of all skills levels make plenty of mistakes — if we didn’t, editors would be out of a job — but it’s still frustrating when you realize you’re going to have to throw out a few thousand words.

But writers aren’t the only ones who make mistakes, or at least we shouldn’t be. In order for your characters to grow and be interesting as people, they’re going to need to make some bad choices of their own.

This week, let’s dig deep into all the things your characters can mess up, whether it’s because of a deep-seated character flaw or just a really bad stroke of luck. The sort of thing that will haunt them for years to come, fuel their deepest regrets, and form a cornerstone of their personality going forward. It may be tough to put them through the emotional wringer, but I promise your story will be better for it.

This week's prompts

Write about someone who’s so obsessed with a goal that it leads to the destruction of their closest relationship.

Sad – 154 stories

Write about a character who everyone thinks is guilty of something terrible, but isn’t.

Thriller and Suspense – 179 stories

Write about someone trying to atone for a mistake they’ll never be able to fix.

Angst – 192 stories

Write about two people who know they’ve made a mistake, and one of them wants to tell the truth but the other wants to lie about it.

Kids – 120 stories

Write about a character who’s so afraid of making the wrong choice that their indecision ruins the very thing they were hoping to keep safe.

Sad – 85 stories

Stories

“Spiteful Little One” by Annette Lovewind

Submitted to Contest #70

I heard a knock on the door, which was unusual considering it was Halloween and children are impatient to get their candy and ring the doorbell. I hurry to the door and grab the bowl of candy that is next to it. I opened the door to see a girl about teenage age. Something about her was familiar and her makeup was killer. The trick-or-treater had bloody clothes, a light pink dress with a gray cover-up, and on her heart was this bullet wound. It looked so realistic. With her makeup on her face, you would think she was dead. With a semi-pale f...

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“Hello Love” by Mihret Adal Gidi

Submitted to Contest #70

Daniel Porter‘It’s fun talking with you🎊.’‘Same here... for me✨,’ he replies hosting genuine felicity. How is he in love this fast? He can’t believe it as well. He met her on a dating site and its been a year, the conversation was and is still going well. She can make him talk a lot, even about issues he never imagined telling himself about. That should be the reason for loving her this much, the addictive conversations.‘So, we are doing it finally, right?’‘No doubt at all.’ He replied to her. He is expecting to see her tomorrow and though i...

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“When the Glass Shatters” by Christie Greenwood

Submitted to Contest #70

When it rains, it pours. Or rather: When the glass shatters, everything breaks. In their case, it’s the entire universe. After the deed has been done, it’s easy to claim that it was an accident. I didn’t mean it rises to Henley’s lips even more often than I didn’t really do anything. She did, though, and she knows it. The mere lack of action is never enough of an excuse, enough of a get-out-of-jail-free card… …that is, if humanity (humanities?) didn’t have more pressing concerns right now than determining whether acute thumb-twiddling is ...

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“Creeds, Part II ” by Megan Faith

Submitted to Contest #70

“So, you want to tell me why we’re going West?” The cowboy asked. Percy and Aoyama sat together in the train car, trying to eat dinner. Percy had his letter he was writing to Lucy on the table. His plate was clean. Aoyama hadn’t been eating the past few days, his plate was full. The samurai looked at him, that was all it took for Percy to understand. “I’m completely grateful to you, but I would like to know what favor I am returning. Mr. Hisatomo.” “Please call me Aoyama.” He murmured. A waiter passed them, making him press deeper in...

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“Right or Wrong” by Achor

Submitted to Contest #70

Two planets are seen, slowly moving toward each other, through a cockpit window. “Captain, are you sure about this? If we stay on this trajectory, we’re sure to be dragged into one of the planets!” “No, we’ll make it through!” “Sir! We won’t, there’s no chance! We’ve missed our timing. We’ll all die! You do get that? Don’t you!? Think of the passen-” “You don’t think I’ve thought of them already!? Yes, we may crash, but if we stay here, we’ll all be as good as dead. This is a risk we must take, FOR the passenger, a risk FOR THEIR LIVES!” ...

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“In the shadows” by Ramla Ali

Submitted to Contest #70

Trigger warning: suicide Miranda turned the key,her brain still in shock of how close she had come to being killed by the mob at the front of her house. It had been a long day and she was just glad to have made it home safe and sound. She screamed when her phone rang. Everything that was happening had made her very jumpy. She knew it was just one of those reporters who wanted to ask her about the death of her husband and so she switched it off . There had been many of those lately after her husband was found hanging from the ceiling o...

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“Drunken Words are Sober Thoughts” by Zena Jalloh

Submitted to Contest #70

To say I’m nervous would be the understatement of the year. My hands are shaking where they sit in my lap, but I can’t let it show because I acted way too calm when she came into our store earlier. I think it was a mixture of absolute shock and mild panic that made me act that way. I was in the middle of teaching an oil pastel class on how to blend darks to lights when the windchimes on the door jingled. Violet was in the front of the shop, so I expected her to get it, but when a voice that sounded a little too eager and too familiar called ...

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“Scales (Part 2 of 'One Word')” by GRACE LARSON

Submitted to Contest #70

Shock rippled out over my relatives’ faces. I glanced around at their horrified expressions, already seeing the signs of rejection that were brewing under their normally kindly faces. They didn’t understand just yet - they were questioning if they had heard me correctly, if it was not simply a bad dream. A soft murmur swelled and broke over the stunned silence. They were turning to each other now, asking if they had heard the same thing. They would turn on me in a moment, demanding to know what I meant- Up until now, I had avoided looking in...

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“Tapped For Error” by A. S.

Submitted to Contest #70

His rosy-cheeked face peers at the bundle through an excitement induced fog, the thick lenses of his glasses magnifying his eyes to an impossible scale. Fading adrenaline lights his hickory smoke eyes, projecting his confidence to the corners of the room.“Well, that was fun and all… but now that we’ve had our laughs, we need to take it back.” Sweat plasters his snowflake hair to his scalp and he runs his fingers through it, raising it to stand on end.A carefully folded lump sits between us and every few moments he will tear his gaze away, re...

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“Tales” by Cathryn V

Submitted to Contest #70

The RAV4 sits like “exhibit A” on the blacktop outside of our apartment, facing me with its little dent; that dent outlined by a smear of red paint. Even when I walk out of the room, it draws me back again, “here I am,” it says, “I’m right in front of your door with my blood on your car.” Of course, it’s not blood. My head hurts from being awake all night, checking on the dent, as if it would disappear like a bad dream. But this is a living nightmare and it isn’t going away, dent or no dent.It is the day after our trip from the coast, a...

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“Blue Heart” by Amalee Bowen

Submitted to Contest #70

Wind whipped through my hair, tangling it about my face even as I twisted it and tucked it back under my hat again. The height of the crow’s nest exaggerated everything. The sharp bite of the wind, the pitch and the sway of the ship. I wrapped one arm around the mast, even as I leaned out over the ocean. The sea is a temperamental creature, but she wears her heart on her sleeve. Some days she is a tame beast, glassy and clear. Other days she is exuberant, blue and white-capped, playing in the s...

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“Celestia Meda” by Aveena Bordeaux

Submitted to Contest #70

The next star would come tomorrow night. She'd be glowing and blazing hot, leaving a streak of light as she raced towards Earth. I had spent my entire month calculating everything – where she would land, how fast she would go based off the previous one, what she would look like, and if she was going to be like the enormous dazzling one last month that barreled towards the planet with insane speed.Celestia Meda was the one that would be showing up, according to my sleepless and food less hours of projections and data estimates. She was one of...

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“Condemning the New Guy” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #70

Condemning the New Guy.I didn’t really know him. No one in our high school class did. He had moved into our small town in August just before school started. It is late November now, and we are still calling him ‘New Guy’. The rest of us had all grown up together, so he probably would be New Guy for quite some time.I was surprised to see him at the Friday night school dance. As far as I knew, he had not been to one before. He would be easy to spot as he is rather tall. When he sat down beside me, I didn’t know what to...

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“Decisions” by Alexander Wolfe

Submitted to Contest #70

Candle light set a soft glow to the otherwise dark room as our bodies seemed to move as one to the pounding music in the background. Nothing else mattered in those moments but the feel of each other. Our bodies climbed together, racing toward the peak. As we reached it together, the neighbors probably knew it. We gradually brought each other down. I collapsed beside her, spooning her immediately. Her small, soft body gently panting and heavily sweating against my stronger, just as sweaty, body. I was slipping into the grips of sleep wh...

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“The Count” by Chris Wagner

Submitted to Contest #70

Ashley and I had just won a game show, and were on our way to fetch the prize money when we heard a scream. Someone in the neighboring studio had just uncovered a dead body. The victim: A contestant from a cooking show called Shadow Chef. African American, female, overweight. The body had been completely drained of blood. I spotted two small puncture wounds in the neck. She had been wearing a cross, but it lay on a broken chain a couple feet away. You could see red marks where it got yanked off. The wom...

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$50

Prize money

731

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 04, 2020 EST

Won by Irene Rebello 🏆

Title: What you made me.

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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