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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#72: Shocking Developments

Have you ever heard that there are only so many types of stories in the world? Some people say seven, some say three, some six… Regardless of the number, the idea is that you can boil down any narrative into universal templates.

While it’s true that many stories do follow familiar structures (and understanding them can help you learn how to craft a compelling narrative), there’s so much variety in how those structures unfold that the best stories still feel fresh and original.

One of the ways writers manage this is by filling their stories with unexpected details — so this week, our prompts are all about characters finding themselves in situations they’d never have imagined. But to really get something unique, don’t stop there: ask yourself what would happen if your characters made each of the possible choices before them, then write the one that surprised you the most!

This week's prompts

Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Mystery – 117 stories

Write a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

Romance – 193 stories

Write about someone getting a job offer they never would have thought to apply for.

Adults – 94 stories

Write about someone who gets an inheritance from a relative they’ve never heard of, but they’ll need to do something completely outside their comfort zone in order to collect it.

Teens – 144 stories

Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Science Fiction – 139 stories

Stories

“The Wonder that Goes Bump in The Night” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #72

You finger the wrinkled note in your hand and scowl. The sound of its crinkles as you fold it is lost to the rain pattering your car roof. The sky is filled with white clouds, like a frothing mess of sea foam dragged into the sky. Sea foam. You let loose a bitter “ha!” You can't believe you left your home at the beach for this dump. Your car screeches to a slow crawl, pulling itself onto the gravel path of the Bleawood Manor. Not much of a manor anymore, you can see, but a shambled ruin of rotting w...

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“Performative Tantrum” by Trixie Pereira

Submitted to Contest #72

Dean ate the last potato chip from the plastic packet as he lounged on the couch. He lifted his head and turned the packet upside down, shaking the last of the crumbs in his mouth. Some of the crumbs fell in his unkempt thick beard and he pulled a large piece and put it in his mouth. He knew he was pathetic but he was too tired to care. He unsubscribed from Netflix to save money so he was watching awful quality youtube videos on his large television. Perhaps if he cut his internet and sold the TV he could manage to pay another month’s rent. ...

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“the other girl” by Mania Grimm

Submitted to Contest #72

Oh. Sam had been cheating on her. Bea tried not to cry. She wouldn’t let him have that. She didn’t- she didn’t even care about him, anyways. He was- he was- Who was she kidding? She had loved him. She still did. Did she? Her feelings felt all messy and weird. She hated him. But she also felt like she might still love him. She bit her tongue and tried to choke back any emotion that would crack her voice as she spoke, but, luckily, she didn’t have to say anything. “You should leave, Samuel,” the other girl said. The other girl. The girl...

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“Algon and Paluma ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #72

I am Xura, one of the personnel assigned to the Mind Control Unit here at Hurla. Mind control is a necessary function of our small stations in the Walgo Sector. There is a lot of misinformation on this controversial subject, but for our purposes it is an essential function and without it, we would not be able to maintain our mission here at Hurla. It is complicated on Hurla since those who are sent here have been sentenced by the Supreme Command on Chaxavac (chaz-a-vac) and the sectors oversee protection and communication. ...

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“Jardin d'hiver ” by DREW LANE

Submitted to Contest #72

This is a sequel to Maybe it's time and Sweeping Sun that you can find on my page.Clotie had rehearsed the call four times already. Now was the time to try - she took a deep breath and dialled the number."Hi, hello, hi. I was calling regarding the receptionist role.""We already have receptionists.""I know, I came for an interview three weeks ago and I haven't heard back from you. I was wondering -""And you're calling only now?" She laughed and hang up.Clotie sat on the misty edge of the fountain. Looking at the palm trees, ivy and ferns that...

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“Rebel Without The Numbers” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #72

“Good morning team!” The buzz in the room quietened down as the bulky man in the once-smart suit at the front of the room dropped his stack of files on the desk. “Day 1765. I’m sure I don’t need to reiterate how important it is that we don’t mess things up now–” “But you’ve done it anyway,” Bhatt muttered to Hansen, as he did every day. As usual she smiled; it was as much a part of her morning routine as the boss saying how important the day was. “We’ve all come too far for this to fail now,” their boss was still saying. “So keep your he...

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“Red Wine” by Mishka Stennett

Submitted to Contest #72

The divorce was final…finally. It had taken a year and a half of waiting including one year of separation and another 6 months of waiting for the paperwork. But the ink was dry and I was free. Ten years ago I would never have considered this outcome. We had been a couple of 30 year olds, happy and in love. We had met at a party for a mutual friend and hit it off instantly. We had met up every day since then and drank red wine and chatted. We talked for hours each night, sometimes until the following morning. And laughed, hard, sometimes clut...

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“Paying the Morgue-age” by Doug Goodrich

Submitted to Contest #72

Aunt Florence looked great. Well, I should say, she looked great for a dead person. Her bright, gray hair was brushed straight down by her sides. It seemed to glisten under the Myer’s Funeral Home lights as I inched closer to the front. She wore a tidy pantsuit, tucked in on the sides, with her arms folded gently in front of her. I swear she looked better than I had seen her in years. Gone were the skin blemishes that made her look haunted and hollow. She looked at least fifteen years younger. Funny, how we can attempt to look the best we ca...

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“A Dream Crashed…” by Saliha Huda

Submitted to Contest #72

When he was in school, he always dreams that one day he will be a teacher of one of the well reputed institution of the country. He always noticed the teaching styles of his teachers and kept notes that how could he become a good teacher. He has to take good marks for achieving his dream. He always completed his homework and learned all his lessons by heart. He was a good student in school always achieving first position in class. Whenever he was free he was always enjoyed living in his imaginary world where he was a teacher. He putted al...

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“My last love.” by Shreya Kandari

Submitted to Contest #72

I don't get the ideology behind the statement, when people say "My first love".......Every bright morning fills me with new hope of that one day my love will blossom. My heart, with cold-contempt feelings will turn into spring and the crave for true love which I hid from everyone will be fulfilled.My name is Eva, my dream is to find my true one, in this world of tinder, Facebook and what not. But it's not the fault of these apps actually, my dream got shattered when I realized, that each boy I have dated is such a playboy. Like people are be...

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“In The Garden of Longing” by Ramon Martensen

Submitted to Contest #72

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Longing. He lived in a beautiful garden full of flowers, dewy grass, and his friends the cats, goats, and cows. He had everything he needed, but still, there was a longing in his heart. The one thing he longed for most was love. Every day he wandered through his little town, looking for a woman to make his dreams come true. And yes, sometimes he would meet somebody who could make his heart sing, but after a while, the songs always started to feel stale to him. That was when her words faded to t...

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“Whatever It Was” by Althaia Lana

Submitted to Contest #72

“Let’s get married.” “What?” “Marry me,” he shrugged. Barbara could only furrow her brow at him. On an early December evening, the amihan wind caressed their faces. Kit’s feet were dangling at the edge of her dim lit engawa while she sat by his side, hugging her bent knees. Between them were two mugs of half-finished coffee—decaf—getting cold as they stared aimlessly at her then empty front yard. Her Japanese tea houses inspired forever home had just been finished about two weeks prior. Kit, an old college friend, was just vi...

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“Charged” by George Davis

Submitted to Contest #72

The neighbor calls the police to ask them to conduct a welfare check on his next-door neighbor who he has not seen in a week; he also knocked on the neighbor’s door, rang his doorbell getting no response. Two police officers arrive to perform the request. After their attempts to rouse the neighbor by doorbell, baton banging on the door, they decide to make a force entry. Inside they search the lower floors then the second floors where they found the man on the floor of the bathroom, clothed, but unresponsive. &...

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“Kickstart My Heart (Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence)” by Alisa Burdick

Submitted to Contest #72

Tessa took off running. She didn't want to be in the club anymore. She decided that being a Nomad's daughter left something out of her life that staying in wouldn't allow her. Her father, Duke "Razor" Simmons, headed up the Nomads chapter in Syracuse. All Tessa wanted was to escape. New York City's massiveness gave Tessa a chance to disappear. One night after "Church", Tessa's mother, Clary, came to Tessa's room. "Baby," Clary said. "Yeah, Mama?" "I want you to get out of here. Don't do what I did." Tessa looked concerned. "What's going on, ...

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“A Mother Provides for her Child” by Elliot G

Submitted to Contest #72

CW: drug useI was broken. Hopeless. Pathetic. Desperate.I had never known my father, and my mother simply wasn’t there. Though she may have been physically present, she did not care for me and usually left me to my own devices. While as a kid I thought it was fun to be independent, that lingering yearning for affection--for love--remained very present and weighed down on me like an abandoned dog in the streets. I was fifteen when I first tried that horrendous drug; heroin. At first, like many, I had enjoyed the highs and thoug...

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$50

Prize money

687

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 18, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Ward 🏆

Title: Currents

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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