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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

“5000 Feet” by Bailey Floyd

Submitted to Contest #72

Marie didn’t know this house. The door behind her had cracks down the front, and the floorboards beneath her squeaked once she flattened her sandals against the grain. There were small dust particles floating in the sunbeams by the living room, but there wasn’t a layer of grime on any surface. It was as if someone had just come through the house with a duster, leaving little time for the remnants to settle to the floor. Marie shut the door with her right hand and looked around for anyone to greet her. A few days ago she had received a lett...

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“The Donor's Legacy” by Catherine Rose

Submitted to Contest #72

Sheila waited patiently at the gate, as the guards checked the enigmatic invitation she received in the post a week prior. Dear Sheila Byrne, As a beneficiary, you are cordially invited to attend Reading of the Will and the Division of Assets of the late Fadil York’s estate, next Thursday, the 13th of March, at 9.00 am. Details pertaining to the bequest and execution of Mr York’s Last Will and Testament will be provided on site. Yours sincerely, Stephen Nagler (Legal Executor) Sh...

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“Next In Line” by S Kammula

Submitted to Contest #72

Nico squinted through the humidity. This was the culmination of a week of horror, but he couldn’t help feeling darkly excited as he wondered who else had wandered through this conservatory at night. The flashlight he swung back and forth had a name engraved on the side. Ambrose Compton. Nico’s face burned as he remembered the first and only time he had spoken to Compton. He was an old-school finance man, almost a caricature. Nico worked for a local newspaper and had planned a series of articles about the Compton Organization’s alleged mi...

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“sad clown paradox” by Matthew Hummel

Submitted to Contest #72

The metal arm from the airport chair left a red welt under Joel’s knee where his cargo shorts failed to provide cover. It was the dull pain that woke him in time to hear the ending of an announcement. He tucked his feet under his seat and searched his shorts for the loading ticket, after four pockets he found it wrapped in a wrinkled Wendy’s napkin. He compared the gate number on the ticket with the painted numbers above the flat screen monitor on the wall. A4, A4.“Excuse me.” He leaned across the aisle and addressed a young man who had his ...

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“Bury Me” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #72

The coastal road meandered along the Italian rocky hill, keeping me on the edge with every turn. My journey was now in its final, loneliest stage. Many times in my life, I was told the sky is darkest before dawn, but even though my destination drew near, dawn seemed decades away as I drove through the pitch-black night, like a white feather diving into a bottle of tenebrous ink.A flight of steep steps carved into the side of the hill caught my eye by the left of the road as my headlights illuminated a curve. It led down to a narrow, sandy be...

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“Learning to Read and Write” by Annie Hill

Submitted to Contest #72

A young girl named Emily wandered through the painfully long hallways of the lab that she called home. A collar was around her neck with a blue blinking light. This meant she was a stable human being. Red meant they were prone to anger outbursts, green meant they had toxic words to say, orange meant they were an energetic human, purple meant they viewed themselves highly, and yellow meant they may have overreactions to any kind of stimulant. The blue light on her collar was often seen as positive, but she hated the blue. It reminded her of c...

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“Never going back” by Andrea Itt

Submitted to Contest #72

Hero saw the dark tower come into view. The neon lights were almost blinding in the rainy night. Hero stopped a good hundred feet away, turning to the sidekicks. “All right, I’m going to go in and distract them. You guys will free the captives on the lower level and then get out as fast as you can, got it?” One of the sidekicks rolled their eyes. “I think we have the routine memorized.” He muttered. The other one nodded. “Yeah, Villain always does this. Even the hostages have the routine memorized.” Hero pursed his lips. They weren’t wrong. ...

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“The digital predictor” by Sajid Bijapure

Submitted to Contest #72

“What can we do?” “Yeah! It’s so irritating!” “Is there no way out?” “At least I can’t see it.” This conversation went on for quite a while between Tom and Tim who were in their early twenties. They were released from the prison after completing 6 months sentence for stealing a gentleman’s purse in a bus. “How did you get caught?” asked Tim. “Not I but “we”. We were both equally responsible,” said Tom with some irritation in his tone. “OK, OK. How did we get caught?” Tim corrected himself and continued, “I thought you were an expert in doing...

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“From Peace to Pieces” by Bridget Franz

Submitted to Contest #72

It was our Utopian bubble, our saving grace from a rotting Earth. Scientists created what was like a thin exoskeleton that surrounded us on the Moon, it absorbed and dissolved all outer dangers, and perceived dangers. We were taught to worship the exoskeleton. We all wore white floor length dresses and kept our hair short. Our leader wanted uniformity, and uniformity he said achieved the Utopia we found ourselves in. We smiled while we farmed synthetic seeds and ate only what Leader told us to. Our greetings were monitored for happine...

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“Dreams of order” by Joan Marc Capo Payeras

Submitted to Contest #72

Dear Destiny, I am writing these words as I am not sure if I will ever see the light of a new day again. The circumstances that brought me here are diverse and, in all fairness, my own responsibility, although you already know that. It is because of that that you hunt me. That you want me dead. Honestly I cannot blame you, I also want to see myself dead, but first I need to find out why it happened. The tragedy. The instant when everything went wrong and the reality that you knew ended. The moment that your knowledge was unable to unders...

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“The Little Box” by Stephanie Jones

Submitted to Contest #72

“5 steps to the right! 3 steps forward! 10 steps to the left and sit down! Eat!” I forced my feet to move and do as the voice booming out of the speaker commanded. For the past few days, I’ve wanted to do the exact opposite of what it told me to do. It has everything to do with the old man who stepped out of the little box in my brain 3 days ago. He told me that he was my great grandfather on my Mom’s side, and he was preserved in his box until the time was right. “Take 5 more bites and throw your food away!” I wanted to finish the r...

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“year 3000” by Dulani Chandima

Submitted to Contest #72

Years 3000 "As usual, Professor Good Morning ... " In the distance from the small glass window in his office room, Mahachar looked at the earth, which had previously shone blue but faded into a desert-like color.‍Abeywick‍Rama's eyes on his assistant's voice For a moment He had to withdraw from the usual view. "Ah ... Good morning Jack, How are our greenhouses doing ... " Squeezing a cup of coffee in his hand He also sat in his chair for Jack to review the information he does every day, Shaking hands as if sitting in the front seat. " Ver...

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“My future is mine” by Luna Martin

Submitted to Contest #72

Lucia Paynes sat in the waiting room. This was the moment. This was the day that people would stop doubting her. She would go into that room and come out with a referral to a engineering college specifically the Mechanical Engineering College And Department Supplier, or the MECADS college. They were the most prestigious engineering college in the world. Their students went on to do great things. Jane Roberts graduated from MECADS and went on to help create a spaceship that got us three universes away. Jake pireti graduated from MECADS and ...

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“The Red Hall” by ASHLEY PETERS

Submitted to Contest #72

I laid in bed watching a fly on the window when suddenly I heard the sound of harsh footsteps pounding down the hallway. I jumped out of bed and darted toward my computer. Just as I got sat down next to the keyboard Mr. Kott and his team of militia yanked open my door, he looked around my room, wrote something down on a clipboard, and then slammed my door shut again. "That was a close one," I said to myself. They were on a schedule, and I had it memorized. Each morning the alarms rang at four o'clock on the dot, that was our queue to ...

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“The Predictable War” by Naomi Roes HUR

Submitted to Contest #72

Do you know why wars are started? If you are thinking "someone wanted more power", or "someone was really mean and wanted more people to be mean to", or anything like that, your wrong. The real reason wars were started, was that someone powerful was bored. Now read what happens next when everything was predicted and one girl was not. Imagine soldiers running and shooting. They all have helmets and know exactly who is shooting at them, when they are shooting at them, and why they are here. Now imagine one girl, about two years old walking out...

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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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