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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

“Suspects at Sea” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #72

Captain Thomas Dumaresq of the HMS Repulse, a sixty-four-gun, fully-rigged, Intrepid-class, third-rate ship of the line, received the report of his first-mate whilst sipping his elevenses breakfast tea. “Sir, as ordered, we have put the derelict cutter in tow. We have searched the vessel and there are no living sailors aboard. The only crew we found was the desiccated body of a man with the markings of ship’s quartermaster in the brig. Oddly enough that is also where we recovered the ship’s log and manifest for your inspection.” The mate g...

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“Father's Daughter” by Vivian Bee 🐝

Submitted to Contest #72

The case was as straightforward as any. The knife was found in the back of the drawer, accompanied by towels crusted with a crimson coating. Why was this case so different from the rest? I'd seen this a million times, but somehow this one felt wrong. Like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit in quite right. The whole thing was too clean, too easy. I clenched my eyes shut and took a deep breath, inhaling the icy air that always came with our Maine winters, wishing I hadn't parked across the street. I sped up and half-jogged towards the statio...

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“The Stipulation” by Mandy McCool

Submitted to Contest #72

The Anderson gene pool is extensive. Just about everyone knows at least one Anderson of some variation, so it is pretty safe to say that I probably have multitudes of cousins I have never met from nearly every continent. It shouldn’t have been too surprising to me that I should receive a call that my cousin Helen had passed away suddenly, and that I was expected to fly to Illinois and attend her funeral. The surprise was that I had never heard of a Cousin Helen before, and she had apparently left me something in her will. Now, from...

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“Damn you, Mr. Sinclayre” by 🌮 Kao Crimsonstar 🌮

Submitted to Contest #72

I stared at the letter in my hand. It was handwritten, rare for our era. The paper was soft under the palm of my hand, and I guessed that the sender hadn’t been afraid to spend a few bucks on quality gloss paper, which added further to the unbelievable quotient.Dear Miss April Hummings, You must be wondering who I am, and why I’m writing to you. My name is Aravy Bethellhem, and I’m the executer for Mr. Aravin Sinclayre. I ha...

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“Falling in Love” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #72

Authors’ (not author’s, since there is more than one of us) note: Readers might miss not having characters with names in this story. However, if we keep the two persons involved anonymous, we might better see the light of commonality shining through them, toward us. (Is that too dead metaphorish? We’re kind of new at this writing thing, to be honest.) So just relax and pretend the two people below are you and me, or you and somebody else, or even your parents. At the end, please be advised that you may submit comments and ques...

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“Seasons' Harvest” by Rexy Rexy

Submitted to Contest #72

Spring: It was one of those moments, those surreal magical moments they say only happen in dreams, perfect temperature, humidity, sunlight, gentle breezes stroking my fevered cheeks, like a deja vu movie scene kept on looping through my daily ecstasy. Mr Sun’s exceptionally tall and athletic figure was standing on the podium like a statue of god as usual with one arm pointing straight out at a boy at the back of the class who just got shaken awake by his seatmate. ‘You, yes you, come on, stand up! How do we solve this equatio...

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“Thorns” by Valerie June

Submitted to Contest #72

Our story takes place on a blustery December day in Hyde Park, one of the most romantic places in the world, where lovebirds often tweet about, cloaked with the smell of chocolate and flowers. In a certain quaint apartment complex, there lived a daughter and father suffering under the cruel heavy weight of poverty. The daughter, Marigold, loved her father dearly and would do anything to make his life better. Since Marigold worked as a seamstress it was difficult to afford enough food to go round between them, which made the poor man come dow...

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“I've Got You Now...Or Do I? (Part 1)” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #72

Detective Blaine Joiner walked around the scene of the crime. He pulled a pair of black gloves from his pocket and stretched them over his hands. He stepped to the first of the two victims. Shot. Both of them. Right through the heart. “It’s him, alright.” His young partner, Peter nodded and scribbled something into his notepad. “That’s three shootings this month.” Peter was younger than Blaine by a decade at twenty years old, but he was smarter than men decades older. “Now, we just have to...

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“3065” by Emily Germaine

Submitted to Contest #72

Dear Cadesk Coleson, I know you have no idea who I am or how I know you exist. I promise there is a very reasonable explanation and if you read down to my signature, you will find it. I am your long lost uncle. I doubt my brother has ever spoken of me and if he has it must have been very brief without much detail. I left the family when I was eighteen, the age you are now. I left without telling anyone where I was going and never contacted anyone again. It’s no wonder my family would never speak of me again, I disgraced them. I doubt the...

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“The Blood Mandelas” by Catherine Hill

Submitted to Contest #72

Wojcik sat across the heavy metal table from Thomas Dyson, staring into his mismatched eyes, one bright blue, the other dark brown. That’s what did it; the genetic profile revealed that the perpetrator had chimerism, two unique DNA profiles. Wojcik remembers the call from Rodney Chiles in the crime lab. It came after almost 9 months of no leads and 8 murders. The killer left his DNA at the crime scene, his own blood, intentionally.“It’s a long shot, but he could have mismatched eyes or hyperpigmentation of the skin. It’s not much but it’s so...

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“FLOWRY” by John Del Rio

Submitted to Contest #72

Teague heard the little bell above the shoppe door tinkle as the door was opened and glanced to the front of the flower shoppe.The sign above the door read simply “FLOWRY’s”. This was actually just truth in advertising as the shoppe which had been run by his Mamm since before he went off to war was a florist boutique.The door opened and three individuals entered the cozy, pleasantly scented establishment. The first two who entered were large men. The second of the two was even larger than himself. This man was two meters ...

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“Dear Mr. Darcy - A Pride and Prejudice Retelling” by Emily Germaine

Submitted to Contest #72

Pride and Prejudice - Told by Mr. Darcy...It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.As a single man of good fortune, I can attest to that statement for you. It is not because the man simply wants a wife to add to his happiness or impress his elders. I, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, am in desperate need of companionship and romance, my loneliness to subside and my heart to open. However, I can’t seem to find the urge to fall in love. Any eligible young woman I’ve met...

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“A TRANSOM OF LOVE” by Dawood Abbasi

Submitted to Contest #72

A melodious clamor of girls’ talking was emerging out from the middle class room of the tuition center. The conversation was at its full swing among the young audacious students. When Mr. Rauf entered the class amid of these gossips, a silence prevailed there suddenly. The tunes of mischievous chattering were quiet now. When he took a bird eye view of the students, he found two new girls sitting on the front desks. He inquired about the whereabouts of these new students politely. A pretty looking tall girl stood up decently to introduce and ...

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“Justice Justin ” by Lilah Blackburn

Submitted to Contest #72

It was detective Justin’s first day on the job. He was dripping sweat because he was so nervous. He couldn’t mess this up; it was his only chance to prove to his family that leaving the family grocery store was a good idea. They did not approve of him becoming a detective but it was his dream to help people. He was just assigned his first case about a girl kidnapped and murdered. The caption of the station was very clear that this case needed to be solved quickly. It could turn into a serial killer quickly and t...

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“The King and The Queen...Much More than a Dream.” by Lilly Blossom

Submitted to Contest #72

Jacob Peters. Jacob Peters is a man. He is tall. He is blonde. He is beautiful. But I never saw it coming. I never saw myself falling for him. This is how it happened. I felt the urge. I felt the divine, otherworldly calling to take on a task much bigger than myself. I had no way of doing it in my own human strength or power, but I believe in a Higher Power, and I believe sometimes this God will send humans, that seem more like angels, along our path to help us do what we cannot on our own. This is that story. The mission was much larger t...

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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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