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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#75: New Year, New You

For many of us, the last year was like living through a low-budget disaster movie — but the good thing about the new year is that it gives us an excuse to start fresh. And even though flipping a calendar doesn’t necessarily fix all our problems, it’s still good to take a moment and think about everything you do have the power to change.

In that spirit, this week’s prompts are all about fresh starts. From small, personal achievements to huge goals that will change the world, everything starts with the decision to try. What sort of things will your characters achieve this year? What sort of things will you?

This week's prompts

Write about someone who has finally managed to succeed at a long-standing New Year’s resolution.

Winter – 98 stories

Write about someone whose job is to help people leave their old lives behind.

Adults – 246 stories

Start your story with one character making a vow that they never would have made the year before.

Holiday – 102 stories

Write about someone who doesn’t remember their past — and doesn’t want to.

Thriller and Suspense – 205 stories

Write about two characters who each want to change the same thing, but resolve to go about it in very different ways.

Teens – 84 stories

Stories

“Guilford Trail” by Calvin Rausch

Submitted to Contest #75

“Claire. You have got to stop slamming the doors when you get in my car.” Sam Rooney held his head in his hands in mock -- maybe not so mock -- frustration. Claire, on the other hand, smugly reached over her shoulder, pulling the seatbelt across her chest and clicking it in place. “Sam. Maybe don’t purchase a truck with such heavy doors then.” Sam smiled as he shook out his hair and placed both hands back on the steering wheel. “Fair point.” Claire Fecastro reached over to fiddle with the radio, rummaging through stations of static...

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“The Old Man” by Matt Allen

Submitted to Contest #75

Down the warped industrial urine colored hallway of Shady Acres, through the maze of wheelchairs and medical equipment laid about, past the rancid aroma of feces and ammonia, through the aimlessly wandering patients was Room 237. In that room, a broken man lay waiting for death to come. His dark soul was ready for death; foot in the grave, lifeforce extinguishing, his spirit bellowing for release. This room exhaled depression; the humidifier felt like the regurgitated warmth of a pedophile's wet touch. The broken teeth behind this old man’s...

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“A new beginning” by Joane Unknown

Submitted to Contest #75

There are two types of people. Those people who do things in life for other people, and live their lives for others and not for them. And the other type are the people who left the society’s standards and lived their lives doing what they love, and sadly, these kinds of people are very rare because of the society we all live in. People are always headed by other people that are “role models” for them, and by doing that, they end up not living their life how they dreamed to. People don’t really realize that until they are an age that your lif...

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“The will to forget” by A. Nelson

Submitted to Contest #75

Every since the age of 5, oddly I could never remember what happened the year before then. I just thought it was because I was young at the time, and so mind really didn’t pay that much attention to what happened the year before. I couldn’t remember what my previous birthday was like nor could I remember Christmas or thanksgiving. But then again,I thought “I was young” , so it didn’t really faze me. Although I will say sometimes after each year, after the clock struck 12:00 indicating the next year, I would notice that my mother and ...

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“Her Name is Stockholm” by Barabbas Ben

Submitted to Contest #75

A gentle grunt echoed in her chest. She pushed back her shaggy mane, alleviating the obstruction of her groggy gaze. The pale light of a late afternoon flooded the room from a large barred window of distorted glass. The rays waltzed as a muted spectrum across the faded oak floor. An undressed mattress, the girl atop it, lay centric in the barren studio. Her head spinning with hallucinated movement, the girl hoisted herself into a sitting position. She studied her body. The torn, dark gray sweatpants divulged their great age with faded and ba...

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“Sacrifice” by Joane Unknown

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: rape Have you ever been a kind of person a year ago and the other year, you change completely? Well, that has happened to me too. I started the year by saying that I will only care about my career and I won’t have any babies or relationships. I am Lucy and this is my story. I was living in Berlin, I moved there in 2016 because my career made me to. I was a programmer. I was living in an apartment alone. I was that kind of person that was a hard worker on Mondays till Friday, and during the weekends I was hanging out wit...

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“Crossroads” by San T.

Submitted to Contest #75

I am still confused about how to deal with the impasse and what to make out of the situation. I am always the one who needs rescuing from love’s mess. I never thought I would have to play the savior one day.Yes, I played Cupid for them. I always have, for many. So, when it came to my two best friends, it went without saying that I would be the one bringing them together. But it never changed the fact that I sucked at love. I still do.Forever confused, forever messy, either my love interests left me, or I did, out of boredom or out of a missi...

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“A Liquid Past” by Adam Hughes

Submitted to Contest #75

The water splashed against the bowl of the sink, racing around the plughole and teasing its edges until finding itself slurped into the hole. The sound soothed John’s mind, temporarily displacing the hundreds of thoughts crammed in there. John placed his palms below the taps and splashed water across his face, hoping it would slap the thoughts out completely and dispel them from his mind forever. He knew, however, that the thoughts would return, and he found that he envied the water pouring from the tap and the way that it merely existed. ...

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“What's In A Name” by Zion Hintay

Submitted to Contest #75

"Alright, would you mind holding this for a second."Solid handed me a coiled wire with a claw on one end. In the middle was this two pronged zap coil that had a static shock going between them. Not the most comforting sight."Now I'm going to give you a bit of fair warning here. Usually the procedure is completely painless. In terms of physical pain. But emotionally and mentally, well there's nothing I can guarantee on that front?""God, what's that supposed to mean." I asked as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Still holding to the coil."We...

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“Miracles” by Krittika Yadav

Submitted to Contest #75

Author's note- This is a story about a new beginning, leaving behind resentment, loneliness and fear of losing someone. I stood there silently as a young couple passed me.They stopped. The girl pulled the boy back, standing right in front of me. She said something to him. The boy just smiled and pulled out a coin from his pocket handing it to her. The girl quickly closed her eyes and tossed the coin toward my direction. It splashed in the water around me, not in the basket that I held. I could hear the girl groan. The boy pulled out another ...

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“New Day, New You” by Daryl Oliver

Submitted to Contest #75

The card read, “Marcus Mitchell, Relocation Specialist, Dark Water Corporation.” There was no address or phone number on the card. The man who gave Wes the card was standing with no expression on his face. He wore a black three-piece suit with a red tie. His shoes were shiny as was his har that slid back and matched the suit in tone. And the one feature that stood out the most to Wes was the gold-framed aviator sunglasses which the man wore even though it was dark in the alley where they were meeting. “So, you are the person that’s gonna h...

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“Only a Victimized Soul Begs a Vow of Death” by Abhipsa Panda

Submitted to Contest #75

"I swear, in front of the holy sinful fires and my lifelong bullies that we shall not drink water until-" "You moron!! I ain't dying for this. Shut up and say something else." "..." "Why on earth have you shut your blabbering all of a sudden?" "..." "You idiot!!!! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING!!" "mmmmm..." "Talk otherwise right now I'll throw you into this fire." "They walked across the stale gray day, lights flashing in their eyes, noise blaring in their ears-" "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?!!!!" "You only said to 'shut up and say something ...

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“The Cold Room” by Joseph Shaw

Submitted to Contest #75

Cathy lived alone. The house was much too big for her, and much too empty, but it suited her purposes. There was a cold room in the basement, which she considered to be of the utmost necessity. Her father had left the house to her when he died. She was his only child, his only family, for that matter. Cathy’s mother had died before Cathy had known her, or before she could form memories, anyway. Cathy was twenty-one years old when her father passed. She was twenty-three now. Her father had loved her more than anything in the world.Cathy was a...

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“Newlife Inc” by Gillian Cooper

Submitted to Contest #75

"I want to experience life as a woman." Sonya looked up from her computer and blinked in surprise at the man staring at her from across the counter. Usually when someone born into a male body braved the imposing, grey cinderblock building that housed Newlife Incorporated to request a female body, they came in female dress and wearing full make-up, having taken hormones and lived as a woman for several months. The man before her now looked more like he had escaped from a Mad Max movie in his black jeans and T-shirt with the sleeves rolled...

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“NEVER IS AN AWFULLY LONG TIME” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #75

From the vantage point of the balcony, Ruth stood motionless looking towards but not concentrating on the fireworks display. The horrid year was being ushered out, and the New Year welcomed in. The sky looked pretty but her heart was not in the celebrations. Her sister and brother-in-law were beside her, clearly in a world of their own. Suddenly Sean, sensing Ruth’s demeanour, stood beside her. Theirs’s was a good relationship: the non-DNA brother Ruth had wished for. Sean put his arm around her shoulders...

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$50

Prize money

735

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 08, 2021 EST

Won by R. A. 🏆

Title: The Violinist

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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