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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

“Just Regular Teenage Problems” by Brandy Rose

Submitted to Contest #75

They called it a near miss, but I called it a regular Tuesday. A passerby would probably describe my day-to-day life as something out of a Die Hard movie, without the ever-present Christmas theme. If I was the kind of person who went to a therapist, they would probably have a theory on this...or at least ask me how I felt about that. Nonetheless, there was a reason I didn’t go to therapy. I didn’t want to talk, especially about such trivial things as my feelings. “Hey Mark, you okay man?” Dan asked me, raising his eyebrows as if he already ...

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“Can You Love Me a Second Time?” by Izzy Isis

Submitted to Contest #75

Why’s it so cold? What’s that sound? I open my eyes and need to squint because of the light shining down on me. I try to sit up, but it’s only then do I realize that my wrists and ankles are tied down. A voice booms around me in the room, scaring what little life out of me that I had, “stay calm, Verni.” “Who are you?” “My name is Nico and I’m the doctor here. Can you answer a few questions for me?” “S- Sure?” The wall in front of my feet becomes transparent and there is a man on the other side, holding a microphone to his face speaking...

1 comment 1
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“SINGLE HEART” by Divya Chelwani

Submitted to Contest #75

Chp-1:- Unknown Man! The evening sky was hazy, followed by a sudden peal of thunder and soon it started to drizzle. The pedestrians started running to take shelter to prevent themselves from getting drenched. The cold breeze blew across the street, causing everyone to shiver. It was the spring season of the year, but today's unexpected thunderstorm dashed people's moods. Jenny was no different. She had  dolled herself up especially, wearing a white floral dress with some light makeup, and her hair locks left loosely on her shoulders. ...

1 comment 1
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“I USED TO KICK DOORS” by Artur Ribeiro

Submitted to Contest #75

"I used to kick doors.""What do you mean? Like, you were a cop and used to kick down doors to get into people's flats?""No, just, you know, doors in my house -- the bedroom door, the kitchen."Silence. They both sip at their pints."I would get irritated, furious, really, at small stuff, and would explode into a rage and kick the doors. You can see some of the damage if you go to my place.""It's OK. I get that way sometimes.""You kick doors too?""No. I get aggravated easily. Because of small stuff.""Like what?""Things that don't work, for exam...

1 comment 1
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“The not so perfect love story ” by Elrize Brouwers

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: suicide   Hi, I'm Kris. You may not know me and that's fine, I really don't care to be quite honest with you. You don't need to really know me, but I hope you'll at least stick around to hear my story.   Well you see it's not actually my story, it's Kira and Prince's story. Let me colour in the blank space that is your mind's canvass. I'm Kris, the common house fly. You see me, find me irritating and almost always want me to die or just leave you alone. I apologize in advance for my presence being a nuisance in you...

3 comments 3
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“Afraid Together ” by Marc-Antony Martinez

Submitted to Contest #75

     Fear is the most natural state for any creature subsisting on this planet. Since the days when man’s ancestors first unsheathed themselves from the world’s oceans fear has been a part of us. One day two scientists had hypothesized that if fear could be programmed into a computer, then the computer would be able to organize itself and determine the best route to deal with fear. However artificial the fear may be, to the machine it would be crippling. Both scientists decided to program separate computers and assim...

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“Warlord and the Enemy” by Rommel Bagasina

Submitted to Contest #75

This is a record of a forgotten history, in a forgotten world. Written by an invisible writer, a forgotten writer. Warlord Steins sat lazily on his chair situated at the balcony of his castle. Beside him stood one of his trusted generals—one of the few—bearing a grim and morose countenance.“I assume,” said Steins, swinging his wineglass in a circular motion, “That they lost?”“They did,” curtly answered the general.“As expected,” muttered Steins, taking a sip from his glass of wine. “I had planned their defeat from the very beginning. General...

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“The Human Gift” by Andrea An

Submitted to Contest #75

T/W: Suicide, depression, death. Told in two perspectives, the italicized is the POV of Celestine, and the normal text is the POV of Annabel. Annabel stood at the ledge of an abandoned parking lot. Below her is the sea, the waves crashing roughly against the concrete. She could feel the spray of the seafoam, the pinpricks of stray water dangling in the air around her.. The smell of the sea, fishy and salty, enveloped her. She never had a special connection with the sea but the new aroma invading her senses weren’t bad at all, and the c...

2 comments 2
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“Narcissistic Wound ” by Ainhoa Palacios

Submitted to Contest #75

A narcissistic wound, he called it.  She felt those words like a sound block struck by a gavel, a sentence she wouldn’t be able to dodge. She felt that instead of sitting on a leather couch, a cup of mint tea in hand, she was propped on an exam table, wearing nothing but a white gown. Like instead of the concentrated stare of Dr. Eduardo, her latest though not her first therapist, it was a radiologist telling her they’d found a tumor. “Do you know what a narcissistic wound is?” Eduardo asked. They were on their fifth session and on ...

2 comments 2
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“What was lost” by Luke Aspeling

Submitted to Contest #75

A gust of wind blew the "sticky" notes all over Jacob's room. Jacob lay motionless on his bed, as usual, and the call of his mother from the kitchen jolts life into him. His bed is situated in the corner of his room furthest from the door and adjacent to the window left open, "It's safer that way," he tells himself. Standing up from his bed a few notes stick to his feet, the cedar wood floors creaked and were getting louder each day, Jacob didn't notice. Moving with his eyes half open Jacob clamored for the bathroom door, he sat on the l...

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“Saint Bottle” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #75

     Mazi phenco okiro is my name, for those of you that don’t understand igbo language, Mazi means mister, so, I'm Mr phenco okiro alias saint bottle. Yes, that was the name given to me in 1994 when the demon that took me around 26years to exocise was first taking roots inside me.        For clarity sake, I'm 48, Hair black with hand full of scattered whites here and thereReceding front eye black, nose a little flat, I weigh about 75 nowadays before it used to osciliates betwe...

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“Loneliness” by Tejasvini Narayanan

Submitted to Contest #75

Airi and Seia were two Japanese girls who neither looked nor thought alike, but in fact were twins. They were rummaging through their brains for a good New Year’s Resolution. They were both 14 and lived with their mom. Despite living in the same house, being brought up in the same way, they had completely different understanding on life and ambitions. Airi was way more matured than an average 15 year old. In her family, she was always referred to as the older one. Seia was like a little bird in her mother’s wings. She was a decent 15 year...

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“Write about someone who has finally managed to succeed at a long-standing New Year’s resolution. Holiday” by Manasa Suresh

Submitted to Contest #75

Hi, world! My name is Suresh and I’m from Visakhapatnam and I would like to take you through my new year resolutions which was fulfilled in the year 2019. I had a plan from my School days that I should visit the "Pink City of India" which is in Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan.  The trip could not be materialized in the school days as my father had official commitments. I completed my schooling in 2007 and my father was transferred to Visakhapatnam on promotion from Hyderabad. Even during my college days, it could not materialize ...

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“The Soft Drink of 1886” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #75

I had many new year’s resolution in the past. Most of them did not last too long. I was too scared, lacked motivation, was too lazy, procrastinated, wanted to stay in my comfort zone or simply, I did not care after some weeks into the new year. I just wanted to get back into my old habits. As a kid, almost all of us, we get acquainted to candies, snacks, pastries, cookies, gum, etc. All the sugary stuff. It starts young. Halloween and trick or treat do not help. Holidays likes Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas does not help the cause eith...

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“Finally” by Virginia Hair

Submitted to Contest #75

The long-awaited day had finally come. After 6 years of trying, Maya had finally managed to complete her long-standing New Years resolution, to have a best friend by the end of the year. She was 8 years old and did not have one friend, unless you count animals. If you could, she had dozens of lifelong companions, for she had such a kind, gentle ambience that every creature, friendly or unfriendly to most, would become inseparable from her. But real, human friends, Maya had none. It may have been because she was so shy and reserved and hardly...

4 comments 4
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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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