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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

“The Three-Act Façade of Raima Sinha” by OB Jato

Submitted to Contest #75

Detective Indranil Sengupta found himself drinking tea with Raima Sinha, but not for the reasons he would have hoped. She was an acclaimed Bengali actress. And acting was a profession which came with its own perks, one of which was being at the receiving end of adoration from bachelors and married men alike. Detective Sengupta fell into the former category, but he found this evening to be neither the time nor the place to express his personal affection towards a prospective client. “I’m quite sorry for your loss,” he said in a somber tone in...

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“MOTHER KNOWS BEST” by Debbie Curtin

Submitted to Contest #75

MOTHER KNOWS BEST Martin and Frank were two old friends who morphed into the geezers they are today. Since they now wear their lifetime achievement badges, they’re never ones to stop what they’ve always lived to do and that is to tell people what they don’t want to hear, because they know everything about anything and everyone. Both of their middle names are busy body. However, today was to be a different day. Each time they met at the Dog and Pony Bar & Grill, which would be every Thursday on the dot at high noon, the talk would be the ...

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“Solution twins with problem” by Jesna Xavier

Submitted to Contest #75

Summer holidays bestowed a solace to Azad after the tormenting exams. As any other child's crisis, mathematics made his life miserable. Unfortunately it was after that' do or die' hours his holidays are beginning. Azad lives with his abba and stepmother,whom he was forced to call ammi . It was his two younger brothers who turns his life blissful. Their baba ,his grandfather also stays with them. They live in their hometown surat. It was a saturday. The family has planned for a tour to Delhi , a 10 day tour. As his pr...

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“TAKING THE PLUNGE TO PORTUGAL” by Charlotte Geldenhuys

Submitted to Contest #75

On 1 January 2019, my husband, son and I made a New Year’s resolution. We were excited for the start of the New Year, yet terrified at what we had just decided. We were going to re-locate from Johannesburg, SA to Portugal. The reason simply being that we wanted a lifestyle change, a safer and more rewarding lifestyle. The plan decided upon was to buy a quinta in Portugal, restore a ruin, plant fruit trees and vegetables and acquire a few chickens, sheep and perhaps a cow. The aim to be self-sufficient with off-gr...

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“Andy's Writing Resolutions ” by Vixen Black

Submitted to Contest #75

Andy Porter has always wanted to be a writer. He grew up writing in a journal every day since he was 7 years old. Yes, he loved playing with his Power Rangers and reading. Andy wasn't the most popular kid growing up. No siblings, but he had a best friend named Matthew Oakes, who was much like Andy, a nerd. He loved "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Andy and Matthew are still best friends 29 years later. Writing has always been an escape for Andy. You could say that his journal was his best friend too. He could tell the journal thi...

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“A New Year in New York” by Jan Weldon-Veitch

Submitted to Contest #75

A New Year in New York He left Mary in Japan, a week had not given her enough time to explore, so she decided that it would be far more interesting to stay a while longer. ‘Besides,’ she said, ‘New York would be loud and obnoxious, especially on New Year’s Eve.’ At first, Alex thought she was joking, then when he’d exhausted himself trying to convince her to travel with him, angry words were exchanged. Mary was adamant and nothing was going to change her mind. She agreed to meet him in New York in a few days, so he reluctantly boarded a pl...

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“Strings” by Yamini Panchaksharam

Submitted to Contest #75

1st January, 2018 - Learn to play the violin"If only resolutions on paper materialised right away," thought Mrinalini, as she read this diary entry on 31st December, 2018. She had attended a beginners' violin session where she had held a violin for the very first time. But holding a violin the right way, so that you don't injure yourself, is far from easy. Mrinalini had become aware of muscles in her neck and back that were slightly strained by the end of the two hour long session! Furthermore, standing in a room with lots of mirrors that re...

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“New Day, New Me.” by Oliver Frost

Submitted to Contest #75

There exists in the hearts of all people a connection to something profound within their inner self, it drives the soul and keeps the mind working. It is a purpose and you should find this purpose, for when you do it will become the most important day of your life. Lying at the bottom of the hill with a stained beard, fag ash rubbed into the equally stained shirt the man opened his eyes and looked to his left and to his right. His eyes were sticky with sleep and clearing his throat from the sting of sick he gagged a little coming to awaren...

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“Reconciliation” by I Sammy

Submitted to Contest #75

“Here you go,” said Elise as she handed a glass of wine to Bianca, her close friend, and coworker. “Thank you, honey,” said Bianca. “You have a beautiful home! Again, thanks for inviting me over. I would have had nothing to do tonight and I might have started the New Year in depression. Now I can start it with good company and wine. ” Both ladies chuckled. Bianca saunters around Elise’s home and then to the kitchen where Elise is putting the finishing touches on their New Year’s Eve meal. “Elise, what is all this?” questioned Bia...

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“Ink Stained” by Brianna A.

Submitted to Contest #75

Thin rays of sunlight pierced through masses of grey clouds, lighting Layla’s small bedroom in soft hues. An apology from the sky for an otherwise dreary winter day. Pearls of frozen rain still clung to her window pane, the crystalized droplets now shining bright as diamonds as the afternoon sun glistened weakly. Pinpricks of sunlight dotted across the lined writing paper Layla bent over. Spread across her well-worn laminate desk were crumbled notes and stacks of loose paper full of small, cramped handwriting. In places, ink from Lay...

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“Mission Accomplished” by Lucretia Maldonado

Submitted to Contest #75

Were always searching for reasons and change in life, so I ask God to intervein in my life, so I can live out the plain God design for me. I chose to do that because with God all things are possible. All we have to do is look around the area we live and start asking yourself what can I do to make a difference in someone's life are life in general, Then ask God. What do you need me to do? lead and guide me father and point me in the right direction. I've always had the heart to help people, I took care of my mom for 12 years with heart proble...

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“Roller coaster life of Krish” by Krishnika Mahesh

Submitted to Contest #75

Roller coaster life of Krish The resolution is either small or big that doesn’t matter, the big deal is whether we are trying to achieve it or not. I’m going to tell about the girl named Krish and the success story of her resolution. Krish has been playing hide and seek over the years to find out the way to accomplish her resolution. What was her resolution then? . She wants to be a pillar of her family financial problems and get an identity by herself doing something special. She has been working so hard over these years to achieve her reso...

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“An Exchange Of Great Value” by Angel Brookins

Submitted to Contest #75

'Will you continue your work, child?' Misthael asked me, not for the first time. 'Will you accept the commission, Will you carry the message of healing and hope?' 'I will go back', I said, 'But first, show me how it all works.' This wasn't my first near death experience, And I was done with pondering 'why', If they wanted to keep doing this to me, They were going to give me some answers. At the beginning of every year of my life, &nbsp...

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“Lost at sea” by Arch R

Submitted to Contest #75

She stared down at the neon green speech bubble itching for a conversation with her, prompting her to tap it with her index finger, the finger on which the nail polish always chipped faster than any other finger. She looked through the names that flashed back at her... sweet Claire from her yoga class in Tampa, shouty Kelly, her high school friend in Raleigh, dimpled Sachin, a friend of a friend in San Francisco. The list rambled on as if narrating her life back to her - where she had been, who she had been. But none of these peopl...

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“A Battle Against The White Blank Page” by Andrea An

Submitted to Contest #75

The white blank page stares at me. We’ve been staring at each other for hours now. I try to type words on it but my fingers halts, hovering inches away from the keyboard, as though there is some invisible barrier stopping me. Then, I put down my hands in exasperation. This has been going on for three hundred sixty five days. I have had an ongoing battle with an empty blank page for three hundred sixty five days. Most days, I am always defeated and I end up watching a movie or the funny memes on youtube to console myself and forget the sham...

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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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