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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

“Smells Like Opportunity” by June Murage

Submitted to Contest #75

Get Out More. That's it, my big challenge, yet of all the fabulous awe-inspiring New Year's resolutions out there, this one paled in comparison. I mean, the effort required to achieve it would be as easy as stepping out of my house and well, getting out! That however wasn't so, and it hadn't been for years now. I cannot remember the exact day or time I became shut out from the rest of the world but I remember the events that lead to it. Being the country bumkin that I inevitably was, the excitement that came with moving to a new city w...

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“Tom and Jerry” by A.A Lawson

Submitted to Contest #75

Abiye wondered if the first person to say never judge a book by its cover went to hell like they should have.She hated it— an understatement. It was disgusting. Nothing like she imagined. Horrific. And she was going to give Juliana an earful."It's not just what I had in mind," she told her editor over the phone."I prayed you wouldn't say that," Juliana answered and a strip of guilt trickled into Abiye's defense."It's not that I hate it," Abiye began slumping down on her lonely couch. "It's my first book Juliana. I want it to be good." Perfec...

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“Between Failures and Conquering of Resolutions” by Yashpaul Kalra

Submitted to Contest #75

Could it be sealed as a stigma of indolence and lethargy that Prof. Vijay Kumar lost or suffered a gross failure during the years between 1972 to 1981 when almost ten resolutions were Made probably without strong will power without actual realization. The truth is that a resolution Had not been made in the true sense of the word. For ten years I did nothing at all. I had become a person without even a dot of confidence. “ I cannot get a GUIDE. There is none in this...

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“Be a Better Me” by Betty Fettig

Submitted to Contest #75

My mother had incurable brain cancer. I clung to the one line I heard the doctor say: “It wasn’t an immediate death sentence.” She lived for three years with it. I felt she would live for decades. After all, who would sit by me on New Year’s Eve and examine our resolutions from that year and share in the excitement of what is ahead? Who would help me define my resolutions for the following year? And, laugh or admonish me for not meeting the goals of the past year? Who would impart upon me words of wisdom that I ignored? Since I...

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“The Motivational Speaker” by Stephanie Okolie

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: suicidal ideation James sat down thinking about how his life was seven years ago. He was at the bridge about to jump down as a passerby held him. It still felt like yesterday. His wife had put to birth a few days ago, and he was present at the hospital to welcome his new baby. Tears rolled down his cheek as he looked at his son. “Imagine if I jumped off that bridge, imagine if I had died? What would be the outcome?" he thought to himself. He knew all he went through, from losing his job to becoming a homeless p...

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“Hope” by Subani Maheshwari

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: abuse, miscarriage Liz puts a coffee pot on the stove. She does not want to be late for her meeting with a new client. She has read the file twice to prepare for the meeting. It has bare minimum details of her client but still Liz could instantly relate with her. Liz thought of her own life over a decade ago. The police visits have been more frequent since their neighbors started to complain about the noise. The police would sometimes give Charlie, her ex-husband a warning or take him to jail. He was almo...

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“Sharing on how to help someone leave their old life behind” by Almarie Campbell

Submitted to Contest #75

This is a tricky statement and a rather thought-provoking one. My job as a caregiver (pastor). As I thought about what the role of a pastor entails I thought about caring for lost souls, I thought about teaching and discipling. I thought about having a heart for the fatherless and bowels of compassion for the marginalized. Each day I think about the many caps that such an individual wears and wonder how do they do it. How do I get the task done so that it causes persons to move out of a sense of hopelessness, despair, loneliness, and lost t...

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“Perennial” by Azrael Page

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: mentions of domestic abuse There’s a child in front of him. They’re looking around his office in awe at how unreal it seems, which is to be expected. His office is literally made out of clouds. “Hi,” he waves when the child finally notices his presence, offering a small smile when they wave back enthusiastically, the usual response. “Can you sit down in that seat please?” he asks, like usual, pointing at the fluffy cloud shaped into a seat in front of his desk. The child obediently sits, sinking in the cloud. He feels...

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“Fire's Depths” by Tianna Dennell

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning!! abuse *** * *“You are no daughter of mine.” She remembered the cold, calculating look her mother had given her before saying those words. She remembered crying, pleading in the dark room, begging to be let out. Banging on the door, screaming for someone, anyone to come save her; the worn carpet beneath her fingers felt icy cold against her warm hands. She remembered the dark closet she had grown used to over the years. It was an average closet; a beautiful, sleek mahogany wood with a silver shine and a knob that her mother ...

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“Switched Identity” by Jennifer Hansley

Submitted to Contest #75

Boom! Bang! The blast of the berettas reverberated throughout Saul’s living room. These were close enough to be on his front porch. Were they for him this time? A shudder formed at the base of his spine and raced to his skull, spider webs of terror weaving through his hair follicles. He shook. How had it come to this? Cowering in his own home nauseated him, especially when this situation was usually reversed. Like a trapped rat on a sinking vessel, Saul abandoned his ghetto house. His go bag h...

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“The Reaper” by Hannah Brown

Submitted to Contest #75

It looked like Psalm was going to be working overtime this year...again. It was just getting worse as the years went on. Psalm could always rely on a pretty steady rate of human death, but January 1st was always the worst day. One of the downsides of being a Reaper was the overtime. Yeah, he may have one of the most coveted jobs in this realm, but it still got boring. I mean think about it from his perspective for a second. Millions of people getting drunk and high and going around on benders--it was exhausting, like herding a bunch of reckl...

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“A Different Kind Of Ophalim” by Azalea Young

Submitted to Contest #75

Of Important Note:With the creation of Yaliba, the power gifted to us by the gods, comes the discovery of Passage--the departing of this life and into another. Not exactly death, but rather a moving on, a letting go. The Council and its Board of Directives has spent the past 10 years researching Passage and all that it entails. They have come to a conclusion as to what must be done about its discovery. Thus, it has led to the creation of the Ophalim , ferriers between this life and whatever is after it. They are our guides, our light, the gu...

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“The Business of Disappearing” by Samuel Batson

Submitted to Contest #75

“Seth? You’re up.” The words hung in the air, waiting for a response. The door had just swung open in acknowledgement of Jamison’s knock. A man, thinly framed and sweaty was on the other side of it. He had his hoodie on – hood up. He said nothing. Jamison let the words sit – only now realizing that the client hadn’t the breath to respond even if he had known what to say. A moment passed while Jamison expected a follow up – it did not come. He stood firm, waiting for the client to catch his breath. It was not uncommon for them to take...

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“The Silver Portal” by Laura Woodside

Submitted to Contest #75

Myrralis had been at this job for a long time. How long had it been? Time passed differently for such beings. If one were to listen to humans, they would say it had been a couple of thousand years. Long enough. Myrralis enjoyed watching the humans; they lived such varied and free lives. A reaper had one job; to guide humans away from their lives and into the next. When a human died, their souls tended to wander, not knowing what to do. That’s where a reaper would come in. They had to convince the human soul that it was time to move on, leav...

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“I Lost Myself in the Dark” by Alexis Smith

Submitted to Contest #75

Francisco appeared in my dream that night just as he said he would. He came to me in the black robes of the ferryman and led me by foot across the surface of holy water, silent yet demanding as he ever was in his lectures. Gently, he pried open my mouth and pressed his forefinger to the back of my tongue. A terrifying pleasure took over me as my limbs multiplied and my neck looped incessantly. I awoke feeling as if my blood had turned into a separate creature writhing inside of me. I awoke knowing I couldn’t turn him down. To tell the truth...

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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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