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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#76: He Said, She Said

Is there anything more satisfying for a writer than that moment your characters suddenly come alive in your mind? For me, this often comes in the form of a conversation — I know I finally understand them when they start talking to each other without any effort on my part.

From witty banter to subtle conversations packed with unspoken threats, there’s so many ways dialogue can drive a story forward. As you craft your stories this week, really think about what your dialogue is saying about your characters. What are they willing to admit to each other, and what are they trying to keep hidden?

And in case you need a little help crafting the perfect retort, here’s a few resources to get your characters talking:

This week's prompts

Write a story told exclusively through dialogue.

Dialogue – 349 stories

Write about two people who just can’t seem to understand each other, no matter how clearly they think they’re speaking.

Sad – 79 stories

Write about a character who is incapable of telling even the smallest lie or half-truth.

Character – 80 stories

Write a conversation that takes place between two people who refuse to say what they mean.

Dialogue – 58 stories

Write about a character who’s always thinking of things they’ll say to people, but who ends up saying very little when they finally get the chance.

Character – 219 stories

Stories

“Artificial Intelligence” by Clara Woodwake

Submitted to Contest #76

My name is Second Chance. I have artificial intelligence. One of the first humans to possess it. I was given a gift. A new life. My name is Second Chance because Master gave me another chance. One off the streets. Now I must take that chance. I have my speech in my head. I always think about what I am going to say to people. Master. The principal, the teachers, the students. The maids and servants. The chauffeur. Even strangers. Everyone. As the newest student at...

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“INAUDIBLE” by The Girl

Submitted to Contest #76

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. My heart sank. The school sign was becoming more visible as we pulled up to the street I’d overthought about this. Imagined how it would go. I’d thought of every word I would say and in what order. I was ready for this. Or at least I’d been last night. Last night I was more than ready. I’d stood in conversation with the mirror, waved my hands around as I was making points, stomped my foot, done that curved smile that I’d seen Jean do a lot. That smile that I knew got all the guys. I’...

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“ Mirror Image” by Malena Lopez

Submitted to Contest #76

Emelia studied herself in the large bathroom mirror that took up most of the white textured wall behind it. She looked over her thirty-two years’ worth of aged skin. Her once-tight supple smooth flesh did not hold as it once had. Her deep dark brown eyes did not glimmer or sparkle holding the hope of magic and optimism anymore. No, that had faded with her dreams as life barreled on without her permission. “You had dulled a long time ago, didn’t you?” She spoke to the image staring back at her. Emelia narrowed her eyes to see her father’s la...

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“Realization” by Phoebe Silva

Submitted to Contest #76

Trigger warning: mentions of rape I got into the car and was planning to sit in silence. I felt my mother’s pressuring aura as she entered the car. I felt quite nervous as this was the time, I would begin to hear my mother yell at me, or nag me to death, or just destroy me because of what I had just done. We took the time to go out to get my wisdom teeth taken out, and I had denied the operation because I felt anxious. It was not completely because I had felt anxious, it was also because the surgeon was telling me that he felt slightly uncom...

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“Catatonic ” by Shawn Gerrick

Submitted to Contest #76

Aaron uttered you look beautiful as he pulled out her chair to what he hoped would become their special table. He had everything planned down to the tiniest detail of their magical evening even what Denise's responses would be. This first dates interactions and conversations was being thoroughly rehearsed into the mirror during his morning bathroom ritual as he prepped for work. Aaron was going to ask Denise out on an actual date this time not just in his head or into the mirror as he had done for the previous three months. He told this to h...

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“Notebooks” by Chloe Wiseman

Submitted to Contest #76

“Next time those jerks at school mess with me, I won’t chicken out,” Hank told himself as he walked home from school with his head down. He watched his shoelaces slap the concrete sidewalk with every step, wishing he could be another person entirely. Hank wasn’t unlike the other kids at his high school, experiencing typical teenage hormones and the angst that accompanies them. He was awkwardly tall and very shy, but that’s not what made him the primary target for the ridicule he had become accustomed to receiving. Hank came from a family of ...

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“I should have said all that” by Rupali Hirayath

Submitted to Contest #76

She stood there, frozen to the ground, in shock. Her hands were red, drenched in blood. Her clothes too. There was some in her hair and she could taste it in her mouth too. She stared at her hands, at the blood dripping from them. She tries frantically to wipe them off, smearing more blood on her white gown. She looks around and sees the body lying on the ground in front on her. "Oh god! Jeff!" She cried out, kneeling beside the body. His body was cold to touch. His throat was slit through and a knife laid beside the body. If you ig...

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“Why Should I Have to Hold My Tongue?” by Heather Wilson

Submitted to Contest #76

Despite how kind I had been to others, I seemed to continuously get screwed over. I figured that this was the case for others as well and that I was nothing special, but I could not help but to wonder why things had to be this way. It simply was not fair that people got to treat other people so terribly and seemingly get away with it. They carried no remorse over how they acted, and I most often wrote them off as having no human conscience. I just wished that they would learn some human decency, and it often resulted in me brewing up some te...

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“SO MUCH TO SPEAK.....” by Simran Poddar

Submitted to Contest #76

Oh! Hello, mister, how dare you talk to your spouse in such a tone? Are you not conscious of the etiquette to speak to a wife? If I crave now only in seconds, you will discover yourself behind the bars.”, I took my stand. I could detect the drunk man in tattered clothes joining his shaky hands kneeled before his companion who stayed beside me. The woman showed respect in her eyes for me. She was full of gratitude. The woman begged me to forgive his husband for his vulgarity he offered to her in his drunken state. After all, he was he...

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“Behind the Glass” by Benedict Jospeh

Submitted to Contest #76

“Haha! You’re so funny! x” I know she didn’t mean it. “I know right, I should be a comedian or something!” Keep the conversation alive. “Haha” Fuck. One thing you learn after texting a lot of girls, is how to tell when a conversation is dead. To put it lightly, this one is pretty much decomposed at this point. I like her, and she knows, and she knows I know. This should be easy, but sadly, it just makes things more difficult. Time for an attempted revival. “Anyways, maybe we could video chat later? I got the house to myself...

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“IF PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE...” by Dolapo Omoleme

Submitted to Contest #76

“You need to step up to the plate and take back control, father!” I urged. “You need to take charge of your own home! This is your home! You can’t let that brat boss you around and tell you what you can and can’t do.” He nodded in agreement. “You taught me everything I know about being a man,” I reminded him. “I am everything I am today because of everything you taught me during our long treks through the woods. You are no longer the man I used to know, father! Who did this to you? How did you come to this?” He sighed and rocked his ch...

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“Not A Morning Person” by Donna B T

Submitted to Contest #76

Fred could tell it was going to be just one of those days. He’d been having the most pleasant of dreams before being awakened by the annoying neighbour two doors down. Sure, he could understand that some people had to get up early in the morning to work, but that didn’t make hearing him at 4:35 a.m. every single morning feel any better. Why did the man have to have such a noisy car? Today marked just over three months of listening to his car make a noisy racket day after day. Fred had kept his mouth shut every day, but today was the day he...

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“Rene” by Yoana Krasteva-Pyuzantyan

Submitted to Contest #76

Trigger warning: abuse Hello, Rene. I want to tell you so many things. Thousands and thousands and thousands of words, just hitting against the walls of my brain, I feel them, on the top of my tongue, they are sour, they poison me, day by day. But I never could. And I never will be able to. I never learned to call you ''mom'', did I? Maybe because I never saw you as one. You are merely the person who had the misfortune of giving birth to the disgusting creature I turned out to be. And after that, you became just someone ...

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“Secrets That Want to Come Out” by Serena S

Submitted to Contest #76

I licked my paw methodically. It seemed no matter how hard I tried it never got clean. I glanced around. Good, Midnight was nowhere to be seen. Midnight was my mother, and always tried to steal all the attention for herself when she got the chance. Her birth name wasn’t Midnight, as my birth name wasn’t Tabby, but that’s what one of our caretakers had named her, and she, like me, honored her new name. Midnight didn’t look much like me. She was a black cat and I was a brown tabby, but we still got along nicely and loved each other. “Ta...

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“My safe space” by Oluwajomiloju Adeyemi

Submitted to Contest #76

Alone in a room... It’s just me and you. I paused for a minute to see what I had written. I had nothing in particular to write but I knew I wanted to write something, that was my escape from most things. Everything. I wasn’t sure how to start, so I started with my favorite song. My favorite comfort song. In my darkest times, the lyrics always came to mind because they reminded me of my own words. They were things I would say I feel so lost, And I don’t know what to do. I wondered for a little while what went through her mind when she wrote ...

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$50

Prize money

787

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 15, 2021 EST

Won by Rinnie Leigh 🏆

Title: Him

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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