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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#78: Keeping Busy

I’ve noticed that hobbies often get overlooked in fiction. Unless it plays a major role in the plot, many main characters don’t even get a hobby — supporting characters, even less often. Yet hobbies are an important part of many people’s lives, especially in lockdown. They’re the things we bond with our friends over, the pastimes that refresh our spirits over the weekend, and the activities that give us some of our greatest joy.

So this week, hobbies are going to take center stage. From mainstream to obscure, let’s analyze our character’s most interesting quirks and explore the many things they can obsess over!

This week's prompts

Start your story with one character trying to convince another to take up their favorite hobby.

Fluff – 177 stories

Write about someone who keeps an unusual animal as a pet.

Teens – 178 stories

Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.

Fiction – 133 stories

Set your story at a convention for a hobby most people have never heard of.

Fluff – 70 stories

Write about someone who keeps picking up different hobbies but never manages to stick with them.

Character – 176 stories

Stories

“Dragons can be pets too” by Jameela Van Der Schyff

Submitted to Contest #78

Everyone loves to have a pet at a certain age in their life. From dogs to cats, snakes to Komodo dragons. Yeah, who would have thought a dangerous reptile such as a Komodo dragon could be a pet? Well, meet my reptile loving, friend Lisa. She went overboard this time. “So, he’s your…pet?” I came over to her house for her birthday, only to find out her new pet is a reptile. And worse, a dangerous, man-eating lizard! “Yeah, isn’t he gorgeous? I named him George. You know, after the heroic knight who slain the dragon?” I just stared at her wit...

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“The Craftsman” by Arrey Edwards

Submitted to Contest #78

Edward Torsche awoke this morning the same as he did each time the sun shone threw his window, achy and tired. He never fussed with appearances. That was for younger men. Still, he always had a clean pair of socks ready along with his apple cap. He dressed as he always did. Socks, for it was his father who had told him a man dresses his foot first, slacks, a tucked in Henly, underthings, and his cap. He walked the length of his room, which hadn't more than eight feet, and grabbed his pocket watch from the vanity of his beloved Eleanor. He'd...

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“Samuel was at a convention for a hobby most people have never heard of entirely.” by Prince Brempong

Submitted to Contest #78

A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment during leisure time. Hobbies include collecting theme items and objects engaging in creative and artistic pursuits playing sports or other amusement. My story is entitled Samuel was at a convention for a hobby most people have never heard of entirely. Samuel thought of new ways to spend his free time. Also a particular active person may have tried alot of different activities. There are some that are rather unusual and unknown as of hobbies most people have never ...

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“Hayley's Tiger” by Brittani Case

Submitted to Contest #78

Hayley Bennet was an unusual girl in an unusual town. In this town everyone is partnered with a different animal. Hayley's partner/pet is a tiger she named Reika. Reika was a white tiger with the most stunning blue eyes. She was Hayley's best friend. A lot of people believe their animals fully understand them. That these animals, often carnivores, were sent to protect them. Hayley believed Reika understood her, but to Hayley, it was her job to protect Reika. Everyone in their village of Melrania had a black panther, Bengal tiger, a lion, or ...

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“Prospecting For Company” by Stan Allen

Submitted to Contest #78

It was the last convenience store before crossing the Lake Lanier bridge and open country. Joseph Crow liked stopping at this store because it had fresh homemade sandwiches. This early in the morning they also had biscuits with egg and sausage for sale.The young woman behind the counter was closing out her register. It was the end of her shift. Joe chose his food along with a extra larger coffee, then proceeded to the counter.“Hi. Going off or just starting? I got some gas too.”He pointed at the pumps, then at the food.“That will be fourteen...

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“What an Unusual Hobby I Thought I Possessed” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #78

You might think what I’m about to share with you today is just a mere hobby to me you and you would be absolutely correct. I can tell you when and where that bizarre gift was presented to me. But for now, I will tell you that my gift to bring back the dead for the first time is real! The first time and only time I did it was the time when Otis and Manny were sitting in the living room of Otis and his ugly wife Mrs. Margret’s house. We were all drinking Thunderbird wine. I was only 16 years old at the time. They called me their runner. My...

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“Stuff It!” by Colin Devonshire

Submitted to Contest #78

“I’ve known you for months now, you’ve taken me out to gorgeous restaurants, we’ve seen wonderful shows together, and you have even met my parents, so why have you never invited me to your place?” asked Annie. Annie pushed down with her chubby fists into the small pockets of her baggy cardigan. Chris wondered how the knitting didn’t fall apart. Her habit was one of the many quirks she fascinated him with. “My house is a mess, you wouldn’t like it,” Chris answered. He aimed to take her, but only when he was ready, not before. “...

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“Disconnected” by Sampson Patrick

Submitted to Contest #78

In the neighbourhood, she was our heroine and was pretty much contemporary than her contemporaries. As kids, we would gather around her, sometimes, danced to the rhythm that emanated from her finger-work on the keyboard. How long we enjoyed what was music to us depended on the mood Osamulu's mum was. On a bad day, the fiery look on her face put us away; we needed no prophet to tell us we were unwanted guests. Every African child could discern that. It was part of a homely requisite training where non-verbal communication like facial expressi...

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“People Watching” by Alex D

Submitted to Contest #78

It has been a good week for me. At work, I had just received a promotion with new business cards arriving today. I stuck one in my wallet for good luck. A few days prior i had received a phone call asking me to present at this convention, seemingly out of nowhere. I gave an enthusiastic yes to the man on the other end of the line. There's a lovely hotel attached to the local convention center. My brother just dropped me off at the front door, and I was surprised at how many people had turned out for the event. When I walked through the door,...

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“Pastille” by Juliet Martin

Submitted to Contest #78

The city no longer knows day and night. Blue light burns coldly through windowpanes, bleeding out of screens which never go dark, people are tapping away at keyboards and taking calls without rest and projects are debated and created and completed by the minute. The flow of traffic is constant, a plateau, regardless of the time on the clock, like a faceless production line. Off the costs and in the industrial areas, machinery operates non-stop, land and watercraft skip past, manned from control centres where the shifts are twenty-four hours ...

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“The Warlock” by Connor Andrei

Submitted to Contest #78

The light just appeared. Well, the lamp was already there, but light emitted from it suddenly and without even a flick of the switch. In fact, the switch didn’t move. Inside the wall, the circuit remained broken. But the light was on. William smiled to himself as he sat on his antique leather armchair in the corner of the room. The light above him dimmed and brightened. He watched it curiously. With a faint twitch of his wrist, the light changed color — what had been a soft white glow turned deep amber, then blue, and then green. “Honey, i...

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“A False Sense of Serenity” by James Holgate

Submitted to Contest #78

Today was yet another day containing an ongoing hebetude aroma throughout the continuous bunkum of the office. Felix inverted this sense via his pure existence, as he transformed the dull depressive sense into an ambrosial scent of jubilation and appraisal. Felix strode into the incongruous greyscale office building with an everlasting look of beneficence plastered upon his visage. Dirty blond hair and viridescent pupils truly sparked his imagery as well as the obvious gleeful smile implanted upon his face; these facial features were in addi...

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“"Another work night with Ziggy"” by Mersadece Dolin

Submitted to Contest #78

There I was, lying in bed with the covers pulled up to my noise and my toes sticking out the end of the bed. I knew it was about time to get up, as I could feel the small breeze coming through my window, filling my bedroom with a relaxing yet still cozy and irresistible feeling. That was, simply stay in bed. Just as I was starting to contemplate the idea of calling off work and staying tucked in tight with my blanket, I heard him. That flapping of the wings that, I find to be so gracious, however most people think it sounds like rubber being...

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“Astronomy In reverse” by Ashley Ndhlovu

Submitted to Contest #78

The night air seemed much more humid than Darcy had anticipated. It seemed to almost cling to her skin but anything was better than being in a tiny apartment while the power was out. From where she stood- the rooftop of her apartment building, it was like looking down at the world except the world seemed slightly darker than usual, with only a few specs of light decorating a handful of windows. Like the stars in the sky, she thought. That exact thought forced her to look up at the starry black. Maybe it was the fact that she hasn'...

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“FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL” by Doug LeBlanc

Submitted to Contest #78

FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… “It’ll work, you’ll see!” She shrugged. “If you say so. I doubt it, though.” “Trust me,” Candy told Sue. “Nothing can go wrong.” “I hate when people say ‘trust me’,” Sue said. “I always regret doing it.” Candy laughed. “Don’t w...

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$50

Prize money

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Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 29, 2021 EST

Won by Christina Marie 🏆

Title: Life's Leftovers

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.

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