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Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.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

“"What Are We Going To Do?” by Serendipity May

Submitted to Contest #78

"What are you doing!?" We broke the trance that we had encaptured ourselves in. For a moment I relaxed from the voice that had prevented what he was going to do. "Luan, what was that I was just seeing you do now?" I got off of him, crawling onto the stairs and slumping down. My eyes traveled to the new voice in the room with curiosity. "I was not doing anything Lona, I don't know what you are talking about." It was a girl about the same age my guess as the male. She was remarkably beautiful. She had long cascading white hair that was twi...

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“Almost A Cat” by Another Falsename

Submitted to Contest #78

“Hey, Gene, before you go in there-” Aria froze, her hand set on the worn doorknob of her little apartment. “Yeah?” He listened, and for that, Aria was grateful. The last man to come to her house had fled, screaming bloody murder to all who would listen. He’d never called back. Gene would be different. “Just a few words of warning about Ellie.” “That’s your cat?” He flashed her a smile. “See? I pay attention.” “Yeah, well, close the door behind you. And don’t look in Ellie’s eyes. Or don’t look at her. At all. She, well, she takes it as ...

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“Prophet with a Capital P” by Don Gilman

Submitted to Contest #78

We stood in the great hall of Hannel House, myself - Roger Bristol - surrounded by ten of the 231 NS Combat Division, standing in a semi-circle, blades out, the techsteel glowing blue, aqua, red and purple, each color and hum matching with the unique soundpitch of a specific soldier. The men and women of the division held their swords (called Kiri-Katana) in the modified ready stance of the ancient samurai, two hands wrapped around the intricate handles, held at just-below-shoulder height to their right or left sides, dominant hand dependin...

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“Running Late” by C.I. Koverty

Submitted to Contest #78

Instrumental music slammed through the silence of the holding cells, shattering the illusion of peaceful calm and announcing the arrival of the Queen. Bodies stirred within a dozen rooms, separated by bars and fear. The frenzied individuals shuffled through the dark, throwing on their identical outfits and emitting similar whimpers as they struggled to beat the blaring trumpets and aggressive piano notes to their conclusion. The Queen abhorred tardiness, lateness, and any variation of dilly-dallying. Those within her care knew that best of a...

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“For Sheila” by Joni Meuir

Submitted to Contest #78

The sun hadn’t yet risen as an electronic beeping pushed me out of sleep. With a yawn and a stretch, I blinked my eyes, mindlessly reaching over to switch off the alarm clock which let me know it was 5 o’clock in the morning. Turning on the bedside lamp with a quick glance around to see if there had been any changes in the night, it appeared that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, which was a good thing. Knowing that I had opened my life up to potential disaster during this time, I was glad that all was early m...

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“Deep in the Woods ” by Rach Nordin

Submitted to Contest #78

I was ten years old when I found Moss. I had been exploring the woods behind our house, playing knight. I was in the middle of a thrilling chase after Sir Villi, who had just recently kidnapped the princess and stolen the queen's crown. I, the poor stableboy, was determined to defeat him and return both the crown and the princess, after which she and I would be able to finally confess our love to each other. It was a fantastic plot and very enticing. Suddenly, I was at the mountain range, which set the boundaries for where I was allo...

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“Her perfect work.” by Chaeyeon Lee

Submitted to Contest #78

Her perfect work. By Chaeyeon Lee They stepped back. There lay the shimmering mirage; each thread tightly wound in each other’s embrace. Each dyed hue seeping into its miracle. Every winding needle path decorating its glory. It was a grandeur serenaded with praises of silk and satin. Admiration tinted her lips and blushes of pride and pink adorned her cheeks. She turned, beaming, at the man beside her whose grin outlasted her own. He almost blurted out a whisper of his awe when a sudden stillness echoed around her small studio, boun...

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“Unconventional History” by Samantha Hartford

Submitted to Contest #78

It was a lovely day in the shadow of Conisbrough castle. There in the castle yard, the weavers wove, the knights practiced swordplay, the cooks busily tended fires, and the visitors happily snapped pictures with their iphones. May took a break from her 12th-century shoemaking, brushing pieces of leather off her apron and blowing strands of greying hair away from her face as she looked around. The sky shimmered blue, the air tingled with woodsmoke and full of laughter and ringing metal. Not everyone from her reenactment group had made it, ...

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“Marginalia” by Zachary George

Submitted to Contest #78

Charles Shriver felt the tension melt from his shoulders as he drove down the highway. He had spent more time watching the clock than he had spent working that day. It was always impossible for him to focus on anything else in the time leading up to his annual trip. The sky was gray and the forecast called for a periodic and gentle snowfall over the next two days, which was just fine with him. In fact, he would prefer a blizzard to come swooping in so long as it waited for h...

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“Of Tomes and Time” by Angelo Buanno

Submitted to Contest #78

Henry ran his thumb down the page to turn to the end of the book. His eyes beamed laterally, anticipating each and every following word. His spectacles rested on the lower bridge of his nose. His grey beard stretched down to the bottom of the page. The outdoor cafe he sat in was nonexistent to him. The deep black coffee at attention before him, long turned cold, was adjacent to the pain au chocolat, missing just a nibble. “Monsieur?” the waitress asked, “monsieur?” She had been standing in front of Henry for only a few moments but she...

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“The Last Knocker” by Nelson Locklear

Submitted to Contest #78

It always seems to start the same way every year around this small busy town. Fall gives her last dance of trick or treat and Thanksgiving wishes, while winter steps in to take over the dance. It begins with a cooler less brisk shuffle, followed by a waltz of cold air that makes the mercury fall quickly on the thermostat. The people begin to arm themselves with thicker coats and boots that hide inside of them double pairs of socks or thermals to keep warm. Even the sun that provides all us with its warmth of rays, start leavi...

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“Duck Herding 101” by Ayelet Portman

Submitted to Contest #78

I stare out across the small yard, the ducks staring back at me. There had to be at least fifteen of them, looking confused, all scattering in different directions. “This way!” Dad yells, trying to herd them in the right direction, around the first two cones, through the makeshift tunnel, up the slide and around the bend. He keeps screaming at the ducks, as though they are humans and will obey his commands immediately. He uses his wooden stick to try to scare them into moving in the right direction, but it fails and only scares them mo...

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“Smell Like a Dog” by Rachel Martin

Submitted to Contest #78

"Marion, come on...I already asked you not to put the Mason jars of excrement next to the Dandelion." I can feel the impatience welling up in my core. She doesn’t seem to understand I’m nearing the end of my entrepreneur’s rope! "I heard you the first time Arthur. I was just setting it up this way to throw off that 'Olfactory Group'. You know they’re out to get you, after the whole ‘If Only I Had Thumbs’ debacle.” “Shh...people are app...

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“Faeology” by Joey Snell

Submitted to Contest #78

Faeology I looked around, fascinated. There was a mix of ages, some clearly over sixty with greying hair and bright eyed smiles, some, judging by their outfits, clearly students. One girl had the shortest miniskirt I had ever seen, it was dark green and denim and was definitely more like a belt. She wore it with a black cardigan that reached nearly to her ankles and was laughing, joking and pouting with her friends as they posed for selfies. Other girl wore jeans that were more rips than whole teemed with a hectically patterned red and pur...

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“The Toy Voygaer” by Reija SIllanpaa

Submitted to Contest #78

Cecil squeezed her teddy bear, Shozzy after Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, a little tighter as the announcement came they would soon arrive at Kings Cross, London, their final destination. Shozzy was the more seasoned traveller of the two of them. He had visited many exotic destinations around the world, whereas this was the first time Cecil had left the safety of her village in over ten years. There had been a time when Cecil had travelled herself, but that had stopped since the incident that could have cost her life. The train slowed down and ...

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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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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