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Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.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

“The sky that came over Gable Brick Place. ” by Mia P

Submitted to Contest #78

Today is the closest I will ever be to dying. I’m not exaggerating, I didn’t fall off the balcony or burn my hand on the stove (though I would never be on the stove because Margret would cook for me). My head is in an albino lion’s mouth. My albino lion’s mouth, to be exact. I got Ashton when I was 9, a few days before Dad passed away from cancer. I loved my dad and all of the stargazing and movie nights and staying up late when mom didn’t know. I was a hard-core Daddy’s-girl. When dad got diagnosed, he gave me my first pet. An albino ...

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“Mr. Carmichael and his Unusual Guest” by Marjorie Kabwe

Submitted to Contest #78

Fairy tales and real life a meant to be separate. That’s exactly what the extremely busy, no fun Mr. Carmichael always thought until one day. Mr. Carmichael lived alone. He only met his relatives during social gatherings and emergencies. He was never fond of children, pets and never had any of either. His nephews and nieces always stayed clear from him, because of his headmaster style temper. But Grace their mother always told them that despite their uncle’s socially ineptness, he loved them…somehow. Back to Mr. Carmichael. It was the weeken...

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“Ivy and Her Pet Bettas” by Dick Hardwood

Submitted to Contest #78

Betta fish? For pets? Who ever heard of such a thing? You can't possibly pet a fish, can you?" These are good questions. Very good questions indeed. One's that deserve answers. And answers I have. Good ones, from first hand experience.First, I will need to introduce you to my best friend and love of my life, Ivy. She is something, I tell you what. Beautiful. Smart. Seductive. Adventurous Energetic. All of the above and more. We are each others fellow travelers, able to share in experiences, even in these troubled times our world is goin...

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“Discipline” by Dilettante Shultz

Submitted to Contest #78

It was supposed to be an all-nighter. Raj once again, tired from his job had given himself a half-hour T.V. break before beginning work on his newest project, a screenplay he had intended to produce with a small group of amateur filmmakers he knew. That half hour became “Just one more episode” and bled into an hour, then two, then before he knew it the glowing hole of a box had consumed his entire evening. Groggy and half asleep he groped for the remote, deciding he couldn’t heave himself out of his hypnagogic state to get his creative ...

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“Morpho ” by Kristyna Lauren

Submitted to Contest #78

Trinity arrived on Earth on May 20, 1990 at 3:33 P.M. in the warm waters of Tulum, Mexico. She weighed eight pounds and four ounces, had beautiful olive skin, and dark brown eyes to match. A couple of months before Trinity’s arrival, her young mother Nina was dealing with the death of her lover who overdosed on pain medication in their home in California. Broken-hearted, Nina tore through his belongings to find answers—anything to console her. Underneath a pile of his old clothes she found a tattered book. She shuffled throug...

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“Aksalohtil” by Aiden Solomon

Submitted to Contest #78

“Here’s Remy, my pet axolotl,” said Andrew, gesturing towards the man to walk up to me. He blinked twice at Andrew in confusion. “Aksa- what?” Maybe he’s got a hearing problem. “Ak-sa-loh-til.” Andrew replied slowly, sure to enunciate each syllable. The stranger shrugged and leaned over in my direction. His face was foreign to me: his skin was pale, and his brown hair matched the color in his eyes. He looked nothing like Andrew. He bent down, taking a moment to examine me before the corners of his mouth pulled upward. A small indenta...

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“THE HEN LAID THE EGG” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #78

THE HEN LAID THE EGG “ Yes, Chicca is fine…oh, but sure, she eats regularly , with appetite…of course, she eats the birdseed you advised me….and she drinks….sure, I reminder she also needs the grass….oh, every day I let her go out in the garden “ While she was talking at the phone with her great-aunt Teresa, Matilde kept an eye on Chicca, which was hopping on the sofa , and she bent down from time to time to peck it, then, after a few pecks, she raised her head and looked here and there, craning her neck. “ No, not for now….Wh...

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“The Traveling Tinker” by Dan Blakely

Submitted to Contest #78

Fien fixed her eyes on the trail ahead as her wagon lumbered along. Going from place to place is what she did, she was a gypsy of sorts but in reality Fien was a tinker, a peddler just like her father before her, and his father before him. If people needed things fixed, she could do it. If they needed a new kettle or shovel, she could sell them one or offer a fair trade. She usually traded in simple, inexpensive things but sometimes not. She had worked hard to cobble together a good, simple life and she was respected...

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“Poodle” by Taylor Smith

Submitted to Contest #78

Sunny Rain Wilkins despised contradictions. Most would say it began with her name, but Sunny always felt her dislike of the logically incongruous to be something more intrinsic. Sure, her mom could have done her a favor and picked a more sensible name, if not at least one more harmonious. Something like Sunny Ray Wilkins perhaps. Whatever the reason, the fact remained: Sunny Rain Wilkins was her name. She lived a sensical, ordered life. She kept a strict schedule from her five am wake up call, work morning or not, to evening meditation befor...

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“The Snap of a Finger” by Marlene Tinajero

Submitted to Contest #78

As I sat in the middle of my torment, the wind rustled the tree’s leaves outside the window. The sky was covered in a blanket of grey clouds and Mr.Knorr was just about to finish the final chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird, when the final bell rang. Stuffing their materials into their backpacks, everyone rushed out the door. I dragged my feet, through the halls filled with stomping shoes, and out the main door. It had been cloudy all week with not a single drop of rain but as I walked out the door, the waterfall came c...

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“The Frilled-Neck King” by Kaela Nicholls

Submitted to Contest #78

“Eddy, why are you gripping my hand so hard?”“You’re so freaking slow, dude! The event is about to start in 3 minutes!”“Okay, that doesn’t explain why you’re gripping my hand so hard.”As Eddy yet again tightens his hold, I could feel my wrists slowly transition from excruciating pain to insensible numbness.I’d alert my dear, dear stepbrother that he is cutting off the circulation to my arms, but I don’t want to spoil his...Excitement.“What makes this convention so great, anyway?” I ask for the fifteenth time. He still hasn’t given me a strai...

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“Newsraiding ” by Subarna Mohanty

Submitted to Contest #78

All the twenty four people who had signed up for ‘News-raiding Hobby Convention’ in the middle of September, who I personally think must be either weird people or just really alone people, are sitting around in a circle on chairs, waiting for the instructor. I hadn’t even heard of something called news-raiding, where you go around the town trying to appear in the background of as many news reports as you can. But I hadn’t been able to write anything for the past five months and my writing coach thought it’s because I had fallen prey to the r...

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“Beans ” by Theresa Anna

Submitted to Contest #78

You’ve never been great at meeting women. You’re no better at it now. You shouldn’t have come. You’re tired of being pushed into doing things you hate doing. Still, you try. Mostly, for them—your friends who care about you. Mostly, you just don’t want to end up like one of those guys who games all day and wears plaid and stops combing his beard. Get out more. Be friendly. Be yourself. You’ve gotten so much advice at this point you don’t know which one to hold onto, what to do first and when. You sip your beer. It’s confusing. You never ne...

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“The Repairman and the Illusion ” by Lyn VJ Bennett Wilson

Submitted to Contest #78

His name was Ehrich Weldon and this was his email to Repairing Hope. Dear Mr. Repairman, It is my sincerest hope that, as the name of your organization suggests, you will be able to help me in my quest to leave my current situation. I heard about your work through a mutual friend. He assures me that you would be just the person to assist me. I am a gunsmith by training however, I’ve always been interested in the mechanics of illusions; how magicians create illusions or props for their shows.&nb...

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“The News-Raider Fam” by Grace K.

Submitted to Contest #78

“The news-raiders’ convention. Who would ever think of something so inspired, right? Well, me! My love for news-bombing started at a very young age, which seems fair since it would be a crime to deprive the world of seeing such a handsome face on TV. And the story of how this convention came to be is one even small kids are familiar with. That single tweet, 13 words, 200k+ retweets and shares – “Does anyone else get a rush from appearing during the live news reporting?!” Honestly, it’s not surprising how much reach the tweet had; I...

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$50

Prize money

735

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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