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Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.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

“Diana's Life Tips #52: Don't Get in a Car with a Demon Driving” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #78

Author's note: this is part of a series of connected stories (look for ones that start with "Diana's Life Tips") that are stand alone with short relevant information that I would provide in the beginning. Thank for reading! Relevant Information: Daemon is a demon Diana accidentally summoned after following a Doberman into a janitor's closet. *** “Listen I—” Daemon began as he flung open Diana’s bedroom door. Almost as quickly as he bursted in did Diana pull a lever by her bed, sending the demon down a trapdoor. She smirked to herself, ha...

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“The Magic within the Greenhouse” by Melissa Louise Murdoch

Submitted to Contest #78

"I never mean to hurt you, Vivian…" Clarke said lowly. "And yet you hurt me most days, Clarke." Vivian stood by the door frame and looked upon Clarke’s face one last time. "Good-bye Clarke, may you know profound love and may you allow it to find you." Vivian shut the door behind her. The clouds were dark grey, and heavy and about to burst. Clarke watched Vivian walk down the path to the yellow taxi waiting to take her back to Arkacia. She could tell that Vivian was holding back tears, as was she. In the very instant she shut the yellow taxi’...

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“Red lipstick ” by Hina Ijaz

Submitted to Contest #78

Red lipstick Present day Little Audrey heard her mom and dad fighting again. It always scared her. She wanted to play with her friends outside but her father didn’t want her to so her mommy was arguing with her father to let her. When the fighting was over, Her mother came into the room and asked Audrey if she was okay. She, replied, “yes, but mother if dad doesn’t want me to go, I won’t. You don’t have to fight for me. I don’t want to see you cry. Ever. ” Her mother, stroked her cheek and said “yes, I have to. If I don’t then who will? ...

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“Timing” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #78

Timing is everything. It's a cliché for a reason. There's a little bit of truth to it, melded together deep down in the mix.I met Sienna through an online dating site. We emailed for about a week. Then we agreed to meet in person at a Mexican restaurant. Or, at least I think it was a Mexican restaurant. I had two that were my go-to first date spots. One was next to a movie theater. The other in the middle of downtown. Each location was full of opportunities to take the night further, should that first dinner go well.In mine and Sienna's case...

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“5th Grade” by We All Feel Lost Inside

Submitted to Contest #78

Authors note: (plz read) this is something very personal I so I decided to share it to show you the life is not always perfect. I want to show that even lives that look so amazing on the internet, my be the ones who’ve been bullied there whole lives. Now without fur ado, let’s start. fifth grade, first day, I went into class and my teacher looked at me. “Julia” she said. “Will you please tell us a little about yourself?” “O-of course” I grinned. “M-my name is Julia and I’m 11 years old. I love animals and I have 4 brothers.” “Four?!” She...

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“motley” by R E

Submitted to Contest #78

Mike likes origami. He has the patience for it. He’s one of those people who can take the time to see how something works, every fold connects in his mind, revealing the final product before he even starts. Not everyone is gifted with that. The others envy him. I enjoy the crane’s the most. The folded animals and flowers never last very long. Ben throws them away, complains about the space they take up which is ironic because he keeps buying unique or ornate chess boards to display around the apartment. Mike is always sad when he realizes ...

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“Mr. And Mrs. Pillow” by Samantha Arguedas

Submitted to Contest #78

Luna and Arthur argued over the meaning of stealing in the sky-like room that contained over a hundred pillows."You are taking an object from a place that's not your property!" He hollered, his legs hidden in the pillow mountain."They are just pillows. No one misses them," she stated simply, floating in the pillows. "Don't you wish to have your private heaven?" she sat up hastily, "As I do? Tell me this isn't the best room you've ever been to".Arthur cruised the fluffy surroundings examining the room. He halted and laid down next t...

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“The Hobby of Life” by Hannah B

Submitted to Contest #78

"Well a filler chapter would work best here," Zefaia said, leaning over the well-worn wooden table. She pointed at one of my many messy lines of writing. "After all the drama from the last chapter, it makes sense to have something to wrap it up. Kinda like a mini resolution, yeah?"I nodded even as my mind swirled. "A filler..." I murmured, biting the inside of my cheek. A long, exasperated sigh escaped me. "Why didn't I think of that?"Zefaia laughed as I dramatically slammed my head into my notebook, and she said, "You just needed a new pers...

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“A Million in One” by Zahra Daya

Submitted to Contest #78

The vintage brown of the clay slithers past my hands, leaving a brown trail of residue. I press on the pedal with my foot, applying just a tad more pressure. The wheel spins around faster and I distort the clay with my nimble fingers. I pull it up; now resembling a wand (one that may stick out like a sore thumb if placed in a Harry Potter movie though) and push it back down with my palms. The trick is to keep steady and be gentle. I’ve been doing ceramics for a month now and I can already feel the boredom in the pit of my stomach, t...

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“Dear Michael” by Izzie Chan

Submitted to Contest #78

The ink bottle clinked against her wooden desk as she took it out of the drawer. Quick scratches as she touched pen to paper, writing heartfelt letters to the same person, all while knowing they would never respond. She wrote to her son, whom she lost so many years back, she eventually gave up counting. Beginning with the usual "Dear Michael," she proceeded to write with frail hands, tapping her foot rhythmically against the hardwood floors. She informed him about her day, asked how he was doing, and put her heart into each word, ignori...

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“The Animemorialists” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #78

The owner of the Grange Ridge Hotel, Mr Edgar Megson, had been in two minds about accepting the booking. But he prided himself on being broad minded and after all, especially when they had never really recovered after that bad business with the bootleg booze in the bar (and it wasn’t even as if it had done anyone any harm, apart from the off license up the road!) he wasn’t going to turn away a group booking. Certainly not for a convention. And you had to give the nice lady who phoned up to enquire (and did sound like a very nice lady, and Mr...

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“Sticking it Out” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #78

“The trouble is, Sandra, you’re not a sticker.” Well, I was on the point of saying something sarcastic and (in my opinion) funny on the lines of it never having been my life’s ambition to be a small piece of adhesive paper asking people not to smoke or decorating the correspondence of a teenage girl. But the trouble is, my friend Shona had a point. A very good point. She hadn’t exactly moved heaven and earth to get me into the ceramics class at our local adult learning centre, but technically they already had the numbers they wanted and her ...

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“No Place for Small Creatures” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #78

“Get your feet off those armrests, lads, and get to work. Father McGuigan needs his pickup washing.”“Ah, Ma,” says Danny, “do we have to it’s—”“It’s ten bucks each, so you better make it shine.”“But it’s too hot out there and-—”“He was expecting you an hour ago.”Jimmy grimaces, “Is there any choice?”The look says it all. Ma’s not making an offer they can refuse. It’s more of an order than an invitation. She leaves a bucket and polishing cloths by the door.#Father McGuigan’s inside his old Chevy with the window down. He’s rapping hi...

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“My little Bonny” by Oyediran Esther

Submitted to Contest #78

"ARRRGGGGGHHH MOM, BONNY IS CHEWING MY NEW BED SHEETS" Anna shouted from her room. Not again," Anna baby am sorry, I'll just get you a new one tomorrow"I said smiling. Bonny is a raccoon, my pet. Yeah, you heard that right. I was on my way to work on a faithful day when I saw it on the road injured. I took it home and since then and we've been taking care of it as ours. It's been 10 years now and my 18 inches tall raccoon won't stop going around causing trouble. But my daughter and husband understand the fact that I really love t...

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“Never Ending Love” by Kate Heesemann

Submitted to Contest #78

A skunk makes a wonderful pet, I thought to myself as I watched my black and white animal sleeping on the couch. They’re so relaxed and loving. I gave Stinky Jo a pat behind her ears. She purred like a kitten. I have had this skunk for five years now. She has been the best friend I’ve ever had. My dog passed away six years ago, and the cat ran away and never came home. So, I went out and bought myself an unusual pet — a skunk. She doesn’t attack. I’ve never been sprayed. She’s the best little p...

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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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