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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#79: The Family You Choose

They say blood is thicker than water — but is it always?

 

The truth is that not all families offer healthy relationships to each other, and sometimes the harsh act of cutting them out of your life may be the best course of action. Fortunately, we can still meet people who love us no matter what and become our new families. Not to mention adoptions, blended families, and all the wonderful ways people connect with and support each other, regardless of whether they share any DNA. It's fair to say that family is a lot more than blood!

 

This week, we’re going to turn family life upside down and examine all the ways that family succeeds — and fails — for our characters.

🥇 Winner

“Puzzle Pieces” by Reha A

Trigger warning: mention of suicide    The first time Cassie met Lin, the latter girl was wearing a fitted pink jumpsuit, layered with a baby blue bomber jacket that was patterned all over with obnoxiously adorable illustrations of pugs and rainbows. In Lin's long black hair were citrus orange streaks that glowed stupendously whenever she and her high pigtails moved ever so slightly. Cassie hated her. Partially because she felt that she, being Marcus's new girlfriend, simply had to; but m...

155 comments 155 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Empty Chairs” by Cathryn V

It came on a standard piece of office paper bearing the letterhead Families United, typed in Times New Roman, twelve font, single-spaced:Your birth mother has asked us to contact you on her behalf. She would like to connect, but you are under no obligation whatsoever. Your information is protected and nothing will be divulged without your permission. An email and phone number along with the business hours are included. I re-read the note again and again before laying i...

50 comments 50 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Broken Ties” by Emma Ruth

“I’ve started going to therapy,” my mother says quietly, looking at her hands. They are clasped together on the table, her thumbs mindlessly picking at her nude fingernail polish. Flakes of it lay scattered on the dark tablecloth, their stark contrast like a sprinkling of snow on pavement. This is the first declaration she’s made since entering my home a few minutes ago. I look at her, quizzically, unsure of what I’m s...

10 comments 10 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Songbird” by Jody Serey

The latest round of counselors had seemed as exhausted with this kid as I was. When the shock of encountering his illegally-acquired underage pornographic tattoos had worn off, I was just tired. I looked into the face of his psychiatrist and knew that she was thinking the same thing I was: “Why bother?” But I couldn’t put it all into a fold...

19 comments 19 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“New England Months & Years” by Calvin Spears

13 For exactly the opposite of what I thought I would be lying across cream carpet with––carpet thick enough to bury toes in––I looked to her.  Smells resembled the inactivity of rubber storage containers and Christmas decorations wrapped in trash bags.  Smells of patchouli candles that Mom burned only around the holidays in an effort to remember her 1950s childhood, smells of the comforter’s fabric soft...

9 comments 9 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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This week's prompts

Write about someone who decides it’s time to cut ties with a family member.

Sad – 265 stories

Your main character is approached by their long-estranged parent who wants to reconnect. How do they react?

Dramatic – 194 stories

Write about someone who discovers the only family member they have left has just betrayed them.

Sad – 161 stories

Write about two characters who’ve gone through something so intense they now feel like family.

Adults – 192 stories

Write about a “found family” who are finally able to get together again after a long time apart.

Fluff – 101 stories

Stories

“Puzzle Pieces” by Reha A

Trigger warning: mention of suicide    The first time Cassie met Lin, the latter girl was wearing a fitted pink jumpsuit, layered with a baby blue bomber jacket that was patterned all over with obnoxiously adorable illustrations of pugs and rainbows. In Lin's long black hair were citrus orange streaks that glowed stupendously whenever she and her high pigtails moved ever so slightly. Cassie hated her. Partially because she felt that she, being Marcus's new girlfriend, simply had to; but m...

155 comments 155 WINNER 🏆
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“Stef's Ethics” by Lemon Lime

  "Stefan. How could you do this to me?"   Her eyes are fish bowls filled with dank seaweed. He raises one eyebrow and wipes his face with both hands.   "Mum. Listen to me. You haven't demonstrated an iota of regret."   "How could you!? I raised you without a dad!"   "And therefore..."   "Hugh's been trying to get you to come back for nearly 40 years. Let me at least meet my granddaughter! This is cruelty!"  <...

19 comments 19
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“The End. Forever.” by 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃

Trigger warning: Gory scenes, suicide, and screaming.No.It can't end like this.- - -If there's anything I hate, it's laziness. Just waking up to a messy room can make me angry and dampen my mood like a thunderstorm. So therefore, when I rolled out of bed with my many precious books, I was not expecting my dear cousin to have a landfill dumped in his room at precisely 8:34 in the morning, when I came in. He used to be such a stickler for neat and tidy rooms. When we went...

1278 comments 1278
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“Fall of the Frontier” by Nainika Gupta

June 1917Two boys, barely even men, were drafted into their separate armies. Two boys, barely even men, got onto the train. One going from Pittsburg to New York. The other going from Kiel to Berlin. August 1917War was here. For the Americans, for Europe. The Great War, they called it. The war to end all wars. Matthew Hunter looked around the section of the trench he was assigned to, along the Western Fr...

87 comments 87
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“Steinbeck in the Forest” by . .

James and I are brothers. Well, not exactly, we didn’t know each other for a while, but we like to say that we are. Whenever someone asks “who is that boy you’re with?” I always answer with a smile, “my brother James”. After a long period of sticking our heads in the mud, we finally met at ages eleven and twelve. It was a cold day in the forest and I was out climbing trees. You see, I love climbing trees. I don’t know if you’ve ever found a perfect tree, but the feeling when you see a tree ripe for climbing is so po...

307 comments 307
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“Origami” by Amiable Sorceress

The dove came in the mail, perfectly intact, a note etched on the side. The swan had come two days earlier, perched atop her front porch. How did he even know her address? Sighing, Zahari pinched the creases of the perfect colored paper, running her finger along every folded edge. How long had it been since they touched the same surface, broke the same bread? Twenty years, give or take some.  <...

34 comments 34
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“Dear Cody” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

I was writing a letter to Grandma when I heard it.GunshotsScreamsPolice sirensBanging on the front doorMuffled orders spoken by the police“The parents are injured and the boy is gone, the girl must’ve done it. Search the house for a girl with black hair and about yea tall, about 10 years old. GO!”I realize the police were looking for me, not for witness...

95 comments 95
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“Together, we can do anything” by 【ↇ𝔸𝕂𝕆⇝𝔹𝔼𝔸ℝ 】

As I lie in bed, surrounded by darkness, I clamp his hand, I can’t see him, but I can feel his padded hands, his soft silky fur, his hard button eyes. I never feel safe without Paddy, he is my dark defender. Everynight, we lie together in my bed, with the duvet pulled up to our chins. It’s completely dark, except for the crack from the door being pushed to instead of closed, and my array of stars on the ceiling....

20 comments 20
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“Exploits and the Unexpected” by Writer Maniac

Trigger warning: Sexual assaultA ray of light sneaks its way underneath the door, briefly illuminating the pitch-dark room and its occupants.They blink at each other for a second before the light goes away, and I can only see the scars and bruises that they have to keep with them forever. All of them have the same eyes, the eyes that have seen more than they should have. I suspect that I have those eyes too.The moist cloth that has been stuffed in my mouth and tied around my h...

40 comments 40
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“Morri ” by Rhondalise Mitza

The house is quiet, like a needle, but sharper, and with all the tension of midnight in a bar with the windows shot out and one guy in the corner just watching the others fight and saying to himself, "Get 'em, son, you got 'em."The house is quiet, for once.Inside, a girl is eating ice cream from a Starbucks cup, her long legs crossed and propped up on the top of her table. The television sits a few feet away. No one's watching it. No one could watch it, even if they did feel like catching some one scene rerun. It's broken. B...

42 comments 42
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“Paper Cuts” by 【ↇ𝔸𝕂𝕆⇝𝔹𝔼𝔸ℝ 】

Author’s note: Contains abuse. I’m not sure how sensitive it actually is, but here’s a heads up anyway They say it’s like death by a thousand paper cuts, abuse is. Every beating just adds another, until they’re decussating, and full of pain, oh so full of pain.  Every slap across your face. Every punch across your neck. Every lash across your back. Just one paper ...

33 comments 33
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“Letting Go” by Maya -

The things are tossed into my bags one at a time; my clothes, the frames I used to keep by our bedside, the books I used to keep on our bookshelves. Bluebell tries to climb inside, but I pick up his furry body and place him on the bed, earning a mew of complaint. As I hang the heavy luggage over my shoulders, I take one last look at the room we used to share.My cold, slender fingers sweep the moisture out of my eyes. I don’t want to cry, not now. Not with you waiting for me at the door. The room looks bare now, only...

167 comments 167
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“Never say never (Part 9 of Witches Versus Mutants)” by Moon Lion

Shit, shit, shit. I swear trouble follows me around more than my goddamn shadow does. One year in the clear, and already I was being chased by monsters. Blindly, I ran into the darkness between two buildings, cursing myself a thousand times. Of course, I had to stand up for some stupid kid, of course, the bully had to actually be some deformed monster. It was always me who managed to finesse her way into...

10 comments 10
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“Names” by ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕨 🏳️‍🌈 (inactive For The Summer)

I believe names have power. Laugh all you want, but sometimes I put people into groups based on their names. Names have colors and personalities that grow to represent the person who is using the name. Although, to be honest, I think names don’t belong to a specific person, they belong to everyone. They're borrowed, from the day we’re born to the day we die. But everyone knows some famous ones: Karens are snobs, K...

101 comments 101
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“Betrayed” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Author’s Note: This story is good as a stand-alone, but if you want to know more about the backstory, go read “One Thing Leads To Another”. Also, there isn’t good grammar here because it’s all diary entries. Thanks! :D January 27 Today I went to Charity’s Coffee with Bua, my best friend. We were talking like we normally would when she brought up Sinsi, my brother. It is relevant for you to...

466 comments 466
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$50

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 05, 2021 EST

Won by Reha A 🏆

Title: Puzzle Pieces

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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