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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.

This week's prompts

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

Sad – 260 stories

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

Dramatic – 193 stories

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

Sad – 160 stories

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

Adults – 190 stories

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

Fluff – 100 stories

Stories

“The Find?” by Chioma Opara

Submitted to Contest #79

It should have been happy, shouldn't it? There should have been tears- tears of joy, I mean. Tears that blur your eyes while a beaming smile spreads across your face. Hiccups filled with regret and love all at once should have slipped through lips. And hugs too, I think. Yes, hugs. I remember from the thousands of plots I had read in preparation. Hand holdings should have been there too. So, why had mum and dad been so frigid? Why had there been an emptiness in dad's eyes when he looked at me? Where had the love been? The sparkling light of ...

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“The Trio” by Navneeth N

Submitted to Contest #79

“Hi. I’m Bob.” “Nice to meet you. I’m Rob” “And hello! I’m Cob.” They were all smiling, happy to have just moved into their new homes. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and they all had finished moving the night before and had gotten a good night’s rest. The birds were chirping, the trees were swaying, and all was nice and quiet. “Oh my, isn’t it such a nice day outside?” remarked Bob, rasping. He was quite old, old enough to be a grandfather, which was exactly what Rob asked. “Where’s your wife, children, and grandchildren? L...

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“Cosmically Inclined” by Estella Espresion Mercado

Submitted to Contest #79

I hate her, I hate her, I absolutely hate her. She looks so at home here, on my kitchen counter, she's literally on the surface of my kitchen counter, putting her butt right next to my containers of sliced fruit. Ugh, I put my food where she's sitting, god forbid the Elara Espresion acts like a normal person and sits in a chair. She's perched like a cat. One knee tucked under an elbow as one hand holds a bowl and the other is adding an obscene amount of sugar to it which was enough to knock out a toddler. There is a feigned nonchalance...

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“A Letter To My Family” by Mary LaForge

Submitted to Contest #79

In a previous life Jessica had a family. I don't mean a pre-historic life, or incarnate as Queen Alexandra, et al. I mean five years ago. To Jessica, however, five seemed more like ten or even twenty years. It, and they, felt as if they were that distant within her innermost being. How, Jessica wondered, could I completely wipe out a huge part of myself, as if only having existed in my imagination? Was I a physician in a previous life skilled at cutting off body parts? Evidently, Jessica realized, forgetting was pretty easy to do, and forget...

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“Brother's Keeper ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #79

“Please, look after your brother. I know that you two have had your differences and that you resent him.” My mother said as she lay in her bed in hospice as her life slowly drained from her. “Mother, I do not resent him.” I felt ashamed. How could she think such a thing about me and my brother Devin. “Vernon, I am depending on you to be your brother’s keeper.” She begged. I saw in her face the pain was again becoming unbearable, so there would be no further discussion. I did not resent my brother, I feared him...

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“Divine Ties” by Ororo Munroe

Submitted to Contest #79

In the halflight of the breaking dawn, Nkaze temple stood as prison-like as ever. Tall shadows lined every ancient crevice, slowly receding where the weak glow of new morning chased them back. It looked exactly as you had last seen it, all oblique arches and ledges, the style of an era long forgotten. Watching it now, you wondered how you could ever forget how lovely the sunrise was from this remote angle. This same red sun had risen the morning you ran away from everything you knew, leaving without so much as a coin, a plan, or a wo...

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“Sunday-Sunday Medicine” by Tochukwu Onwuzulike

Submitted to Contest #79

SUNDAY-SUNDAY MEDICINE Charles had spent the entirety of the night studying for the test he was so sure he would be having tomorrow, Monday. He had consciously altered his sleep pattern to suit the suffer-head lifestyle of any student that had a booming social and yet somehow still juggled top tier grades. It was no wonder that around tests and especially during exams, he got into impulsive, fiery fits in the room we shared with two Yoruba young men. Stress; understandable, completely avoidable nonetheless. He—Charles—had not hacked ...

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“The Words Long Left Unsaid” by B.A. Hinman

Submitted to Contest #79

Like it had taken its cue from an invisible director that the mood needed to be set before an impending battle, the sun disappeared beneath a wall of charcoal black storm clouds. The light that had imbued the surrounding residences with a sense of life and happiness was now smothered and replaced by an endless spectrum of shades of black and gray. Parked among the lines of cars that hugged the curbs of their respective houses and plots of land was a silver van, the color of which was made a dark platinum by the paucity of light. Inside the v...

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“Kiss-Off Pie” by Kelly Pawlik

Submitted to Contest #79

Her eyes adjusted to the dark room. Janice looked at the clock. Eleven thirty-seven. There was another knock at the door. Jason was already out of bed and pulling on his blue robe. It hadn’t been an angry knock. She was sure of that.“Stay here,” he said quietly.Janice sighed and listened intently. She could just make out Jason’s footfalls as he padded down the carpeted stairs. She heard him open the door. There were muffled voices.She frowned and slid her feet into her pink slippers as she got out of bed.“Janice! Go check on Laura now!”...

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“Not too little, a bit too late” by Anne G

Submitted to Contest #79

When I was a kid, they used to call me my father’s tail. He was a stay-at-home father and I wasn’t old enough to be in school. I would go everywhere he went. I knew the butcher and the bank-teller by name. His barber had to figure out what to do with a three-year old girl’s hair because of course I’d get my hair cut by him. When I was old enough for sixth grade, I put my feet down. I was no longer interested in getting my hair cropped to an inch of its life. I also got my ears pierced that year. From then, my father would always say he loved...

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“Shackles” by Ijeoma Onwuasoanya

Submitted to Contest #79

The jubilation and ecstasy that ate the thread and fabric of Koyo Village couldn’t be explained by mere words of mouth. Songs of joy and musical instruments were heard and echoed all through the land. Nkosi, a daughter of the soil was tying the nuptial knot to Mano; the only son of the richest and most famous business man of the whole region. In a very fancy and loud way, the two communities of Koyo and Nami gathered in joy to celebrate this union. Nkosi was the perfect bride for Mano, but nine months into the marriage, it seemed like marr...

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“Home” by K. Lin

Submitted to Contest #79

Six years ago, Song Mei Yin bought herself a one-way ticket and didn’t look back.Her mother said she’d lost her mind, angry with her decision even up until the moment she boarded the plane. The people she met were intrigued as to why she would leave a bustling metropolis with deep-rooted culture and fascinating history. She quickly grew accustomed to answering those kind of questions with “I wanted a new adventure”, omitting her past to acquaintances and classmates, people that didn’t matter enough for her to share her story, people that she...

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“Frayed Family” by C Alexis McGregor

Submitted to Contest #79

"I'm so sorry. This isn't me. It won't happen again." My hand shakes, holding the frozen pea bag to my cheek, my response silenced by fear. I back away with snail slowness, my eyes trained upon him. In the distance, my ears capture my sister's indignant gasp. "I nnnneed you to go, nnnow." My free arm gestures like a game show hostess towards the front door. "GO!" "Sheila, stay out of this — this is between my wife and me." "Fred, it isn't anymore, not that it should have been happening at all. GO! Leave ...

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“The journal of a modern black girl - Based on true stories.” by Hannah Shields

Submitted to Contest #79

July 3rd - Yesterday was worse than usual and now I will have to wear a long-sleeved shirt tomorrow despite the 95’ degree Louisiana weather. It was my own fault, I should have just gone without dinner as usual. Dad had just gotten home. He was drunk (as usual) and I got in the way, he loves me. I am sure of it, he just gets a little stressed and it causes confusion. Yes, that is it, he is just confused, only 2 more years and I will be off to college. In the meantime, I will stay cuddled in bed with my baby sister Mary. July 4th - I am s...

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“Family Climb” by Timothy Lawver

Submitted to Contest #79

Wind howled in Devin’s ears. He tried to tell himself it was just the wind. The cold attacked every joint, seeking out every seam of his cobbled together gear. Part of his mind wanted to let go and fall into the abyss. He screamed back at the wind and forced his arm to swing the adze another foot higher, another foot farther. “Mom!” he screamed downward, “You’ve gotta try! Keep climbing!” Wind or no wind, he should have heard her response. She should have yelled something back, however defeated or demorali...

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$50

Prize money

905

Contest entries

0

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.

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

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