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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 Cold Revelation ” by Vikki Bilbey

Submitted to Contest #79

Gerry answered the door. Standing there on the icy path of her ground floor flat was a woman in a long black coat which was peppered with snow. She wore dark sunglasses which Gerry thought odd for the time of year; the sun hadn’t been out all morning. With a thick woollen scarf almost covering her mouth and a Trapper hat, Gerry could barely see the lady’s face. In fact, she only assumed it was a female standing before her because of the patient pointy heeled boots and long straggly pink hair that looked like it was escaping from her hat. The...

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“Reconnect” by L M

Submitted to Contest #79

She was nervous. Scared and nervous. Her mind was alternating between cursing herself for being home and picking up her phone that day and excitement because she could finally have the answers she'd been craving for over 20 years. The meeting was scheduled for three hours on the dot from this exact moment and there was a chance she was going to wear out her brand new super fluffy carpet before anyone worthy saw it. What of it went badly and they started screaming at each other? In public? "Oh God this couldn't end well!" she though...

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“A Christmas Present.” by Jharna Katara

Submitted to Contest #79

"Bella, honey, can you please come here and help me?", said a polite voice from inside the bathroom of this plush mansion located in the uptown of Maryland, a huge estate bordering the Atlantic ocean. Following this sweet melodious voice, appeared a fairly medium height-ed, wheatish skinned girl walking at a pace higher than normal. "I was wondering if you could fetch the hair dryer for me...and.....I need some of the hair set gel for dad too...." "Coming right up, mom!" said the girl in her usual obedient fashion, as she headed towards her ...

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“Mourning Mother” by Kay Wren

Submitted to Contest #79

*** 01/30/20 The room is stuffy. My black dress, all thick cotton and dark fabric, is suffocating. I try to breathe. In and out. In and out. Somebody murmurs something from the rows of pews that are stretched before me. I take a breath and begin my prepared monologue. “Caroline Andrews will always be remembered for the time she spent on this earth. She was a mother, a wife, and a friend.” I let the pain of remembrance echo throughout the church. I glance down at the slip of paper, trying to read the ti...

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“The Visitation” by Oliver C.

Submitted to Contest #79

Jack stood at the doorway, stooped, with his hand held up and pointing at the doorbell, but unable to actually push the little steel button. He felt the tickling sensation as drops of sweat rolled down from his forehead, and he felt hot in his chest but cold everywhere else. In his frozen stillness, he began thinking over the vents of the past few weeks and what he had to say.It took him numerous calls just to find the address. He could no longer make contact with his son any other way, so he had to go over to his house. It took him two hour...

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“Death and the Maiden” by DREW LANE

Submitted to Contest #79

This story is a sequel to "Behind Closed Doors" that you can find on my page.Tonio's saliva dabbled onto the scattered music notes as his nose rubbed the paper. He tried to run his fingers across the music scales to feel the music score but his arm was too numb under the weight of his head. For sure, he hadn't finished his composition and had already forgotten its air."Argh... " Tonio moaned as he tried to lift up his chest. His arm hit something that rolled across the table and shattered down on the dusty tiles. A smell than he knew all too...

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“supposed to be dead.” by Charlotte Sully

Submitted to Contest #79

I am the only kid in my class who was in foster care, or with a limp. I was blessed with a birth defect and parents who didn’t love me, yay! #blessed. No matter how much my new parents love me, I can’t get over the grudge I have for my real ones. People ask me if I remember my mom at all, and I have to refrain from replying, “Hey moron, didn’t I tell you I was given up at birth? Do you remember first seeing your parents? No, I didn’t think so.” And other people say “How lucky you are to be adopted, some kids aren't that luc...

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“The Memory Of His Face” by Rachel Daniels

Submitted to Contest #79

I didn't hear the letter come through the door that morning. I heard the barks of our dog warning the postman off. I lay there, not yet willing to let my hazy dreams slip away. Not yet willing to accept the start of another long sleep-deprived day. I groaned as I finally half-opened my aching eyes and swung my legs out of bed. My feet momentarily touched the cold wooden floor and recoiled, before finding their way into the fluffy slippers. This was a well perfected routine, standing and stretching before my eyes came to rest on that same old...

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“Only one chance” by Katarína Kyseľová

Submitted to Contest #79

With every sound of the door opening, Emily’s heart stopped for a second. Every time she lifted her head and stared at the door with the hope that the person for whom she was waiting for finally came. But then with a deep sigh, she continued reading the menu while hesitating if she made the right decision to come. She hasn’t seen her dad since her parents got divorced, she stayed with her mom, and her dad left with another woman. She ordered a big cup of herbal tea to get warm. She came earlier so she didn’t want to sit there without any d...

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“Losing My Rythem” by Lisa Segale

Submitted to Contest #79

Every light in the house was on and the noises coming from inside sounded just like those one would expect to hear at a party. This had to be the right place. I tucked my drumsticks into the large pocket on the inside of my coat and knocked on the bright red door. No one answered. I tried again. This time the door swung open so fast that it banged against the wall of the entryway. Good thing I wasn’t in its way or I would have been knocked off of the steps of the narrow walkway. &nb...

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“Her mother” by Samaira S.

Submitted to Contest #79

Her face. Her eyes. Familiar, but also innately stranger to her. They looked exactly the same. Their figure curved in the same spots and their eyes crinkled the same way when they smiled. Ayesha also clutched her handbag tightly to her chest when she was nervous; she also scuffed her boots on the floor when she was unsure what to say. Bitten lips and haphazard selection of clothes told Ayesha that they also both almost late for the discussion. They looked so alike. The teenage girl felt like wanting to touch the woman in front of her, ...

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“Delaware” by Sarah A

Submitted to Contest #79

In the waiting room, I fill out the forms painstakingly, the way I’ve gotten used to doing over the years. I take them up to the desk, where the secretary asks me for my insurance card. I pat my pockets, and pull out my wallet. I flip through the cards, “Damn”, I finally say. “I must have left it at home. Can I pay out of pocket or something?”&n...

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“The Khan Desert” by Tehya Peeteetuce

Submitted to Contest #79

The red burning sand felt like glass on my feet as I lifted my hand to see better from the glaring sun. Nothing but the towering dunes surrounded us, I turned a full circle but found nothing useful. "Khalsi is getting weaker Dhila," a coarse voice whispered, sighing I look over my shoulder to see my niece slumped over my horse, Khalsi was indeed getting slower and weaker. She didn't have long, I frowned thinking of losing my best horse. We had gone through many adventures and battles together. I walked up and patted her neck softly. Nickerin...

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“The Brown Family” by Emilee Ostendorf

Submitted to Contest #79

“Through ups and downs, together stick the Browns.” That had always been their motto. It started during the depression, when Mother and Father were still around. After so many days of struggling for just enough food to keep moving, they had to find some way to try and hold themselves together. And so the saying was born. Over the next few months, the line would make an appearance in the midst of tribulations and struggles that somehow managed to bring the family closer than they ever were. Crammed together in their studio apartment, they sh...

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“Betrayal” by Sydney Shepherd

Submitted to Contest #79

Maryann trudged heavily through the bleak evening light, winding her way down the path to the shelter. The unforgiving landscape was empty and gray, with dead trees and shrubs dotting yards and roadsides. It had been 5 days since she’d seen anyone besides her sister, and she was beginning to feel as though they were the last two people on Earth. She knew they weren’t. 5 days ago they’d seen a small group of men scavenging, their guns drawn as though a threat were near. As far as Maryanne and Shelly knew, there was no one else ...

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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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