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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 Generator” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #79

The Generator “It was a mistake.” It was his mantra, his motto, the only thing he could say. It was what he said to his father, right before he punched him in the face. What he said to the cops when they interrogated him and what he told the shifty-faced lawyer the state had appointed him. But no one cared. His cell mate laughed when he told him, a harsh sound from a harsh man, a man who had lived most of his life behind bars. “You are a killer. No one believes a killer. No matter how young you are.” And Harold was young. He had only turned...

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“MOTHER..........OH, MOTHER” by Ronald Gagnon

Submitted to Contest #79

The sweltering humidity dripped from the broad green leaves of the huge trees that blocked out the sun, yet did nothing to block the heat. Even the cries of the Macaws and the many species of monkeys, seemed tired and worn. A dugout canoe, old, patched and battered.. drifted slowly into shore... None of it's three occupants bothering to paddle... the native guide, Gre'gorycolmantz... a tribal elder from the Wa'syatchoo tribe, still very isolated in the deep Ecuadorian jungle... held his carved wooden paddle in the water, just to st...

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“The Ultimate Foreboding” by Kanika Ahuja

Submitted to Contest #79

It’s happening again. That thing that happens to me every time something bad is going to happen. Something supremely life-alteringly bad. I told my previous therapist about this sensation. This feeling that I get. The ultimate foreboding. The anxiety…the sinking feeling in my gut…the clenching of my heart. These are the signs. To prepare for something awful. My therapist hadn’t understood. I could see the silent mocking in her eyes. She simply nodded at me through her black rimmed glasses, and furiously wrote on that little blue notebook of ...

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“Is it who you know?” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #79

I can tell you this. In my small town, the old adage ‘It is not what you know, but who you know that matters” certainly applies. And I would add to that “It’s not what you submit to local writing and art contests, but who you are related to that matters.” Regarding the latter, I think that Maggie Cutler submitted something from her daughter’s finger painting session in kindergarten in her winning entry this year. Mayor Cutler, one of the judges, must have liked her granddaughter’s artwork a lot, or at least liked her.&nbs...

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“Dire Straits…with Dire Consequences” by Katie H

Submitted to Contest #79

Her surroundings were but a blur of dark green and brown as she ran through the forest. She didn’t care where she was going, as long as it took her far away from there; this was the only thing that kept the adrenaline flowing and prevented her from collapsing then and there. While it wasn’t exactly ideal to be running through such a dense area, especially this late at night when all manner of ferocious creatures were on the prowl, but Lila knew she had to keep going as fast as her legs could take her. How did it end up like this? her mind wa...

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“The Unknown” by Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde

Submitted to Contest #79

She was 16 and running down the aisle, away from the hunters. Those evil hunters who hated every part of her. She saw someone signal to her to come their way so she made a sharp turn and hid with the stranger behind a curtain. In a few seconds, she watched the Hunters run past the table, following her duplicate that she had made. She couldn't hold the duplicate much longer and was sweating like crazy. She relaxed and heard the shouts of the Hunters when they saw the duplicate disappear. Turning to the stranger to...

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“Misplaced Ideology” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #79

“Lost in the rain in Juarez, and it’s Easter time too.” The lyric seeking a place to find acceptance as the temperature neared 100 degrees. The narrow road evaporating in the heat, the yellow dashes dictating compliance, meld together as oasis form in the undulating wafts from the tar, as they rise to add discomfort to a marginally blue sky. The ocean no longer a promise but an illusion of itself, waits somewhere in the compartmentalized place in my mind where relief is no longer what you hope it to be, but has become a necessity a...

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“Thirteen” by Alex Stone

Submitted to Contest #79

Thirteen The entire world knows me. Recognises me. And yet I remain anonymously un-loved. This is because I am possessed of a voice, you see, that has made me my fortune. And yet, contributed nothing to my happiness. Of course, you know who I am - or at least, what I sound like. My unique voice, noted for its neutrality and blandness (and perfect diction, I might add), has been rented out to messaging systems the world over. Mostly the English-speaking world, but now I am branching out into other new markets. I am frantically busy, b...

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“A Fighter and a Scholar” by Susannah Findley

Submitted to Contest #79

The colosseums in Rome were busiest on the sunny holidays when the citizens were feeling festive and needed entertainment of some sort. So it was in a certain large city in Rome one day, and the central arena was filled with a large and noisy crowd. One large family, likely the wealthiest there, laughed the loudest and smiled the widest in anticipation for the fun of the sport at hand. Among this lively group sat a very tall and powerfully built boy of around eighteen years, who spoke neither to the lordly men or vivacious...

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“Whiskey, bollocks and the aftermath” by Ritu Singh

Submitted to Contest #79

Thanksgiving week is the only time of the year when an international student catches a break in a foreign university. The vacation is perfectly positioned between the last day of classes and final exams and spans ten days. Auburn University is no exception to this, offering the students a week and a half of winter solace. A red-haired, nineteen-year-old Indian woman was sitting on the roadside snuggled in a zebra-print blanket. She was struggling to keep the cigarette in her hand lit long enough so she could use it to light another wi...

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“For Jo” by Joey Snell

Submitted to Contest #79

For Jo If I hadn’t been honest then I never would’ve ended up here. People say honesty is the best policy, me, I say honesty is over-rated. “Be real about how you feel and we can decide how best to help you,” they tried to convince me. Only (true to form) I was snarky with the psychiatrist and then they locked me up. Not my finest hour. However, when someone asks you, “Why did you walk into the lake that night?” in a totally serious voice as if this a reasonable question, I think, “Because I fancied a swim,” is a justified response. The ...

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“Loser” by ABK BK

Submitted to Contest #79

It was freezing cold as if the air itself had frozen till crypt. Thomas sat on a wooden bench as took a sip of his favourite burning hot espresso. Despite the age he’s struggling within, he yet has the guts to take upon this nature along with espresso, but who could not, when this is the day they promised long ago. He took another sip of that burning espresso, but this time the dream pulled him beneath till the old memories can still be enjoyed. It was long when life was hard, but unlike now when death did not want him inside the grave....

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“BLOOD MAKES YOU RELATED , LOYALTY MAKES YOU FAMILY” by Claire Ngesah

Submitted to Contest #79

BLOOD MAKES YOU RELATED BUT LOYALTY MAKES YOU FAMILY “I was scared. This was my first time and I did not know what to do. How do I start? What do I do? How do I do it? I stood there confused as he looked at me. A lot of things were running around my brain. If you’d open head up, you were to see an airport with so many landings and take offs. My fear was the Boeing 777 which was full to capacity. He kept on pointing at me to sit on it while I was froze at the door. “Claire! Claire!” The man was clapping in my face as he took my hand leading m...

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“Family Replacement” by Julia C

Submitted to Contest #79

As a solo cruise tourist, please select if you are open to having a roommate. “I’m kinda doing this to get away from people,” I mutter to myself. “My family has been so stressful lately. I just want to get away. I hit submit. We apologize, but there is no room for you left. You may either reschedule or select the roommate option. “Ah, come on!” I slam the desk. I flop my head in my hands and tightly squeeze my hair between my fingers. “Fine.” I hit the check the option and hit submit before I overthink the decision. Two days. Two days till...

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“Beautiful soul ” by Madhu Siaa

Submitted to Contest #79

Two friends Usha and nisha living in one village they enjoying daily with there own company and sharing everything there own scretes, one day usha died in scooty accident nisha don't see her died body in last postion one day nisha started to crying lot in midnight nisha mother worried about that and ask her nisha reply usha coming in my dream her mother shocked died person coming in dream it's unlukiest my dear ,nisha mother told her tomorrow we will visit temple everything will ok now sleep well nisha ,up next day they went to temple atten...

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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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