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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#80: Living History

It's an important truth that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Unfortunately, sometimes we find ourselves living through historical moments whether we’ve prepared for them or not.

This week, we’re going to examine all the ways that people live through — and shape — history. Whether that’s an important activist organizer, a daring political leader, or just someone trying to educate people on the past so they can avoid previous mistakes, history is made up the actions of each and every one of us. How will your characters change the course of their world?

This week's prompts

Write about someone who never planned to make history but is now about to deliver a speech in front of millions.

Teens – 104 stories

Write about a child witnessing a major historical event.

Dramatic – 237 stories

Start your story with someone entering a museum, and end it with them settling down to join a sit-in.

High School – 41 stories

Write about an elderly character who was part of a historic movement years ago.

Historical Fiction – 134 stories

Start your story with a major news event breaking — one that will change the world forever.

Dystopian – 156 stories

Stories

“Chin Up” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #80

“Keep your chin up, Ciara.” Her mother pressed cold fingers at the bottom of her face, forcing it forward. She was angry, not at Ciara, but at the world for making it seem like she had something to hide away from. Something to be ashamed of. “You be ashamed for something you chose to do, you hear? Like those nasty men rotting away in jail cells for their own bad and wrong decisions. The darkness of your skin is not a curse. It is a blessing.” Ciara nodded. It didn’t feel like a blessing, not when the pretty blonde princesses at her sch...

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“Dear Kitty” by ℂ𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕨 🏳️‍🌈 (inactive For The Summer)

Submitted to Contest #80

November 28thHello,I have just received this journal for my birthday, and I am not sure how to preface it. Dear Diary? That sounds childish.Hello will get old quickly.What about Dear Kitty? I learned about a girl a few years ago, Anne Frank, who prefaced her journal like that.And so I shall try it.Today is my fourteenth birthday. My mama gave me this journal. It’s grey on the cover, with my initials: MG. Mara Grace.I live in the United States, but you probably know that, don’t you?Anyway, our president is Ronald Stump, who lives up to his na...

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“When Under the Stars” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #80

“I remember when the news broke out,” Marlowe said, her words jabbing at the inside of her mask. “I was on a ski lift with my mom. I’ve never skied before and never planned to in that moment. I guess I was just going to take the lift back down.” She peeled bark off a nearby tree and swatted moths out of her tangle of curls. “We were sharing a bag of chips. My mom had heard about the virus and told me. We stopped eating chips.” The air was stale and chilling. It was silent except for dog howls and the pulse of hearts under coats and the crun...

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“Cold Hearts” by Nancy Drayce

Submitted to Contest #80

“My body felt numb. The dirt over my green uniform made me feel sick. The innocent people's blood, stained the piece of fabric the military granted me. Crest of freedom; Homeland crest; for me the betrayal of humans. Do I regret the day I accepted to wear that uniform as an honour? Yes. I should have fought and stood by my ideals, but I was weak. We were all weak for following the rules so blindly. Kill or be killed. Instead, there shouldn’t have never been that phrase. Don't go, don't fight, don't kill, and we would all live in pe...

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“Witnessing Adir (Part 2)” by Cookie Carla🍪

Submitted to Contest #80

Noah Adir's execution was today, and I was there to see it. My dad brought me to see him. I never thought I'd be this distraught over this. I saw Noah take his last breath. I never thought I would be able to say it. Better yet, say it out loud. I don't think I can say it out loud. When Noah finally took his last breath, Dad patted me on the back and whispered in my ear: "Now you know how a real man feels. Now you see what happens to blacks who don't mind their business." Blacks. That's what Dad calls them. No one reall...

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“Black bloodworm ” by Sanjida Shanu🌿

Submitted to Contest #80

Like everyday when i crossed railway road for my office i saw a girl sitting beside a dirty wall. She looks very exhausted and maybe she smiting very rudely by someone. For some moment my heart pulsation get stop. I saw in her eyes there are no pain but something different thing which want to shout. I want to talk with her but my watch remind me i have few minutes to reach my office. After my office i come back and i feel so restless. Whole day i just though about the girl. I just though about her eyes It's ...

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“Flower Eyes, Crystal Stars” by Yolanda Wu

Submitted to Contest #80

He was down in the sky-room on the night his mother died. It was a basement built for the end of the world. There were reinforced walls and almost complete darkness. The circular panel of glass on the ceiling was the only reason the room wasn’t a swallowing void of black. He could watch the sky from underground.He had no understanding for the reason the basement was built. Was it so that when the world ended, everyone could watch through their circular panels how the sun engulfed their Earth?As he inspected the night through that little slic...

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“Here comes Trouble” by Ari Berri

Submitted to Contest #80

13th part of Home. Nothing to do with prompt.Daniel yawns, and sits up. He reaches for his phone, then remembers it’s broken, and his hand drops. He wants to call TJ, so he goes to Angel’s room to see if she’s up.Music is playing from behind the door, so he assumes she is. He knocks on the door, and after a second, she opens it, and smiles.“Morning, Daniel.” She says. “What’s up?”“Um, I was wondering if I can use your phone to call TJ?”She thinks about it for a second. “First tell me what happened yesterday. Why’d you get so quiet?”“My dad c...

134 comments 134

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“I Cross my Heart and Hope to die” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #80

"Sleep. Go to sleep, my child.Nora? Sleep. Hold on to Masha the bear for a while. Daddy will be back and everything will be fine.""Wh...what about you?""I'll be here, right by your side. If you want anything, trust me, NoraI won't leave you.""Promise?""Yes.""Cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye?"She sighed."Nora, yes. I cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.""Ok, momma, ok. I believe you.""Thank you, Nora.""Can you tell me a story?""Well, only if you promise to go to sleep after that.""Yes, I promise...

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“perfectly imperfect” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #80

She wears her cat eye glasses like a crown of intellect, though she knows it’s just an indicator that her eyes are less than average. She will walk with her small pointy nose in the air and show her freckles off for the world to see. Freckles she used to be made fun of for. Freckles that pasty teens wishing to be on the covers of magazines no one reads now draw on themselves with pencils meant for the faces. Not the same as the over-sharpened pencils she draws with. Not the same at all.And though her thin-lipped almost-smile won’t revea...

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“Support Group” by Coco Longstaff

Submitted to Contest #80

So this story includes people from Reedsy, and I had fun making the quiz and letting people answer it, so I think I will do it more often. There’s Aerin Rebecca, my first follower and friend, she’s Samara in this. Go follow her if you haven’t already. Right now, her name is Don't read my profile pic but I think she’s gonna change it back soon.https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/don-t-read-my-profile-pic/There’s Cookie Carla, and she’s Cookie in this. Go follow her and read her Adri Trilogy.https://blog.reedsy.com/creative...

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“I Heard A Rumor” by Michael J. Conroy

Submitted to Contest #80

I heard a rumor. A rumor that the soldiers are using leather straps, a tree stump, and a mallet to break wrists. “It’s to stop us from talking,” Ingeborg whispers. “Can’t you hear the screams?”I answer no, say, “My bunk is on the West Wing; therefore, any scream would lose its momentum before it reaches my window.” Ingeborg speaks with her eyes; therefore, I don’t doubt her when she says she can still hear screams long after they’ve stopped. “Long after the sun has set,” she says. There is silence, and Ingeborg begins to ...

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“One Last Dance” by Rebecca Cole

Submitted to Contest #80

If it was the end of the world, what would you do?For the citizens of Sector 20 of the Galaxy MW.43, this is not a hypothetical question. They have exactly 3 hours before everything they have ever known is gone. This once beautiful planet, reduced to floating debris, in some forgotten corner of the universe. Maybe the ashes of this dilapidated planet will one day become part of the stars again, or maybe they won’t, maybe this is truly the end of the story for the human race.While the rest of the planet is a frenzied mess, seeking their loved...

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“Our House” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #80

I watch the swarm of bodies on the television and all I can think about is Jeremy and the text he sent me this morning: “Going to DC, Mom. It’s the day of reckoning. The heroic struggle is on. Stay safe.” He was supposed to be on his way in to work—that’s what I thought when I put the neoprene with his lunch on the kitchen table. This, of all things, feels like the day’s betrayal. “This is a serious situation,” the news announcer says as the camera pans over a sea of angry faces. The U.S. capitol has been placed on lockdown as protesters...

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“The Bronze Dragonfly ” by CarefreeChicken, The Overlord Of Reality

Submitted to Contest #80

The Bronze DragonflyThe girl tore through the forest, her heart thumping wildly and her breath coming in searing sobs. Suddenly she tripped over a concealed log and she went sprawling head first into the muddy forest floor.She tried to get up, but her legs were shaking violently, and she fell back down again.She let out a small whimper of desperation and pulled herself into the shadow of the log where she curled up, crying. Seconds later, a bright light flared just beyond the horizon. The girl screamed as a fiery, mushroom sha...

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Ended on 23:59 - Feb 12, 2021 EST

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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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