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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#81: Candy Hearts

Ah, love. From the first spark of attraction to the soul-deep contentment of a long-established relationship, romantic love is a force that continues to mystify, enthrall, and surprise us.

And while there’s plenty to criticize about Valentine’s Day, it’s still a nice excuse for people in romantic relationships to stop and appreciate their partners for a day. Especially during lockdown, when quarters are tight and nerves are often frayed, it’s important to remember why we chose the person (or people) we coupled up with.

What better time for a writer to dive headfirst into romances? No matter how many times we tell a love story, each relationship is going to have its own unique joys and frustrations, and we want to feel them all. So feel free to let your sappy side out — this week we’re celebrating love!

🥇 Winner

“Golden Cheekbones and the Rising Sun ” by Molly Quinnell

🏆 Winner of Contest #81

I open my eyes. I am readying myself for the morning. A golden cheekbone lined by the rising sun, beautiful in its simplicity. I touch it, once, her skin warm under my fingers, a reminder of how alive we are. How young we are. We are teenagers. Our hands are clumsy, too big for our skinny limbs, not sure where to go or what to think. These hands hold pens, and books, and dreams. We discuss the future in vivid colours, full of blossoming hope of what it could hold. Neither of us say it, our lips tied by the thin string of fear, but our ...

284 comments 284

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“All the Days We Planted” by Ellie Yu

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #81

The rose falls. It pirouettes and spins through the frosty morning air like some tiny dancer cloaked in pink. Julia watches it touch the grass and settle there, almost peacefully, as if gravity is only a suggestion. She holds the rest of the bouquet closer to her chest. She wonders if this quiet graveyard should scare her, with its headstones carved from gray reaching up from the ground. Perhaps she shouldn’t be noticing the wildflowers dotting the faded green. Jade would have picked them, she thinks, and she remembers her wife skipping th...

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“Chicken Cacciatore with a Side of Memory” by Amanda Fox

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #81

I run my hand along the scalloped edge of the table we shared for so many years. I remember setting it for the two of us almost every night, sometimes for something fancy and romantic, other times for a simple sandwich and potato chips. There are so many memories of us at this table. It’s strange to think that I’m setting it now for someone else. I set the silverware first, and I try to remember the proper place settings. Those were so important to your family, especially your mother. You came from such a differen...

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“Blind Dates and Crystal Balls” by Coira MacHaffie

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #81

The problem with being the most powerful witch in the city, and possibly the most powerful witch in the world, was that it made the already-complicated process of dating that much harder. Every man Cassandra went out with was either terrified of how powerful she was or only interested in her because of how powerful she was. It was exhausting. So when Jenna proposed her ridiculous plan for a blind date, Cassandra was just worn down enough to offer only a token protest. “Look, I know it sounds a little crazy,” Jenna said. “A little?” Cassand...

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“The Shell Station on Highway 41” by Patricia Jablonski

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #81

Donnie was in the convenience store paying for gas while Maddie sat in the hot car with the windows up. She flipped the visor down, took a look in the mirror, and cringed. Her lips were chapped, her hair limp—and none too clean—and she was starting to get a pimple on her forehead. She watched the guy at the next pump tend to his Harley. He had filled the tank, making sure not to drip gas on it. He’d wiped the cap and replaced it, folded and stowed the rag, made sure his bag was bungeed, zipped up his navy blue windbreaker, climbed on,...

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This week's prompts

Write about two people reconnecting after a rough patch in their relationship.

Romance – 247 stories

Write a love story about an older couple who’ve been together since they were teenagers.

Romance – 168 stories

Write about a first date that surprises both people, but in different ways.

Romance – 161 stories

Start your story with one character setting up a romantic dinner, and end it with them looking at a framed wedding photo.

Romance – 181 stories

Write about someone asking out an old crush, only to realize their crush doesn’t remember they’ve ever met before.

Romance – 158 stories

Stories

“Golden Cheekbones and the Rising Sun ” by Molly Quinnell

🏆 Winner of Contest #81

I open my eyes. I am readying myself for the morning. A golden cheekbone lined by the rising sun, beautiful in its simplicity. I touch it, once, her skin warm under my fingers, a reminder of how alive we are. How young we are. We are teenagers. Our hands are clumsy, too big for our skinny limbs, not sure where to go or what to think. These hands hold pens, and books, and dreams. We discuss the future in vivid colours, full of blossoming hope of what it could hold. Neither of us say it, our lips tied by the thin string of fear, but our ...

284 comments 284

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“Happy” by Zilla Babbitt

Submitted to Contest #81

I’ve never seen her before, only in shards of dreams and slices of déjà vu. Oh, she’s looking at me. I stare at the table and try to remember where her face comes from. It’s rounded, sort of soft on the chin, the eyes grey and bright as they catch on my face. I know her from before. I don’t want to find where she’s from, I don’t want to find her face in my memory. It’ll stick and stay for a little, and then slip away like everything else. There’s a mark on the inside of my Coca-cola bottle. The dark liquid slides away from the ma...

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“Achilles...heel!” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #81

The love between him and me isn’t right. Some would say it’s unnatural. Wrong. All they see is his size, and it intimidates them. He is massive, too big for his own good, really, but he’s also handsome-so handsome-with chocolate brown eyes I can’t resist. I won’t sugarcoat it though-he’s not without his flaws. He’s a terrible listener, and frankly, independent to a fault. He’s a sloppy kisser, and he leaves his things everywhere. But every time I come home and run my fingers through those luscious locks, I forget all of his faults. And when ...

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“Still Have Each Other” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #81

You know that they are home even before the jangling keys can be heard. When your children look at you in wonder when you inevitably predict their appearance to the second, you just chuckle and run to kiss them.When your lips meet theirs, it is just like the first day you awkwardly locked lips, behind that big wall in the school ground. You didn’t know what to do with your hands, so you just left them hanging from your sides while they held your face with their hands and tried to kiss you on the mouth. You couldn’t talk to them for the rest ...

113 comments 113

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“Always and Forever” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #81

“It’s gonna be the best thing ever!” I say, smiling at Leo.“I’m sure it is, Ami. You’re making it. Also, love that little black number you’re wearing,” he winks as I smooth my hands over the little black dress, stepping back from the phone so he can see all of me in the FaceTime window. Propped against the mantle so that he can see what I’m doing, my phone shows Leo even as far away as he is. Technology I tell you. I pull out some mats, placing two of them opposite each other.“So, how’s Afghanistan treating you?” I ask, pulling out two plate...

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“Without you” by Hanifah Kaka

Submitted to Contest #81

It is said that “People are most alive when they are in love” but for Nick and Claire, their love story had left them lackadaisical. Nick had met Claire in a coffee shop, a long time ago. They were both heading to work and stopped by to grab a coffee but Claire was rather clumsy because she was late. She got her coffee and turned to leave when she bumped into Nick who was the next in line and spilled coffee all over him.“Oh my God! Oh my God!! I’m so sorry.” She apologized.“No, it’s fine.” He bent and assisted in picking up her things.“...

102 comments 102

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“Touched by an Angel” by W.W. Skybelle (Inactive)

Submitted to Contest #81

This story is dedicated to Jay Dmer!! Thank you so much for giving me the incredible idea of the character Judas Lee Camaleo!!! Link to her page: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/jay-dmer/***Ding.A notification popped on my phone from a social media app. Oh, jeez. Not another hater.I read the comment. “Why do you even believe in God?” The comment read. “He’s never given you proof that he exists. Or that Jesus exists. You’re just reading a thick book with useless information, and you call that a religion.”I sh...

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“Starstuff and Dandelion Fluff (GoA part 2)” by Maya -

Submitted to Contest #81

Author's Note: This is part two of "The Guilds of Atmos", my Reedsy-cast series. The prompts didn't fit well for it to take place where part one left off, so this is one week before part one. Sorry if this isn't a great continuation, the prompts were hard to continue it with. Hope you enjoy it!𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓴 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓁𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓕𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵:Luminescent fairy lights weave through the slender branches of every tree in Atmos. Multi-colored tents are set up in the park at the center of town, they vary in color. Sherbet pink, canary yellow, sham...

314 comments 314

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“Remember That Night” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #81

In exactly seven minutes, Myron will jog past my backyard, only to find me standing there, tending to the garden like I always do except for every other day.He will look through me in a way that he looks through everyone, and he will brush the hair from his eyes.Then he will look at me with his unremarkable brown eyes.He will remember that night, when we were drunk and stupid, where all the lights had rained down on us and the world felt smaller and more in focus.He will remember that he had pulled me closer that night, that he had run his s...

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“The Matchbreaker (Part One) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #81

“You’re a terrible person.” “Then you’re in love with a terrible person.” “Who said I love you?” “Mm, but you didn’t have to say anything at all.” “Would you two shut up?” My water bottle flips up in the air and lands near their feet on the bleacher. They’ve been rivals since kindergarten, and now they’re… whatever. I don’t want to hear about it. Am I bitter? Maybe. Is the PDA parade two inches away from me absolutely disgusting? Yes. Heck yes. Five thousand percent affirmative. I hate it. I want to kick these lovebirds off t...

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“Love is Enough” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #81

You have lived with them for some time. You moved in with them only because you loved them. And in all the movies, love was enough to face anything. You should have known that all the movies were lying. Love wasn’t nearly enough. You needed every other part of fate to be working with you to give all the credit to love. When fate itself is against your very happiness, then love is useless. Love becomes a word that is thrown around lightly, a word with no meaning. You had thought that they were the one, the only one. You had believed wi...

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“Pretty Cool” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #81

I straighten the tablecloth, the one with the cherry-red flowers. Pushing the basket of bread a few inches to the right and successfully covering a stain, a sigh escapes my lips. It’s finally perfect. The candles are lit, the roses are placed, the perfume has been sprayed. I pull at the slightly uncomfortable velvet green dress which hugs my body in a way that makes me look curvier than I am. I promise myself a day in pyjamas tomorrow if I swallow the urge to tear this tight dress off. It’s only for this night, and if I get lu...

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“Kisses” by Christina Marie

Submitted to Contest #81

I was under the impression that first kisses were meant to be magic.I had been led to believe that the long-awaited lip-lock would be witnessed by a star-spangled sky at the top of a stalled county Ferris wheel, or cheered on by roaring crowds at the end of a victorious football game.I had been deceived into thinking that I’d be tangled up with a brooding boy whose cruelty was a shallow façade masking a kind soul, or that I’d be wrapped up in the arms of a letterman jacket way above my own social standing. I had been taught that under t...

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“Aurora's Leap” by Amiable Sorceress

Submitted to Contest #81

Trigger warning: mentions of suicide (but it isn't anything inappropriate)Dearest Aurora, Sometimes, I wonder if your name was a coincidence, that the gods came down from their perch in the skies and whispered in our parents’ ears. “Choose Aurora.” They would say that the lights would shape and dazzle the sky in the north as they do here, in a sort of chaotic way, like you. Chaos doesn’t always have to be bad, you know. I thought it would be best if you heard it from me, now that you’re here, watching. In a little pocket of my heart, I alway...

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“I love you” by Ari Berri

Submitted to Contest #81

This isn't apart of any series, I just had an idea, and it fit the prompt. So, enjoy!Noah bounced on his heels. He just finished decorating the kitchen for his husband, Elijah. It was their anniversary, and Elijah’s birthday.Elijah’s plane was supposed to land in an hour, and Noah was going to bring him back home and surprise him with a fancy dinner.“Leo!” He called. His best friend was helping him, since Noah couldn’t cook to save his life.“Yeah?”“Where’s my phone? I want to call Eli!”“On the couch!”“Thanks!” He went into the living ro...

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$50

Prize money

915

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 19, 2021 EST

Won by Molly Quinnell 🏆

Title: Golden Cheekbones and the Rising Sun

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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