Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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!

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

“Forgotten Love” by Mia Red

Submitted to Contest #81

Ever since I met Chloe, I loved her. I met her in fifth grade, when we were performing a short play about Cleopatra's life. Chloe was Cleopatra & I was the stage crew. I stole the snake that was supposed to kill her but she smiled & used a sock instead. At the end of the play, Chloe looked at me & whispered "Hey, Jake, I know you took it." I tried to ask her out in ninth grade, but I ended up saying "Chloe, you? Go to? Or somewhere else? I can do either" Chloe was amazed by the poeticness of my sentence. "Of course I'll g o!" s...

Read story

“Regret” by Julia Snyder

Submitted to Contest #81

You know that feeling where you know you're going to regret something as soon as you've decided to do it? Like, the words are coming out of your mouth or you're pushing the button, and that cool, burning feeling of dread rushes through your entire nervous system. And it's not like you can just stop doing whatever regretful action this is, especially when other people are involved. You just have to accept that you're screwing everything up with every forward motion you make. That's kind of what the past year of my life has felt like. It's...

Read story

“My Angry Love” by Mary Jane Broqueza

Submitted to Contest #81

Does anger could melts into love? How would you resist in the heart commands? The first time Hope met Sky was not so sweet. They were classmates from high school to college. Hope posses characteristics smart, brilliant, simply beautiful and belongs to the lower class family. Her friends and family typically calls her as Hope stands for real name Hershey Olivia Princess Ellen Morgan. While Sky stands for Sid Khalil Ynigo Smith possess qualities where most girls truly admires him. No wonders Sky is indeed a girl fantasy material. He’s a ...

Read story

“Joni and Roddy” by Rebecca Thackery

Submitted to Contest #81

Walking the distance from work to The Radicals & Victualles was the last way she could gather her thoughts. This pub seems to be their place, but not a sentimental place that other couple’s have. It’s not the place they first kissed, or where he first asked her to be his girlfriend. It’s the pub opposite the green in Islington that collects wannabe indies and stuck-up young Londoners like dust mites. It’s the place they always ‘talk things through’ after one of their tiffs. As Joni meets the beginning of the pubs washed-wooden fr...

Read story

“Love Letters” by Nadjela Deposo

Submitted to Contest #81

Having a crush or admiration towards someone is a normal thing we all get to experience since we are young. Some of us would have the courage to admit our feelings towards the person we admire while some of us don't.There would be times where we write in our diaries about that person and I used to do that when I was still young. Before I sleep, I would always go in front of the drawer, grab the diary that I always kept hidden so that nobody can read aside from me the contents I've written (since I'm too shy and would be too embarrassed to sh...

Read story

“"Uljhan"* *(meaning - Confusion)” by Ana G

Submitted to Contest #81

Uljhan[1]The phone rang insistently. With quivering hands she picked it up…feeling a knot rise in her stomach. She let it ring a few times…the desire to talk lingering, the pain lingering. Her beautiful eyes flickered for a moment as she wiped away a couple of tears that threatened her voice to be shaky. “I can do this”, she reminded herself and picked up the phone. “Hello”, she said tentatively. “Hi Mina, how are you?”Hearing the longing on the other side of the phone almost broke her down. Her mind became a tangled mess of thoughts…this mo...

Read story

“The Book I Promised” by Lunaria Dragonix

Submitted to Contest #81

" This is a lovely dinner, dear," she said with a weak smile staggering to sit down. " Oh thank you mother, you know how it is around this time we have to do what we do for those we love." the young man replied. You see when someone thinks of romance, love, or even what it means to be with someone they have a misconception of what it truly means. I was raised by people who told me love was not feeling but an action, this was the same time those porcelain dolls started popping up everywhere in their house. So me knowing that this was a lie sp...

Read story

“The Little Things in Love” by V C

Submitted to Contest #81

It started with the little things. It always started with the little things. A bathroom seat up. A clump of dirty dishes unwashed in the sink. The back window of their tiny little apartment left wide open despite the tenth time June has complained about it being both a safety and temperature concern. Then came the fights. The calm before the storm, followed by the yelling and screaming and sniffling alone in a dark, bedroom corner. Whatever—June was used to it at this point. June owned and ran a small coffee shop during t...

Read story

“Bets for the chase” by Janine Ann Bothma

Submitted to Contest #81

How many rough patches do you think can dwell in a relationship of a stubborn controversial couple? How many times does the relationship rule book allow you to call it quits in a single day? Unfortunately, no rule book gives the million-dollar answer that we all seek. People make huge profits off of trying to write the rules on the age-old topic of love, lust, and every grey hair that goes along with partaking in the magical world of the monogamous relationship. One fact that I am dead sure of is that a couple can call it quits more ...

Read story

“Up Allen Way” by Jordan Javier

Submitted to Contest #81

The last time I saw her was down Allen Way. Her back was turned to me. There would be no mending our relationship. It was done. It was finished. I blew it. There would be no second chances. Not after all I have done. In any other story that would be the end of it. She walks out of my life, my story, and we move on. This is not that story. I would do anything to win her heart again. So I went back to the drawing board. Went through everything we have ever done together. Studied it from all angles. Where was it I went wrong? As with an...

Read story

“If I Can” by Talia Alicea

Submitted to Contest #81

The lamp to my right hummed, and the peak of my spine groaned with strain. I sat, staring at the notes and text book in front of me, unable to rouse my typical erudition. I thought coming to the library would help me concentrate, but even the haze of warmth from the heater and scent of paper in the air couldn't shake me awake. I resigned finally, gathering my books and pens and banana bread from the dining hall and left. Dusk had just subsided, making way for the moon and her stars. I decided to take the longer route to my dorm, as the nigh...

Read story

“A Love Everlasting” by Jasmine Fallerwood

Submitted to Contest #81

The window was fogged like London’s grey skies, raindrops splitting the grey dew that covered it. Down the long, curved driveway I could see figures moving. Coniferous trees provided shelter along each side of the drive, allowing a thick, tall and green coverage from passing cars and pedestrians. It also conveniently blocked the house from my view. But as the figures moved along the miles of rock, coming closer and closer with each step, I could see them. Just as they rounded the final curve, headed straight for my car, did they come into f...

Read story

“The Metals” by Adrian Tan

Submitted to Contest #81

No man’s land - a vast stretch of destruction caused by two warring factions - split a once peaceful country in half. It started with a government that was not willing to relinquish its century-old rule despite the opposition’s overwhelming majority in a democratic election. Sounds familiar? It could happen to your country but let’s focus on this fictional one. The war had ravaged the country’s economy and taken a toll on her divided citizens. Everyone just wanted it to end but the fire was being fuelled by two leaders who refused to back ...

Read story

“Language Barriers” by A W

Submitted to Contest #81

I promised myself I would never get a divorce. I lived through a divorce. A ten-year, vicious, tedious war that nobody was able to win. A battle that stationed my father to an unknown land with a family that was foreign to me. Something so brutal that left my mom permanently drawn to the bottom of the bottle. Hours upon hours of shooting back and forth. The bullets always made a roaring noise after being shot; they were so piercingly loud that it was impossible to escape the noise. I grew up in the middle of a battlefield with one side so po...

Read story

“Nora Jo Learns to Drive” by Beth Shelton

Submitted to Contest #81

The Big House wasn’t big at all, that’s just what they called it. Burl and his mother lived there on her farm which also had a red barn, two mules, four cows, a smokehouse, and an old ramshackle farmhouse where Nora Jo lived with her parents and younger sister. About a quarter mile down the dirt road behind the Big House, Nora Jo walked, almost skipped, from the farmhouse toward the Big House. She needed to ask Burl a question. &nbs...

Read story

Load more stories

$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.

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

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢