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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#84: A Year In

As we start March again, it’s impossible not to think about what was going on in the world this time last year. For many of us, it was the beginning of lockdown and a radical shift in the way we were suddenly living our lives. Working from home, remote learning, and social distancing were totally unfamiliar concepts — but oh, we were about to become well acquainted.

This milestone has been hard on a lot of people, but as writers it often helps to use our work to address what’s stressing us out. So this week, let’s not shy away from the sadness, frustration, or fear this anniversary brings up, but instead use it to fuel our creative efforts — and hopefully find some healing along the way.

This week's prompts

Write a story that spans exactly a year and takes place in a single room.

Winter – 210 stories

Write about someone who grew up in a bunker, and lockdown life is all they’ve ever known.

Sad – 82 stories

Set your story in a post-pandemic world, where the effects are still felt even as your character attempts to move on.

Narrative – 115 stories

Write about someone who’s trying to accomplish a task that used to be easy but is now made complicated by a pandemic.

Narrative – 80 stories

Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

Dark – 177 stories

Stories

“The Champions: backstories. (SIA)” by Genderqueer Eyeliner

Submitted to Contest #84

Day 1“Hi.”Sia’s eyes snapped open.She was sitting on the stone ground, legs akimbo. Her wrists stung painfully, like they’d been touched to embers. Her arms were tired, sore, and her body was covered in little pains. Sia tried to move her arms, but couldn’t. Some kind of hot shackles were clamped around her wrists, raising her arms above her(aching)head.“Who...are you?” she asked the blurry figure in front of her.“Oh, yeah. Me. Consider me the only one who cares.”The blurry figure became a short, skinny blond girl with hair in a ponytail. Sh...

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“Last Light ” by Lemon Lime

Submitted to Contest #84

If only something would happen. What, he did not know. He couldn't recall the date; every day was like the one before. The screen door banged open."Jules, dinner is served."He stared out at the dimming light and the blue and purple floaters drifting about. The smokestacks along the horizon kept on smoking, and the group of men down by the mailbox kept on conversing, smoke from their pipes covering their faces.He could make out the voice of Mr. Robbins, who lived across the street and was usually hitting his dog with a cane, rambling on ...

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“Thoughts in the Night” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #84

*Nainika’s Note* Ok, guys. I apologize beforehand if anything I say from this point offends you. I legit couldn’t sleep because this was boinging around my head, so this was one of those 2 am writing-in-a-chocolate-milk-induced-fog. Eh, anyway, read it and lemme know what you think! (not with the prompt, well *barely* with the prompt, if even) I have been stuck in this room for my entire life. My entire life I have been alone. Alone with my thoughts. In a bunker. Just alone. Maybe I am not even alive. A...

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“Happy” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #84

“Just because I am smiling doesn’t mean I am happy. Because it takes just one smile to hide a million tears.” Unknown I hate the car. I always get so dizzy, and to top it all off, it’s freezing, but my little brother has insisted on opening the window. I’m sitting in the back, right behind him, so the cold air directly hits me as we ride along the freeway, at sixty-something miles per hour.I should’ve bought gloves. Should’ve worn a jacket. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It’s not like we were in a hurry or anything. My shoes were ju...

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“Escape from Confinement” by Philip Clayberg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #84

“Just this morning we have received even more reports of looting as well as groups of vigilantes taking over urban streets in every major city in the country. Additional National Guard units have been called up by the President to deal with these problems as well as provide additional security outside the White House and at the US Capitol Building. Casualties just from last night's fighting were well over a thousand and are only expected to get worse in the days ahead.“The head of CDC has reported that we have reached an acceptable plateau a...

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“our house” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #84

Most stories are about people. They’re by people, for people, from the perspective of people.This story is different.This is a story about a place.A place whose walls have heard secrets that still go untold. Whose floors have creaked time after time, whose ceilings have blocked out rain and snow and sleet, whose doors have been closed and slammed and left open at times, a place that’s housed family after family after family. It’s watched people fall in love, young people. The same people cry and fight and leave. And all to have ano...

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“Butterflies” by A.Dot Ram

Submitted to Contest #84

My dining room table bears the scars of our pandemic year. There are the blond chips in its espresso finish, piebald streaks in the grain like gray hairs creeping into a middle-aged head. The surface is mottled with sparkly violet nail polish, flecks of green tempera paint that would probably wash off with that good scrubbing I never find time to give it, an ever-present smattering of glitter, and cloudy cataracts of heat stains from coffee cups that betrayed me. My dining room table has experienced more love this year, and more abuse—s...

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“'The calling'” by Asha Pillay

Submitted to Contest #84

Sarah was bone tired after a hectic day at the hospital, she longed for a warm bath, and to snuggle into her cozy bed. She lived with her parents in a small Victorian house, which had a beautiful view of the lake. Her parents were in their late sixties, and Sarah was their only child.Like every day her parents were waiting up for her. However tired she was, she made it a point to sit with her parents and chat with them before going to bed. Her father had a mild cough and temperature, so she gave him a paracetamol tab...

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“Hero” by 𝔘𝔤𝔬𝔠𝔥𝔦 𝔑.

Submitted to Contest #84

Click goes the door and I immediately clench my shaky fists. I hold my breath as the door opens and I see her face. My caretaker, I guess, she brings me groceries and anything else I might need. “Morning Mr. P! Happy New year! 2021 is gonna be great I just know it!” she says as she drops my groceries on the table. “Ah…Happy New year.” its a new year already? “I got what you asked for! This should last the whole month. AND, I got you ya favorite ice cream since it is a new year.” “Thanks Lil, you really didn’t have too” “No problemmm, I wante...

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“Gallery 117” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #84

I don't remember being created, but I know who created me. I don't know how long I've been aware, but I know when I started. I have no finite sense of myself, but I know what I'm made of.This knowledge comes from a small card that hangs somewhere below me. I have heard the card read aloud enough times that I have memorized its inscription.Johnathan Durhem, American, born 1838; The Fountain, 1860; oil on canvas; 35 x 48 inches; Bequest of William M. Durhem.I have never seen myself, but I know what I look like. Docents, guides, and v...

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“Betty's Window” by Christina Marie

Submitted to Contest #84

Betty turned 95 yesterday.She gazes out at the grey March morning and tries not to think about how old that sounds.She tries not to hope for 96.Her window on the third floor of the Glenview Manor overlooks a barren snow-strewn field, lined by tired fence posts and spotted with scrubby shrubs.It’s not an exciting view, but it’s a view, and she’s grateful for it—there are many residents across the country that aren’t as fortunate.A few weeks after moving in, she asked Ameena, one of her favorite nurses, to move her chair to the window. She sit...

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“Where Darkness Blooms” by Maya W.

Submitted to Contest #84

Her hair cascades down her waist, a small flower still planted behind her ear. Her olive eyes twinkling in the light. Her sweater falls down her shoulder, a rush of chilliness going down her spine. She knows why it’s cold and she doesn’t care. She tells herself it’s for the sake of rebellion, for the sake of love, for the sake of living her own life. She tells herself she’s doing something for the people of the Underworld, for her husband, for the darkness, for reality, where the light can’t seem to shine. She tells herself s...

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“Just Getting By” by Melody Kasamba

Submitted to Contest #84

“Muwogo! Those going to Muwogo! There is space for only one passenger!" the sturdy taxi conductor calls with a voice that would have been loud enough to bring down the walls of Jericho. Oblivious of the odor of sweat mixed with cheap cologne and face cream, I squeeze through the crowd thinking only of how to get to that seat before the taxi leaves and I have to wait another hour for the next one to show up.Above the taxi, the stage signpost is still showing the same old hiked prices that were introduced two years back during the invinci...

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“The Questions with No Answers” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #84

Robb couldn’t recall a time in his pre-pandemic life when he’d known the specifics of the menstrual cycle of a potential partner before their first meeting. Partner, he corrected himself. There was nothing ‘potential’ about Sarah, the twenty-five-year-old brunette who would move into his apartment that evening. For the seventh time that day, Robb opened the wardrobe in the guest bedroom and ran his finger...

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“Threads and Needles” by Ali Berg

Submitted to Contest #84

I must admit– I have been an adamantine heart. I’ve never been soft. I’ve never been light-hearted. I’ve been tyrannous. I’ve been ruthless. And my attitude kept on hardening since the pandemic surged. It feels stupid wearing masks and face shields. It's too annoying to have those around your face. At first, I already got used to people loathing me. With all their prejudices, it was nothing for me. “Gabriel!? Nah, he’s b**l**it.” “If anyone would marry him? She’d be jinxed.” These were just some of the many improprieties I’ve been ...

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$50

Prize money

664

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 12, 2021 EST

Won by Evelyn Kill 🏆

Title: How the Fish Survive

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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