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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#85: City Living

There’s something deeply compelling about cities, isn’t there? Whether it’s the influencer-driven styles of LA, the laid-back sophistication of Athens, or the perfectly manicured greenery of Singapore, each one truly has its own unique soul. Those who visit are awed and at times overwhelmed, either falling in love or swearing them off forever — while lifelong residents take up a fierce loyalty that nothing can shake.

When writing, it’s often helpful to think of your setting almost like another character. Cities are an excellent way to explore this line of thinking, so for this week, pick a favorite and invite your readers in. What gives your city (whether real or imagined) its local “flavor”? And what impression do the people there give to the many tourists traipsing down their streets? Tap into your inner tour guide — it's time to travel the world!

This week's prompts

Set your story in a major city that your character has a love-hate relationship with.

Middle School – 153 stories

Write a story that takes place in the same building but in two very different time periods.

Historical Fiction – 154 stories

Start your story with the line, “That’s the thing about this city…”

Adults – 283 stories

Write about someone fighting to change their city neighborhood for the better.

Teens – 44 stories

Write about someone fighting to keep their city neighborhood the same.

Teens – 34 stories

Stories

“Fashioning Fatality” by Shannon Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #85

Just outside a decrepit mansion that sits on the edge of town, two young journalists were beginning to film the story of a lifetime. They had just broken the chains that held together the feeble fence and were now standing next to the abandoned mansion of grand proportion. A few chimney stacks could be seen poking their heads up above the tree line. The balconies loomed overhead; they clung to the walls for dear life. Those walls, which appeared to stretch for miles, were lined with an infinite matrix of white bricks. The arched windows were...

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“Box of Treasures” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #85

October 4, 2019 Daniel Alderman walked into his bedroom after a short walk from school on a cool Friday afternoon. The leaves- changing color from deep green to a soft orange- scratched against the window softly in the breeze under a grey sky. The floorboard in the exact middle of the room creaks as he steps on it, he usually avoids that floorboard because of the horrible noise that gives him goosebumps, but he had been too lost in thought to remember it. ...

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“The Room Shift” by Meera Dandekar

Submitted to Contest #85

The key rattled in the lock. The room hadn’t been opened in years. The key didn’t go through in the first try and had to be pushed in. The key was turned and the door shuddered open. The door creaked louder than the holiday crowd that was gathered at CressCount Hotel. When Lance entered the room, he felt a sudden warm air and the entire room was stinking of dead animals. “Are you certain you want this room, sir?” The manager did not believe that someone would have the balls to stay in this room. This room had its history and it was b...

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“The Picture on the Mantle” by Cynthia Haltom

Submitted to Contest #85

"Hey Chloe, get down here, I want to talk to you right now"! Chloe hurried down the stairs to the living room where her mother was standing in front of the fireplace pointing at a framed picture on the mantle. "Why did you put that there"? "I didn't" Chloe responded taken aback by her mother's overly aggressive gesturing. "Um, I think you did because you are the only other person in this house and I didn't put it there so it had to be you". "No, it wasn't me and I have no idea what that picture is about so why would I put it there...

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“The Courtyard” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #85

It was still daytime, but the last of the sunlight was smothered by the high ceiling of the building. The courtyard was full of dappled light, and in other circumstances it could’ve looked quite romantic. Geoffrey was feeling anything but romantic just then however. Besides, the place was full of mostly old men talking trade. That wasn’t likely to put many people in a dreamy mood. Geoffrey was leaning against a stone pillar, wishing it would swallow him up. Across the courtyard, Rufus was laughing with Mr Richards, the very man that Geoffr...

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“When I remember Pablo” by Anna Forsyth

Submitted to Contest #85

There are some days when I think I’m in love with her. But the day after, I wake up with a throbbing headache. Mostly, we drink wine and smoke cigarettes, and she talks about Pablo. Pablo is her boyfriend. Or a dead poet. I can’t remember which. One is Pablo, and one is Paulo. She talks about them both a lot. I take a long drag from my cigarette and make a low, thoughtful sound. “Hmmm.” And then it doesn’t matter whether she’s talking about Pablo or Paulo - the lover or the poet. She’ll smile at me, and come back from that far-away place. We...

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“Change on the horizon” by NK Hatendi

Submitted to Contest #85

The City Hall meeting had been long in preparation and short on funding. But there was no alternative once Zviko had thrown her hat into the ring, rallied by well-wishers, who were unsurprisingly mainly family members. She could make a difference, the township daughter who wanted to give back to her community.Zviko had won a bursary for further education in a prestigious college, away from the slums. The long commute to her new school in the upmarket northern suburbs became an issue, negotiating public transport in the unrelenting early morn...

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“My dearest Buenos Aires (1)” by Mariana Del Rosal

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city: either you love it or you hate it. Or well, you are like me, together with ninety percent of its inhabitants and you are somewhere in between. I live in the city of tango, the city of the Obelisk, the city of big theatres and European ambitions with a mixture of ethnicities, origins, and aspirations. The city of big gaps: River or Boca (our big soccer teams), mate or coffee, Peronists or Antiperonists, pizza or barbecue (“asado”), national street rock or reggaeton… In Buenos Aires, y...

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“The Legacy of Room 304” by Lennox Ducksworth

Submitted to Contest #85

The man entered the newly renovated Gentle Covert Hotel. It was a spacious circular lobby with golden pillars surrounding a lounge area that aimed towards the hard oak desks of the reception desks on both sides of the space. When the man walked in, all eyes were discrepantly on him. He felt the jolting energy in the room diminish to hush and weariness. Not the first time people stopped their daily routine to feel their safety shattered by just one reality-busting figure. Over time, he started to enjoy the attention. It wasn't often a “...

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“"Fighting for a change" by Ye Wint Aung” by Ye Wint Aung

Submitted to Contest #85

In every country, humans need electricity for machines and stuff we use every day. We can get electricity from generators which use water and air as fuel. Many people try to find new ways to generate electricity. The electricity services are all around the globe. People make and use wind turbines mostly because air is everywhere. Some people use water too, and some make dams to trap the water. Making dams and trapping water is a bad thing if you ask anyone. If you cut the river with a dam, the river won’t flow into the ocean or give the la...

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“The Breakup” by Ali Hamzah

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city. It’s too noisy. From the moment that I wake up and bathe under the stinging water coming out of the showerhead, I can hear the flushing of the toilet above me and the sound of water falling through the shower drain. I get out of the shower and dress up in front of my mirror stuck to my cardboard and I can hear the thumping above me. I have no idea what it is. It’s probably the neighbour’s boy playing football. I stare at myself, my hands slowly doing the buttons on my long-sleeved shirt, one by one. It ...

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“Remnants of our ghosts” by Margarida Guerreiro

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, my little heartbreak, it is a great labyrinthic mausoleum of death. Ever since I set foot here, I began to decay. The people who passed me by on the streets stole my beauty for themselves, to hoard in their daydreams. Do you remember how beautiful I used to be when you first laid eyes on me? By then, I was already half of what I had once been.I despised the window shops, dolled up like fashion catalogues I could never afford on a student scholarship and the money my parents scraped up to give me. I loat...

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“A Matter Of Perspective” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, nobody ever leaves. It’s not that people don’t want to, it’s that they can’t. Nearly everyone was tricked by some horrid thing into coming here, and now they’re stuck. Some think they’ve won a contest, others think they signed up for some college internship. My family had the misfortune of passing through on our way to a beach vacation. I consider myself lucky, as I was young when it happened. Have no memory of the outside world, no friends or family lost. I was...

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“City Limits ” by Tanja Cilia

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city… it was built on another that was built on another that was… ad infinitum. Well, not really… only since Neanderthal times. The river and the fertile soil make it an ideal place for a settlement. That is why it abounds with entities, both seen and unseen. Some call us angels; some call us sprites, spirits, ghosts, saints, nymphs, deities or other numinous beings; some call in the exorcists, and some are adamant that we do not exist… according to which religion, superstation or folklore, or none, the...

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“Trapped by Truth” by Karmissa Ariadne

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, anyone who discovers its little secret is unable to leave. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe. I haven’t tried to escape yet, though I fear any effort would be futile. There isn’t an issue with the secret itself, it’s more about the control they seize over the city. The blissfully ignorant and unaware can move freely in and out of the city, but as soon as they pick up the scent the size of their world shrinks. Immaculate is one way you could describe the city. Every bit of pavement, every building an...

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 19, 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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