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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

“Twin For Now” by Corbin Sage

Submitted to Contest #85

Mention of death, killing, etc Linn had two hours before she had to kill herself again, but she couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t the inconsistent, wavering glow in her room, since she had gotten used to the flickering light of the fire that was burning outside her window. It wasn’t the feeling of anticipation and fear in her stomach, since she had slept with that multiple times before, and couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t feel that uneasy flight-or-fight ball of nerves. It wasn’t the fact that she wasn’t tired. The bags under her ...

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“The Best Pickpocket of Palma de Mallorca” by H Bolton

Submitted to Contest #85

Beca stood outside her hide-out, her hands on her hips, breathing in the smells of bread baking, salt from the ocean, and the sewer line, broken, two avenues over. Today was going to be a fantastic day. She turned to close up her home, a hollow space in the city wall, just tall enough to sit in and long enough for her to lay down. She better stop growing or else she’d have to learn to sleep on her side. Shaking her head, she pulled the piece of wood over the opening, then put a few dead palm branches in front of that. There, no one would eve...

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“The Rogue One ” by Lemon Lime

Submitted to Contest #85

"That's the thing about this city, we can't hope to change anything without making it worse," a voice rumbled from downstairs."But Matthew, the council was supposed to meet the other day and discuss...""Oh, what do they know? A bunch of idiots. I told you, the main roads aren't functional, and the fire hydrants are still frozen.""What difference does that make? It's winter, for crying out loud! You're aware the fire station's been shuttered for three months now, aren't you? This place is a miserable excuse for a - you know what? I'm wasting ...

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“The Scourge of Shoalsburgh” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #85

Bowen Manor sits on a long, narrow track of land on the southern edge of Joplin. The Manor, sitting at the top of a steep incline, is ringed on three sides by marshland. It is a stately home built of red brick, mortared with mud from the nearby marsh. Its wrap around porch the perfect place to watch either the sunrise or sunset. A turret protrudes from its otherwise flat roof and a basement is housed within its foundations.Bowen Manor was once the crown jewel of the Shoalsburgh neighborhood. After decades of neglect, the Manor has begun to c...

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“Miles to Go” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #85

Mounted on a hilltop and surrounded by towering Deodar trees, the Gorton Castle could be seen from very far off. As the military vehicle pulled up in the driveway of the castle, John leaned out of the window to gape at the majestic castle designed by Col. Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, a well-known engineer and architect, in 1904. Ever since his father had been posted in Shimla, the summer capital of the British Empire in India, John wanted to visit the castle that served as the Government Secretariat. Ins...

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“The Tourist” by Madalyn Meyers

Submitted to Contest #85

Connor peered out under the hood of his raincoat just in time to see a bike hurtling towards him. Under the control of a lazy eyed pilot, it veered sharply to the right, spraying Conner with the contents of a clouded puddle while flashing him the “Hotel Vondel” promotion printed along the crossbar. Mouth agape, Conner considered chasing down the cyclist to inform him of the importance of using the designated bike lanes when his eyeline traveled across the cobblestone avenue, catching along the cracked black paint which curled from the edges ...

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“Amy's Crusade” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #85

Factory City is full of dirty lumber mills, coal mines, and recycling centers. In the winter we don’t have white snow, we have black peppered snow. I sometimes wonder if the Pepper Gods look down on us, and think the snow is mash potatoes. We don’t dare play outside because a person could easily get cancer. The city is a living breathing cesspool of pollution. My name is Amy Lee, and my grandparents died last summer from lung cancer. They never smoked a day in their lives. Just recently I heard my mom coughing up a lung in the kitchen. ...

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“The Storyteller’s Daughter” by Claire Lindsey

Submitted to Contest #85

The city rushes outward, upward, in all directions, blurred by the rain and gloom of another midday storm. The streets teem with blinded cars, headlight beams shining in the raindrops and reflecting off the wet pavement. You are lost, caught by surprise in the storm and turned around in the unfamiliar city. Your hair is soaked and disheveled, your clothes cling tightly to your skin in the warm summer rain.A streetlight and a modest storefront sign catch your eye. This building is nothing like the aloof glass-and-metal structures which s...

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“Back To London” by Zahra Daya

Submitted to Contest #85

TW: AbuseMeet at Banana Tree for dinner, 7:30, my calendar reads. I inhale as my eyes gloss over the words, my mind already running a million miles an hour. Breathe. Birmingham is far enough away from London that my past there doesn’t clash with my present. I didn’t want to move that far away from London; there are parts of it I love, really, so I ended up here, in banal Birmingham. Nothing to complain about, but all the same, not much to praise. Now, I stand on the train platform at Bayswater station, people hustling and bustling all a...

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“Visions of the West” by Amarah Friedman

Submitted to Contest #85

Agatha has always been stuck in between. When she was born in the Gateway to the West, the doctor reading his watch on her mother’s left declared it 11:59 PM, March 31st. The doctor reading the wall clock above her mother’s head said it was 12:00 AM on April 1st.Unsurprisingly, Agatha’s mother advocated for the March birthday while her father insisted she be born on April Fools. Agatha’s mother fainted from the combined exhaustion of arguing and giving birth, and the doctors had the common decency to record that Agatha was born in March. Aga...

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“Two Sides of the Street” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #85

There were some questions that you just didn't ask, even at home. But sometimes Niamh's curiosity got the better of her. “Dad? Why is there still a solid yellow line painted down the middle of the street outside?” she asked her father one Tuesday. Her father laid his newspaper aside. “You should already know the answer to that, Niamh. It marks the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland in our town. It's been that way since before any of us were born.” “But if East and West Germany can be reunited, why can't Ireland and Northern Ir...

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“The Ferryman” by Corbin Sage

Submitted to Contest #85

Your eyes open slowly, taking in the grey, ashy landscape around you. Your head is pounding, mimicking your heartbeat, which is steadily thumping at a calm pace despite your confusion and panic. You stand up. You notice that the ashen earth is actually thousands of flowers, wilted and flaking by the second, and pick one. It falls apart in your hands and becomes swirling sooty fragments that nestle in your hair. One floats away, shifting to be yet another spot in the pale sky. You start walking in a random direction, hoping you can find someo...

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“All because of a Gold Bar” by Niveeidha Palani

Submitted to Contest #85

"That's the thing about this city," Elias sighed."What?"Dale unloaded laundry into a neon orange patterned basket. "Eli, I'm going to the launders. Do you want me to do yours?" she asked, staring at the stack of shirts and jumbled-up shorts and boxers piled up against the wall.Elias bit his lip. "Yeah, whatever. I planned to take them in next week. But, sure. Anyways, there's too much crime in the city. They just reported a rob in the bank today morn'."Dale set the basket onto the floor, and pulled up a polished chair, fanning herself. "Boy,...

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“Wasp Season” by Nina Chyll

Submitted to Contest #85

Mark had lived the perfect cul-de-sac life for almost three years until that one summer, when godly providence clearly abandoned the dead end for some greener pastures. Until then, birds would chirp at dawn without fail and sometimes, if the night was really silent, they’d stir up an anxious song even in the dark. They’d weave feeble nests between the branches of the old maple tree growing fifteen feet from his kitchen window, and he’d sometimes stop to watch them, his mind calming down at witnessing the effortless precision with which they ...

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“Infinite Reigns of Time” by Kaleigh Montague

Submitted to Contest #85

Author's Note: I just wanted to thank the people who left kind and endearing comments and likes on my last submissions. That made me want to continue writing and showcasing my abilities. I will address you all specifically in my bio. I also take feedback to better my writing skills and the feedback I have taken has helped me become stronger as a writer. Thank you to the Reedsy community for making me feel at home, and to push me to write more! Now enjoy! The roar of wheels thundered through the ground, making the tiniest shakes in the crac...

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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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