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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

“The Nameless Bridge” by Kiel Ashe

Submitted to Contest #85

I love the sound of the metal deck as my untied shoes walk the path of the bridge in the middle of the night. The sea under it making a faint sound of its waves before hitting the shore calms my masked agony and the light cold breeze hitting my face making me breathe out a breath of serenity. Everything is different when it’s midnight in this bridge, I feel more connected with it than walking on the broad daylight to my dreadful job. &n...

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“Flat 92” by Clayton Turner

Submitted to Contest #85

He came up the elevator and exited into a hallway. To the right, through an entryway and to the left. It was easy enough to spot, the movers where busily carrying her boxes and containers inside. The heavy wooden door was propped open and the blue sign above that read simply “92” in white industrious numbers. She had moved to escape, he thought he had known what she was distancing herself from at the time. As he entered the flat, the energy present was calm, relaxed, and inviting. Nothing like the last one. He helped where he could. Placin...

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“The Reign Of Confusion” by George Davis

Submitted to Contest #85

The Reign Of Confusion—George Davis In my business I meet a lot of strange people. I have held a PI license for the past twenty years. The story I am about to tell you is true. I know. I lived it. My name is Damien Blake, born in the small town of Bickford in Maine, a rural area thirty miles northwest of Portland. I moved to the big city to set up my practice. The building known as Watson Towers is the tallest structure in Maine. At eighteen stories high it has no equal. It is in this building my story begins.&n...

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“The Old Man” by Tatiana Olin

Submitted to Contest #85

He built the house on the hill overlooking the town’s oldest cemetery. Red oak and what he didn’t know was the last of the American chestnuts from below the ridge line. Local limestone filled with fossils of the things that came long before us- the same stones that marked the graves of the poor in the cemetery below. He built the house hoping to begin something new, something clean, so he could start over- rebuild everything he had lost in the war. But he built the house next to a field of death so that he would never forget how he became a ...

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“CD890098” by Addam Goldman

Submitted to Contest #85

Ray leaned back in his computer chair, clutching his stomach as a blast of pain shot through his lower intestine. It lasted a moment, gone almost as soon as it came. He shook off the quick pang of fire with a shoulder shrug, not overly concerned over these brief flashes. Ray leaned back towards his desk and raced his pudgy fingers across the keyboard as he used his 100-words-per-minute expertise to pump out another email. He finished typing, let out a contented sigh, and smacked the enter button with a light pinkie flick. He rewarded himself...

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“The Golden Building” by Giulia S.

Submitted to Contest #85

People called it the golden building for its color during sunsets, when the sun gently caressed its glass windows and reflected off the rest of the city. It was the most important and historical newspaper of the city; the walls could tell amazing stories, that nobody could ever imagined. 1980 Harriet’s desk was at the second floor, cubicle number twenty-six: it was white, perfectly tidy, pen and pencils ordinately placed in the pen holder. It was decorated with one simple photo with her two nieces, Elena and Kiara. «Here she is, our repor...

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“Threads of Time” by Amanda O'Driscoll

Submitted to Contest #85

Footsteps echo on the wooden floorboards outside the parlour. I raise my head languidly towards the direction of sound but pay it little concern. It's probably Annabelle rushing about preparing the corridor for our coming guests tonight. Damn girl should've had my equipment ready this morning. I have half a mind to leave the heat of the fire and scold her, but reason against it. By supper I'm expected to make a decision regarding my work but, despite all my efforts, time is not on my side.For months I devoted my energy to unlocking the secre...

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“Lucie's Sacrifice” by Kaelianna Mcmillan

Submitted to Contest #85

The earth shuddered, shaking the house to its very foundation, dust raining from the ceiling and the wooden boards and plaster creaking like old, tired bones. Lucie clutched her doll closer to her chest, burying her fingers in it’s small braids of cornsilk hair, pressing her face against it, breathing in the scent of Mama’s spicy perfume, that still clung to the fine strands. Lucie wailed as the house shuddered again, plaster cracking with the force of the bombs that rained down on the city, like a storm of falling, catastrophic angels. Her ...

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“Intertwined Destinies” by Carole Cobos

Submitted to Contest #85

“My lady,” the gardener hissed, “you shouldn’t be doing that! You could get hurt.” Lady Rose lifted her gaze from the machete and shot Tolias an annoyed look. “If I didn’t know how to use one I wouldn’t have picked it up.” “Are you sure-” “Absolutely.” The noblewoman bent down and tied the twine tightly across the floor. She cut the remaining string and used it to bundle up her bags. To assure herself nothing would fall out. “You should leave the manor, Tolias. Lest you get more involved.” Tolias stuck out his weak whiskery chin,...

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“Perfect eyes” by Mia P

Submitted to Contest #85

(Vermont, 2018.)The air in the library was cool and fresh. It was like taking a big gulp of clean air compared to the temperature outside. Most kids would rather stay outside in the heat than come into the library. Nellie didn't understand why, though. It was the library, after all. The sole place you could lose yourself from reality in an adventure. For Nellie, at least."Ten more minutes, Nellie. Only ten." Nellie's mother called from the seating area or the library."Okay. If you need me, I'll be in the classics aisle." Nellie called back t...

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“Seeking Sanctuary” by Jenny White

Submitted to Contest #85

Music trickled through the closed windows, soft and jovial as the party-goers danced the night away. On the balcony, separated from the ball by ornate glass doors, Eliza pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders. Half-empty and abandoned, her goblet stood forgotten on the stone wall overlooking the grounds. Behind her, the French doors were pushed open and the butler joined her. He wasn't much older than her yet he bowed, low and respectful. "Milady," he said. "Please, it is cold tonight, come inside." "In a moment, Braeden." Eliza...

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“7-11” by Ashlyn Keener

Submitted to Contest #85

Amado lived in Tranquilo, New Mexico. His mother worked two jobs—one as a teaching assistant, the other as a clerk at 7-11. His father worked as a civil engineer in the city on the horizon, the one in which Tranquilo was the smallest of seven unincorporated districts. Their house was situated along the desert highway, a singular stretch of broken-up asphalt that ran from the Indian town in the east to the city in the west. There was a pothole on the westbound side shaped like a dead coyote. Amado could see it from his living room window by s...

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“City Life Dream” by Rose O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #85

That's the thing about this city. Within the realms of going into the setting of coffee shops, urban getaways, and forgetting what the rural life is back at your childhood home. Forging into this setting makes you think about how one place can be so busy, yet so elegant. The sights of Boston arouses your vision about what your life is going to be like now that you've landed your dream job here. You think about how much money you've saved so you can get one of those elegant apartments to go with the atmosphere of this city. While other...

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“Wallowhole” by Melissa Alexander

Submitted to Contest #85

That's the thing about this city; you either stand out or become just another face in the crowd. Luther came from a small town in Eastern Kentucky and always dreamed of moving to the city. Luther had fallen in love with the architecture and the big city lights. It was nothing like where he grew up and in fact; it was just the opposite. Wallowhole was a small community that had fields and more fields. The type of place that you could leave your doors unlocked at night and families leaned on each other during hard times. The type of place that...

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“Ember” by Leah Barlow

Submitted to Contest #85

That's the thing about this city, it has an invisible draw that always seems to pull me back. No matter how many times I try to escape and start anew somewhere else I always end up back here, and this time it might keep me. I grumble angrily at my car as I kick a tire. "Freakin' car! I was only supposed to be here to VISIT for a weekend and now you have to go and break down and I am stuck. Oomph! Ow ow!" I grit my teeth and hop on one foot grabbing my injured toe. I whine and then setting my foot back on the ground I say in defeat. ...

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 19, 2021 EST

A winner will be announced soon.

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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