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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

“Fällhourn” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, people come from all around, and no one ever leaves. It isn’t that they fall in love with the beauty of it all, though it is beautiful. Between the neon lights, and all the clowns down on their last dime, it can feel like a carnival, and that can make you feel like a kid again, but Richie Rich wasn’t a gambler… his parents probably were. This city.. it lives on the blood of the innocent, human or otherwise. You think those animals in there wanna be fightin’? Sheddi...

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“It's the Life We've Got” by Mobarewaye Odufisan

Submitted to Contest #85

That’s the thing about this city, it's the gradual way the unceasing hustle and bustle creeps up on you, and becomes a norm of your life before you even notice. It's Ikorodu, Lagos: the most popular and populous city residing in the commercial hub of the nation of Nigeria.With the brief illustration given, you could probably glean that the most defining thing about the city is its markets. The act of trading is an undeniably oversaturated venture, yet still prosperous enough to keep steadily growing with more and more breaking into the busin...

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“City Of Dreams” by David Zasloff

Submitted to Contest #85

That's the thing about this city...it's not very big, but it acts like it's a major metropolis. I'll explain. You know how in a big city you have to wait at intersections even when the light is green because some dope going across didn't quite make it all the way across? It's like that here because the city can't afford the computers to synchronize the traffic lights. So you wind up waiting at the green light while the cars behind you honk and honk, as if you could just go through the car in front of you. You know how in a big city you m...

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“Operation Clean-Sweep” by Craig Wood

Submitted to Contest #85

Am I crazy? That's what everyone says. Even my so-called friends, if you can call them that. They've avoided me like the plague ever since I told them. Why? What did I tell them? I can't remember.It might have something to do with my current predicament. Humph. Yup. I can hear the chorus of 'I told you so's' as I strain to see...wherever it is I am. Can't see much in the dark. Just a faint crack of light seeping in a tiny window. A basement window, I think. I'd go check it out, but I can't move. For some reason, I feel like laughing. Serious...

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“The Community Page” by Julie Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #85

What Joe wanted to do for the neighborhood and what he was doing for the neighborhood were very different things. What he wanted was an online community, where empty-nesters could post hand-me-downs, pet owners could find dog walkers, neighbors could team up to build little libraries! He created the online group for Burnt Branch neighborhood on a whim after last Halloween, when kids sprinted from house to house, and adults mixed beverages, sheepishly admitting they should have introduced themselves earlier. Now the group was a cluster of ...

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“Finding a New Path: A Mission of Mental Health for the Homeless” by Jen Thilman

Submitted to Contest #85

Darla loved her adopted city, it breathed a life of its own...and a stench, she realized as she stepped over another body on her way to the corner market. She had lived in LA for over a decade, recently settling in a cute house in Los Feliz that she loved. It was close to a corner market and work; she could walk to both but it was often poxed with obstacles. “Hey! Get outta my house!” the body yelled. When was someone going to do something about the homeless population in this city? So she usually drove to work and only walked ...

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“Not a lot is going on here ” by Daniel Brown

Submitted to Contest #85

This Sunday heat presses a reckless thumb against the bodies of wealthy and impoverished alike. Kids wrench open fire hydrants to prevent them from melting into the sidewalk like their defenseless popsicles and cones and sundaes. And parents and cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles, necks craned beneath the unity of an officer's bent knee perspiring through the uniform and the sizzling asphalt boiling their skin. Their cries melt into the sidewalk too and the streets, thinner and more fragile as the pressure compresses them into a flesh...

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“ONCE UPON A TIME” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #85

Lecture delivered to a historical society by a distinguished professor of history on the occasion of its centenary at Chennai in India: Ladies and gentlemen, It is my privilege to be here this day. I was asked to address you about the importance of preserving the past. When I arrived in this city after nearly three decades I cast my eyes eagerly to look at a certain equestrian statue of Sir Hector Munro which had graced an important road. It was no longer there and I asked the reason. The answer was the statues of British rulers were no long...

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“The True Maleficent ” by 𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝑒𝓇 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓸𝓷

Submitted to Contest #85

It may seem bad, but we didn't like it one bit. The king and queen needed to fix this. You see, in this town, the people here are-shall we say- a bit odd and different. I mean, if you came across a black cat with horns, or four tails-in this period of time- you would run away screaming about witchcraft. But in this town, it wasn't a strange sight. A strange sight would be a 'normal' cat. You know with only two eyes, and one tail. The boring kind. Anyways, this was one of very limited places where you could live, and magic would run wi...

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“The Park” by Pasupu .

Submitted to Contest #85

I was born in Bangalore, way before the corporate revolution hit India. We were satisfied with routine jobs and stable life. But my hometown was something else. The old British roads were still intact. The neatly spaced lines of copper pods never ceased to turn with the season. The air always seemed to smell of light vapor. The rainy seasons were particularly brilliant. Drinking spicy chai as the rain lightly flecked my face, that is definitely something I miss. Even the cold winters always brought a sense of warmth....

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“Happily ever after” by Mike Ill

Submitted to Contest #85

It was a time in a big city I remember loving the lights and the big buildings. The bank of America stayed lit in the neon green as the reunion ball had a blanket of lights that would transition.Dallas is very urban not like the other small country cities in Texas. But I was homeless I never really enjoyed the light of things in the city behind all the buildings was a darkness that hid.You see the beautiful skyline and may enjoy the expense of the city if you can afford it but there are thousands of unfortunate veterans of this city and chil...

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“Dissipating Love” by ʟɪʟᴍᴇᴏᴡ ᴍᴇᴏᴡ

Submitted to Contest #85

Paris, is very well known for a city that has romance. As a little girl growing up, she often wondered what was 'love' as people described her city; she never seemed to get any definition of love that anyone described to her. "Love is when you steal my bag of chocolate every morning to school but I put it in the same place every day," Her older brother explained. After she understood love and what the concept finally meant, she thought of it as 'family' or 'affection', but she never thought of the dangers of love. All of her love thinking...

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“City Living” by Aiyana Henderson

Submitted to Contest #85

March 14th, 2020. That was the date that he had written down. He had repeated that date over 100,000 times. It was the date that marked the beginning of the end. 2021 was that year the whole insanity of it all was too much for Michael Seong. He thought 2016 was the roughest year in the 21st century, but 2020? It was a great contender for the bullshit that occurred in his life. At least, all of the life that occurred in his room. When the pandemic had occurred, his first instinct was to haul ass and not get the Coronavirus within the perimete...

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“My Love/Hate Relationship with New York City” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #85

My Love/Hate Relationship with New York City Suzanne Marsh I had two strikes against me before I was even born, both my parents were from New York City. My Dad hated the city and would do anything to avoid going there; Mom loved it. My first trip with Mom to New York City I was about five months old. It would be the first of many trips by car, train, bus and yes even plane. The first trip that I remember I was six years old. That year Mom decided to take me to the Bronx Zoo. I rode a camel that day, needless t...

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“Seoul” by Sandra Claros

Submitted to Contest #85

- I got all sorts of problems with my lover, and I think I need another boyfriend - Another problem ? – Kim asked me, looking deeply to all my - Now, Sandy , tell me : would you like to go to my country and maybe have some fresh air? - To Korea, Kim? - Yeap. At first...

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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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