Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#87: Fool Me Once

From trickster gods to office pranks, humans have long been fascinated by mischief and mayhem. There’s just something about breaking free of the rules of polite society and causing a bit of chaos that appeals deeply to our psyche.

This week, let’s embrace that playful spirit. Whether it’s someone being pranked or doing the pranking, there’s plenty of opportunity to dive deep into your characters’ motives and reactions. No joke — it’s time to break out the (metaphorical) cream pies and throw some anarchy at your protagonists.

This week's prompts

Write about a mischievous pixie or trickster god.

Kids – 206 stories

Write about someone who’s spent a whole year planning a big prank, and now they’re finally ready to pull it off.

Middle School – 75 stories

Write about someone who hates pranks and spends April Fools’ Day doing good deeds instead.

Holiday – 69 stories

Start your story with a big company pulling an April Fools’ prank that ends up going horribly wrong.

Holiday – 82 stories

Write about someone who goes to great lengths to avoid being pranked on April 1st, only to realize they had the date wrong and it’s already April 2nd.

Holiday – 60 stories

Stories

“Divine Providence” by A Mehendale

Submitted to Contest #87

“What did you do?”He bursts into the room, breathless as a man beset upon by demons, though she is certain she has not unleashed any.She does not turn to greet him, does not afford him any acknowledgement at all, save an absent hum.“What. Did. You. DO?”A hand collapses onto her shoulder. She exhales and lets herself grow heavy with it, roots herself to the floor. He makes to shake her arm, tug her around, but she will not be moved.This is purely for her own amusement. A power play of sorts. She has no intention of dragging this out, and besi...

Read story

“Of Serpents and Kings” by Amelia Ward

Submitted to Contest #87

The trees provided a comfortable shade and the wind carried the pleasant scent of the lotus flowers to my nose. The garden was magnificent and worthy of the pharaoh. Hopefully, I would grow into that title. Everyone seemed to think that I was the divine ruler of the Nile. I would argue that the gods had chosen my older brothers for that role. I was just an insurance policy my father had made who just happened to pay off. Although, I accepted the position because, without my help, Egypt would fall into a period of chaos. ...

Read story

“The April Fools Gift” by Harvey Willis

Submitted to Contest #87

" It's finally my turn " as the evil shone in her green eyes, cast with jealousy and a sadness from deep within. The upward turn of the corner of her wide mouth, her full red lips smiling. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, stopping to pin back a piece of her unruly, thick blonde curls that kept escaping from under the black knit hat she wore. " I will make her pay for what she did"Now standing under the gaze of only the full moon and a few stars. The moonlight shined through despite the clouds and a thick fog that somehow seemed...

Read story

“The Divine Plan” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #87

I’ve been waiting a year for this day. I sit at the bar, chew on peanuts, and swill the last of a Pabst Blue Ribbon. It’s 2:59 pm. The ceremony is about to begin. The Steelers just scored a touchdown. The sports bar jumps with cheer. Five bucks says, right about now, she’s thinking about peaking her head out of the bride’s room just to see what all the commotion is about. When she does emerge from that soft shelter, she’ll shield her eyes from the altar. She can’t see me before the ceremony—that would be bad luck. “I’ll take anot...

Read story

““Come for Coffee and See My Latest Gadget!”” by Leon Moss

Submitted to Contest #87

There’s something about engineering students that gets them into trouble time after time. Once qualified, however, they are a gift to mankind. Inventing, designing, building, making, from micro-machines to skyscraper buildings; they can do a million different things. The nonsense starts in the learning stage when they believe they can do anything after a couple of years of learning. Don Peters, a student in my year, was a car nut. He had bought an old Austin 7 convertible motor car, 1936 vintage, and taken it to pieces in a garage. H...

Read story

“Friendship Begins with a Bucket of Water” by ∙𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕪 𝕡∙

Submitted to Contest #87

“There!”I step back to look at my creation. “It's perfect, isn’t it?” “Yep,” my best friend, Oliver, pronounces. Right now, we’re standing on the front porch of my archnemesis, attempting to create what could soon be the biggest prank of all time. “Finally, we’ll be able to make her pay!” And then, I hear it. The creak of the door, the sound of the doorknob turning, my unheard cries, they’re all heard at once, and all happen in one swift movement. I hear it tip, here the water slosh and splash, and then—All ten gallons of wate...

Read story

“Shot Of An Hour” by Marvelio Oxford

Submitted to Contest #87

The day was very awesome as sun was shinning in the blue sky. Birds were chirping on the trees but the humans were very careful as today was First April means April Fool Day. Everyone was doing there work very carefully as no-one was wanting to make Fool of self. Mrs. Miles was working in her kitchen when her door bell rings. She put the unwashed dishes in the sink and sped to the door. She went to door and opened it. On the door, her sister was standing with a stranger beside her. Mrs. Miles was looking so happy at the moment and but ...

Read story

“The Ridiculous Visit of Dr. Car E. Less ” by Karuna Ramnani

Submitted to Contest #87

Last year, after Ms. Campbell’s 6th grade class finished learning the laboratory safety rules and taking the test that followed, she approached Mr. Dawson with an ingenious idea. He remembers their conversation vividly and often replays it in his mind. “Mr. Dawson, can I talk to you for a second?” “Yeah, what’s up?” “I was thinking of playing a prank on my 6th grade class next year.” “Like, your current class which I’ll have in Intro to Chem next year?” “No, I mean the 6th grade class that I’ll have next year. I...

Read story

“April fool day at Sakyamuni Buddha Gaya Temple, Singapore” by Miss Aruna Gohil

Submitted to Contest #87

This was in 1999 I travelled to Singapore on package tour of 15 days solo for the first time. The package was booked with a renowned travel company. Five Days each at Singapore, Mauritius and Thailand. Started my tour from Bombay on 28th March midnight and reached Changi airport early morning. The anxiety, excitement and thrill of a first overseas trip were slowly gulping on me. At the airport I saw Alicia my pick-up taxi driver, tall; lean lady may be in her early thirties waving at me with a broad smile. She had a play card with my na...

Read story

“An April Fools Day I will never forget.” by Wayne Njoroge

Submitted to Contest #87

Argh! Another April Fool's Day, thought William. Before today, he was oblivious as to how fast the years sped through. But when April 1st came. He sighed, knowing full well what was in store. During his moments of deep thought, he always wondered how this day could be a holiday. He relished the advancements that mankind made so far but saw this 'holiday' as a blemish that will forever remain in history, despite its unknown origins. It seems this day has its origin cut across multiple cultures. But there was one he was familiar with.&nbs...

Read story

“The Peggy Sue Jones Show: Helpman VS Prankster” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #87

This podcast is reflects the views of our freelance collaborator, Peggy Sue Jones, and her views only. Monitor the City Post blog for further updates. At first, New Yorkers struggled to believe there was truth to the story published by the City Post. It sounded like the stuff comic books are written about. A superhero against a supervillain, the usual story. A week later, however, a television crew capture proof of their existence, live. They waged a fiery battle in Central Park, destroying a great portion of the Bethesda Terrace in the pr...

Read story

“Find the treasure” by Rocío Ibáñez

Submitted to Contest #87

"As you all know, this date has been a problematic one for the company" started saying the CEO of Green's Garden, who founded the company ten years ago when he started selling homemade vegan sweets "And I know that you all like a good laugh and to make some type of celebration, but since Edgar pulled that prank of fake pig blood on Marilyn, Human Resources and basically all of us here decided that there would be no more practical jokers allowed in this work space" he continued as he took off his jacket and untied his tie, the one that he had...

Read story

“Amicus Curiae ” by Aiyana Henderson

Submitted to Contest #87

"There is this constant belief in the courtroom that anyone who is able to serve justice is a hero. But the reality is that we're not supposed to be the superheroes. The heroes are the people who support our clients outside of the courtroom. That doesn't mean it has to stop there. We will always be known as the amicus curiae." That was the most gratifying speech that my now-fiancé, Marianne Clint, had made towards me on the first day of our legal briefings. I never even stopped thinking about that Latin phrase. Out of all the phrases in l...

Read story

“My Big Shot” by Samuel Yi

Submitted to Contest #87

Beep, beep, beep, smack. I yawn as the bright morning light covers me in all of its glory. Fine, that kind of sounded cheesy. I rub my eyes and look at the time and- holy moly! Its 7:00 AM and I'm not even dressed! I quickly put some clothes on, brush my teeth and check the time one more time. Something was off. The time was still 7:00 when I clearly spent at least 20 minutes. I was still puzzled, when I heard it. That cruel, evil and sinister laughter. My little brother tumbled out of my closet laughing like a hyena. I smack my head in sham...

Read story

“Who Wants a Danish?” by Lori Colt

Submitted to Contest #87

Nathaniel Goodwin’s owl shaped alarm clock rings at 6:58am sharp. It has rung at the same time for the last 42 years, since he was five-years-old and his mother woke him for kindergarten. Even during days when no school or work beckons him, he sets the alarm, a sound he has come to rely on, an assurance that he can start his day and everything will go according to plan. He raises up in bed, flings his legs over the edge and puts his rather large feet into his red and white checkerboard slippers. Right foot first, followed by the left. Befo...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

492

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 02, 2021 EST

Won by Catherine Hill 🏆

Title: Samill the Trickster

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢