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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#88: Fairy Tale Truths

Did you know that April 2nd marks Hans Christian Andersen’s 216th birthday? Andersen’s work has been adapted and reimagined so many times it's become part of our literary DNA. In fact, it's hard to imagine the world of fairy tales without them. And while some were based on old folklore, many sprang from his own imagination — sometimes even incorporating details of his life and using the genre's fantastical trappings to write parables about his experiences.

This week we invite you to use your stories to explore larger truths. Whether you set them in a magical fairy tale realm or not, stories are a wonderful way to examine important ideas. So sit back, reflect, and prepare to let your imagination run wild through the forest.

This week's prompts

Write a cautionary fable about someone who always lies.

Adults – 116 stories

Write a story about an ordinary person speaking truth to power.

Adults – 68 stories

Write about a prince or princess who is asked to give up something valuable as part of a deal to escape the world they come from.

Fantasy – 190 stories

Write a fairy tale about an outsider trying to fit in.

Kids – 173 stories

Write about an author famous for their fairy tale retellings.

Teens – 73 stories

Stories

“The Buried Rose” by Rosie 95

Submitted to Contest #88

Rowara sat on a marble stone, her feet barely touching the water below. She couldn't concentrate. Her thoughts were jumbled with memories and sorrow. So much had happened in the last two weeks.For her fourteenth birthday, she had asked her mother if they could go on an expedition. She had wanted to have some peace, settle down, and maybe have an adventure to recall later in life. In the middle ...

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“The Fox Faery” by Myriam Bell

Submitted to Contest #88

Note: I have taken a small liberty with the prompt, I haven't submitted anything in such a long time, I hope you'll forgive me. So this is a story about an outsider failing to fit in.Faeries are by nature vivacious and sociable, but as it is with humans, each has his or her own specific traits, with qualities and flaws in various measure. The faery whose story I’m about to tell you was called Lorelianna. In contrast to most of the Fair Folk she was a very timid creature. She loved the animals of the forest, and would often seek their company...

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“Mortality Makes Us” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #88

“You know the cost, you sign this, young prince, you give up your mortality and your throne. They’ll believe you dead, but you will never die. You will live amongst your people, a commoner, a beggar.” “Anything for my kingdom. My sister can take the throne, she is just as capable as I, but I cannot bear to see my people die.” “Very well.” I remember the day I said those words and signed those papers as if it were yesterday, but it’s been nearly three hundred years now...

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“Fairytale or autobiography?” by Day Goncalves

Submitted to Contest #88

"And the men respected the wishes of the fairies to remain in the woods and left them alone, since then no one has spotted a single tiny teapot and the woods remain untouched" Now, That's an ending, Wod Higgins truly is a genius isn't he? My favorite author as a child and now I'm working with his publisher, we've come a long way, uh my adored copy of "the forgotten song of the woods", psss, my favorite book, just so you know, and yes, I brought it with me on my first day as a publisher assistant. What a life. As of 12:47 I have not been call...

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“The Calf’s Tail” by Iris Miller

Submitted to Contest #88

If you happen to visit the town of Podunk, Alabama you might notice a very withered sign standing at the corner wedged between the Galley Variety store and the Birch’s place. It reads, as follows: ‘PODUNK, AL. POP: 94 HOME OF ANNETTE BUFORD WOMAN WRITER.’ The sign was erected as most signs are in small towns: with a ceremony. “It is with great honor that I erect this sign for our little town, and for Miss. Buford, our first celebrity,” the mayor had said with visceral pride. The very small crowd that...

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“Once Upon a Time…” by Leon Moss

Submitted to Contest #88

One day I was chatting to the old guy who lives in the garden apartment below. Interesting. It turned out that he has two brothers who were authors of fairy tales. “Were their stories published?” I asked. “Sure!” he said. “And how! Their best stories made them rich. I never got any of it. I am the little piggy who got none.” He laughed. “Like in the nursery rhyme,” I said. “Exactly!” “Tell me about one of their fairy tales,” I asked. “I will. But I’ll make coffee first,” he said. “By the way my name is Elias,” he said as he went into the ...

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“The wolf and the rabbit” by Meagan Smith

Submitted to Contest #88

The rabbit awoke in a den, one with the scent of a wolf. He froze as his senses awoke with him, feeling a large being sleeping beside him. Outside was a harsh snow storm, but the rabbit wasn't cold. The creature beside him was keeping him warm, keeping him safe. Blue eyes slowly looked at the beast-no. Wolf beside him, the same wolf who had caught him earlier that day. A shiver went down the rabbit's back, his fur standing on edge. His breathing increased as did his heartbeat. The rabbit was frightened, thoughts running rampant in his mind...

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“The Nameless Little Liar” by Raidy Toba

Submitted to Contest #88

There was once a little boy whose true name none knew and whose true story none remembered or told. He would travel the land for most of his days, telling stories of pure imagination yet at such charm that one would do nothing but believe. One day he stumbled upon a farm, filled with grape trees, yet there were no farmers. Had he not lied about his wit and strength during his trip on the road, he would have not found such a place. His belly roared out of harsh hunger. He stretched his arm to one of the trees and sent the fruit do...

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“Half Truths” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #88

When he’d walk onto a room, everyone would look away. He had the opposite effect of someone with a magnetic personality. He wasn’t an impossible figure to look upon, nor was he the strong, dashing, mustachioed, swashbuckling, a leading man reminiscent of a Wall Street tycoon. He was simply a person who leaked self-assurance at such an alarming rate, people that lacked adequate health insurance feared crossing his slippery path. That, and you never knew when he yelled fire, if it was a warning or a premonition he was havin...

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“WHERE THE TRUTH LIES” by Dayonta Graham

Submitted to Contest #88

I know you've all heard the story of the boy who cried wolf right? Well this is about the girl who cried bloody murder! The girls name was La'Shay Whitman and ever since a little girl she'd been known to lie through her teeth for different reasons but mostly because she wanted people to think that her life was more exciting than it was. She'd lie to her friends about being related to famous people. She'd say things like "Did you know that Michael Jackson is my uncle"? Or did you know that Mariah Carey's my second cousin"? Some of the kids wo...

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“Post, Texas” by Aburrow Marsh

Submitted to Contest #88

Murph parked two blocks from the hotel and sat watching the street, gauging people’s faces in the fading light. Dusk had turned Post, Texas the color of rust. The occasional cowboy gave his truck a glance, but otherwise, no one paid him any mind. Murph figured he might just be safe.He swallowed what felt like a rock and popped open his door. The dome light flashed on, illuminating the satchel on the passenger seat. It was dented and dusty, the subject of many close-calls. Murph grinned, thinking the same could be said of himself.He stuck one...

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“The cat and the ladder” by George Puscuta

Submitted to Contest #88

Gather round now, come, oh children dear, Come come, come now, from far and near, A story I need tell to thee, A story that is full of glee. But why, you ask? Why should you care? About a little story of despair? Because, so happens you and me Could find ourselves akin to he. So, listen now and listen well, To my own story, which I’ll tell. Not far from here, quite near our town, Right where Clown river turns blue and brown, Next to the rapids, yes, that’s it, Where you can find good fish to eat. There lived a ratter, sma...

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“Illumination” by Greg Rigby

Submitted to Contest #88

Robin Chattaway remembered the few spots of rain that had felt like small electrical charges to individual nerve ends and he could not understand why he was not addressing the ball that had fallen at the foot of the tall pines. Where was his club? Everything was black and there was an acrid burning smell! Cordite? Ozone? Carborundum? Bang! His body had reacted instantly and he had rolled to his right in a belated attempt to shelter from another violent clap of thunder. Sharp, damp twigs felt painful under his forearm as the mushy, spidery fe...

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“Swimming into Caves” by Adrian Just

Submitted to Contest #88

Swimming into Caves. You like and then you love and then there is sex and then children. Is this merely the evolutionary thrust and parry of life, or is it now for me in later life the fairytale or the fable? I realize the happiness that I still long to cradle is slightly tinted now with these options. And by that I don’t mean tainted by opaque relationships. You see up until I was about 45 my marriage and my children were largely my wants and desire. They were the ‘fairytale’ story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending , and I...

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“A Deal with the Devil” by Megan Malone

Submitted to Contest #88

The door towered over me. I peered up and up, straining my neck to see the top. Where did the door lead, and more terrifyingly, what monstrous beast could be lurking behind it? My heart pounded deafeningly in my chest as I reached my trembling hands up to the enormous door handle. Taking a deep breath, I cautiously rotated the ancient handle. A creaking, groaning sound filled the air as the door slowly opened backward into the room beyond… Suddenly, an evil odor invaded my nostrils; it smelt of rotting and decaying flesh. I gagged for breat...

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$50

Prize money

622

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 09, 2021 EST

Won by Shannon Ethel 🏆

Title: No More Happy Endings

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!

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