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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 Assistant ” by Lee Doe

Submitted to Contest #88

Bailey’s fingers, being the only part of him exposed to the outside, were the coldest part of his body. They were gripping the hood of his cloak and pulling it as far down as he could, hiding the rest of him from the fog settling over the forest like a bad omen. He liked the shadow the hood cast on his face, it hid him from unseen horrors that could be lurking around any corner, behind any tree... His pace sped up in response to the thought. With every step he was reminded of how long he had been walking. Wondering absently how far a...

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“The Trade” by Lunar Night

Submitted to Contest #88

She looks down into the portal, “I’m about to do it!’ Lilliana nervously yells as she grabs my hand. I then speak, “Just to think, you’ll finally be out of here and away from those evil people.” Then Lilliana starts to speak, ”I was just in there with them., hours ago.. and they scared me, but it’s so sad to be leaving them, why can’t I have both?” I sigh and again try to open her eyes to what’s happening. &nbsp...

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“Angels within” by Anne Davidson

Submitted to Contest #88

Chapter 1 She watched as a great kingdom that had been hidden in the forest for so long started to emerge. It was carved out of a mountainside a giant castle. With sprawling waterfalls pouring off the great walls surrounding it. Vines and greenery had grown into the stone bringing it to life. She had never seen anything like it before now. Even from here she could see the massive amounts of designs and details put into the castle. There was what looked like angels sitting upon the ledges. Water pouring fro...

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“Glimith” by Cesar Sanchez

Submitted to Contest #88

According to the records of Dalawan Palace, Glimith had no parents. Nobody is aware of how he fell into the hands of the common folk but what they do know is that they needed to treat him like he was a heartless monster and as if he were without heart and mind. The people of this land believed that one day he would bring misfortune upon them all, if he didn’t kill them first. From as early as childhood, Glimith felt their eyes tell him that he was a creature from the pits of hell. Even as a baby, King Fyzin ordered his execution just because...

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“The Decision” by Sean Tarzy

Submitted to Contest #88

The “fake-text-sneaky-pic.” Disgusting. Dangling my legs over the subway-car bench, pinning my eyes to a blob of old gum on the floor, I pretend not to even notice. But I notice. I always do. I mean, the kid’s just being lazy in his execution: exaggerating his finger motions, tucking his lip to the corner of his mouth, intensely widening his eyes. You might as well tell me to say, “cheese.” The shaming comes in different forms, almost like the varying deliveries of a versatile, hard-throwing Major League pitcher. A classic, four-seam...

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“Freddie & The Country Folk” by Crystal Valarie

Submitted to Contest #88

Freddie was careful not to reveal his true identity. Sometimes, as he sat under the Grand Oak tree that marked the end of his father’s land and the start of the neighbor’s, he’d wonder why people treated him differently. He sensed he was different from the others in town and his parents, but never had reason to suspect his life would soon turn sideways and propelled into chaos. He had few reasons to think he was that different from the rest of the townspeople; he looked as similar to the others in town as he could, with the exception of his ...

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“Crystal Teardrops” by Cheryl Fulks

Submitted to Contest #88

Stacy lined the tree with shiny crystal teardrops she took from the back of her grandmother’s lamp. She was hoping she wouldn't miss them. Her garden was almost complete. She had houses where they could live, swings, and teeter-totters for them to play. Stacy had been building her fairy garden for over a year. Her collection started with her grandmother buying her the first house. Not long afterward, everyone brought her accessories to go with her village. The family realized that the trinkets kept the little gi...

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“The Dancing Hag ” by Aidan Pauer

Submitted to Contest #88

Deep within the forest, past all the bent trees, and the critters that called it home laid a small lake. It was filled with pure black water and when one looked down in it, it was impossible to see the bottom. It was dark. Darker than the night sky with no moon shining down upon the land. Pitch black. No fish could live in the lake. No frogs, no plant life, for if anything tried to grow in the lake they would become consumed by the darkness of it, and turn into the water itself. They would become nothing. Parents warned their children in the...

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“The Dust Devil” by May Moon

Submitted to Contest #88

“Your majesty, must you know that the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him.” The creature with the grey cape said as he looked at the furious king with his most scornful of smiles, and the blood flowing out of his lips would do nothing to impede his grin from reaching his pointy ears, nor would the axe taunting his life and kissing his hairy neck. It was but this sentence that stirred a revolution within the confines of a once dormant community under an illusion of peace, a clique of pu...

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“An uncontrollable anger never seen, The talking drawing.” by Jhazyel Ortega Quijada

Submitted to Contest #88

An uncontrollable anger never seen: Once upon a time there was a young prince who had a secret that he himself did not know: when he was a baby, he had been bewitched by an ancient enemy of the kingdom. It was a very strange spell, for its only effect was that it angered the prince every time he heard a secret word. But that word was so normal, and it was so well chosen, that there was always someone who said it. So the prince grew up with a reputation for getting angry very easily, without anyone suspecting anything. The bad thing is that, ...

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“The Never-ending School Trip: A Selection of Letters” by Indi Jimenez

Submitted to Contest #88

Dear Cat, You know how there’s The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, these fictional places set in some place parallel to what we know and believe to be reality, but separated by some thin layer of- and I shudder as I write this, magic? Well, Cat, you will never guess where I am. I am stuck in a magical-out of this world-Narnia could never compete-medieval country. Yes, you have read that right; assuming that I actually found a way to send this letter to you and you are actually reading it. I hope you are somehow,...

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“Imperfectly Perfect” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #88

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kalyani who was not so little, she was thirteen. She moved with her parents from one place to another every 3 years. She had loved this routine when she was little, now she hated it. Anyway, Idlapur was where she was going to spend her next three years.Idlapur was a small town. Like any other respectable small town, it had a town square. The square had a clock tower. The hands of the clock were still at 11:00 hours for a few months now.The square was at the centre of not four but six streets. To the t...

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“The Mushroom Tree” by Georgia Papp

Submitted to Contest #88

I knew I was lost when I reached the tree with a hollow in shape of a mushroom. I’d passed it before. Surrounded by the canopy turning autumn gold, I glare down the path I chose before. How did I wind back here? Now my options are limited. My cell reception is still out, the crossroad looks the same as before, and from the glint on the leaves I surmise the sun is setting. As panic steadily creeps in, I stare at the blasted tree and a thought strikes me. Some scraping and sweating later, I manage to climb high enough to lift my phone above ...

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“Where the Sunsets on Mars” by Rylinn Kemphaus

Submitted to Contest #88

I screwed up. I smuggled my way onto a planet I’ve never been on before. That, alone, should tell you that I’m in deep trouble. I’m only here because I ran away from home, thinking that boarding a ship to space was a good idea. Now I’m just a juvenile outsider, trying to survive in the dunes of Mars. You may be asking why I ran away in the first place. I wanted freedom and to be myself. I wanted to not have to worry about our government and what they are hiding. I didn’t mean literal freedom. But now that I think of it, I might actually...

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“Goldilocks and the three pigs” by Shirley Dudfield

Submitted to Contest #88

Chapter One The three little pigs lived on an island in the middle of a huge lake. They had moved there because they were afraid of being eaten by big bad wolves. They had each built a bungalow made of bricks. None of the bungalows had chimneys. The three pigs were very happy on their island until....... one day. A little girl with golden hair came to play on the banks of the lake. She peered through her binoculars and saw the three pigs on the island. “Hey you three pigs!”, yelled Goldilocks, “Come over and play with me!” “No”...

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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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