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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

“In the Light” by Ann Layne

Submitted to Contest #88

It started with my nieces when they where young. They were afraid to go to sleep. So, I would tell them stories about Jesus and how he protects them when they sleep. My faith was not all that developed yet but I knew in my heart that Jesus was the answer to there fears. It began somewhat like that with me telling little girls about Jesus’s love for them and him watching over them when they sleep. I went to church on Sundays and listened to the priests homilies. Inspiring and...

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“Tale of A Fairy Tale-Maker” by Sinria Lee

Submitted to Contest #88

"Perhaps we are all unlikely writers." I heard those words through the depths of my thoughts. Who can say with any certainty how, where, or why they have been visited by the creative impulse? What we know is that when it arrived, largely unbidden; having infiltrated our psyche, we were transformed. This was my experience, although unlike most of the writers I know who were busy making up stories when they were old enough to pick up a crayon, my creative life did not begin until my 45th year. And that beginning was as surprising and pr...

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“Morality vs life” by Collins Jerry

Submitted to Contest #88

When time is ripe,life will make you a judge,a decision to choose between life and morality which one takes the hang.The wet pavement creates a thud,on every footstep he makes,a dull rythm that once and again draws him from his mind to enjoy this childishness that man never seems to let go, but it's not enough to move him further to observe all around him are countrymen running to shade from the rain ,he is oblivious off.Nairobi in 1980 was quiet, a new regime had settled in gracefully but not peacefully. A coup planned by young officers of ...

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“Parable of Snow White and the Journalist” by Eva Lewis

Submitted to Contest #88

Parable of Snow White and the Journalist In time prevailing de jure, a vain older woman, whose face was in a mirror, was jealous of a little girl whose face was not in the mirror, where hers was. Whenever the woman looked in the mirror, where her face was and the little girl’s was not, she was conscious that she did not have the face of the little girl. She wrote an article in her journal column, informing the men of the world that the little girl, whose fa...

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“The House That Lies Built.” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #88

Ginny and Sarah sat in the restaurant sipping Chai tea. It was delicious and they savoured it along with the wonderful food set before them. Ginny even laughed when Sarah first suggested murdering Joe. He was her second husband. They had been married many years before and divorced many more.Her nervous giggle quickly evolved to a more somber response as she realized Sarah was perfectly serious.At first Ginny was slightly horrified, but warmed to the idea as Sarah began outlining several plans. She listened carefully to Sarah’s schemes but be...

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“Nemet Metin - A New World” by Nemet Metin

Submitted to Contest #88

‘The places to which human feet didn’t touch after the Chernobyl Disaster turned green. The nature returned to itself. The wild animals, birds live their life freely. All the places where there aren’t human beings become more beautiful,’’ my uncle said. I was listening to my uncle attentively. I couldn’t finish counting the wrinkles on his forehead. He isn’t tired of worrying. Maybe it is his only hobby. ‘A war is inevitable in the island where two people live. A peace is just a period between two wars. To overthrow the state, policy, meetin...

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“Birth of a Prince” by RJ Greene

Submitted to Contest #88

“Are you certain? Once it is done, it cannot be undone.” The ancient Oak questioned, its words whispering across his mind with the rustling of its waxy leaves. Flix looked at the silver dirham held in his hand, turning it over in his palm as he considered the question. He could hear the drum of the centaur hooves several miles away as they searched for him. Their calls echoed off the surrounding mountains, the sound amplified by the valley, and he glanced over his shoulder as the anxiety turned every shadow into a threat. It had taken ...

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“Cry Wolf” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #88

Well, I don’t see why I should say anything. The wolves are storming the village and I’m down in the basement, because I knew they were coming. I knew, because I go out to the forest everyday, and sometimes, out in the forest, you see things, and sometimes you don’t. Often, I don’t. But you see, I get so bored, and so, sometimes, lately more so, I come back from the forest and I tell funny stories about things I may have seen in the forest. You know, like a bunny that looks like a porcupine or a bush that looks like a lamb or a wolf ...

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“Tang of Traskia” by Blue Green

Submitted to Contest #88

Once upon a time, for this is a fairy tale, and that is how all fairy tales begin, there was a king who ruled over the city of Traskia. But this story is not about the king, but rather about a young man called Tang, who was as far from being a king as anyone could imagine. The sun was setting as Tang set up his camp for the night. He set his pack down beside the knarred oak. The tree had an inviting hollow at the base which was just right for his small body to curl into. He would sleep comfortably tonight, something that he often couldn’t ...

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“Fit For A Prince” by Gracie C. McKeever

Submitted to Contest #88

“Someone finds you interesting. Can’t take his eyes off you in fact.” Dagon smirked. Kai Kenneally turned from Dagon to glance over his shoulder, already knowing what he would find. Sure enough, his gaze landed on Monarch Academy’s newest addition. Kai locked glances with Namir Caspian’s dark doe eyes for a fraction of a second before Namir dropped his gaze and a fierce blush crept up his high cheeks. Been there, done that, Kai thought, remembering his experience as the new kid on the block once upon a time. The only thing that h...

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“Extra-Ordinary” by Al Johnson

Submitted to Contest #88

Power came in the form of a vision for Prince. It wasn’t a dream enveloping one’s mind when remnants of the day’s troubles swirled into a plausible reality. It was a plain vision, tempting Prince with the promise of, well, power. And it could speak. Not a physical, booming voice, but it carried itself nevertheless through nerves and circuits, whispering words directly into Prince’s head. But before the conversation between Power and Prince ensued, the readers must know that Prince was ordinary, a commoner indeed. Power was as abstract to P...

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“The Breath Royal” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #88

Princess Philidora knew how privileged she was, and had always thought she knew where her duty lay.She was generally acknowledged as being kind-hearted and not a Princess Pushy, unlike her cousin, Princess Sarabanda, who tended to forget she was a minor royal, but she had a sharp tongue when she chose, and could outdo anyone in the Kingdom when it came to well-aimed sarcasm and the precisely targeted putdown. Anyway, she was a doctor of physics and literature and astronomy, and had already had several books published, which she had originall...

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“Forevermore” by Eden Arbon

Submitted to Contest #88

“Goodbye mother, I will write to you.” Everett tilted his head, and kissed the soft, pale skin of his mother’s cheek.“Yes, you had better, or I will march all the way to Camelot and pull your ears!” Everett smiled as his mother said this, and hugged her old, frail form, for what he thought might be the last time. His mother’s green eyes glittered with wet tears as she said her goodbyes to her youngest son.Her wisps of gray hair fluttered in the early morning breeze, illuminated by the first sunrays that stretched themselves over the white mo...

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“Roots” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #88

Willow marched through the woods clasping his offering tightly. He cradled it confidently, but still, a trickle of water seeped between his thin fingers and onto the floor. His path was well-trodden, although he knew it was only walked by him, his friends from the fringes were too scared to come this far into the woods. Fear, it seems, is the most powerful of deterrents. But unhappiness is an equally powerful antidote. Willow no longer felt fear. And anger was starting to overcome his unhappiness.He felt the temperature drop another degree a...

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“Powerless” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #88

“How can you let this travesty of injustice continue? The future of mankind rests in the ability of future generations to improve the lives of citizens of the world, by promoting social and economic issues that will not inhibit, but promote the betterment of mankind. You seem content to sit back and watch while those in power, who seek only more power and the wealth that accompanies it, to continue, no matter the devastating consequences to future generations. And I might add, with no significant consequences to those encouraging...

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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.

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