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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#95: Decision Time

One thing I’ve noticed while working alongside the wonderful volunteer judges who help run this contest is just how indecisive I can be. I’m always the last to cast my vote, tossing up options until the very final moment. Some of us embrace the act of choosing, knowing our own minds inside and out, while others are decision-phobic — and I fall firmly into the latter category.

However we feel about them, decisions — both big and small — are a part of life. Besides the obvious watershed moments, we quietly make decisions every minute of the day; one cup of coffee or two, walk or take the bus, say something or stay silent. It’s the sum of these microdecisions that makes up the fabric of our existence — and so with this week’s prompts, I want you to examine choices of all magnitude, and the ripple effects they can cause.

🥇 Winner

“Moira's Day Off” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #95

“Sandwiches or Thai?” I ask aloud, out of habit. I can imagine Moira’s reply: You’re not on track with your calcium and folic acid targets today. Spinach is advised. Maybe a green curry?But today there’s no level, pleasant voice in my ear. Moira is, as they used to say, “in the shop” today for her annual updates and maintenance. I don’t know why they can’t just upload the stuff into them, but these maintenance days are a fact of life we all deal with. I guess even artificial intelligence is entitled to one vacation day a year.Most peopl...

163 comments 163

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Door on the Left” by Ari Masters

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

Micah remembers what happened the first time he picked the door on the left.He tried not to go during school usually, but this had been an emergency. As he approached, he saw there was a line, and panicked. He decided to do another loop of the hallway instead. When he made it back, there was no one around. He walked towards the door on the right out of habit, then paused. He was already late to class; another minute to think wouldn’t hurt. His eyes flipped from door to door. Maybe he could just hold it. No, he needed to go now. Trying not to...

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“The Mulberry Memory” by Scott Skinner

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

Content warning: addiction, drug use, violence, sexual abuse, child abuse Danny’s been a good boy for a long time. He’s cut back on red meat, only buys organic, and never drinks soda. He exercises regularly, presses his clothes, takes two showers a day, and shows up on time for everything. His coworkers know him as a reliable team player who cleans the coffee machine. Danny treats himself and others with respect; he smiles and holds office, elevator, building, and car doors. He’s patient. He talks to people in every department, even t...

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“The Waiting Room” by T.H. Sherlock

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

Nathan never saw the black taxi as he stepped out into the road on the day he died. By the time he was conscious of the beam of headlights and steel grille bumper hurtling towards him it was far too late. Tyres screeched as 1500 kilograms of black metal travelling at 50mph smacked into Nathan’s soft, fragile body. He experienced the peculiar sensation of flying and viewing the world from upside down, just before his jaw shattered on the pavement. A sharp pain lanced through his skull, mingled with the taste of grit and iron.The last thing he...

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“Tiny Death” by Jody Serey

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

TW: death of a child My navy summer suit hit me in all the wrong places. I had bought it for my twenty-fifth birthday celebration years before, and had worn it exactly twice. With the more recent addition of a white blouse, it had become my funeral outfit, and I had last struggled into the jacket and skirt for my parents’ joint service. Now I pulled at my lapels and fidgeted as I waited to sign papers as part of the procedure for transporting the remains of my infant brother from Springfield, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana. I was the only...

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“Pure-Recharge and Prenatal ” by Sara Lytle

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

"Okay, I'm ready, ma'am," she said. The young customer tucked her dirty blonde hair behind her multi-pierced ear. She sported some bleached jeans with a black 'Nirvana' T-shirt. Her bangs rested heavy on her blue eyes. Her eye makeup, with its bright greens and yellows, seemed to have been based on a millennial's YouTube tutorial video.Alex appreciated the three day old disposable mask that hid the tightness of her lips even if it cut off her oxygen supply by about forty-seven percent. To keep up her excellent customer service, Alex only had...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Character – 216 stories

Write a story about someone who’s extremely impulsive — or extremely indecisive.

Character – 105 stories

A character stands in front of two doors. Write a story about what happens after they choose one to enter.

High School – 237 stories

Write about someone making a seemingly inconsequential decision, which goes on to have important consequences.

Narrative – 153 stories

Write about someone finally making their own choices.

Middle School – 203 stories

Stories

“Moira's Day Off” by A.Dot Ram

🏆 Winner of Contest #95

“Sandwiches or Thai?” I ask aloud, out of habit. I can imagine Moira’s reply: You’re not on track with your calcium and folic acid targets today. Spinach is advised. Maybe a green curry?But today there’s no level, pleasant voice in my ear. Moira is, as they used to say, “in the shop” today for her annual updates and maintenance. I don’t know why they can’t just upload the stuff into them, but these maintenance days are a fact of life we all deal with. I guess even artificial intelligence is entitled to one vacation day a year.Most peopl...

163 comments 163

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“Mystery of a Frog” by VEER KAPOOR

Submitted to Contest #95

Date 24/05/2021 The Mystery of a Frog I was going to my school in the morning as usual, I noticed a frog hopping a little far away from me. It looked very preposterous to me nevertheless I kept on walking towards the school building. I was startled seeing the same frog sitting on my desk in the classroom. His face looked quite similar to one of my friends called Rajvansh. I didn't believe myself so I went to the class teacher and told her about the mystical thing I had been through since morning. She pretty much believed me that the frog’s f...

279 comments 279

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“Honeylove” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #95

Trigger Warning: LanguageDavid slipped on the latex gloves as he surveyed the stairs going down into the darkness of the basement. Although it was too early for the body to start smelling, he secured his double-layered mask before cautiously starting the descent. With each step forward, the stairs creaked eerily, filling him with dread. Usually, David loved going down the basement staircase for his daily rendezvous with his victims, who lay on the dusty wooden floor, bound and gagged and terrified, completely at his disposal to do as he plea...

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“Takeout & Delivery” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #95

Is that it? Silver Toyota Land Cruiser. Ubers are almost impossible to spot until they nearly drive up on you.Virginia grabs her luggage and double checks the Uber app on her iPhone for the driver’s name. Lee. She dutifully takes note of the license plate to compare before entering the vehicle. She isn't going to make that mistake again.“Who are you here to pick up?” she asks the middle aged driver wearing an Orioles shirt, who neither turns around to greet her nor asks to help with her luggage. Does he want a two-star rating? “Ginny,” ...

103 comments 103

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“The Third Wife” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #95

Using a drug-dusted straw to snort the last line of an 8-ball of coke, drinking the last drop of vodka from the bottle, I tossed both in the trash. When my second marriage ended, I was heartbroken and half crazy. The months following, I excessively self-medicated, which rarely works well for anyone. Yet, for me it almost did.It’s said you must hit rock bottom to find the road to recovery, and that was true for me. I had to pass through one of two doors. Through one, I was dying in a room due to my current lifestyle. Let’s call that Door Numb...

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“Regret and Repent” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #95

****** “The fall is going to hurt more if there is no one to catch you. So, find someone, find the person who will always be there at the bottom of the dark starless abyss waiting with their arms open, ready to hold you and take you back home. For that is when you will know that they are your home.” ****** Two doors. Both of equal build, similar coloured, a small viewing window on each. The view was what mattered. Always. Everyone favours the safe view, the view with the escape route, the stripes of popping colours with a po...

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“A Sky Filled With Freckles” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #95

Vivienne stands alone in a desert of blood-red sand as she watches the only person that has ever mattered drift even further out of reach.“Weird, huh?” says the face in the hologram. “It’s almost identical to the sand back home, except it’s red because of trace amounts of iron.”Red, Vivienne thinks numbly as she cradles the small metal cube projecting the hologram. Red like your hair, Fae.It’s one of many visual logs she’s uncovered, but how long ago it was recorded, or whether those who’d recorded it have survived, she has no clue. “Ju...

104 comments 104

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“The Door on the Left” by Ari Masters

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #95

Micah remembers what happened the first time he picked the door on the left.He tried not to go during school usually, but this had been an emergency. As he approached, he saw there was a line, and panicked. He decided to do another loop of the hallway instead. When he made it back, there was no one around. He walked towards the door on the right out of habit, then paused. He was already late to class; another minute to think wouldn’t hurt. His eyes flipped from door to door. Maybe he could just hold it. No, he needed to go now. Trying not to...

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“Yes! NO! Yes!” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #95

“I'm not indecisive! I just don’t know what I want!” Beth’s friends burst out laughing trying to drown their guffaws within the contents of their cocktails. They’d known each other for nearly 20 years, since primary school, so the idea their friend would not tie herself in knots over the smallest decision was borderline science fiction. “Bee, some people are determined and focused and know what they want at every possible turn… and some are not,” smirked Jess, Beth’s bestest and most longest suffering of...

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“Why do anything, Ceri? You'll only dance in Elysia one day.” by Kathleen `Woods

Submitted to Contest #95

A thought as old as the first professions of any world is, why do anything? This is especially true in Helusch, with the rather tragic economic condition of the area. Ceri was just a Gythan Bo, looking for his next meal, his next trick, next move. He really wasn’t up for the quandary, as he rather drunkenly took the dare. “Get back here, ya Rum Dum Jungle buzzard!”, was what the old fool had said as Ceri made off with his Road Stake, Elam had him on a bet, and Ceri would make good on his Daring exploits. All good Ruckus was had i...

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“an ocean of choices ” by KED KED

Submitted to Contest #95

The hotel corridor smells musty, like that wet towel you just can’t get the mildewed smell out of, no matter how many times you throw it in the wash. The pictures on the wall, hung evenly at eye level with absolutely zero artistic distinctiveness, are banal and unoriginal. One of the overhead bulbs is flashing that classic garish yellow at irregular beats, almost matching the cadence of my rattled heart. I can hear the ice machine relentlessly whirring a few doors back. How ironic that this simple, trite backdrop may ulti...

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“All My Stars II” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #95

Liam Even before my imprudent boy broke my wings, I was having a rotten day. Mortals do not understand how overwhelmingly boring being an angel is. And a guardian angel at that. There is only yourself, infinity, the occasional card game with the other angels, oh and watching out for your mortal. And in this case, a pair of broken wings. We crash into the ground, and I feel my celestial body shrinking as it adapts to the mortal world. It is a bloody nuisance, that. My human body is practically like my celestial body bu...

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“The Doors Not to Open” by 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕒 𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖

Submitted to Contest #95

Hannah stood in front of two wooden doors. One was a deep, dark cobalt blue and another was a vibrant, bright, swirly orange. Both of the doors had little notes taped to them that matched the colors of the door. Both the doors intrigued Hannah to go in, but she only had one choice. Hannah walked up to the blue door, pushing her blonde hair out of her emerald green eyes, and peeled the note off the door. It read: Roses are red, violets are blue, if you like the ocean then this door’s for you. But beware of the secret lair, and the mermaid th...

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“Destiny” by Divya Gupta

Submitted to Contest #95

Patrolling In a dimly lit room, gazing as far he could, it really was a massive room; he just couldn't see any end. Gerik was feeling warm and contended (it was winter) still the lights seemed to be providing him a relaxing atmosphere.He was walking at a normal pace; his each footstep was making a heart thumping sound, desperately waiting what's coming up next. His choices or his decisions are going to decide his destiny. He was ready. He told himself or maybe to the others(he was alone). And to his surprise,someone seemed to have heard it. ...

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“Sparks into flame (Part 1 of Mutants versus Witches) ” by Moon Lion

Submitted to Contest #95

"I'm sorry I wasn't there in time, Simin." John started, no hint of accusation in his voice.I looked up from my ashy fingers and stared at him stonily, unsure how to respond. "Unfortunately, now you need to decide: You can either come with me, learn to control your abilities, and help me protect others like us. Or, you deal with the police now where I cannot help you, your powers will continue spiraling, and you will likely end up dead." John had given me these options before, but never with this much urgency.Both of those choices are t...

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$50

Prize money

920

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 28, 2021 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: Moira's Day Off

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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