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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

“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 i...

163 comments 163 WINNER 🏆
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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Door on the Left” by Ari Masters

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 ...

18 comments 18 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Mulberry Memory” by Scott Skinner

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 ...

17 comments 17 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Waiting Room” by T.H. Sherlock

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 las...

32 comments 32 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Tiny Death” by Jody Serey

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, Indian...

7 comments 7 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“Pure-Recharge and Prenatal ” by Sara Lytle

"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 cus...

5 comments 5 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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This week's prompts

Start your story with someone being presented with a dilemma.

Character – 225 stories

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

Character – 108 stories

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

High School – 243 stories

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

Narrative – 156 stories

Write about someone finally making their own choices.

Middle School – 211 stories

Stories

“Moira's Day Off” by A.Dot Ram

“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 i...

163 comments 163 WINNER 🏆
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“Mystery of a Frog” by VEER KAPOOR

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 c...

279 comments 279
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“Honeylove” by Kanika G

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 ...

99 comments 99
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“Takeout & Delivery” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

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....

103 comments 103
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“The Third Wife” by Stevie B

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 ...

56 comments 56
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“Regret and Repent” by Writer Maniac

****** “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 equ...

60 comments 60
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“Glimpse of Depravity” by Corey Melin

“Pick a door quickly,” the voice demanded. “Pick before it’s too late.”James stood in a small, brown-colored room facing a wall with a grayish door to the left, and a light blue door to his right. There were no windows on the walls to his left, right, and in front of him. Behind him is complete darkness. A feeling of dread that creeped into James’ soul.“How did I get here?” he asked.He is answered by sounds that sent chills down his spine, came forth from the darkness that b...

19 comments 19
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“A Sky Filled With Freckles” by Rayhan Hidayat

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.

102 comments 102
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“Yes! NO! Yes!” by PJ Aitken

“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...

7 comments 7
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“Why do anything, Ceri? You'll only dance in Elysia one day.” by Kathleen `Woods

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 wh...

22 comments 22
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“an ocean of choices ” by Kelly Dennison

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, tr...

34 comments 34
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“The Doors Not to Open” by 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕒 𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖

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: ...

4 comments 4
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“All My Stars II” by Nainika Gupta

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...

8 comments 8
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“Destiny” by Divya Gupta

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,someo...

34 comments 34
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“The Fairy and the sleeping Princess” by Kathleen `Woods

The Fairy was in her cottage. This last sullen attempt at protecting her life has failed, and now she is tasked with accepting it. So, in her nature as a much tamed thing, she does. she was the only collateral left for her own gifts, and it was only right, of course, that she be taken. She knew her place in this, and could only be grateful that the Fairy herself was familiar.  But she...

5 comments 5
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$50

Prize money

949

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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