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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#97: Window of Opportunity

Windows let us see and be seen. These openings to the outside world (or the indoors world, depending on where you’re standing) have been so important in connecting our individual isolations during the pandemic. And beyond their presence in our daily lives, windows frequently feature in art and cinema: from Edward Hopper’s famous paintings of nightly urban scenes to films like The Woman in the Window or The Neighbors’ Window, glimpses into the lives of others have always been a source of wonder and curiosity.

Speaking of which, wonder and curiosity are promising feelings to tap into when you're responding to this week’s prompts. Apart from the literal gazing in and out of windows, you can also pass through magic ones, or develop a story around a window-related event. And if you happen to passionately loathe windows, I’ve got a metaphorical one for you to get creative with. Have fun!

🥇 Winner

“In situ” by Claire Lindsey

🏆 Winner of Contest #97

in situ: (adv. or adj.) in the natural or original place***He is like the jeweled light that dances on the sacred floors. I have tried to capture it before, the exact shade of his smile, the hue that sparkles in his laughter. I have tried to piece the glass together in a way that recreates the curl of his hair in the rain. The most glorious window in the world would not do him justice. But that does not stop me from trying.I form the feet of the crucifix first, always the feet, pinned to the deep brown shades of the beam, floating above...

195 comments 195

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Window” by Tom D

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #97

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Derek sighed heavily as he watched the rain roll slowly down the window pane. Outside, dark shadows of passers-by hurried across the street, clutching their coats close around their bodies in a vain attempt to keep out the bitter November wind. Empty crisp packets swirled and circled, higher then lower, before collecting with used cigarette butts and sweet wrappers in the gutters. A black crow hopped shabbily on the damp paving slabs, calling out dismally. Derek pulled his own cardigan tighter to his thin,...

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“The Queen Anne Window” by Jon R. Miller

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #97

Someone had left the window dimmers off. The vermillion daylight lit up part of the parquet flooring in the shape of the bay window it shone through. I walked up to the window and gazed down blankly at cubical houses and mist-canals, much like my grandmother used to. Three mystics entered my view. Chanting soporific hymns to guide her consciousness on its ethereal flight, they sauntered, single file, like quivering bundles of indigo fabric. They marked their ritual circumambulation of our residence by flicking random streaks of phosphorescen...

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“St Theodore's, Hencham, 1993” by Mike Burgess

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #97

On a day like this, there is no better sight in the world. How often have I watched the sunshine streaming through those windows, filling the church with colours like none I ever saw outside these walls? When I was young, my grandparents brought me every week. Mother joined us at Christmas, Easter, and one or two others I’ve forgotten the names of. She never looked like she enjoyed it. For the rest of the year, she stayed home to cook the roast dinner, week in, week out. I asked once why Father never came. When the Lord declared Sunday...

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“The same place as yesterday's sky” by C Banubula

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #97

Detective Kitaguchi knelt down in the flowerbed outside the house. Running his hands through the earth, he brought up a few worms and watched a beetle race off into the dirt.Sakaide had approached him, “It appears to be about the same as the others, Sir. No trace of a body. And one broken window. Just like all the other cases, the window appears to have been broken from the inside, pushed outward with great force.”“And no traces of broken glass around the window. A window that has been broken but no traces of anything.” added Kitaguchi, star...

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“Solitary” by Sara M

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #97

It was 0300, but it might as well have been 1900, or 0700. The mist was the same colour, blocking out light and darkness in equal measure, whatever window you chose. The Ugloo was all windows, really. It was made of high-grade reinforced glass, and you could see out of any part of it. Or not see, as the case may be; like now. Further inside, the LiveSpace was contained within four walls that looked like a black box to the - strictly hypothetical - outside observer. Although Andromeda had spent most of her life in this Managed Zone and ...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with a character looking out of a window in the middle of the night.

Horror – 340 stories

Write a story in which a window is broken or found broken.

Dark – 143 stories

Write a story that involves a magic window — or a window like no other.

Fantasy – 154 stories

Start your story with an unexpected knock on a window.

Dark – 138 stories

Set your story within a window of opportunity, when a character finally has the chance to do something.

Middle School – 144 stories

Stories

“The Battle Of Cells 14 Under 14” by Mohamed Sarfan

Submitted to Contest #97

The darkness and snow subjugated the night. It's the vernal season to flowers. The moon dressed up white saree to the widowed sea fishes. Through the window strung of the train, Poet MeeraPeriyan was measuring another side of the day. The dreams which he had dreamed in the womb, failed in the litter bin. He also flickered in that world by getting membership as an orphan in the address lost home of flowers. If he wishes balloons, he will get foam bubbles. If he gets hungry on eggs, he will get some churned rice. Like these, he propose...

135 comments 135

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“In situ” by Claire Lindsey

🏆 Winner of Contest #97

in situ: (adv. or adj.) in the natural or original place***He is like the jeweled light that dances on the sacred floors. I have tried to capture it before, the exact shade of his smile, the hue that sparkles in his laughter. I have tried to piece the glass together in a way that recreates the curl of his hair in the rain. The most glorious window in the world would not do him justice. But that does not stop me from trying.I form the feet of the crucifix first, always the feet, pinned to the deep brown shades of the beam, floating above...

195 comments 195

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“The Rest of Their Lives” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #97

Trigger warning: ViolenceThis story is inspired by true events.“Ammi, I’m waiting,” I cried, gazing longingly at the empty plate in Ammi’s hand from which she’d just served the last makki ki roti (cornbread) to my elder brother, Ali.Abbu shot me a disappointed look from across the table. He loathed impatience.“Two minutes, Inaya,” said Ammi, wiping the sweat on her forehead with her dupatta as she disappeared into the kitchen where I could see my Chachi (paternal aunt) flattening a roti between her hands and placing it over the tawa. Overhea...

100 comments 100

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“The Women In The Windows” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #97

OK. After the end of my 3rd marriage, I promised myself I’d never get caught up in another emotionally intimate relationship with anyone ever again. I believe that was back in 1999. So, fast-forward to 2020 while in the midst of a Coronavirus lockdown, as I returned to my desk with my microwave reheated mug of coffee, I did something I probably shouldn’t have done; I acknowledged with a nod and two other gestures the presence of a neighbor from across the street. Sure, the simple act of a nod of recognition, the lamely celebratory raising of...

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“The Night Walk” by PJ Aitken

Submitted to Contest #97

Simon stared out of the window of his conservatory wondering what time it was. He had lost count of the days he had been sleeping on the sofa. Was it weeks? Even months? Time had lost all meaning with the lack of sleep occurring so often, it was like he never slept. He had never planned for it to be this long but the alternative was too unbearable to think about. It seemed to start on his twelfth birthday where his hearing seemed to improve dramatically overnight, well more like during the night. That night he went to bed at 10.3...

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“That summer after tragedy” by S. P. Franco

Submitted to Contest #97

I open my bedroom window, the dawn breeze invading me. I look outside, contemplated by the light emanating from the moon, amazed by its beauty and form. Furthermore, I cannot stop thinking of him when I do it. How could I not think of him? That was the best three months of my life. It might have been a summer love, but for me, it was living for real, which I have not done in years. Depression took over me at sixteen, when I lost my parents in a car accident. I was the only survivor. Now I live with my grandma, Madeleine, but every night a ke...

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“Mosaic” by Lynn Penny

Submitted to Contest #97

“Hey mom, sorry I haven’t called for a couple of days. Classes have been crazy, and I have three papers due next week. I know grad school Isn’t going to be a piece of cake, but it’s been spreading me thin. I cannot wait for winter break. I hope your leg is feeling better. I miss you so much. Love you.”Lyra listened to Nora’s voicemail while seated on a chest in the attic. Around the room were paintings that she could never part ways with, the most beautiful creations of her life, second to her daughter. It used to be her art studio, her sanc...

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“Need a Friend” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #97

The sound was faint, inaudible almost.My eyes instantly went to the curtains covering the window, the sound of tapping growing louder.There were only a few people I knew who knocked on windows at night, and only one who would knock on mine.As I got up from the bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, I brushed away the possibility from my mind that it could be a kidnapper or a serial killer. No criminal would be polite or stupid enough to knock before entering.I also realized that no one would be polite or stupid enough to open the window to...

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“Ginevran Hospitality” by Kathleen `Woods

Submitted to Contest #97

Stars fell across the night darkened skies of Ginevra, just as the industrious folk along the equator awoke from the heat of the midday Sun, such a show in the sky, a rare treat leading up to an important holiday. Mati was the last to wake among her roommates, as was expected of her, they knew her after all. That didn’t change the enormity of her friend’s behavior. Her friend was having a conniption, she hadn’t known at first why. Her friend who was on most days a fairly happy person, was livid as a result of her cousin’s failure to proc...

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“The Joys of Late Stage Capitalism” by Deidra Whitt Lovegren

Submitted to Contest #97

He threw a larger piece of brick, shattering another pane of glass. Who would complain? The warehouse had already been emptied out. A company car drove by, slowly, its headlights washing over him. Gordy momentarily felt sheepish, squinting his eyes, hiding the alcohol he’d been drinking behind his back. He reminded himself he was a 55-year-old man, not a 15-year-old. The same anger was still there.Gordy ran a hand over his bald pate. Self-consciously, he pulled his Indiana Pacers jersey down over his middle-aged paunch. “...

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“The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies” by Elaine Price

Submitted to Contest #97

If you ask any normal person, they would tell you that making a chocolate chip cookie is fairly easy. Simple ingredients, simple instructions, simple cookie. But if you’re a people pleaser, like me, then you would argue the opposite. Because the thing about chocolate chip cookies is that everyone likes them a different way. And even though I believe that baking these cookies is a stress inducing process that will likely lead to me spending way too long contemplating how long I should put them in the oven, or whether or not they’re fully bake...

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“"My job interview went well..."” by Henry Vinicio Valerio-Madriz

Submitted to Contest #97

Even though the hall was decorated with expensive and exquisite taste, it was a cold shelter. I guess warmth comes with the atmosphere, not with the place; it’s like living in a mansion, but not a home. All job applicants were quiet and counting seconds while looking at either the detailed ceiling or their polished shoes. A job interview shouldn’t be like attending a funeral but an opportunity to meet people. I guess it’s like shopping at the local market, going to school, attending church, or walking your dog. Everyone was anxious but on...

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“Staircase of Fleeting Dreams” by Maya -

Submitted to Contest #97

Most people thought to avoid the stairs, they said the steps went on forever. An endless string of creaking boards, spiraling up the tower like a fraying strand of dna. One step forward feels like a thousand steps backward, climbing this eternal tower. It’s quite a view, standing prominent in the center of town; visible even from my cabin perched on the sloping hills in the distance. Back straight and head held high, never flinching as bombs rained down upon us. The stone feels frozen under my touch as I run a single finger along the an...

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“Him” by Ruth Porritt

Submitted to Contest #97

When I first met my husband, I thought: Him. He is the one that I want.We met at an after-school English program in Asia. It was my first day of my new job and I fell in love as soon as the elevator doors opened. He was nothing much to look at--at 23, he was already balding and his stomach was a bit soft--but as George shook my hand and looked directly into my eyes, I just knew. In the beginning of our relationship, it was his confidence that attracted me to him. Also, it didn't hurt one bit that he had a perfect, neatly-clipped British acce...

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“Look and Leave Your Past Behind You.” by Shannon Ruane

Submitted to Contest #97

tw: abuse Look and Leave Your Past Behind You. Andrea tossed and turned until she realized sleep was pointless. 'Recharging her batteries' each night became increasingly difficult as time moved forward. Unlike individuals who choose substance abuse, physical self-harm and/or develop bizarre habits for 'coping' with a loss, Andrea developed a deceptively harmless habit... looking out the window of her bedroom when she could not sleep. She swiftly pushed the curtains aside, pulled up the blinds and finally opened the...

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$50

Prize money

922

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 11, 2021 EST

Won by Claire Lindsey 🏆

Title: In situ

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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