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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!

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 – 142 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

“In the Middle of the Night” by Vicky S

Submitted to Contest #97

Standing on tip toes, Kathy gripped the window ledge with her fingernails and pulled herself higher, the skin of her knees scraping against the wall, until she could see outside. Her breath against the glass pane blurred her view but she could still see the thick snowflakes falling to the ground, and the stars twinkling behind them. Yes, she thought, it’s snowing! Dropping back to the floor, Kathy shivered as she felt a cold draught travel up her legs and under her nightie, her bare skin goose bumping through the thin material. Wrapping her ...

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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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“Captured” by Aurelia Lye-Cull

Submitted to Contest #97

The night was filled with silence - echoing, screaming silence. The kind of silence where you can just know something bad is about to happen. No one needs to tell you anything, and already you can feel yourself on edge, waiting for some sort of tragedy to strike you down. It was the kind of silence Rebecca spent her life plotting to avoid, and yet it was the kind of silence she was now confronted with. A sharp knock on the window was what startled her. It was urgent and loud, piercing through the eerie silence, and as s...

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“There's Your Answer” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #97

Jacqueline Armstrong only looked at her phone for a second. Past eleven at night, she had the mountain road to herself. The twin headlights of her beat-to-hell SUV sliced through the gloom. She’d had the window down for a moment, so the bite of the wind could wake her up. The lake — which glittered in the dark, off to her left — wafted an algae perfume into the car. The radio, its lights like demon eyes in the dusk, glowed red. The DJ mumbled to himself and threw on another classic rock track, as the reception fuzzed in and out. Mmm-mmm....

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“Monkeys” by Dhwani Jain

Submitted to Contest #97

It is said that we all have evolved from primates. Monkeys are said to be one of our most resembling animals in the world. There are a lot of expressions and sayings related with monkeys like cheeky monkey, don't monkey around, monkey business, and many more. We often call the naughty members in our family or friends as 'monkeys'. Monkeys have also been portrayed in many movies. In the 'Night at the Museum' franchise, the monkey, Dexter is shown as a very funny and sometimes irritating monkey. In the 'Jungle Book', monkeys are shown in the '...

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“Will and Was” by Christina Marie

Submitted to Contest #97

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing in this purgatory, with perfect life squirming behind the window at my front and grotesque death lingering behind the door at my back.It might be seconds.It might be days.Time is lost amidst the whitecaps of my internal tempest, a ceaseless assault of blooming heaves of love and bleeding hollows of loss. The clock behind me points to one—in the morning, I assume, given the night shift that bustles at the periphery of my exhausted existence. Behind the small steel diamonds that reinforce the glass...

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“The Window Was Shattered” by Stories Are Fun

Submitted to Contest #97

My name is Matt. And at this present moment, I am trying to solve a mystery here. It’s a rather unusual one at that as well. For the past hour, I have noticed something rather peculiar in our home… The window has been shattered. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Did we have a break in in our home? I mean the window is broken alright, but I don’t see anything that the person who broke in taking anything at all. I’ve already search the entire house. Money, TV, etc. They didn’t take anything! Least of all, my porno mags! ...

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“Cops and Robbers” by Cathryn V

Submitted to Contest #97

TW Violence The last time I was locked in a trunk, my buddy Tommy and me were playing cops and robbers. Mom was mad as hell. She said, “People die in trunks for God's sake. You could roast to death in there! You’re eleven years old, Lukie. You should be smarter than that." The brakes screech and I push my knees down to keep from slamming into the trunk’s wall but I end up turned over anyway. There’s another sound underneath me and the car starts moving again, I roll back over dirt and broken bits of car frame.&nbsp...

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“Night Visitor” by Merry Marcellino

Submitted to Contest #97

Night VisitorBy Merry Marcellino Tap, tap, tap. My eyes flew open! Tap, tap, tap. Someone was tapping on my bedroom window. Maybe it was a tree branch. The oak tree overlooked my bedroom and sometimes stray branches would touch my window if the wind was strong enough. There was no balcony and the tree branches that reached my window were too thin to climb or hold a person’s weight. &n...

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“Do You Know What I Mean? ” by Maria Bray

Submitted to Contest #97

I’m having my first cup of coffee at the absolutely ridiculous hour of 2:20 a.m.At 42, which might be the meaning of life, but a shit age to be female, my body went completely rogue on me.I gained 40 pounds in the course of three months; my circadian clock decided that anywhere from midnight to 3 a.m. were perfectly appropriate times to say, “Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey.” Quite enthusiastically at that. But at 46 now, I'm used to it in a weird way. I don't curse about much anymore at least.The husband tells me, “Just go back to sleep,” as if...

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“Man on the Moon” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #97

“I could put my thumb up to a window and completely hide the Earth. I thought, everything I’ve ever known is behind my thumb.”Jim Lovell, Apollo 8, 1968Jimmy Nixon looked out the viewing portal of his private quarters at Waypoint Tranquility on Luna. The rising Earth was a waxing crescent on the moon’s midnight horizon. He remembered an old quote by one of the Apollo astronauts, and like that captivated spaceman of old, Jimmy held his own thumb up to cover the planet entirely from his view. Unlike that other “James,” this James had lived his...

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“Grandma's Cabinet” by Trina Ann Pion 🍀🌹🍀

Submitted to Contest #97

I thought of friends as transparent windows until a close friend became shadier than any window I ever peered through. Her blonde hair fell in ringlets to her shoulder blades. Her green eyes hid behind long, thick lashes. I considered her the prettiest of all my friends, except for one flaw. A tiny scar living above her left eye.One crack in her surface. She said her father gave it to her when he found out where she lived with her mother. She said he nearly beat her to death. She said she had to be hospitalized for two months becau...

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“Drip Drop Tippity Tap Who Is That?” by Joey Rain

Submitted to Contest #97

**WARNING SELF HARM TALK** Zylix wasn't a normal kid but who ever thinks they are? Without the average it's just a sea of average anyway since then the great will be normal. Zylix just liked getting through the day and waiting for Tristan, their best friend on the whole planet. Tristan came late at night, after the sun went down and those gorgeous stars started to twinkle. Zylix adored the stars, there were thousands of them but they were all so unique, so beautiful. Zylix could stare at the stars until the sun came again and still admired t...

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“What Is This?” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #97

What is this? It must be strange, seeing something for the very first time. Stranger still when you consider that the little girl should have seen it countless times before that day. What went through her young mind when she first gazed upon the night sky, unable to name the bright circle or the thousands of sparkling lights but fascinated nonetheless by their beauty? What is this, she thought to herself. She reached out with her tiny fingers, eager to touch the bright circle. Her longest finger was ...

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“Hackney Holiday” by Jude S. Walko

Submitted to Contest #97

It was my first time in London. Despite what I read in history books over the years, and had seen on the screens of popular cinema, I wanted to see the fabled city on my own terms. It was getting to be late afternoon on my second day in town. I had visited Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, and had my fill of lukewarm pints and meat-pies. I was ready to delve out of the thin veneer of tourists attractions, and get more into the “local” experience. I wanted to get my mind off of the banalities of work, too. My friend “Ozzy” had invited ...

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$50

Prize money

921

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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