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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#98: Origin Stories

Every year, on the fifth day of the lunisolar calendar’s fifth month (which happens to be this Monday!), the Dragon Boat Festival commences with gusto all across China. Within three days of celebration, people attend dragon boat races (as expected), eat sticky rice dumplings (zongzi), and hang aromatic plants around the house to ward off evil spirits.

The origins of the festival are obscure: some say it commemorates the death of a poetic and patriotic official who was exiled from the ancient Chu state. Others say it celebrates a filial daughter who lost her life searching for her father, who fell in the river during the organization of a boat race. While father and daughter were reunited in death, their misfortune connects to yet another alternative origin story for the festival: the fifth day of the fifth month was considered the unluckiest day of the year, and the festivities are carried out to keep this bad energy at bay.

Taking inspiration from these fascinating stories, and from their multiplicity, I present to you the prompts for this week! Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the festival itself: since the tales behind this occasion are so diverse, there’s something for everyone.

This week's prompts

Write about a family with a long-standing tradition, whose members all have conflicting origin stories for it.

Thanksgiving – 58 stories

Start your story with a character having a premonition, but no one believes them.

Dark – 147 stories

Write about someone who’s desperately trying to change their luck.

Teens – 101 stories

Set your story on (or in) a winding river.

Middle School – 122 stories

Write a story involving a character who cannot return home.

Angst – 320 stories

Stories

“Boat Journey” by Aditi Kulkarni

Submitted to Contest #98

1/10/1948 Dear Diary, I am very excited to go to Thailand via boat! It’s going to be tricky and risky but I think it will be ok and amazing! Me, my mum, my big brother, my dad & my baby sister will all be going on this fantastic journey. Mum says that it will take 8 days to go to Thailand as we are living in Bali. She said that we will rent a bigger boat so that we can be comfortable during the 8 day time period. Sorry Diary, I have to go and pack a huge suitcase for the 8 day long monotonous journey but I still think we’re g...

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“Hide ME” by Elaine Baker

Submitted to Contest #98

My name is Lacy Kreen. I am hiding from the end of the world. That might sound like something from a sci-fi horror story,but for me it is reality. I’m hiding with my little brother. God save us from those monsters. I don’t want to die,please save us. A small girl walked forward. Her eyes darted around,like an animal hiding from an apex predator. A young boy clung to her back,trembling. The two glanced back and forth. The first thing you'd have noticed about them is that they're covered in a sticky onyx gloop,and that they're both out of b...

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“Leaving” by Kayley Dickins

Submitted to Contest #98

He had always said he would go home. From the very first day, when he had snuck out the upstairs window in the twilight, he had promised in his note that he would return when he could. And in the meantime, when he could not be there in person, he would stay in contact, sending letters and souvenirs from the places he got to. He had kept it up to a certain extent, trudging into towns whilst not on patrol and spending too much money on the postage of a letter he had written by the light of a burning shed and which was written by a sharp twig d...

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“Backward Day” by Ruby Galvez

Submitted to Contest #98

A young twenty-something man was waving at people gawking at him in the parking lot while loading several pounds of burgers, loaves of bread, and cartons of beer into the trunk of our car. My boyfriend Tony was a sight to behold in any crowd, with his blonde hair and muscular build. But today, what was catching the crowd’s attention was his inside-out shirt, pants, and canvas hat. I’m not too worried about people reporting my eccentrically clad hunny-bunny to the police. Rambling, crazy locals were normal for the day before the Sup...

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“Birds of Mage and Time” by August Pratt

Submitted to Contest #98

The light coming through the door of the daycare illuminated every tiny hair on her chin and cheeks. The sight of it shocked me to my core, along with the realization that came with it. My mother was gorgeous in every way a person might agree. She was smooth and smelled nice, with long, soft hair and painted nails and eyes. I guess she had never thought to shave her face, not with her hair being as microscopic as that. Plus it might make her feel she had a lot to shave. Better to ignore it. But I saw it. And that was enough. After she...

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“The Mermaid's Trials” by Helena Parker

Submitted to Contest #98

Long ago, in a great, winding river, there lived a mermaid named Mayim. The river was her home, and she was its protector. No matter what or who dared threaten her home, Mayim defended against it. One day, a young man approached the bank. Mayim swam towards him. “Are you fish-friend or fish-foe?” she asked. “Neither,” the man said “I merely wish to cross this river”. Mayim splashed water towards him with her tail. “If you are not a friend, then I must assume you are a foe. Begone, this river is under my protection”. “I assure...

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“A Mother's Gift” by Robin Owens

Submitted to Contest #98

“I had one of those chilling dreams again,” I told my sister over breakfast. She was standing at the stovetop frying an egg. I was sitting at the bar, casually buttering my toast, so I didn’t immediately notice her turn and look at me with wide eyes. “What?” I asked when I saw her, surprised at her reaction. I set the knife down and took a bite. “Jenny, these are happening more and more often. Aren’t you the least bit worried?” I shrugged. Through a mouthful of toast I said, “They’re just dreams, Maya; I’ve always had vivid dreams.” ...

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“Dao Shi” by Marie McLaughlin

Submitted to Contest #98

A man, his wife and his son and daughter walked to a reed boat at the edge of a winding river. The son and daughter, as per their mother and father's instruction, loaded flowers into the reed boat, while the father loaded a basket of steamed dumplings and grilled fish into the boat. The four of them pushed the boat out into the water so the current could send the boat downstream.Dozens of other people on either side of the river loaded offerings in reed boats on the river's edge and sent the boats out into the water.Red Lanterns hung from bu...

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“Ronnie the River Man” by Jj Gomez

Submitted to Contest #98

Beatrice stared through the tree’s overhanging branches, smoggy sunlight peeking through its red and yellow leaves. The air was filled with the sound of running water, along with the cracking of wood from the nearby fire. Even so, she pulled her wool blanket close and rubbed her hands together. Despite it being noon, the frigid air filled her tired bones and flushed her cheeks. She tried to fight it back, but a series of harsh coughs burst from her lips. Afterwards, she massaged her throat.Stupid skin, she thought irritably. She had lost too...

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“A Bad Penny” by Gia Volterra De Saulnier

Submitted to Contest #98

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard all the phrases before. My favorite being if you pick a penny up, you’ll have good luck. Or, a penny for your thoughts. Boy, if I had a penny every time I’d heard that one, I’d have been rich. No, I was never that lucky. Never found. Never picked up. Everyone passed me by without a thought in their minds. Maybe I was too little to understand why folks were going by me. I could only look one way. Down. Did you know that ants will come cross over me when they can? I think one of them tried picking...

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“Come In Number Seven, Your Time Is Up!” by Jason Ivey

Submitted to Contest #98

The cries of gulls circling overhead punctuated the sound of the gently rolling waves. A fresh summer breeze stroked Galen’s face as he lay in the sun’s radiant warmth. With his eyes closed, he reached out with his left arm and was met with the warm body of his best friend and wife, Elena. The laughter of his two children, Jonathan and Jacqueline, splashing and playing together in the lapping waters added to the aural tapestry. Galen inhaled the salty sea air and took a moment to reflect: though perhaps not quite the life he had imagined as ...

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“Origin of Species” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #98

“I thought you told me he came from Poland.” “No, Austria technically. They were close, and when he moved to a part of town primarily inhabited by Polish immigrants, he went with the flow, easier, safer. His village was close to the border, they spoke the same language, easy default.” “Yes, but then it was not true. Claiming to be from one country when you are from another, seems fraudulent. Why couldn’t he just say he was from Austria?” “I don’t see what difference it makes. Where you are from, should have nothing t...

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“.-- .- -. - . -.. (Wanted)” by Carson Craig

Submitted to Contest #98

“.-- .- -. - . -..” The staccato tapping brought Eugene Belgrade, the telegraph operator, out of his daydream. Leaving the shade and comfort of the rocking chair, he made his way inside to his pad of paper and pencil and began to write. “WANTED: Buck Leiter. For Stage Robbery and Murder. REWARD: $2000.00. Last seen heading northwest towards the Llano Estacado.” He responded in acknowledgement and after a brief exchange of the who's, when's, and why's, Eugene ran the note down to the Ector County sheriff's office...

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“Shadow and Blood” by Hannah B

Submitted to Contest #98

TW: graphic violence The boat meandered down the coiling river, heading towards the Vaharan camp that Lantuven was at. He had sent word that he was unable to meet them halfway as promised, and that he was busy training a new unit of recruits. There were Vaharans toiling about the deck, their amulets glittering in the dark and their feathered wings pinned against their backs as they weaved around the small deck. All were mumbling about being on the boat and not up in the skies on such a clear night—however, between each little speck of...

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“Wings in Azure Skies” by Anje Campisi

Submitted to Contest #98

She gazed up at the azure sky. White wisps twirled around the endless depths, reflecting the amber hues of the setting sun. Below her feet, she curled her toes in the moist ground, feeling the dirt squish between them. Little sprouts of evergreen grass tickled her heels. She knelt and ran her long, supple fingers along the edge of the tree root that jutted out of the fresh soil. A crisp scent of pine and jasmine mixed into her inhaled breath. Slowly she closed her grey eyes and tilted her head, conc...

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$50

Prize money

751

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 18, 2021 EST

Won by Mary Sheehan 🏆

Title: Blessed Home

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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