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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

“Did Dan go home?” by Anthony David M

Submitted to Contest #98

Dan was desperate. Working across the globe in a country far away from home, He yearned to go home. Very often, he dreamt of how he would return home bearing gifts and meet all his family members. But right now, his work kept him far away, and he was only communicating via Skype. He found it rather frustrating. &nbs...

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“Fallen Angels ” by Foolish Moth

Submitted to Contest #98

The cell was new when I came in. Empty except for the bed, desk, chair and bookshelf, all on different sides of the room. I remembered how they pushed me in, and locked the door shut behind me, not even bothering to remove the handcuffs around my wrists, pinning my arms behind me. I staggered over to the chair, and hit the handcuffs against its leg, breaking them way too easily. I scoffed and hung the handcuffs over the arm of the chair, and stared around the dungeon where I would spend the next hundred years. I sat on the chair, playing w...

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“A New Beginning” by Heather Mayson

Submitted to Contest #98

The flames danced to the rhythm of the popping and crackling of the wood. Embers flew up and over the stone ring of the fire pit. An owl hooted in a nearby tree between the choruses of a wolf song in the distance. A sorrowful song that matched the chill in the air. It got colder in the mountains at this time of night than it did in the valley below. The strength of the fire and his cloak failed to keep the icy air from reaching his bones. The shivering had become a constant friend and far better company than the...

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“Lurking” by Anna Pajak

Submitted to Contest #98

There was silence before the birds began to sing in fear. Above them, storm clouds rolled in the sky, causing the forest to undergo a dark tone. Lightning bolts striked and thunder screamed accros the forest, threatening to set trees aflame. Squirrels, birds and other animals quickly ran off for shelter once thunder began to echo throughout the valley. It was only a matter of time before the wind would pick up and destroy anything on its path. None of this mattered, however, to Jack, who continued to run below nothing but a coupl...

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“The Danger” by D J

Submitted to Contest #98

I remember the day we left the great tree. The valley was as beautiful as it always was: morning broke over the forest, the sun reaching down between the thick leaves of the tall trees. The birds were awake, long before us, as usual, casually chatting about the day ahead, stretching their wings before taking flight. In our small home in the great tree, my mother was boiling warm milk, my father was fetching honey from the pantry, and my sisters and I were comfortably asleep in our tiny beds. When the sun had fully risen, Father came ...

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“Never Again” by Mary Ellen Hulburt

Submitted to Contest #98

Ellen sits at the table drinking her coffee, waiting for the mailman to arrive. At the moment it is silent, the children are at school. Ellen's thoughts are roaming at the moment, the excitement of another letter makes it impossible to do anything. With Joshua gone to fight in the military, these letters are precious. It makes life a little easier, they are the only thing that proves he is still alive and well. After the mailman, and the letter read, Ellen goes about her day. It's the usual things that keep you sane, the cleaning and ...

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“The Story of Alice Smith” by Neeta Kanen

Submitted to Contest #98

The wood creaked beneath their feet as they trudged down to the flat flooring. The sight of a messy rug decorated the two-step in front of them, dimly lit surroundings, and a table filled to the edge with fruits, pastries and wine, carefully placed for anyone who cared for it. A pattern of stools were spotted by the group of four located near a long wooden counter. The group approached it in unison. A little knock on the hard, polished wood sent a burly-looking man with a savage beard running to the strange group. Rather than welcoming, he g...

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“Collateral Damage” by Jasmine Bell

Submitted to Contest #98

AN/Warning: Deals with suicide and an internal battle between religion and science. The latter is the main focus of this story. If you are uncomfortable, please skip :). -- “Your order ma’am. Please be careful as the coffee is still very hot” Alex, deep in thought, could not mentally process the message and disregarding the barista’s warning, reached out to sip her “Black Devil, Intense Roast heated brew”. God knows what she was thinking when ordering the cafe’s notorious black devil coffee. Rumors had it, that coffee could shoot som...

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“the vision ” by Annaliese Kilzer

Submitted to Contest #98

A beautiful day in the kingdom of Everglade, looking through a window at the land below was the princess Jennifer, a beautiful sight she was, she was blonde with big green eyes. She watched through the window as she watched her father give a speech to all the people of the kingdom. Jennifer didn’t always agree with her father. The biggest disagreement that sparked was that there is something different about the land of Solis it is filled with magic, it is a land with dragons, unicorns, wizards, and witches. Jennifers father King Roma...

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“Going Home” by Connor Andrei

Submitted to Contest #98

The most beautiful feeling flooded into George's body, warming and tingling radiating from his heart and outwards. Carried through his blood, it washed through his veins, affecting every body part. It even got its hooks into that familiar hollow pit just north of his stomach, and suddenly he didn't feel so empty anymore. It was the feeling of going home. "Going home," he turned the words over in his mouth, tasting them. They tasted good. He fiddled with the thick card-stock note, flipping it over, making sure it was real. It had the ri...

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“The grass was always greener on this side.” by Chacha Jaramillo

Submitted to Contest #98

The warm breeze brushes the tall California Grass and a flock of seagulls gracefully fly by, guided by the sudden change of weather. The last solar eclipse made the seagulls hesitate about starting their migration south at the beginning of fall. They pretty much predicted the absence of food by calling the others in their flock with their screeching chilling calling while challenging the others for territory. Their heads lowering crouched up and down, like yelling at someone-their ‘mewing’ was not as often as before. Maybe the neighbours cat...

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“Norikaii” by Jade L.

Submitted to Contest #98

Yenka never liked talking about Norikaii. Every time we would ask, he would turn his head away, drawing his thoughts in, sitting with his memories, and shutting us out. I was born and raised in Inknaye, a little village where everyone knew everyone else. We stood at the border of Norikaii, close enough to see some of their taller buildings against the sky, but far enough that the stories of the war and everything else became distant echoes of the past. People in our tiny village called it The Land Between Two Worlds. And that was exactly...

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“Opportunity” by RIC .

Submitted to Contest #98

“If they don’t want me then fuck ‘em!” “But we have-” “Fuck. ‘Em. Alright?” They had been wandering for days in the grassy hills. No house, no horse, no gang of gunslingers to run with. It was lonely yet crowded. Empty yet full. Hungry yet food was plenty. &n...

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“Truth of the memories” by Stories Through The Heart

Submitted to Contest #98

That girl who was laying quietly, and covered in darkness was Ichiko Yamada, she was laying very peacefully, unaware about her current condition.After staying unstirred for a while, she opened her eyes and look around to find where was she. She try her best to view the situation, but the vast amount of darkness create things harder to understand. She was unable to see anything but she try to figure out the circumstance.She didn't have any memories left about how she appeared that place. The last thing she remembered was, a sweet kiss on her ...

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“Self-proclaimed Hero” by Natalia Ahachi

Submitted to Contest #98

Killing is justifiable, wouldn't you agree?Those were the first words I had heard from my older brother and also the last as he was being led to his death chambers the night before his execution. I had only been three at the time but I could still clearly remember the determination burning in his auburn eyes. My parents sat at my two sides sobbing as he was led away but I simply held his stare. I would never forget that little discreet smirk he flashed me as the door banged shut behind him. The next day, my parents went back to retrieve his ...

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$50

Prize money

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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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