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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

“The Dresden affair” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #98

The Dresden Affair Suzanne Marsh “Ah Georg, I have been waiting to talk to you. I have a job for you.” “Thank you Herr Schmidt, what would have me do?” “Kill Herr Rudolph Diesel. I must prevent him from selling his engine to the British. What he is doing traitorous to Germany. We have learned that he is in Antwerp, he will board the SS Dresden. Since you are techically still his apprentice; he has paid for your ticket in second class. Germany is depending on you Georg.” Georg Betz shrugged his thin shoulders, he had his a...

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“PAST IS IN THE PAST” by People's Person

Submitted to Contest #98

Her eyes drifted to the post plastered on her door. Her key was jungling from her hand and her gaze was sad. She tears the notice from the door and crumples the paper throwing it on the floor. The anger in her later turns to depression. She could decide to pack her things and leave yet there was no place to go. She unlocks her door and storms in and shuts it abruptly not wanting any nosy neighbors starting a conversation with her. She throws her jacket on her sofa walking straight to the kitchen. She opens the fridge and sees some left...

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“Este Soy Yo - This is me” by Aileen Andrews

Submitted to Contest #98

A suitcase was flung out the door, toppling open to spill out its innards like a slit in the stomach, oozing out blood and guts. Magazines and underpants, showering upon him in shame. “Ve ahora, Pablo!” There was no arguing with the hurricane etched out on his Padre’s face, every wrinkled line reeked of anger and embarrassment over the truth he had learned of his son. Torrential rain began its cruel downpour, dampening the innocent pages of men repairing cars, soaking through the regular looking t-shirts crumpled in a soggy heap do...

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“Fallen Snow Flake ” by Holly Sinclair

Submitted to Contest #98

1.The giggling and fooling around, the smell of a roast potatoes in the evening that had been lathered in oil and herbs, the warmness of the fire as I sat around drinking hot cocoa while Mum guzzled back whisky at Christmas time. It was just us and it was a blissful period before things began to deteriorate. Yet now realizing it had started well before and I was just too young to acknowledge it.An icy day brought snowflakes down onto my windowsill. With each drop my eyes followed the white icy droplets. As they fell onto the floor, they melt...

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“A Blood Print Trail to the Future” by Raven Nightshade

Submitted to Contest #98

The fox stares, a challenge held in its curiously silver gaze. It possesses no words, nothing verbal that can command her, but it doesn’t need to say anything, Silence, it seems, is more powerful than words, and besides, the fox knows there is nothing left for her to go back to. At least, nothing good left for her to go back to.Now it’s just her and the fox, a gangly thing with paws too large for its emaciated frame and a tail more like a rope than a brush. A strange pair to anyone observing them, if there were anyone out...

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“home” by Hannah :)

Submitted to Contest #98

“I mean, they've got flesh and bones, just like us-” “But they are grown in a lab, without any real parents and they have artificial intelligence, just like any robot. Not to mention, they could do weird things.” “So they're not real. Not really.” “Exactly.” Their discussion trailed off. From my vantage point on the archway above massive doors, the steps receded and their heels trailed off the edge of my vision. I lay perched across the ledge, my side pressing onto the multicoloured glass. I stared out into the slowly rising glow tha...

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“No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” by K.Z Fox

Submitted to Contest #98

“It’s been three days”A shuffle and a slap of flesh struck the concrete. Everything was cold and wet; honestly, I wouldn’t mind the cold if it weren’t for the constant drip of water that leaked from the ceiling every five minutes. I could almost predict when it would trail across those rusty pipes and fall against my head. Drip. Drip. A shiver trailed across my back. There was always the option to sit somewhere more dry. But those cold drops of water were a reminder that I am still alive and aware.A cackle of laughter bounced from the o...

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“Temporary Shelter” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #98

Ballabh lights his beedi and sits under the tree. The sweltering Delhi Sun has sapped his energy. A few of his fellow-labourers are lying under the shade with their faces covered by their hand towels. It’s lunch break. He brings his mind forcefully back from Rini as the mason shouts,“Enough of resting, saalon! Get back to work”.Ballabh takes the last puff, throws the stub on the ground. He then splashes the tepid water kept in an open tank on his face, wipes it with his worn-out hand towel which he later uses to tie as a turban on his h...

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“Shadows In A Grove” by Edgar Diamondclaw

Submitted to Contest #98

I don't remember much from the outside - we lived in a small grove. I always had food there, as there was plenty of vegetation and animal life. It rained often enough, there was quiet, and I even crafted my own hammock to hang between the greenery. That was pretty much it - I had a wife and some children, and this was our home. Sure, we always knew about the Masticators, but they always seemed so far away....*****I'll never forget that fear: I was away from home when the Masticators emerged from the caves, from those raucous holes that bello...

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“Nevermore” by Samuel Bowen

Submitted to Contest #98

The lies stopped the day I set foot on the red sands of Revina. Words spelled in blood said it all. Return Nevermore! was smeared on a charred bit of cloth; It was tied to the hilt of a shattered blade firmly smothered in the ground. Soldiers brushed past me as I stood stunned by the ill omen. I shook my head as if to clear it of the tangible fear that crept from my heart. Hardly a moment later, the smell of smoke pierced through the air. Through the clatter of steel and footsteps, some fool dared to yell the forsaken truth of our fate."THEY...

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“the dinner party ” by Dann Jamal

Submitted to Contest #98

Mr. and Mrs. Donner being unable to procreate and never resolved on adopting felt out of company in holidays. They had a happy life; they were deeply in love, both with a great sense of humor and many hobbies to fill their free time. However, in holidays they felt under the pressure of being lonely when two were very scarce which led them to invite their two nephews and the daughter of their intimate friend, who passed away ten years ago, the three with a more diabolic sense of morals than their aunt and uncle . 9 pm, dinner...

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“The Origin Debaters” by Aiyana Henderson

Submitted to Contest #98

Jennifer was rolling her eyes again at her family arguing once again at Thanksgiving.It was the same old story.Her mother and grandmother were technically the culprits at hand here.It started on the magical date of January 17, 1984, exactly two years before Jennifer was born. Scratch that. That was her birthday. It was actually two years, three days, and seven hours before the only child had been born. So technically speaking, the date was January 14, 1982 at the time of 10:32 pm.January 14, 1982 was the infamous date that allowed her loved ...

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“Magic Shoebox ” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #98

Paul rang the doorbell and said , “Follow my lead. It’ll be fine.” His mother opened the door and cried out, “Paul! It’s so good to see you!” Ada embraced him. “Too long, Ma. Too long.” He introduced his girlfriend, Abigail. Ada sized her up and smiled. “Wonderful! Come in! Meet my Dad, and the others. You’re right on time. We’re about to sit.” “Something smells good!” Ada whispered, “She’s so petite, Paul. I thought you liked the tall ones.” “Cut it out, Ma…” They entered to see family gathering around the table. The smell of ...

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“River Sight” by Megan Boehrnsen

Submitted to Contest #98

It was nothing short of surprising, especially when you were watching the events of those around you unfold. A scream from somewhere distant, muffled by the density of water that surrounded her. No, it wasn't her that the water surrounded, but the person who would eventually be experiencing the events first hand. There were twinkling lights floating around, candles that sat upon little paper boats made to make their way down the river. Then there was the splashing, feet coming into her view as people jumped in to grab whoever was in the wate...

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“Conflagration” by Moishe Westreich

Submitted to Contest #98

"I'm telling you it was more than a dream," I said to my husband George as I poured him a second cup of breakfast coffee. "It doesn't sound like a dream to me at all. Houses exploding and people getting burned to death. It sounds more like a nightmare." "Everything was so vivid and I remember it all. I'm still shaking, just thinking about it." "Did you say that you recognized the house?" "That's just it. It was the house next to ours from when I was a little girl. I remember the big oak tree and the maples and the g...

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$50

Prize money

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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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