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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

“Lucky Penny” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #98

[Author's Note: This has been proofread/edited a little -- while writing it -- but not sufficiently in my personal opinion. Please forgive me for the mistakes that you find and the missing text that should've been there. These days, I am rarely in the mental/physical condition to give a story what it needs to become a good story. But Asha Pillay thought this one was good enough to submit, so here it is. A story written and submitting during two of those all-too-rare clear times. Warts and all.] [Addendum: I can only pray that the da...

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“Stepping Through” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #98

Bryan Romel takes a hand off the steering wheel and bats the fringe of teal hair out of his half-closed eyes. He’s been driving down the interstate for sixteen—no, seventeen hours, now, the last four with the A/C wide open and the window’s down. However long it’s been, it feels like an eternity. The absence of cell service and a working radio has done little to help in his fight to remain conscious. There’s not even anything interesting to gander at, the scenery is as uniform as it is bland. The idea of pulling over for a little nap is al...

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“Him.” by Jace A. King👑

Submitted to Contest #98

Simon’s POV I wake on a Tuesday morning, my arms are wrapped around my fianceé. Her head is on my shoulder and her legs are tucked up to my abdomen. I kiss the top of her head before slipping away from her. I stretch my arms above my head, my mouth opens in a loud over exaggerated yawn. I shake my head a few times to wake myself up more and then slip my feet into my house shoes. I walk into the bathroom and look into the mirror. I see my scars on my chest, they’ve faded by now but the memories are still fresh in my mind. I slid my fingers...

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“Between the blue Devil and the red Sea” by Stranger Phantom

Submitted to Contest #98

The legend has been told many times to young kids by their older relatives all around the greater Bengal. Earliest accounts of the legend itself goes back to the writings of the great Turkish General Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Since then the story has been told to many, which has led to many different versions of it arising. This is an attempt to publish the most accurate version of the legend, the version that most likely is true to its original source. A long time ago, there was this city, a city with no name, and in tha...

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“The Urn” by Shanthini Singam

Submitted to Contest #98

It was six in the evening. The weather was perfectly pleasant at 17 degrees. Sixteen-year-old Raymond Chong wore a black jumper and sat at the dining table with his paternal grandmother, Mrs Chong and his two cousins, Chengfang and Chengli. They were staying over for the weekend as their parents travelled for work. The very poised elderly lady in her 60’s was dressed in a pair of beige Samfoo with gold embroideries and rolled up her gray hair into a neat Chinese bun. She wore a thick gold bracelet on her left wrist and ...

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“The Chronicles of Humouricana” by Dhwani Jain

Submitted to Contest #98

It was a beautiful spring morning. Katie, Joy, Crystal and Natalie were busy getting ready in their houses. They had decided to meet at the library. As usual, Katie was late but today, she had an excellent excuse with her. “I overslept and then John told me that I was late so, I rushed to the bath to get ready but it was occupied. The other bathroom was also occupied. Then after getting ready, I came out and a truck went by and drenched me in mud due to yesterday’s rain. I had to change and then when I was finally around the corner, another ...

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“'Nowhere to go'” by Asha Pillay

Submitted to Contest #98

Roy woke up to the sound of bells clanging in the distance and sat up straight on the cold hard floor of the prison.Every morning the cell doors opened at 4 am, and the inmates queued up outside the bathroom for their shower. After the shower and change of clothes, they would assemble in the main hall for meditation and prayers which lasted for two hours.At six, the inmates would be present in the dining hall for breakfast which consisted, three slices of dry bread and a cup of tea which was bitter and cold. Roy never mingled ...

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“You won't like me” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #98

My whole life, I’ve been a quitter. The years I’ve lived are rich with mistakes that cause me to gag whenever they flash, and they flash often. Despite my numerous attempts to numb them, the memories of my mistakes are unrelenting. They continually stab my psyche and have left me tattered and helpless. But, of course, I am to blame. I did the things that turned into memories that haunt me no matter how far removed I am from them. I forget the good times, not the bad, and try to forgive others, but I can’t forgive myself. I used to tell my fa...

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“Lucky, Lucky” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #98

“Lucky, lucky, lucky,” then man coos as he kicks me in the face.“Looks like your luck’s finally ran out, hasn’t it, Siegel?” he asks. Stars fill my vision as I am sent reeling backwards, the hard concrete floor is there to catch me as I land, knocking the wind out of me. If I wasn’t bruised before, I am now. This is what I get for trying to be a good guy. I spit out a mouthful of blood onto the floor as I roll over onto my side. I can’t help but groan. My jaw is aching something fierce before looking back up at my ...

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“The Wooden Horse” by A. H. Joy

Submitted to Contest #98

Margreta wrapped the fragile wooden figurine in crepe paper the color of the eggshells she used to collect for market back home in Nuremberg. The crinkled paper was even speckled—the spots dark as coffee grounds against their nutmeg background—and she grazed the tissue-thin paper at the memory, a smile pulling at her lips. The smile faded, however, as memories flooded back to her from that time—not all good. At ninety-two years old, there were many who said she’d lost hold of her once strong faculties. During her recovery after glaucoma ...

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“22:23 Riverside, California, 72:25:49:05 till launch” by Sabrina Pebblebrook

Submitted to Contest #98

Caffeinated students hurried towards the main entrance of Rivera Library, clutching books to their chests as if their lives depended on them. Usually, finches were often found darting from branch to branch, in the courtyard trees, but no birds provided a chorus for the past week. As the weather started getting colder, and finals loomed on the brink of everyone’s horizons, another threat had begun to form. A threat that no person could fathom. In the distance she could hear the booming voice of Father Mackenzie. An addict once, who...

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“As I Lay Here Dying ” by Kendi Karimi

Submitted to Contest #98

Day 30 Dear miss K, You are writing this in a calm state. You have a bucket list of 30 things to do in the next thirty days and what you're feeling now, at ten forty three pm is this; you're okay with death. Day 29 You ticked off the first thing on your bucket list today; call mum and say, "I love you, have a good day." Mum has been a mother to us in all the ways she could be, and while raising seven kids, her tendency to lean towards her short temperedness sometimes made you hide behind chairs, sometimes made you want to pee, and some...

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“The River and the Snake” by Veda Vivek💎

Submitted to Contest #98

Roana sits on the hard, dirty ground, her white dress getting assaulted by mud. The air smells like grime and fish, a smell that has entered her nose every day. She doesn’t even know why she comes to this dump every day. Maybe it’s to take her mind off of the past. Maybe it’s because of what happened one year ago. That moment definitely tied deep roots to this place. She sighed, looking at the sky. Its bright blue, creamy clouds swimming through the sky, the sun boasting off its power. She returns her eyes to the murky water, trying to cle...

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“The Thing” by Onur Yürür

Submitted to Contest #98

You disowned me. Why should I even listen to you?One finger up in the air: "Look, son. These are my last words to you."This announcement was the final straw, or so he could guess now. Slowly coming back to his senses, he noticed a sudden urgency in his body.He had to pee, and the public cabins were right on the horizon.Grandpa, go fuck yourself.He had, of course, denounced him with another finger, which now seemed more likely to be the final straw as he thought.But then, what about the first one? That pushed him back into his mind.Inside, th...

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“A Single mistake ” by Chanda Jha

Submitted to Contest #98

A SINGLE MISTAKE -Chanda JhaOnce upon a time there was a man, aged about 26 years, around 6 feet tall and thin with long black hair and beard, also had a sharp eyes, signed on a register and came out from police station. As soon as he reached in a society, he heard some sound against him like “why do he come here?,” “he has already harm the respect of our society now he might harm us and our family”, “we should talk to the secretary to take him out from the society”.Ignoring such voices he moved to his door and opened it. He found his r...

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$50

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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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