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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 Ballad of Kallista Laumee” by David Yanovich

Submitted to Contest #98

From the very moment I was born, I was destined for a lifetime of hatred, mockery, and violence. I am what is known as a Cambion, which is a person born with demonic traits due to some kind of demonic lineage in their family (for me it was way way back on my mami's (mother's) side). I can't say for certain what the reactions of the midwives and other village members were, but I have a feeling that my fati's (father's) face at the sight of me was a mix of disgust, shock, and sorrow. At least, I assume so from how often he made that face throu...

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“Monster” by Leeav Quaoar

Submitted to Contest #98

There was a monster in my house.Not a cockroach, not a spider—but an actual monster in my house.The kind of monster you see in fantasy stories.Nonhuman.Not a metaphor. It's the real damn thing.I had no choice but to leave the house.But where did it come from? Last week, I was living life as it was, and there it was, crawling onto the walls.It wasn't even shaped like a bug.It crept onto the ceilings, looking at me. I couldn't describe how it looked like. No matter how good you are in vocabulary, you simply can't describe t...

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“Amazing Grace” by Lavender Blue

Submitted to Contest #98

AMAZING GRACEShe is floating up to the ceiling and back. Floating on air it seems. She reaches out to touch the wall and finds it missing. Her heart beats faster and faster as she slowly awakens.A dream, she thinks, for nothing like that has ever happened to her in any world but that of sleep. She tries to reach for the real wall but finds herself constrained. Her fingers miss it by about three inches. Maybe it's not really there she thinks. Then I will be free. The thought improves her spirits but then she remembers that the wall is not her...

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“Seas and Home” by Ellita Styles

Submitted to Contest #98

The Sun was sinking slowly into the wide, deep ocean; its faint light desperately clinging to the Earth for a last resort. Ian could feel his grip on the rope tighten, as if he might fall down into the deep watery abyss beneath the ship. The crinkles on his brow resembled the creased waves on the splashing waves of the black sea- haphazard yet somehow rhythmic. Their dilapidated ship drifted across the enormous ocean stealthily. There was nothing except the violet sky above and the black ocean below. The ship seemed to scar the beautiful r...

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“One Way Ticket” by Gary Markham

Submitted to Contest #98

One Way Ticket I awoke with a start. The dream of a figure cloaked in impenetrable shadow slowly caressing a blade that reflected the moonlight already fading into oblivion as my faculties returned to the here and now. The train had lurched to a stop but I knew not where. The station was in darkness and as far as I could see there wasn’t a soul in sight, in fact there was no sound either. No footsteps, no muffled voices or even the incomprehensible speech over the tannoy. How queer, I mused. Collecting my threadbare briefcase from betw...

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“The Curse” by Naeema Smith

Submitted to Contest #98

She told me that she loved me and I believed her. I believed her so much that it gave me the confidence to be open with her. I felt for the first time I could finally tell someone the truth. I can finally be free and live my truth with the person that loves me. I didn’t know that once the truth came out that I couldn’t take it back. I wish I never said anything. I wish I could have foreseen what trouble I would be in if I told anyone. No one told me that it could be like this. No one told me that my life would forever change.The day that Emi...

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“Lost in Space” by Lost Shiba

Submitted to Contest #98

It’s a beautifully out-of-this-world scenery, it’s so vast and untouchable, it’s lonely. Michael feels detached from everything he has ever and never experienced. The sense of time and space that has been stretched far away from him suddenly flashes by like an illusion in his sight. As his body stops spinning aimlessly, reality strikes his jumbled brain – he’s lost, forever. He squints his eyes, recalling the past events. Michael and the other boys were gearing up to grab some ‘fresh air’ out of their spaceship. Nothing special was going o...

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“Where it all began” by Barbara Langille

Submitted to Contest #98

She fiddled with a flame, flicking it between her fingers like a magician with a coin. The bright kaleidoscope of reds and oranges reflected in her slate eyes as she glanced up at the chestnut mare that was pawing the ground, anxious to keep moving. “Easy Fyn,” Pen reassured, as she leaned back against the massive oak whose leaves were temporarily giving her respite from the drizzling rain. She dispelled the small flame with a sigh, flexing the cold dampness out of her long graceful fingers. Fyn whinnied as if in disagreement with her fl...

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“This Road is for Lovers” by Keith B.

Submitted to Contest #98

Riding with a full tank of gas into the sunset with a beautiful young woman behind their RV steering wheel was the stuff dreams are made of for Nicholas. Gina was from a conservative household. Her father is black and her mother is Cuban. She was told she had Native American roots on her father’s side. She always felt like the womb she was birthed out of wasn’t what she was originally formed in. She always believed an discovered planet in the infinite galaxy was where she originated. That’s what connected her and Nicholas. He also felt like ...

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“Uncertainly Apartheid” by Nabeel Anjum

Submitted to Contest #98

Could it be so that some Unearthly fate hits someone so hard that it becomes their only dream to get over it? No matter what and how good you did, it is not being looked upon by anyone now. Just a feeling of seeking answers to those sorts of questions must've ripped so many hearts into many pieces. Many of those kinds could be found scattered around the Globe, but Gurgaon's Homeless Shelter was a shed for many including my friend Dheeraj. "No!" shouted him, waking up from a nightmare. “Again?”I asked. "What was it this time?”...

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“Memories in endless circles” by Felipe Kreusch

Submitted to Contest #98

Blink, something so usual and simple that is present in everyday of our mundane lives. It was in a blink indeed that I ended up appearing in a purple rock-based land, I have no idea where I am or even why such fate have met my until now calm sleep feeling the cold breeze of a summer wind on the small river behind my house. I walked a lot since I arrived here, indeed when I got up from my unexpected fall, I looked I around me in a despair that made sure to cover every single drop of my blood and my most deep and personal senses. Purple ...

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“Number 511205. ” by Christian Sica

Submitted to Contest #98

“Number 511205. Frank Collins. It’s chow time.” Correctional officer Kagan said sternly. He was in his usual stance, his impatience radiating from his uniform. Officer Kagan had arrived to the prison in what couldn’t have been more than 6 months, yet he acted as if he owned the place. He had transferred from another facility somewhere in the Midwest. Frank and him had gotten along well enough though he could be a prick at times. Frank hated Tuesdays. He hated most days, but he had a special loathing for today as it was soup day. They usual...

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“The Eldest” by Anuji Withana

Submitted to Contest #98

I was cautiously walking down the bazaar street. The night market was buzzing into action. Neon lights flooded one by one, as the electricity crackled in the small shop fronts, all crowded with men and women in after-office attire. The noise was deafening as they brawled away on bargains and chatted away the essence of their day. A couple of officers in uniforms patrolled the area with their batons in hand, eyeing the suspicious out of the corners of their eyes. I felt sweat trickle down my back and all my nerves gather ...

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“Copper” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #98

Jimmy was only twelve. And…he was gone…forever. Yes, gone from this world. He lived with his dad, Richard, who was quite busy with work most of the time. An unfortunate accident occurred, after school, when Jimmy was on his way home. A public bus never saw Jimmy on its way turning right at the corner. If the driver saw him, it was too late… Richard was a single father and he was more focused on his work and paying the bills, than the welfare of his son. Several times a week, Richard would arrive home after 7 PM. That would leave Jimmy al...

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“Unforgivable moment” by Floraine Thwin

Submitted to Contest #98

The sound of coffee machine and the sound of driving cars on the street, she was rolling over the bed without opening the eyes. Alarm clock was ringing out loud suddenly and she moved her body near the desk and moved her hand over the stop button. Before she finished stopping the alarm, someone else was entering her room without knocking the door. The cold towel was touching her cheeks lightly. She said "Yui stop it, I don't want to wake up early and it's Saturday let me sleep...

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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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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