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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 Road” by Alex Acosta

Submitted to Contest #98

I couldn’t go back. Not after saying goodbye for the last time. The empty highway ahead of me felt infinite. It went on forever. But that didn’t matter. I had nowhere to go anyways. My legs recovered enough for me to start riding my bike again. I hopped on and started pedaling. Normally riding my bike was fine and easy but this time I was carrying a backpack full of supplies and my weapons. It was peaceful in a way biking on this long, smooth road. It felt almost wrong to be biking on a road once dominated by cars. Now it was ...

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“On The Run” by Jenny Van Zandt

Submitted to Contest #98

Mae touched the pink hair gingerly as if afraid it would fall off of her head if handled too harshly. It might, she thought. Still looks like a wig. No one’s gonna buy it. She ripped her fingers through the ends. A few strands of hair tore from her scalp with a sting, but for the most part, the pink stayed intact. That’s that, then. It’s real. It’s hers. It looked like trash. More than that, it made her look trashy. Mae gave herself a shy smile in the bathroom mirror. Perfect. It wasn’t as if she was expec...

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“Messy Sheets” by Mariam Macharia

Submitted to Contest #98

She picked up the call and lovingly answered just to be met by a bellowing angry voice on the other side, “you messed up!!". What? She asked in shock, raking her mind to what she might have messed. She hadn't entered into an unwarranted business deal, her baby was excellent in school, she wasn't having an affair and finally had landed a house girl who could cook literally everything. She thought that her daughter might have messed some of his business papers and began to apologize for it which agitated Mark more. No! You messed the shee...

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“Missing Home” by Coco Black

Submitted to Contest #98

The memories flashed through my head as I leaned closer to the rock. Is this really it? I was running as fast as I ran during my last game of football with my family, but this time, I'm not sure if I can make it to the goal. I gripped my gun in one hand, my heart in the other. The loud shots of a Enfield No.2 Mk.1 Revolver were loud among the soldiers who ran beside me. My vision began to blur from the memories of my friends, family and my happiest and saddest moments. I see my older brother, James, running around with my father closely behi...

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“Unwanted ” by Red- Devil

Submitted to Contest #98

The wind was blowing the trees away, it so cold that I'm starting to regret this. - I don't think that I remember my own mother, she left me with strangers when I was only 2 years old. since that day I have not rested, they treat me poorly. I always felt dreadful. I wake up at 2Am and start cleaning, at only 10 I feel stressed. Mr: Andy wing and Mrs: paddy wing are couples that wore supposed to take care of me when my mother left me. unfortunately they are not doing a very good job. They have got 3 children, Emma wing, Oliver wing and Ja...

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“Scarlet” by Kiki Abbi

Submitted to Contest #98

Red, as wine. The sweet taste of Merlot, flowing effortlessly down your throat. Giving you the sweet satisfaction.Red, as is a rose. Pricking every slightest thing it's path. A beautiful delicate, yet dangerous object.Red as his blood. The blood of the man who dared betray me. The person I trusted with all my heart and soul.Trust that meant nothing at the end of the day. His crimson thick liquid was painted all over my walls now. Dripping down the floral wallpaper.The walls of a place we used to call home. The same home where Sara, Carrie, M...

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“A messy divorce or not” by Mariam Rashid

Submitted to Contest #98

Thirty two years is enough of a lifetime to spend with someone you deeply admired and respected but what happens when circumstance change life becomes so uncomfortable and stressed that you feel as if instead of going to the one who comforts you is the root of your issues. Do you stay for your children’s sake even when he has lost all respect for you or is it because you have been above waters in finances so a future without him seems bleak and unforgiving. What do you do when someone after all this time thinks it’s ok to break your boundari...

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“Head of The Snake” by HBR Patel

Submitted to Contest #98

TW: bombing 'Dad, please throw the ball.' 'No, complete this sandwich.' 'Dad, please.' 'No, Albert. Complete this.' said Tim handing over the sandwich to his son Albert. They were playing on a lush green field in the centre of the town. It was Sunday, the only day of the week when working parents can spend some quality family time. Albert finished the sandwich in six bites and ran after the ball. Their pet dog chased Albert but ran back barking. The silence in the garden faded out with the continuous barks of Tommy. Tim stood fr...

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“The Fire” by Donna Quiroz

Submitted to Contest #98

The Fire 2353 words Reedsy Contest #98 Origin Stories She knew she couldn't go back there, but Aiden couldn't help herself, after all it was home, her home. She had spent her childhood there, and several of her teen years, first with her mom and dad, then alone with her mother. "What is so important about "home" anyways?" She spoke aloud as she wove in and out of the traffic on I-5. Home meant so much more than shelter, or safety, it was tied into her memories of everything warm, safe and loving. It was the best place to grow up, out a...

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“Promise home” by Natalie Charnock

Submitted to Contest #98

'' One...two.....three...four'' It was nothing then a normal night really I never can be able to sleep at this time of night so I'm always at the window counting all the stars in the sky, I always have to recount not that I don't mind at all actually just that my brain can sometimes wander off with me knowing. I sigh and stopped counting and look back in the dark cold room everything was almost completely black if it weren't for the night sky filling the room through the window the floors were cold and cement-like the walls and ceiling just ...

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“The Tale of Princess Lark Adalyn Poverly ” by Natalie Borg

Submitted to Contest #98

Once upon a time, on a day brighter than any other, a girl whose name was Princess Lark Adalyn Poverly was born. She was the pride and joy of her parents Queen Eloise Gwyneth Poverly and King Raynor Thornston Poverly. They were the rulers of the kingdom of Alondia. For years, Lady Eloise was told she would never have children, so it was a surprise to everyone when Princess Lark was born. As a heads up, I want to warn you. If you think this is a story where everyone lives happily ever after, nobody dies, and no tragic incidents happen to ma...

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“ALL SET ” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #98

Content warning: domestic abuse The bright sun shone through the bedroom window. Jean awoke, She heard the front door slam, knowing it was someone she once trusted leaving the premises; staggering, swearing his way out the house, down the path, across the road in search of the bottle. He would call it sauce but was stronger than ketchup and less prestigious than the Houses of Parliament. He would be away all day and return at night in the same filthy mood. Gritting her teeth, she sat up, ignoring the pain but noticing...

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“The Forever Funhouse” by Bob Warren

Submitted to Contest #98

The Forever Funhouse Bob Warren (June 16, 2021) When the City condemned the dilapidated old Excelsior Fun Park, Cassidy became excited. "We've got to go back," he teased his friends. "You're only immortal once," he laughed at the hazards. At night he'd sometimes gaze across town at the dark silhouette of the forlorn Ferris wheel. It seemed to taunt him like a challenge. He'd not been back there for years, not since he and Willow were fifteen. They'd often go there for kicks in the summer, for the Midway's blinking lights and its r...

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“Siblings” by Willow May

Submitted to Contest #98

Today is Cleo’s birthday.She never really was one to celebrate it and most of the time she went out of her way to ignore its very existence. Even after everything that happened- the dead coming back to life and the complete and total collapse of society as they knew it as a result- Cleo stood firm in her belief that her birthday was a pointless day.There are more important things to stress over right now other than me seeing another rotation aroun...

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“Floretta of Zephyr” by Elizabeth Ogik

Submitted to Contest #98

Strange things are happening in the village of Zephyr lately. The king returned from war with a woman who now lives in the palace. Since then, the king’s daughter Floretta spends most of her time in the woods talking to herself. No, perhaps Floretta speaks to the woodland creatures. I saw her conversing with a Chipmunk as she handed it a Hazelnut, and the Rabbit who was looking on also seemed to say something to the princes. Anyway, it’s not my duty to watch over the princess, but I think the woman in the palace has something to do with th...

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$50

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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.

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

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