Start your story with someone witnessing magic from a hiding place.

Posted in Fantasy on Dec 9, 2022

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✍️ 52 stories

“I Knew Better” by Kylah Adams

🏆 Winner of Contest #176

As a child, I would hide in the coat closet, taking advantage of the door that wouldn’t close, as I watched my mother command the items around the house to do her bidding with the smallest gesture. The moment she heard a sound, the items would set themselves down as if they hadn’t been acting of their own accord just moments earlier. My father would come home and rant and rave about more and more witches being discovered in town. My mother would nod her head politely in agreement, but I knew her secret. Whenever the ladies in town wou...

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“Monsters of New Madrid: Event 149” by Wendy Kaminski

Submitted to Contest #176

[The Exhort's back story can be found at https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story/rohzpj/]On shore, it looked like an enormous, dirty gray tarp, discarded and collapsed onto itself. The muddy waters of the Mississippi lapped at its edges, stiffening them in the ice-cold January current and causing steam to rise from the unholy-looking flesh. Hiding behind a nearby pier, Cole Miles -- who knew what it was -- urgently whispered to his younger brother, Jarod, “Go get Mom. Hurry!”Upon arrival, Lily Miles surveyed the detritus that had washed ashore. ...

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“B+Z” by Liv Chocolate

Submitted to Contest #176

It’s a fact—if you and your lover carve your names into the northern red oak tree behind the gas station on Fifth Avenue, your relationship will last forever. Most people don’t think to try. The few who do are mostly driven by either curiosity or superstition. Compared to the curious ones, the superstitious ones are the more dangerous of the two. They flock to the tree with their utility knives and unhealthy attachment styles, desperate to do whatever it takes to make the object of their obsession stay.Beth sees this happen one summer w...

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“BELIEVE” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #176

I was there when the attack occurred. I saw everything, though it took a passage of time before I could acknowledge the magic in what happened and what was to follow.Will had just gotten out of his car and was walking toward the front door with his keys out. He looked utterly exhausted. It was the end of another long day of counseling. Will Dyer, my husband, was a psychologist in a busy mental health clinic and, with the holidays coming up, was working overtime nearly every night due to the annual onslaught of depressed a...

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“Buyer's Remorse” by Dan Coglianese

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #176

A good magician never reveals their secrets. But, today as I lie in my deathbed, I am prepared to tell you mine. As a child, I took things more literally than most. My mother once asked me if the man in the moon stole a shoe I lost at a friend’s house. I peered at the full moon that night, searching for this unknown “man”. Never found him. When I was five years old, I heard my uncle tell my mother that it was “raining cats and dogs”. I wanted a puppy so bad that I ran ou...

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“The Dollhouse” by April Mattson

Submitted to Contest #176

Jane was bored. She and her sisters, Lizzie and Flora, stayed with their grandparents every summer while her parents went on vacation. She’d spent the day moping about until she discovered the attic up on the third floor and toiled away looking through old boxes. There wasn’t a window and it felt airless and hot, and she was about to leave when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a small door. A door for a child! She had to tug and pull at it until it opened, and she sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, and then decided it was to ...

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“The Shadow Guild” by Paul Michael Winters

Submitted to Contest #176

Victor knew entering the Great Citadel Library was forbidden. But he saw that boy again. The one who had met his gaze in the Citadel gardens and held it just a little too long. Before the boy looked away, with flushed cheeks and the hint of a smile. After weeks of returning to the gardens, and searching every face in the crowd, Victor finally saw him again. Saw those captivating eyes and that serene smile. He had to follow.The library was restricted to highborn, and Victor was only a lowly merchant’s son. He scoffed at the caste system enfor...

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“Painting Her Dreams” by Susan Williams

Submitted to Contest #176

Brock stared at her throughout history class. Why does she dress like that? Her clothes hang on her, badly soiled and worn out. And those shoes! They’re men’s shoes! He was sure his uncle had a pair. His father called his uncle a deadbeat, whatever that was. All Brock knew was he stunk like smoke. But at least he never stayed long, his dad always ushered him out after he asked for money. Anyway, why would a ten-year old girl want to wear men’s shoes? &n...

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“Smoke and Mirrors” by Laurel Hanson

Submitted to Contest #176

Sheltered in the shadows of the forest, we peered past the agro spears and blue fronds of stillbing to watch the magicians. They stood out in the badlands in front of a large object that made me think of the plated armor of the battlebeetles. They wore clothing from head to toe and face masks of some material, clear as air, but shiny. Sometimes, the Villagers found sharp pieces of that same air-that-is-hard substance in the dirt around the Council Ring. The tall one moved awkwardly over the rocky ground, as if he was a mere ta...

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“Gift for the Chosen” by E.L. Montague

Submitted to Contest #176

Content Warning: Language and Mild Horror Elements Gift for the Chosen by E.L. Montague I met death on a sultry summer evening. He was a handsome man. Terrifying, but handsome. He gave me a gift. I was only thirteen. Changed my life. I was never the same, not ever. He was a lovely man. No one knew what my grandfather was, none of us kids anyhow. We just knew we was scared of him. Old. He was old, eyes all filmed over like a dead fish, ‘cept they was shiny. And when he stared at you with those milky eyes, it was like he could see righ...

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“A Magical Summer” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #176

They sent me to live with Grandma Violet after my Mom ended up in the psychiatric hospital. She painted our side of the neighbor's house sky blue because she wanted a cheerier view. Then she spent a thousand dollars on art supplies and bought us a first-class one-way ticket to Malaysia. But the last straw fell when she took a dog, who'd been chained to a tree for days. The dog's owner came out, and she gave him an uppercut that Grampa had taught her when she moved into the city. I'm used to her odd choices, but this time she required much mo...

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“Lactose Intolerance” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #176

I wasn’t supposed to be in Daddy’s study that day. I definitely wasn’t supposed to be in the closet of Daddy’s study that day. And I certainly wasn’t supposed to find out the real reason that Daddy was a very rich man indeed. I was only in there because my Tesla (a mini remote-controlled version that has the same number plate as Mommy’s but I’m not telling you what it is because it’s embarrassing) took a wrong turn and nosed the door open. The big brown door with the peephole in it too far up for me to even try to look through, the door th...

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“The Shadow Puppet Theatre” by Maria Blackman

Submitted to Contest #176

Laurie’s mother found the shadow puppet theatre on the day that he was home sick from school. “What’s that?” Laurie asked as June pulled the box out from the closet. “It belonged to your great-uncle, Robert. I used to love visiting his house when I was little. You never knew what you would find.” She stood up, knees creaking. “Let’s get you some lunch, then we’ll have a look together.” June made toast for Laurie and tea for herself. A crow perched on the fence beyond the kitchen window, jutting its head up and down. June placed the lar...

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“Paloma ” by Vie L'cast

Submitted to Contest #176

On the eve of my fifteenth birthday my parents' struggling marriage reached a boiling point. Their constant threats to divorce began to actualize when my father threw a pair of freshly pressed button downs into his weathered black suitcase and grabbed his keys. My mother's insults rattled against picture frames that displayed photos of a family I no longer recognized and my dad's compulsory need to reply to each and every one of them prolonged his departure. In the morning, having allowed the guilt of their actions to settle, they shift...

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“Snow Deal” by Benny Regalbuto

Submitted to Contest #176

Raymond’s camcorder beeped, causing him to nearly fall out of the tree he was perched in. How long had he been asleep? He’d checked to make sure the camcorder was working, and then… Shit. The moon had been much lower last he’d seen it. The camcorder beeped again. Low battery. He rummaged through his ski jacket’s puffy pockets, hoping his past self had thought to bring extra AA batteries. He hadn’t. Shit. Well, maybe there was enough time to run home and grab some. Snow still covered Dr. Haberworth’s driveway, which meant— The front doo...

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Contest #176

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Ended on 23:59 - Dec 16, 2022 EST

Won by Kylah Adams 🏆

Title: I Knew Better

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Start your story with someone witnessing magic from a hiding place.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 52 stories

“I Knew Better” by Kylah Adams

“Monsters of New Madrid: Event 149” by Wendy Kaminski

“B+Z” by Liv Chocolate

“BELIEVE” by Susan Catucci

“Buyer's Remorse” by Dan Coglianese

“The Dollhouse” by April Mattson

“The Shadow Guild” by Paul Michael Winters

“Painting Her Dreams” by Susan Williams

“Smoke and Mirrors” by Laurel Hanson

“Gift for the Chosen” by E.L. Montague

“A Magical Summer” by Patricia Merewether

“Lactose Intolerance” by Karen McDermott

“The Shadow Puppet Theatre” by Maria Blackman

“Paloma ” by Vie L'cast

“Snow Deal” by Benny Regalbuto

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story involving a magical potion — which may or may not work.

Cast a magician (a real one, or a party entertainer) as your story’s protagonist.

Write a story told from the point of view of an animal.

Set your story in a magical bookshop.

Contest #176

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

231

Contest entries

111

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: