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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

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✍️ 214 stories

“The Coldest Day in Hell” by Liz Leness

Submitted to Contest #42

It was 1967 and every Sunday afternoon in the Summer, my father would take me and my brother to the quarry. I didn't know it then, but my father was an alcoholic. All I did know is that he would be swigging out of a brown paper bag all afternoon, and a cigarette would never leave his fingers. He would lie on the banks as Tom and I would scramble up the rock face and dive into the turquoise water below. Smiling and laughing, splashing him with each cannonball, competing with each other to see who could get him the wettest. &nbs...

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“Barrel Scrolls and Broken Souls ” by Hannah Vargees

Submitted to Contest #42

She cried herself to sleep pretty much every night. The voices inside her head would never quieten down. She would be laying in her bed with her eyes closed, but her mind had never settled for once in a long time. How did she know that her mind was running way ahead? The tears running down her face showed it all. Ava’s life was way too different. Endless nights of wet pillows with muffled sobs and tossing and turning. Will the sun ever dawn on her, she always wondered. Days passed, so did months. Who knew she was having such a hard time...

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“Lorana” by Vincent Damico

Submitted to Contest #42

The air was soft and warm as it blew through the wire screen door. It wasn’t locked and the soft breeze made it bang intermittently against the door frame. The wind whirled around the still furniture, coasting over the wooden floor, snaking it’s around the dark red river of blood that was beginning to seep through the floor. A toddler bent over in the corner, fidgeting and trying to sleep, sucking on her thumb in hopes that someone would wake her from this nightmare. The home sagged into the land it sat on, the land Lorana had bought ov...

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“Nova” by Arandom Secret

Submitted to Contest #42

"Please, stay with me. Don't leave me here alone...." The girl's blonde hair glimmered as the sunlight lightly brushed upon her. Her tears fall out of her red eyes. If people were to see her current state, they would surely be mistaken those eyes to rubies. "......I'm sorry. But I'm sure 'the one' will come and save you from this hell. Then, you will be able to find happiness." The man laid before her spoke, trying to even his breathing while gently caressed her cheeks. His other hand clutched tightly onto the wound on his torso, trying...

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“Misconnection ” by Sarah Cassidy

Submitted to Contest #42

“81st  street please,” I say to the cab driver as I throw myself and all my belongings into the back of the cab. It was a Friday night, the best time of the week, and thankfully the chaos at work would die down for a few days. We were in the middle of a business deal with a local partner and it was not going well. The last few days have been a cycle of conference calls, work meetings, and panicked conversations. Finally, I would be able to take a break and do something that I’ve wanted to do for so long.  “Got it,” mumbled the...

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“A Day In The Life of Charlie” by Gail Walkowich

Submitted to Contest #42

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CHARLIE           It was the Atlantic’s cold waves which washed over Charlie that startled him into a new day. The morning high tide was slowly encroaching onto his soft, sandy bed. Soaking wet, Charlie scrambled onto the Seaside Heights boardwalk in the fading darkness of night. His head throbbed from the shenanigans of the night before. Stumbling down Ocean Terrace, Charlie returned to his rusty Ford Pinto. After he grabbed a clean set of work clothes and a used t...

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“Naked Conversations” by Shenice Pierre

Submitted to Contest #42

They laid in the bed. One's eyes were closed, while the others was open. One thinking of the resent past. The other contemplating the future with a smile on her face. The conversation they just had was so revealing. He was truly made for her in every way. She could be her truest self with him... that very thought made a shiver course through her limbs - causing her legs to twitch slightly. Her truest self, honestly was a monster, and she knew it. It frightened her. What if she showed this...animalistic side of her and he rejected her...o...

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“Abduction” by Connie Clark

Submitted to Contest #42

I look around; no one’s there. I’m alone. My vision narrows; breathing slows; exterior limbs are frozen; everything’s in slow motion; my legs no longer hold me…. I’m falling…. Conscious, I find myself looking upon the world from the stars and basking in the beauty of the earth. Also, in my awareness is the devastation, poverty, and hatred that abounds. Contemplating, is humankind salvageable? “Wait a minute! What?! Where am I? Where is that voice coming from? There’s no one around…” The sudden realization: I am circling the earth and speak...

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“Invasion” by Adrian Tan

Submitted to Contest #42

Rapid footsteps interrupted the sound of a peaceful jungle with calls of the wild. A boy, drenched in sweat, was running for his life, away from the new king of the jungle and his minions. By his side was a lion cub, the heir to the old throne.A rival pride had attacked the lion kingdom and imprisoned the old guards. Years of betrayal and losses had moulded the lion at the head of this new pride into a cold and heartless beast. There was nothing left in his life but to conquer and destroy all things living. In the midst of the chaos, the boy...

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“I'll Always Come Back to You” by Lacie Nairn

Submitted to Contest #42

Rory stared at me through the window, pressing her hand to the thick plate glass. “You’ll come back?” she asked, her voice crackling over the speaker in the room. I nodded, not sure that I could trust my voice at that moment. I cleared my throat and smiled. “Always,” I promised. “I’ll always come back to you.” It was one of the few promises that I could make. Rory meant it in another way; I knew that. She meant after, but I could not promise her that. I looked beyond her, to the clock just visible over her head. We had less than a minute lef...

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“Ally of roaches” by Chiamaka Udechukwu

Submitted to Contest #42

The insecticide lingered all through the night but didn’t manage to defeat the squad of disrespectful cockroaches that tormented us in the kitchen. Knowing what to expect, I tiptoed through the court yard with my brown flip flops tightly gripped in my fingers, ready to smash the first few unassuming pests to catch my glance. I used the side of my hip to push the door open. I tried to be as gentle as possible but the rusty bolts had its way of betraying me; my other hand was too busy hoisting the kerosene lamp so I had no choice. My shoulders...

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“Abyss of Dawn” by Ibk Adebayo

Submitted to Contest #42

Click, click. Something felt wrong and Aria could sense it: was it the lack of warmth, the draft of icy air prickling her or how greasy and unwashed her scalp felt? A blinking neon red light captured Aria’s attention; the periodic shutter rousing her from her regular daydreams. For the first time, she noticed the cold, carpet-less floor beneath her bare feet, making her rub her hands against the creamy soles of her foot. Shifting her attention again to the light (which faintly illuminated the darkness of the room), she watched it. It was on ...

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“Would You Like To Dance? ” by Duschia Bodet

Submitted to Contest #42

Once upon a time, a nation had two princesses. One was beautiful; the other was ugly. Now, don’t tell me that everyone is beautiful in their own way or that beauty comes from within. Even if you believe such things, the fact of the matter is that everyone who had seen this princess, thought she was ugly. Consequently, for all practical purposes Princess Helga was ugly, and no one knew this better than Helga herself. Her younger sister, Rosaline, had dated countless suitors. Many had proposed, but Rosaline hadn’t accepted any until now. The k...

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“Chroma - A Study in Nightmares” by Lyra Meyers

Submitted to Contest #42

The sky is grey.It’s not the grey of storm clouds. Not the pale grey that comes before heavy rainfall, nor the kind of grey that tells you to stay inside with a warm cup of tea. No, the sky is the dark, stony color of pencil lead on paper. It’s the color of ash.A girl runs as fast as she can down the street. She is not safe, she knows. Nowhere is safe anymore. She sneaks glances over her shoulder as she runs. She wishes she hadn’t.There are people following her, their pace far too quick for what looks like a shuffling gait. All of them are f...

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“Happy” by Bec Stock

Submitted to Contest #42

I couldn't hear what the marriage officiant was saying. Perhaps it was something about loving each other until the end of time. Or perhaps it was something about building a marriage based on respect and love. But at this point I didn't care. My mind was swirling with thought, my palms sweaty (so sweaty my fiancé actually let go of my hands to wipe his hands on his pants leg), and my heart pumped too hard in my chest that I could hear it in my ears. He was smiling at me. That smile I loved so much. That smile that drew me to him. Why was I he...

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