Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone who gets an inheritance from a relative they’ve never heard of, but they’ll need to do something completely outside their comfort zone in order to collect it.

Posted in Teens 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.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 144 stories

“Promise” by Aaina Aleszezyk

Submitted to Contest #72

There’s a knock at the door and as hardly anyone visits me, I know exactly who it is. “Hey Damian”, Mr. Sharks, the postman barked. “Hi Mr. Sharks”. Mr. Sharks never drops letters in the mailbox, he prefers handing the letter personally to its recipient. He is short, fat and kind. He lost his family in a car crash twenty-two years ago. Currently, he lives alone in a small house. “Here is your letter”. “Thanks. How are you doing, by the way?”. “I’m fine, thank you. Have lots of letters to deliver, I’ll catch up with you later”. “Sure, have a ...

3 comments 3
Read story

“The Wonder that Goes Bump in The Night” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #72

You finger the wrinkled note in your hand and scowl.   The sound of its crinkles as you fold it is lost to the rain pattering your car roof.  The sky is filled with white clouds, like a frothing mess of sea foam dragged into the sky.  Sea foam.  You let loose a bitter “ha!”  You can't believe you left your home at the beach for this dump.  Your car screeches to a slow crawl, pulling itself onto the gravel path of the Bleawood Manor.  Not much of a manor anymore, you can see, but a shambled ruin of rotting w...

8 comments 8
Read story

“Performative Tantrum” by Trixie Pereira

Submitted to Contest #72

Dean ate the last potato chip from the plastic packet as he lounged on the couch. He lifted his head and turned the packet upside down, shaking the last of the crumbs in his mouth. Some of the crumbs fell in his unkempt thick beard and he pulled a large piece and put it in his mouth. He knew he was pathetic but he was too tired to care. He unsubscribed from Netflix to save money so he was watching awful quality youtube videos on his large television. Perhaps if he cut his internet and sold the TV he could manage to pay another month’s rent. ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE” by Pam Hicks

Submitted to Contest #72

 Candy knew this had to be a joke. She had never heard of Cody Davis. How could she have an uncle she had never heard of, but this telegram said she did. Even more unbelievable it said he had died and she was his heir. The heir to his estate worth ten million dollars. Someone had a good sense of humor, but she really wasn’t that amused. She walked over to the sofa and sat down. She read the telegram again, it still said the same thing. Candy Wright was the heir of the Cody Davis estate. Well if it wasn’t a joke it had to be a mistake. P...

6 comments 6
Read story

“What Myer Wetherbee Was Not Willing To Do For Money” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #72

I *do* believe in spooks, I *do* believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I *do* believe in spooks, I *do* believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do, I *do*! That’s what Myer Wetherbee whispered under his breath after reading a letter that informed him that he would be inheriting $3,900,000 from an nasty mean spirited Great Uncle Raphael G. Wetherbee in which he never knew existed. The only conditions to collect the money was that Myer had to stay one night in the 3 haunted places his Uncle specifically chose. Everyone in the small town of Bangor, Ma...

1 comment 1
Read story

“The List” by Aubrey Spencer

Submitted to Contest #72

December 1st, 2020 Dear Journal, (because I think Dear Diary is for 5th graders) Today is the day I renewed my reasons for why I despise Christmas. My hate for the holiday got to the point where I accidentally made Mrs. Jenkins cry last night. I hadn't meant to, but she wouldn't stop cackling Joy to the World at the top of her lungs at 11 p.m last night. It wasn't even December yet- an hour to it- and the old bat was probably already drowning her kitchen in tinsel. Last year she'd nearly burned the whole apartment complex down trying to ma...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Uncle Edward????” by Judith Buskohl

Submitted to Contest #72

Paula gathered her mail for the day and continued on her way to the apartment she had rented for the last two years without a second glance at what precious mail she had received that day. She was thinking about pouring a glass of wine and getting some cheese to sit down to look at the bills that had come that day.   As she entered her apartment, she put the mail on her kitchen table before continuing to get comfortable, she had decide to take a shower before the old creaky hot water heater two floors down decide to hit bottom...

4 comments 4
Read story

“My Sicilian Roots” by Lavinia Hughes

Submitted to Contest #72

MY SICILIAN ROOTS By Lavinia M. Hughes     I walked to my mailbox and took out the pile of mail within. As I walked back up the driveway, I flipped through the usual dreck that was delivered daily. No, I didn’t want to sell my house even if “inventory was down and property values were up” in my area. I didn’t want to buy life insurance, deeming that whole industry a scam. I DID want to take a look at the shoe catalog from England, because their shoes are very high quality, even if a bit “henny” as ...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Mazy maze” by DREW LANE

Submitted to Contest #72

This story is a sequel to Come Little Girl in my Comic Strip that you can find on my page.Elle licked the manjar glued to her thumb with delectation and stole some more from her toasted bread. It had a soft and sweet texture, akin to dulce de leche summer ice creams. The toast cracking under her teeth took her back to primary school memories and she swung her feet back and forth under the table. Meanwhile, Alf was focused. His giant map of Chile didn't fit on the tiny round table of the dim and silent café. Alf was convinced the place was th...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Inheritance” by Kristin McAllister

Submitted to Contest #72

I sat rigidly in my chair, avoiding my mom’s sympathetic gaze and my older brother’s confused look. My dad stood in the corner, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable. My great uncle’s lawyer had just read his will. I had never heard of the guy, but apparently my mom knew him well since she and my dad were given his house, and my brother was given his workshop and an old car. My older brother looked as stunned as I felt. But there was more, another paragraph written just for me. “And to my grand-niece, Candace, I leave my little ...

6 comments 6
Read story

“You Can't Take It With You” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #72

           Xavier and his new bride, Jessica traveled down a dark, inauspicious road toward a home that they had never been to before. It belonged to an uncle that Xavier never knew he had.            Xavier’s uncle, Bartholomew, had recently passed and this house was the location for the reading of his will. He was his father’s stepbrother, but Xavier could not recall any memories of the man.       &nbs...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Sunshine-Yellow” by Isaac Murphy

Submitted to Contest #72

Sunshine Yellow Isaac Murphy This day had passed by like any other day. The only factor distinguishing that Thursday from the Wednesday before it, or the Tuesday before that, was something Taylor Alexi-Walker had yet to realize. To her, it was just a Thursday. Taylor’s untied sneakers snapped twigs beneath her feet on her walk home from school. She was hunched beneath the weight of her backpack, as seventh grade teachers assigned an excess of homework nowadays, and her dark, curly hair was tied atop her head. She earned good grades at sc...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Take A Chance” by Estelle Westley

Submitted to Contest #72

Still not comfortable with herself in this situation, Kitty looked out the window of the coach winding it's way along the beautiful coast line. The setting sun playing with colours on the water all the way to the horizon. She should have been in her element to experience this but not Kitty. This was the first time she did anything as adventurous as this. And on her own. Kitty was thankful that the seat next to her had stayed empty. At least she did not have to take part in any idle chatter with a stranger. I do hate wasting time on no...

3 comments 3
Read story

“Calamoney” by Zenny Melody

Submitted to Contest #72

“You. Receive. Money. Go. Find. Stone.” Those were the old voice’s last words before hanging up on Farris. He stared at the telephone in confusion for a few minutes before pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.  “Who, what, why, how?” Ferris muttered to himself in rapid succession. Did he just receive a commission from an unknown individual? Is this some sort of prank call? Is he really in a dream he can’t escape out of? Throughout the day, where he had to work fixing telephone lines, throughout the evening, where he was dan...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire” by Amy Jayne Conley

Submitted to Contest #72

The letter had been sitting on my coffee table unopened for five days by the time I got back from holidays. Two weeks on the beach in Spain had done me a world of good after the messiest divorce ever, and now I was ready and fighting fit to start again. My neighbour Natalie had taken my spare key and had been looking after the post. I didn’t need to see his name. I didn’t want to see his name, either. I didn’t want to remember him. Not after what he’d done. I’d gone through the usual bills, throwing away things that I’d paid off before my ho...

2 comments 2
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Mystery – 117 stories

Write a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

Romance – 193 stories

Write about someone getting a job offer they never would have thought to apply for.

Adults – 94 stories

Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Science Fiction – 138 stories

Contest #72

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Shocking Developments

$50

Prize money

686

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 18, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Ward 🏆

Title: Currents

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢