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#131 First Impressions

On the 28th of January 1813, Pride and Prejudice was first published. Originally titled First Impressions, Jane Austen’s most famous work has gone on to be a genre-defining classic — and one of my personal favorites. 


To celebrate the anniversary of its release, this week’s prompts explore the themes of Pride and Prejudice, and the slipperiness of first impressions.

🥇 Winner

Love Ain't Blind, Grief Is

Winner of Weekly Contest #131 🏆

Content warning: Cancer, language, and death. Dad begs to be cremated but Aldon won't hear of it. Never mind that he's saying this at the table right in front of our old man, or that he has less money than the rest of us to spend on a casket and burial plot. As the oldest son, he thinks whatever he says goes. "It's not right, being cremated," he tells us. He's got this look on his face like Dad just asked him to eat some roadkill. "It's just not right. And besides, you should want to be next to Mom. Did you forget we buried her too?" D...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

This week's prompts

Write a story about two characters whose first impressions of one another are wildly inaccurate.

– 54 stories

Write a story that includes (or subverts) the enemies-to-lovers trope.

– 25 stories

Start your story with the arrival of a new person in a town full of gossips.

– 40 stories

Write a story about a group of sisters, or a group of brothers.

– 34 stories

Set your story in a drawing room.

– 29 stories

Stories

The Longest Five Minutes

Weekly Contest #131

The itch is there, I imagine it almost before it becomes a reality and I know that soon it will spread deeper. Not wider or further around my thigh, but deeper, moving in towards my groin begging to be rubbed, scraped, excoriated until it has been completely erased. Apart from the scratching sound of pencil on paper the room is quiet and unbearably warm, all heaters turn towards me, as you’d expect, seeing as I am the only one with no clothes on.   Six pairs of eyes look at me, well not really at me just parts of me.&nbs...

18 likes 6 comments 6
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"The Rose of the Winds"

Weekly Contest #131

A great feast is gathering at the home of Countess Anna Ivanovna Starintseva, the "Rose of the Winds" mansion. In the living room nervously walks Anna Ivanovna Starintseva - a woman of extraordinary fortitude, but at the same time a gentle and vulnerable soul. Her looks seemingly simple, but behind this simplicity lurks a mixture of passion and divine obedience, which in itself is already wonderful. She looks as if to the bone undresses a man, and stands in front of her naked soul. The color of her eyes to describe - so it pulls, swamp, to e...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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When Enemies Attract

Weekly Contest #131

Amelie Brekhart's nose wrinkled, disgusted with the rickety staging ramp leading up to the pipe's 4 foot wide black hole."I knew the Starfleet 679 airships were ghetto, but this is ridiculous." She said to herself.The 679 looked like a giant ocean cruise ship with wings. The top levels still had windows for cabins but doubled in a collision reduction frame. That way the ship could handle the pressures of outer space. She was in dock at the Centra space station for minor repairs and maintenance. From the cabin levels to the machinery rooms, a...

17 likes 1 comment 1
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Stella

Weekly Contest #131

It had been a while. Too long actually. An ad in the town’s paper said the movie house was showing “A Streetcar Named Desire” for Tuesday retro movie night. Gloria was new in town and figured it would be a good way to meet new people who shared her love of classic cinema. She decided to go. Things might finally be turning her way, she thought.Gloria’s apartment was only a few blocks from the downtown scene. She liked living within walking distance to everything. It was faster to get where she needed to go if the need arose. Better than findi...

17 likes 12 comments 12
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The Beck Brothers

Weekly Contest #131

The Beck brothers are a team, all five of them. This was literally true when they were in school and there was sports involved. A brother would who was choosing would pick a brother, and then another and another. No one at school would pick on one Beck as he or they would have to take on all of them before too long. The Beck brothers have no sisters, so they are not at their best when dealing with the female of the species. At this moment of time, not one of them has a girlfriend. The women in their lives had to com...

17 likes 2 comments 2
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I'm gonna fly so high!

Weekly Contest #131

Ben heard the door open excitedly. He knew a door couldn’t open excitedly, but it felt like good news. The door didn’t sound heavy when it opened. It didn’t slam against the wall, punching another hole through the plaster. No, there was happiness in that door opening.“Ben!”Noah’s voice flooded down the hall.Ben tried to ignore it, this maths homework wasn’t going to write itself. Nomatter how much he wished it would.“Ben!”Footsteps followed his name.Excited footsteps. Now, footsteps, he knew, could be excited. There was a wholelot of emotion...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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"The Gutter Girls" and the Domino Effect

Weekly Contest #131

I can still picture the terribly comical scene that my mother described as she recalled aloud (more than once) the story of how she and her five sisters got the nickname that has stuck with them for just over 50 years. Oh, to have been a fly on the proverbial wall back then! To have seen such a sight with my own two eyes, some sort of a costume (a fly or the like) would have been necessary. Mom and my aunts would never have let loose, acted so unencumbered, had child-me been a witness. As the story goes, it all started innocently enough, w...

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Salle d'attente

Weekly Contest #131

She’s sitting on a simple couch on the other side of the small room, the pair to the one I am trying to get comfortable in. We’re the only ones here, and had exchanged a quick, only slightly awkward smile when I first arrived, before settling into the silence, very aware of one another’s presence. There isn’t even a loudly ticking clock to distract or drive me crazy. I look around the room to occupy myself. In another part of western Europe this would probably be called a drawing room, but here in the 1ère arrondissement of Paris, this com...

17 likes 8 comments 8
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The Elevator

Weekly Contest #131

The elevator jolted to a stop. “Okay, cut it out.”“Cut what out?”“Stop screwing with the elevator. I know you don’t care about your grades but I need to get to class.”“How do you think I’m screwing with the elevator?” Enrico pushed the buttons but nothing happened.Mercedes gasped. “Oh no, you mean we’re stuck in here?”“Looks like.”She looked at the panel that contained two arrow buttons and a keyhole and nothing else. She rolled her eyes.“Who the hell installs an elevator without an emergency phone?”Enrico gaped at her and she sucked he...

17 likes 1 comment 1
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Learning

Weekly Contest #131

Quincy’s volcano will win. Because his is made with tempera paint powder and tonic water; the new kid Eric’s just has regular water and food coloring. Quincy’s volcano will be bubblier and redder and it’ll win.He’s sure of that as he watches the sixth grade science fair judges enter the gym with their arms full of ribbons and certificates.And they walk to Eric’s poster board and pass him the gold medal. His parents pat him on the back and smile for the camera.Then the judges make their way towards Quincy and drop the silver medal over his ne...

17 likes 3 comments 3
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An Overnight Guest

Weekly Contest #131

The splintering wooden door rattled as it was knocked upon, startling the woman inside her small, street-side home. Well, not entirely street side, as it was the last door on the right tucked in the alleyway between two brick, ivy-ridden buildings. Therefore, her front door was significantly removed from the street, making late-night visitors, or visitors of any sort, incredibly rare. The woman froze, head swiveling to face the narrow hallway leading to the front door. Her chest thundered, and an ache tightened her stomach.  Silence f...

16 likes 12 comments 12
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In The Father's House

Weekly Contest #131

A man with a city unto himself, walking at first, turning into a jog, beside the calm waters of the river, smiling as the pain kept him from his thoughts. Stopped for a moment. The cold removing the feeling in his fingers and the feeling in his chest and the thoughts in his mind. Footsteps following behind. Cars rumbled across. Lights of the city flickered. The city moving toward night and Adam clenching his hand and gripping nothing and gripping fleeting seconds. How different it felt to be alone now that he was gone. Gone. The brother who...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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The Huxley's Treasure

Weekly Contest #131

Grace was trapped in the dinghy, bleeding all over the floor. The Little River Market was in full swing around her. Supplies were loaded onto boats. Vendors shouted out prices, waving their hands to anyone passing too closely. Grace scoured the docks for help. She had to duck her head to wipe a stray tear. Her fish nets were empty, and her father was gone. Both were caused by the Huxley brothers.   They cut her nets early that morning. Grace had pulled up unraveled rope, marked with an ‘H’. To them, it was a practical joke. To ...

16 likes 5 comments 5
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To My Esteemed Rival

Weekly Contest #131

May 12/ 2021Dear Pinky,     Earlier today I saw that you left your wallet on the bus, so I’m bringing returning it. I also borrowed some cash, consider it payment for my good deeds. You're welcome.                                                      &...

16 likes 7 comments 7
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Word of Mouth

Weekly Contest #131

           “WELCOME TO WHISPERS.” That is what the sign read as Larry drove into town. Coming from a big city, this quaint small town was just what he needed to escape from his high anxiety lifestyle.            The muffler on his 2002 Chevy Camaro SS rumbled as he coasted down Main Street with the top down on his cherry red convertible. The sunlight reflected off the high gloss paint job, catching the attention of onlookers.  &...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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