Enter our 100-Word-Story Competition 2023

Our 100-word-story competition is your chance to show the world your storytelling talents!

There are three categories—one for adults and two for schools: one for children aged 12–18 and one for children under 12. Your stories should be original, unpublished and exactly 100 words—not a single word shorter or longer! Entries are now open and the submission deadline is January 5, 2024. Multiple entries are allowed per person. We are unfortunately only able to consider UK-based entries.

The editorial team will pick a shortlist of three in each category and post them online on February 1, 2024. You can vote for your favourite, and the one with the most votes will scoop the top prize.

Voting will close on February 29, 2024 and winners will be published in our May 2024 issue.

Please ensure that submissions are original, not previously published and exactly 100 words long (not including title). Don’t forget to include your full name, address, email and phone number when filling in the form. We may use entries in all print and electronic media.

There are three categories—one for adults and two categories for schools: one for children aged 12–18 and one for children under 12.

In the adults category, the winner will receive £1,000 and one runner-up will receive £250.

In the 12–18s category, the winner will receive a £200 book voucher or a Kindle Paperwhite and a £100 book voucher for their school, and the runner-up will receive a £100 books voucher.

In the under-12 category, the winner will receive £100 of book vouchers or a Kindle Paperwhite and £100 of book vouchers for their school, and the runner-up will receive a £50 books voucher.

Please submit your stories by 5pm on January 5, 2024 either online or by post addressed to:

Reader’s Digest
100 Word Story Competition
Warners Group Publications
West Street
Bourne
PE10 9PH

The editorial team will pick a shortlist of entries, and the three best stories in each category will be posted online at readersdigest.co.uk on February 1, 2024.

You can vote for your favourite, and the one with the most votes will win the top prize. Voting will close on February 29, 2024 and the winning entries will be published in our May 2024 issue, and posted online on April 16, 2024.

My mother’s bare foot rests in my lap, softer than expected, toenails thick. My knuckles complain as I squeeze the clippers. “Call me Lily,” she says, and I think, What else? I paint her toenails “Big Apple Red” while she talks about her estranged daughter, gone to the city years ago. “That girl was always an odd one,” she says. “I’ll bet she leaves me here to rot.” I stare at the deep furrows between her eyebrows. See myself: hard-pedalling, smoke unspooling, highway breeze through messy hair, whisky-burnt, split by childbirth, circling home. I hold my breath, and wait.

“But I’ve got no privilege,” she protests. I stare at her shoes, bought by grandparents leeching off colonial fortunes. Her hair lies flat and presentable; my curls violate policy in any style. Her canvas-coloured skin will never raise questions. Mine is a brown cage that closes every door. But I hold my tongue. The others explain, but her whiteness turns to cotton and lodges itself in her ears. Her parents just worked harder. She’s just studious. “Blame me if you want.” She doesn’t see the landmines lurking in our paths. And if she did, she’d think she had them, too.

My cap was pulled off today. I was indignant and embarrassed, more than I can say! Yet again I was gripped tightly around the middle and forced to do the mum’s tedious receipts. My murky blood seeps from my single vein onto the paper. I know I am dying. I can feel my impending death oozing out with my last reserves of liquid. I see, ironically, pens are listed on this stationery receipt. Imagine their hopeful faces! Vitally, I would warn them, “Life as a pen, though long, is full of monotonous and painful tasks. Just don’t run out of…………