#GWstorieseverywhere

Each month we invite you to post a story on X (formerly known as Twitter) using #GWstorieseverywhere for a chance to win a free class. Your story must be no longer than 25 words, with a max of 280 characters, including spaces and the hashtag #GWstorieseverywhere. Your stories (which can be true or made up) will be inspired by what you see, know, or do, and they should relate in some way to these monthly "themes":

Important update: Our #GWStoriesEverywhere contest will be leaving X (formerly known as Twitter) beginning April 2024. Learn how to submit your contest entry for our #GWStoriesEverywhere contest beginning in April here.

March: Ghosted

For more tips on crafting a winning entry, read this helpful guide.


2024

Our winner for February's theme Cabin fever: Three million souls in this city, and I’m the only one trapped inside a body. @torbataso

Our winner for January's theme Lists: Daily, I ask myself these questions: 1. Why was I born? 2. What’s for dinner? 3. Will my cancer come back? @GuruoftheUES

2023

Our winner for December's theme Mythical: Enough. Her son and boyfriend had become patriarchy fanatics. She packed a few things, turned herself into a nymph, and moved in with a tree. @moritherapy

Our winner for November's theme Wrong address: A midnight notification from my doorbell camera. This time, it’s not my inebriated neighbor trying to squeeze through the mail slot. It’s his cat’s turn. @nattywalks

Our winner for October's theme Doppelgänger: Entering the street, I see it: A haunted, pale face with gray eyes, vampiric lips. Shuddering, I pretend it’s not my dead ringer. @rumorsofmyfeet

Our winner for September's theme Feeling nostalgic: Friday afternoons, we’d burn our fingertips reaching for the crispy fries at the bottom of a grease-stained brown paper bag. I miss his salty touch. @morphstevens

Our winner for August's theme Instability:
He could never close anything he’d opened: doors, negotiations, cereal boxes, windows, loops, letters. Her heart at an Irish wake. @ZVSaratoga

Our winner for July's theme Mirage:
Fariba, at 98, stepped back onto the first piece of land she’d ever owned in America, a gleaming-roofed cape cod with white picket fence. @xclair

Our winner for June's theme Halfway:
The waves smashed over our tiny, makeshift boat, as my mother gripped me tight. I asked if we were close. Yes, my father lied. @RichardShury

Our winner for May's theme Where am I?:
On the highest step, the newcomer blinks away the subway's darkness. She is oriented instantaneously: a victory. Emboldened, she jaywalks across 14th. Any local would. @emilyjaneoneal

Our winner for April's theme Rainy day:
He was a sinner to some, a saint to the rest—yet it’s only this rain that will determine the turnout for his funeral. @SullivanSaysSC

Our winner for March's theme Outrageous fortune:
If I sued, they’d blacklist me. Could I trust my husband to keep his vows? Later, we bickered over the TV remote. I won. @SculptorLaurenB

Our winner for February's theme Out of sync:
The dishwasher fight again. He says bowls go on the top. She says they clearly belong on the bottom. Either way, they're out of sink. @MatthewWester

Our winner for January's theme Countdown:
Prufrock measured his life with coffee spoons. Hers: with thimbles of sugar. She never had enough to give a neighbor, if one had ever asked. @CawinaCawina

2022

Our winner for December's theme Bookmarked:
Cleaning out his saved pages, he noticed one he didn't recognize. He clicked. A rush of memories on his screen. Happier times. He smiled wistfully. @JCW_Writing

Our winner for November's theme Reunited:
Julie stood in silence beside the store’s liquor section, noticing only the flickering of a fluorescent light above her and her heart’s chaotic rhythm. @tjmallay

Our winner for October's theme Behind the mask:
Since joining his ward, she’s only ever seen his eyes. Maskless, his smile is a startling sight—stiff and permanent. “You can rest now, Doc.” @ericathj

Our winner for September's theme Transition:
As a child, she’d misheard her daddy complaining that “the transition” in their car was “going bad.” Then he’d left them. And in that car. @LucKy_Nobody

Our winner for August's theme Dream:
He considered the headstone a mere title for her most recent performance, convinced that she’s now dreaming up the next act. @SullivanSaysSC

Our winner for July's theme Kid stuff:
Daisy yawned at the dollhouse, electric car, and life-sized stuffed giraffe. Hours after she disappeared, her parents found her in the garden, playing with lizards. @susmitabythebay

Our winner for June's theme Camp:
Beneath spire-like pine trees, my first kiss tasted of marinara sauce and spearmint bubble-gum, something I wouldn’t write my mom in my weekly letter home. @morphstevens

Our winner for May's theme Perfection:
When I squint, the red ink and cramped cursive resembles drops of blood. An author vanquished to Editor, living in the margins. @tallymims

Our winner for April's theme Outsider:
I watch the actors act. I watch the singers sing. I unlock doors. Clean the coffee pot. Someone needs to turn on the lights. @mizkelle

Our winner for March's theme Hidden treasure:
Slicing through clods in a new garden bed. A spring morning. A screen for rocks. Dreams of straight carrots. Metal clangs metal. Different yield?
@CarolynSperry1

Our winner for February's theme Freezeout:
Anything for theater ticket money. There I stood doing inventory in the freezer of the local fish market. Can you freeze your sense of smell?@writer_delaney

Our winner for January's theme So delicious:
Gloria buys a cremation plan at one of those free dinners in town. Made their pitch after dessert. Banana flambé. Got her right there. @PaulLevine

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2021

Our winner for December's theme One last time:
I'm three shots in on karaoke night and already writing my New Year's resolution, but it's Mariah. That note will be hit tonight.

Our winner for November's theme Wrong address:
Santa admired the flickering menorah, then frowned down at his crumpled list. Those damn elves transposed the numbers again! Back up the chimney he went. @AmyZambetti

Our winner for October's theme Stolen:
Her magnificent symmetry gripped him. His gaze plucked the bloom right out of her and he tucked it in the dark pocket of his mind. @JoshuaL47003058

Our winner for September's theme Loophole:
Dracula had one fang due to gingivitis, so theoretically Mina was just half a vampire, and this loophole allowed her to eat garlic smothered fettuccini. @carparelli22

Our winner for August's theme Forgiven:
The yelp vanished as quick as my step. His tail, however, was now permanently priapismic. My sorrow-drenched face cleansed by a spongy tongue. Canine absolution. @JoshuaL47003058

Our winner for July's theme Staycation:
My couch is an all-inclusive resort. It has crumbs, loose change, your body’s fading imprint. The drinks are strong but there’s no ocean, just grief. @cararothenbergg

Our winner for June's theme Split second:
Poor Maud Bell protected the children by boiling out the arsenic in flypaper. Special morning tea dispatched that lazy, good-for-nothing husband. @RalphLa38932941

Our winner for May's theme Long distance:
My son waves at the moon. I told him Daddy took a rocket there. Sounded better than the truth. Space is cooler than Death Row. @tracydavidson27

Our winner for April's theme Red light:
Framed in her neon showcase, Mihaela shifted in ill-fitting stilettos. She stared past leering faces with a fixed smile, thinking of her daughter in Bucharest. @ingridtruemper

Our winner for March's theme Wake up:
It’s 4:11 AM and my neighbor’s blasting ‘Losing My Religion’ for the fifth time. Puts a whole new spin on “REM” cycles. @CawinaCawina

Our winner for February's theme Unforgettable evening:
In her sleeping bag beside me, my daughter screamed in terror as the sharks circled overhead. The sleepover in the aquarium had been a mistake. @RuralUnease

Our winner for January's theme Who am I?:
Planned to make a clever connection to a 1997 Alanis Morissette song. Searched far too long, confused. Turns out it was Meredith Brooks instead. @KileyOrchard

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2020

Our winner for December's theme Mother's advice:
A raised eyebrow was a lecture, her folded arms a scolding; a secret code that had me listening to every word my mother didn’t say. @Michaelgbro2

Our winner for November's theme Metamorphosis:
My instructor decreed, “Time for you to fly solo.” I took off, landed safely, and emerged from my metal chrysalis, a confident, ecstatic pilot. @ReidAllin

Our winner for October's theme Good deed:
Frank strained in the blazing sun to change the stranger's flat tire. "They never go unpunished," Frank thought as the 18-wheeler bore down on him. @ingridtruemper

Our winner for September's theme Escape:
We trapped Edgar inside the grand piano and he wouldn’t come out until we sang Memory from Cats. The can of tuna didn’t hurt either. @carparelli22

Our winner for August's theme Daring move:
Family dinner. All the aunties and uncles come. Mom's acceptable topics of conversation exhausted, Mike can bear it no more. He cracks a political joke. @igrewupinnarnia

Our winner for July's theme In the attic:
Duffle bag shrouded by cobwebs, stuffed with videos - Romeo and Juliet, Venus and Adonis, Taming of the Shrew. Never knew hubby liked Shakespeare. @LeonaCross15

Our winner for June's theme Prayer:
I always bowed at the door in the morning. Grandpa expected perfection in ritualistic pursuit, so I followed his words, even after death. @TheBorkLord

Our winner for May's theme Otherworldly:
Lee went off to college. We stayed behind. Years later he returned, showcasing his diploma, dapper suit and high-flying career. Our very own alien landing. @brieflywrite

Our winner for April's theme Rejuvenation:
In the hall closet, I find my Yankees cap mysteriously filled with sprouting daffodil bulbs. I add soil, water and order a new cap. @LuciannePoole

Our winner for March's theme I dare you:
Week one of self-isolation: Bangs grow. Kitchen scissors gleam. Fingers twitch. Snip, snip, chop. Week two: Health returns. Tufts remain. @LuciannePoole

Our winner for February's theme The state you're in:
We met in Michigan, two maelstroms dancing. Florida was a badly sealed pressure pot. By Alaska, it was over. Like an ice calf, she drifted. @gloriamundii

Our winner for January's theme Let it go:
He always needed to have the last word, so we buried him with a hammer and chisel beneath a blank stone. @ZVSaratoga

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2019

Our winner for December's theme Overstayed welcome:
Our crusty professor clutched the lectern with dead-knuckle hands. “For the final,” he guffed, “gimme a thirty page sequel titled Waiting for Godot to Leave.” @ZVSaratoga

Our winner for November's theme Last date:
Blind date. Coffee. Really clicked. Second date. Lunch. Definite chemistry. Third date, met his family. At his wife’s funeral. @Meikle_Fraser

Our winner for October's theme Abandoned:
Half-blind, he barely sees traffic. Half-deaf, he misses his master's voice. He's a good boy, everyone's always said so. They'll come back... eventually. @tracydavidson27

Our winner for September's theme Unfamiliar:
He handed us a bottle with unfamiliar writing (cyrillic?) and disappeared into the desert night. Army never found out. So much for a dry country. @DosPassosII

Our winner for August's theme That one summer night...:
That night, we were delayed, diverted and deposited in New York. Motorbikes spat out hate. Theaters closed. The final scene cut. It was almost us. @annettejwick

Our winner for July's theme Shenanigans:
He got the biggest kick out of saying, "here comes Shannon-again," whenever I'd show up, until I cut the brake lines on his car. @ZVSaratoga

Our winner for June's theme Stolen:
The day I took his Mickey Mouse watch, I hid it in a church pew. 18 years ago. He doesn't even remember - but I do. @ThoughtzDumb

Our winner for May's theme Emergency:
"Hurry!" she cried. I hurried. Zipped in and out of traffic. Horns blared. Baby couldn't wait. He arrived at 7th and Broadway. A born showman. @tracydavidson27

Our winner for April's theme Duped:
Her crimson skirt enveloped my sight. She twirled around me once. I lost her before I sensed my empty pocket. Flamenco is not free. @ashrgoff

Our winner for March's theme Feeling green:
Wheat-grass shots in the morn, coconut-oil face masques at dusk. Just trying to die of natural causes. @melpuff

Our winner for February's theme First encounter:
Several pence clinked down onto the pavement from my unzipped wallet. “You’re hemorrhaging coins!” exclaimed the American stranger. He paid for every meal together. @m_ordv

Our winner for January's theme Slippery slope:
A chain reaction sparked by spontaneity under the cloak of traveling alone, I started smoking again. Worse things have happened in Vietnam. @melodyjmoulton

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2018

Our winner for December's theme Photo album:
The album’s tattered leather binding is not as worn as the shoes depicted therein, from days spent herding sheep and delivering milk. @m_ordv

Our winner for November's theme Unpleasant relative:
Uncle Leonard smacks his prodigious lips and flings saliva while chewing. A wooden chair creaks beneath his massive hindquarters. He didn't even wash his hooves. @natty__walker

Our winner for October's theme Skeletons in the closet:
Ribbon lighting, gliding shoe shelves and mahogany paneling inlaid with his skull. She always said she’d kill for a custom closet, but he never listened. @ThatCatKelly

Our winner for September's theme Epiphany:
I used to want a pony. Now all I desire is a different timeline with advanced space programs and science education. @helsinkian

Our winner for August's theme Hot Date:
Coffee meets bagel. Sugar cubes melt in the tall dark cup of French roast as cream cheese melts between the curves of the poppyseed beauty. @kate_scarpetta

Our winner for July's theme Dear teenage self:
Parents mostly toss around figures of speech to sound clever. "Don't play with matches" is not a figure of speech. And eyebrows grow back. @ZVSaratoga

Our winner for June's theme Pandemonium:
The radio crackles. A tinny voice gives the address. Sirens on. We’re howling, flashing through traffic. Nobody saw the motorbike. Suddenly, we’re the crime scene. @alexandra_km

Our winner for May's theme Moving in:
“How’s the paint?” he asked, admiring their brand new walls. “Beautiful,” she gushed, thinking they’d be more beautiful if they weren’t closing in on her. @herpenname

Our winner for April's theme White lie:
The first time she missed her confirmation she told the nuns she'd overslept. The second time she told them she had morning sickness. @Flirtyburtie1

Our winner for March's theme 4 AM:
I slip out of bed at the beep of the coffee machine. Mama works a double today, and I won't get another kiss until midnight. @The_Great_Y

Our winner for February's theme Stupid Cupid:
His pickup line: "You're short. Can I measure your feet?" Thirty-five years of marriage later and he still hasn't gotten around to it. @bjgreville

Our winner for January's theme Something lost:
The first twinkling light in the evening sky appeared. The boy waved his flashlight back and forth in acknowledgment. “I miss you too, Daddy.” @banjopickindoc

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2017

Our winner for December's theme Nightmare:
Ana races along the desolate shoreline. Crashing waves muffle her screams. The ocean is vast, and her boy is but a speck. @LLMadridWriter

Our winner for November's theme The invitation:
Stained, greasy envelope, half a stamp left. Moments of time travel. I was invited to my grandparents’ wedding in 1937. @helsinkian

Our winner for October's theme Risk:
Behind the wall they hid a secret that could get them both killed: a Jewish boy of six who I would one day call Grandpa @N_Kay123

Our winner for September's theme Biggest fear:
Fame achieved by dying stupidly: "Sadly, she choked to death on a tiny live fish." @caligretchen

Our winner for August's theme The last straw:
She lost her shoe, her virginity, and her driver’s license. Thank God she didn’t lose the address of the AA meeting. @JSouthDunn

Our winner for July's theme First kiss:
She gave it her all, but the Leonardo DiCaprio poster just refused to kiss back. @kelseyskennedy

Our winner for June's them Serendipity:
He was scanning Missed Connections to find the girl from the Q train, when he tripped and spilled coffee all over her. @VOFranzese

Our winner for May's theme Sunday:
I missed a plane one Sunday afternoon. It crashed into the sea midflight. Always punctual, you boarded early. @bonbon7

Our winner for April's theme Voyeur:
As a little girl I'd walk my street looking in lit windows. I'd watch families gathered at the table and I'd pretend. @meyouandthesea

Our winner for March's theme Broken promise:
Gwen plays with her 30 day sober coin, tosses it up, and downs her tequila shot; heads or tails, either way she's lost. @shadowprancer

Our winner for February's theme An old flame:
A love letter, the last one you wrote me. I rip it into bite-size pieces and chew, to have you inside me again. @lita_bush

Our winner for January's theme Starting over:
This time it will be different, He said. First, no damn snakes. Then, instead of luscious apples, brussels sprouts. @jlhuff_huff

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2016

Our winner for December's theme Gift gone wrong:
On the first day, it made mewling noises and came with a pretty red ribbon. On the second day, it learned to open doors. @skofri

Our winner for November's theme Breakup:
I left a note in the cookie jar. It included instructions for landing the spaceship. She'll find it eventually. @laurentmatson

Our winner for October's theme An amazing sight:
Dramatic clouds, I like to call them. Never blue, never red, but plain old greys dancing out my father's mouth. @Anyato__

Our winner for September's theme What happened in school today:
He learned to forget everything, so he could stay at school forever. @juanvassallo

Our winner for August's theme Vacation gone awry:
Lost his luggage. Filled out the wrong paperwork. Became a refugee. @carladgray

Our winner for July's theme A revolutionary act: I ate the last cookie. In the closet. Because I wanted to hear myself chew. @krisdkeith

Our winner for June's theme Superhero:
My hero wasn't in the news in a cape. Instead, he lay beind a sterile glass box. Breathing, fighting, two days old. Mine. @JessWinn26

Our winner for May's theme Saying goodbye:
He caught their baby's last breath in a jar & under a full moon, watched the tide take it out to sea. @imruthwalker

Our winner for April's theme It happened in the shadows:
She stares at her tall,grownup shadow. Someday she will be more, she thinks to her little self. She tiptoes,trying heels.@millicent71

Our winner for March's theme Surprising encounter:
His sign read "Stranded. Spaceship broken." I pressed a dollar in his hand & said: "My brother's spaceship's broken too." @carolhillson

Our winner for February's theme Romance gone wrong:
Riding a wave of passion, it was suddenly inside me, filling me, completing me. Definitely worth the extra 1.80 for guac. @jordynrsmith

Our winner for January's theme Ticking clock:
5 losses, and #6 starts with bleeding and bed rest. Fear never leaves, but dissipates slightly in a flutter of tiny kicks @MClareWright

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2015

Our winner for December's theme Frantic shopping:
Victorious after tackling and slapping a woman for a tv, she drives home lamenting the lack of Christ in Christmas. @dahldahl

Our winner for November's theme Strange relatives:
That Thanksgiving I was 10 with a broken arm & Uncle Al was between wives. Sympathy over pie: "Broke mine during S-E-X."@GracieBingham

Our winner for October's theme Monster:
I track the muddy footprints from the cemetery to my front door. It seems my wife still knows the way home. @kristispin

Our winner for September’s theme What happened in school today?:
I had to write “I must not be vociferous” on the blackboard 50 times. I stopped at 10.@JKsSnazzyPants

Our winner for August's theme A dog's life:
We spend Sundays at the park, not because I need the exercise, but because he still thinks men meet women this way. @GMargaritax

Our winner for July's theme Torrid affair:
Say you felt like a movie. Playing uptown. Way uptown. Say it’s starting. Seem sad. Say it’s a shame he won’t make it. @jdschwartzman

Our winner for June's theme Water:
I pulled into the station to fill up. The flat screen flashed 6/30/23, Regular $1.29, Super $1.43, Water $9.35. @jklevy6

Our winner for May's theme A dangerous turn:
Had I gone right I'd have picked up my dry cleaning and gone home to Indian takeout. I went left and found his knife.@Vale1217

Our winner for April's theme Encounter in the rain:
His $50 umbrella protects me from the pouring rain while I try to open my $5 umbrella. That's how I met Gregory Hines.@Paula65writer

Our winner for March's theme Tall tale:
The excitement of learning she was taller than she thought soon deflated when she realized the extra inch was her shoes.@Pamsmanley

Our winner for February's theme Through a window:
Staring straight ahead, I see his thumb raise. I reciprocate. It is the only way he knows I'm alive inside this ambulance.@Abranyc

Our winner for January's theme Tough choice:
Biology textbook in her lap, she sits alone in the clinic waiting room chanting softly, "It's only an embryo, only an..." @ReneeRHD

Our winner for December's theme Someone you recently met:
Ran into each other at intermission. His aftershave hit me harder than an arms race. Decided to make up our own 3rd act. @geheimsness

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  • Entry must be original and unpublished.
  • Entries will be judged on originality, quality, spelling, and grammar.
  • Gotham will post the winning entry at GothamWriters.com
  • Winner receives a free Gotham class of their choosing, excluding any premium classes (Zoetrope Fiction, Business Writing, Level III)