Prizes

First place: $1,000

Second place: $500

Third place: $250

Dates to know

September 11: Submissions open

September 17, 11:59 PM EST: Submissions closed

September 22: Winners announced

About this Challenge

Through thick and thin, your best friend always has your back, and you can always count on them. Friends who are near and dear can be hard to come by and we think best friends deserve some extra love and appreciation!

For this week's challenge, let's thank our ride-or-dies. Write an open letter to your best friend thanking them for always being there for you and being a light in your life. Use the opportunity to show some gratitude for their friendship—what they mean to you, why they're so special, and why you'll always be besties.

Requirements

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until September 17, 2020, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Best Friends Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.