Menu

Prompts
DirectoryContestsMagazineFAQ
Stories
Studio
Apps

Hire professionals for your project

Advice, insights and news

Online publishing courses

Free publishing webinars

Launch your book in style

Bestseller PodcastBook Cover ArtSuccess Stories
Tools
Book Promotion SitesBook Review BlogsBooktube Channel GuideBook Title GeneratorCharacter Name GeneratorIndependent PublishersLiterary AgentsLiterary MagazinesPen Name GeneratorPlot GeneratorPublishers DirectoryShort Story IdeasWriting ContestsWriting ExercisesWriting Scholarships
Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Start your story with two characters watching a sunrise and end it with one of them seeing the moon reflecting off a lake.

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 301 stories

Silence

Winner of Contest #68 🏆

The orange sun peeked from behind the empty hills and found two sets of furrowed brows. On the driver seat, Michael lowered the sun visor, and his frown dissolved. On the passenger seat, his son did the same, and his frown didn’t move. Kevin’s eyes were lost beyond the hills, his arms crossed, his hands fiddling with the cord of the headphones. “I hate this time of day,” Michael said. There was no response from the passenger seat. The orange hangover sun was flooding the dashboard. The hills came and went lazily on the horizon. They said hi ...

355 likes 176 comments 176
Read story

With the Moon

Submitted to Contest #68

Trigger warning: murder, mental illness, drowning***I sigh with content as I watch the sunrise, filling the darkness of the world with its light. The fiery red slowly turns into orange, then a bright yellow. The rays hit my body, and the sudden warmth makes me shiver. I close my eyes, and my long, black hair spreads out on the grassy hill below me. Lifting my head, I look forward groggily.I study the sun’s reflection in the lake, a blend of colors making art.“The view is nice, isn’t it?” Alice giggles beside me. I squeeze her cheek...

112 likes 743 comments 743
Read story

Frozen in Time

Submitted to Contest #68

Time stands still, lurking on the edges of our sanctuary. A thief, churning with waves of jealousy unable to be contained. I grimace. Not a single morning goes by without unwanted thoughts plaguing my mind and leaving my malnourished frame shaking with despair. Your small hand finds its way to mine, and I resist the urge to smile. Of course, you would know. You understood better than most, despite your youth. Time has not been merciful to you either, has it? I hold you close under the protective branches of the weeping cherry tree overhead ...

102 likes 200 comments 200
Read story

Innocence Lost

Submitted to Contest #68

5:00 a.m. — Lauds or Dawn Prayer“St. Benedict had too many rules for the clergy,” he said, rolling over in her big wide bed. “Awakening at this ungodly hour was probably the most demonic,” he sighed and burrowed back into the crisp, white sheets, cool in the morning air. The sheets had been sun-dried the day before and still smelled of early spring and youth and possibilities. He suddenly arose and threw open the blinds to let the insistent rays of dawn wash over him. “Please, it is cold—” she protested, raised an arm to cover her ...

92 likes 43 comments 43
Read story

Too Perfect To Paint (Part 3)

Submitted to Contest #68

Kara stumbled through the grass, a blindfold masking her eyes, her arms outstretched like a zombie.  “Henry, where are you taking me?” Kara asked the person who hopefully was preventing her from crashing into a tree.  “Don’t worry, we’re almost there!” Henry assured her while ushering her slightly to the right as she took small steps forward.  “We’d better be,” Kara grumbled. She had to wake up at 4 o’clock that morning for a special event Henry wanted to show her. They’d been walking for what seemed like hours, and on occa...

83 likes 266 comments 266
Read story

The Sun and the Moon

Submitted to Contest #68

I yawn loudly, not even trying to suppress it. Aunt Lucinda looks at me with mock anger, only for a second. Her familiar smile comes back on her face, the ends of her mouth curving upwards, and the area around her hazel eyes crinkling. The grass under me is still wet after yesterday’s downpour. If it had been up to Mother, she would have locked me inside, telling me that I would get sick. But I am at Aunt Lucinda’s for the weekend. Which means that I can do everything that is considered illegal in my own house, with Aunt leading the ...

67 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

You're Alright.

Submitted to Contest #68

“Ciana, what’s going through your mind right now? As we watch this beautiful sunrise, what thoughts run through your head?” Fiadh was sitting on his haunches, staring as the red-orange sun slowly rose in the sky.“I’m just thinking about how much I enjoy being here with my mate, not a care in the den.” Ciana turned to look at Fiadh. He swiveled his head to look at his beautiful silver-furred companion and barked softly, in joy. Ciana stared into his deep, blue eyes, then pressed her nose up against hers.Now the sun was displaying its beauty, ...

66 likes 93 comments 93
Read story

Sweet, Sweet Arizona

Submitted to Contest #68

The glowing ball of a sun began to creep up the sky. The top of the sky was a medium lavender, and the bottom was orange with the sun’s light. The warming rays washed over the red rocks of Arizona, brightening the land, and striking a conversation with my best friend, Alexa. We were sitting on a rocky ledge, looking out to the vastness of the rocks, with the bustling city of Phoenix in the distance. We had been sitting there for a good 2 hours, just thinking. I was mindlessly gazing at the city that seemed so far away when Alexa tu...

65 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

That Won't Happen... Right?

. .

Submitted to Contest #68

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I could hear her murmur, as we nestled into each other. The sunset, reflecting on the water, blazing down on us with motherly warmth. I loved the sunset. It was beautiful and entrancing, but I knew I wouldn't be able to be here with her again. Soon, I would have to leave. We would all have to leave, to never see each other again. I hated the thought of being away from her, but I hated the thought of dying at the hands of the Green Plague even more. I caressed her hair, wrapping my arms around her as if I would nev...

64 likes 88 comments 88
Read story

Banished

Submitted to Contest #68

The sunlight streamed in the translucent windows, flooding the small office with light. No matter how much the world has changed, the sun has always been there. Never failing to rise every morning and look out for them. “The island is full, sir,” reported an officer standing in the doorway. He wore a solemn look on his face, already mourning those who wouldn’t be saved. The elderly man he was addressing sat behind a wooden desk covered with maps and charts full of information about Earth’s population. He continued to study them, even thoug...

61 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

Sunrises and Sunsets

Submitted to Contest #68

Did I ever tell you that I love writing sunsets? Ever since I started dabbling in writing, I was ever so intrigued with the way the sky turned from blue to orange, rolling through with red – I loved to add the description ‘specked with gold’. My best friend wrote a poem called ‘Sunsets With Apollo and Artemis’ because we are obsessed with Greek mythology. It is an entail of the beauty of sunsets. concerning sunsets. apollo dipped beneath the mountains and artemis rose in the night. their meeting seemed to cause some magic that wove co...

60 likes 80 comments 80
Read story

The Shiny Seashell

Submitted to Contest #68

I am a planner. I try to plan for every and all possibilities. Saved in the pictures app of my phone, I had exactly 37 schedules and lists of what to do when something goes wrong, or just what I should do on a normal day. It was a foolproof system. Every single possibility that could happen was somewhere in the lists, I promise you. But even I, Madi Anderson, a great planner, could not prepare for what happened this camping trip. ------------- “I wish we could do this every day,” my best friend, M...

57 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Light Yearning

Submitted to Contest #68

13/06/2096--Hey, sweet pea. Just got your message.Not sure if you’re being genuine about what a sunrise looks like from space or trying to make me jealous (if you were, you’ll be pleased to know it wasn’t in vain), but it almost makes me want to get enlisted as well. So, the sun’s white up there but yellow down here because the Earth’s atmosphere filters out the other colors? Yes, I know that’s a shameless regurgitation of what you said, but I’m not the one with a degree, or on a military base orbiting the planet.Anyway, I’ve been keeping ou...

55 likes 164 comments 164
Read story

The Beautiful Sight

Submitted to Contest #68

Title: The Beautiful SightAuthor: By HaripriyaAuthors Note: This story was a little bit more laid back, because it took me a very short time to write this. Anyways, I hope you all have a great Friday and a good weekend!"Wow..." I looked up, amazed at the gorgeous scenery. I couldn't utter a word. But, I saw my little sister looking up with fascination too. But, no one could blame her... outside looked amazing. Gorgeous shades and different gradients of yellow, red, orange, and other vibrant hues painted in the morning-sunshine sky. Oh!...

52 likes 47 comments 47
Read story

All Bark, No Bite

Submitted to Contest #68

Standing atop a grassy hill, I look eastward. The sky is still dark and the day is just beginning. By my side, loyal Ozzie watches the terrain around us, warily. Suddenly, the first rays of light break over the horizon. The sun is finally rising. I look to Ozzie and nod. Instantly, we both explode from a standstill and race down the hill. “CHAAAAARGE!” I howl, and my soldiers waiting at the bottom jump to their feet. As Ozzie and I pass them, they fall into step beside and run with us. Today is the day. With a rousing war cry, I lead my tr...

50 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone admitting a secret and end it with someone telling a lie.

Dramatic – 180 stories

Start your story with someone robbing a bank and end it with two people driving on an interstate.

Dramatic – 86 stories

Start your story with the line, “This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives,” and end it with, “By then it was too late.”

Sad – 130 stories

Start your story with the line, “It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same,” and end it with, “[…] and that was all that mattered.”

Adults – 177 stories

How to Write a Novel

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

How to Write a Novel