Write a post-apocalyptic story triggered by climate change.

Posted in Adults on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 134 stories

“Settlement 24” by Grace Jarvis

Submitted to Contest #60

Settlement 24 once had a different name and a different location. To the east of its current position the top few floors of a tower block could be seen at low tide; a reminder that a town had been there before the rise in sea level had swamped it. The view reminded Professor Jolami Henderson that many of her students had no idea what the world, or even their small part of it, used to be like. This was not their fault; they are too young to have known. She was there to teach a lucky few of them; the mistakes of the past must not be re...

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“Day Zero” by Megan Walsh

Submitted to Contest #60

Ramona unwraps a piece of gum and places it on her tongue. Her fingers leave brown ovals on the inner liner of the wrapper which she notices for a second before discarding it back in her pocket. Ray lays on the rock across from her, panting like a tired old dog. In five minutes they’ll have to get back in the golf cart and pick up feces from the bison, then the bears. But for now, they enjoy the vanilla scent of ponderosa, the quiet of a sparse forest interrupted only by the caw of a wren. “Too hot,” Ray says. “Too dry,” Ramona answers. Th...

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“When will people learn?” by Clary Fray

Submitted to Contest #60

It started calm, it was barely 9 in the morning, the rustling of the trees was relaxing, the sky was filled with clouds resting against the blue blanket and flocks of birds flew over your head as you snuggle deeper against your pillow, basking in the warmth the day brought, your alarm clock never bothering you today, you could hear muffled voices coming from behind your door, and you could clearly hear your little sister squealing in delight when the theme song to her favorite cartoon started playing. Oh how great it would've been to...

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“A Place to Escape” by Lee Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #60

Relax and let me take you to a place that doesn’t exist. Close your eyes and listen. The building is of stone, ancient bricks once lovingly laid to create a cottage with a thatched roof, that has been both a home and a place of work. The gable ends are home to house martins in the summer and the gap where time has parted the slates from the timber allow bats to hide in the attic, to roost and to raise their young in safety. One level is enough. A large low-ceilinged timber clad room with a four-poster bed tucked in the corner, the kitchen...

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“The tale of what won't happen” by Katttie Smith

Submitted to Contest #60

And in the spring something strange began. Anya's grandmother, who had lived in the village all her life, told her that something had changed. Anya brushed aside all these conversations that, say, the birds no longer sing in that grove near the pond, which as a child inspired her incomprehensible longing. She didn't often hear birds singing in the city either, so should she worry about that now? It was only five years after these words from her grandmother, when there was no longer any grandmother, no birds, no understanding of how to live o...

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“New San Francisco” by Cameron Diiorio

Submitted to Contest #60

The year is 2040 and San Francisco is trapped beneath a dome from the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate. Dahlia and I are spread out on a picnic blanket, drinking coffee at a park. We have a wide view of the city. “How’s work?” I ask. I had to make a reservation to get through the checkpoint at the Golden Gate. This one I had to schedule three months in advance. Inside the clear glass, these people have found a way to survive. San Francisco is more alive than it’s ever been. When I first visited Dahlia at the dome, a month after s...

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“Guiding Light” by Mikki Licu

Submitted to Contest #60

This was the last place I had seen her. You have no idea how long I've tried to come back to her. The lengths I've gone to find a way. The sacrifices. The deaths. The deck rocks beneath my feet and blood still stains the corners of my fingernails. My cheek throbs with pain but as much as I want to press my hands on it, I know any other movement would result in another strike to my face. The thin shirt and pants useless against the crisp ocean wind biting at my skin. The air tastes more than just salt now. It carries the stench of rotting...

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“Eternal White” by Rac Relix

Submitted to Contest #60

“Think we’re gonna last another year?”My partner Arisa asked me with tired, almost soulless eyes.We’d just gone through the last of our food and water supply and finally had no choice but to go out again after nearly three months of staying hidden inside an underground bunker in an abandoned military outpost.“We’ll manage… somehow.” I answered, not knowing what else to say.If we didn’t make any moves to stock up for the coming days, it wasn’t hypothermia but starvation and thirst that was going to kill us. None of those were appealing option...

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“The Last Sparrow” by Derek Bunce

Submitted to Contest #60

The brown earth underneath their boots was the embodiment of boredom. It was as though Mother Earth had run out of colour and could only paint the landscape in dull greys and browns. Green fields that had once stretched in every direction were no more than memories and the rivers were now polluted muddy trenches. As Norman walked, he tried to explain to his grandson what life had once been like. Of course, the boy knew the stories about how the world had ignored warnings about climate change and how towns and cities had been replaced by agr...

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“Tragic” by Sunny Skies

Submitted to Contest #60

Why am I here? “Your guardian didn’t tell you?” She doesn’t talk to me much, unless I talk first “Right, well, we’re here to talk about an important event that you’ve blocked out for a while,” I don’t know what you’re talking about “I understand that you don’t want to face these feeling and remember, but it’s a necessary part of our session” My parents died, if that’s what you’re referring to “How?” Car accident “Are you sure?” Yes, I’m sorry, what do you want to know? “I want you to tell me the truth about what you wer...

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“Fall of Venus” by Corbin O'Skinny

Submitted to Contest #60

“Start journal. Assigned parent #36,098,234,520 left me a message today. Humanity has killed off another planet and we’re moving again. I hate it. Months of risking our lives out in space. I can’t take another trip to another planet. Venus is fine and I’m staying here on Cloud City. Mars was fine before we blew it up. I never knew Earth, but I bet it was fine too before it overheated.” Killian kicked his robotic hover-dog. It sprung to life, out of sleep mode, fake-barking, and looking to play. “Go chase the cat.” A smaller shiny toy went ...

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“The Shaman” by Felicity Edwards

Submitted to Contest #60

The embers of the fire were still incandescent. Everyone had gone to bed, but he sat immobile, staring into the fire. Watching as small shadows of flames danced up and down the hearth. Soon, he knew, the spirits would talk to him. Soon they would allow him to glimpse the future, not as a fully formed image, that was not their way, but as shards. Never a coherent picture, only flickers, all jumbled up like a nightmare. His work was to interpret these fleeting images, to gain an insight into what lay ahead for his people. Now there...

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“How the World Ends” by Eleanor Grayson

Submitted to Contest #60

Everyone who thought the world would end in fire was right. Red, gold, orange burned on the horizon everywhere in the beginning. From coast to coast, north to south, people wandered along abandoned and cracked highways littered with rusting cars and spoiling humans. Sometimes, if they were too close to the fires, the air would burn through their clothes, burning their flesh, and their blood would boil in their veins, liquifying them from the inside out. In the beginning, it was so hot that all lips were cracked and white with dead, atro...

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“Flames Arising ” by Mackenzie Hebner

Submitted to Contest #60

Flames Arising By: Mackenzie Hebner Flames had been arising. The colors of the sun tainted into scorched humanity. We should have seen it coming, but curled up in our beds, books to our noses, glasses to our eyes, cocoa in our hands, and covers on our frail bodies, we didn’t see the world outside our window. We didn’t see the comforts we knew were slipping away. But just because we didn’t see, doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be, for it was, and it did. Flames had been arising for years. Each cycle of days bringing about...

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Write a post-apocalyptic story triggered by climate change.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 134 stories

“Settlement 24” by Grace Jarvis

“Day Zero” by Megan Walsh

“When will people learn?” by Clary Fray

“A Place to Escape” by Lee Montgomery

“The tale of what won't happen” by Katttie Smith

“New San Francisco” by Cameron Diiorio

“Guiding Light” by Mikki Licu

“Eternal White” by Rac Relix

“The Last Sparrow” by Derek Bunce

“Tragic” by Sunny Skies

“Fall of Venus” by Corbin O'Skinny

“The Shaman” by Felicity Edwards

“How the World Ends” by Eleanor Grayson

“Flames Arising ” by Mackenzie Hebner

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a funny post-apocalyptic story.

Write a post-apocalyptic story that features zombies.

Write a post-apocalyptic thriller.

Write a post-apocalyptic romance.

Contest #60

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

762

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: