Set your story on a sailboat, large or small, and entirely at the mercy of the winds.

Posted in Adventure on Mar 1, 2024

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✍️ 31 stories

“Received Pronunciation” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #240

The squall came out of nowhere. No warning, no forecast from the radio weather stations. Just a full-on headwind smashing waves against Roger Sailstrom’s face, who desperately clung onto the tiller of his small boat in the middle of a raging storm sweeping across the Atlantic Ocean. “Is that the best you can do?” He half-heartedly screamed at the elements through the increasing roar of wind bearing down on his position. “Well, I can take anything you dish out, because I have nothing to live for! Do you hear me? Nothing to live for!” His over...

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“Mariner of Innsmouth ” by Nicholas Thomas

Submitted to Contest #240

I write this now from a hospital bed not far from my hometown. Though I am labeled delirious and force-fed medications whose names I cannot pronounce, do not believe that this testament is anything other than truth.It was two days ago, several miles away from the outer shelf reefs from the coast, when I was aboard a sailboat that drifted seemingly aimlessly over the waves. As the setting sun reflected its vibrant hue on the lapping crests, I, the schooner’s sole passenger leaned against a railing as I star...

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“The Odyssey” by Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #240

As the sea tosses the Odyssey between its mountainous waves like a ping-pong ball, it's all I can do to keep one hand on the rudder. She's in bad shape, and I'm not much better. Ugly purple-blue bruises stain my arms and sides from the amount of times I've been thrown against the edge of the boat. With wind stinging my face in its spiteful embrace, and rain blurring my vision like tears, I can hardly see a foot in front of me. Although it wouldn't be much if I could; the whole ocean from the waves in front of the Odyssey to the horizon is fr...

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“Fear of Drowning ” by C.N. Jung

Submitted to Contest #240

When he was just six years old, Nick Hall landed in foster care. His mom, addicted to her drugs more than to her son, couldn't be his anchor. His dad? He vanished the moment he learned he'd be a father, leaving Nick to face the world solo from day one. Nick grew up fast, figuring out ways to take care of himself, like dragging chairs to grab food from atop the counter and getting himself ready for school—all on his own. His mom, lost in a drug haze, missed his first morning of first grade. So, Nick, determined and a little excited, dec...

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“Rough Sailing ” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #240

Nan looked toward the west again, where the clouds seemed to be growing an even darker shade of grey. The waves had picked up too, hitting the side of the small sailboat and splashing over the coaming as it slid down into the waves. “Don’t you think?” she asked. “No, I don’t think, and I wish to hell you’d let me handle this. Unless you want to be the captain!” Harrison pushed the tiller towards her, hard in...

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“Funayūrei” by Sofia Fleming

Submitted to Contest #240

Orders are shouted forth from the helm and echo across the deck. The ship’s anchor is dragged up, the ropes are cast off, and the boat’s large sails fall and quickly fill with soft winds. Soon enough, the open waters engulf us and the coast of steady land is left behind. We sail for hours, setting off flares to light up the night. Sometimes, I hear the shouts of gulls and albatrosses, but the seas that surround us are empty. It’s just an endless void of water, but there’s always a nagging feeling that there’s something lurking just out of si...

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“The Sea Beneath the Stars” by Chloe Gutjahr

Submitted to Contest #240

Orion was ten years old the first time he went sailing. For years, he had asked his father to take him with him, and for years, his father had said no. It was too dangerous for a little boy. Even the day-long fishing excursions weren’t suitable. It wasn’t until the tenth anniversary of his birth that his father finally said yes. It would be a simple overnight of fishing and leisure on the ocean with his father’s friends, but to Orion, it felt like the dawn of a new world. He was finally enough of a man to learn to sail. That was more than en...

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“For the Greater Good” by Patrick Boey

Submitted to Contest #240

“Forward! Onward! Take the bastard head on!” The struggling ship burst through the dark crest of a wave several masts high, then plunged in a downward heave. For a moment, gravity seemed to leave the Yggdrasil and the crew leaned backwards to prevent the great vessel from tipping over, and then the ship crashed upon the narrow wavelength, before it began to rise up towards the peak of the next monstrous wave. The storm had endured three days and nights, each sunset threatening to bring more formidable towering waves, ceaseless in their...

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“The Best Dinghy In the World” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #240

It started with buying a boat that was sunk. I had saved up the money to buy a boat and was wandering around a boat sales place when I saw the upturned stern of a small sloop. I could tell is was a sloop by the mast partially angled out of the water. The cabin was completely submerged but the rounded stern was beautiful with the rudder giving little jerks with the falling tide movements. I ran back to the office and told them about the sloop. They hadn’t been out on the dock that morning and hadn’t seen that the boat had sunk.That’s how it s...

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“Ted's 'Robber Gull'” by Leslie Kirc

Submitted to Contest #240

This story is about a teenager. Today it would be unheard of to let a boy of fifteen to take a boat out for an extended trip of four or five days in the open ocean. Ted sailed past a small Island about late morning. It seemed deserted with its cliffs plunging into the sea. He counted three kinds of birds all nesting in the cliffs. He lashed his ruder and went below to get some fried fish and potatoes. He came up on deck and saw a sea gull. He throws small pieces of fish up for the gull to catch. It soon turned into a flock of gulls. He had a...

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“Sticks and Twine” by Veronica Packwood

Submitted to Contest #240

It was a balmy midmorning on the cusp of spring and summer, the air smelling of magnolia wood and blooming jasmine, and Yelena was sweating. Her pale arms were starting to redden from the light sun, and she kept having to pull her skirt, sticky with sweat and river water, away from her knees. The warm months in the nation of Xinzihua were unfamiliar, her body having long acclimated to the permafrost of her home country, forcing her to spend the first two summers of her new life cooped up in a dark room with a cold drink in reach. When s...

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“Vicissitude” by Sue Hunter

Submitted to Contest #240

The air on the vessel is thick; with each breath, the heat of the sea invades the lungs and taints the ridges of the throat. A woman, too young to be a child but too old to be beautiful, sits at the bow of the fishing boat, her feet nestled underneath her splintered seat. Behind her, struggling to stand against the vicious coastal air, a man pulls at two ropes connected to the boat’s sail. It’s patchy and discolored from years at sea. With each gust of wind, the yellowing fabric undulates, pulsating feverishly. The woman grips the boat's si...

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“The Voyage” by Thomas Caampbell

Submitted to Contest #240

A sharp wind was whipping the sail smartly against my face as I hung on to the spar for dear life, and life and death it was. I was shaking with fear, wondering what I, Thomas Anderson was doing 60 feet above the deck of the Phoebe and not clerking in a staid London bank but more importantly, I was wondering how I was going to get down from there. The captain, a brute of a man named Amos Dynever, had forbidden any of the crew to climb up and help me so all the men could do was watch and see if a green 17 year old boy would make it down on hi...

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“The Blue Horizon” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #240

Christian Jones felt a breeze on his arm and almost jumped out of his skin.Was it a dream? He rubbed his shoulder against his cheek, and felt the dry sandpaper of a five-day stubble, skin burnt by the sun. The deep blue ocean surrounding their small boat had been playing tricks with his mind, mirages of land, and what did those looks from Rafe mean?Again, a gentle movement on his skin, and he leapt up.“Rafe! Captain Rafe, a breeze!” Christian turned to look at the mainsail, eager for it to fill with wind, to pull them out of the ho...

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“The Wind Whispers” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #240

Baltasan is relaxing on the porch swing of his white cottage that overlooks Madeira Bay. He was born on Madeira Island and has lived his whole life by the sea. Ever since Baltasan was twelve, he had worked on commercial fishing boats. He retired thirteen years ago. He didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice. The company was moving to the mainland. So now he sits staring out at the ocean he loves so much. At eighty-three, Baltasan’s face shows the wear and tear of life at sea. His skin is wind-burn...

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Set your story on a sailboat, large or small, and entirely at the mercy of the winds.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 31 stories

“Received Pronunciation” by Chris Campbell

“Mariner of Innsmouth ” by Nicholas Thomas

“The Odyssey” by Khadija S. Mohammad

“Fear of Drowning ” by C.N. Jung

“Rough Sailing ” by David Ader

“Funayūrei” by Sofia Fleming

“The Sea Beneath the Stars” by Chloe Gutjahr

“For the Greater Good” by Patrick Boey

“The Best Dinghy In the World” by H.e. Ross

“Ted's 'Robber Gull'” by Leslie Kirc

“Sticks and Twine” by Veronica Packwood

“Vicissitude” by Sue Hunter

“The Voyage” by Thomas Caampbell

“The Blue Horizon” by Marty B

“The Wind Whispers” by Ralph Aldrich

🌟 Similar prompts

Begin your story with the sensation of a breeze brushing against a character's skin.

A crumpled piece of paper holding an unexpected message is carried by the wind. Where did it come from, and where is it going?

Craft a story where a character finds themselves swept away by the wind, either physically or metaphorically.

Set your story in a lighthouse surrounded by powerful gale-force winds.

Contest #240

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

329

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: