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Write a story about friends taking a road trip they've been planning for years.

Posted in Adventure on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 22 stories

Gone West

Winner of Contest #6 🏆

I call him under the awning of the café that opened on the corner of our street last year. The rain is warm and falls straight, as though from a watering can over an urbanized little garden, and I stand in my own sweat and dial with numb fingers. “Hello?” He sounds sluggish, barely awake.  “Teddy? It’s – uh,” I pause because it’s been months, and he might have lost my number, forgotten me in a list that includes an Alex T, an Alex O, an Alex M; maybe I had even been deleted, I think despairingly, written off as a lost cause – “Alex? Hol...

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The Egg

Shortlisted for Contest #6 ⭐️

Carrie’s car feels lopsided. I lean uncomfortably against the passenger door and don’t mention it. When I had asked if she had a flat tyre, she snapped at me. Her view out of the rear window is obscured by our cases and bags jammed in the boot and it’s putting her in a foul temper. Every so often, when we pull up at a junction, she’ll mutter morbidly that there could be absolutely anything behind us, she can’t see a thing. I’ve decided that it’s best to stay quiet and just point the way to Louca’s house.“God, this is uncomfortable.” Louca co...

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Dust on the Waves

Shortlisted for Contest #6 ⭐️

The summer of 1935, like many before it, had been hot and dry. Dust storms were common, some worse than others, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. A bead of sweat trickled down a young girl’s cheek and she wiped the sleeve of her dress across her face. It left a streak of brown on the material. The dress she wore had at one time been a beautiful cornflower blue color. Years of frequent wear and washing by four previous owners had left it threadbare and so faded that it had become light grey. Sh...

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Saying Goodbye to Glenda

Submitted to Contest #6

SAYING GOODBYE TO GLENDAWe set off far earlier than we needed to, especially as we had agreed to spread the journey over a couple of days. I’m not sure why. Perhaps you just do. Perhaps journeys like that don’t have their proper significance and go through their proper rituals unless they are started at a time when most people aren’t awake (though probably far more are than you imagined).     We rose and drank mugs of coffee while they were far too hot with no real need for such haste while we half-wat...

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Whose Europe?

Submitted to Contest #6

“This is going to be amazing!” “I know right! Can you can believe, after all this time, we’re actually going to do this?” “Yeah.” “Oh come on Kate, stop killing the mood. This is gonna be great!” In her seat at the back Kate rolled her eyes, though neither of the others were paying enough attention to notice. Melissa was fixing her make-up in the flip-down mirror, and Amanda was going through her iPod and picking tunes. “Yeah Kate, come on. We’ve been planning this for ages.” No, Kate thought. I’ve been planning this for ages. Can you even r...

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Invitation To Reminisce

Submitted to Contest #6

"Where is my breakfast?" Mukul said, eyes focussed on his laptop. Aisha shoved a plate of eggs in front of him and rushed back into the kitchen.“And why isn’t this TV remote working? The batteries seem drained. Give me the new ones.” he said.“They are right there, in the drawer.”“Yeah, so give them to me. I am busy here.”Aisha raced past him to the cabinet, pulled out the batteries from the drawer, dropped it besides the laptop and then raced back, wiping her sweaty brow with the back of her hand. The house was filled with monotonous ramblin...

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Road Trip Hell

Submitted to Contest #6

The radio isn’t working. This isn’t the first time. This road trip is hell. Figuratively. I know I’m not actually in Hell. It doesn’t matter how much the scenery might resemble what I imagine Hell could look like. I know, because I’m not dead. Not yet. But if a road trip could kill you, this would be it. I glance at barren fields and leafless trees jutting all over outside my car window. Everything here looks dead. It’s looked dead for the past few days. “Whose idea was this trip?” I vent. Everybody is quiet. They know I don’t really need an...

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Call 911

Submitted to Contest #6

“Anna! Where did you but my toothbrush?” “Eric, where’s the cooler? The blue one with your name on it?” “TJ, in the car! Now!” So many people shouting, their voices filled with excitement as Eric, Anna, Zane, and I pile into Zane’s blue SUV. Anna takes the passenger seat, Zane is driving, and Eric and I are in the back. After graduating from high school, the four of us decided to finally take the road trip we’d been planning since 6th grade; from our boring town in Kansas to Florida. It was the third week of summer and we were fina...

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Dream Trip

Submitted to Contest #6

It was still six in the morning when me and Crystal finally got inside Dan's red pickup. It was old and scratched all the way from the headlights to the backseat doors, a little incident result of a cheating indicent that Dan swore to God he wasn't part of, the same way he swore to us he could still drive that old thing. And the same way his ex girlfriend didn't believe him, we couldn't believe ourselves when we accepted to ride that."Oh come on, I've told you already," Dan said as he turned the keys confidently, stepping on the accelerator ...

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Underlands

Submitted to Contest #6

“Ugh, I can’t wait til we pick up Sara and Billy,” Mary says in her most earnest voice. I try not to be offended every time Mary brings this up.  You see, we’re on a road trip, but not just any road trip. This is THE road trip to end all road trips to a place not even on a map—except for the underground one I got from some junkie who had no idea what he had. It’s both a relic and a compass for the few real adventurers left in the world like myself. I say, “epic,” but now the trip feels like a game of Monopoly, threatening to end the fri...

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Along the Coast Road

Submitted to Contest #6

  In the spring of 1998, my best friend and I set up a trip to drive the pacific coast highway. Jay lived in a small town in Illinois, and I am in Las Vegas, Nevada. It took a few weeks to set up the trip. Jay flew into town on a Friday night; I went to the airport to pick him up. I had bought a new Jeep Wrangler; this was to be our ride on this trip. As he picked up his luggage, we talked about what we would need for this adventure. Where is the old truck he asked? Walking to the parking garage, over there, I said, pointing t...

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9/11

Submitted to Contest #6

        I throw myself on the couch. After a long day of work, this is my preferred method of relaxing. I let myself sink into the cushions, letting the soft stuffing of a mattress soak up all my aches.    I groan as the phone begins to ring. I get up slowly, stomping over to the receiver.   “Yes?”    “Sarah, this is Danielle. Just checking to make sure you’re ready for tomorrow’s trip.”    “I told you, I have a very important conference tomo...

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We will always have Atlanta

Submitted to Contest #6

I rested my head against the window, quietly staring at the moving landscape and hearing the soft roar of the engine, the classical music coming from the radio and his loud angry stare at the road, only audible to me as I appeared to be the cause of his irritation. He kept his chin up, fearing to give off the illusion of weakness if only he tilted down the tiniest bit. I mocked him on the outside, deeply saddened on the inside.It took me 50 miles of driving in silence to finally speak up. Last time I did worked so well, except it didn't; tha...

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Looking for an Adventure

Submitted to Contest #6

It was nearly midnight when Carmella switched off the radio. “I’ve had just about enough of this shit” she wailed. “How the hell did we get so lost?!” I sighed, knowing she’d take a moment to calm down. I gazed down the dark empty road ahead, gripping the steering wheel. It’s better not to answer Carmella’s questions when she gets like this, I’ve learned the hard way she isn’t usually looking for a response. “This wasn’t the way this was supposed to go” she said sadly. “I know, I know” I reassured her, “but lots of great ...

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Be Adventurous

Submitted to Contest #6

“We should probably turn around and go home,” said my friend. Her tired eyes meet mine across the van seats.  Her normally blond hair is a greasy light brown.My own hair is probably a greasy brown with plant parts in it. We both stink.  I want to keep on. “We’re at the bottom of a hill,” I said. “Turning around might be a little bit tough right now. A few mishaps can’t cancel our fun.”  She groans and shifts herself in the van chair.“Or what will be fun,” I said from my spot on the hard carpet of the van floor.  ...

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