Write a story in which a character navigates using the stars.

Posted in Adventure on Apr 5, 2024

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✍️ 24 stories

“Dippers” by Claressa Slaughter

Submitted to Contest #245

Jamie regularly climbed out of her window, but never ventured beyond the porch roof. Her parents were light sleepers, and they would notice her absence within a few hours. But even if that weren’t the issue, where would she go? She wasn’t dating anyone, or at the very least, no one was interested in her enough to show up in the middle of the night to woo her down from the ficus tree and none of her friends lived close enough to prompt spontaneous frivolity.She lowered her supplies out of her window in a beach towel before lowering herself. T...

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“Starstrider” by Daniel Kleba

Submitted to Contest #245

-Transmission Incoming- Log: 2598 A.D. Skipper: Iris Lenox Coordinates: Orion System Blue I’m not sure where to begin. This is pretty huge. We’ve kept this stuff secret for years it feels weird to just broadcast it now. I’ll start with my story, I guess? They say it ‘humanizes’ me. Which is a very robotic way to put it, ironically enough. I don’t want to stare at a screen the whole time so I’m going to talk to Winston here. He’s my snake. Yes, we get to have pets. The onboard life support is top-notch, the military's best. Although the toile...

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“Battle Blue” by Laura Thompson

Submitted to Contest #245

Laura Thompson Approx. 1,050 words237 Ogden CynOgden, UT 84401(801) 690-5837laurakthompson1300@gmail.com BATTLE BLUEbyLaura Thompson The ship pulled slightly to the right as a gentle wind caught her sails and nudged the Ulfich closer to the shoreline. The wolf’s head on her bow bobbed with the waves, its open mouth appearing to howl with the wind. Thorsten shouted over the sound of the sloshing waves, “Men, ready the ship for landing!” This prompted a flurry of activity as sailors ran to the bow and the ...

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“The Colour of Stars” by Noel Morrison

Submitted to Contest #245

The night sky unfolded above the calm waters, a canvas dotted with twinkling stars. Among the crew of the merchant vessel Seapearl, flowed an air of ease as they sailed, their destination the bustling ports of the southern continent. Amidst the chatter and laughter of the sailors, one figure sat quietly on the deck, his gaze fixated upon the celestial display above.The man of curly mess for hair, took out a wooden box, and just like the ship smoothly glided over the ocean, so had his hands gracefully flipped this box open, revealing a set of...

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“A Day at the Dog Park” by Stacey Cooper

Submitted to Contest #245

A woman spends the day at a dog park with her dog. It’s a large dog park with a number of different trails. There are leashed and unleashed areas. It is located outside the city and is a popular destination for people to visit with their dogs. At the bottom of the park, there are trails that circle around the dog areas for small dogs and trails that circle around the dog areas for larger dogs. The park also has more rugged trails that span into the depths of the park providing a great place for pet owners and their ...

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“Always Nothing and Always Darkness” by Hailey Chan

Submitted to Contest #245

The thirtieth flame of the northeast. Fifty days and counting. Gone and guttered out. I continue to row. A coldness spreads over my skeleton of tissues, its veins branching and connecting and wrapping. It’s been a month and twenty days since I touched the oars, but the anchored tempo, its steady rhythm of fluid swish and swash, feels almost like second nature — a slicing all around me, wagging mottled shells and letters, billows sweeping over the shrouded mist and stars. These patterns are the true comfort, a hindrance in a state of utter da...

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“The helmsman and the astrologer” by Edoardo Garavaglia

Submitted to Contest #245

The gentle crackling of the sand was the only audible sound keeping company to the helmsman after all the crewmembers went searching for shelter in the lower deck.Only a lone dwarf, hand on the helm and mind lost somewhere on the horizon, would have been held responsible for any issue arisen over the night, apart from a man and a woman whispering pleasant words to the dice in a pathetic attempt of stealing the salary of the others.Their muffled voices were nothing but a mutter for the stoic veteran, fully absorbed by the act of handle the bo...

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“You are going the wrong way” by George Wallace

Submitted to Contest #245

The ship is sailing in the North Atlantic, it is getting close to Greenland on its way across the Atlantic to Canada to go into the Great Lakes. Our captain is an old sea dog, Marshall Blake, who has been around for donkey’s years, and thinks he knows everything. But this is not always the case, some of these up-and-coming young pups as he likes to call them know more that he does already. But he will never admit it. Who am I? I am the ship’s head cook; I have served under Captain Blake for fourteen years. Even although he has made very...

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“Starry Vigil” by Ava Morgan

Submitted to Contest #245

It’s been four years. 48 months, 208 weeks, and 1,460 days. It feels like I’ve hit a milestone that with each passing day, wrenches my heart and slowly begins to rip it in half. It’s been four years without her smile, without her laughter, without that gleam in her eyes that lit up a room brighter than any star could. Four years and I miss the storyteller she was, laying down next to me, without a book, but instead she spoke words poured directly from her heart. I miss the adventurer she was, the way each night, she took...

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Write a story in which a character navigates using the stars.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 24 stories

“Dippers” by Claressa Slaughter

“Starstrider” by Daniel Kleba

“Battle Blue” by Laura Thompson

“The Colour of Stars” by Noel Morrison

“A Day at the Dog Park” by Stacey Cooper

“Always Nothing and Always Darkness” by Hailey Chan

“The helmsman and the astrologer” by Edoardo Garavaglia

“You are going the wrong way” by George Wallace

“Starry Vigil” by Ava Morgan

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story during a total eclipse — either natural, or man-made.

Imagine an origin myth that somebody might use to explain an eclipse, or some other celestial event.

People have gathered to witness a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon, but what happens next is not what they expected.

Set your story in a world where astrology and the movements of celestial bodies deeply impact the lives of inhabitants.

Contest #245

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

224

Contest entries

89

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: