Write about a character who’s climbing a mountain, whether internal, external, or both.

Posted in Adventure on Jan 13, 2023

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✍️ 59 stories

“Out of Place on the Appalachian Trail” by Aeris Walker

🏆 Winner of Contest #181

My backpack weighs 31 pounds, and it barely fit into the trunk of Jen and Steve’s Honda. I don’t think they believed I was actually going through with this until I called and asked for a ride up the mountain. Jen gave me that look, that pitying, tight-lipped smile, but she helped Steve and I load up my things, and then they bought me lunch before dropping me off at the trailhead. Jen cried, and Steve gave me a can of pepper spray and an awkward side hug. So here goes nothing. I’m at Springer Mountain, Georgia, with zero miles down and only ...

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“Mount Philbert” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #181

Mount Philbert was a mountain the same way Pluto wasn’t a planet. If you measured it from the summit, it clocked in at just under 300 metres high. If you measured from the big rock on the summit, it was 301.4 metres. Experts were divided, some screaming about how the rock wasn’t part of the hill and others howling that it had just broken off the mountain and that didn’t diminish it, but everyone agreed that Mount Philbert was the most forgettable of all the Rockies.But when Brent got out of his SUV and stared up at it, he gasped.Yolanda wadd...

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“It's Not A Literal Mountain...” by Helen Karas

Submitted to Contest #181

She knew she could do it. But she stayed still. She was going to do it. But she idled. She told herself she would. But she lay there, unmoving. Failure was upon her, around her, behind her. It consumed her grades and goals like a great black fog. But she knew no sun, no medication could destroy its dictatorship. She had to do something to save her future. But the only thing she could do was lay on her bed and sob. She knew she had the potential to complete the assigned work, but her own mind locked her in a straightjacket. It was a traitor...

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“It's not the mountains we conquer, but overselves” by Miss Maggie Maria

Submitted to Contest #181

It all started off with a whole lot of trauma, stress and grief; but it soon became happiness, joy and relief. It is funny beginning a story in a positive way when you are so use to the negativity. Your reality became a negative canopy that had just clouded your thoughts, your visions and your life. You think to yourself, is this how life is suppose to be? Is this what I have in store for me? What can I do to change my life? How can I conquer and climb these mountains? Those are all questions that I had asked myself again and again. It feels...

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“DON'T LOOK DOWN” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #181

I first learned of the avalanche upon my return from the two-hour hike it takes to reach the nearest forest from our house in Khumba. I had left early that morning for firewood. The basket strapped to my back was packed with as many branches and leaves as it could hold, and the length of the wood doubled my height, requiring of me both strength and balance. I had grown stronger this past year and could now manage close to double the weight I had carried the year before. The Sherpa are a proud people and I knew this ...

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“The Sunset Hike” by Erin Keagan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

“Take your meds, Pa” Felix said as he cleared the dinner dishes from the table. He pointed to the small medicine cup filled with pills of different shapes and sizes in front of the old man. Reluctantly and with shaky hands he brought the medicine cup to his mouth. “I put your pain pills in there too. You’re going to need them.” Pa froze and shot him a look of annoyance, “You know these make me sick” “I know,” he responded. “Take some of your Zofran too. It will help with the nausea” He opened a bottle and hande...

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“Love: The wicked game.” by Syed Mohammad Zahid

Submitted to Contest #181

Thirty years have passed, how can those days, those nights, when we first went to Lalazar, drift away from our memory? It still dwells in the deepest subconscious, like a fantasy. That vast meadow, with some fine hotels on the top of a mountain, was the center of delight for visitors. It was frequented by travelers in summer and invalided in winter. That was the end of February, so all hotels were deserted. We were the only guests ‌staying in a small cabin adjacent to the main building of a locked hotel. There had been some movement of...

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“The Climb of your Life” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #181

Rising up before you, the mountain dominates everything. Craggy outcrops interspersed with woods carve out of rolling green fields, reaching higher and higher, before thrusting into the sky. It is here that elements must collide: earth gives way to space and finite matter stretches into infinity. There are other peaks, a whole mountain range in fact, but this is the one you have set out to climb; and that summit, well it’s got your name on it.Quickly lacing on your boots, flinging a small rucksack on your back, you start off on the trail at ...

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“Mountain Rescue” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #181

“Here. Careful, it’s hot.”I take the soup in the green plastic cup, steam rising, blow on it, then use my camp spoon to skim the yellow broth off the top. In another day we’ll be out of soup, out of fuel, and down to nothing but four Clif Bars: one chocolate chip, two white chocolate macadamia nut, a peanut butter. I hate peanut butter. Until the rescue, I’m thinking maybe go with half a bar each day. There has to be a rescue.Phil and I are lying in our snow cave, and we have been, three days now. Body heat in the tight space keeps us warm, ...

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“Back Up” by Conrado Maher

Submitted to Contest #181

“Man, whose idea … was this? My feet are … burning. I’m tired. It’s 105 degrees. No clouds. We’re climbing this, … what? Mountain?”“Easy, Ray. Easy. Stop. … Catch your breath,” said Karl.Gasping for air, Ray went on, “We’re lugging … gallon jugs of water, and I am … losing … traction. … Loose rocks on … the … trail. This is nuts. Not … prepared for … this. Almost fell … a couple … of times already.”Karl had been following close behind. The two of them had been going up fast. He slowed down when he saw that Ray had stopped.Karl wal...

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“Eyes of Memory” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #181

A Halfling on the Stairs. A Guard Against the Sea. Names. Gammond Brandyford, a red-haired halfling of the Aevalorn Parishes, leaned wearily against the side of the cliff to catch his breath. He held out his oil lantern to peer over the edge of the stairs and saw nothing but a gaping void of darkness. “Guard rails!” he panted, placing the lantern on the stair beside him. His chest heaved. “It’s the least you dwarves could do!” “Bah! Rails be for children!” Vongur gruffly retorted. An amulet of a cranky dwarf’s head made from copper, silver, ...

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“The Woman in White” by Gerardo Noriega Rivero

Submitted to Contest #181

It all started with what was already customary on weekends for José María, Bárbara and their children, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews: One Sunday morning, a week before Christmas 1966, they phoned each other to go on a picnic, this time to some picturesque spot in the cedar and pine forests edging the old road from Mexico City to Cuernavaca, near Parres, the village that marks the highest point along the road. “Let’s see, Eloísa,” Bárbara said on the phone to her sister. “I’m bringing chicken broth; tuna fish and vegetables in aspic; ...

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“Everest Every Day” by Elisabeth Bridges

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

Opening your eyes in the morning is like making it to Base Camp. There’s been a long, cold trek through the night just to get here. You turn off your alarm and lay there in the darkness, testing your emotions like a bruise. No extraordinary pain; just the usual gray morning sludge. Maybe today won’t be so bad. The jeans on the floor aren’t too badly wrinkled. They might even be clean; you can’t remember. You tug them on and pull your hair into a bun, feeling the weight of consciousness settle across your shoulders like a pack. You’re begin...

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“Pine Valley Phoenix” by K. Z. Richards

Submitted to Contest #181

Dani stepped off the bus, and the early morning chill cut through her warmups like a knife through tissue paper. Goosebumps prickled across her skin, and her breath swirled in the glow of the floodlights that illuminated the empty race corrals. The sun still slept behind the Pine Valley mountains that lined the narrow canyon, hours away from rising, but thousands of runners had already gathered in the adjacent field, pacing, stretching, waiting. Their Mylar blankets glinted in the night, reflecting the dancing light of the fire pits they enc...

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“The Audition” by Kathryn Minicozzi

Submitted to Contest #181

Maria Tartaro paced back and forth, checking her watch and shifting the music she held in her tightly folded arms. She wondered if she looked all right, had put on just enough makeup, if her hair looked good, and if her black dress flattered her figure or made her look fat. For the twentieth time, she went over in her mind the words and music of the aria she was prepared to sing, this time in German instead of the aria’s original Italian. You had to sing in German when you auditioned for a provincial German opera theater.&nbsp...

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Title: Out of Place on the Appalachian Trail

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Write about a character who’s climbing a mountain, whether internal, external, or both.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 59 stories

“Out of Place on the Appalachian Trail” by Aeris Walker

“Mount Philbert” by Michał Przywara

“It's Not A Literal Mountain...” by Helen Karas

“It's not the mountains we conquer, but overselves” by Miss Maggie Maria

“DON'T LOOK DOWN” by Susan Catucci

“The Sunset Hike” by Erin Keagan

“Love: The wicked game.” by Syed Mohammad Zahid

“The Climb of your Life” by Rebecca Miles

“Mountain Rescue” by Jack Kimball

“Back Up” by Conrado Maher

“Eyes of Memory” by Russell Mickler

“The Woman in White” by Gerardo Noriega Rivero

“Everest Every Day” by Elisabeth Bridges

“Pine Valley Phoenix” by K. Z. Richards

“The Audition” by Kathryn Minicozzi

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone who realizes they're on the wrong path.

Write a story about someone who has to “move mountains” to get what they want.

Write about a character who, for whatever reason, retreats to a remote cabin.

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Contest #181

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

278

Contest entries

125

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: