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

“Monkey Watching the Sea” by Georgie Lewis

Submitted to Contest #181

Monkey Watching the Sea by Katherine Westermann When my husband said a mountaintop resort, I hadn’t pictured so much walking. Or so much damp. The world is grey and crowded inside this heavy fog. Over fifty of us are climbing a narrow trail to the ‘Monkey Watching the Sea’ viewpoint, named for a monkey-shaped rock formation that stares down at the world-famous Huangshan Sea of Clouds. Legend has it, the monkey’s view grants Clarity. We shuffle up the trail at an invalid’s pace....

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“Rock and/or Roll” by David Drake

Submitted to Contest #181

Rock and/or RollThere goes another chunk. Dropping straight down into the ravine like the last Sherpa that I lost two days ago. Glancing was all the distraction that I could afford. Gotta keep going. Pre-wind chill temperature is dropping again like that chunk of this mountain. The upteenth wave of snow hit me face first now. Great. Just great. But it’s like Jack Grant says, keep pushing. Keep pushing. You fool, my dad and mom, brothers and more of my doubting family kept saying to me while I was putting the final touches on planning th...

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“Safety Pin” by Jupinderjit Singh

Submitted to Contest #181

SAFETY PIN Jupinderjit Singh "Honey, come here fast. Please help me with these goddamn hooks," Daisy called out. “What now?” Saurabh said, exasperated. He was multi-tasking while getting ready for the office. He was tying his shoelaces, munching last bites of the stuffed potato parantha and all this while, he was reading a famous columnist’s piece on Sachin Tendulkar’s batting form, and he was trying to catch the highlights of the previous evening's T-20 match. He hadn’t been able to see the game properly due to similar intrusions by his w...

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“Long's Peak, Colorado” by Chris Rohe

Submitted to Contest #181

My graduate school mentor recommended that I climb Long’s Peak while conducting research in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was late spring 2002, and in the depths of graduate school at the University of Arkansas, developing a thesis topic. My advisor was from Colorado and had connections with people researching high-altitude archaeological sites in the Rockies. I had been focusing on working with predictive modeling techniques using GIS (geographical information systems). Out of these two combinations-high altitude archaeological site...

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“SAWYER” by Noah N

Submitted to Contest #181

Smoke drifts up into the night sky. It travels into the clouds and imitates their shape. Below the smoke is SAWYER, 25, tall and skinny with a pampered face and a sharp stubble beard. He smokes a cigarette. Sawyer sits atop a snowy drift set at the edge of Basecamp Everest. As the crisp air buckles beneath his hair, Sawyer looks towards the Mountain. It is still, yet it seems to look back at him. The Mountain challenges him and says bring it on! "Sawyer!" A Man shouts. Sawyer eyes JOHN, 46, grizzly and tempered, stands outside his...

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“The King of Ephyra” by Salacious Salamander

Submitted to Contest #181

“Pick up your bag, Syd.” a voice said, “Get up. Let’s keep going.” Syd. His brain registered the word. No, not a word, a name. Who’s Syd? He focused on the owner of the voice. Is that Syd? No. Can’t be. He’s talking to Syd. Why’s he so tall? No. Wait. Not tall, just standing. Uphill. Backlit. Sun’s behind him. So bright. He winced and looked down, away from the sun. That’s better. A dirt path. The voice belonged to ...

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“Mountain Sunrise” by Amy Green

Submitted to Contest #181

The warmth of her mug seeped through Anne's thick gloves. Sitting in her camp chair wrapped in her sleeping bag, Anne was perched on the half-way ridge of her latest conquest. By no means the tallest of mountains one could encounter, Cho Oyn was no walk in the park.Anne's group had reached the advanced base camp, sitting 5,800 meters above sea level the previous afternoon. Anne had promised herself that she would take the time to enjoy the sunrise, no matter the bitter cold before first light.Whilst taking in this amazing moment, Anne's thou...

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“Squirrel's Tablerock” by Susan Lasater

Submitted to Contest #181

It starts as an ache without a cause, and soon it is a familiar soreness, an amount due for no service rendered. A twenty-something female squirrel, tired, seeks help. "Exercise cures the mind and strengthens the body!" professes an in-shape and happy Pelican. Squirrel tilts her head, her hand on her hip. It sounds like an easy solution to her woes. Almost too easy. The Pelican advises her to pick an activity she will enjoy and not hold back, "Make it your happy time and stay dedicated!" Squirrel walks home wondering what activity wi...

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“An Uncle's Determination” by Andrew Spangler

Submitted to Contest #181

The hounds below kept making a racket, their barks and howls drifting up into the night air, following the men where the hounds themselves could not, up the sheer cliff face. Tim regretted leaving the hounds behind, they were the first to alert the homestead of the intruder. At the very least he had wanted to stay behind with the hounds and their handler, but Master Roberts insisted all other able bodied men would accompany him in the chase. Tim can't blame him though, he's as attached to the Masters children as the Master himself. Why would...

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“Sanity... Priceless?” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #181

Stop, don’t say another word. Let’s go for a walk. You know how she gets when you don’t think before responding; a war of words with a writer is an unarmed battle. She knows you wrecked the car. The garage can’t make any repairs without the insurance information. I told her what had happened. What will you two do when I return to school in a week? You know the cops will arrest someone the next time. Kyle is only six…think, juvenile hall or worse, back to Deb’s money-hungry clutches. You should like that your girlfriend loves you and you...

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“Dear Mountain” by Kelly White

Submitted to Contest #181

Walking this earth, wondering why all the suffering, why all the hurt – what is the point? Where are the answers to this life of constant good, to be contrasted with any type of negative, whether it be a thought to make you spiral into a bad mood, or a person who was rude to you which turned your mood from happy to annoyed? What is this constant contrast in this life us humans are enduring? Why do we even let people ruin our moods? What is the point to all of this? The world is overcome with negativity. We struggle w...

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“Exalted Above the Hills” by Jacob Brown

Submitted to Contest #181

“They say when you reach the top, you can raise your hand toward the sky and shake hands with God,” Reverend Paul Hume said to Zack in fragments, broken up by large gulps of air. The trail was steep and dotted with roots and rocks which Paul had to take extra care not to trip over, as he would certainly tumble a long way down before coming to a stop. With each step of his right foot, he stabbed the end of his hiking pole into the ground, leaving a trail of uniformly spaced punctures in the dirt. He twisted his left ankle a while back and cou...

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“The Sunset Climber” by Ms.Desiree Jackson

Submitted to Contest #181

She looked around and it was so dark she could barely see her hand in front of her face. As she stepped through the thicket, she counted her steps, "One thousand forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven..." all the while amazed at how short of a distance she had actually traveled. "Wow! For one thousand and fifty steps I sure haven't gone far. How will I ever make it?" She asked herself as she attempted to look around to find anything that was remotely familiar. She began to tremble at the thought of moving further into unknown territories, and e...

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“To Natasha...” by Yashal Jalil

Submitted to Contest #181

My sister was an angel. Not characteristically but physically. She had the looks, the charm, and the brains that lured the metropolis hive. Like bees, men and women followed her scent, trying to flatter or batter her- metaphorically speaking. Her face was on every magazine cover: some flashing her flawless skin, others chasing the glimmer in her eyes, like a predator gazing at the prey. I remember, two weeks before the fall, I picked one of the magazines sitting on her desk and turned to the particular page. Natasha stared back from the phot...

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“One hill at the time” by Marija Rozman

Submitted to Contest #181

(Disclaimer: This story contains mention of drug use) Morning couldn't be more perfect for a hike. In translation: I have no excuse but to keep the promise I made to my myself that this weekend I am gonna go climb the nearby mountain. Actually, that promise was not made to myself, I don't care enough about me to keep myself a promise, but it is the one I made on my NA meeting. Yes, you read it right, NA stands for narcotics anonymous and yes, it's not only drunk people who need to go to the meetings. So, I am gonna tell you the truth right...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 59 stories

“Monkey Watching the Sea” by Georgie Lewis

“Rock and/or Roll” by David Drake

“Safety Pin” by Jupinderjit Singh

“Long's Peak, Colorado” by Chris Rohe

“SAWYER” by Noah N

“The King of Ephyra” by Salacious Salamander

“Mountain Sunrise” by Amy Green

“Squirrel's Tablerock” by Susan Lasater

“An Uncle's Determination” by Andrew Spangler

“Sanity... Priceless?” by Kimberly Walker

“Dear Mountain” by Kelly White

“Exalted Above the Hills” by Jacob Brown

“The Sunset Climber” by Ms.Desiree Jackson

“To Natasha...” by Yashal Jalil

“One hill at the time” by Marija Rozman

🌟 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: