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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone who goes to extreme lengths to get themselves to a tropical island.

Posted in Adventure on Jul 27, 2021

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

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✍️ 91 stories

“Burn Damage” by Madalyn Meyers

🏆 Winner of Contest #83

Beth sauntered toward the sound of crashing water, the twinkling dance of a shoal marker providing promise that she was getting close. She felt the unfamiliar tickle of sand beneath her feet as the chilled grains molded together under the weight of each determined step. As if suddenly passing through a barrier, what had once looked like an endless ether of uninhabited space now abruptly registered as the reflective surface of the ocean, lazily mimicking the night sky as if it were swaying to a gentle serenade. She was sure that she had arriv...

128 comments 128
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“Ghost Ship” by Robert Grandstaff

Submitted to Contest #83

Deep blue waves launched our sailboat higher as the storm darkened the skies in the southeast. My brother David and I woke this morning to heavy seas and high winds. We’d never seen so much lightning in our lives. We checked the radar and saw the hurricane had shifted overnight, looking for warmer water. With the storm headed right at us, we turned further west to go around the outside. The Caribbean was no longer a safe option, so we hoped for Bermuda or the outlying islands. All morning we struggled against the wind and waves, and our prog...

93 comments 93
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“Till Death Do Us Part” by Stevie B

Submitted to Contest #83

Dr. Robert Berringer had been a hypnotherapist for over eighteen years. Today’s appointments seemed like any other day’s schedule: some new clients and some returns. One had been reserved by a newbie, a Mr. Bratton Severen. Robert’s pretty, young blond receptionist, Katrine, relayed the purpose of the visit was memory recovery. Other than that she had no idea why the client had booked time. Katrine had snagged her job not for her office skills, but her good looks, hot as a pistol, flirting unabashedly during the interview, and incessantly du...

25 comments 25
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“blood, sweat, and tears” by Amany Sayed

Submitted to Contest #83

Your fingers are bleeding.The bright red liquid drips from your scars like teeny tiny waterfalls, dripping all the way down to your palms. It’s warm and sticky and familiar. And it hurts.You loosen your grip on the rope, but it does nothing to ease the pain. Gasping, you wipe each hand on your clothes in turn. One.Right hand.Two.Left hand.You’re wearing white clothing.It’ll stain. You can hear your mother scolding you in your head. You can see your father shaking his head. You can feel the stares of everyone. Everyone. The sky is d...

31 comments 31
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“chicken broth ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #83

“We have to stop them before they-” “Yes! I know we do. Would you stop pushing me? I know where we’re going.”  “I can’t let you quit moving now, Lia.”  She turned around and faced her partner, his face set in the moonlight and shining like the last Christmas ham at Kroger. There were smears of dirt and cheese ball dust, orange as the flickering fire in the torches they carried, caked under his eyes and in his nails. Lia knew she couldn’t stop moving, but it was hard not to stop when she hated the idea of her destination. She had...

18 comments 18
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“Henry, The Genie and A Bridge” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #83

Henry’s mother was the kindest, gentlest, and most beautiful person he’d never met. Sure, there were pictures of Henry and his mom the day he had been born and on his first day of kindergarten and some from his first few birthdays, but Henry had no memory of her outside the photos and keepsakes. But the stories. Oh, the wonderful stories. For as long as Henry could remember his dad would spend at least an evening or two a week telling Henry about his mother and just how amazing she was.  Henry’s dad William had met Aolani, Hen...

37 comments 37
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“The Curse” by Kanika G

Submitted to Contest #83

The soft cotton bedcover brushed against Rachel’s legs and her shoes clacked against the wooden bed as she slid as far back as possible to fit her reflection in the dressing table mirror situated in the corner of the cramped room. Although her figure was nowhere perfect or how it used to be in her twenties, Rachel could still fit into some of her mother’s flower print summer dresses and by applying the MAC concealer she pinched from her neighbour — the big-bosomed, bird-brained bimbo’s house — she looked much younger than her forty-one years...

27 comments 27
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“TSD 6: A Vow” by Lilliane Wei

Submitted to Contest #83

Translucent ribbons of golden energy swirled around Luke’s hands as he followed one of his father’s personal guards through the identical hallways of the Shadow Sworn’s Main Compound. Emotions swirled within him as he walked but he willed himself to be calm. It was not easy for him, he had inherited his mother’s fiery enthusiasm while Lillian had been the one to inherit the cold mask of their father. When he and his guide paused outside a door on the primary cell block of the Shadow complex, all intentions of remaining calm flew out the...

148 comments 148
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“Alone” by We All Feel Lost Inside

Submitted to Contest #83

Alone. All alone in this world. Aren’t we all? No. We aren’t. No one is. Sadness creeps up on us like a lurking shadow. No one can stop it. No matter how hard we try. No one is alone. Only me. Me only. If I had 1 wish, it would be to never be alone again.People brush past me. I’m a shadow in this world. Just a speck of nothing. They don’t know I cry myself to sleep every night. They don’t know I have no family. They don’t know I have nightmares where I can never get up. No one knows. No one.I wish I was not alone. I wish I had friends. I wis...

57 comments 57
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“Paradise Unshared” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #83

Cheryl opened the door to see her husband, Dave, sitting at the kitchen table with his back to her. He didn’t move. She thought it odd that he didn’t acknowledge her entrance. Oblivious to all else, he stared at the portable radio which played quietly on the table. She watched him on the edge of amazement. Usually fidgety, Dave sat as still as she’d ever seen him, except when he slept. Even his sleep was restless. The radio announcer declared an imminent opportunity to ‘win big’. Dave picked up the pen and prepared to write. Having things ...

5 comments 5
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“Operation: Escape” by Sid The Sloth

Submitted to Contest #83

***Just letting you guys know that if you see spelling mistakes when the children are counting, it's intentional :) *** Plan A: Threaten the children Roses are red Violets are blue I love my vacations And if you talk to me before I get one I will smack you Makenna looked over it with appreciation, before turning to four demons at her feet, aka, her children. They were staring up at her with adoring eyes, and although she loved them with all her heart, she wanted, no needed, this vacation.  The past few years, she had been at the bec...

2 comments 2
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“Buddy on a Leash” by Tessa Takzikab

Submitted to Contest #83

Sometimes I wonder. How human am I? Do I actually make choices, or is there some algorithm that already determined what I will do? If the algorithm planned it out, is it really my choice? Take a small child, for instance. If you offered the child the choice between an ice cream and a stalk of celery, which one would the child take? We may be able to predict the answer, but the child had the choice. Right? Or was it ever really a choice? Some stage magicians predict what the people they pull from the audience will choose that they can revea...

7 comments 7
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“To Go Beyond” by Kathleen M.

Submitted to Contest #83

When they bought the office, Dana rigged the door with as many windchimes as she could buy. While Robin toiled away in the back rooms, setting up bookshelves and display cases for their trophies and spoils, not of war but from their many jobs and travels, Dana hung windchimes so that the door would always open with a cacophony that could be heard through the entire building. Robin pretended to be annoyed, but when she heard the door open with a crashing noise with Dana’s cackling as accompaniment, she couldn’t help but feel something warm bl...

4 comments 4
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“KOLOHE KU” by Cole Lane

Submitted to Contest #83

You know that sinking feeling you get the moment you’ve done something bad? I don’t mean bad like you left your kids with a random convenience store circus clown. I mean universally impending doom bad. That is what I felt when I chuckled at the elderly woman selling handmade trinkets. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk she seemed nice, but my flight was long and I just want to get my suitcase. The baggage claim was already jam-packed when I arrived, which left me standing near the vendors selling to tourists. This woman stares at me from behind ...

9 comments 9
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“Above and Beyond” by AVAN SHIPECK

Submitted to Contest #83

¨ I always go to the tropics for Christmas! Its Christmas Eve, my family is already there! Let me go!¨ She slammed her hand down on the counter, making a very loud bang. ¨ Ma'am the plane has already taken off. It is very busy here. If you could please let someone else get their tickets, that would be deeply appreciated. There will be a flight leaving for Barbados in an hour, if you would like?¨ I said. ¨ No. I told you what I wanted I wanted to go to Turks and Caicos. You know what, sir? Can I just speak to the manager? Tell him Karen wants...

9 comments 9
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Contest #83

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Ended on 23:59 - Mar 05, 2021 EST

Won by Madalyn Meyers 🏆

Title: Burn Damage

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