Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#108: Elemental

Water, air, fire, earth, and void: together, these five elements make up one of the earliest systems used to understand our world. Ancient cultures in Greece, Persia, India, and elsewhere all believed that everything they saw could be broken down into these five core categories. While the system doesn’t hold much water scientifically, we still hear echoes of these ancient classifications today — from the groups of astrological signs, to the magical systems of fantasy worlds.

For this week’s prompts, I’m going back to basics, and exploring each of the five core elements in turn. I’m excited to see what you build out of the building blocks of — well, everything!

This week's prompts

Write a story about a voyage on a boat.

Adventure – 42 stories

Write about a person or object vanishing into thin air.

Thriller and Suspense – 44 stories

Write a story about a team tunneling down into the centre of a planet.

Science Fiction – 6 stories

Start or end your story with a house going up in flames.

Dark – 55 stories

Write a story about a character who’s trying to fill an empty space, literally or metaphorically.

Angst – 55 stories

Stories

“Mr Jingle” by Phil Manders

Submitted to Contest #108

When the nice policeman comes, I just won’t speak to him. My mummy always calls them “the nice policeman.” She told me, if I ever get lost, all I have to do is find the nice policeman and he will keep me safe and look after me. I hope he'll be nice. ********* Obviously, the police have to get involved in a case like this. Apparently, she will be interviewed on her own. I’m not happy about that. They told me she’ll be accompanied by a child welfare officer, so she won’t technically be on her own. And she’ll have that damn teddy with her, as u...

Read story

“It is Done” by Viv S

Submitted to Contest #108

“Did you eat breakfast?” She asked only because he said he was tired that morning. She was just trying to help. That’s what Ruth was good at, finding solutions to everyday problems. Ruth was always in a cheerful, joyous mood. It was a superpower that she had, everything she touched would turn good. It was ironic for Ruth to think that she lights up a room when she walks in. She saw her life as an unfinished tragedy. The source of that light comes from a very dark place. Ruth comes from a series of very, very unfor...

Read story

“The Wisdom of an Apostate, A Generational Tale” by Rebecca Moatz

Submitted to Contest #108

The Wisdom of an Apostate A Generational Tale Sebastian opened his eyes slowly. They burned and watered from the haze of acrid smoke all around him. He couldn’t hear anything but painful ringing in his ears. He wasn’t sure if he was dead or alive. He was taught that there was no Hell, but this certainly was no Paradise Earth either. In fact, he had no idea where he was or where he was supposed to go, so he just sat there for a few minutes. His throat was so raw and dry that he could barely swallow. He suddenly remembered something his fa...

Read story

“Lemon and the Dragon’s Runes ” by Emily Lara Harding

Submitted to Contest #108

Hey, Tazán?” “Yeah?” “How much longer do you think we’ll be flying?” “I don’t know...probably at least another day.” Three cats crouched on the back of a massive orange dragon, surrounding a spherical globe of flame floating in the air, their only source of light. Playing cards were laid at each of their paws. “The light’s getting low,” said the yellow cat who’d first spoken. “Maybe I can fix that,” the gray que...

Read story

“The Selkies' Welcome” by Kate Zerrenner

Submitted to Contest #108

We left our home as the light flashed in the night sky. Green and gold like fingers of a flame against a sky as black as tar, the sea still and frigid as we pushed our boat from the shore. Most folk said the lights were the Bifrost, the bridge between Åsgard and Midgard, but I knew it was more than that; it was women’s work. It was the light reflecting off the shields of the Valkyrie, the women sent by Odin to the battlefields to choose who amongst the slain were worthy of a place in Valhalla. Battles raged everywhere since Harald Finehair c...

Read story

“Voice of the Ocean” by Valorie Nichols-DeVita

Submitted to Contest #108

Voice of the Ocean The ship was much larger than she expected. Sirena stood there, pamphlet in hand, which displayed a sketch of a large wooden ship with the date, time and fees for passengers. “Going to the New World,” it said in bold letters....

Read story

“The Mind Stone” by Blue Green

Submitted to Contest #108

It wasn’t the acrid smell of the smoke drifting into my bed corner which woke me, nor was it the heat of the flames or the cries of the villagers fleeing for their lives. It was Otis, my faithful weasel who saved my life that night. He had snuck into my pocket as usual to share my warmth as I lay curled up on the straw mattress, and it was the sharp nip of his teeth on my finger which alerted me to the danger which I was in. I awoke with a start, disorientated. The small hut was already full of smoke, and ghostly red flames were licking thei...

Read story

“Heartland Treasures Unlimited” by Zen Wren

Submitted to Contest #108

The thrill of this job makes my blood pump and my heart sing..! These days, kids don’t want family heirlooms. Furniture, dishes and collectibles are things that everyone just assumed would be precious keepsakes for generations to come. To the young people, and by that I mean under 50, it just seems like a bunch of old stuff that you could find at a garage sale, or on the lawn at a church bazaar. Do they want an old grandfather clock? No. How about a full set of china or real silverware? Ha. What about an Abe Lincoln bust, a George Washingt...

Read story

“DING” by Noelle C. Lee

Submitted to Contest #108

That morning. You know, the one that finally comes after a restless night. Hitting a REM state is almost impossible when all that anticipation is running through your veins. All night I tossed but now that it’s the time, the right time to open my eyes, my lids are suddenly heavy and tired. I ask myself, why now when it’s the right time do I feel not ready? I was ready at 3:00am, 4:00am, 5:00am, and now at 6:00am, its finally time, yet now I want to sleep.I jump out of bed to see if anyone else is awake. Kids are sleeping soundly and Michael,...

Read story

“Boiling Well” by Tim Roberts

Submitted to Contest #108

He bought a bottle of ‘Boiling Well’ beer from the Brewery Tap because it was his Dad’s favourite. He’d raised one to his draining health with his brothers the afternoon he died. Indeed, they were so busy drinking to his imminent memory and planning out their shared grief like some lubricated mental spread sheet that they’d missed the actual moment of his passing. It still stuck in his craw. He sat at the bench and picked at the label of the bottled beer, every rip a pang of guilt or grief. The label told him how the ruddy brew was made fr...

Read story

“The Pursuit of Universal Happiness” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #108

At a time not too far in the future….It was exactly 2400 hours and Controller 7564385ZE, known informally to his friends as Zed, stood in the entrance to his work-pod, anxious to start his usual 12-hour shift. He was never late for work, partly because such a mistake was grounds for dismissal as a Zone Controller and partly because promptness was his natural inclination. He was relieving Controller 8999541AL, nicknamed Solo Al, who was not a close friend but more of an acquaintance. Zed nodded to him as they swapped positions in the work pod...

Read story

“Place Your Trust” by Aza P

Submitted to Contest #108

I was thirteen when it first appeared. Vast and vacant, and right in the middle of my abdomen where my stomach should have been. Where my organs should have been, but weren’t. It ran from underneath my breasts all the way down to my hip bones. An emptiness that should have been impossible. That day, which might have been a Wednesday, I was changing into my uniform before school. I put on my skirt, no problem. Tights, no problem. Bra, no problem. Then came the shirt. A crisp white Oxford shirt – the kind you have to button up. My fingers bu...

Read story

“Flickers of an Unfullfilling Life” by Emily R Bellas

Submitted to Contest #108

The couch was comfortable. It was one of those expensive ones that they advertise on TV during reruns of Grey’s Anatomy on ABC. The ones they want you to think you can afford when actually it costs about a month’s rent and isn’t even that cozy. This one is, though. And knowing her sister, she probably got it on sale or won it in some kind of home furnishing Instagram contest. Nina hated the couch. She hated the rest of the room, too. The exquisitely polished, wood-stained coffee table at her knees was a “fluke find at a garage sale” which i...

Read story

“Home” by Angela Kaufman

Submitted to Contest #108

The boy looked down over the splintered deck where his toes dangled and drew a deep breath. The long waves, in one slow-motion salute, lapped and clapped on the side of the boat and the boy suddenly felt very small. He braced his shoulders and looked south. All he had to do was jump. He felt a fresh gust of energy, strange for this late in the day, after a whole week’s work in the elements, with only a thin and worn hammock for rest. He felt his knees bend, his feet leave the ground and head-first he met the water. When an animal is face...

Read story

“What We Can't Leave Behind” by Nadia Woods

Submitted to Contest #108

Marielle stood at the entrance to the bedroom, one hand mindlessly tapping the ivory white doorframe, the other gently grasping her lower jaw in an affectation of deep thought. The translucent lavender curtains across the room lazily flowed to the rhyme of the breeze outside. She could hear the steady beat of rain against the window, and shivered slightly as the cool late October air glided over her bare arms on its gentle journey through the one-bedroom apartment.She sighed and walked over to her bed, laying gently back on the bare, soft ma...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

202

Contest entries

207

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 27, 2021 EST

Won by Rachel Kenley Fry 🏆

Title: I Leave the Six Blank

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢