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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

“The Lost Journal” by Amy Zhu

Submitted to Contest #108

Alexia walked into her room. She jogged to her very messy closet and dug through her scattered clothes and dirty shoes until she found a purple and blue box with silver patterns on it. She opened the box, and found her secret journal she’s been writing in. It was filled with her deepest thoughts and some things that had happened to her each day, but Alexia labeled it as her “Math and English Language Arts Journal” so that hopefully nobody would read it. She hid her journal at the bottom of the pile of clothes in her closet so that there was...

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“Magic Basic: Manifesting” by Vox Deruste

Submitted to Contest #108

Magic Basic: Manifesting By Justin Ramirez “ All right please sit down and take your seats, everyone.” The class sat down on wooden seats as their instructor started to write on the blackboard. “ My name is Vox Deruste, I will be your mysticism teacher for the semester.” The instructor was clad in a tri-colored robe. Red, blue, and green. And yet the most eye-catching part of their appearance was the green fire and black smoke that made up their body. A green fire-based body, Black smoke inside their mouth, and eyes that leaked out like ci...

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“Gone!” by Elizabeth Maxson

Submitted to Contest #108

“It was right there!” “You say that every time you lose your phone, Celeste.” My mother’s grimace was growing on her face as I frantically started throwing the papers on the dining room table around searching for my phone. “I mean it this time,” I wailed and continued my desperate attempt to locate my Smartphone. “I would say retrace your steps, but we do not have time. We have to leave, now.” Her tone was final, and I let the last few teardrops that had been welling in my eyes escape down my cheeks. It was hopeless. All day w...

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“The Stranger” by Alice Richardson

Submitted to Contest #108

The Stranger He poked at the gravel with the toe of his boot, his brain going at a hundred miles an hour trying to get himself out of the hole he’d found himself in. The accountant had been with his boss when he arrived back at the homestead. As she walked to her car, she saw Fraser pull up. She crossed the driveway, taking in the condition of the ute and fixing him with a deathly glare. A galah streaked throug...

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“Red in the Silver, Silver in the Red” by Mehr Chawla

Submitted to Contest #108

Red in the Silver, Silver in the Red Then It was hardly difficult, almost a ritual by now. All she had to do was excuse herself to the bathroom. Silently edge into the kitchen instead. Rummage for the oil and grin mirthlessly to herself about how they would never grill a steak again, what with her putting all the oil to better use. Drizzle the oil around, while sauntering through their house, staring at their pictures on the wall. Step out into the cold, black outside. Go around their sweet, cozy house, humming, the oil bottle nearly emp...

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“A Mother's Cross” by Grace Eliot

Submitted to Contest #108

In all aspects of life, we take on a part and an appearance to seem to be what we wish to be--and thus the world is merely composed of actors. -Francois de L Rochefoucauld (1613 – 1680) She could see it now, the flames licking the bright yellow paint. Kissing the white trim before overtaking the façade. Ember’s and flames would dance in the night sky, while twinkling stars would waltz to the sound of the roaring. Her shoulders settled, and her clenched jaw loosened as her eyes closed. With a deep breath, she regained composure and responded...

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“Burned To Regret” by Emily J

Submitted to Contest #108

The flames roared around me as my lungs fought against the smoke penetrating my air ways. I coughed into my hands, my blistering, burned hands, as pieces of spittle flew through my cracked lips. I peered through the thickening smoke, the walls around me blacked and broke, thick smoldering pieces falling around my crouched body. Ember sparks flew with each piece that cracked against the floor. In this horrible moment, I was thankful I had shaved my head two nights ago. The idea of my skull burning by now made my heart skip a beat. I shook m...

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“One Lone Rocking Chair” by Patricia Mae Zimmerman

Submitted to Contest #108

Upon the front porch of our present residence, there sits a lone rocking chair. This rocking chair, I purchased some years ago. When I was not rocking my rand Daughter to sleep in it, my husband would sit in it with her and sing her back to sleep. The song he most often sang to her was "What A Wonderful World", by Louie Armstrong. They were so precious to watch, together in that rocker – Granpa and granddaughter. It was only a very short time we were able to spend together then, as my husband became less able to even speak any longer – let a...

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“Indian Summer on Ontario Beach” by Mo Colby

Submitted to Contest #108

You remember this. It is autumn and the days shorten. All things are red, gold, purple-gray. All things are cooling down. Wet winds and leaves blowing flat against your chest. You remember this as if from a dream. You took the child to the fair. The child is your daughter. No. Your sibling. No. The child is of no relation to you. The fair was a screeching place. Wind whistling through the Ferris wheel, children fluting high-pitched voices over the scattered candy wrappers and fire-orange leaves. You bought the child cotton candy, but she dro...

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“Healing cruise” by F.O. Morier

Submitted to Contest #108

- Are you alright, miss? The steward startled her. - Are you all right? He repeated his question. She smiled, nodded, and wished he would go away. He did not leave. He stayed with her, with his overfriendly face in his immaculate white uniform. - Is this your first cruise? He asked. She nodded again. - I hope you´re not bored miss. She turned her head towards him and said: I suppose the sea is made for poetry, free verse ...

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“Amara” by Gordon Smith

Submitted to Contest #108

Amara opened her eyes slowly. She wakes with that momentary feeling of forgetting where you are. It takes several blinks this morning, for her post-dream reality to set in. The 9 year old girl is dreery, and so it seems is her world. The unbearable heat, and humidity seem to sap her of energy more and more, as days pass. Amara is made fully conscious of her surroundings when the smells start to hit her. Her mother couldn't afford fancy accommodations for the long trip. Everyone shared one big room. "It's just ship rules" her mother w...

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“A Captain's Worst Fear” by Dennis Sigler

Submitted to Contest #108

“Aye Captain, there be a storm a com-en.” warned Angus Murphy. “I feel it in me bones.” Captain Marvin Dogbody glanced west towards the prevailing winds. A dark haze was forming on the distant horizon. He looked back at Angus. He trusted his first-mate and his aching bones. They were more accurate than his expensive German barometer. “Have the men reef the topsails, but leave the main and the jibs flying.” “Aye,...

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“In The Same Boat” by Max Sher

Submitted to Contest #108

This cruise was supposed to be a break. A nice thing she was doing for herself to take her mind off everything, to go out and enjoy herself away from all her friends and family walking on eggshells around her. That was the theory, at least. In practice, Margaret was finding that brooding on a nice boat wasn’t that different from brooding in her living room, except that everything was rocking slightly and the air outside was a lot saltier.Still, she tried. As much as she wanted to just curl up under her blanket in her room, she forced herself...

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“The Path” by Ben Rounds

Submitted to Contest #108

Mr. Magnusun stood very still. It was difficult for him to control his hands. It was not that he could not resist the urge to use them, to pick something up or deal with an irritation- because always when he began to stand very still an irritation would arise, an itch on his nose or hair caught in his shirt- but because his hands had begun to start moving on their own. It was only a gentle tremor and he could calm them when he thought to, but he had to put his mind to it, a deliberate action which began in his shoulders and...

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“Hannah” by Ben Connolly

Submitted to Contest #108

I close my laptop and rub my strained eyes. I've been staring at the screen blankly for almost forty-five minutes, and not a single stream of inspiration has flowed through my mind. The words I've typed are weak, destined for a cruel fate of highlighting and deleting. Prompts and expectations have been staring back at me with impatience and derision. I can just tell, they're ready to yell at me. A fresh, cold drink and a walk may help the avenues in my brain open up again, but it's been getting harder to reset my mind after it muddles. I don...

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$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!

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