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!

#110: Hit the Road, Jack

On September 5th, 1957, Jack Kerouac published On the Road — a hugely influential novel, swelling with jazz, heat, and Americana, that follows free-spirited mavericks Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty on their travels across the States. To celebrate its 64th anniversary, this week’s prompts all take place on the long and winding road (or right next to it). Safe travels!

This week's prompts

Set your story in a roadside diner.

Dystopian – 59 stories

Write about a couple who fall out on the road.

Valentine's Day – 16 stories

Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

Horror – 47 stories

Write about a character on the road — and on the run.

Adventure – 40 stories

Start your story with the line “We have plenty of time,” and/or end it with the line “We were never going to make it.”

Angst – 47 stories

Stories

“Frozen Dreams” by Bran Ram

Submitted to Contest #110

“We have plenty of time,” Caroline told me as we were arriving at her remote cabin on the banks of the Fort Liard river in the Northwest Territories. Caroline is a 39-year-old indie filmmaker living part-time on a homestead founded by an 82-year-old woman whose name escapes me now. A gracious woman (the octogenarian, not Caroline) who lives in a roughly hewn, hand-made log cabin at the centre of the property. Caroline wants me to believe that her cozy cabin is located in a lively environment. “Maybe before the farm clos...

Read story

“Honesty” by Rachel Deeming

Submitted to Contest #110

“We’ve got plenty of time! Isn’t that what you always say? And yet, here we are again, scrambling around, attempting to get out the door to get there just before the hors d’oeuvres are served! Why does it always have to be like this, Simon?” Emma couldn’t stop herself. Her invective had been stored like water behind a cracking dam for so long, waiting for the chink to widen to allow it to come surging through. She knew that it would only take one more misdemeanour on the part of Simon to propel her into a rant. And here it was. He was such...

Read story

“Till Death Do Us Part” by Nana H

Submitted to Contest #110

Her coffee was getting cold. Arabeth looked outside the frost-bitten window, her feet tapping against the hardwood floor. Winter in Alaska was as morbid as it could get; blankets of snow piled up on driveways and streets, and frost gnawed on the wooden frames of the glass. The only thing that stopped her from shivering were the orange lights dancing around the ceiling. From The Diner (yes, that was the name of their local diner), she could hardly see anything, but that didn't stop her from trying. She felt a frown pull at the corners of her ...

Read story

“Sal's Paradise Cafe” by Donald King

Submitted to Contest #110

I first met Dean at Sal's Paradise Cafe, the local diner, in what was the closest thing to a skid row as there was in those parts. I had more time than money on my hands, so I was nursing a tepid cup of coffee and pretending to read the tattered travel guide I'd been carrying around for years when he walked in and took the seat next to me. Carla, the waitress, took a halfhearted swipe of the counter in front of him with a damp rag and put down a paper place mat with a cartoon map of the neighborhood and list of local businesses around the ed...

Read story

“Meet Me At Bob & Jude's” by Jethro Pili

Submitted to Contest #110

“Meet me at Bob & Jude’s,” the note read. It was signed, Dagger. I read the little note written on the back of a café receipt once more before turning into the back parking lot of Bob & Jude’s Roadside Stop, a roadside diner along a dusty, lonely Colorado road. I parked my black Impala in an open spot, put the gear in park, killed the engine, then locked my steering wheel in place. I got out, locked the door, and slammed it shut. It felt good to stand and stretch my legs. I had driven all the way from California to Colorado, which to...

Read story

“Before She Was A Star” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #110

Before she was a star Isabella Dominguez was an ordinary girl with big dreams of being a movie and music star. The daughter of immigrants, Isabella worked day and night at Holly's roadside diner to make her dreams come true. Although it wasn't easy for Isabella, being the daughter of immigrants, but that didn't stop Isabella from pursing her dreams and working at Holly's diner gave Isabella what she needed, and what Isabella needed was an audience. Isabella began working at Holly's diner when she was fifteen to help her struggling pare...

Read story

“A dark reunion ” by Tonatiuh Duran Meza

Submitted to Contest #110

Despite it being the early afternoon the skies above were blackened by a thick blanket of grey clouds, the lights from the gas station on the other side of the road and the modest diner on the opposite side being the only thing keeping that track of land from being completely drowned in the sudden darkness. Yet for all of that, there was not single soul in that road which passed it by, and when a crack of lighting illuminated the dark sky above, the rain started. The soft pitter-patter of raindrops falling against the window was the onl...

Read story

“The Window” by Nichole Anderson

Submitted to Contest #110

John Paul had been at The Bee’s Knees Diner for two hours when he finally ordered his dinner. It was a sad plate of overdone meatloaf and lumpy mashed potatoes. He even had to ask for extra ketchup since there was barely any sauce on top of it, which is not a proper meatloaf. He wasn’t really all that hungry anyway but couldn’t think of anything else to do to pass the time. Counting the cracks starting to form in seat cushions was getting old. The waitresses were starting whisper while looking in his direction; he assumed they were not...

Read story

“Nighthawks” by Mikayla Govern

Submitted to Contest #110

The door of Phillies lunch-room opened and a man and a woman came in arm-in-arm. They sat down at the counter. “What’s yours?” George asked them. “Go ahead hun, tell him,” the woman said to her companion. “What’s your best?” The man asked, removing his sharp derby and placing it on the counter. “Well, we got a big dinner with roast pork tenderloin but we don’t sell it after 10,” George replied. “Well it’s just past 10,” the woman protested, glancing at the clock on the wall behind the counter. “It’s slow, by about 20 mins” George ...

Read story

“Sunlit” by Jewels Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #110

Sometimes she wondered if the old lady had been a spy or something. Something ridiculous, and something that would explain all the weird little tricks she knew because a librarian (as far as she understood the requirements for such a job) did not rely on one’s ability to voice act or understand Rutherford backscattering spectrometry or how to counter magnetic locks. Well, a once-a-librarian, now retired and… and now doing whatever she was also doing. Stormy grey eyes glanced over at Planty and realized that the singeing desert sun that...

Read story

“Stones” by Olivia Lake

Submitted to Contest #110

Audrey had not wanted to go to the wedding. Samantha and Barry were Josh’s friends, not hers. She wouldn’t know anyone there. The wedding was two hours outside the city - an idiotic choice, considering all their friends lived in the city - and she didn’t want to get home so late. But she kept her mouth shut. The day was over, and she had survived with her arsenal of smiles. She simpered as she shook hands with people whose names she already forgot. She stood next to Josh and laughed at the anecdotes that she had heard time and time over. S...

Read story

“Yoru Village” by Jihan Qanita

Submitted to Contest #110

Summer break was what every student liked and waited for. They were freed from their study and assignment and could rest their brain for a short while. Some took advantage of this time to earn some extra money from their part-time job. Some would also visit back home and enjoy quality time with their family in their hometown away from rowdy city life. But for Yuuga, it was exactly because of this he hated summer break. Driving along the empty road, pop music tuned in from the radio connected to his phone. He already downloaded many music...

Read story

“Good Girls” by Emily Olive Petit

Submitted to Contest #110

I met Maryanne when the sun was still no more’n a shy, coppery flush in the distance. The Texas highway barrelled out before me like a cat stretching its limbs halfway through a midday snooze. “To the hospital,” said Maryanne. I turned up the air conditioner before putting the car in drive. “Y’all got an emergency?” “Just visiting an old friend.” I glanced at her. She had looked harmless enough. Even so: “Y’all oughta know I have ways of defending myself, should the need arise.” “Lucky you. You try to rough me up, I ain’t got anyth...

Read story

“Dan and Finn” by L Mack

Submitted to Contest #110

Dirty headlights lit up a few yards ahead with a weak yellow glow, but outside Dan’s small orbit could have been outer space. Heavy darkness pressed in around him. The wipers stuttered and honked across the windshield, hardly making a dent in sheets of rain that crashed diagonally into the glass. Rain was falling and falling and falling as if trying to wash the world clean. Water sloshed under his tires and there was a swoosh every now and then as he barreled through a puddle. No cars had passed for what felt like hours, just straggly, ghost...

Read story

“Leaving Jamie Behind” by Ariana Hagen

Submitted to Contest #110

The road was long and winding. Off in the distance, to my right, were large, rising plateaus. Everywhere else, as far as I could see, were rolling hills of flowers, Joshua trees and cactus. Springtime granted life to an otherwise desolate desert. Where normally there were only the spiked and withered dry-weather plants, gentle rains had coaxed dormant seeds into bursting forth out of the dirt. Blossoms bloomed frantically and colorfully, desperate to pollinate before they shriveled and turned to dust once more. Spring was the only time of ye...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

209

Contest entries

144

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 10, 2021 EST

Won by JanetthePlanet 66 🏆

Title: My Mother's Dreams.

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 ⭢