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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#118: Metamorphosis

Whichever way you look at it, fall is a season of change. The trees are changing color, the waking hours are getting shorter, and the days are growing colder. It also happens to be Halloween, meaning we might need to gear up for some spooktacular supernatural transformations too… if you believe in that sort of thing!

Whether your characters are enjoying the crunch of fallen leaves, or undergoing a creepy metamorphosis of their own, we hope this week’s prompts help you get the best out of fall this year.

This week's prompts

Start your story with “Today’s the day I change.”

Teens – 54 stories

Write about a character, animal or human, who is reborn as something totally different.

High School – 42 stories

Write your story from the perspective of an outsider watching something or someone change.

Middle School – 45 stories

Your character picks up a fallen leaf and can’t believe what they discover underneath it. What happens next?

Fall – 38 stories

Set your story during a sudden change of season.

Fall – 26 stories

Stories

“The Green Man” by Rob Ryter

Submitted to Contest #118

Dressed in funereal black, Iris Theristi crept silently into the modest sized bedroom, as though Simon was still asleep and she was scared of waking him. The room was just as he’d left it. Fairly tidy, she thought, compared with some of the students who had lodged with her. The single bed had been hastily straightened. The wardrobe door was ajar; she could see the neatly stacked clothes and the shirts on their hangers. She crossed to the window and placed a finger in the plant pot on the sill. Bone dry. Oh, Simon. One thing he had not been...

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“Through the Glass” by Millie Kemp

Submitted to Contest #118

Day 1 On the first day, I opened my eyes. Or perhaps they were already open, but I was just now seeing for the first time. My view of the world was tinted by foggy glass, but I could make out shapes that were large and square. I didn’t know what any of it meant. What I did know was that I was cold. So, so cold; the freezing temperature made me want to shiver but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t turn, twist, sit down or jump. I was still, and something told me I always had been, and that I always would be. A strange green cone structure was to my...

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“Flashing Before Your Eyes” by I Jones

Submitted to Contest #118

Of course, I'd thought about what might happen. It's one of those things everyone thinks about, talks about, even fantasizes about... I'd heard rumours of something like this; I just never expected it to be so literal. This is my thought process, anyway, as I look down at my mother, having contractions on a hospital bed. Cries fill the room as the doctors pronounce her second child a girl. She is called Rosaline and already has a head full of dark hair. Ten years later The dark hair didn't last long. I smile as I look down ...

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“My Ma” by Andrew Crisp

Submitted to Contest #118

I’m sitting on the kitchen floor, watching the maggots. The maggots live in the trash can, but they got out and plopped down in front of my hands. I touched one and it twisted over. We don’t usually have the maggots but it’s hot. The maggots like it when it’s hot. My Ma comes in and looks down on me. She looks angry. She opens the bin and makes a funny noise. I stand up and look over the edge of the bin. There’s a lot of old dark, wet and furry food. And a lot of maggots. Ma gets rid of the food. And the maggots. - Ma and D...

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“Shot Game” by Duane Burke

Submitted to Contest #118

I met an angel once on a brisk night in early November at a bar in New York City. I’ve never been a religious man. I wouldn’t even say spiritual, but after it happened I considered changing the way I looked at a lot of things. I knew it was the beginning of the end. Or maybe the end of the beginning. Guess it all depends on the perspective. Either way, the world hasn’t been the same since. I walked in to The Hemline around seven o’clock that evening and looked for a seat at the bar. This was usually a fairly busy time for the haunts of the F...

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“Flying in Fall” by Lola Borchardt

Submitted to Contest #118

The rain had stopped and there was a slight mist. I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter around me. My breath steamed in the cold late fall air. I hurried up wanting to get home quicker. Suddenly I was flying through the air, my blonde hair tickling my face. I landed in a pile of leaves. I opened my eyes and there was a purple glowing leaf. I sat up and picked it up and suddenly a bunch of wind burst out of the ground and it was purple. Then it stopped. I walked shakily to the lake. I looked at my reflection. “ Oh god.” I muttered. My norma...

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“The Leaf” by Vanesa Carballea

Submitted to Contest #118

Stephenson passed his hand over the cold iron seat of the park bench littered with leaves. Settling back, he occupied the middle section and stretched out so that no one would be compelled to sit next to him. The dreary day juxtaposed to the joyful park goers with all their enthusiasm over the first authentically autumn day of the season made for a perplexing scene. He tilted his head back and stared into the overcast sky, breathing in deeply until his whole world became gray. The laughter of children and barking of dogs was drowned out ...

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“Not To Point Fingers..” by Mackenzie Allen

Submitted to Contest #118

Very much {gore/death/swearing/blood/weapons/you get the gist} warning- if you don’t like, don’t read. I appreciate constructive criticism! 2:46 AM, December 18th. The police lights were turning my skin awkward shades of blue and red. On this cold night, I stood outside the caution tape, just wondering what the officers were thinking, what they were seeing. They’ve got the middle of the road blocked off, what about the cars? Taking steps toward the caution tape, I could f...

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“The Surprise Of The Fallen Leaves” by Lisa Neuvelt

Submitted to Contest #118

The Surprise Of The Fallen LeavesThe Continuing Story Of Maddie-Rose(Read about Maddie-Rose in my story: “Singing in the Rain”)When we last left Maddie-Rose she had just returned home after being abducted by her father. Rainy season was over, but that was okay with Maddie-Rose. She always loved playing in the rain but now has discovered a new obsession. Playing in piles of leaves. Since they had a huge tree in their backyard, there were plenty of leaves.“Please, Mommy,” Maddie-Rose cried. “Can I just play outsi...

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“Echo Lake” by Liam McIntyre

Submitted to Contest #118

"Echo Lake," he thought to himself, "what a cheap gimmick." Then again, this was exactly what he needed. Echo Lake spans almost 16 acres in the state park of Carroll County, New Hampshire. Legend says there are exactly two points opposite each side of the lake where a sound as quiet as a whisper on one side can travel to the other. Only true lovers can find them. "Will you find yours?" Calix stood looking at the tourist board, plastered with bogus testaments and amateur photographs of the lucky ones, the true lover...

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“The Winter of Her Life” by Noelle C. Lee

Submitted to Contest #118

I haven’t seen her for almost a year. Yes, the pandemic was certainly the cause of my lack of visitation. I’m apprehensive about what I’m going to see. I really don’t know what to expect.All masked up. Double-triple protected. Pre- vaccine availability. Face mask, face shield, gloves, antibacterial spray, all the requirements to visit mom in an assisted living facility. I’m armed but not ready for what I’m about to encounter. My gentle mother with a kind soul morphed into someone terrifying, before my eyes. The look of deadness, emptine...

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“Miles of Looping Change” by Lydi B

Submitted to Contest #118

Today’s the day I change. I need a shift in my current path, and I’m running out of time. She’s jogging around the corner through a curtain of drifting oak leaves. In a few seconds, our eyes will meet. Our time together plays through vibrant flashes of memories. *** When I forced my aching knees onto the park trail that morning, I didn’t know I would pick up a passenger. A sweet voice called to me, just as I rounded the fountain. I turned to the young woman filing in beside me. I had seen her many times, walking the mile loop just like...

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“Changeling” by Edward Savage

Submitted to Contest #118

Today is the day I change. I can feel it, deep down in my very being, today is the DAY! I can’t tell you why I think that. It’s not a knowing, it’s just a feeling. A feeling that finally it’s here. After all this time spent slumbering, the awareness of everything around me veiled and distant, the spark of life, of self, diffused, almost non-existent, after all this time, the metamorphosis, the transformation is nearing its final stage, its completion. Something that begun - I’m not sure just when, several days ago I think - is over. The c...

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“The Book of Jacob” by M C Antonucci

Submitted to Contest #118

Today’s the day I changed. Standing in the desert with blood on my hands and evil on all sides, I changed, but it was too late to save my soul. My name is Jacob Cooper, and it’s my belief that God’s purpose for me on earth was to be a cautionary tale for all that followed. I believe it’s too late for me, but it’s my hope that those that follow will benefit from my m The day my wife, Joy, and I were reborn as Christians was one of the happiest of my life. Both of us thought of ourselves as God’s warrior on earth. They fought every day agains...

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“Change Brewing” by K W

Submitted to Contest #118

Today’s the day I change. The scorching Colombian sun warms my face. I soak in every last ray. I feel it tinting my cheeks a brilliant ruby red, but I don’t mind at all. The landscape is green for miles, and the hills roll out to eternity. The sky is crisp blue all year. The people who live here take pride in their blue sky. This is the only air I’ve ever tasted, but I can’t stay here. I take one last look at the wilderness. I try to remember every last leaf on every single tree. I paint myself a mental picture of the river that twists and ...

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$250

Prize money

205

Contest entries

140

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 05, 2021 EST

Won by Myia Melendy 🏆

Title: beneath the quaking aspen

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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