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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

“Hit List” by Celeste Anderson

Submitted to Contest #118

“Today’s the day I change? No. Today’s the day you change.” We stared back at him, blinking, waiting for him to speak again. “I’m the founding member! This entire app was my idea. You guys can’t push me out. If anything, I should be pushing you out. In fact, I will be kicking you out of my business.” “You don’t own a majority share anymore,” I leveled with him. “Besides that, none of the board or our shareholders will support you as CEO once it comes out what you’ve done…” Tom added from the chair to my right. “The three of us sta...

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“Chrysalis” by Bob T

Submitted to Contest #118

ChrysalisRobert Thorn"There are darknesses in life, and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights."― Bram Stoker, DraculaTotal blackness are my eyes open, Aria thought, although she could not recall her name. She blinked her eyes. Yes, they are open. She held her hand three inches in front of her eyes, nothing, just blackness. Am I blind? Where am I? Who am I? She felt panic rising within her chest. She was lying naked on her back. She sat up and felt around. Sh...

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“The Lizard King” by Allan Engle

Submitted to Contest #118

Sunlight filters down through the tall trees, down through the cover of the forest, where a lone beam strikes the rock where I rest. I bask in its warmth. It rained for an entire week and today the sun peers from behind the gray clouds. Today the forest shines brilliant, gleaming. It teems with life. Birds chirp and sing. The rain drips from the foliage above. Everyone but me, I suspect, missed the sun. Who likes rain for a week? Monotonous. Dull. Gray. Droning. I enjoy the rain. In the savannah, a weeklong rain would produce floods, swell...

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“Jeff” by Agris Engelis

Submitted to Contest #118

I woke up in a dimly lit room. I felt weight on my hands and ankles. I don’t remember what happened exactly, all I can remember are blood-stained walls and my own hand covered in blood. “Oh, I see you’ve awoken.” I looked up to see a woman in a lab coat. She walked closer to me with her notepad as she looked at me. “Tell me, do you remember anything?” I was still confused about everything. Why was I chained up? What happened. But the only thing I could say was. “Blood.” Hearing my own voice at that point startled me. That isn’t my voice, at ...

7 comments 7
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“Lake Tahoe” by Teji Reve

Submitted to Contest #118

It began the day Tanuja dove after the dog into Lake Tahoe. Nothing dramatic happened. Tanuja held Yogi’s collar and did a survival backstroke with her other three limbs until the boat doubled back for them. Lucky for her, Dad had made her learn it during their annual summer trips to Tahoe and reminded her every year before she was allowed to cannonball into the water. Also lucky for her, she had her life vest on. The current wasn’t strong that day, but her teeth chattered. Tanuja hummed to herself, both as a comfort and to soothe Yogi, ...

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“Kimimi's Tale (from the Psyche Chronicles)” by Greacian Goeke

Submitted to Contest #118

I spilled out of a tiny purse in a sea of other green writhing commas. We hatched on the underside of a leaf where no one would notice and cascaded into the green planky sea below. Rolling around blind, trying to get a purchase on something, we sought a personal island of leaf to claim for a base station from which to survey and form a strategy. How to get enough to eat in a population explosion of four or five hundred siblings? Most of us would be supped up before sunset by hummingbirds and black phoebes who knew to watch the plates of leav...

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“Luna rebirth” by Rachel Aubertin

Submitted to Contest #118

Jet’s new body trembled uncontrollably in the dirt. It was much like his old form. The ragged rising and falling rib cage was familiar as it strained for cold air to quench the fire smoldering over his burnt lungs. He was overly aware of his raw throat and the distant but constant hissing of air through his gritted teeth. Rebirth, in Jet’s opinion, felt very much like death but with more agony.Everything about this body was recognizable, his clenched hands, curled feet…even the height of him hadn’t changed...yet. Only his blood felt alt...

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“Rat Poison” by Harlow Jones

Submitted to Contest #118

That rat has a nose piercing. The next one has pink hair. The one crawling out of the sewer has a back tattoo of an oak tree. I hate this alley, crowded yet empty of people. I shouldn’t even be here, but I can turn back at any point. I stuff my hands into my pockets. My shoulders meet my ears, and my shoes don’t leave the ground. I slide down this shortcut, sure to make no casualties during my commute. Last year, the Free party abolished the death penalty. However, the Prudents insisted they needed a policy in its place. Five months of pris...

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“The Butterfly” by Emma Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #118

       It had been five days since the incident. Five whole days and yet, it seemed as if it was yesterday. It was a quiet afternoon; I was laying on the couch and watching television with my cat. Suddenly, screaming erupted. I can still hear her screams echoing across the apartment hallway. The terrifying sobs of someone fighting for their life. The crashing of various items being thrown. She was crying out for help and asking him to stop. I looked out my window, but their blinds were shut tight. Thankfull...

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“He's Not As He Appears To Be” by Janis Van Meter

Submitted to Contest #118

My name is Bella Borelli. I am a female CPA in the firm of Brady and Smith, Certified Public Accountants. I am the only female CPA in the firm. There are, however, other female employees.  I am lucky to work for two great partners. Patrick Brady and Joel Smith. Patrick is married with two children. Sadly, Joel is a recent widower. His wife, Naomi had passed away two years ago from a lengthy illness. They did not have any children. I had just recently ended up a 5-year relationship with Mike M...

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“THE TINY SILVER BELL” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #118

THE TINY SILVER BELL The leaf was settled, stretched out, with the tips of its lobes upright, on the bench , right next to her, who only noticed it when she get up. It was a five lobed maple leaf , whose predominant color was reddish, which had almost completely eliminated the green. It was autumn and under the trees, in the meadows, in the gardens, but also on the roads and the city streets there were many leaves , there were carpets of fallen leaves. That one, perhaps carried by the wind, lay on the bench as if it...

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“The Dying Season” by Shannon Ethel

Submitted to Contest #118

It’s still dark out when the call comes in. Some dog walker got a surprise on their morning jaunt, their prized terrier sniffing out a body laying a few feet off the street. The sun’s just peeking its rays out by the time Officer Blake gets out of the car, feeling a little tender from his 4:30 start and no coffee to comfort him.Muddy leaves practically carpet the sides of the road, colouring everything in muted browns. There’s a fine sheen of frost on the ground already, like winter decided autumn wasn’t dying fast enough for it. It's only j...

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“Gentleman John” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #118

Gentleman John An old man emerged out of landscape, dappled green grey outfit, not camouflaged print, but similar to garb deer hunter’s rig out. Human yes, but appearing part of surrounding vegetation. As if he belonged more as a tree creature, or part of the bush rather than an actual person. I am enthralled by the white-haired stranger’s story as we waited at an isolated country bus stop. Funny how some people are prepared to launch into confessional mode merely based on a location. Standing by a bus stop, greeting a stranger…forgive me...

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“Wraith” by Dallas Spires

Submitted to Contest #118

He pulled his coat close and raised the collar as the crisp autumn air grew colder, whipping around him fiercely and threatening to carry him away like the leaves barely hanging on to the limbs overhead. The beautiful fiery oranges, reds, and yellows waved in the growing wind, fanning like flames. The warm amber light of the setting sun, instead of igniting the brilliant foliage in an array of blazing tones, turned dull and gray. The cooling air of the evening stole away every last leaf, stripping the trees bare and sweeping off the walkwa...

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“Tis the Season” by AC Samson

Submitted to Contest #118

TIS THE SEASON By Allen Samson There is this traditional celebration called Ber Month. It is basically where we celebrate September, October, November and December. Mainly, Filipino citizens. And who can't blame them? I myself love celebrating those kind of months because it's when the holidays come in and most people began to feel the festivities and decorate for the thrills and the chills. What do I mean by that? Well, ladies and gents, this is where we will dive into how I look at these months. With that said, here we go! September i...

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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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