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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#134: Look Up

This Friday, the 18th of February, marks the 92nd anniversary of Pluto being discovered — and though it’s no longer considered ‘big enough’ to be an official planet, it will always have a big place in our hearts. With it’s hot-to-cold cycles and snow-capped mountains, this almost-planet almost looks like home. (That said, we still wouldn’t recommend it for your next vacation!)

To mark the occasion, this week’s prompts are a love letter to our favorite forgotten planet, and the spirit of discovery in general.

This week's prompts

Your character, by chance or habit, peers through a telescope. They see something unusual — what is it?

Dystopian – 53 stories

Set your story beyond our own world.

Science Fiction – 50 stories

Write about a character who has a ‘hot and cold’ personality — or is affected by someone like this.

Character – 30 stories

End your story with a character looking out on a new horizon.

Narrative – 63 stories

Write from the POV of someone, or something, that experiences gravity differently.

Science Fiction – 27 stories

Stories

“I Love You, Soul” by Abigail Henson

Submitted to Contest #134

What is a soul made of? Is it stardust, or the gravity of sorrow in our hearts? Is it a spark of pure energy, or the spring in our step? To say it is merely a figment of abstract proportions would be dismissive of the importance of life and death itself. Though we cannot reach through the veil of physicality, we must admit that the souls inside of each of us have their own unique magic and whimsy that bless us partially, fairly or not, from each other. In this story, this soul is the first and only of its kind. Hana came into...

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“Alien Horizon” by Chuck Canady

Submitted to Contest #134

“Are you nervous, sir?” Fydkulmun asked. “Apprehensive, but not nervous,” Grekxandub (Grek for short) replied. The grizzled mission commander leaned back in his acceleration couch. He would have put his hands behind his head as they waited for launch, but his bulky space suit wouldn’t allow it. Fydkulmun (Fyd for short) gazed out the viewport. The launch platform was atop a high plateau near Jezero City. From their lofty vantage point, he caught glimpses of the shimmering Neretva River flowing out of its vallis,...

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“ Hippo Campus” by Maia Holloway

Submitted to Contest #134

This story contains substance abuse, explicit language, and mention of brain surgery. You saw it floating in a jar before the doctors did the procedure. One of the best brains money could buy. A bioartificial brain. They took stem cells from your bone marrow which to be brutally honest hurt like a bitch. Then the doctors put the stem cells into a plastic sac to allow them to grow into the brain that would be inserted. What grew is a brain that is grey with a long brainstem; it looked strong. ` A specialized neuroscience team the...

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“The Fall” by Stella T Morgan

Submitted to Contest #134

When I first cracked through the barrier of that tract of skin, the sun bathed my fluffy head, and all I could think of was my short yet wondrous existence on my strong protein skeleton. A harbinger of a trajectory towards warmer lands before the end of September. I’d grow and proudly protect my carrier against the elements. I’d diligently serve the laws of aerodynamics without being trained how to do so. Feathers like me are as important yet as easily replaceable in the sky domain. No bird with half its mind set right would ever get attach...

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“Don't Look Up” by Olivia Zelazny

Submitted to Contest #134

My name is Estelle Bowen. And I was 16 years old when the world ended. I'm also, or rather, I was an honor student, and my Zodiac was a Virgo. Oh, I almost forgot! I'm the one that discovered that humanity would cease to exist... 11 months ago, I had an incredibly awful day. It began with my alarm not going off and me showing up to advance Chem with my hair unwashed and closed. Mismatched, to find out that I got a C minus on my last Test. I then went to eat at the cafeteria and accidentally dropped my food all over the floor. Come on. A...

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“Saturn” by Grace Campbell

Submitted to Contest #134

There is a huge difference between the vastness of the ocean and the vastness of space. I believe that that difference lies in the comprehensive abilities of the human mind and the potential for life to exist within a certain environment. The ocean is measurable in the way that it is contained by the gravity holding all things to our planet Earth. We have a general idea of its size because we have a general idea of the size of Earth, regardless of exact numeral measurements on the mass of said ocean. We also know that the ocean is full of li...

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“Guys In The Sky” by Caleb Fitting

Submitted to Contest #134

“You had the biggest smile.” Dad’s final retelling of the telescope story would be the last time I smiled as a kid. He leaned into the kitchen table, his arms straight and slightly angled to the sides. “It was an open mouth smile.” Dad pressed his chin into his chest so that his eyes almost peered over his glasses at my face which was only a few inches from his. I gave his stern look a grin. “How would you know?” I said. “I was in your lap. Looking through your old telescope.” “It was an expensive piece of equipment back th...

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“Journey to the Center of a Mind” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #134

Journey to the Center of a Mind Tom Jepson had carefully cultivated his reputation as the top project manager for Apex Computer Consulting backed up by an outstanding reco...

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“Men on Saturn ” by Holly Maas

Submitted to Contest #134

After the explosion last year in Skoll, not many Skollians survived. The catastrophe caused a hole in the center of the world, basically right into the middle of Skoll. Jasper Valentine wakes peering into a bright, cold room. He sits up looking around and sees a heart rate monitor. Jasper thinks to himself, “Why am I in the hospital and why is it so quiet?” He gets out of bed and walks over to the hospital room window and sees the gaping hole in town. The hospital building is right on the edge of the explosion site, slightly leaning over int...

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“Divine Justice” by Linda Logdberg

Submitted to Contest #134

Divine Justice The courtroom fell silent (or would have, if anyone had been present to make noise) as Master of the Universe entered and took his seat. His gavel fell with the thunder of a prairie storm and his robes swirled a blizzard as he settled into his giant throne. “Begin!” He commanded. The two plaintiffs rose as one, the huge head sticking out of the lush cloud floating almost as high as the bench. God spoke first. “MOTUS,” he began. “We’d like to argue our case as a” (brief hesitation) “…dialogue. If it plea...

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“Leaving Newerth” by Cindy Suda-Martinez

Submitted to Contest #134

Leaving Newerth I woke to Vivaldi’s “Winter” performed by Olga Scheps on piano. The melody was at first barely audible from the speaker above my bed, but the volume steadily increased slowly. By the end of the piece I was fully alert and ready to absorb the announcements. “Good morning, Newerth,” declared a composed and pleasant feminine British accent, “Today is Friday, September 18. It’s 6 am, time to rise and shine! Rain will occur today from 10 am to 11 am, and again from 10 pm to 11 pm. Please plan accordingly. ‘The Shuttle I depa...

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“The Ragin' Cajun” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #134

I received the phone call every boyfriend dreads. “This is Carrie. I’m at the boutique. Veronica’s going crazy! Get down here!” Veronica Rennie was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She had captivating emerald eyes, platinum hair that cascaded down her back, perfectly sculpted legs, and a generous figure packed into a 5’ 4” frame. And then there was her sultry southern accent, which seemed to spring forth whenever she wanted me to blindly follow her commands. She also ate lithium like breath mints and was a poster child for manic ...

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“Uncomfortable Silence” by Diane Murphy Wall

Submitted to Contest #134

Anna loved her boyfriend but could never get a good read on him. She knew it was the nights that he went out of his way to pick the perfect restaurant and end the night cuddling on the couch that kept things going. The other evenings were uncomfortable. He would invite her over for dinner but hardly speak to her. She would try to keep the conversation going only to get short responses. There were silences between bites of steak and extra sips of wine to take the chill off. They would awkwardly sit on the couch before she ...

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“Trapton School for the Unlearned” by C.B. Oates

Submitted to Contest #134

Cindy Saysmore is my single, solitary friend here at Trapton School for the Unlearned. It’s ok though. Cindy's extra, so she’s enough. My parents switched me to Trapton this year, and it’s been a whole thing. My name is Sofia Sitzalone, and I’m in the fifth grade. I feel like I live with a brown paper bag over my head. I like Cindy. She says all of the things that I wish I could. We think just alike, but she is fearless. Miss Gruntles calls her ‘brazen’ and ‘Little Miss Saysmore’, but I vehemently disagree, in silent protest, of course.“Sofi...

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“Mahldovia” by Lonnie Larson

Submitted to Contest #134

Charlie was only sixteen when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City on September eleventh, two thousand and one. He enlisted in the Marine Corps two years later. Eventually his unit was deployed to the Middle East and after six months of inaction; his patrol hit an IED and he was severely injured. He was just twenty-one. He lost part of his left leg and was sent home. After a grueling recovery, and his subsequent release from the hospital, he purchased twenty-five acres of land from his cousin Tom’s farm and...

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$250

Prize money

223

Contest entries

128

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 25, 2022 EST

Won by Story Time 🏆

Title: The Hovering Age

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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