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#143 Beautiful World, There You Are

Today (April 22nd) is Earth Day, and since it’s far too easy to doomscroll our way through discussions about the climate crisis, I thought we could also find more positive ways to show our appreciation for this planet. This week’s prompts are inspired by the beautiful world we live in, and the ways we can reconnect with it.

This week's prompts

Set your story in the woods or on a campground.

Summer – 82 stories

Write about a character who loves cloud gazing.

Fluff – 53 stories

Start or end your story with a person buying a house plant.

Fluff – 63 stories

Write about a trip to see a natural sight that’s usually only ever seen in photos.

Adventure – 9 stories

Write a story involving a friendship between two different species.

Vampire – 43 stories

Stories

My Roots

Cleo Hall

Submitted to Contest #143

I didn't want to be here; what was the point, I couldn't even take care of myself, and she wanted me to buy something that needed my attention to survive? At least it wasn't an animal, but the way my friend Mina talked, you would think this was a whole animal. But it wasn't, we were in a plant shop, and I was required to leave with something. I feel overwhelmed with all the options and do not know the difference between different plants. Because of this overwhelmed feeling, I grab the first plant I see and tell Mina that this is what I want....

7 likes

April Showers

Anne Uhmeyer

Submitted to Contest #143

She burst through the door that day slightly out of breath on a gust of April wind and rain, and leaned back through to give her umbrella one last shake before fully entering the shop. Securing the soggy velcro fastener around the umbrella, she slipped the carrying loop over her wrist and pushed her damp hair out of her eyes with her other hand as she approached the counter where I stood. She must have said something, but for a minute I didn’t register it. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were rosy from exertion; she was disheveled from th...

7 likes

Hibiscus

Delilah Markovic

Submitted to Contest #143

Botany was a hobby that my mother had always pursued. In the spring, she’d spend her weekends tending to her vegetable garden for hours on end. My father would have to pry her from the soil just so that she would come and have dinner with us. In the winter, she would bring home armfuls of books from the local library devoted to flowers and trees. She’d read every last word before returning them the next week and checking out another stack. I guess she’s the reason I bought a hibiscus plant last year. I saw it on the windowsill of an almost...

7 likes

A Hike to Remember

Submitted to Contest #143

It was our first vacation together since we had gotten together. We'd known each other for years but I only had the courage to ask her out three years ago. We met when I was at work. I was working at a local café. My skirt had coffee stains and my long hair was in a messy ponytail as I reached the end of my shift. I accidently blurted out that I liked her anime bag and she burst out laughing. That's how our friendship started with me being a dork. Quickly, we grew closer and closer until I finally asked her out. We had been friends for two y...

7 likes

Elephants Don’t Forget

Seema Pun

Submitted to Contest #143

I met Tom when he was just a young boy. He was lost, wandering around the grass with eyes brimming with tears. He was wearing a uniform, green short sleeved shirt and shorts of the same colour. I recognised it, those wearing them were our friends.  Unable to stand watching him suffer, I hurried to him, moving away from my herd. When I reached him, there was no fear in his eyes. Being a uniquely large mammal, most people steer clear from us. But he just stood there, crying. I lifted my trunk and patted him in the head, trying to reassu...

7 likes

A Tail of Friends

Submitted to Contest #143

A Tail of Friends                                                                                        &n...

7 likes

The Sleepless

S.C. May

Submitted to Contest #143

Night One: Ari longs for me most at times like these. Her head lays heavy on the golden comforter. The exhaustion of unanswered questions weighs it down. She wants to scream unrestrained and cry unrelenting; however, she cannot reason either of those actions with her mind. Therefore, her empty eyes simply stare at the blank wall.  Her trembling arms cradle a stuffed bear to her relentlessly burning heart. If alive, the chubby cream-colored creature would have suffocated to death. It is all loose cotton inside, though. The bear’s littl...

7 likes

Ribcage

Submitted to Contest #143

Every morning since he had discovered them, he had returned to Big Black Trunk and lifted the flap of bark he had found the grubs living under. They were the big, fat white ones which wriggled when he picked them up and popped when he bit into them. His favourites. They were a rare treat and he hadn’t expected them to last long, so he wasn’t surprised when he got there and found that the birds had had the entire community.Never mind. What was it the Gammer used to say? If the tide comes in, it always goes out again? He didn't know what a tid...

7 likes

Uncommon Friendship

BigBoi Nat

Submitted to Contest #143

He gazed out towards the horizon, belly full and content. Feeling the warm summer sun on his face with the occasional breeze cooling his fur. Finally being able to rest after the treacherous journey he had to endure for a meal. Sniffing the warm air, he finally laid his head to rest against the comforting grass. As his eyelids begin their slow descent a step could be heard beside the lumbering beast. With a twitch of an ear and a quick head turn the beast could see who had made the approach. A lone highland cow cautiously sniffs the beast un...

7 likes

Surf n Turf

Rochelle Miller

Submitted to Contest #143

"Papa, can you tell us a story?"  A gathering was taking place. The sounds of bare feet echoed on the covered porch as the children ran to seek shelter from the angry skies. Taking a seat, his chair faithfully squeaked every time he rocked back. Papa contemplated what tale he might share to entertain these fidgety creatures. The children settled in, some on a bench, others on the porch swing. The smallest boy laid down on his back, right on the wooden planks, acting silly chewing on a sprig of grass from the yard. A Jack Russell ter...

7 likes

The Doomed Crew

Vincent Paiement Désilets

Submitted to Contest #143

The doomed crew drifted down Slave River in their rotten York boat. They had given up on paddling. Fatigue, strain, and hunger had ripped all layers of thought so that only the roaring of the river and the cries of the pelicans filled their heads. Most of the original crew, the rejects of the Hudson Bay Company, had died from sickness or attacks. Four of them remained, including the Husky, who was covered in dirt and had patches of hair missing, exposing the pink, damaged skin. Halfy—a nickname he hated—stood at the front of the boat, the po...

6 likes

Nature is Unmatched

Submitted to Contest #143

Jeff’s parents had a log cabin on the edge of a large woods. Jeff was allowed to bring his two best friends Howie and Scot along for the three days they would be there. Since Jeff’s friends had never been at the log cabin before they were somewhat frightened about living at the edge of the woods. Jeff’s mother wanted the boys to be comfortable so she asked all the boys to sit on the house patio and offered them soft drinks. She began to explain to the boys what a woods really is. People think the woods and the forest are ...

6 likes

Big Blue

Donald Bluhm

Submitted to Contest #143

When he first had come to the river it was summer and he was 12 years old and he carried a spinning rod and reel. He used a small silver lure that wobbled and flashed on the retrieve. The fish in the river were mostly brook trout, but occasionally a brown trout would appear and even a rainbow, stocked by the local conservation club, and all attracted to the small silver lure that wobbled and flashed. The river was not very wide and it ran crookedly through a forest that had not been logged, his father said, in maybe 50 years. The river wat...

6 likes

The Sunny Side Of The Mountain

Meagan Spurgeon

Submitted to Contest #143

(The play takes place in 1832 In the Pocono mountains in Pennsylvania United States. It is springtime in the month of May and everything is in bloom. The Pocono mountains are full of life and beauty. On one side of the mountain stands a small farm house with a mother raising her four girls as they take care of the farm their dear departed father had left them when he passed away two years ago due to a fever during the harsh winters they endure on the homestead. Now the girls must take care and run the farm doing all of the work themselves. T...

6 likes

Camping with Cleo

Luna VanOs

Submitted to Contest #143

"Come on Eve we have to help load the car, '' shouted Cleo as she pulled her pink overnight bag out the garage door. "But I don't want to go camping." Whined Eve, Cleo's little sister, as she pulled her blue suit case after Cleo. Cleo's family was going on a camping trip for spring break. Everyone in the family was excited, except for Eve, who of course complained loudly about how many bugs and snakes there would be. No one took her seriously because Eve was only 6. Though her parents told her to not say anything Cleo found it getting harder...

6 likes

Contest #143

This contest has ended. Thank you for your submissions.

$250

Prize money

250

Entries

139

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 29, 2022 EST

Won by Zack Powell 🏆

Title: What Happens in Vegas

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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