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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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 – 55 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 – 44 stories

Stories

“The Peace of the Forest” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #143

Sir Danielle Longbow looked down at the world from high above. She saw the trees of Crann’s forests, the rivers, and streams. She saw the ocean in the east and the kingdoms to the south, the empire to the north. Carved wooden castles like chess pieces sat on the map. Carved soldiers the length of her pinkie finger stood guard by each one. Crann’s soldiers were green. Imperial soldiers were red. “Seei...

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“I-s-A-C” by Connie Elstun

Submitted to Contest #143

My note read: “To whom it may concern, my name Is Ben Holcomb. By the time you read this, I will either be dead or found. I am missing from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Please call the police and my wife, Shelby Holcomb, at 933-4188. I am hurt and afraid and being held against my will in a cabin above Saints John-Please send help!”I hoped whoever found it will be able to read it as my handwriting was shaky and weak, emphasizing my un-sharpened pencil, and torn paper. I had kept the note in my underwear for days before putting it in a beer bot...

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“Love Rat” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #143

153 was spiteful – at least, that was what everyone else told her. Marcy didn’t believe any of them: Henry had only bitten one person to her knowledge and that was a research student with a sadistic streak who’d tried to lace the rats’ food with chilli sauce. She herself would have bitten anyone who’d tried something like that with her. No, Henry was far and away the cutest rat she’d ever worked with – and the smartest too.She was observing him now, watching his whiskers twitch as he stared back at her. In her notebook, she jotted down, ‘153...

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“Anna's New Buddy” by Melony Beard

Submitted to Contest #143

Anna pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do I have to stay at the farm this summer?”Momma gently patted Anna’s arm. "We’ve already discussed this. You are eight years old. You’re too young to stay home alone.""Why can't you stay home with me like last summer?""You already know the answer. I work now that Daddy is gone. I can't afford a babysitter. I promise to visit you soon. Try to have fun."Momma turned the car onto a narrow dirt road past a rustic wooden sign which read, "Honeysuckle Farm."Frowning, Anna opened the car door a...

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“What You Aren't Taught ” by Ateeq Rehman

Submitted to Contest #143

She met the new day's sun with tired contempt. In one heavy sigh, she fell the rain from her many limbs, scattering the birds to sky and the worms to earth and the squirrels onto her sisters and the owls briefly out of sleep and the deer out of calm and then it was quiet. Save for the screeching of some little one she thought sounded alone. She wanted to sound out to the voice. She wanted to scream with it. But she remained still and quiet and before the guilt built she turned her attention to her sisters that had forever been an arms length...

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“Not Your Average Clouds” by Sue Hunter

Submitted to Contest #143

The Jeep was battered. The bumper had a dent in it from where Erin had backed up into a streetlamp three years ago. The AC refused to work anymore. She had to jerk the steering wheel in order to make a fast turn, and one tire perpetually leaked air. But it was the only car she had. Erin started the ignition, the car sputtering twice before it finally decided to wake up. Her chipped nails tapped against the wheel as she waited in the parking lot. After a few minutes, the main door to the weather station slammed open, a chubby man running to...

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“The Dog Shrink” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #143

The Dog ShrinkI am so ashamed. I am only writing this because the beagle next store said it would be good for me to bare my soul, something about the “cathartic” effect of sharing my feelings. I don’t even know what “cathartic” means, but he’s a really smart dog (He once opened his family’s refrigerator to get at some hot dogs.), so I thought I’d try it. I’ve been burdened with recurring feelings of guilt over an ugly episode in my life, so I hope this works.You need some background. I live out in the country. It’s a beautiful place, four ac...

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“Life’s a mess (aka wonderful world)” by Gianluca Angelucci

Submitted to Contest #143

To think that I would end up living in a makeshift hut deep in the woods…Life’s a mess sometimes.I mean, if you follow the biological steps to make a life, you can see that life’s a mess by definition.It starts with a vicious entanglement of flesh and bodily fluids, it develops in a sack in the womb of the mother deforming and squishing her organs, and comes to the light of day in pain and anguish, in a pool of liquids, blood and let’s not think what else.Then come the cries, infancy, puberty, and at last when you reach 20 -ready to be a pro...

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“Steveguns Beat Rayguns” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #143

“Rayguns, have you heard of those?” The teacher asked, looking around at the blank faces. “Rayguns are what old people called laser weapons, mostly because an American president called Ronald Raegan wanted to have loads of them in space. Sadly, that never happened and we got a bunch of half-baked star wars films instead.” “Rogue one was really good sir,” said a pimply boy who raised his hand after talking. &...

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“Dolly and her daydreams” by Holly Guy

Submitted to Contest #143

We called her Dolly Daydream. “Oh, that’s Dolly.” We would scoff, usually to some curious person who had never met her before, “Don’t bother talking to her. She won’t hear you.” In those instances, she would smile to herself. She would hear us, she always heard us. She simply chose not to respond. I guess we never understood that just because her head was above the clouds, it didn’t mean that she couldn’t peer down on us every once in a while. She preferred it up in the sky where the atmosphere was warm and comforting, rather than dow...

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“Obvious Plants” by Cindy Strube

Submitted to Contest #143

Obvious Plants“I need a plant!” The meticulously dressed, fiftyish woman leaned over the counter and spoke in a low murmur.Lily smiled encouragingly. Sometimes the first visit was a little disconcerting.“Well, as you can see,” she indicated, waving her arm, “we’re all about plants here.” She waited.“I’ve been told this is the place — ” the woman’s voice dropped further, to an almost inaudible but urgent whisper, “to obtain a ‘plant’.” As she mouthed the last word, she brought her hands discreetly in front of herself and wiggled her...

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“Copulatory Ecstasy” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #143

Jeremiah Reddington stroked his healthy, reddish beard as he stood at the peak of the hill, overlooking his secluded mountain base. From this position, he could survey the vast elevated foilage of sweeping forest terrain that conveniently functioned as a perfect canopy of veiled cover.Scanning the distant horizon of trees, he adjusted his digital visor to seek out any heat signatures that would alert him of encroachers to the untouched utopia hiding its secretive residents. Any interference to the small mountain research laboratory that Jere...

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“Table Mountain Pine” by Davie McGuinn

Submitted to Contest #143

(CW: Substance abuse, physical violence) Eliza sat on the outcropping and gazed at the flames leaping and dancing among the windswept wooded landscape. She made it this far, and she was not turning back. What brings destruction also brings new life and hope. The dry bones in the valley before her were resurrecting, reforming, dancing, and yearning for life. She would join the dance, but she had to be patient—no second-guessing herself. Just keep looking forward. Her eyes moved up in tandem with the rising smoke. She caught a glimpse ...

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“The Happy Trail” by Janey El Napier

Submitted to Contest #143

Content warning is written in commentsThe kid wanted water but all Ted had on him was a stick of Dentyne. The tent bag over his shoulder had started hurting around the same time Benny had asked for it, thirty minutes after they started walking. Ted’s bet had been twenty minutes. He supposed that meant the kid was defying expectations for once. Benny had taken the gum and stuffed it into that quiet mouth of his with a woebegone look. Ted doubted the kid knew what woebegone meant. Ted doubted he even knew how to hammer a tent peg into the...

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“Mr Ishootdeerforfun” by Clara Cantwell

Submitted to Contest #143

“Monday mooching with the magnolias, Tuesday time spent with the tulips, Wednesday walking down to the water lilies, Thursday thinking with…” A loud bang from the door signalled the end of my free time. I quickly rolled up my weekly schedule and hid it inside the drawer in the desk. It wasn’t my desk, but I was sure the owner wasn’t going to find my paper. The owner was part of the summer camp that I attended over the holidays. There were definitely pros and cons to staying there. For one it was nice for me to be living next to the bush agai...

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$250

Prize money

253

Contest 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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