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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

“Pete” by Shawn O'Connor

Submitted to Contest #143

“I need something sturdy. Something with some constitution.” Kevin said to the cashier. “Something that isn’t just going to drop dead?” She said with a chuckle. “I got you, don’t worry.” She led Kevin down an aisle, passing many tropical plants on either side. Kevin followed, shoulders slouched, gazing at her heels making sure not to step on them. “Here we are. This is a ZZ plant. It is nigh unkillable. It would take an impressive level of neglect on your part to let this one die.” The girl looked at Kevin with a grin which quickly faded...

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“Reaping What You Sow” by Emily Daniel

Submitted to Contest #143

I had heard it’s good for your mental health to have a plant, and that seems way more manageable for me than say a girlfriend or a cat. So I went to the garden center to find one for my new home. I was a little scared though because I had never bought a plant before. That may sound a little silly but I had a good reason. I had honestly never taken care of another living creature before. I barely did ok taking care of myself. After several minutes of looking at everything in the store and not finding anything interesting, I was about to...

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“ A cat and A Dog uniting.” by Fortunatus Eze

Submitted to Contest #143

You remember the old saying. "why are they always fighting like cats and dogs". Used to explain two people quarrelling or opposing each other over an issue. But really. Why are these animals ( dogs and cats) used in such statement to represent a negative situation. Or is it the case that Cats and Dogs truly see themselves as enemies and loved to fight each other all the time??.Let's get to know.Dogs and Cats obviously have nothing much relating to eachother, but only a few physical features ( four legs, a tail, whiskers etc). Their instincts...

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““Boys in the Woods”: A Miller South Teens Short Story by Tori L. Day” by Tori L. Day

Submitted to Contest #143

The next morning, the boys were still asleep, yet something was different. Finn rolled over and stuck his hand out. He arched his eyebrows when we felt a blade of grass around his fingers. He opened his eyes and saw a dandelion in his face and closed them. Suddenly, his eyes popped open and he sat up and looked around. He let out a scream that woke the others. They jumped up and saw that they were in the middle of a forest. "What happened?? What is going on?!" Finn shouted. "Where's the hotel?" said Dylan. "Surprise!" yelled Mason. He ...

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“Storytime at Camp Nettlebottom” by Kai Achen

Submitted to Contest #143

"Infinitesimal stars shine down from the sky. They twinkle, and scintillate, and fizzle out, and die. They are already dead. We dance beneath their corpses." Counselor Jordan's story times were always the highlight of every summer at Camp Nettlebottom. Between the hot, humid days spent traipsing through the woods pretending to know which mushrooms are safe to eat and which ones will earn you a one way ticket to dysentery by way of needing to spend far more time than recommended in the latrines, and the endless prattling on of Counselor Moi...

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“Whippoorwill Song” by Debra Koffski

Submitted to Contest #143

I'm kind of a suburb kind of girl so when my sister invited me to spend a week with her at her NC house in the woods in the country, I was hesitant. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister and I love going to parks but I'm not used to woods all around me. But I decided to go and brave it out.Her house and surrounding area is beautiful, trees on every feet of land, and tall. It seemed as if some were fifty feet tall or more. I've never personally measured a tree, so don't use me as an accurate indicator. Standing on her deck I could see birds an...

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“Safe Haven” by Madelyn Jones

Submitted to Contest #143

CW: Mention of drug use and swearing; The woods have always been my safe place. Something about them had always had the innate ability to calm me, to be able to soothe my fears and anxieties. Maybe it was the quiet swish of the wind in the trees, or the fact that they stretch out and out and out, farther than you think possible. In the woods, you’re alone, with nothing but silence to greet you. And I’ve come to treasure silence more than anything else. “Emma, go to your room,” she growls in a low, harsh voice. Dutifully, I do as I am told...

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“Treasure Hunt” by Jack Rabbits

Submitted to Contest #143

I didn’t think we’d find the treasure, but I agreed to the trip because he was my dad. The prospect of finding money did excite me. Of course it did: I was a barista, twenty-five years old, and living with three roommates. But I had no real expectations. I figured that if the obsessive retirees crowding the forums hadn’t found the thing yet, then my dad and I were pretty shit outta luck. No, what I wanted when I agreed to the trip was just to spend time with him. Dad had grown increasingly alien to me over the years, especial...

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“A WOODLAND ADVENTURE” by Jax Gooding

Submitted to Contest #143

“Do we have to take them with us?” grumbled Pipi Georgia as she watched Grandma Jax remove two high vis vests from the hall cupboard. “Yes Pipi Georgia we do,” replied Grandma Jax, before folding the vests and placing them by the front door. “But we’ll be riding in the woods, not on a road,” mumbled Pipi Georgia.“It’s riding anywhere Pipi Georgia so stop moaning, try thinking of this as an adventure,” sugges...

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“The Legacy of Sage” by Dragos Marcean

Submitted to Contest #143

Not even the birds, squirrels, nor deers had woken up so early in that morning as Leo did. The sun was barely doing it’s morning streches, and he had woken up his wife and eight-year-old daughter, put them in the car with their luggage and tent, and drove seventy kilometres to the forest. Their electric, quiet SUV didn't bother a fly. The dew layed on the barely reborn green leaves, and the half-bald trees swayed with the wind. Nature was steadily waking up after the winter slumber. It seemed she tapped the snooze button and turned to the ...

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“The Case of the Missing Children” by Olivia Snead

Submitted to Contest #143

“How can you bring your heart to leave my children all alone in the wood…” Hansel and Gretel Grimm’s Fairy Tales Saturday, October 7 Edgar Nikephoros Huntinger, private investigator, smiled at Amaltheia Amaranthus across the candlelit table, at Spyro’s in downtown Miami. “You look lovely tonight, Amaltheia. Your satin dress complements your ivory skin and dark Grecian features. But it seems an odd color. M-m...

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“Molly and Emily” by Richard Leslie Brock

Submitted to Contest #143

MOLLY AND EMILY This was the summer of their sixteenth year for Molly and her best friend Emily, and it was going to be special. They were going to summer camp. Molly was so excited with anticipation that she had butterflies in her stomach and was sick almost every day anxious for their departure date arrive on August 12th. A charter bus would take their girl scout troop from Nucla to Grand Junction, then Denver, and finally Boulder where it would turn west toward Aspen Camp at the foot of Long’s Peak. For months the girls had pored over t...

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“Silver-Barked Trees” by Lily Lu

Submitted to Contest #143

Isabel held herself close as she scanned the grayish trees surrounding them. They shoot into the sky like iron totems, and she imagined them caging her in like an animal. Their red leaves made them all the more unnatural. They looked like splatters of blood on the metal. “I don’t like it here,” Isabel whimpered and rubbed her arms, shivering. “I can’t believe the shuttle dropped us on the wrong side of the planet!” “That’s what we get for contracting the cheapest company, I guess.” ...

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“Home” by Jordan Tope

Submitted to Contest #143

It had been a week since they arrived. Selena was lying on some fur pelts on the ground, looking up at the clouds. Vinicius, the name of the man who changed her, had made a small camp for them in one section of the woods. According to what he said, he had brought her to her new home, somewhere between New Zealand, Australia, and New Caledonia. She had tried to walk further inland. Only to be stopped by him telling her not just yet. Now she was waiting for him to return, from who knows where, and for maybe the 5th time that week. "Soon, Sel...

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“Unusual Wisdom” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #143

Every day, I have a routine. It's not the kind of routine where I do the same thing in the same order every day. It's the kind where I have a list of things to get through. What is my list of things that I do? Well, I eat on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I fast on Tuesdays and Saturdays to correct the malefic energy in my birth chart. I exorcise the energies around me and do meditations. Then I read the Bible. While I motivate through all my morning chores, I play video games, flip through social media and read the fa...

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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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