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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#160: A Watery World

August 23rd marks the beginning of World Water Week, an annual global conference that discusses developmental and environmental challenges, with a focus on — you guessed it — water! In the face of record heats and droughts worldwide, it’s more essential than ever to consider the importance of this life-giving resource. That’s what has inspired this week’s prompts – let's dive in!

This week's prompts

Set your story during a drought.

Thriller and Suspense – 72 stories

Write about someone seeking an oasis in a desert — whether literally, or figuratively.

Dramatic – 37 stories

Start your story with the whistle of a kettle.

Dramatic – 60 stories

Write about a character whose job is to bring water to people.

Dramatic – 42 stories

End your story with someone dancing in the rain.

High School – 55 stories

Stories

“Salt Lake” by H L McQuaid

Submitted to Contest #160

Two figures glimmer in the waves of heat rising from the dry lakebed. Stretched before them, the Bonneville Salt Flats, a vast expanse of white, blinding under the merciless Utah sun. No shelter or shade for miles. The only sound is the rhythmic crunching of their shoes on the crumbling surface, and the distant booms of rockets and guns and war.The girl trudges glassy-eyed across the barren landscape. Her plump brown cheeks stained with dried tears. She wears jeans, a blue t-shirt, sneakers.The man wipes his forehead, erasing one of the cake...

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“Water Freezes at 150mph” by Kenneth Bryan Villagoneza

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #160

Water Freezes at 150mphby Kenneth Bryan VillagonezaLiving almost my whole life as an orphan, I am fascinated watching how family’s bond get so strong. How sometimes they bicker on simple things. How they grow apart and live with a family of their own, then miss each other but during reunions all they talk about is how to divide their inheritance. Why would the eldest gets to own the family business? How the youngest has lived his life away from the responsibilities and that he does not deserve a single penny from the inheritance. Relatives t...

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“Like Roses in the Desert” by Kevin Marlow

Submitted to Contest #160

Red tail lights whizzed by, their glow leaving sparkling trails on the side glass in the back seat of a domestic sedan with an interior the color of ash. Tristan craned his head, looking for the street sign.The stiff collar on his shirt rubbed his neck like sandpaper. Mom had settled on the cotton poplin dress shirt and tie, they couldn't afford the Ralph Lauren Polo. 'It makes you look mature,' she said.“When you pull up to the gym, just let me out O.K.” Tristan leaned up to catch his mom's eyes in the rear-view mirror and scowled as a warn...

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“Our Girl” by Susan Williams

Submitted to Contest #160

Nora Mae stood at the screen door of the old, grey clapboard farmhouse and rubbed her lower back. The wind was a welcome relief on her hot, damp skin. The breeze was constant and had been gaining strength as the day wore on. It was blowing from the south and was too warm for this time of year. Here it was already late April. My, oh my, she couldn't believe how time had flown by! Rubbing her hand over her swollen belly, she knew it wouldn't be long now before the baby came. The contractions had grown stronger and more frequent since last nig...

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“Fifty Percent” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #160

It was like watching a crash in slow motion.Danier Leyte, the brightest boy of his class of ’10, the one picked to become a millionaire before he turned 40, the one that all of the best and the brightest of his class looked up to, was watching his career fall apart and – yes, yes, yes – crash in the rudest and worst possible way.A bus crash?A train crash?A ten-car pile up?No, no… This was ugly and real, happening in real time, with real consequences for real people.He was one of those real people. That jagged red line, tracing a jagged path ...

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“Tahua” by Dana Bláhová

Submitted to Contest #160

Tahua brings rain.That's what my grandmother told me years ago, and it was always true. For as long as I could remember, every year Ajika and I used to go see the intricate lianas that grew around the demolished walls of the old temple, to see if there were tiny pink flower buds hiding among their hard, waxy leaves. We watched as the tiny balls swelled and grew thick, and when the flowers finally opened and the sweet scent of tahua saturated the air, then...Then came the rain.And so it was year after year, as far as my memory went. Grandma h...

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“My Touch Meant Death” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #160

My touch meant death, but I needed a hug. I was the child of murder and malice, looking for love and kindness. The world opened its arms to me at first. Who denies a crying child affection? I was their image of innocence, no matter where I went. They would hold me. My touch paralysed. That innermost need for affection always hoped that I’d finally found someone who held me tight because they wanted me. I felt them still. Cold death covered them and chilled my skinny bone...

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“Survival of the Hopeful” by Taylor And Sandra Preisler

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #160

Wind whipped over the dunes, blowing sand into every nook and cranny it could find. Kiera gazed over the barren landscape and sighed. She glanced behind at the haul which would keep her alive through the harshest part of the winter, attached to the Muta Beast she rode. It was precious cargo for scavengers like herself. The Beast between her legs snorted and shook its massive head; he had used up his fat reserves over the winter months and was eager to reach the feeding grounds. Kiera tapped his sides lig...

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“Murder at Harajuku Michi(道) Soba” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #160

Jun looked at Sayako and pointed into the dining room at the customer who had come to murder him. Sayako carried over a glass of cold water and placed it in front of him.“Welcome to Michi Soba Restaurant!” she said in the spirited up tone that she used with customers, and presented him a menu. Sure, the man looked a bit rough, but more like a construction worker than a murderer.This is what she was paid to do. Serve glasses of water to customers that walk in and take their food to them when it was ready. Two years out of high school, and she...

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“A Story That Never Happened” by Darya Silman

Submitted to Contest #160

1A skyscraper hasn't grown out of the curb in the very center of Tallinn, Estonia. You can check this by using Google maps: type in Postimaja Shopping Center and choose the street view. You'll see a busy intersection with buses, cars, pedestrians, and no birds (remember the birds) encapsulated forever in the amber of a camera. Maples, with leaves unnaturally green in the picture - in reality, quietly dying under a thin layer of dust and traffic fumes - have their roots in patches of land, small decorative gravel preventing water evaporation....

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“Gold” by Eve H

Submitted to Contest #160

I sit on the counter of the gas station, sneakers tucked up neatly to avoid the racks of chocolate bars and lollipops, with a textbook balanced on my knees. "You have to get down if a customer comes in," says Ophelia, poking my leg. "Yes, ma'am," I say, not looking up, focusing instead on deciphering the illustrations depicting plant reproduction. She shoves my shoulder. "There's no point in you being here if you won't talk to me. Go home if you want to study." I snap the book shut and look up at her. "Is that so? My presence isn't enough?" ...

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“The Oasis” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #160

“There! See it?” The dozen riders pulled their horses up and followed Jesse’s gaze. The lone building shimmered in the distance. Jesse said, “The Oasis.” “Sure it’s not a mirage?” Andy said, “It’s not Vegas, Jack.” Everyone laughed. The deep drought affected everyone. Crops failed. Herds of livestock struggled and died. With no harvest to sell, money became scarce. Survival stopped being a theoretical challenge. There seemed no end to it. Jesse and his men rode for days in relentless heat. They adapted to travel only in the cooler, morning ...

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“The Consequences of Being Endangered” by Jeannette Miller

Submitted to Contest #160

Not a whisper of a cloud could be seen in the big beautiful unforgiving blue of the towering and relentless clear open sky. The ground was so hard and dry, it felt like concrete underneath my feet. My attempts at scraping up some dust with the toe of my boot were unsuccessful and only managed to produce a few crumbs of dirt. My skin felt just as dry and taut under the heat of the sun as I stood in the once lush pasture of my land. My long sleeve shirt, jeans, and hat protected me from the intense burning of the sun while simultaneously remin...

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“The Transitory Nature of Earthly Joy” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #160

I sit here perched on the edge of obscurity ignoring the never-ending, kettle-like whistle incessantly piercing my conscious thought. Diverting my attention toward the vast vacuum of space enveloping our very existence, I dismiss the high-pitched scream that enforces upon me an overbearing sense of isolation. Watching for any sign of movement through my oversized rectangular portal, I detect nothing but dust and rocks stretching for eternity across its barren red vista. Somewhere out there, help is on its way, and I want to be the...

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“The Moments Passed” by Adam Shaw

Submitted to Contest #160

"What would you have done differently?" he asked. She looked at him quizzically, "Done differently?" "Yeah, you know, what do you wish you would have done differently if you had known it would… well, would end like… this," and he gestured broadly about, as the darkened room trembled from the pandemonium outside. She exhaled slowly, casting her eyes back to the stony floor. "I don’t know. I suppose I wish I would've spent more time with my sister, I would’ve gotten to know her when she was younger instead of just picking up the pieces d...

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$250

Prize money

266

Contest entries

109

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 26, 2022 EST

Won by Lee Disco 🏆

Title: The Chandelier

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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