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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#171: Wanderlust, Wanderlost

If I can paraphrase In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust once said that “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” This idea of travel has always been popular in literature: most notably, as a way for authors to explore a character’s internal journey through their encounters with the external world. After all, our interactions with people and places are what shape our perspective on things.

Taking inspiration from the idea of the solo voyage — whether it be a big trip around the world, or simply a leisurely walk around an unfamiliar neighborhood — this week’s prompts invite you to hone in on drifting, wandering, and exploring on your own.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone looking at a breathtaking view and getting emotional.

Dramatic – 64 stories

Write about two solo travelers who keep bumping into each other in the most unexpected of places.

Romance – 21 stories

Write about a character who is trying to leave something or someone behind — only to realize they carry it with them.

Sad – 72 stories

Write a story where someone decides to take the long way home.

Adventure – 37 stories

Your character is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. The story takes place during a long-haul flight, with an open return-date. What happens?

Adventure – 10 stories

Stories

“Left behind ” by Simone Moores

Submitted to Contest #171

‘I never thought we’d get here, you know.’ He looks straight ahead as he says it, his bright blue eyes shining with tears, though he’d never admit it if I called him on it. ‘Me neither.’ I lean my head on his shoulder, the only manly part of a body otherwise stuck in skinny adolescence. ‘God, I feel so grown up. A whole two years married! Some couples don’t last that long, you know, Sam. It takes real work. I mean, if you knew the amount of self control it’s taken for me to hold back the urge to kill you all this tim...

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“Discardable” by M.K. Levant

Submitted to Contest #171

The grey panorama from high up in the mountains was so open and immeasurable that my thoughts raced away and lost themselves in the vastness until I found them wandering somewhere just beyond the cloudy horizon. It was so unlike anything I had ever seen before. I froze in place, and it wasn't only for fear of dying here. The immensity and the loneliness of my new freedom overwhelmed me, and I simply couldn’t process it all for a while. I was a creature of enclosed spaces, someone who had spent her entire narrow and controlled existence in th...

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“422 Old Laker St. ” by Korinne H.

Submitted to Contest #171

It’s bitter out here tonight. Trouble roams these streets at all hours, but the lack of sunlight stirs up another kind of evil. I'm walking through downtown Chicago. That's where I live. Honestly, I’m not sure how long I've lived here but life happened and here I am. Lifes been rough lately. Lifes been rough for a while. I hate these streets. I hate the dark, the whispers, the footsteps shuffling through the trash. I miss my home. Yes… my home, 422 Old Laker St. Seems like forever since I've been there. Heck, seems like forever since I...

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“The Snap Back” by Marian Lemont

Submitted to Contest #171

I’m a Time Traveler. I don’t possess any particularly exceptional abilities and I’m not sent on an extraordinary mission to an end of saving the future or achieving a greater good. I started as a Time Traveler, like many others before me, because I have money–a lot of it. Money, and a keen interest in major historical battles that I have the privilege of witnessing first-hand. I started traveling years ago, and since then, I’ve seen it all. The Battles of the Bulge, Gettysburg, Stalingrad, the Somme. I could see other events–in fact, ...

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“blood stains don't just wash away, ya know” by Jennifer Cameron

Submitted to Contest #171

Mentions of PTSD and domestic violence. Blood smeared across my left eyebrow, crimson and glinting as the moons light caught it. The windscreen wipers waved a sombre goodbye as they battled against the relentless rain throwing itself against my windows. I’d come back tomorrow and the next day just like I had after the bruises lined my jaw. A smile flitted across my face before perching itself comfortably on my lips. 4 years ago it had been different blood coating my skin. It had been victim blood. He’d hit me with a force that would cause m...

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“Tears of Sadness” by Eden A

Submitted to Contest #171

It was a cold Friday morning in Toronto, Canada. There was frost on the ground and it was icy. I got up ready to slay the day. My hair was already straightened and I was in the spirit. I put on my dad’s oversized dark blue shirt and pants, planning to twin with my boyfriend. I looked great! As I rushed downstairs and ate three small yogurts for breakfast and handed my dad my school computer. My dad thought it would be a great idea to show him the messages downloaded from my abusive ex before the school principal sees them. This...

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“Ugly to Breathtaking” by Emily Hartley

Submitted to Contest #171

Waking up this morning, I knew I had to do something useful with my only day off this week, I could not let myself just lie around on the couch and feel sorry for myself. I got dressed into some comfortable running shorts, a snug t-shirt, and my newest pair of walking shoes, Nike to be exact. I opened the front door and walked out of the house,into the dewy and damp air and fog, not quite sure where my feet would take me, if they would even move. I ended up walking to the end of a nearby walking trail about a mile from my house, that leads u...

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“Headstrong, Heartbroken, Hopeful” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #171

Taking a bike trip on the unforgiving mountain roads in winter was for the headstrong, or the heartbroken.Capt. Sanjay Singh stepped out of his cozy company commander’s hut in Fukché. Sepoy Tshering, his buddy, tagged along with a duffle bag that had canned food, winter clothing, and a sleeping bag.They met Subedar Asif Ali and two more sepoys, outside the compound wall on which the regimental emblem- an ibex with ‘SCOUTS’, and Julé were painted in deep maroon. The three gave a snappy salute as the captain approached them. Subedar Asif Ali h...

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“The Face of Fear” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #171

As I sped out the back door, I was amazed at how fast my feet could carry me. Sweat poured off my face as I dashed across the yard, not from exerting myself, but from facing fear. As I reached our adjoining neighbor’s backyard, my father’s voice called to me from my back porch, but his words were lost in the distance. For two blocks I ran before I was greeted by a friendly face. “Hey, Terry,” Norman shouted out at me. “What’s the hurry?” Not daring to stop for him, I called out as I ran by, “I need a place to hide out. Any suggestions?” ...

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“Abbadon” by Bee Khorasani

Submitted to Contest #171

I think I’m dying. It's agonizingly hot. I try to get away from it, to press myself to the metal of my ship, but that just burns my skin, leaving every inch of me shiny and pink. I can’t breathe. I can’t see. I reach blindly for my comms. Just as I grasp it, I feel a tiny glimmer of hope, but the metal burns my fingers and the ship falls away into nothing. * * * I woke up in the smoldering remains of my ship. I felt dizzy, breathing shallowly but not able to fill my aching lungs. I stumbled as I stood in a blind panic, searching the wrec...

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“A bottle, a drive, and a confession” by Ian Barrett

Submitted to Contest #171

Here I am, alone, talking into this tape recorder driving these Gulf roads in New Hampshire at an hour when most people are fast asleep, the roadways are devoid of any innocent causalities that I may encounter on my mission. What mission are you on? You might be wondering. Oh, I don’t know if we’ve gotten comfortable enough for me to divulge that just yet. Ride with me for a little bit and let’s see if we get there. A few more pulls off this bottle and I’m sure I’ll spill my guts no matter what. Shit, I just spilled some ...

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“Water” by Donna Corley

Submitted to Contest #171

Water. Blue, smooth, quiet, flowing..peaceful. I have always been drawn to the water. Not as a swimmer, but as a looker. Whenever I look at a lake, ocean, or any beautiful stretch of water it just seems to fill my soul with a calm, peaceful feeling. As a child my father would take me to the lake to fish. Certainly, I enjoyed fishing with my father, but the true joy came later when I could sit on the pier and just stare out at the lake. It wasn’t the jumping fish, frogs, or even the slow sweeping birds that brought jo...

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“Eulasi v The Multiverse” by Tamarin Butcher

Submitted to Contest #171

Eulasi emerged from the swirling black and purple void, tendrils of pure reality clinging to him stubbornly as he shook himself free of the sticky portal. "Library. Check," he muttered to himself, noting the tall, red brick tower sprouting from the center of campus. "Chapel. Check," he added, turning slightly to view the familiar spire. Now that the geography was out of the way, he turned his focus to the people. He smiled. "Frightened and confused students. Check." Everywhere he turned, students had paused their poorly timed da...

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“Senseless” by Nicole Robinson

Submitted to Contest #171

The lights were warm. They didn't flicker. The light above the entrance did dim, however; it dimmed every time the ground shook. I gazed tiredly past it, through the glass door, and into the wet darkness. My hands numbly grabbed another mug, dunked it in the lukewarm soapy water, and scrubbed at the old coffee stains. I rinsed, dried it, set it aside, then reached for another. The lights flickered. That dull, warm glow went dark for a moment, then came back brighter. White light flashed through the room accompanied by a deep rumble, then abr...

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“Fighting Through the Fog” by Lainey La Shay

Submitted to Contest #171

SENSITIVE CONTENT: Refers to Domestic Abuse The fog rolls off the Pacific Ocean, covering the hills surrounding San Francisco in an impenetrable cloak of gray. From China Beach, the last glimpses of the Golden Gate Bridge vanish as if its bold red arches had never been suspended there at all. Only the pulsing of the ocean’s waves — in rhythm with my pounding heart — remain, echoing through the fog. How am I here? Two thousand miles from home, walking unfamiliar terrain, hiding because my next breath depends on it. But the closer the fog ...

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$250

Prize money

204

Contest entries

79

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 11, 2022 EST

Won by Thom With An H 🏆

Title: Silence

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.

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