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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#181: Standing Tall

The mountains are the place where many people go to seek adventure, whether that be hiking, climbing, or skiing; but they’re also where some go to find stillness, and reconnect with nature. Mountain ranges have an almost spiritual feel to them 一 they stand tall, enduring the test of time, and remind us of our scale in the universe.

In literature, mountains have often served as powerful settings, or as a metaphor for the insurmountable obstacles characters have to deal with. This week’s prompts are inspired by them:

This week's prompts

Write about someone who realizes they're on the wrong path.

Character – 69 stories

Write a story about someone who has to “move mountains” to get what they want.

Angst – 15 stories

Write about a character who’s climbing a mountain, whether internal, external, or both.

Adventure – 59 stories

Write about a character who, for whatever reason, retreats to a remote cabin.

Mystery – 62 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Dialogue – 73 stories

Stories

“It's Not A Literal Mountain...” by Helen Karas

Submitted to Contest #181

She knew she could do it. But she stayed still. She was going to do it. But she idled. She told herself she would. But she lay there, unmoving. Failure was upon her, around her, behind her. It consumed her grades and goals like a great black fog. But she knew no sun, no medication could destroy its dictatorship. She had to do something to save her future. But the only thing she could do was lay on her bed and sob. She knew she had the potential to complete the assigned work, but her own mind locked her in a straightjacket. It was a traitor...

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“The Wizard of Washington Square” by Lee Disco

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

There is a wizard in Washington Square. He wears a billowing cloak, bundled in a pile on his shoulders; he is a tall creature, and with the ebony fabric wrapped up to his ears, he looks even larger. The rest of the cloak drapes down his legs, swaying in fraying threads at his ankles. His jeans—black, too—are too short for him, yielding to gray ankles and ragged shoes. He is pale all over, with skin dead blue pale like a corpse. His hair is like pale wheat in need of a glinting scythe. For all his magic, he must cut it in the dim reflection o...

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“Amor Vincit Omnia. Love Conquers All.” by Marilyn Filewood

Submitted to Contest #181

(One profanity, a theme of Autism, bullying) "Asparagus got Aspergers!" Bronson lowered his face to my eye level and beamed with menace. His two front teeth had fallen out last week, so a spray of spittle came through the gaps and landed on my glasses. I wished glasses came with windscreen wipers. Due to the missing teeth, what Bronson actually said was "Athparagath got Athbergeth", but I got what he meant. Bronson was possibly the meanest of the mean boys in Year 3. He was born mean, I think, so not much can be done about it. On the ...

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“Doomscrolling Mountains” by Akash Joshi

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

You open google and type “unsplash.com”. The site is simple, functional, and promising. You know you are at the right place when the most prominent thing on a site is the search bar. And there are two of them. Search free high-resolution photos, they say. You know why you are here. Your life is lacking. You need inspiration. Or is it motivation? Or is it both? You decide to go with the former. It’s long-term. Choosing your desktop wallpaper is an important business for you. Because of the nature of your job, you are constantly chan...

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“Shriven ” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #181

“Jesu have mercy upon my soul.” As he approached the locked door, he could hear the mumbled prayer from the other side, her voice was husky as if she’d worn it out with her incessant imploring of the Lord throughout the long night. Upon entering, William made his way through the suite to the Queen’s privy chambers with silent feet so as not to disturb her devotions. Her faithful almoner, John Skypp, Bishop of Hereford, sat beside her, his face weary and worn, but the Queen remained kneeling, her hands clasped together in ferve...

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“DON'T LOOK DOWN” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #181

I first learned of the avalanche upon my return from the two-hour hike it takes to reach the nearest forest from our house in Khumba. I had left early that morning for firewood. The basket strapped to my back was packed with as many branches and leaves as it could hold, and the length of the wood doubled my height, requiring of me both strength and balance. I had grown stronger this past year and could now manage close to double the weight I had carried the year before. The Sherpa are a proud people and I knew this ...

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“The Sunset Hike” by Erin Keagan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

“Take your meds, Pa” Felix said as he cleared the dinner dishes from the table. He pointed to the small medicine cup filled with pills of different shapes and sizes in front of the old man. Reluctantly and with shaky hands he brought the medicine cup to his mouth. “I put your pain pills in there too. You’re going to need them.” Pa froze and shot him a look of annoyance, “You know these make me sick” “I know,” he responded. “Take some of your Zofran too. It will help with the nausea” He opened a bottle and hande...

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“The Climb of your Life” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #181

Rising up before you, the mountain dominates everything. Craggy outcrops interspersed with woods carve out of rolling green fields, reaching higher and higher, before thrusting into the sky. It is here that elements must collide: earth gives way to space and finite matter stretches into infinity. There are other peaks, a whole mountain range in fact, but this is the one you have set out to climb; and that summit, well it’s got your name on it.Quickly lacing on your boots, flinging a small rucksack on your back, you start off on the trail at ...

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“Forged in Fire” by Noel Turner

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

Ancient hinges groaned stubbornly as she opened the door. A quaint mountain cabin seemed a drastic understatement. Aged red cedar, warped by more than one hundred years of extreme weather, whined against her efforts to push it open it. “Well,” she said, “at least no one can sneak in, Mabel.” She set down the large cooler containing her groceries. Running her fingers along the wall, she flipped a lone switch. Nothing. “Fabulous,” she said flatly, then scanned the room, eyes adjusting slowly in the fading light before moving further insi...

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“Love: The wicked game.” by Syed Mohammad Zahid

Submitted to Contest #181

Thirty years have passed, how can those days, those nights, when we first went to Lalazar, drift away from our memory? It still dwells in the deepest subconscious, like a fantasy. That vast meadow, with some fine hotels on the top of a mountain, was the center of delight for visitors. It was frequented by travelers in summer and invalided in winter. That was the end of February, so all hotels were deserted. We were the only guests ‌staying in a small cabin adjacent to the main building of a locked hotel. There had been some movement of...

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“Ada” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #181

For my mother, and all the souls she loved before. She smokes a cigarette after her morning coffee. Her hair is cropped short and wet from a shower. She takes the back door, so as not to be caught by Dr. Wilson. I keep the door to my office open, just for her. As she walks by I inhale deeply. She smells like Marlboro Reds and sugar. She saunters past my desk without a second glance and I don’t have the courage to say, “Good Morning.” My wedding ring digs into my palm; diamonds are secretly sharp. I twist it so that they face the world a...

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“Mountain Rescue” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #181

“Here. Careful, it’s hot.”I take the soup in the green plastic cup, steam rising, blow on it, then use my camp spoon to skim the yellow broth off the top. In another day we’ll be out of soup, out of fuel, and down to nothing but four Clif Bars: one chocolate chip, two white chocolate macadamia nut, a peanut butter. I hate peanut butter. Until the rescue, I’m thinking maybe go with half a bar each day. There has to be a rescue.Phil and I are lying in our snow cave, and we have been, three days now. Body heat in the tight space keeps us warm, ...

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“Grocery Shopping” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #181

It had rained the night before, but the strong winds on this fall day still managed to blow the soggy yellow and red maple leaves past the sliding doors and onto the speckled off-white floor of the Safeway. The leaves collected in awkward groups, like middle schoolers at their first dance, and didn't move. They were glued onto the linoleum floor, pressed into its otherwise slick surface by rain boots and shopping cart wheels. Perhaps, in the cold of the wind, after they were ripped from their thin branches when they realized the great gust w...

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“Movies That Suck” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #181

My wife Janine wants me to stop organizing the monthly movie meetup in Hoboken. “Love you babe,” I tell her on the way out, giving her my best I’m a great husband aren't I smile.Without looking over, she says, “have a good time,” and wiggles her fingers in farewell.I don’t get much TLC on movie nights. But I think she understands a man needs to blow off some steam every once in a while. She’s also been giving me a hard time about being stuck in my ways, so it’s good to get the night off.I slip out the door quietly. We used to talk about how,...

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“The Miners of Mount Elgon” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #181

As the sun sets on the extinct volcano of Mount Elgon and the red light of the African evening fades, a female dung beetle scrambles over a pile of elephant droppings, forming her find into a ball. Once completed, it will be at least three times larger than the shiny, black-armored insect. She will roll her prize away backwards, a single egg enclosed within, to be buried in soft ground.Though the deed of the lady dung beetle is both fascinating and commendable—for it is she, and all her kindred, who help prevent the putrefaction of the land—...

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$250

Prize money

278

Contest entries

125

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 20, 2023 EST

Won by Aeris Walker 🏆

Title: Out of Place on the Appalachian Trail

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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