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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#209: Road Trippin'

The open road is a beacon of possibility. Who knows what you’ll discover as you navigate across boundaries, familiar and unfamiliar: maybe it’s the world’s biggest ball of twine, a hidden gem of a diner, or a new truth about yourself. Whatever it may be, a road trip provides the opportunity to indulge your curiosity, going wherever the wind may blow you. There’s no limits or obstacles, only what you’re willing to do.

After all, road trips are hardly ever about the destination. The journey is what matters most, and what you discover along the way, whether you're taking a vacation or setting out into the unknown. This week, we want to explore those unique feelings that only a good, long road trip can conjure.

This week's prompts

Set your entire story in a car.

Dramatic – 96 stories

Write about two strangers who are both heading to the same destination and agree to do a long distance drive together.

Character – 32 stories

Write a story about someone going on a life-changing journey.

Adventure – 57 stories

Write a story about someone getting lost, but discovering something they didn’t expect along the way.

Dramatic – 35 stories

Start your story with someone walking into a gas station.

Dialogue – 53 stories

Stories

“A Ruby Cactus in Sunset” by Mrs. Nostalgic RPG 89

Submitted to Contest #209

Driving, driving along, listening to the somber tunes of the tires meeting the road. The fever of the sun beat onto the car in a cruel lashing, forcing the air to pelt out to keep us cool, adding fuel to an already burning situation. I tried to turn on the radio, to get some form of a break from torture, but he turned it off, cursing us into a prolonged silence. I knew that something was bothering him. In fact, I knew what was bothering him, but as a person who is in this relationship, I did not know how to face him, and how to respond. List...

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“Goin' Places” by Patricia Williford

Submitted to Contest #209

Goin' Places The first time I ever saw Mr. Emmett Crawford, he was hunched over a bed of red and yellow pansies, smothering them up to their necks with damp sawdust while autumn leaves covered the rest of the ground. “Morning, sir!” I hollered, “You just move in?” “Yep, just this past weekend. Pretty nice place. We moved up here to be close to my son. You lived here long?” “All my life, actually,” I sighed. “I can't imagine what it'd be like to move to a new place....

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“PILLOW TALK” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #209

PILLOW TALK “Can you please check again?” “Sir, I’m sorry but I have the bookings right here on the screen in front of me. Your booking is for next Sunday, the 15th. Not, today, the 8th”. “But there must be something you can do. You surely have other cars available”. ‘I’m sorry, sir, but it’s Easter Sunday, one of our busiest days of the year. All of our cars are in use”. The man held his head in his hands in frustration. This could not be happening. How on earth he had entered the wrong pick up ...

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“Small Packages” by Scott Day

Submitted to Contest #209

Twelve-year-old Curtis Warren drives across a barren road at dawn. He needs a booster seat to reach the pedals. On the radio is an interview between him and a vapid journalist. 'Curtis Warren stars in the endearing family sitcom `'Small Packages' as the adorable Timmy. It's a delightful sitcom about a same-sex couple trying to raise a child, who is actually a 42-year-old Member of Parliament, in a conservative neighborhood. Now he's taking a dramatic turn with his new film `'Looking for Iceberg'. Now, I understand, Mr. Warren, that `Lookin...

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“The Story of Num ” by Ela Mikh

Submitted to Contest #209

“Who is that man?” a high-pitched childish voice sounded unusually loud behind me. “He looks so weird!” Curiosity took over and I turned around to check out the “weird man” but there was no one behind me. Instead, I met a pair of bright brown eyes that were looking at me with a mix of fear and inquisitiveness out of the window of a large station wagon. The car looked kind of retro but that wasn't what caught my attention. After all, perhaps these citizens were going to one of those antique car shows that were also a costume...

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“My Fraught Meeting with Der Fuhrer” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #209

Allow me to introduce myself—my name is Andrei Vyshinsky. I started my career as a minor official in the Russian foreign affairs ministry. However, I was soon assigned as the aide-de-camp to Vyacheslav Molotov who served as the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union from 1939 to 1949. Over most of his career, I was by his side, assisting him with his political and governmental duties. His friendship gave me a distinct edge within the diplomatic corps of the Soviet Union. I eventually was assigned to the post of ...

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“Empty Road, Full Mind” by Paul Tucker

Submitted to Contest #209

He doesn’t know, and to put it frankly, I don’t want him to. “How was work today?” he asks me. I glance over at him, trying not to show him more attention than the road, and push out a response. “It wasn’t terrible, but it also wasn’t anything special either. Truthfully, it’s the same old, monotonous routine that I have been stuck in since I started there.” My hands grip the steering wheel a bit too tight as I finish my response; a sensation of anger tends to consume me when I ponder too long on this aspect of my life, and really it happen...

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“Ribbons” by LeeAnn Hively-Insalaco

Submitted to Contest #209

*Please note that there are themes of parental abuse, mental health issues, abandonment, and implied sexual abuse present in this story.* The rumbling snores from the backseat threatened to rival the bass from her playlist, creating a sense of amazement that such big sounds could come from something so small. The corner of her mouth rose ruefully; That’s not all that’s surprising tonight. Anna was no stranger to surpises. She was adaptable. That was part of her whole schtick. Adaptable, funny, intelligent, st...

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“If I hadn't Been Speeding” by Harriett Ford

Submitted to Contest #209

I slammed the truck on my old Chevy, climbed in with a sigh, and headed toward Tulsa. Drat it all! I didn’t want to leave Branson, but I didn’t trust my resistance to the devastating charm of James Bentley the Third. He had sweet-talked me back before. The Chevy coughed a bit as usual but traveled smoothly enough along Interstate 44 under a huge yellow orb, a sunny-side-up egg on a giant blue platter overhead. A few puffy clouds were biscuits and maybe a serving of grits on the side. A beautiful day, I thought. A harbinger of new beginn...

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“The Peacemaker” by Kay Reed

Submitted to Contest #209

Somewhere in the middle of 2007 I swallowed Rage whole. I can’t recall the hour or the day, only the place – among white brick barracks sitting on the easternmost edge of Ukraine, the ones we turned into a makeshift summer camp for orphans.This was well before I knew my enneagram number: Nine, Peacemaker. The easygoing, self-effacing type. Complacent. Receptive and reassuringly agreeable. A fellow Nine from church asked how I dealt with my anger. I turned on him quick. “I’m not an angry person.”I didn’t know then, my anger a leashed thing, a...

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“Route 666” by Sade Eatton

Submitted to Contest #209

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT/PROFANITY READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED Foreshadow: Once inside the gas station I immediately ran to the man lying face up making sure my DNA didn't spread anywhere near the crime scene. "Sir, sir!! "Please give me a reaction! Oh no this is not good! What evil bastard could do something like this?" Since my phone had died, I began scurrying around to find the store business phone to call 911 for emergency. Moving too quickly, I ended up slipping in the dark red blood that was oozing out all over the floor. In the mi...

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“Pump Thirteen” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #209

The stranger walked into the petrol station. When it came to petrol stations, visitations by strangers were not at all unusual. This was a place that a person passed through without leaving very much of themselves at all. Familiarity was mostly earned elsewhere. Nothing was familiar about this stranger and that was not right. That was decidedly unright. The stranger walked into the petrol station and the world turned as though this were the very centre of it. Time slowed and a change made ready to dance to the tune that the stranger was ab...

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“Leo's Journey to Self-Discovery” by Anisa Laci

Submitted to Contest #209

Long ago in a digital age far, far away, in a small town nestled amidst rolling hills, lived a young man named Leo. He had always felt a deep longing for something more, a yearning to explore the world beyond the confines of his familiar surroundings. One day, he made a decision that would change his life forever - he would embark on a journey of self-discovery. Leo's journey began with a single step, as he bid farewell to his family and friends, setting off into the unknown. With a backpack slung over his shoulder and a heart filled with ...

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“The Trip of a Lifetime” by Joan Wright

Submitted to Contest #209

" So what you're saying is, that you sold me to a farmer, in Kansas?"Screeched Anna. "Well not exactly sold you. The farmer needs help and we have the opportunity to help him." replied her frustrated father. "WE Do you mean your'e going too?" "Well, not exactly" "Well, what is it exactly?' "Well you know we've been having financial problems and I'm going to have to sell the house, and this will be better for you." "What you mean is you spent all my mother's money, so now I'm on my own!" Anna's face was turning from red to purple. "You went ...

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“Off Route: A Mike Dodge Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #209

The second thing I noticed about the man on the bench was his copy of National Geographics Journeys of a Lifetime. It had fallen into the dirt beside the wrought-iron/soy composite seat – the one I’d probably seen him occupying a half dozen times. I assumed he’d obtained it only recently, probably a gift or an Amazon whim – the second half of the volume was flat, clean, unsullied as yet. The first half had been turned and worried and crimped, and I saw the edge of a bookmark peeking from the pages.The first thing I noted about the man was th...

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$250

Prize money

273

Contest entries

154

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 04, 2023 EST

Won by Kyle Sager 🏆

Title: The Driving Snow

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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