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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

“Gender Reveal” by Alex Flores

Submitted to Contest #209

The slam of the car door instantly cuts off the music coming from the backyard. Slumping into the driver seat, Gustavo waits. Feeling the glare of Gloria’s gaze, he knows this routine. No words at first, just the stare. He stares ahead through the windshield, knowing Gloria won’t say anything until he does. Gustavo’s impatience, along with his irritation at Gloria, overtakes him after a few short moments. “Well?&nbs...

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“Redeemer” by Nathaniel Miller

Submitted to Contest #209

“The sun doesn’t rise anymore.” “What? No. It rises.” A brown chip bag and an empty can blow in the wind, pirouetting next to the car. “Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” Keila brushes a strand of her short, purplish-red hair behind her ear. It’s eerie, being driven through an empty city. No other cars are on the five-lane highway. The skyscrapers are jam-packed with people. But nobody goes out on the streets anymore. The altitude and the smoke mean that the city is always covered in a haze. A thick ha...

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“Lightning Strikes” by Stevie Burden

Submitted to Contest #209

Lightning Strikes Stevie Stephens Burden “Looks like some rain out there,” my traveling partners says, as she leans a little forward in her seat peering out at the sunlit road before us, looking in the direction that we will soon be heading. I agree. I don’t know if she is ready for the rains that come in this part to the country. Unlike our Oregon rain, when the rains hit here, it is usually from clouds that pile up and rub together to create wind and thunder the likes of which we rarely if ever see on the coast. They dump the kind of t...

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“Honestly?” by Nico D.

Submitted to Contest #209

A little love letter to Midwest emo. - Sean and Valerie have just crossed the Ohio border, and they are not in love. They were, once, Sean thinks. He isn’t sure exactly when or for how long. It could have been when they first met in middle school, when they had not yet chosen the names they use now, and for the first time they had each found someone like them—though, at the time, they did not know what exactly that meant. Or that one summer late in high school, when a night of fooling around ended with Valerie’s realization that she was no...

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“Twist” by Mary Black

Submitted to Contest #209

TwistClaire gunned the car up the hill, the road ahead gleaming in the moonlight, relieved to get away from Dave. She had sat there, seething, as he emptied most of a bottle of whiskey in the kitchen of their holiday cabin.‘Couldn’t help it, Claire. I fell in love.’His eyes were luminous with alcohol and regret. Claire had been gratified to see little wrinkles of irritation on her husband’s face, a sign the gloss was already coming off his mid-life office romance. He was most unattractive when he got drunk. Usually she would haul his slight ...

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“Seven Seconds” by Alan Harrell

Submitted to Contest #209

Seven SecondsAfter six weeks on the run, a journey that spanned over three thousand miles, Josh parked his stolen Hummer at the entrance to Dead Man’s Rock. This was it. The last stop.Beside him, Fiona gazed out the window, her finger twirled around a stray curl. She looked more frightened now than when she played her piano for an audience of thousands, more frightened than the night she shot her stepdad. Screw the suicide pact. Josh had to save her.He threaded his fingers into her hand. “Helluva way to spend your eighteenth birthday. You su...

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“May It Please the Court” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #209

When I had picked up the eighty-eight-year-old judge at his townhouse in Marlton, I had assumed that I was driving. I had been wrong. I had also thought we were headed to a Trial Lawyer’s Conference for the New Jersey Association of Justice. Wrong there too. The problem was, I had strict orders from Judge Stein to get his former mentor to the conference on time, and I had promised Judge Redmond’s wife, who literally made me swear on a Bible, that I wouldn’t let the old man drive.It had started in the garage.“So you’ll be ...

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“The Mumbai Chase” by Daniel Brandt

Submitted to Contest #209

Title: Midnight Mumbai Dash It was early morning and the rain poured down on Rajesh's taxi and only dim lights lit up his cabin. It was a Hindustan Ambassador from the 90s and was his pride and joy. Black on the sides and yellow on the top, a Buddha hung from the rearview mirror. Not that he was a strong believer, but he and Buddha looked a bit similar so it made him smile. He was parked outside of the Shree Siddihivinayak Temple and munched on a portion of Vada pav. The deep-fried potato dumpling crunched in his mouth and he released a si...

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“ROAD TRIP” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #209

ROAD TRIP It was the jingle of a hundred bridles or so that had Brianna literally diving into the bushes in a ditch by the side of the road. There was the sound of rushing waters nearby that masked the beat of the horse's hooves and the jangle of the horse tack; bridles, bits, stirrups, and spurs; as well as the clanging of the knight's armor. At first, she had thought the beating noise was the result of a small waterfall or a cascade, or even thunder, but as the cavalcade got closer she realized there was a metal-against-metal...

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“Baptism at the Mission San Luis Rey” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #209

Stefan knew he would make his cousin’s wedding the following morning, despite the pilot’s announcement over the PA system that the flight had entered a holding pattern to avoid the storm. Things always tended to work themselves out for the best. The man seated next to him didn’t take the news so well. Uggghhh, he sighed, and then grunted for good measure—Humph. A rumble of turbulence jostled their seats. A young stewardess in her twenties was knocked forward a full seat length. Affrighted, she yelped as she r...

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“Stone Cold Cowboy” by Olivia Murphy

Submitted to Contest #209

I’ll turn my screams into dreams. Trying to find inspiration as it seeps from my brain like tar, hot and thick to the touch. I am anxious, I am an anxious person trying to understand how to get out of their head. I get stuck in it like a little duckling wishing on a star, wandering aimlessly into oil. I find myself staring intently into the sky. The moon thumps angrily and my heart hurts. I scratch at my chest, my ribs stabbing into me cutting off my breath. Flowers breathe clumped together heavily inside the cavity, pushing my lungs ou...

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“Home in One Piece!” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #209

Hilary, aka Hilaria, shrieked with joy. Queenie, her cat, startled, then glared. Old Ben, her television addict husband, still snored, did not even notice. Hilaria did her happy jig, all cellulite wobbling. She so did not care about this apathetic response. She and her friend, Josephine, had won! What had Hilaria won in her lucky undies? Why, a free flight to Sin City, and a free hire car to drive to Sin City Craft Emporium, the biggest wool shop in the whole land. Bliss bombs time! Josephine was Hilaria's particular friend in their older la...

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“Spread Your Wings and Break Your Neck” by Benja Catton

Submitted to Contest #209

TW: Suicidal themes.We crossed the state border right at sunrise. It was nearly the summer solstice. A rare crack of dawn thunderstorm was blowing across the bare mountains and high plains. We pulled over on the side of the interstate and got out to recharge our batteries in the static air. Huge dendrites of electricity spread from the sky to the ground lighting up the open landscape. We offered up high fives, hollers, and laughs to the lightning gods, then slammed the car doors, cranked the stereo, and zoomed on. Our 1 AM departur...

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“Weightier Concerns. ” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #209

Weightier Concerns. There was a swooshing that she could feel more than hear. She had just escaped her new-off-the-lot Ford focus when she returned home from work. She looked left, right, and finally down to her feet where her black satin half-slip underneath her favorite skirt had slid to her ankles. One more step and it probably would’ve wrapped around her ankles, caught on her high heels, and laid her flat on her face. She immediately looked around to see if there were any spectators on the premises to see it. She sighed in relief - ther...

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“Showdown at the Silver Dollar Saloon” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #209

I had killed once before, so I figured I was already damned—and I’d do what I had to do if it came right down to it. The sirens of the Sheriff’s dark gray Ford F-150 blared and lit up the hollowed-out canyons of the Climax Molybdenum Mine with red and blue bursts. The high country echoed with the whir of the siren. I’d just about navigated the roundabout of 91-S, but I wasn’t going to make it back to Leadville after all, from the look of things. I stiffened up in my seat and took a few deep breaths. This could be ju...

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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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