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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#214: The Fall of Summer

For both kids and adults, summer is a time for dreams, freedom, and a break from routine. The scorching summer months offer new beginnings, new experiences, vacations in exotic places (real or backyard imaginings), new friendships, and perhaps even new romance. It’s when memories are created, and when ‘growing up’ happens.

Except there’s never enough time. The days fly by, the memories stack up, and pretty soon Fall’s got a stranglehold. To celebrate the last throes of the season, this week’s prompts encourage you to delve into your memories of the summer we’ve just had, and of summers long past.

🥇 Winner

“Departed, Return” by Emily Holding

🏆 Winner of Contest #214

“And then there was another Mark,” Dad recalls, sending the table into an encore of laughter. “Stop it!” Hannah pleads, tears rolling over sun-reddened cheeks. She perches opposite him, one leg hiked on the serrated bistro chair, a rum and coke bubbling in her left hand, the right clutching her stomach. She is 18, the spit of her mother – so she’s told – and will be off to university in two months. “Yes, God, please stop.” Begs Ryan, who is next to Dad, head in his hands. Muffled by skin, his voice is still so freshly broken that i...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Uninvited” by Karen Corr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #214

The story begins with Jason tossing his camping gear down the steps. Then he kicks it. Then he hits the wall with his fist. His mother's boyfriend, Kyle, steps into the living room and gives him a look. His mother starts to say something, but Kyle silences her."Get ahold of yourself, boy. You know what to do. Just because life unravels doesn't mean you have the right to unravel along with it. At fourteen, you've come to the age where you're too old to act this way. We've talked about this before."Jason takes deep breaths, then sits down on t...

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“Three Camels For Your Daughter” by Hannah Lynn

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #214

“Two camels for your daughter?”Lost in thought, or maybe just trying to stay alive in the sizzling heat, I didn’t pay much attention until my dad replied, “Two camels?”“Three camels for your daughter.” This time a statement rather than a question.What is going on here?“Hun, what do you think?” He asked and all eyes turned to his wife sitting coolly sipping an iced tea. “That’s my daughter,” she said, not missing a beat. “She is not for sale.”“You heard the boss.”The stranger walked away, and my parents continued their mea...

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“The Escapist” by Dorian Edgerly

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #214

The sun was going down on the last official night of summer, and if I could have, I would have frozen that moment in time forever. I would have let the sun hang eternally over the horizon, painting the ocean and the earth in stunning gold and orange, warming my face and hers despite the breeze that said fall was coming. I would have let it sit there in that spot, unmoving, never giving way to night or coming back again to announce the arrival of the following day, if it meant this summer didn't have to end. Lina...

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“Discover the Fall” by Raquel Belury Rosenberg

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #214

“I’m so glad we’re doing this,” Mom says just as we hit the highway. “Me too, Mom,” I say. Good timing says the angel I’ve been ignoring since we got into the car. He leans between the driver's and passenger's seats so that his transparent head bobbles between us. “We’re going to have such a good time. I have plans. Look at the binder!” Mom slides a hot pink binder that's been baking on her side of the day over to me like a bartender sliding a shot to a favorite customer. “Of course, there’s a binder,” my eye roll and sigh ...

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This week's prompts

Set your story on the eve of the first day back at school.

Kids – 34 stories

What was meant to be a great bonding vacation turns sour when an uninvited guest tags along.

Summer – 43 stories

Now, as an adult, your character looks back on this summer as the summer when they grew up.

Character – 41 stories

Each year, your character's family goes on the most exotic vacations. Finally they discover why — their family are assassins.

Funny – 36 stories

It’s the last evening of your vacation and you’re watching the sunset with your friends/partner/family, wishing summer would never end. But just as the sun dips below the horizon, you notice it returning in reverse.

Science Fiction – 49 stories

Stories

“Departed, Return” by Emily Holding

🏆 Winner of Contest #214

“And then there was another Mark,” Dad recalls, sending the table into an encore of laughter. “Stop it!” Hannah pleads, tears rolling over sun-reddened cheeks. She perches opposite him, one leg hiked on the serrated bistro chair, a rum and coke bubbling in her left hand, the right clutching her stomach. She is 18, the spit of her mother – so she’s told – and will be off to university in two months. “Yes, God, please stop.” Begs Ryan, who is next to Dad, head in his hands. Muffled by skin, his voice is still so freshly broken that i...

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“Potion-making” by AnneMarie Miles

Submitted to Contest #214

Jayce is sprinting across the yard towards me, waving his arm high, triumphantly. “I found a feather, Mom! Look, it’s blue! It must be from a blue jay.”I squat down to inspect it. “I think you’re right. Excellent job, sweetheart. Let’s put it in the jar.”Jayce wastes no time, uncorking the tiny plastic jar before jamming the feather into it.“Is that our last thing?” Jayce asks, still stuffing the feather with his index finger. Once it’s mostly in, a few stray strands of the feather are popping up out of the mouth of the container, Jayce push...

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“Fimbulwinter's End” by Derrick M Domican

Submitted to Contest #214

To you, who is reading this, wherever you are, it saddens me to say this will be the last of my personal scribings, which you have presumably been perusing for some time, possibly out of curiosity for a civilisation lost, as I assume it must be, following the events of this eve. I am writing these words by candlelight, wrapped in my wolf hide cloak, attempting to fend off the cold and unbearable darkness that has descended on my mother’s Hall and lands, not to mention the world, following the death of the sun.Yes. That is what I wrote.&...

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“The Village of the Stars” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #214

William’s mother poured him a glass of water to help him calm down, so he picked it up and drank it, only it was actually vodka and he coughed and spewed it all over the tiny table in Room 05. The mash potatoes on the little metal plate were drenched. William gasped and clutched his throat, and she rolled her eyes and took a sip from her own glass. He kicked her under the table with his melodramatic spasming – there wasn’t much room in Room 05 at all, just enough for the tiny table, a paltry square of shag carpet, and a queen size bed that w...

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“Barbara ” by Kevin Logue

Submitted to Contest #214

Ever had a friend that didn't deserve the title? You know, the kind that borrows your favourite stonewashed jeans and returns them stained, or worse, torn, then just shrugs. The type of bitch that would gut punch you at a party just to get everybody laughing. Yeah, I hear ya, bully suits better than friend, but sometimes there's no escaping either. That's Barbara. Fiery, mouthy, shows up when least expected, Barbara. I met her not long after finishing primary school. All the other girls from my class and street were away on their sun...

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“The Uninvited” by Karen Corr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #214

The story begins with Jason tossing his camping gear down the steps. Then he kicks it. Then he hits the wall with his fist. His mother's boyfriend, Kyle, steps into the living room and gives him a look. His mother starts to say something, but Kyle silences her."Get ahold of yourself, boy. You know what to do. Just because life unravels doesn't mean you have the right to unravel along with it. At fourteen, you've come to the age where you're too old to act this way. We've talked about this before."Jason takes deep breaths, then sits down on t...

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“The Rules for Crying” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #214

She walks through the room in silence, yet she’s never silent. There is a liveliness to her, a lightening of the room, a lifting of the spirit that stays long after she’s gone. Madison is almost perfect. Unfortunately, she has bad taste in men; she married me. She likes that joke less than I do but she smiles and kisses me anyway. “Why is there a bottle of champagne on the table?” I ask this merely for information. I admit that Maddie sees more than I do. Always has. The champagne on the table is evidence that whatever is going to happen to...

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“School Refusal” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #214

“Ellie, come out from under there.”“No, I’m fine right here.”“Come on Ellie, it’s getting late.”“I’m staying here.”“In a pillow fort?”“Yep.”“All night?”“Yep.”“Don’t you think that’s a little… I don’t know… immature?”“Nope.”“Come on Ellie, your bed is much more comfortable.”“I’m perfectly fine here, thank you very much.”“How about I get you a nice tub of Ben and Jerry’s and you crawl up here next to me and we will talk about it? Come on. I’ve got Chunky Monkey.”“Good try, but I think I’ll pass.”“Pass on Ben and Jerry’s? It’s Chunky Monkey! Yo...

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“The Flying Fazzinis” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #214

“Don’t do this!! I’m begging you. It’s not too late!” The thing about a double homicide is that somebody has to die first, and whoever goes second is going to kill the buzz by begging pathetically for their life. Happens every time.The Ringmaster had recently contacted me about a special mission involving Bobby and Rene—and I felt a little inexperienced to be doing a double on my own—but after tonight I was feeling more comfortable with the assignment.Bobby nonchalantly put the silencer of his H&K USP 45 to the girl’s head...

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“Reserved Park” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #214

“What’d I tell you, mate? Best fucking sunset in Straya!”“Too right, mate. Never seen anything like it. It’s magical.”“One hundred ninety-eight feet deep, mate. Do you know that down there in the middle of the crater, there’s acacia and eucalyptus trees twenty-six feet high?”“Crikey. That’s deep.”“Yeah, nah mate. Deep ain’t even the word. Three hundred thousand years old but wasn’t discovered until nineteen fucking forty-seven! That’s how remote this place is.”“Yeah, mate. You could die out here.”“You could die anywhere, mate.”“Nah, yeah. Fa...

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“Please Don’t Leave Me” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #214

Selena and I were dancing hand-in-hand and singing at the top of our lungs out on our porch at the Presidential Suite of the Playa Del Carmen Resort, just feet away from the Caribbean Sea. There was a bottle of champagne in tow and a heap of menthol cigarette butts littered by the landing. After exhausting Pat Benatar and Rihanna, we were up to Pink: “da-da-dot-da-da… please… please… don’t leave me…” and the palm trees were two-stepping while the ocean was drumming a steady syncopated beat.The sun was setting below the surf, and I ...

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“Fool's Company” by Sol Caine

Submitted to Contest #214

Here he goes again, complaining about the food. “Oh, it’s not as good as back home,” or “Why can’t they speak our language?” He’s the most annoying person to take anywhere on vacation. You know the type. Has to speak slowly in English, thinking the locals will understand him. Even ends some of his words with the letter O, like that suffices as speaking their language. “Excuse me, can you-O tell me-O where the nearest bank-O is… O?” He’s so behind the times. Refuses to use electronic payments – instead, opting to wear a Bum Bag or “Fann...

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“Ninety Two Birthdays” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #214

I never thought I would want to be a father to 92 children, but something changed the year after I was injured climbing Long's Peak, and now being a father is the thing I dream of more than anything else. The first family willing to meet with me has invited me for the weekend to Upper Michigan. The rustic charm of the local restaurant with its exposed wood ceiling and fireplace envelops us as we sit down for our first introduction to each other.“Jake, it's nice you could join us,” the dad, George, says in the tone of a person trying to be po...

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“Pinch the Sun from the Sky” by Tom Skye

Submitted to Contest #214

The sun's final sliver hovered over the Ibiza horizon as James pinched Shauna's knee to his right. They watched from the roof of a 20-story hotel three blocks from the beach. The two of them sang together:"Oh, tell me why, do we build castles in the sky? Oh, tell me why…."."I would pinch the sun from the sky for you if I could," James whispered.Shauna began to laugh as James belted the female vocal with eyes closed to disastrous effect. The ecstasy pills from the previous night were still lingering, and both were keen to embrace the moment b...

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“Whose Dwelling is the Light of Setting Suns” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #214

I was warned as a child that looking directly at the sun would result in the retinas being burned out of my skull. That they would be fried like onions, sizzling unfunnily in vitreous humour. Nobody ever identified the point at which it was not only safe, but positively medicinal to look directly at the sun. Rays robbed of retina sauteing power by virtue of travelling on an angled path through the atmosphere now painted me in the same milky peach as the few thin, gilt-edged clouds that teased over the horizon. She was next to me, but would n...

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$250

Prize money

203

Contest entries

94

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 08, 2023 EST

Won by Emily Holding 🏆

Title: Departed, Return

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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