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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.

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 – 40 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

“Danny's Thoughts” by Sammy Courtney

Submitted to Contest #214

“I’m older now,” Danny thought, lying in bed. It is 3 in the morning, and Danny can’t sleep. He is up, thinking about this past summer. He was a sleep-away camp head counselor for 14-year-old boys. He had been their counselor for the past two summers, and this summer was the best. The boys had reached their final age of being campers, and with that came natural maturity, and a lot more fun. Later nights, hooking up with girls, a lot more overall perks. This was also Danny’s best summer, or favorite. Danny was the head counselor for these boy...

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“Pew-Pew Shoes” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #214

The scraping of the whisk against the sides of the mixing bowl was almost loud enough to mask the thud of a package being dumped at the front door. Not even the apathy of online retail deliveries could shake Brian’s excitement – and relief – when he realized that the sneakers he’d bought for Olivia had arrived in time for her first day of first grade. It was one of the very few benefits of his wife Casey being out of town for work: Brian could get away with buying Olivia the shoes she really wanted, the ones with the light-up soles. His...

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“God's two Fingers” by Hosea Guy

Submitted to Contest #214

A place to be alone; that is what he values most. He has found it here in the woods, deep and far away from home, and he will stay in this lonely place until the sun burns away and the sky is left blank. They will come then, the only ones he wants to see, and they will be together here in the concrete fortress that overlooks the cold, shimmering pool of impersonality that is Callander Bay. He loves the darkness because it is his; it belongs to him on the nights when everyone else in the world has fallen asleep, and those nights have become ...

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“How hard you can get hit” by Rebecca Detti

Submitted to Contest #214

‘de ne nerrr, de ne nerrr, de ne nerrr, de ne nerrr….’ Rose usually giggled when the Rocky theme tune started on her phone as it was her brother’s favourite film and it made her think of the countless impressions he had done of Sylvester Stallone over the years, mostly with a sweet or olive in his mouth for extra effect. He frequently recited: ‘It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward’ When she had travelled to Philly for work a few years back, he was insistent she had ...

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“The Fall of Her Summer” by Sonesta Wilde

Submitted to Contest #214

The Fall of Her SummerBy Sonesta WildeIt was that time of the day again when the moon kissed the sun, and the horizon was painted with a soft golden hue. Even during Vacation, Amelia couldn't help but rise before the crack of dawn with her list of the day's to-dos already in hand. From the cozy balcony of their rented villa, perched on a humbling hill, Amelia stared out into the depths of the Picasso sky, sipping her chamomile and lavender tea. To her right, the blossoming hibiscus sat close by in its cracked flowerpot it called home - as th...

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“H.A.R.P” by Marie Perederii

Submitted to Contest #214

H.A.R.P Human Adaptive Recreation Project “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race ... .It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.” — Stephen Hawking “It is day 1,859 of my testing for the human effects of the algorithm that has been placed into my new human cerebellum, commonly referred to among humans as gray matter or the brain. I also would like to inf...

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“I'm a Big Girl Now!” by Kimberly Walker

Submitted to Contest #214

I'm a Big Girl now! Every school year ends on my birthday or the day after…June 5th or the 6th. Tomorrow morning, I finally have to change buses to get to my new school. I also got to pick all my outfits for the semester, even my footwear choices—no more baby clothes, uniforms, and penny loafers. I get to carry a backpack and gym bag instead of a lunch box and a book bag. I have decided that quick-change outfits are appropriate on gym days, so bib overall or one-piece dresses and tennis shoes. There should be nothing that I will need extra ...

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“PAST THE SELL BY DATE” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #214

PAST THE SELL BY DATE Yes, I suppose you could say that I’ve been incredibly fortunate. I’m certainly grateful; Phyllis, my sister, too. We’ve led rather a charmed life, seen and experienced things that most people could only dream about. And it’s all down to our father and mother and the extraordinary lives they have lived. So, no, I don’t feel anything but gratitude, thank you very much. Well, all things have an upside and a downside, don’t they? I mean have you walked around Olympus Mons on Mars? Set up a tent and camped there? No, ...

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“Welcome to the family” by Lyle Closs

Submitted to Contest #214

“I believe you are my father.” Silence. Then he says: “Call back in a week. Exactly this time.” Kind of a short conversation. Still, hope is a pencil case with pencils in it. I call back in a week. A girl says: “I’m putting you on speaker.” It seems like everyone in the room is drunk. They cheer, say ‘Hi Euan’ and ‘Welcome to the family’ and laugh, shriek and clink glasses. “We checked out your background. You’ll fit right in,” my father yells over the noise, and they all whoop and holler. “You’re not working right now so you can join us...

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“Atrición's Planned Holiday” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #214

Author's note: These characters are from another series of stories that I am working on; hopefully, the context won't lead to too much confusion. Also, a fair warning of sexual violence as well as regular (and irregular) violence. Birth. Childhood. Life itself. All of these, and what was to follow, were struggles for any normal human being. Atrición envied those normal human beings. For starters, their parents weren't trying to kill him under the semblance of training. That is, when they weren't arguing, killing people, or bangin...

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“The Boy Who Destroyed the World” by T. Shen Long

Submitted to Contest #214

If anyone found out this was all my fault, I’m sure I’d be killed. I only wanted a little more time of summer vacation. I learned in the fifth grade this sort of thing sometimes happens in places way up north. Places with polar bears and tons of snow. Places where they could use a little extra sun. Places like Alaska, or Russia, or Wisconsin. Places, that for days on end, the sun never quite makes its way past the horizon. Dad says this isn’t like that. Dad says this is different. Dad says this is bad....

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“Casting a Spell for a Lame Summer Wish” by Sol Le Roux

Submitted to Contest #214

It wasn’t supposed to happen before the fall equinoxe. I was supposed to have my plan ready. Mariam had said that when you draw on ancestral magic, it’s a sure thing, the ancestors don’t make mistakes. Well maybe mine have a weird sense of humour because it’s the last day of August, and as I’m watching the sunset with my clueless parents, the sun turns in reverse which means it’s starting. I have to go back right now and fix it all. I take a deep breath and try to enjoy the view for the last few moments I have left. I want to capture mom’s c...

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“The Last Sunset” by Katherine Crivello

Submitted to Contest #214

With each step, my feet were enveloped by the soft white sand, and the occasional seashell would unpleasantly make its rough and spiny presence known to me. We stopped right before the water to admire the sunset, a brilliant masterpiece that only mother nature could contrive. A single firework burst directly above us, which I assumed was to commemorate a birthday further down the shore. “I wish this summer would never end” I whispered under my breath. My younger sister turned to me, her eyes and somber expression conveying silent agreemen...

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“Midnight Countdown” by Jane Sefc

Submitted to Contest #214

Sixteen-year-old Dylan stirred in his sleep, burying his head under his pillow. He wanted to sleep, but a relentless noise kept creeping into his dreams and disrupting them. Suddenly, a burst of laughter woke him with a start. He sat up and looked around. His room was dark, and his two younger brothers were fast asleep in their beds. Confused, he blinked in the darkness, unsure if the laughter was part of his dream. Another burst of laughter reached his ears, sounding remarkably like his parents were having a party. He picked up his alarm c...

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“First days.” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #214

First Days. Tyler stood staring at the pile of clothes on her bed, floor and whicker papasan chair. She was still undecided about what to wear. She ran her hands through her hair wondering if she should have had it cut again. She was spiraling. School started again tomorrow. Her summer had been nonexistent and now it was over. She had waited too long to make all of these decisions. She wasn’t worried about her first day until her best friend Sarah had told her they were moving. With that on top of everything else that had happened, she...

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$250

Prize money

202

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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