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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

“THE CALMING INFLUENCE OF TURQUOISE” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #214

THE CALMING INFLUENCE OF TURQUOISE It was Labour Day, the last long weekend of the summer. All the kids would be back in school come Tuesday morning, dressed in their brand new back-to-school clothes and looking too cool for school. It was the last hurrah of the summer, time to break loose and have a wild time before buckling down to long months of hard labour. Is that why it's called Labour Day? Amy and I had gone up to the cottage for the weekend, three whole days of sitting in the sun, kicking back on the dock with the beverage of o...

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“That Summer” by Rose Bower

Submitted to Contest #214

I ran through the park, laughing with my friends. The summer would last forever, our innocence retained. How stupid we were. Darkness came. Street lights glowed. Villains rose. Parents came. They found my friend's bodies. They never found me. Morning bell rings and I force myself out of bed. My empty dreams fade away in the light of the rising sun. I start my morning routine: get dressed, knife throwing, breakfast, work-out, brush teeth, polishing gear. The second bell rings and hundreds of "recruits" like me file out of rooms ...

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“Summertime Supernova” by Prissy Sturz

Submitted to Contest #214

CW: This story contains themes of substance abuse, domestic violence, and graphic imagery I don’t think that many people can say they’ve ever seen a supernova. In fact, it can be observed that nobody could ever say that they’ve seen such an interstellar occurrence. There are only a select few who are the exception to this observation: one of them is astronomer Tycho Brahe, who recorded Tycho’s Supernova in 1572. Another exception would be Johannes Kepler, who recorded Kepler’s Supernova in 1604. And another exception would be me. I’ve seen...

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“The Brave” by Jeff Veyera

Submitted to Contest #214

Indian summer always turns my thoughts to my father. All men have a season; his was late summer; the days often blistering hot but the nights turning cool and promising the relief of autumn. I remember the hay bales and corn husks starting to tower in the green fields. I remember cookout smoke, pop-tops sssshing open, and the deep laughter of men. Most of all, though, I remember my father, quietly brooding am...

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“Hazy Memories and Cold Streams” by K Quinn Van Develde

Submitted to Contest #214

Everyone has moments in their lives where things change. For Elijah, a lot of those changes happened in summer. Maybe it was because his birthday fell at the end of August. Maybe it was because he’d never been a big fan of summer. Probably, it was just a coincidence. The summer he turned ten had been one such change—a turning point, really. At nine, he’d seen himself as more mature than the other kids his age, but really he was just shy and content with spending time alone. He liked to read and paint. He didn’t like talking to other ki...

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“That Summer We Ate Watermelon on the Peak of Da Sia Shan” by Kirin Red

Submitted to Contest #214

In contrast to the cool and refreshing air of San Francisco, which made exercise light, the humid, sub-tropical heat of Dan Sia weighed on Sue like a wet blanket. Her breathing was laborious and her steps felt heavy, as she made her way up the steep steps leading to the distant summit. Wen taunted her slow pace from above. Although he was already in his fifties, her younger brother never missed an opportunity to tease her. He recalled nostalgically of the days he sprinted up the mountain in thirty minutes with a larg...

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“Dog” by Michael Mackenzie

Submitted to Contest #214

Malcolm crawled over to the window and peered outside. It was past two o’clock in the morning and this was the fourth time in the last hour he couldn’t resist peaking to see if anyone or anything was outside in front of the house. The lights of the living room were off and the house was silent. Outside, the streetlamps flickered and the cold wind pounded the door. He raised his head above the windowsill. He fingered his wedding ring, whispering to himself. Everythi...

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“To Kill a Tourist” by Peter Stone

Submitted to Contest #214

By Peter M Stone It was near the eleventh hour, for the family to be on the road for yet another weekend vacation. The parents were preparing their luggage behind closed doors once again. The children were never allowed in their bedroom while they packed their belongings. The Knicks family lived in a very good neighborhood and always had anything they wanted, inground pool to the largest SUVs and of course the forty-foot RV. Steve was getting older and started secondary school that year and always had to come up with another answer ...

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“Woe is a heatstroke ” by Rae G. Campbell

Submitted to Contest #214

Splash.I heard laughter as my mom and baby sister played in the pool.It was the last day of summer vacation and tomorrow would be her first day onto first grade, as well as my first day in highschool.Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but feel anxious at the thought. Cassie was my closest friend through middle school but she'd moved away during the summer. We tried to keep in contact yet we hardly even text each other anymore.I'd be alone."Syddie!", I felt nauseous as my stomach took a sudden headbutt."Maymay, don't do that!", this brat."Syddi...

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“Western Sunrise” by R M

Submitted to Contest #214

The thick, humid air boiled the depths of Dylan’s lungs. Depths that haven’t been reached since his most recent failed attempt at getting into better shape. That valiant effort met its demise a little over five years ago the day Joey came into the world. There was something different about this particular brand of summer mountain air that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. The familiar earthy, electric taste of the recent rain shower was still radiating from the wet Georgia clay. On this specific evening it was paired with something that could only...

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“Summer Wish” by Safara Chambers

Submitted to Contest #214

“Penny for your thoughts?” My boyfriend embraces me and kisses the side of my head. “I just don’t want it to end. Summer, I mean.” Everything around us looks perfect; the blend of pink and orange of the sky, the slightly dusty bed of his truck, the emerald green leaves on the trees, the cool grass, the birds singing as if they’re recounting their day to one another before going to sleep. “But fall is ‘spooky’ season with apples and pumpkins. What’s wrong with it?” He wiggles his fingers. I prickle with irritation. I open my mout...

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“Echoes” by Amy Curry

Submitted to Contest #214

Wow, this has to be the most exciting Thursday morning I have had since the college dorm days, I think to myself as I gaze through the window of my mother's sedan at the trees on the side of the highway as we pass by. It was quickly enough that they looked as though they were all identical; bearing the same intense hunter green foliage you only see this vibrantly in the last of summer days. I try to spot the differences with an intense, yet vacant glare and it was truly the hardest I have tried to ignore my ruminating thoughts since I can re...

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“My Better Life” by John-Paul Cote

Submitted to Contest #214

This has taken me months. Since the first day of summer break.The plan had been forming since grade nine science.It all made sense.I felt like a fool for not thinking of it before.Slowly over the summer, I gathered part after part.Circuits.Transistors.Wires.Diodes.Microcontrollers.Resistors.Connectors.Power sources.It took the chips from eight smartphones to make the neural network operate properly.The planning.The blue prints.The soldering.It tried escaped the first time I turned it on, like it already understoo...

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“Southam-on-Sea: A Town You Can Never Leave” by S. Thomson

Submitted to Contest #214

ㅤWhen I was young, people would tell me that no one ever leaves Southam-on-Sea. I didn’t know they meant it literally.ㅤIt was the town where Ricky and I grew up together. A town where the sun always shines. Ricky was fat, kind, and full of wisdom. He was never given a second glance at school. His mum couldn’t afford him glasses, which meant he had a constant squint. At the back of the classroom, I would read the textbook aloud to him and he would make notes in thick pen. After lessons, we would walk down to the beach and buy a can of coke to...

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“The Eve of the First Day, back to School ” by Breda Kingston

Submitted to Contest #214

The Eve of the First Day, back at School by Breda Kingston “So, you two, let’s do the list and let’s make it good!’’ I announced, on the eve of the first day of summer. ‘’Mom?’’ asked Julian. ‘’Yes,’’ I replied, slightly distracted while choosing the colour of markers we would use. ‘’We should add as many things as possible to the list that were not allowed during the scary time’’. I pause to gather myself, jolted by the memory deeply imprinted on my young son’s mind. ‘’Yes,’’ I managed. ‘’You ...

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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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