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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#240: In the Wind

Wind is something of a contradiction. Powerful yet invisible, it’s nothing but air, but can influence the shape of landscapes, sway trees, and carry whispers across vast distances. This force of nature can be a calming breeze or a raging storm, offering comfort or unleashing destruction.

It’s always around us, whether you’re laying on a warm beach with a relaxing breeze cooling you down, or in awe as a storm passes by while carelessly throwing debris. With that in mind, this week we delve into the wonders of wind and bring attention to its influence within our stories.

🥇 Winner

“Lost and Found” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #240

On my last shift as a lighthouse keeper, I climbed the seventy-six spiral iron stairs and two ladders to the watch room, the number of steps the same as my age. The thwomp and snare of each step laid an ominous background score. Something wasn’t right. At that very moment, Richie Tedesco was pointing a fire extinguisher at the burning electrical panel in the engine room of his boat a few miles offshore.The placard in the watch room read “Marge Mabrity, Lightkeeper—First lighted the depths on March 2nd, 1985, and hasn’t missed a night.” Alrea...

133 comments 133

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Raven at the Window” by Tanya Humphreys

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

One thing I was very wary about was the temperamental moods of Nature. Before leaving the nest for the first time, my mum had instructed me on flying head on into a steady stream of wind, one flick of a wing against it and I would be tumbled beak over toes. “Better to use the gales to your advantage to conserve energy. A slight breeze will allow the airfoil of your wings to allow you to soar. Back drafts allow you to hover in place.” I had been excited to try. To make her proud and master the art of soaring and hovering and attacking those...

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“Two Moons” by LeeAnn Hively

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

He occasionally envisioned that life in dreams, where two moons hung in the sky, one closer, vibrantly pink and purple, the other, a shimmering white, the opaque pearl magic unto itself. He saw them disappear from view as the ancient cave walls enveloped him in their darkness, his small feet padding along the rock of the stone floor worn smooth over centuries of use. The further he crept, the more exposed he felt, and shadows gathered around him. His bones began to quake deep into the pitch with the final ...

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“Don't Know” by George Mexas

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

Don’t Know. The wind, indecisive in its direction, takes the umbrella away from me. “Come on!” I shout. I hear the metallic clicks and snaps of the cheap fabric and reused metal that constitutes an umbrella, as it flies away. It ends up landing on a nearby pothole filled with water and I give up on retrieving it. Too bored or frustrated. Maybe I should spend more money for better quality. “That went well.” My friend says. “Shut up.” The words escape my mouth before I even realize. The rain hits me anywhere it can, as if i...

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“No More Apologies ” by Diamond Keener

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

There are shards of glass in my face cream. The first time I used it, I didn’t notice until it was too late, and my fingertips had massaged the glass into my skin. It was only when I pulled back my hand and saw the flecks shining that I realized. You broke the thick jar weeks ago. It was an accident, and I don’t care about objects, and I wouldn’t have been upset anyway. But you were upset. You don’t like making mistakes. It’s not part of the written character. I can see you there on the floor scraping the remaining stuff into...

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“The Wind's Judgement” by Brendan Jones

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

The breeze will be the first sensation you feel once you finally gain consciousness. You will awaken to just the slightest of coolness along your skin, not quite cold but it would be worse without it. It will also be the strongest of gale to ever assail your body. The wind blows like a hurricane through what will be the driest climate you have ever seen, and ever will see. It’s a land lying desolate in an endless valley. A place where to say mountains are visible wherever you look would be a lie but walking in one direction long enough will ...

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This week's prompts

Begin your story with the sensation of a breeze brushing against a character's skin.

Narrative – 138 stories

A crumpled piece of paper holding an unexpected message is carried by the wind. Where did it come from, and where is it going?

Mystery – 63 stories

Set your story on a sailboat, large or small, and entirely at the mercy of the winds.

Adventure – 31 stories

Craft a story where a character finds themselves swept away by the wind, either physically or metaphorically.

Angst – 60 stories

Set your story in a lighthouse surrounded by powerful gale-force winds.

Dramatic – 37 stories

Stories

“Lost and Found” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #240

On my last shift as a lighthouse keeper, I climbed the seventy-six spiral iron stairs and two ladders to the watch room, the number of steps the same as my age. The thwomp and snare of each step laid an ominous background score. Something wasn’t right. At that very moment, Richie Tedesco was pointing a fire extinguisher at the burning electrical panel in the engine room of his boat a few miles offshore.The placard in the watch room read “Marge Mabrity, Lightkeeper—First lighted the depths on March 2nd, 1985, and hasn’t missed a night.” Alrea...

133 comments 133

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“Yolanda the Thief” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #240

7 December 2015My Dearest Alex,Just so you know, I’m writing you this letter in the garden of my new home, the only one on the street with high concrete walls topped with barbed wire that stabs the still air. Part of me is trying to reassure myself that I’m safe within this enclosure. However, I know very well that not even this imposing barricade can protect me from the sea salt and coconut-scented breeze slapping me across the face at this very moment, a gentle whisper of wind that, once upon a time, kissed me as tenderly as you always had...

117 comments 117

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“Feeling Okay” by Corey Melin

Submitted to Contest #240

I did not take my anxiety medicine today knowing I will be okay. Walk to the sliding glass door as beams of sunlight strike my floor. Today is a good day to go out to experience the fresh air. To breath it in deeply as I have done so many times in the past. To take in the beauty of nature created to bring peace to a soul in pain. I look around outside and see no one in sight. ...

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“Island Winds” by Tom Skye

Submitted to Contest #240

The bombs had fallen near the village again the previous night, but this time, the house hadn't been hit. Billy and his mother had waited late into the morning around a small fire for news concerning the conflict. The room had a single bay window. It was patched up with cardboard, and harsh winds darted in and around it. Billy peered through curiously as the cardboard flapped. Being situated on a small coastal island, the circulating winds were not unusual in Hamley's Village, but today, amongst the brown leaves and ash, the wind carried a p...

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“Beating the Wind” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #240

When the police cruiser came to a stop by the #123 bus stop, Freddie Storm recognized the officer in the passenger seat and ran for his life. Freddie turned left on Newark Avenue and tore down the long straightaway to Dickinson High School, a fortress on the flat hilltop above. The evening breeze kicked up and buffeted Freddie’s skin, slapping his face. The wind snapped him out of the fitful thoughts screaming in his brain as he tried to work out what was happening. Freddie knew from what was happening that he’d made a terrible mistake. But ...

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“Received Pronunciation” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #240

The squall came out of nowhere. No warning, no forecast from the radio weather stations. Just a full-on headwind smashing waves against Roger Sailstrom’s face, who desperately clung onto the tiller of his small boat in the middle of a raging storm sweeping across the Atlantic Ocean. “Is that the best you can do?” He half-heartedly screamed at the elements through the increasing roar of wind bearing down on his position. “Well, I can take anything you dish out, because I have nothing to live for! Do you hear me? Nothing to live for!” His over...

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“Secret Time Traveler” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #240

An eleven foot tall prehistoric mama bear stood on her hind legs on a beach, staring at us. Her six foot tall cub peeked around her side.A shiver passed through me. None of my friends at home knew about my secret time traveling. I was here alone with my Mystical Dog.Before we landed here, the winds of time travel swept us off course, and we missed the right landing era.The gusts of time still whirled. I grabbed my poet's fedora hat with the colorful Peruvian hatband before it blew off.Then I reached to pull my supernatural four legged compan...

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“An Obstetrician Killed My Baby” by Joseph Mir

Submitted to Contest #240

This story contains themes or mentions of sexual violence, physical violence, and mental health problems.A waterlogged breeze wisps through my ex-mother-in-law’s lace veil, which hangs over her mascara-streaked eyes, and bats away her tears for her. Beside her, my ex-father-in-law and ex-husband stare at me, their eyes accusing, silently conveying a message that says, “You know you're guilty. We know you killed your baby.” I look back down at the tiny coffin being placed into the ground, surrounded by my family. I forced myself to come to th...

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“(Non)sensical Rant as an Ode to the Human Condition” by Hazel Ide

Submitted to Contest #240

There is no difference between us and nature, no end between time and space, and we understand reality to be nothing more than a magic show.He held up a mug and asked if the mug was really a mug. Though it had been many days of objective questioning—Is this a pen or an arrow? Is this knife a weapon or a tool? Is this fish rotten or a delicacy?—this was the beginning, when the allegorical scene began to realign, and we all got swept away in the paradox of understanding that there's no such thing as reality if reality is defined as the state o...

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“Flooded Out of 17th Floor” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #240

Flooded Out of 17th Floor September 12, 2008 approximately 4PM:My husband and I walked along the fourth floor upper deck of our apartment parking garage persistently caressed by promising breezes ruffling our hair and cooling our humidity heated cheeks. Above us circled gray outer bands of clouds in perfect spiral formation interspersed with stripes of blue sky sporting sunshine between them. As beautiful as the effect appeared the atmospheric phenomenon was an ominous reminder of the approaching weather forecast. A monstrosity of a hurrican...

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“It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Violet” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #240

There were two things Violet wanted most in life. The first was for her parents to let her play in the backyard alone, away from their hovering nerves. The second was to fly.She longed to have wings that would take her anywhere she wanted to go. One day when Violet was six years old, her mom was away on a business trip. Her dad finally let her step outside alone. She was caught in the sun’s warm embrace the moment she leaped out the back door. A few moments later, a strong breeze tickled her skin, and she shivered. It wasn’t from a chill, th...

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“The Raven at the Window” by Tanya Humphreys

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #240

One thing I was very wary about was the temperamental moods of Nature. Before leaving the nest for the first time, my mum had instructed me on flying head on into a steady stream of wind, one flick of a wing against it and I would be tumbled beak over toes. “Better to use the gales to your advantage to conserve energy. A slight breeze will allow the airfoil of your wings to allow you to soar. Back drafts allow you to hover in place.” I had been excited to try. To make her proud and master the art of soaring and hovering and attacking those...

Read story

“Mornin in New Orleans” by Liz Grosul

Submitted to Contest #240

I sleep with my window open because I’m not afraid of spirits. When you stay in New Orleans, people say you’ve come to the city of haints. But, I think that’s superstitious bull. It’s just the breeze, just the breeze. Just an endless southern draft coasting through you, cream off the Mississippi. On Thursday night, I propped my window open and slipped into the pocket of my bed, bones crunching, exhausted. Two hours to witching hour and the winds were already picking up, waking spirits from their graves. This was expected in August when the h...

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“Something in the Wind” by John Rutherford

Submitted to Contest #240

Sexual themes, crude language.“Skinny Cap, please!” I said to the overworked girl, trying to keep up with the long waiting queue of customers, each morning. She always struggled, sometimes alone, but always with a friendly smile, the whirlwind of arms and hands playing the barista coffee machine in perfect allegro time like a musical maestro, but without the rapturous watching awe of the listening audience, except, that is, until the cup of the frothy nectar was placed on the counter.“Here’s to my number one best follower, and customer, stal...

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“Candle in the Wind” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #240

I’m no Marilyn Monroe, believe me, as my husband reminds me, but I think of her, how her life was like a candle in the wind, the Elton John song. ‘You’re gaining weight Katie,’ my husband says. ‘Maybe a gym membership?’Each night, my favorite part of the day arrives. I slip into the tub at 10:00 p.m. and relish the feeling. A warmth from the hot water rises in my hips, up my back, and into my head, and then I go into a dream and leave my life behind.Maybe it starts when I am seven. I see us driving to the hospital: myself, my ...

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$250

Prize money

329

Contest entries

134

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 08, 2024 EST

Won by Jonathan Page 🏆

Title: Lost and Found

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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