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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#245: Heavenly Bodies

On Monday, a total solar eclipse will pass directly over North America. Dubbed a "Great American Eclipse", huge areas of the continent will be plunged into darkness for four minutes. Miss it, and you'll have to wait another 20 years to see the next one.

Just like the millions of people who will watch on Monday, we've been looking up at the sky and asking questions about what we see since time immemorial. We've explained the movements of celestial bodies through myth, science, and ritual, and shaped our lives around them. This contest's prompts are inspired by this week's astronomical event, and the way objects trillions of miles away can impact us here on Earth.

This week's prompts

Set your story during a total eclipse — either natural, or man-made.

Fiction – 72 stories

Write a story in which a character navigates using the stars.

Adventure – 24 stories

Imagine an origin myth that somebody might use to explain an eclipse, or some other celestial event.

Fantasy – 48 stories

People have gathered to witness a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon, but what happens next is not what they expected.

Mystery – 42 stories

Set your story in a world where astrology and the movements of celestial bodies deeply impact the lives of inhabitants.

Fantasy – 35 stories

Stories

“Miss Purdy Sees” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #245

Though her coat was black, Miss Purdy was predominantly Siamese. When she stretched in the patch of early morning sun, her body was a long, sleek, torpedo, her glossy fur shone like rich satin. Miss Purdy was taking it a bit easy, catering to the needs of eight three-week-old kittens was exhausting.The kittens were safely sheltered in a box tucked into a closet. The closet was in an office high on one of the top floors of a building. Miss Purdy did not know exactly how tall the building was, but from the woman’s desk she could see nothing bu...

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“Pillars of Creation” by Liam Cochran

Submitted to Contest #245

I looked through the cockpit window to my left. Far off in the distance, the great glimmering panels of the Dyson sphere began to cross into the path of the sun. Its godlike depiction of humankind only mocked Icarus, for it touched the sun and took it too. Every eighteen hours or so, a few minutes of total darkness swept through the fleet, great freighters transporting for the Government. When the darkness would overtake the fleet in a few minutes, I could finally make my escape to find the great Pillars of Creation I had always dreamt of. I...

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“A Day at the Dog Park” by Stacey Cooper

Submitted to Contest #245

A woman spends the day at a dog park with her dog. It’s a large dog park with a number of different trails. There are leashed and unleashed areas. It is located outside the city and is a popular destination for people to visit with their dogs. At the bottom of the park, there are trails that circle around the dog areas for small dogs and trails that circle around the dog areas for larger dogs. The park also has more rugged trails that span into the depths of the park providing a great place for pet owners and their ...

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“Always Nothing and Always Darkness” by Hailey Chan

Submitted to Contest #245

The thirtieth flame of the northeast. Fifty days and counting. Gone and guttered out. I continue to row. A coldness spreads over my skeleton of tissues, its veins branching and connecting and wrapping. It’s been a month and twenty days since I touched the oars, but the anchored tempo, its steady rhythm of fluid swish and swash, feels almost like second nature — a slicing all around me, wagging mottled shells and letters, billows sweeping over the shrouded mist and stars. These patterns are the true comfort, a hindrance in a state of utter da...

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“April Hums” by Alannah Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #245

April hums to herself, a tune without much pattern or rhythm to dull out the nagging voices of the other months. She looks down at the thick glass globe, which has discoloured greatly over the last few centuries and wiggles her long fingers some more. A light shower of rain trickles down onto the leaves, the seas and the people on earth. ‘Too much rain,’ declares the ever-knowledgeable September in monotone. He strokes his long moustache and raises his eyebrows, causing rows of wrinkles to fall like dominos up his large forehead. April...

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“The Darkness Eclipse” by Noted Moments

Submitted to Contest #245

It was said that in the quaint village of Elipsia, there, nestled between thick forests and sleeping mountains, the night sky became a canvas of cosmic beauty. Stars twinkled like diamonds, and the moon glowed with a serene light. But every few decades, the villagers would whisper of an ancient legend, a time when the world around them would completely darken for only a moment, and the stars would hide. They called it The Darkest Eclipse.The ancestors said that during this eclipse, an entity, as old as time itself, would descend upon the ear...

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“The Day Ununit Blinded Her Sister” by Eloise Luxart

Submitted to Contest #245

“Appa, not again” Atar groaned.He rolled over to face the wall and buried his head under his pillow.The triplets shushed him loudly. All three wore very serious expressions on their faces as they did so.The adventures of Shearashi were their favourite stories and they did not want to miss hearing even a single bit of it. Besides, Atar was never any fun.With one hand on his rounded midsection, Appa’s body shook with the full force of his hearty laugh.“Come now boy. You love this story too” Appa said as he wiped a tear from his eye.“That was b...

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“The Virgin and the Scales” by William Derby

Submitted to Contest #245

“Come closer, children. Draw near so you can hear my words. Tell me, who knows the constellation above us? It should be clear, its stars are bright tonight.” The Astrion elder lifted his navy-robed hand and lifted the sleeve to the heavens. One of the Astrion children timidly lifted his hand. The Elder nodded and the child said, “It is Sincen, the Scales.” “Good, child,” The Elder’s eyes crackled with electricity. “Children, why does Sincen glow tonight?” “Because he is balanced,” the children chorused, their own eyes shining wit...

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“Lack of Soul to Lack of Light” by Emily Venglar

Submitted to Contest #245

My Aunt Doris was the storyteller of the family. No one knows where she learned it all, but she had an explanation for everything. Whether it be the seasons, the random chills that pass through the body, or the cause of the clouds of the sky, she had a fantastical myth for every question. Some of them were questionable, but the one I find hardest to shake is the cause of the eclipse. It all started in the kingdom of Selene. In ancient times, Selene was the picture of life and prosperity. There were fountains in every courtyard, murals on eve...

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“When the Night Swallowed the Sun” by Ella Smith

Submitted to Contest #245

The sun goddess was beautiful and bright. She outshone the other gods with ease, and the people admired her. They often spoke of her beauty and gave her gifts in appreciation for the light she brought to them, which caused the other gods to become jealous of her. Some of the gods took out their envy in petty ways. The god of water would block her light with rain clouds, and the god of night chased her out of the sky. Others used her light to their advantage, like the moon goddess who used the sun's light to make herself brighter. But no...

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“The Eclipse that Almost Wasn't” by Mary Holley

Submitted to Contest #245

Elisa Jones had been wanting to see an eclipse since she was a child. Her father, James, had told her stories of the eclipses he had seen and the big one in 1989 when Elisa had been two-years-old. She didn't remember, however, her father regaled the entire story. The trip they had taken to see the solar eclipse in Baja, Mexico back in February of 1989. Her mother, Carmen, had been alive, and the three of them had traveled to the East Cape of Mexico from their small working class suburb of Los Angeles. They almost didn't go because b...

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“Frank, And the Big Day” by Samuel Jackson

Submitted to Contest #245

*Warning: The following story contains profane language. An aging man wedges his way through the dense crowd of spectators. His eyes demean the sea of skinny jeans and global warming tee’s that fill the streets, interspersed among a smattering of business suits and casual wear from those who didn’t have to work today. It appears as if the entire city has come out of its hole to watch this event. Businesses have closed, schools have emptied, even Wall Street has been temporarily abandoned. Every news crew and amateur journalist scrambles to...

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“Writer's Block” by Livia Owens

Submitted to Contest #245

Sitting on the balcony of her 14th-floor apartment, Miriam Westlake has two options--euthanize the rest of the day by swallowing two Valium with a glass of wine or watch the solar eclipse sober. She decides to stay sober. She lets her fingertips hover over the laptop's keyboard, waiting for something to burst through the monastery-like emptiness of writer’s block lodged in her mind. She resigns herself to the fact that the only thought bouncing against the sides of her skull will concern how long it would take her to walk to the liquor store...

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“How would you spend your last day?” by M Oakwood

Submitted to Contest #245

The world was going to end in twenty-four hours. There was no stopping it, no escaping it, no delaying it. The end was definite. Humanity's reign was finally coming to a close. We found out mere minutes ago. But it had been two hours since everyone had gathered to watch a comet pass by in the night sky. It was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime event and I suppose it still delivered that on that much, even when it all went wrong. The burning rock of dust and ice had appeared like a shooting star one thought only existed for wishers in fairy...

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“The Lost Tales of Anerudo: A Rogue Moon” by Shelby Noyes

Submitted to Contest #245

Anerudo is a small, round planet. Smaller, in fact, than our own that we call home. But she is far from alone. From the viewpoint of her sibling, Anerudo might be mistaken for a moon revolving around the larger of the pair, known as Hel, a giantess in her own right. Hel's gaseous visage resembles that of Jupiter, adorned with stunning clouds in hues of pink, red, orange, gold, and occasional purplish storms obscuring her countenance. Nevertheless, her severe climate, much like our own, gaseous giant, renders her environment inhospitable for ...

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$250

Prize money

221

Contest entries

88

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 12, 2024 EST

Won by Olivier Breuleux 🏆

Title: Everything is Connected

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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