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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 – 43 stories

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

Fantasy – 36 stories

Stories

“Ripples Across The Universe” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #245

The moon was absent that night. This was a night when the see lapped at the night sky. Kissing it gently until the dark heavens succumbed and there was no way of knowing where sky and ocean began or ended. The two lovers intertwined in a brief embrace that should have been desperate in its stolen transience, but was instead languorous and so hypnotically natural that Glen could no longer remember where the horizon should have been. He stared out across the boat and lost himself in that distant lovemaking. The ebb and flow of the water undern...

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“Cassiopeia” by Elise G

Submitted to Contest #245

Around the corner of a run-down building, where the red brick is grey with dust and the blinds hang to the windows by a thread, is a large new street, crisp and black, sloping down a gentle hill. Follow that big bright street, turn a few more corners, and there, tucked beside an ice cream store and a parking lot, is a market, running without fail every Saturday evening, popping up at lunch and gone by the time the sun is down. For a few hours each Saturday, it no longer smells of sticky asphalt and cigarette smoke, but popcorn jumping in lar...

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“The Fading Light” by James Moore

Submitted to Contest #245

Dylan had been walking steadily uphill for what felt like days. It had, in fact, been 3 hours and 37 minutes, a climb he’d completed many times in his life.He was lost.Or simply exhausted, he couldn’t tell anymore. Nothing around him made sense, he had started to notice this feeling come over him more often on his hikes. Since turning 50 his mind couldn’t keep up with his body and the exhaustion would go straight to his head. He had lived in these hills his whole life, losing his way wasn’t something Dylan did, but now as he looked up throug...

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“Lenny Was Right” by Liane Fazio

Submitted to Contest #245

LENNY WAS RIGHT Max was used to people walking past him without paying him any notice. Eclipse day wouldn’t be any different. The streets were more crowded than usual and Lenny, his best friend who lived one alley over, told him that everyone would probably take off of work to watch the eclipse. “It’s either gonna be a slow day or we’re gonna end up millionaires. Or maybe the world will end,” Lenny told him. &nbs...

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“In to Get Out” by Jacqueline R

Submitted to Contest #245

He found her below deck, near the ethereal crystal that powered the ship to stay afloat. She sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. Her frizzy hair needed brushing and he noted as he got closer, that a bath and some new clothes wouldn’t hurt. He didn’t know if he had any female clothing but would look to get her something clean. Despite her abysmal appearance, her serine face was concentrated. Brows creased as whatever powers mingled with her thoughts. He knew better than to interrupt a Kristl during their…process. It still...

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“A Tale of Two Realities” by Scott Taylor

Submitted to Contest #245

In the hushed murmurs of a sleepy East Texas town, authors gathered, eyes skyward, as the celestial dance between the Devil Comet and a once-in-a-lifetime total eclipse promised to grace their corner of the world.Their expectations included a short duration of four minutes and twenty seconds where darkness enveloped them, followed by a day brimming with the exchange of captivating stories among their kindred tribe.A feeling of unease engulfed Clyde, sending a cold shiver down his spine, foreshadowing that the day would deviate significantly ...

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“Lunacy” by Jeremy Burgess

Submitted to Contest #245

Standing in the cold stone hallway of Castle Halgar, the High Priestess Assanda assessed Prince Cordus, her amber eyes finding him wanting. "Now that you have returned to court, you will need to do as I say should you wish to remain breathing," she said. She was an imposing woman of generous frame and voluminous robe, white braided with gold, as was customary for the Church of the Sky. Around her neck hung the holy sigil, a polished stone black circle with a thin gold rim, and a point of silver in the middle. She wore no makeup of any ...

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“Moon Eyes ” by Patrick Druid

Submitted to Contest #245

Moon Eyes Mark gathered his equipment excitedly into.his leather bag, while his partner, Andrea, grabbed the laptops, the telescope and other equipment and loaded the van. Both Mark and Andrea were grad students who had apparently stumbled upon something significant during their tracking duties at the observatory. Unfortunately, when they reported the data to their supervisor, their conclusions were dismissed and they were reassigned to another project. Mark was ready to let it go, but Andrea was far more headstrong and e...

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“All the Signs” by Julia Rajagopal

Submitted to Contest #245

Detective Arthur Winson crouched over the dead body with a weary sigh. As a Capricorn, he could go days without sleep, but he didn’t feel good doing it. A short, round, dead man lay before him with no visible wounds. The only signs of distress were the black veins that ran up the man’s neck and onto his right cheek, a textbook Scorpio poisoning. The air in the apartment was hot and stale. Under his suit coat, Arthur’s broad back was wet with sweat. His temporary partner, a Gemini named Derek Tomasso, stood in the corner of the room. With a s...

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“Hands of a Sailor” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #245

I sat in front of Dobie as he got animated while telling his tale of the Turtling hurricane that he survived. I know a little was going to be from his imagination but I sat to hear the tale of a real storyteller on a starry night with a warm breeze against my cheek and the gentle rock of my ketch in the change of tide swell. He took a gulp of rum and began with a nod of head.‘The wind started to go all wrong and Cop’n had to order a reef in the main. Then he had to order the jib topsail down, then another reef. The seas were kicking up with ...

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“The Painted Candle” by McKade Kerr

Submitted to Contest #245

In the far reaches of the universe, a place of mystery and beauty that few dare to explore, a small spaceship carrying two adventurers soared by at hyper speed. Captain Finnian, the courageous space photographer, and his trusty assistant Quixly were back out in the galaxies once again. After coming home to glory and fame from their first photo expedition, they soon felt the gnawing hunger for travel that all adventurers know too well, so they said goodbye to their friends and families and took off once again in search of places rarely seen a...

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“Marbles” by PJ Town

Submitted to Contest #245

The children formed a circle in the clearing, chattering and jostling to get as near as possible to Elder Jakintsu. His long white beard and hair spoke of ancient wisdom, but the youngsters were more interested in the stories he told, which were invariably fun. At a loud clap of his hands, all fell silent.“Little ones, you are no doubt wondering why we are gathered here on this rest day, when you might normally be playing,” Jakintsu said. He took a cloth bag from his lap and plonked it at his feet. It made a clinking sound.Sitting opposite h...

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“She Didn't Have The Right Words” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #245

They were in his favorite restaurant, downtown, in Tribeca.“Let’s do the eclipse”, he said.He seemed very busy, so it came as a surprise to her.“Are you sure?” she said, “it’s such a long trip, to Maine”.“I can carve out time, but I might need to make a few phone calls on the road,” he said.She didn’t mind. His work was important. She would find a place for them to stay.“Are you staying at my apartment tonight?” he said to her, as he handed the waiter his credit card. +++Couples, families, small groups traipsed from cars and picku...

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“The Moon Spoke the Truth” by Kim Olson

Submitted to Contest #245

The moon spoke the truth.The truth set me free.I heard its truthAs I drank my bubbly.My moon viewing glasses,Splashed with fine wine,Saw you quite clearly,Just that one time.The wine loosed my tongue,I delivered a grape crushed blowYou were “The man”,And I failed to stroke your ego.Don’t ‘member what I saidEn vino veritas, I had sass.You the king, the ruler,Maybe I called you an ass.You showed me the truth,With the back of your hand.A mark on your queen,Darkness o’er the land.But in marriage unspoken, The spell it did break.And sober ki...

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“The Lady of the Last Star” by Paweł Ciarka

Submitted to Contest #245

It was considered a fact, that there are more stars in the universe, than human souls that ever lived in it. This statement is no longer true. Most of them died, or rather, were killed, leaving entire galaxies in darkness. But some said, „some” meaning the very last of humanity before even they met their end, that some stars still spark like diamonds in dessert sands. Across uninhabited planets and carcases of nebuli, their light guides a certain, troubled soul. And the darkness, right on its tail. &n...

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$250

Prize money

223

Contest entries

89

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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