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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

“Gen” by Victoria Welter

Submitted to Contest #245

She’s asking me about work. About how my young students are doing… if they’re learning Spanish as quickly as they are English. I tell her that they are. That they know how to count, recite the alphabet, and name shapes in both languages. I’m talking to her. And she is responding. I can see her. She is in front of me. With her short salt and peppered hair that’s more salt now than pepper. Her undeniably brown eyes. Her skin, always tanner than mine. Moles. Freckles. Slightly crooked nose. I’m looking down at her 4’11 stature to my 5’2. I grab...

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“Puppets” by Glen Wiley

Submitted to Contest #245

Tom smiled as he heard his friend knock on the door. “Rod! Thanks for coming over, I was worried that you wouldn’t make it, we only have a few minutes before it begins.” He needed an escape from all the conspiracy stories filling his social media. It would be nice to sit back and chill with his high school buddy. “Thanks for inviting me man, sorry, traffic was nuts.” Rod reached into the fridge and helped himself to a beer. “You’re a smart dude, I know you understand all that tech stuff. What do you think of 5g? Are they trying to contr-” To...

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“Eclipse Escape” by Eric Smith

Submitted to Contest #245

The rust-colored Mustang sped down the road. Although it didn't look like much from the outside, its small block V8 purred along smoothly. The stereo blared loudly, providing melodies that went along with the rhythm of the engine. "Hand in hand in a violent life. Making love on the edge of a knife. And the world comes tumbling down…" With the top down, the Mustang sped along. The driver and his passenger's black hoodies and cargo pants stood out against the duct tape and off-white cracked vinyl interior. Behind the wheel, C...

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“Turn Around, Bright Eyes” by Kayleigh Ficarra

Submitted to Contest #245

Today was the day. Today was the day Nora Elizabeth Grant would finally screw up the courage to tell Imani how she felt. What better opportunity than the solar eclipse, the last total one in North America for the next twenty years? It was perfect. Imani had been raving about it for the last month, the NASA posters on her wall seeming to glow just a bit in her excitement. She had already made posts on all of her socials. Nora smiled down at a post that showed Imani with sun-and-moon inspired eyeshadow. There was no question about it. No...

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“PATH OF TOTALITY” by Brice Matte

Submitted to Contest #245

Sofie walked into the police station and looked around. It wasn’t as busy as she was expecting. But, then again, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Today was the first total solar eclipse in almost seven years. Everyone all over the country had been talking about it, and the citizens of Rucker, Texas were no different. In the week leading up to it, people were starting to go a little stir crazy in anticipation.“Hey, lieutenant!” Troy smiled. “Didn’t think you’d be coming in today.”“And miss all the fun?” Sofie smiled back. “How’s it be...

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“Dippers” by Claressa Slaughter

Submitted to Contest #245

Jamie regularly climbed out of her window, but never ventured beyond the porch roof. Her parents were light sleepers, and they would notice her absence within a few hours. But even if that weren’t the issue, where would she go? She wasn’t dating anyone, or at the very least, no one was interested in her enough to show up in the middle of the night to woo her down from the ficus tree and none of her friends lived close enough to prompt spontaneous frivolity.She lowered her supplies out of her window in a beach towel before lowering herself. T...

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“The Tides Above - The Eirai Myth Behind Meteor Showers” by B. D. Bradshaw

Submitted to Contest #245

In the days of oblivion, the Tides Above over the realm of mortals were rich and plentiful. It was a vast ocean - not of water, but of aetherium - the cosmic lifeblood from which all existence began. And within the depths of this ethereal sea swam great schools of fish - shoals that would undertake grand journeys across the tides that would last centuries. And such majestic creatures glimmered like the starlight as they caught the gemstones that drifted in the swell, and carried them to the western and eastern shores - their crossing a testa...

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“Solus and Lumos: A Tale of the Eclipse” by Jared Thomason

Submitted to Contest #245

So, you want to know how and why eclipses occur? Well, I know there’s a correct answer, the real reason that involves how our planet moves and the orbit of the moon and all that stuff. However, among my people, there is an old story we used to tell for generations that explains this bizarre and sometimes frightening phenomena. Personally, I’ve always found that version to be more interesting, and I would very much love to share that story with you. Interested?Great! Grab a snack or something to drink, have a seat, and listen.In the begi...

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“Solara and Lunara” by Dixie Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #245

(Myths where passed down from person to person orally for years. This is what made so many end up with different variations or be hard to completely understand due to bits and pieces being lost or changed from person to person. I wanted this one to have that feeling of being old and being something you would hear from someone who was told it by someone else. I know its a bit odd but I hope its enjoyable.)Long ago, when there was no sun nor a moon, the days were dull and nights had no light. The crops grew slowly in the dull light of the days...

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“On the Origins of the Archflame” by Michael Jurasek

Submitted to Contest #245

Author's note: This is a scene from a longer piece of high fantasy I'm working on. It's my first shot at lore-building in a fantasy world. Let me know what you think! “Gather round children, gather round,” Yarna instructed, beckoning the youth in the room to her. One-by-one, young faces turned toward the old woman, tearing their attention away from the games of fivestones or wisher’s dice that they were playing. Others, particularly the older ones, peeled their bored gazes away from the scenes of dreary rain and fog outside to look at the wo...

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“The Sun Slayer” by Orchid Childs

Submitted to Contest #245

This a story about a myth explaining a star being consumed by a black hole. Num sat on top of her favorite rock taking a break from her foraging duties. She sat in a dimly lit field under a dying sun. The people of her village told tales of an age long pass, when the sun was a brilliant yellow giant that brought light and warmth to all. There was a demon that was slowly eating away at it until the day star would be destroyed. The elders said it was birthed from their god before he had killed knowledge. Num looked at the colossus and its par...

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“The Dancing Wish” by Amanda Alexander

Submitted to Contest #245

Today, my son and I are visiting my father. My seven-year-old mini-me loves coming over and listening to his stories. My father is a great storyteller. When I was young, he would read out of dusty old books most nights while tucking my sister and me in our beds. He read to us a lot. Some stories he read so much he memorized them and can now recite them with ease. Today is the first solar eclipse passing through our city in the last decade. Luke is fascinated with space and plan...

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“Atop the Monolith” by Joseph Keener

Submitted to Contest #245

Today the monolith was going to shake. It meant a lot of things in Seeburg. The monolith shaking was a common expression in the town for change. People would watch their newborns teeth grow in and say that their monolith had shaken. The season would change from spring-summer-fall-winter-spring again, and at each junction, the same expression would grace lips. The monolith was shaking. No one knew why exactly it shook. In fact, it was so rare that some people never thought it would again. The last time was almost 110 years prior, and it had o...

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“Totality” by Natalie Meador

Submitted to Contest #245

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” “I can’t believe you agreed to leave your dungeon.” “I regret it already.” “Well…you’re doing great. We’re almost there, and we’ve got, like—” she consulted her phone, “—thirty minutes before totality.” “...

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“The Moon Close” by Josefine R. Dalsager

Submitted to Contest #245

Stacy had reluctantly agreed to travel up the mountain. When Peter and Aaron first pitched the idea, to go up high where the moon would be at its clearest, she had declined. She had thought it was a waste of time, hadn't seen a point in it when she could see it just at well from the plaza. For days they had both talked about the trip non-stop, excited about witnessing something away from the crowd. She had rolled her eyes at them, and everytime they asked she said that she would rather be with her family anyways. Stacy didn't want to be away...

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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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