Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#262: Turn Up the Heat

What’s not to love about summer? There's something so wonderful about spending lazy afternoons taking a stroll in the sunshine or cooling off with an ice-cold drink by a pool. I can still remember how excited I would feel on the last day of school, just hours away from barbecues, beach days, and family picnics.

With summer in full swing for many of us, let’s write some stories that center around long, sweltering days. Will your tale take place at a fancy resort or a crowded park? How about a county fair or an island getaway? No matter what you choose, make sure to bring on the heat!

This week's prompts

Write about a summer vacation gone wrong.

Summer – 66 stories

Start or end your story with a heatwave announcement.

Summer – 34 stories

Write about a character who is allergic to heat.

Summer – 26 stories

Center your story around an unexpected summer fling.

Summer – 53 stories

Set your story during the hottest day of the year.

Summer – 88 stories

Stories

“Don't Feed the Birds” by D.C. Wright

Submitted to Contest #262

A sane man would have flinched. Hot saliva dripped down his face, the hateful "gift" spat by a stranger. The man had not noticed the insult for he was lost in his own torments -- to his own demons. He stared unblinking and blind to the world around him. He was a part of this world, but separate. Still a man but not. An old woman with arthritic ...

Read story

“The Traditional Summer Crime” by Caylen Kampen

Submitted to Contest #262

August 22nd, 2019 “I don’t want to do this.” “Oh, shut up,” Melanie responded. “We’ll be fine. It’s tradition to go on the hottest day of the year every summer; no one’s been caught.” Summer shook her head, her brown eyes wide, looking up at the thin trees covering the forest. The short barbed wire fence had toppled over at the edge, a thick wood post the bridge between the parking lot and the Forbidden Forest. Beyond that, a field of corn waited to be harvested. At least, once October swung around. “I hate doing this, guys,” Summer whined, ...

Read story

“"Girl of the Dark Baths in the Sun"” by Stephvon Dames

Submitted to Contest #262

Today is June 21, the first and longest day of the year. There is a bright sun and a blue sky. Enjoying the warmth of the sun and the feeling of freedom, she bathes in the warm light. In Sharpton (in Florida), the summer sun beats down like an evil entity. On this day, she celebrates summer while lamenting other people's suffering.As a young girl called "Ruby Rune," her eyes fluttered open, her pupils adjusting to the faint luminescence that filtered through the rocky walls of the cave. She lay on a soft, velvety moss bed, her Cavian skin gl...

Read story

“The Hottest Day” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #262

Ossie (a short form for his actual name) asks a question of his brother Mac (also a short form for his name): “Did you hear the weather report last night on the television? The weather woman declared that on Friday we will be experiencing a record breaking heatwave.”Mac replies. “Yes, I did. You could say that it will truly be a Frying Day. She declared that the high temperature would be 50 degrees Celsius or 122 Fahrenheit. Nobody in our community has ever experienced such a high temperature before. And what ar...

Read story

“The Popsicle Pals' Frozen Endeavor” by Derek Macleod

Submitted to Contest #262

Chapter 1: The Challenge Sam’s stomach lurched as a silence fell over the crowd outside Frosty's Delight. It was the hottest day of the year and most of the small town of Maplewood seemed to be lined up at Frosty's Delight Ice Cream Shop. The once vibrant ice cream shop looked like it had been hit by a scoop of disappointment. Mr. Frosty, the heart and soul of the place, stood at the front steps, his shoulders slumped.“Bad news, popsicle lovers,” he began, his voice as low as the freezer temperature. "The shop will be closing for good soon. ...

Read story

“How to Bear the Heat” by Cristina Ochoa

Submitted to Contest #262

Christine was sitting on her front lawn waiting for the ice cream truck. She had been waiting in the sweltering heat for over twenty minutes. Thirty minutes earlier, Christine had been inside with her mother and little brother Thomas reading her most recent library acquisition—The Giver. She had just realized that Jonas, the main character, could still see color when she heard the ice cream truck’s signature song. She sat for a few minutes in her favorite chair to gauge how far away it still was. She calculated close to two miles, but with t...

Read story

“The hottest day of the year” by Arun Livingston

Submitted to Contest #262

On the first day of my summer holiday, I woke up sweating and said to myself, this must be the hottest day in history. Concerned and soaked, I went into the bathroom and threw powder all over my body. I thought my vacation in India would be relaxing; I had imagined doing my holiday homework and eating delicious food. Confused and worried, I ran and turned on the TV to hear the announcer echo my thought: “Good morning and welcome to today’s weather broadcast. This morning, we have recorded temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. Today is ...

Read story

“Pickleball Heat” by Lorra Spitzer

Submitted to Contest #262

The sun glared down on Lexi with a mischievous grin. “You think you can outlast me?” he chuckled. “I am relentless and fierce.” He elevated his chest, intensifying his rays. “Feel that, Ms. Lexi,” he sneered. How long will you survive now?” Observing his work, he tilted back, smugly waiting to witness the outcome. Sweat beads trickled down Lexi's forehead as her moist palms tightened around her Lear Lox Pickleball paddle… “Dink.” The crowds were silent as she and her longtime ...

Read story

“Psycho Heat” by William Siebold

Submitted to Contest #262

Becoming nobody. Standing alone, isolated, no longer heard or seen. "I'm still here," I said. No answer. Powerful feelings. Looking out across the rolling sage foothills just west of the mountains, at the base of the massive volcanic plug that dominated the western skyline, I felt the sun’s early promise of another blasting, battering day of heat on my face. The scent of moist soil and decomposed plants gave way to pungent herbal sage. The volcanic rock smelled minty metallic as the sun rose. I abandoned the prearranged landing zone two d...

Read story

“The Greatest Novel Ever Written ” by Timothy Motley

Submitted to Contest #262

Ezra awoke in a pool of his own sweat. Clumsily his hand swatted about the floor until it was able to rip his phone free of its charging cable. His finger swiped lazily across the screen. It was eight am on a random Tuesday in July. Nothing special. At least not for the rest of the world. For Ezra this was a day that would live in infamy. It was a day over a decade in the making. Today was the day he was going to start writing the greatest novel ever written.Ezra had it all meticulously planned out. He had perfectly crafted the plots and sub...

Read story

“Stick the Landing” by Sam Everard

Submitted to Contest #262

It was around 9:45am, when the sweat had already formed dark rivers in his shirt that surged down from his armpits to his belt, that he realised he might not have planned this thoroughly enough. Wiping his glasses, he checked the weather app on his phone. 95 degrees. Give it a few more hours, and it was showing 104. Not showing any cloud cover either. He looked up squinting at the sky to see if the phone was lying. Bright, untainted blue, the kind you’d get in a child’s landscape painting, stretching out over miles and miles of dust and sand...

Read story

“Rough Waters” by Bethany Meyer

Submitted to Contest #262

In the Summer of 2021, my family of 5 took a vacation to Cutter Reservoir, New Mexico to go camping with my husband's life long friend, Josh. Our boys were ages 7, 5 and 2 at the time.Josh is well known for being a river-rat, which always brings to mind the book, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.Josh is a good fellow, kind hearted, experienced with water activities and a good laughing conversationalist. He heartily invited our family for a river float. Key word...float.With absolutely zero experience with river floating, my husband...

Read story

“A Road Trip with Returns” by Frances Gaudiano

Submitted to Contest #262

A Road Trip with ReturnsOnce a year her Aunt Anna came to visit with her rich husband and two spoiled children. Gillian looked forward to these holidays because her aunt enjoyed showing off her wealth to her sibling, Gillian’s father. They would arrive in their new car (a new one each year) and take Gillian’s family to restaurants, a rare treat for them. Over the visit, Gillian and cousins would be transported to amusement parks, the cinema and baseball games. Wherever they went they were allowed to fill up on ice cream and be given a souven...

Read story

“Missing ” by Miller George

Submitted to Contest #262

Sam looked at his watch as he tapped it to skip to the next song on his AirPods. It was 11:58 A.M., and lunch was calling. It was their second vacation day, and he hoped it would be relaxing. He grabbed his water bottle and was about to take a sip. "Where is Will?" Sarah shrieked at her husband. He took his AirPods and looked up from his iPad. "I don't know. He was just here digging." Sam responded carelessly, unaware of what was happening. Sarah looked at him in usual dismay. The shrill sound of a lifeguard's whistle and the ...

Read story

“Blissed” by Kieran Ryan

Submitted to Contest #262

Ted lay flat, defeated entirely by the heavy, oily heat. Last night’s drink oozed from him, mixing with sweat and cheap suntan oil to form a grim, stinking cocktail on his skin. He slowly raised his head and scanned the poolside area to see if anyone had ordered a drink yet. He couldn’t be first, that was his rule. The usual crew, familiar after six days at the resort, lay scattered like dead things on loungers. The fat man with his thin white legs, the ancient woman dripping in gold jewellery, the bald man and his ugly wife. None of them we...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

267

Contest entries

91

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 09, 2024 EST

Won by Tess Ross-Callahan 🏆

Title: Hair-Dryer Day

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢