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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

“Surviving the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome” by TR Sawyer

Submitted to Contest #262

(NOTE: This is non-fiction, it is an account of the Seattle heat dome event in June 2021.) Taking a sip of my mojito, my wife and I stared out over the crashing waves of the pacific. Our resort in Puerto Vallarta had an open-air steakhouse, which despite the humidity was calm and relaxing. The lighting was dim, the mood was intimate. Yet we were focused on practical matters. “Are we all checked in for our flight? What’s the weather like back in Seattle?” My wife asked. Pulling out my phone I answered that our flight was ready. Then I looked ...

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“Christmas 1982” by Luke Weyland

Submitted to Contest #262

Christmas 1982My name is Luke Weyland. I live in Strathfield in Sydney Australia. The following, to the best of my recollection, is a true story about what happened on Christmas Day in 1982. I was aged 21, back then. When not in college, I would live with my parents in Mosman in Sydney along with two of my three sisters, Michaela and Julia. The rest of the time I lived in Bathurst where I was studying Social Science. My oldest sister, Antonia recently got married to a young doctor named Chris. They lived in neighbouring suburb of ...

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“Sin City” by Grace Mcnabola

Submitted to Contest #262

“I can't do this anymore,” Carly said “I need to get out of this room. How do you people live in this heat? It´s too bloody hot, it’s unbearable. 46c it says on my phone today. I swear I have never been this hot in my life. I can't breathe, I can't sleep. The sweat is pouring off me. Last night the aircon went off, there was a mosquito in the room – bastard bit me. I got up at 4am and had a cold shower – I still couldn't get back to sleep. I thought you lot had money, why am I in this shitty motel anyway, there are...

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“A Heat Wave Warning in California” by Karen Stoner

Submitted to Contest #262

The sun hung high in the warm, optimistic xanthous sky, casting a relentless glare over the sprawling suburbs of Southern California. It was mid-July, and the National Weather Service issued a heat wave warning that sent ripples of concern throughout the community. The temperature was expected to soar well above 105 degrees Fahrenheit for today alone, making it the hottest day of the year, prompting residents to take special preparations against the sweltering heat.In a cozy neighborhood lined with many palm trees and blooming red and pink b...

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“MARISOL” by David Gold

Submitted to Contest #262

MARISOL By David Gold Marisol felt her sol burn as the sol in the sky burned. A finger pointed ahead to the temperate vale from which she could find the shade her heart desired. The girl wafted too and fro, ankle deep in the shamrock colored grass. Buttoned up in a frilly outfit that would make any boy faint, if his heart was weak and he was prone to such a thing. In her hands was a little paper tablet with those plastic rings at the top that let you flip a page in just the right way. “I love these blue lines” she mumbled, analyzing th...

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“Stationary ” by Cailey Tebow

Submitted to Contest #262

Of course, as usual, I am assuming the worst. That devious, familiar feeling is creeping up the back of my neck against the neverending flow of beaded sweat. I give another yank on the coarse fabric of the dog’s leash, digging my heels into the ground and feining control. Still an unfamiliar companion to the pup, I’m unwilling to lean into full aggression, and perhaps that’s the reason for my persistent lack of success. A glance at my phone proves that I’ve been standing in this same spot on the busy walkway for an impossible twenty minutes....

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“Cliff Jumping” by Juliet Colyer

Submitted to Contest #262

I sit alone on a lawn chair, facing a broken wood dock. The dock has a beginning, and an end, but the middle is a wreck. Center planks teeter into the water or are missing. The dock extends over a small, brackish pond. My chair rests under a tall, shady pine tree. I absorb the humming of a distant tractor engine and the soothing symphony of crickets. I am finding peace on the hottest day of the year. I feel sweat trickle down my face. A tiny little ant bites my ankle, and the pain brings back the memory...

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“1500 Feet” by Phil Martin

Submitted to Contest #262

1500 Feet Today was forecasted to be the hottest day of the year but It was early morning and Marty was on the road with his girlfriend to a secret location. It was his birthday; she’d promised that it would be the best surprise ever. She was full of surprises and Marty was pleasantly baffled about their secret event. So here it was, 5:45am and they were driving through miles of farmland, over long winding roads appearing mile after mile beneath a gentle mist, a light lazy fog blanketing all the unif...

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“Hottest Day of the Year” by M.J. Sumner

Submitted to Contest #262

Palatine is a pretty nice place when you compare it to the decaying City of Chicago. All things considered; it was a quiet place too. On August 7th, 2024, it seemed a little too quiet. The "Midwest heat wave" was in full swing and everyone around here was used to it. You would still see the next-door neighbor Sally walk her dog Beau every morning. The older couple from down the street would still get their steps in no matter how hot it was. But today, there wasn't a soul outside. It was sunny, 95 degrees, and humid for the last two weeks, bu...

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“Redefining Tradition: Amina's Awakening” by Mara Rouge

Submitted to Contest #262

As the sun began to set, its golden rays filtered through the windows of the house, casting a warm glow but doing little to cool the sweltering air. The barometer read 99°F. Amina had been up early, yet she found herself lying in bed, the sheets pulled to the side. The fan above her whirred at full speed while she was engrossed in reading a book that resembled an old journal. The yellowed pages bore stains—signs of time, perhaps. Downstairs, Radhya, her mom, had been up for a while. She was busy preparing breakfast, already setting aside som...

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“Thirst for Courage” by Aurora Aurea

Submitted to Contest #262

An ominous metal rattle swiftly followed by the alarming loss of peddling control forced me to stop by the side of the road. Silently cursing my rusty old bike as I dismounted and looked at the chain. It was loose and off the gears, dangling unhelpfully. I took a deep breath to try and gather my thoughts to solve the problem, but they eluded my attempt at calm, stirring around like a hoard of sugar-high kids. Sighing hopelessly, I sat down on the scorching ground, idly peeling off some of the rusted yellow paint on my bike.My old phone had s...

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“Helter Swelter” by Cat Lockhart

Submitted to Contest #262

<1422> words Helter Swelter I can’t seem to get traction on the steering wheel. My fingers are slip sliding away. I grab some tissues and wipe down the leather, then wipe my hands, then grab some more tissues for my glistening face, then do it all again. I haven’t even made it out of my driveway. The clock says 7.49 am - the temperature says 98 degrees. How can it be this hot this early in the day? At least I’m early. Like, super, super early. I’d rather be early for this meeting than late, and I can get changed into so...

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“Chance Meeting in Dogenzaka” by Jessica Yamaguchi

Submitted to Contest #262

Trigger warning: This story involves a character who died from overdose. Heather lived most of her adult life in Japan, so she wasn’t overly fazed by the summer heat and crowds of early August. She simply approached the crosswalk as she did any time of year through her daily commute and pulled out her phone to multitask while she waited, albeit inwardly more miserably. Half-heartedly, the foreign language teacher jotted down notes for her next secondary school lesson plan on her phone. The idea came increasingly quickly: Obon is the ...

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“I Saw The Light” by Misha Tuesday

Submitted to Contest #262

The japanese beetle fell into the jar of soapy water and began to struggle. I watched it struggle passionlessly, though not sadistically. It had been, after all, attempting to destroy our roses. The roses I hate. I don’t like the scent, I don’t like the thorns, and I wish I could just remove the bush and not be bothered. But my wife doesn’t agree. She doesn’t particularly care for roses either, but she subscribes to the common delusion that just because something is hard to take care of, it is worth taking care of. And so this beetle slowly ...

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“Summer Madness” by Rachael Daly

Submitted to Contest #262

I am finally at my parent’s house when the heat of the summer sun hits it’s peak, July seventh. It should feel cooler than the desert I have just returned from, the desert where I bared my soul to fifty thousand people. The Americans know how to deal with the heat, but we don’t, and pushing forty degrees Celsius in rural Derbyshire of all places feels unbelonging. Planes were grounded in airports and I wondered if the tarmac was melting and then my makeup started dripping down my chin. I’ve got to get better at that. Separating myself, I mea...

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$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!

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