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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

“Dog” by Aaron Chin

Submitted to Contest #262

The following contains physical abuse, sexual scenes, use of blood, and violence against an animal.Dog“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”— Timothy, 5:8I.Dad was a religious man. He grew up Christian and tried to raise a Christian son. He got me, Martin Williams II, a guy who could appreciate religion at a glance but never get into it. Which is why he repeats his mantra: “If you do right by the Lord, then the Lord will do right by you.”II.Bump...

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“The Beach” by Jennifer Luckett

Submitted to Contest #262

I hurled the damp pillow across the bed, too heated and keyed up to get some sleep. It was the hottest week of the summer so far, 81 degrees at 2:20 am, so I scooted underneath the ceiling fan for some relief. The house was fine, lovely really, but I hate heat of any kind, except to warm myself in the depth of winter. Fall is my favorite season, and I had at least six more weeks of discomfort, and less than half of that for this much-needed vacation. My friend and agent Elena had arranged for my stay here in sunny tropical south Florida...

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“ A Vacation in the Bermuda Triangle” by Hannah Foust

Submitted to Contest #262

August 17th 2010.It all started like most summer vacations, everyone waiting for that day, to travel somewhere exotic and fun, free from school and work. My family had been planning this trip all year, not just your everyday beach vacation, but all the way to the Caribbean! We arrived at the airport, in record time for a family of six, and three of them girls no less, they can be quick when they want to be.Dad, my brother and I took up one row, while Mom and my sisters took up the row directly in front, my siblings and I getting somewhat bor...

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“It's That Time Again...” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #262

They’re saying that it’s the hottest day of the year. This gets me every time, even before I recall the hottest days of my youth. Those days were hot. Hotter than anything you get nowadays. Then there’s the whole premise of this assertion. It’s just so premature. The first day of the year is always the hottest day of the year at that point in time. Then, as Winter gets bored with terrorising the landscape, and Spring attempts to make peace with the world, there are days that are warmer than the preceding days. I will concede that these are c...

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“Caught in Dick of the Beach's Web” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #262

It was the first day at our beach house, and Randy, my Standard Poodle, and I were just looking around the place when we noticed a nude beachcomber heading our way. I'm far from shy and not the least bit timid, but the man I saw coming toward me made a plantain look tiny. I looked and then looked away since I didn't want to seem like I was gawking. But then I looked again. I couldn't believe my eyes; the man was well-tanned and in great shape. He caught me looking because when I looked up at his body and made my way to his face, he smiled a ...

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“Blind and Hungry ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #262

This was supposed to be my summer vacation. I was on leave god damnit! It was a small little island in the Carribean. Never heard of the country before, but the brochures were pretty enticing so I took a chance and went. Now there I was: hiding in a cave along the shore with a cracked rib. I could hear the sound of my pursuer’s massive body pounding down the beach outside - It sounded like thunder. He was looking for me, and I knew when he found me, that was the end. It was one thing after the other. Guess I should start th...

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“ELIM CIVOLUDAR’S MEMOIRS: IT'S ALL ABOUT PENNY” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #262

I am in the breathtaking Makarska, Croatia, drenched in the sun's golden rays. The air is thick with the scent of salt and sunscreen, and the scenery is teeming with beautiful tourists flaunting extra-mini bikinis. Their laughter mingles with the soothing sound of waves lapping against the shore. The heat wraps around me like a warm embrace, searing my skin as I sit here, writing a book in the cool shade of my terrace, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Penny. I've been in Makarska for four days, each hotter than the last. My closest encounter ...

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“Leaving Las Vegas” by Thomas Wells

Submitted to Contest #262

Trigger Warning – Murder, domestic violence, alcoholism, explicit language= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =NVC003-090000-/O.CON.KVEF.FA.Y.0035.000000T0000Z-280806T0000Z//00000.N.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/Clark NV- 855 AM PDT Thu Aug 6 2028 /1155 AM EDT Thu Aug 6 2028/ ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT /11 PM EDT/ Thu Aug 13... * WHAT...Extreme high temperatures and unusually strong monsoonal flow will lead to **EXTREMELY DANGEROUS** conditions with dew points near 72 and record heat ind...

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“Of Fiery Embers and Sea Green” by Indigo Simmons

Submitted to Contest #262

His eyes were those of burning embers as the setting sun reflected in their deep hues as if drawing me in and drowning me in the sea of their color, and all I could do was be drawn to them, no matter what I did.The warmth of the afternoon day still clung to the air as we swayed to the beat of the distant music, my arms wrapped around his shoulders and his hands on my hips, and I could feel the thump of my heart pounding against my ribcage at how close we were.I had never been this bold in my life, to be honest … Having always stayed within t...

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“Heat” by C.J. Carlin

Submitted to Contest #262

It was a Thursday in late July, the hottest day of the hottest summer anyone in this town could remember. The sunlight poured down like melted honey, making everything and everyone hot and sticky. It was easily ninety-five degrees in the shade, about a hundred and ten if you were dumb enough to venture out. Leaves hung limp in the still air. Lawns had turned yellow weeks ago. Even the finches and chickadees that basically ran the neighborhood were too tired and hot to chirp. The only things that seemed to have life in them were crows and cat...

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“Summer's Lie” by J. Rain Sherwin

Submitted to Contest #262

TRIGGER WARNING: DYSTOPIANToday is the hottest day recorded on earth. Just like yesterday. Each day the heat crawls higher and higher—its record almost a straight line up from the ground to the sun. Stan is sick of it. He’s tired of wearing his cooling suit. He’s tired of mostly staying indoors. He’s tired of living most of his life at night. He’s tired of his stupid job, coaxing ad campaigns out of petulant AIs. Ugh.Stan sits down on the sidewalk and the people, in their cooling suits, flow around him. He sees a few eyes, glancing at him a ...

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“Summer of Love” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #262

The Summer sun beat down relentlessly upon the car roof, cooking it. Jenner shook his head at the shimmering air, not looking forward to climbing into an intensity of heat that his motor’s blowers had no chance of banishing. Huffing his annoyance at the sun and it’s tardy seasonal appearance, he started the engine and lowered the front windows. Still the radiating heat threatened to singe his eyebrows. It was barely ten a.m. “What’s the world coming to, eh?” he asked the car, patting its dash. His Audi was nigh on a museum piece. He didn’t e...

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“Heat Wave” by Suzanne Jennifer

Submitted to Contest #262

In the town of Steam Pump, known for its scorching summers, the unwelcome news of a heat wave had spread among the residents. With temperatures usually in the high 90s, the projected temperatures exceeding 100 and reaching the scorching 110s caught everyone’s attention.While checking the time on her cell phone screen, Marcy turned the ignition key, putting an end to the supply of cool air pumping into the now empty transit bus. Even with the A/C unit running full blast, the interior of the vehicle was like a sauna; only ten degrees cooler th...

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“What Happened To Summer?” by Tiana Might

Submitted to Contest #262

“…Crank up those AC’s, it’s hot out here!”The heat was UN. BEAR. A. BLE. I sat backwards on a kitchen chair with my sweaty chin rested against the headrest. Dizziness engulfed my head while I spun myself round and round for air. My sister laid flat on the counter beside the radio as she fanned herself with a pink folding fan.“…temperatures reaching about—Huh?” The radio broadcast continued, “Hold on folks, we were just informed—NWS issues a warning for an extreme heat-”“Phbbth…!”My little sister, clearly uninterested, blew raspberries. She t...

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“Nine Lives” by Grace Mcnabola

Submitted to Contest #262

Carolyn – “Tilly, Tilly come on then, nice puss, come on Tilly, foodies, come on now, come on.” She shook the bag of biscuits and rattled the bag of treats. Nothing. No Tilly. “Bloody cat, this is serious, where the hell is she,” she mumbled. Carolyn had been all over the house and garden, for half an hour, rattling the bag and calling out. She looked in the cat's usual hidey holes. But there was no sign in any of them. Little bitch, she thought, she must have found a new one. Typical, any other day it wouldn’t matter but today, o...

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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.

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