#39: Earth to Writers

This was a big week for celebrations. Wednesday was World Earth Day and yesterday was World Book Day.

But to us voracious readers, doesn't every day feel like Book Day? So for this week's prompts, we're giving a big shout-out to the little blue dot in space we all call home.

(And if you'd like to combine your World and Book Day celebrations, here's a sci-fi reading list that's out of this world.)

This week's prompts

One day, the sun rose in the west and set in the east.

Fantasy – 72 stories

Write about a person experiencing the 'overview effect' (a feeling astronauts report having when they first view Earth from outer space).

Science Fiction – 48 stories

Write a story about a Google Street View driver.

Adventure – 39 stories

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Teens – 388 stories

Two people who thought they were the last people left on Earth end up meeting by chance.

Science Fiction – 147 stories

Stories

“Fireflies” by John Meiners, Jr

Submitted to Contest #39

Fireflies by John Meiners, Jr. Just outside her ca...

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“The Reverse ” by Alexandra Ramsey

Submitted to Contest #39

I stare through my window facing the quiet and empty street, watching the sun rise from the west. Letting out a deep sigh, I walk to my kitchen and cross off yet another day from the calendar hanging on my fridge. “Ninety-four days,” I say out loud to myself, clicking my pen. For 94 days the sun has been rising in the west and setting in the east. 94 days since I woke up to a world of silence. 94 since I have been completely and utterly alone. It seems as though 94 days would be enough time to make someone go mad, being alone with their thou...

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“One day the Sun rose in the west and set in the east.” by Madisson James

Submitted to Contest #39

One day the Sun rose in the west and set in the east. It’s not really that hard to believe once you hear the evidence. This is not a hand me down story. It was told by the only four people who could know and who you can believe. Listen.“I am not going!” Summer said crossing his arms and pulling his lower lip over his top lip.“You know your eyes sag down to your nose when you do that right? Spring said in the least bit moved.“I’m not going!” Summer said again with a humph.Spring got up from the ground where she was kneeling. She had jus...

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“The Scream” by Abby Iverson

Submitted to Contest #39

There was a shift that day, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. As she laced up her trainers and stretched her legs, something shifted within her. She pushed against the walls, arching her back and ignoring the light thumping that was beginning to take hold behind her eyes. Blinking furiously, willing the impending tightness away, she unclipped the lock and sped out the door. The chilly air bit at her skin, tiny lumps smothering her, calling translucent hairs to attention. She has no intention of going back, though she’d b...

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“Sunrise of a Lifetime” by Example Classifeid

Submitted to Contest #39

One day, the sun rose in the west and set in the east. “It was a momentous occasion. It was the very first sign of what would come.” “Keep going, Grandma!” You encourage. She manages a weak smile, and in a few minutes, continues; “And absolutely nobody noticed.” “What!?” Grandma grins. “I suppose i’m stretching the truth. Quite a lot of people noticed, but for the first few hours, nobody spoke up. See, the sun didn’t just decide to come back up the other way, it took a few days. First, they noticed the sun began to shift...

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“Earth 3.0” by Tom Moser

Submitted to Contest #39

- - - West Coast - - -“What a spectacular sunrise,” Sam observed while standing in his living room, sipping his morning coffee. The dark gray outline of the Olympic Mountains silhouetted against the early light shining through the window of the newly purchased West Seattle condominium. Their building was located along a street overlooking Alki Beach with views to the west and north.Sam and Ellen had not finished unpacking the boxes after their move from Atlanta the week prior. They first unpacked bedding, followed by boxes marked kitchen ite...

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“The Shooting Star” by Maggie Farnum

Submitted to Contest #39

I lay on the bank, my husband beside me, gazing up at the stars. The sky was bright and beautiful tonight. We came out a lot in the evenings just to lay on the grass and look up at the night sky, hear crickets chirping, a soft breeze blowing, and sometimes a coyote howling at the full moon. I felt my husband put his hand in mine, bringing it to his lips he kissed it. “I love you, Jen.” He said softly, rubbing his hard, callused hands over my own small, soft hand. I smiled. He said that every night, and I would never get t...

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“A New Star Shines Tonight” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #39

A New Star Shines TonightSuzanne MarshAlthough there are sad moments in time, there are also wonderful moments in time. I was seven years old and at best a very inquisitive child. I was in bed when the phone rang. I could hear dad's voice saying:“We will be there tomorrow afternoon. Yes, we will meet you at mom's. Okay John.” I had no idea of what had happened. I turned over and went to sleep. The next morning, mom was packing while dad made train reservations going to Brooklyn, New York. I remember boarding the train, with my parents. Mom l...

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“Overview ” by Madison Chapman

Submitted to Contest #39

I had never heard of the overview effect before my freshman year. I was sitting in my fifth period Earth and Space science class, which was right before lunch when my teacher introduced us to the topic. I sat in the middle of the class and was only focusing on the delicious pastrami and cheese sandwich that was sitting in my lunch box two feet away from me when it was brought up, and for a moment I was really confused. My attention was directed away from my lunch and back onto my teacher, and as the class discussed the topic I was in a...

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“Yugen's Effect: Age 1” by Eric Deitch

Submitted to Contest #39

Life fades from black to a dim, cool, light. Her eyes strain to fight the rays of color and blurred images as we all do when roused from a deep sleep. Our eyes adjust; seeing our immediate surroundings, while our brains slowly comprehend what is going on. She looks up at the slowly rotating objects that hang before her field of view, moving ever so slightly above her head. These objects look familiar, she has seen them before, but her newly awakened mind is working to put the pieces together from her previous viewing. A few blinks to mo...

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“The Palacia Grande” by Sarah Wolverton

Submitted to Contest #39

In the early days, it felt like a party.All of us, cocooned in the lush interiors of the Palacia Grande. Eventually though, when people started dying, it began to feel more like a prison. Do you know how it feels to need your prison? To be totally and utterly beholden to it? It was the only safe place on earth. And yet, it felt like a tomb. In the early days, people were social. They walked the hallways, stopping to chat and offer problem solving and encouragement. Then, it felt like we could ignore the apocalypse raging on outside. The...

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“The Little Dipper” by Ashley L

Submitted to Contest #39

“Ooh! What’s that one Sissy?”I smile at the small, dainty finger pointing up at the night sky. “Well, Mikey, that’s the Little Dipper.” I take his hand and guide it to each different star as I explain it, “see that really bright star on the end?” He nods his head quietly and I smile again, “that’s the North Star.”“I know that one,” he shouts excitedly. “That’s the one that sailors would follow when they were lost!”I smile again, “exactly! Now, if we look around carefully, we may be able to find the Big Dipper. It looks just like the Little D...

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“My World” by Edgar Beck

Submitted to Contest #39

There wasn’t much to say. There never was when you were alone.That is, until the doorbell rang.I was in my room—or what was left of it. The ceiling was still caved in, piling on the space my bed had occupied. The once-pink-and-blue-striped walls stood bleak and gray. Time had corroded the paint and the dinosaur drawings I’d doodled on it. Dust blanketed everything. I was lost in the emptiness once again, in another episode of wordless grief, when it rang.The dilapidated house had become just another hollow shell, a corpse, an echo of what it...

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“Star Song” by P. Jean

Submitted to Contest #39

Laying on my back in the vast dark night I feel an overwhelming awe at the beauty above me. The heavens are as a velvet curtain backdrop for the stars that fill the universe. I feel insignificant compared to what might lay among and beyond, in the twinkling darkness. I had been paddling my kayak for hours, this seemingly endless day, from one out post to the next along the shores of Lake Superior. The journey has been one of many trials, the wind and waves challenging me moment to mo...

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“The last two people on the fictional Earth” by Manahil Khan

Submitted to Contest #39

Aaaarghhh! This damn alarm clock! It has ruined my life. Daniel reached over from his bed and stopped the alarm clock. It was one in the afternoon."Guess it's finally time to wake up then," Daniel thought."MOMMM...?," Daniel yelled. "Mom?"Receiving no response from his mother, Daniel went downstairs to find her, but she was nowhere to be seen. Daniel grew worried, but then remembered that she had told him yesterday that she would be going to his aunt's house early in the morning. Daniel assumed that his father had gone to work and his little...

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$50

Prize money

694

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 01, 2020 EST

Won by Masha Kurbatova 🏆

Title: sole mate

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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#39: Earth to Writers

This week's prompts

One day, the sun rose in the west and set in the east.

Write about a person experiencing the 'overview effect' (a feeling astronauts report having when they first view Earth from outer space).

Write a story about a Google Street View driver.

Write a story that begins and ends with someone looking up at the stars.

Two people who thought they were the last people left on Earth end up meeting by chance.