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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#59: Location, Location, Location

One of my favorite parts of writing is picking interesting settings. When used effectively, setting can establish the tone of the story (a murder mystery in a manor house vs. a big city) or even determine the stakes (a sinking ship, a house on fire, a person lost in the woods). Certain settings are perfect for their genres, but it can also be fun to use setting to establish incongruity and a sense of unease.

Additionally, your character’s reaction to the setting reveals a lot about their personality. Are they comfortable because they’re in a place they know well? Or does the familiarity make them claustrophobic?

This week, really dig into where your story takes place. What do these settings look, smell, and sound like? What does the setting offer to the plot? How do your characters feel about being there? When it comes to setting, not even the sky is the limit!

(Struggling to know how to best make use of your setting? We’ve got a video right here that will help!)

This week's prompts

Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.

Romance – 135 stories

Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Novel – 198 stories

Set your story in a place with extreme weather, but don’t use any weather-related words to describe it.

High School – 69 stories

Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.

Sad – 230 stories

Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Teens – 135 stories

Stories

“Rubber Ball ” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #59

After the car was packed up, Robert Fowler looked over the map and decided to leave before it got too dark. It was a very warm summer and he did not have to carry too many items this time. He wanted to move in for the week planned and did not want to get lost on any of the side roads indicated on the map. Instead, he planned to get there by late afternoon and hopefully he would be able to convince the local townsfolk that he was not a bad guy at all. It was a plan; not that he was thinking too much about plans and small towns....

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“Here, There Are Ghosts” by Dori O’Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #59

When Nick first sees streetlights up ahead, he can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. His neck is sore, his legs are stiff, and his whole body aches with the need for a soft bed and hot coffee.The rain-soaked pavement glimmers beneath him. As the streets turn to cobblestone closer to town, starlight and streetlights meld together to cast shadows on the red brick buildings. Nick doesn’t notice any of it. He scans the town for a sign of a motel. When he finally sees a neon sign that reads, “Vacancy” in flickering red light, he...

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“Between the Stars and Waves ” by Rachel Ryan

Submitted to Contest #59

I don't want them to find me here. To my left there is a half-eaten carton of Chinese food I've suddenly lost my appetite for. On my lap, my fingers are still curled around the glowing screen of my shitty smartphone, the one Gerry had managed to pick up from the pawn shop two blocks north. My lungs have forgotten how to breathe and I sit still, quiet as the night, as if that would change the words of the text message still glaring up at me. My eyes find the water of the bay, which shifts and moves with the tide yet somehow manag...

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“The Clavius Club” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #59

The rocket thrusters shut down slowly in a languid hush as the tripod gears extend and hit the ground with a gentle thud. The crowd of passengers in the main cabin all give secret sighs of relief to have finally made it and arrived with no issues. Even the regular visitors carried a look of apprehensiveness to again be traveling the new way. I look out my window, attempting to take in all that my eyes can on the darkened white surface. The Clav...

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“The Couple” by Onur Yürür

Submitted to Contest #59

“Kamil brother! Can you come for a sec?” Kamil looked at the door out of the corner of his eye. He was still focused on his razor blade. -What? -Come, check those out. -I am busy, my delight. Don’t you see? He was busy with the head standing in front of him. It looked handsome with freshly trimmed hairs on the top of it. Kamil was scheming a structure in its disorderly beard now. Three fingers of his right hand kept the head totally fixed with a tender grab by the neck. -Ya, Kamil brother, let it go for a moment, for god’s...

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“The Old Man's Words” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #59

I spoke the words the old man had taught me and at first I was disappointed. Nothing seemed to be happening; the mirror merely showed me my reflection, mocking my inadequacies. I thought back on how I had been taught to pronounce those foreign syllables, that awkward language. I replayed those words, the infliction of each, and the way my mouth had felt when the old one had cackled gleefully assuring me I had the incantation perfect. As I pondered for that moment where and when I had spoken wrongly it occurred to me his final advice, patienc...

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“A Tale of Two Grannies” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #59

There are jobs that have died out altogether, starting with the Industrial Revolution and running right through to the advent of Artificial Intelligence. In some cases, at least, probably no bad thing as they could be dirty and dangerous. But there are other jobs that are still around, and it might surprise people. For instance, there are still governesses, and Helga Sherman was on the point of becoming one. Oh, she called herself a tutor, as only a man in that role would once have done, but it was not the same as giving ...

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“Battle Of Nature” by Tom Sun

Submitted to Contest #59

On January 12th, I met with my least favorite time of the year. The sky was ominous and gloomy with no slightest heavenly light peeking through the dense gray. It took me quite some time to wake up. This time, I felt no light to call me to wake up. How I missed the touch of the sun against my face, the refreshing air that I could breathe in, the vibrant rays that will send golden colors in my eyes… I rubbed my hands on my face and my brain felt dizzy. As if I was high up in the death zone of Mount Everest, struggling to breathe in the requir...

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“Alone she came” by Ola Hotchpotch

Submitted to Contest #59

Momo is a strange name. But when my mother said she was eating momos when her labour pain started and I looked like a crumpled bundle wrapped in an old cotton saree when she first saw me and the name came to her instinctively, I forgave her for giving me a name like that.When I completed my degree and started looking for a job, I decided not to be choosy about the place I would start.As a young girl, raised in a congested big city full of pollution and noise, I wanted to be in a place where the air and the water would be clean,I could see th...

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“Silent Citadel ” by Elizabeth Inkim

Submitted to Contest #59

It should not have ended like this, and Wu knew it; she was out of time. Weaving through the sea of citizens, Wu stalled by one of the narrow alleyways of Haen. A frigid gust of wind blew through the passageway, ripping the hood from Wu’s head, leaving her gazing at the roiling clouds. Ashen and streaked with the occasional shock of white they did little to absorb the light of the lanterns below. The aroma of spices and old oil permeated the air, clinging to the clothes of every patron and perpetrator who dared to brave the icy winter weathe...

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“Fake Plastic Flowers For Algernon” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #59

There is a famous satirical science fiction story from the nineteenth century called ‘Flatland’. Aside from being a critical commentary on Victorian culture and the British monarchy, it serves as a primer in understanding the differences between the first three dimensions, before positing on ones we have not yet even discovered. Although quite popular, having even been made into a handful of films, it is utter bollocks.I am going to let you in on a little secret – there are no such things as dimensions.Human beings have a habit of creating c...

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“Metropolitan thoughts” by Mrudula Mohan

Submitted to Contest #59

One summer day, after a long shift I came out of my office, to take a small walk without any of my luggages. Leaving my care free hands at the mercy of wind, a long stretched walk, I took a turn towards a street that I have rarely ever travelled. It was the easiest route towards the nearest metro station and yet I always try to avoid this route. The place was crowded, may be a bit more than usual, it was market day and people from different places have come to buy some things at a price cheaper than the market value. As I was was walking thr...

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“The Not So Lost City Of Atlantis” by Lily Rebecca 🐰🐾

Submitted to Contest #59

Imagine this: You’re on a boat sailing away into the middle of the ocean. All of a sudden fog comes out of nowhere! You’re swept off the boat and thrown into the ocean. The water crowds around you filling your lungs with it’s dark and dreary feeling. You sink, down, down, straight to the bottom. A hand grabs you by the stomach and brings you ashore. You awake to find two purple eyes staring down at you. Startled, you get up. The eyes are attached to a weird creature unlike anything you’ve seen before, it looks like a cat and a unicorn merged...

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“Forward” by Lina Oz

Submitted to Contest #59

“This was wrong, David. Wrong.”“Give it a chance, Edith. Come. Let us discover this world.”Edith stares about wearily, looking at the strange world before her.David had parked the space-time teleportation vehicle––his “travel whatchamacallit,” as Edith always liked to mutter when he was not around to hear it––in the dark alleyway between two large brick buildings. She had fallen out of the vehicle rather nauseous, groaning, holding her throbbing head in her hands. David, of course, was giddy, excited; he leapt from his seat and into the humi...

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“Stranger” by DHANANJAY SHARMA

Submitted to Contest #59

Silence everywhere! Soul wrenching silence! The white blood fallen from the sky had settled at the dusty lane, reducing the visibility, chilling the aura of the ‘Pacific’ town. Only the silhouette of possibly who are locals was the proof of human presence in this damned place. The cart came to a sudden stop at the front of a pub and the rider knocked on the small window from where I was seeing him throughout the journey. “Officer! we are here.” he shouted. The door opened from outside as the owner welcomed me with a wide smile along with hot...

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$50

Prize money

767

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 18, 2020 EST

Won by Louise Coley 🏆

Title: The Witch’s Daughter

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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