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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#60: Face Your Fears

This week is a special edition of the Reedsy Prompts contest because our friends at IndieReader are taking it over with their own theme, prompts, and bonus prize! We'll let them take it from here...

 

Hi! Amy from IndieReader here. If you’re not familiar with IR, we’re one of the original (paid) review services for self, hybrid and independently published authors, providing professional book reviews since 2009, in addition to unique marketing and distribution solutions.

 

We know that 2020 has been a memorable (aka stressful) year for many. According to experts, one of the recommended ways to manage stress and anxiety is by thinking about what scares you most and then writing about it. So fittingly, this week’s theme is post-apocalyptic stories.

 

Don’t worry if that doesn’t sound like your genre, as we’ve written 5 prompts below that work whether you’re into that kind of thing or not. So pour a glass of wine, take a few deep breaths, and start typing. And we wouldn’t be surprised if, after you’re done, the world around you doesn’t look so bleak. At least there aren’t any zombies!

 

(As a bonus prize, the winner of this week's contest will receive a discount code for 20% off an IR Pro Review.)

This week's prompts

Write a funny post-apocalyptic story.

Funny – 110 stories

Write a post-apocalyptic story that features zombies.

Science Fiction – 178 stories

Write a post-apocalyptic story triggered by climate change.

Adults – 134 stories

Write a post-apocalyptic thriller.

Thriller and Suspense – 144 stories

Write a post-apocalyptic romance.

Dystopian – 196 stories

Stories

“How to Survive the Apocalypse” by Julie Ward

Submitted to Contest #60

HOW TO SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE And High School at the Same Time By Remi Julian Here’s the thing about the apocalypse. It’s basically a giant game of dodgeball. Nobody really likes it but everyone has to play. If you want to walk away unscathed, you have to think strategically. At first you have to blend in, stay out of the way. Then, as people disappear from the playing field, you’ve got to be quick, ruthless and light on your feet. You have to know how and when to catch the ball and how to send it to the right target ...

6 comments 6
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“Where There's Water” by Iris Silverman

Submitted to Contest #60

Leeroy Altman was on his fourth Mountain Dew of the day. All he had to drink was that sickly yellow liquid. It dribbled down his chin and settled on his protruding collarbones, with a stickiness that could only be removed with a shower. Too bad that wasn't an option either.  He had the major hots for his neighbor, Fiona Royal, but he smelled too gross to approach her these days. He tried drenching himself in cologne, coating himself with a hefty layer of Fabreeze, and even rolling around on dryer sheets. But nothing can take the place o...

11 comments 11
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“Panic, Schmanic” by Vanessa Kilmer

Submitted to Contest #60

I have two towels. I’m rich by today’s standards. Right now, they are pinned together to form a poncho that’s keeping me warm. It’s the end of spring. The first few generations after The Event, no one kept track of time, days or years. Heck, the world was so bleak and black that no one could keep track of the seasons. You couldn’t tell the difference between winter and summer. Someone in one of the larger settlements up north on the Upper Bay near Old New York, calculated the current year as 2520 OD (Old Date) or 500 ND (New Date.) They ca...

10 comments 10
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“Dee's Gift” by Morgan McHose

Submitted to Contest #60

The blades of grass recoil from her bare feet. I watch with fleeting sadness as they blacken and shrivel. I follow close behind her trail of destruction. Our sisters will be waiting for us in the forest.Sure enough, at the fringes of the wood I glimpse Thunder, absently twirling a dagger on its point with a dainty finger. Her head has been shaved clean. She insisted its long raven locks would impede her flight. No one dissented, but I’m secretly mournful to see her head bereft of its usual midnight tendrils.“You two took your sweet time. Can...

2 comments 2
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“The Twisted Shack” by Connor H

Submitted to Contest #60

“Hey, hey calm down. We have a lovely little pen for you. There are plenty of other people for you to socialise with.” The figure carefully marched over the second smaller one moving slowly as she was trying hard to get away. “I’d rather be left alone and survive in the real world, stupid Zombie.” “Now that is rude, we prefer to be called alternatively alive. We don’t call you humans, do we?” The larger clearly annoyed. As they marched forwards chattering other voices could be heard. “To be honest I don’t care, I would rather not be ...

7 comments 7
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“A White Dress and a Red Apron” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #60

She woke up the morning she put on the white dress and the red apron knowing that she would poison the Baked Alaska. On that day, we were about four feet high, but we’d be five or six feet by the end of the year. That’s if you believe the scientists, and, really, why wouldn’t you believe the scientists? They’ve been right about so much so far. But, you know, you hear people talking, and those people, the ones talking, they sometimes don’t believe the science, even though they are, at this point, and we mean this literally, knee-deep in t...

5 comments 5
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“Coming clean [pt1?]” by You'd Think A Writer Would Have A More Creative Name .

Submitted to Contest #60

The earth is angry with us. Spitting rage and unbending fury courses through the very soil we're on. My hazmat-protected hand reaches up to the heavens. A gesture of peace. In return, a faraway clap of thunder makes me jump. I land in a sitting position. The fishing supplies around me shake a jostle eagerly. All their containers are cracked or splintered, depending on the material. This is exciting, I can almost hear them whisper, we've never been on an adventure before.The road is bumpy and uneven. The earthquakes recently have the whole wo...

5 comments 5
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“Thou Shalt Not Kill” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #60

By definition, we rarely - or never - think of a post-apocalyptic world as something that resembles a comedy. I mean, what’s to laugh at? The world as we, or the victims of such a situation, knew it, is gone. Everybody feels lost, disoriented, uncertain, frightened.  However, let’s look at what ‘apocalypse’ means. After that, we can discuss what post-apocalypse means. Warning: We did our homework. We consulted dictionary.com (giving credit where credit is due, no plagiarism here) and got the following definitions for apocalypse: nou...

0 comments 0
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“The Child Bearer” by Alisa Burdick

Submitted to Contest #60

The year was 2101. The earth survived much in the way of disasters. Fires spread over the west coast and scientists finally innoculated not just the Coronavirus but another virus of similar behavior.On top of disease, riots based on every social distortion came to pass. A caste system The Ruler enacted recruited poor young women like me to be gestational carriers for the rich. We were expendable. I remember my capture well. Kira, my best friend, and I sat in a coffee shop drinking Americanos. Two soldiers entered. One made eye contact with m...

3 comments 3
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“The Lady at the Post Office” by David G.

Submitted to Contest #60

It has to be, what, two o’clock in the morning. Hard to know for sure with these goddamned lights on. Two rows of fluorescent bulbs all the way across the ceiling. One edge right to the opposite edge. The light could be part of it. Part of their plan. Keep me awake, get me talking. Easier to squeeze information out of me that way. If it's two o'clock in the morning, then by now they’re all dead.The jackboots who put me in here want access to The Keyhole. They might even think they can get to The Locksmith himself. Good luck with that. He’s f...

0 comments 0
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“Ember” by Sampada Sharma

Submitted to Contest #60

Ashes. His generation had inherited ashes and stones. Mathis kicked the half burnt plastic bottle and watched it skid stop against piles of rubbles and plastics. His mouth scrunched in distaste as he spied paper buried among the piles. Denims. Metals. So many accursed manmade debris. Mathis laughed. The bitter sound coated his tongue like the gray hazy fuzz coated the length of the sky. The clouded sky. The shadow in front of the stars. His expression sobered and his green eyes lost a little more of their warmth. The gray drab painting. “It...

10 comments 10
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“Traveling Caution” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #60

Crack! The gunshot went off, reverberating through the otherwise silent air. The walking corpse fell to the ground with a thud. Its head was now split in half and leaking dark red blood. “Good shot, kid,” Ace told me as I engaged the safe on my rifle. “Thanks,” I replied. It had been seven months since the “Walking” Plague had started, turning 90 percent of the world’s population into animated corpses that were constantly searching for fresh meat to consume, but I still hadn’t gotten used to the smell, look, or idea of zombies. “Let’s k...

3 comments 3
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“Kingdom of Joy” by Saige Severin

Submitted to Contest #60

Death was not involved in this, though you will blame her anyway. You will stare up at the reddened sky. You will look down at the cracks beneath your feet. You will scream and swear and sweat and blame, blame, blame.         The cars and the factories were not Death’s invention. She is older than invention itself, as old as the first particles of the universe that crashed together and created annihilation. She did not create your downfall. You managed that all on your own.     &nbs...

4 comments 4
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“Life Over Death” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #60

After living for thousands of years, never aging, I got pretty good at predicting the actions of mankind. Goodness, it’s all so predictable. Humanity ignores every reasonable suggestion given to them, crying when things go wrong. I had seen empires rise and fall, so I knew just about every card humanity could play. I just watched as those cards were played over and over again. After all, Death is one of the only immortal beings in the universe.   “The fires are escalating,” I muttered as I stared at the TV screen. Though I was sa...

0 comments 0
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“An Apocalypse ” by Keri Dyck

Submitted to Contest #60

A girl sat in the cellar, arms wrapped around her knees, shivering despite the two sweaters she wore. It was hard to tell her age by the look on her face, so haggard it had become. A boy sat beside her. He fiddled with the lamp in his hands, then switched it off. “Get some sleep, Tara.”She mechanically felt for where he was and lay down on the cement floor, feeling his body heat as he lay down next to her. “You need it too, Kyle.”A mirthless chuckle sounded in the dark. She didn’t answer it. They awoke sweating, panting, crying, cl...

5 comments 5
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$50

Prize money

762

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 25, 2020 EST

Won by Ruth Midgley 🏆

Title: Unpaving Paradise

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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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