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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

“In This Dying Light” by Dori O’Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #60

When we stopped looking, the gods started dying. It was a quiet fall, one centuries in the making, and no one noticed until it paved the way for the apocalypse. Here, the snowflakes spiral slowly.  It’s August, but the lake below us is frozen. The snow is beautiful and terrible in the same ways the gods were. I think we tried to live like them, once. Now, the sun is fading as surely as they are. As surely as we will. “It’s a fire sun,” Jaime says when she looks to the sky, swinging her legs beside me where they dangle over the dock. The...

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“H.M.” by Maahi S

Submitted to Contest #60

“Madeline.” The voice rang fresh in my ears. I shivered as I felt a tug on my elbow. Fingers. How could I feel them? I should have been dead by now. “Are you sure she’s alive?” Another voice, deeper than the first. This one, male. “Mm-hmm. She’s got a pulse…but she’s bleeding really badly.” I willed my eyes to open. The silhouettes of a red-haired girl bending over me and dark-haired boy sporting a bloody arm cast appeared. Isolde and Harrison. “Madeline! Thank God!” Isolde squealed. A sharp pain stabbed my side as she squeezed m...

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“Snakes” by Judith Buskohl

Submitted to Contest #60

They were everywhere. She could feel them slithering up her legs with their little tongue in and out, out and in. They were on her arms, neck, and crawling across her stomach. One of the snakes plopped down on the top of her head and was crawling down her face. They were everywhere. Every inch of her body was covered by their slithering body and she could feel their tongues hitting certain spots on skin. Their slithering body, the scaling skin she could feel touching her body at parts of her body that didn’t make her feel...

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“A Final View” by Jessie Nice

Submitted to Contest #60

“Here,” Tats puffed, his breath wheezing through his lips as he grappled with the red stone and fought the invisible weight of the atmosphere to get to the top. One foot lost its gripping, unsurprisingly with the age of his leather shoes - but he managed to adjust his weight, and with complaining muscles he heaved himself onto the rough stone. He reached out his arm, palm outstretched, and Zhara’s dry hand clasped his. With a final synchronised grunt of effort, he wrenched her up to the top of the rock. They both collapsed onto their backs, ...

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“A PAGE IN TIME” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #60

It was midday, though you would not know it as Carly ventured out complete with her mask on, to purchase stamps and post a card. Yes, it was the era where social media and email allowed fancy cards to be sent via that source, but Carly knew her little niece would get a kick out of receiving a printed card for her birthday; hopefully before or on the day not after the event, instead of getting the card via her parents’ social media page.  The job done, she walked a little farther wishing she could take the mask off and breathe ...

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“A Percentage of Silence” by Lydi B

Submitted to Contest #60

It should have raised a cacophony; the end of over ninety-eight percent of human life in one day. Instead, it was like a swirling windstorm in a parking lot lane with leaves and dust lifted into a jumbled mixture of panic before settling to rest as still as the concrete underneath. It was a phenomenon only noteworthy if you happened to be present in that exact spot when it occurred. What few researchers remain dubbed the horrific incident inexplicable. How could any lingering mind explain so many lives, from young to terminal to wise and ev...

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“Aftermath” by Linda Brodsky

Submitted to Contest #60

Elouise and Arnold Fletcher moved at a steady pace, carried on a current of humanity, Arnold traveling with the impatient, stiff legged gait of a general suddenly and unexpectedly relieved of duty, Elouise limping on one broken shoe.  Arnold clutched his “Go” bag, in one hand and kept the other planted in the small of Elouise’s back, not so much to support, as to propel her. She limped along, clutching her large, pink cosmetic bag.   Some people ran past them, some sat staring blankly, a few stood forming human b...

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“Murderous Instinct” by 38 - Pavan Kiran Chidirala

Submitted to Contest #60

Murderous InstinctDay 1“Dr. Kill” shouted his associate in quivering tone and gasping breath. “What is it Dr. Bill? What made you to loose your cool and run to me like a maniac! ”“It’s happening….” gulped Dr. Bill .“What on earth! I never thought it would be possible while we are alive.”“Are you sure of it”or“Are you day dreaming in stress.” replied Dr. Kill in doubtful tone.“I am sure of it and I’ll bet my head on it” shouted Dr. Bill with terror looming eyes.[An evil smirk reinvigorated the doctor’s face] “The time has come Mr. B...

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“The End Plague” by Keston Paul

Submitted to Contest #60

“We can’t continue to fund you while people are losing their homes and starving. You have 7 days to cease your research.” The man on the screen looked set in his decision.           “Sir, forgive me, but what good is it finding people shelter and food if all these diseases are wiping them out anyway?” Hamilton’s voice was calm but I knew he was seething inside.           “Hamilton, it won’t matter if there’s no people left to treat,”...

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“Shaken Up” by Cameron Diiorio

Submitted to Contest #60

“Your English is great,” I told her as I asked for a to-go cup.  I was doing a three month exchange program, studying the faut lines in Japan. She was a barista at a cafe. I was alone. The other students in my program had gone home already. “Your English is alright,” she smirked. She had been raised in Hong Kong. Saki had a playful smile, one that made her eyes smile, too, like crescent moons. She had a round face and a button nose, and was skinny, but toned. Saki and I did all sorts of things when we were together — we went to shrin...

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“The Sample” by Sadie Black

Submitted to Contest #60

Author's note: This is one part of the Melted collection. These stories can be read individually or in any order. Dr. Eleanor Lee stepped outside of the Amundsen-Scott compound and felt the icy wind chill the sensitive membranes in her nostrils. She was accustomed to the cold and although it was -12 degrees celsius, she quickly felt overheated in her thick orange suit. It was a balmy day in January and the sun dipped in the sky, but refused to set at 10pm. Dr. Lee didn’t mind working at all hours. After a few months, night felt the same as...

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“A post apocalyptic story that features zombies from other part of the world.” by Prince Brempong

Submitted to Contest #60

My story is entitled a post apocalyptic story that features zombies from other part of the world.The word zombie was first recorded in 1819 by a Poet called Robert Southey. Zombies were depicted as some sort of mindless and thinking henchmen under the spell of an evil magician. Also zombies are noted to have a complex literary heritage with antecedents. Zombies often than not use the vodoo-inspired rationale that was initially uncommon in cinema but their appearance also continued sporadically. The Return of the living dead introduced the co...

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“Our Worlds Collide” by Lesli Williams

Submitted to Contest #60

Meredith was trapped. And not only was she trapped, but she had no weapons. Several days before her elder brother, Josh, had died from a bite to the shoulder, he told her that if she didn't start planning ahead, that it would eventually be the death of her. Those words were proving themselves to be true. She was stuck in an apartment building with only a small window on the back wall, a bathroom with supplies that had proved to be useless and a daunting door in front of her that was just about to give way and let the undead flow in to do wha...

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“The Hunger ” by Louise Muller

Submitted to Contest #60

“There’s someone in here with us,” Zoe whispered. Her voice was filled with panic and fear. I nodded my head, although it was so dark in the room that I couldn’t be sure if she saw it. We stayed as quiet as we could, like prey knowingly being watched by a predator waiting to attack. I could hear our breaths, ragged and desperate. My heart was beating so loudly in my ears that I was sure our predator could hear every single beat. The world had ended three months before, roughly, I wasn’t sure; none of us were. Since the event we haven’t had...

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“I Love You” by Chet McHenry

Submitted to Contest #60

Omar stretched out his arms and yawned.  Through the opening of the cave came the burnt orange light of the dying sun.  He stood and looked down at Carmia who was still asleep.   Should he wake her?  Should he lie back down beside her and hold her tight?  He knew she lay naked under the six or seven blankets they had stolen from the abandoned Bed, Bath and Beyond  store.  It was all that was left over in the looted remains of the place.  The lucky ones, the ones ...

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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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