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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

“Sleeping in Churches” by Shelby Riedel

Submitted to Contest #60

I sat down to set up camp for the night, sheltered as I was in the ruins of what was once a church. I liked camping in churches. Often, they were the least-looted ruins, as if whoever had looted the nearby buildings had decided to give them a pass based on some reluctant faith. I appreciated the beautiful stained glass and the remnant hush that settled over the building. I had never been religious, myself, back before… well, before everything went to hell. But we all started somewhere, I figured, and the apocalypse was as good a time as any ...

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“THINGS CAN GET WORSE.” by Bhavini Vijayanathan

Submitted to Contest #60

‘You know this thing where they say, “Hell isn’t a place, it’s this week”?’ he asks and I nod, looking around. One could never be too cautious, and needs to always have bouncy feet, be at the edge, a little extra than how one usually is. “Back in my times they call it ‘anxiety’”, Grandma told me once. “Well back in times before that they call it hysteria”, I had said. “Now it’s the normal. Deal with it.” “That’s not what hysteria meant”, she would shake her head in disdain, and I left. Now, I’ve trailed off of what he was talking, I realize ...

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“The single flame” by Peachy Kiku

Submitted to Contest #60

Vague, cold rain drops were blurring the windows, the outdoor colours now gone looked all grey, but for once, it didn’t bother me. I felt cosy in the glass house, a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, the sweetness filling the air and my veins. It felt like a different life, this indifference towards the world was something new, or similar to my ignorance of Earth back on Azazel. But I wasn’t scared of it. I felt safe between the layers of glass, reflecting the outside world but keeping me apart from it. Surrounded by the clear cry...

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“THE OBLATION” by Shweta Khanna

Submitted to Contest #60

It has been raining for days now. It seemed these showers were pouring to drain the burning effect of the recent events that had destroyed everything around. The days turned into nights and the cycle had been continuing for weeks now, but no earthling was able to decipher the time of the day. Human beings were finally shown their place in this infinite universe. All the advancements and technology perished. It was back to the nomadic stage. Those who survived were gradually dying due to the aftermath of the event. Chris was sitting in the...

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“Locked Away” by Celine Rose Marie

Submitted to Contest #60

Locked Away I stared at the door that had been sealed for so long. I had become so used to seeing it closed, but lately it felt a little confining, as though it trapped me here and turned this space into a prison to lock me, us away in. His voice softened, “I know you miss it.” My gaze shifted to his eyes, now softer than his voice, though not sympathetic, but understanding. He knew this as well as I did, he felt the same longing as I had. I softened the stern line of my lips, my gaze following the bridge of his nose down to the s...

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“Undead Love” by Streak Alert

Submitted to Contest #60

Xzavier stretches his body, lifting his skeletal hand to rub his neck, trying to get the pain from sleeping wrong to leave. It, unfortunately for him, doesn't. He groans, falling back onto his pillow. It was years after the initial zombie breakout, and it was a surprise that he had cared to live through it all. Now however, zombies and humans are living in the same space, somewhat peacefully. Every so often, someone acted out against either race and it was never taken far into it until something happened to them. Not that it ...

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“Onè sentence ” by Mahathi A

Submitted to Contest #60

Hi friends, this story is about the” One Sentence” Guys ,we often use the same sentence to your friends,relative or someone.The sentence was good means,Ok .Otherwise ,it gave lot of pain to others heart,because each and every word have meaning.So,please use the sentences or words be kindly.Lets start the story. A Rich Princess Yaffa,live in her palace .Yaffa parents was died at her 5th age,and her parents hand over the palace and her child yaffa to her moms brother Marthew.Now ,yaffa is 19 years old girl.Marthew was very strict person a...

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“The Creature Inside” by Diane Gallagher

Submitted to Contest #60

The first sign of trouble was the outbreak of the virus in Venice. It had come in on a cruise ship a week into July and spread faster than the speed boats on the Grand Canal. By the end of the second week, the doctors at the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale had announced an estimated death rate of over 85%. By the end of the third week, we were under lockdown. Worse than ebola, tuberculosis, or smallpox was this Grim Reaper in the shape of a microscopic parasite. By week five, the virus had spread as far south as Rome. The It...

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“From Savon Hill with Love” by Norrie Beach

Submitted to Contest #60

Jenny squinted down at her computer, trying to read the email she had just frantically typed out. It was like trying to read letters written on the bottom of a swamp. Her computer was cracked in three places, and the screen had turned an ugly shade of green. Wiping away a few of the tears that had been making tracks down her dirt-covered face for days, she tried again. Dear Leo, It’s crazy to think that the last time we emailed, I was complaining about the bird that got stuck in my dorm when Sally left the windows open, and you were tell...

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“Lino, Nox and I” by Ashley Wong

Submitted to Contest #60

The world was slowly crumbling away in front of our eyes. Not by aliens, zombies, or by lava or volcanoes… but rather, by us. Humankind itself. After the governments decided to join Hendrick’s rule, everything began to fall apart. They began to kill the innocent, the weak and the poor. They thought that those who fell behind were going to slow down the progression of the human race. Now, they were hunting us down. “We don’t have anywhere else to go…” Lino cradled Skipper in his arms, hugging the baby retriever close. I slumped down b...

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“A Non-Approved Relationship” by Claire Jennings

Submitted to Contest #60

I awoke with a start, and immediately sat up. Squinting into the darkness I realised the sound that had woken me up was just the wind banging the shutters against the window. I shivered in the damp barn and began looking through my bag doing a quick check of the food I had left. A small tin of beans, two individually wrapped after dinner mints, half a bottle of water and three cereal bars. I let out a sigh. I was feeling hungry, but at this rate my stash wouldn't last much longer. I hadn't managed to find any further food in the last few day...

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“From the Ashes ” by Lucy O'Toole

Submitted to Contest #60

It always fascinates me, seeing the shades of grief and shock in the faces of everyone I meet. Always, it ranges from numbness to anguish and rage, sometimes even to hysteria. But, no matter how many other people I stumble across, their face reflects a completely unique expression, a whole new brand of suffering. I sometimes wonder what people see when they look at me. Surely not anger, or fear, or despair, as I have seen on so many. Perhaps just a blank face, with nothing behind it. They may wonder if I have no feelings at all. They...

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“Souls and Ruins ” by Georgia Anstey

Submitted to Contest #60

Soul and Ruins It is dark and cold, the air smells of something…. something indescribable, while the ash of the deceased float through the open air. It has been 6 years since the skies lit up with atomic fire, the world stripped down to its brown base and no one to explain what led to it. My name is Jessica Murray and somehow, I survived the complete annihilation of our beautiful planet Earth. I honestly did not think the bunker at my parent’s mansion would work, but it did. Biggest downside my parents were not with me at the time, I have ...

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“Happy Anniversary” by Marie Webb

Submitted to Contest #60

Aria listened, body clenched. The wheezing snore to her left said it was safe to get to work. Her swollen bag stood at attention. The red corner of the envelope protruded from underneath her scrunched-up jeans. It’s a miracle that Claire didn’t see it, let alone the cake mix. A cold, stabbing sensation hit against Aria’s left thigh. Claire’s sockless feet strike again. Oh no, she gasped! Aria froze. Claire snorted. The bell around her neck clinked as she shifted. Familiar dread attacked. The knife wound ached. Aria faced her girlfriend, watc...

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“From the Top” by Jordan Javier

Submitted to Contest #60

“Hey a coffee for two.” May stepped into the Meteorics Coffee Shop. Someone threw a chair into the window. Looters from the seething crowds split off and stumbled in, cutting themselves on glass shards. They started smashing more glass so they could loot the pastries. She waited patiently for the Barista. When she appeared she asked, “May I take your order?” May replied, “Yeah see I’m gonna need the strongest thing you have.” The Barista did a double take. She leaned in and whispered, “You don’t mean-?” Outside the opposing sides e...

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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.

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