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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

“The Great Essential” by Dawn Lew

Submitted to Contest #60

When the world ended, there was no big bang. Just a virus, a vaccine, and one scream at a time. My name is Daphne Green. Six months ago I was a nurse at an assisted living facility. My life's work was taking care of those in need and now I was one of those. When a deadly virus began to claim lives, people reacted in mass hysteria. Hoarding items they deemed preventives. Lysol, hand sanitizer, facial coverings, even toilet paper. I wasn't sure why the latter was involved, but what did I know? ...

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“Apocalypse Anonymous” by Scott Jed

Submitted to Contest #60

An average Thursday night played out in the battered town of Halifax. Well, as normal as you could get for two years post-apocalypse. A band of strugglers convened in the decaying local hub, the community centre. It was insignificant in appearance even in its golden years but was now dire by most standards. Still, chairs circled centrally in the main hall weekly for Apocalypse Anonymous. Secrets were shared. Problems were halved. This new world order care and consideration contrasted previous cataclysm. “Twelve months ago, I was desperatel...

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“The Promise” by Eric Mock

Submitted to Contest #60

Jack hated them. And he hated their faces most of all. The pale green skin, the black, oblong eyes that stretched vertically down the humanoid head from the forehead to where the cheeks would be. And the weird, horn-like ridge that seemed to split the crown of their heads in two. And he had one of their ugly, sickening faces in the middle of his crosshairs. Jack exhaled, preparing to squeeze the trigger. It looked like this one was alone, sitting outside an old warehouse with shipping containers scattered across an overgrown l...

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“Chili and a Dream” by Jasmine Li

Submitted to Contest #60

“Joseph! Catalina! Dinner time!” Zelda pitched the bucket of zombie gut salad with chia seeds into the automatic feeder, and swiftly shoved closed the door. A second later, two solid lumps crashed into the door from the other side. She sighed at the sound of the automatic feeder toppling over. She’ll have to fix that tomorrow morning. Since they had been infected two years ago, Zelda had become adept at feeding her children; however, one could never be too quick about closing the door when their children wanted to eat their brains. Also, h...

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“Here to Stay” by Nicholas Keck

Submitted to Contest #60

Ghostly remnants, of a time soon to be forgotten, hung delicately against the milky skyline. The bones of an old theatre reverberated with the thumping of two desperate hearts. A scream ripped through the stale air, and echoed through the halls of the plaza framework. “The scout found us, we’re gonna be surrounded. We gotta move.” Owen whispered, pulling on Anna’s shirt sleeve. The frail girl stumbled after him, clutching onto his wrist. They weaved over and through the wreckage of an old concession stand. Anna snagged some unopened candies ...

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“Love, blood, and zombies” by Ebony Rose

Submitted to Contest #60

I glance at the clock, only thirty minutes until school is over. The intercom crackles to life," This an emergency assembly, please go to the gym." My teacher, Mrs. David grabs the emergency red bag and says, "Line up at the door. Quietly!" Everyone goes to the door, whispering and wondering what's going on. "Izzy." I look to my left to see my best friend, Zea. "What do you think is going on?" I shrug and say," Its probably nothing." We get to the gym, it smells like sweat and confusion. Our class sits on the bleachers. ...

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“Not Us” by Grace Kelley

Submitted to Contest #60

We remember. It started with the news broadcasts, the front page of the papers. We ignored it. We never thought it could happen to us. Scaremongering, we called it. We carried on. We sipped our coffees from our takeaway cups. We bought our plastic-wrapped, exotic fruits and vegetables. We cozied up to our coal fires and oil heaters on cold nights. We took long hot showers and scrubbed ourselves with colorful scented gels until we glowed. The oceans are so big, we won’t cause that much damage, we told ourselves. The problem is thousands of ...

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“Bleak Uncertainty” by Alex Rami

Submitted to Contest #60

I picked at the nasty slob of feces I had stepped on. I gagged. Holly laughed. “What’s so funny?” I said, gritting my teeth. My nerves were frayed. I threw the stick to the floor. “The way you gagged. It’s just funny.” She said. “Well if this piece of-" “Language.” Said Aaron. He was the leader of our small three person group. He found each of us in worn down buildings. He tossed me a wet cloth. It reeked of alcohol. “Use that to wipe off the-“ “Shh. Did you hear that?” Said Holly. We all stopped. Silence ensued. “No.” I said. “Wa...

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“Beneath the streets, darkness” by Georgiana Vlahos

Submitted to Contest #60

To my father That evening, we went under ground to pierce the wall. Barbara was carrying the heavy duty equipment, while Andrew and I were following behind with the lights, some bags for the rubble, and the rest of our material. Fifty steps down the stairs, the second floor of the basement seemed to be on a much lower level than the rest of the neighbouring ones. Its vaulted ceiling was irregular, and the stone of the walls strangely resembled that of the buildings above. ‘Remember that everything you see above ground matche...

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“Between The Bars” by Robert Tyler

Submitted to Contest #60

I learned to crawl alongside a dead baby. The poor thing got its ankle leash caught on the base of the drinking fountain. Squealed for days, then became a stain right here in the middle of the hall, stinking and sinking into the cement while I scooted around collecting up all the new stuff for my parents. I’d clutch on, they’d reel me back. I was a fishing hook. I could collect these things for my parents only because Dead Baby hadn’t lived long enough to collect them for hers. She was sent through the bars before me. Too soon. Too y...

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“Chasing Storms” by Nadia S

Submitted to Contest #60

The End of the world, as Kala would like to call it, wasn’t really a set day in time. It wasn’t a set hour or a set minute. It had been the result of a pan cooking on a stove for years and years, heating up until it burst into flame. When you hold a pan full of messied and flammable ingredients above a hot stovetop, it’s only a matter of time until it bursts into flame -- so why wasn’t it stopped before the flames reached the ceiling and overtook the kitchen? Why couldn’t the pan have been emptied in the sink, the meal restarted, the stove’s...

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“The Last Day of School” by Megan Snyder

Submitted to Contest #60

*Barrring* The bell rang right as my last student walked in the door. “Yay!” I exclaimed. “Everyone’s here today!” A couple students were still unpacking while the majority of my 18 students were playing with their Slow Start toys. Janika was noticeably sad, which was unusual for her. “Janika, what’s wrong?” I asked. “My mom heard of a sudden hurricane heading our way on the news this morning,” Janika answered. “She said we might have to leave school early.” “That is sad, Janika. I always hate whenever any of my students leave early.” ...

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“Gimmer” by Emily W.

Submitted to Contest #60

Their boat drifted unsteadily, cutting a wobbly line through the sea of plastic. The floating mass of bottles, cans, and wrappers seemed so solid Reese wouldn’t be surprised if Meg could walk on top of it. His little sister was at the curious, energetic age of two, and her tiny body seemed so light and fragile from the lack of proper nutrition that he was tempted to set her down on top of the plastic island to test it out. Him and his mom had tried their best to give her the majority of the food they’d scrounge up, but now that his mother wa...

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“Operation Correction” by Ashley Mallory

Submitted to Contest #60

“Can we do something about the ridiculous screams, it’s barbaric and is disrupting my work.” “Right away Dr. Ellory” A loud zap is heard throughout the office. Followed by silence. Dr. Ellory opens the file she had been carrying, hidden in the false back of her purse. She calls her superior. “The proposal looks good.” She takes a sip of her coffee. She prepares to say it. The thing they have all been waiting for. “We are ready for operation correction. At 13:00 a small lab-created asteroid will be shot from the la...

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“SIRIUS” by Maya Gaylor

Submitted to Contest #60

There was only bright red above the horizon, as far as any eyes could see. Looking up at the sky, I knew this was our present and our future, though I suppose we won’t have much of the latter. In the back of my mind I could still hear the futile protests of those advocating for our environment. Voices now decades old, their owners perished. On these morning walks I often think of them, the Scientists, we called them: prophets that urged our ancestors to take action against the impending fate of their children. Prophets, I thought, that creat...

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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!

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