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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

“Toxic Waste First Date” by Josiah Hyder

Submitted to Contest #60

I don't know what caught my eye first. Her beautiful smile or the wiggling green tentacle that was infused to her cheek. She had a strut that could cause zipper chafing in any room full of men anywhere. Her name was Kate and she'd been reborn out of a glowing puddle of toxic waste and floating spa cucumber slices. I was busy decapitating the head of a dog for lunch when I saw her. The dog's leg had been fortunately caught under the wheel of a truck of a driver who'd crashed after being impaled through the heart by a stray meteor shard. The...

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“Noah and Niamh, Niamh and Noah” by Madelyn Grace

Submitted to Contest #60

Walking earth’s beaten ground had once felt ethereal to Noah; she had loved the feeling of the sun on her neck as she wandered, often barefoot, through her town and around and around. Her neighbours would wave or stop her at the side of the footpath for a small chat, which she would enjoy thoroughly, and then send her back off on her merry way, wherever she was venturing this time. Nowadays, it felt like hell had risen and boiled over the surface of the planet. If Noah walked barefoot, she would certainly pierce her skin on shattered gla...

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“Survive” by Samantha Milhaven

Submitted to Contest #60

I always heard about the times of freedom. The times where you could love whenever you wanted and no one would bat an eye. Especially in those big cities once upon a time. So much to do and see. So many people to meet and just exist. My grandmother always told me these stories of freedom. A lot of the older generation did. But they’re dying out soon, so all that’s left is the learning system. Things were different now, have been different for a long time. My grandmother was just a pre-teen when everything started to change. The pandemic, the...

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“LOVE, BY THE BLADE” by Poeticblood Palesa

Submitted to Contest #60

1 The sounds of crying women, kids, and men dying in pain had been running through my mind of late. I cannot shake off this feeling of guilt. I betrayed my ancestors, my tribe, and my father. It has been almost a year and some months after the riot and killings on my Emebu tribe by the then government of the country. I am now a married woman, with a beautiful two-year-old baby boy living in one of the best cities. My husband is a respectable lieutenant, the man who led the army a year back and had my village wiped out by blazing ...

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“Just you & me in a post-apocalyptic wasteland” by Paul Blackburn

Submitted to Contest #60

You’d think being the last two people left on earth would draw you closer to someone, but these days Bill couldn't remember the last time they had talked. It had been six years since the end of the world had come, and four since they had last seen another human being alive. Plenty of dead, oh the dead were never far away, but never anyone else still living. This was life now, intimate but alone. Just two people living together in a bunker when the world around them had long since been obliterated. It would have been too easy for them to give...

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“The Cold Winter of 2032” by Letitia Reynolds

Submitted to Contest #60

The Cold Winter of 2032 It's so cold. I didn't recognize Kensington anymore, the small town that I had grown to love. I have not seen the light of day in years now. I had been underground with many others, and now it’s 2032. The unthinkable happened, in 2029 a blast came from the sky, a flash of light, then suddenly everything went silent. I will never forget people had been talking, the talk was in six months a catastrophe would hit earth. This was due to the dramatic climate changes over the years. There had been record numbers o...

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“Endless Definition” by Godspower Oparaugo

Submitted to Contest #60

“Good day pretty girl. I’m Emeka. I’m a graduate of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba. I studied Business Administration. I’m managing a petty business for now. I like you. I have been seeing you around this neighbourhood. Can we become friends?” Emeka was after her beauty. “I’m Ezinne but you call me Ezy-mummy. I’m a HND final student, studying Mass Communication in Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri. That’s all I can say to you. And for your information, we can’t be friends.” Ezinne harshly replied. Emeka was not the kind man she needed. She n...

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“Book Shrine” by Arturo Gomez

Submitted to Contest #60

The horn blows, shattering the air around the unexpected hero. The Hundred Companions waft from thin air, summoned by an ancient oath, pushing the invaders into the deep seas. I close the book with a stupid grin of excitement on my face. I find it always so hard to finish a story, even when I know there’s going to be a follow-up book. Or there used to be. I haven’t been able to find the next entry on this saga, which makes reading the last pages even more exhilarating and painful. Bear in mind I have not seen another human soul in more...

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“Forever and Always” by Will Russell

Submitted to Contest #60

The birds sang with almighty declaration, igniting a smile on Lola's face. They held the smile firm across their puffy, red cheeks, harrowing below the chill that the lonely autumnal air carried with it. They walked slowly to the closed curtain, hesitating to pull that revealing cord. The curtains were sealed from the outside world. The songs and chatters outside were beautiful... until they finally did pull at it... wiping the smirk from their face quicker than an eraser to a pencil's smudge. Lola's eyes quickly washed over with cloudy blea...

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“Day 1,247” by Harlow Jones

Submitted to Contest #60

“Welcome to Day 1,247,” a voice billows through an invisible speaker. “It’s a new day,” I say through gritted teeth. I take the same three steps to grab the same backpack that sits in the same corner of the same room where I have started every day for the last 1,246 days. You see, 1,247 days ago, an almighty force which still remains unnamed announced to all of us humans of the world that it would destroy the concept of time. Everyone thought this was just another crazed cult leader thinking he was God. We were wrong. This force actually ...

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“Zoe’s zombie love life” by Jacob97 Hoskin31

Submitted to Contest #60

Hi I'm Zoe If you came here thinking this was a teenage love story you are mistaken, if you thought this was some walking dead type of story you're wrong. This is my story, a story of how life as a 16 year old teenager got 10 times harder because not only did my whole world end but my normal relationship with a cute tall football playing boyfriend turned undead that's right I have an undead boyfriend. You heard me right UNDEAD "as in not living" as in eat your brains, slow talking ,craving meat, Which gave me the I must keep my distance...

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“The Boy, The Ruins, And The Girl Who Shouldn't Have Existed ” by Russell W

Submitted to Contest #60

The smoke-darkened sun shone weakly, casting long shadows all along the remains of what used to be a large, bustling city. There were mighty stone goliaths still standing, showing that even after an era ended, its mark on the world never faded. Some thought this was amazing. A testament to the old era’s power. Others thought it was a blight on the planet. A scar that would never heal. Jason was an optimist. He liked to believe that since these builds could survive, so could he. He was always careful when he walked through these ruins. Not ju...

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“Her” by Mia Tang

Submitted to Contest #60

Her groaning was a constant sound in the house. Like an old TV left on for too long, she droned on and on and on, varying in tempo and pitch. The noises of her nails scratching against the door accompanied the groans and created a disastrous cacophony of noise. Her nails would squeak persistently against the painted doors as her voice climbed in pitch, and our dog, Randy, would snuffle and bury his head in its paws. I remained undisturbed. Her and her noises were ordinary to me. Without them, the house might have felt too quiet. She s...

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“The R in wrong means right or romance” by Loren Santos

Submitted to Contest #60

On a sunny, sunny day, two souls in the universe became less lonely. He was a lost backpacker piercing his way out of the path that seems nothing but leading him in the wrong direction. Though walking forward without knowing, he shielded himself with hope, searching to be found. She was a tourist with a map and a compass, yet nothing ever goes her way. In every move she makes, the deeper her feet got buried. A quicksand that pinned her hopes down, spearing her despairs in the middle of somewhere. Little did they know, their me...

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“The Question” by Merinda Forwood

Submitted to Contest #60

My dearest Rosalie, That was a scary question you asked last night. Surely you know that. You talked about us getting married as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if it was inevitable. Perhaps it would be, in other circumstances. I didn’t tell many people this, as it was considered unmanly when I was growing up, but I always dreamed of my perfect wedding, and the person I imagined was a lot like you. Beautiful, charming, and intelligent. Your one flaw, at least according to other people, is how funny you think my jokes are. B...

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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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