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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

“It does not come from the land” by Heidi Ertl

Submitted to Contest #60

There are stories, passed on from the Old Ones who are now long dead, of buildings made from liquid rock and sand reaching endlessly into a clear sky. Once, perhaps, there was proof of their words in what littered the ground beneath the vines and moss and grass. Now there is moss beneath the grass, and vines beneath the moss, on and on forever until the word soil no longer has meaning. No remnants of the Old Ones remain, not even in the memory of faces, for even those who knew the Old Ones have long been under the moss, their bodies eaten ...

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“Vast Red Sky and Wide Blue Lake” by Sam O'Neill

Submitted to Contest #60

"Nice beard." The words fell out of his mouth and on to the floor, for he didn't give much effort to toss it over to me. I nodded, and gave a small smirk. He was young, no older than fourteen, so I appreciated his attempt at small talk even if it was a poor one. I searched for his name, "Thank you..." "John." He gave it to me. I nodded again. I was gonna say Josh. John's parents stood on the other end of the small dock over their supplies. The woman (Madaline I believe) gestured to some cans of rice, and the man (Andrew... or maybe Allen...

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“Blithe” by Lyss V.

Submitted to Contest #60

"Cornelius Walker, no wonder you've been classified as TOP PRIORITY." The andriod speaks with her cold voice. Still flat as a mechanical however sound taut since just now.She was trapped within a triggered cell during the hunt. On strength, she was confidential to win. Everyone who disobeys would die under her Vibrogun immediately. But Cornelius was a cunning one, the fact is he designed an escape route earlier. The Ranger never expect there was a secret passage under this tiny lodge, ends up chasing her tail within tangled routes. Her ...

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“The calm after the storm” by Helena Bosch

Submitted to Contest #60

My mother always tells us stories about her mother, my grandmother. My grandmother grew up in a beautiful house by the shore. My mum's fondest memory is the one of her whole family sitting around this big chair, listening to her mother’s stories of the sea, gentle wind, and raindrops that tickle your cheeks while hiding from the extreme heat they were suffering outside. She would talk about herself as a little child, spending entire mornings running across the beach, bothering tourists that didn’t understand the real beauty of what they were...

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“The Machinations of Man” by Emily Brownlee

Submitted to Contest #60

October 23rd, 2087. A bleak morning. It has been two weeks since the destruction of Toronto. They haven’t been seen today but I can still hear them tearing up streets and smashing buildings. The occasional scream of another poor soul lost to their terrible blades— “Oh come on, Hen. It might be the apocalypse but we’re not literally hearing people die left, right, and center.” Ella interrupted her bunkmate’s log recording, laughing at his melodrama. He was always more prone to overstatement on his masculine days. The two of them sat on se...

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“what's left” by C Davis

Submitted to Contest #60

Half of the world’s population is dead. They were killed so that the other half could keep breathing. I step forward in line. My grey trousers and shirt mirror the outfits of those in front and behind me. We stand weary, heads shaven, waiting. It feels strange to be awake, it feels unsettling and unnatural. My body is heavy as I move slowly forward in the lengthy line. The forgotten feeling of hunger claws restlessly at my insides. The uneasiness of not being in control seems to plague the long line of humans waiting to be se...

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“One rainy night” by Swapnil Kamble

Submitted to Contest #60

When I wake up in morning my wife wishes me...”happy wedding anniversary day.” It occurred at 29 August night.the day of morning brought up with heavy rains fall.my wife congrats me about our first anniversary.she presents me as a kiss on mouth.I get bathed.I am late already.I have to catch 9.30 thane and wife reminds me something miss.I fumbled my purse but everything oK. I remember to give her return gift as kiss on lips.I hurried to catch train's .Road was incircled with dirt and water.reached to station fully jammed with peop...

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“Spaceman” by James Shortridge

Submitted to Contest #60

The screen flickered on, and John saw his own image in the body hugging uniform reflected back on him. The darkened bridge of the ship, a hexagonal room with a raised level sitting just behind the forward consoles, was behind him. John cleared his throat, unsure of where to begin, and then spoke whatever came to mind:“This is Second Lieutenant John McKenzie of the Federal Alliance Aerospace Exploration Division, on board the spacecraft ASN Taylor. Exactly 100 years ago, on the 8th of May in the year 2284, I departed on what was consider...

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“Strange Aftermath” by GammaTeddy Rossouw

Submitted to Contest #60

The beginning.Year 2225.March 15.*Earth turned into a grave.The minute the disease escaped the mental facilities, starting with New York City.Figures occupied the roads fast as each individual tries to scram away.It started with an antidote.One simple antidote to cure mentally ill children, but the scientist who created this antidote, was a lunatic… however, insanely brilliant.The story goes…His youngster was unfortunately part of the mentally ill children and because of this, he couldn’t bear to see his son suffering.So, he took it upon him...

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“Euphrasia” by Angel Long

Submitted to Contest #60

Centuries ago a secret society, bent on the idea of a world inhabited only by them and those of their choosing, quietly formed and began to lay the foundations that their chosen predecessors would build upon for generations to come. Eventually they proclaimed themselves the Elite Intelligence Leaders of Earth's Reform or EILERs. Only the very highest of society's high class and those viewed to be absolute genius within the proper academic fields were deemed worthy of recruitment consideration. Those candidates were thinned further using stri...

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“Fear is an idea!” by Mat Mwan

Submitted to Contest #60

Many have claimed that death has a smell. Well, I’d love to correct them and say that it is dead things that smell and bring the thought of death to the edges of our memory, just about to spill over into sight, clear enough for us to see it. In fact, all of this started with an idea; a thought. Max held his daughter close beneath him as he crouched within the groove of an old eucalyptus tree. His fingers all trembled like they did when he proposed to his estranged wife. He was scared sick and he didn’t want to show it to his little girl, Da...

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“23rd Song” by Chad Lehrmann

Submitted to Contest #60

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Virgil sang the song tunelessly as he watched over the sheep. His mother, a shepherd before him, taught him the song in his youth as a reminder of his mission. She told him- "Never forget Virgil- never forget the 23rd Song. When it is bleakest, when all hope seems lost- sing this song." His mother- nor Virgil for that matter- had no idea it was actually the 23rd Psalm, not Song. Nor did they know it was from what people once called the Old Testament of a holy book k...

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“The Dark World” by Chinmay Dave

Submitted to Contest #60

One day, two friend went for hiking in the mountains. As the sun began to set and they realized that they were lost in the jungle. Ram was getting worried, but the Rio tried to clam down and assuming that they would find the way back to their car. However, after walking for hours, they still had no idea where they are and they were tried. The jungle was become dark and dark. They were getting scared. They do not have the map with them and all trees looked the same. They were loosing there hope. They saw a one house. The house was old. It see...

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“Bombs of the anti-hero” by Katie Blackwell

Submitted to Contest #60

What comes to mind when I say the word apocalypse? Perhaps it’s zombies. Maybe a nuclear explosion. You see, our minds go straight to the movie scenarios. But that’s not necessarily always the case. Government officials told us there was nothing to worry about. All of them told us that we just needed to keep our fingers crossed and that it would be over before we knew it. But then they called in the reinforcements. They ignored the scientists warning them of the danger. They ignored the pleas of the lower classes and locked t...

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“A Slice of Survival ” by Josiah Hyder

Submitted to Contest #60

There they were. I didn't want them to exist but there they were anyway. The unwanted fingers dragging across the glass of my fragile mind. Burning daggers of agonizing truth ripped fresh rows of reality into the soil of my heart. I jolted awake and grabbed for the pistol next to me on the leather seat like it was the last sandwich on Earth. I was going to blast a soup can hole through the thing scratching at my window until I saw who it was. At first I was confused and couldn't recognized the frightened and panicky face underneath the bea...

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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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