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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#63: Autumnal

It’s finally fall in the Northern Hemisphere. While the leaves are being slow to change out my window this year, the air is crisp and the pumpkin spice products are out in full force. Time to break out the sweaters!

Beyond all the colorful trappings, though, fall is by definition a season of change. So as you craft your stories this week, try to think about how the events you’re writing will change your characters' lives, whether fundamentally or just a little. After all, even a seemingly mundane afternoon can be the turning point of your entire life…

And if you want to drink some apple cider or a pumpkin spice latte while you write, more power to you!

This week's prompts

Set your story in a coffee shop that’s just introduced a new line of autumnal drinks.

Fall – 161 stories

Start your story with the line, “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” (Whether this is a literal fire is up to you.)

Teens – 324 stories

Write about a character making fall decorations out of construction paper.

Kids – 45 stories

Write a story from the perspective of a bird migrating for the winter.

Winter – 128 stories

Write about two characters going apple picking.

Fall – 249 stories

Stories

“The Apple Orchard” by Julia Boddie

Submitted to Contest #63

Fruit picking. One of my favorite things to do. Picking blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, anything. I don’t know why I like it so much, it’s just interesting.~~~~~~~~~~“So are you coming or not?” Michael asked me.“I already said no. There’s no way my mom will let me go with you. She’ll think we’re dating or something,” I said.“There has to be some way I can change your mind.”“There is none. I can’t come. Go invite someone else.”He sighed.“Fine Sara. Your mom always has to be such a party pooper,” he mumbled.At that moment the bell rang...

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“To Live for the Future” by Leo Greer 🦅 🕶

Submitted to Contest #63

To Live for the FutureBy Caden HillBy the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.Inside my mind, a forest went up in flames….Have you ever wondered about your future?What it will be like?What does future you look like?How do you dress?Are you married? Engaged? To whom?Children? Two....three….four?Do you finally like that vegetable you never liked as a kid?Do you understand what you’ve lived for?You see, these question are precious, more precious and valuable than you can ever know.Questions like this are life itself. Because what is...

123 comments 123

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“The Autumnal Sun” by Goblin King

Submitted to Contest #63

A few weeks was all it took before the once clear skies and lively sun had faded into a grey mass hanging overhead. Each day’s forecast warned of a chance of rain small enough to warrant not bringing an umbrella, but large enough to leave you romping around in wet socks and a homemade puddle on the off chance the clouds felt a little too temperamental. The outside world sat at a temperature too cold to enjoy, but too warm to have an excuse for staying inside all day. I sat near the edge of the store and stared out the window beside me. ...

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“Why did you eat that apple?” by D. Shikha

Submitted to Contest #63

Author's Note: Hello Everybody!! So, this story is written in collaboration with my friend, Keerththan!! His works are really nice, you should surely check them out!!“It has come!” said Uriah, jumping excitedly, “Fall. The Fall.”“Yeah, we will go for apple picking now!” said Yue.“Yay, woo-hoo!”Uriah was a young boy with short black hair and black eyes. Yue, just like him, had black hair and eyes. “Take the baskets and we are going!” Yue exclaimed. They lived in a tribe in the middle of a forest. There weren’t many children of their...

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“Waiting For Twilight” by 🎀 Ɪᴍᴀᴀɴ ᴋʜᴀᴋɪ 🎀

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I step outside, the leaves are on fire. Well, they might as well be. The wind comes alive and sends swirls of crimsons, oranges, yellows and golds dancing through the air like flames. A fitting description—for me, the cool, crisp autumn days are nothing short of hell.Suddenly, a thick, cool grey mass obscures my vision. I glare in frustration, trying to break through its dense, watery coat with a beam of warmth, but to no avail. My rays become faint and diluted, powerless against the heavy clumps that have built a seemingly everl...

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“Oh, How Low People Can Go” by BRoOkE HAs A COwBoY HAt

Submitted to Contest #63

Author’s Note: I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but normally I don’t use dialogue tags. In this story, I am trying to use them every once in a while. Please let me know if it worked or not! Thanks!Joy Freeman put her silver Grand Cherokee in park, pulled the key out of ignition. After grabbing her purse, she opened the car door and stepped out. The cold breeze immediately hit her face--she pulled her jacket tighter around her. With a blank look on her face, Joy walked to the entrance doors of the cafe in front of her. An older man came si...

160 comments 160

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“Coming Home Again” by BeInspiredAbstracts/Etsy SarahGreenwood

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire. It was a good time of year for a funeral. Dad had died Tuesday after a long battle with throat cancer, so I had flown in on the red-eye from California to Rhode Island. I got to TF Green at seven a.m. and went straight to Dad’s house. I guess now it was Beth’s house now. Beth was my younger sister. She moved in a few months ago to help Dad when he got too sick to care fo...

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“The Apple Of My Compound Eye” by Rayhan Hidayat

Submitted to Contest #63

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful butterfly. She flapped her sapphire wings under a cloudy sky, hoping to find someplace to lay her eggs.She flew near and far, high and low, but she couldn’t find what she was looking for. She was about to give up when a patch of green appeared amongst the endless grey buildings.“I reckon that’s the perfect spot,” she decided.She fluttered down and was delighted to find a garden. An apple tree brimming with juicy leaves stood in the middle, and she was drawn to it like one of her distant relatives to a ...

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“An Unusual Migrating” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

Submitted to Contest #63

“Wake up you sleepy pants, we’re migrating today!” I opened my eyes, the autumn light shining in my face. Most of my relatives were already up, flapping around, making a racket throughout our giant pine tree. It was my Aunt who woke me up. I never liked it when she woke me up, because she shouted in my face, almost blasting my wings off, and then flies away like nothing ever happened. Unfortunately, I wake up like this every morning. I ruffled my wings, and one of my brothers came over and said, “You should start packing you know, we’re leav...

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“Saving the Fate of Coffee Express” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #63

Saving the Fate of Coffee Express By: Haripriya “Do you think... people are going to visit our coffee shop?” I asked, looking at my mom. “I know that people are going to come... it’s just that, maybe right now is not our time.” my mom told me, trying not to sound worried. “No one has been coming to our café for almost a month!! We are losing that much money! MOM!!" I paused glanced at my mom, angrily, who had a blank expression on her face, staring in to nowhere, "Are you eve...

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“Three-Note Call” by Rambling Beth

Submitted to Contest #63

It’s getting colder again, and you know it’s time to move when you hear your father’s three-note call. The fields are glistening with snow, long circles of dark green grass diminishing until all that’s left is the sludge of white. Adorned with a silver frost, the red and yellow flowers have lost their colour. The only constant is the sky, which shines a brilliant blue. It’s your long winding road, your transportation, your perpetual home. You have a few others flying beside you. Your mother is ahead, her black and grey wings outspread. S...

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“The City Of Smog” by Wolfy 🐺

Submitted to Contest #63

As I flew over the city, I thought once again how overrated humans were. It was a big city, New York City my mother had told me, and as it is with most big cities, it was loud and bright. Flashing billboards, hoards of people, fumes, large glass windows, pretty much everything a bird despises resided in NYC, making the journey through it a particularly perilous one. The other members of my flock seemed to have some sort of respect for humans, as if their toying with new ways to ruin the ecosystem is a valuable skill that us birds are incap...

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“Burning Desire” by Charles Stucker

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Life in Texas has changed me from the woman I once was. Clearing brush involves eliminating leaves, so Mike burns them late every spring, when seasonal rain means the fire won't spread. This year he's off chasing someone on ranger business, so our nine-years-old son, Cecil, must take the part of a man."You're doing wonderfully, Cece." He grins at the complement. With school out for the summer, we are both at loose ends, though I am still weeping for a daughter, little Gloria, who died i...

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“Coffee Shop Girl” by Lauren :)

Submitted to Contest #63

James “Good morning everyone! We will be announcing the autumn specials in just a moment. Here we go! First up is a vanilla cream, next our pumpkin spice latte, and my favorite the cinnamon swirl!” the girl in the coffee shop announced. She is so beautiful. We actually go to school together. Her name is Lilly. I have liked her but I am scared of rejection. I ordered a vanilla cream coffee to go so I won't be late for school. Mondays am I right? I made it in like a few seconds. Phew!&nbs...

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“Pumpkin Spice” by Writer Maniac

Submitted to Contest #63

I walk down the street, putting my hands in my coat pockets. The leaves fall all around me, some getting stuck in my hair. As I slowly untangle them from my hair, I am once again struck by the beauty of this season. The smells and sounds comfort me, the children running around me fill my heart with some joy. But the pit in my stomach only increases at the prospect of seeing him. Elijah. He’s always there in Café Caffeine. I sometimes think that he sleeps there. We have lived in the same neighbourhood for the entirety of our ...

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$50

Prize money

907

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Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 16, 2020 EST

Won by Masha Kurbatova 🏆

Title: come to atlanta!

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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