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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

“Change of Autumn” by Courtney Partello Kersey

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Joni was at a fall retreat for her church woman's group. She was late for the bonfire because they had just had a Bible study and it so moved her to talk to God. They had been talking in the Bible study about the power of the tongue. She had been struggling with this for quite sometime. Every time she had called her mother on the phone, her mother would talk down about her sister and gossip about her. She would sometimes join in and then after the phone conversation be very sad and disa...

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“Making Friends with Monsters can be Possible” by Robin ✿

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Now, this is my story. I am Marnie. The autumn season has just arrived, and all the pink blossom flowers were withered, and the sweet flavoring green leaves had changed into red or orange. The leaves were having haircuts. All people around squashed the leaves on the ground. They made a crispy sound, like the crunch of some chips. I was just in the cafeteria, and I was eating cake. Mmm, Yum. I just finished my cake, and was going out of the shop, when everything was on fire....

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“Autumn of '81” by S Mehjabeen

Submitted to Contest #63

“By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire”, she began narrating her story to her children. It was her story. Her story from that indelible autumn of ’81 that turned her life around. That autumn when the leaves seemed to be ablaze in wild and bold colors of heroic orange and raging red. The sky was awash in hues of angry autumnal brick shades. The violent gusts of wind seemed seething and she was fuming too. She had had enough.-------She frowned woefully. It shone back at her as the portent sun dove into the faraway horizon and ...

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“Allison ” by Emma Carson

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The huge tree that sat in the middle of the neighborhood was in flames. As I ran from the house the heavy bag on my back bounced and the things inside banged against each other. I turned around to see people running and smoke. I had to keep going. I threw open the car door and sat down. I put the bag full of supplies in the passengers seat. I could hear people shouting in the distance. I kept driving. I couldn’t miss that train. It might be the last one for a long time. I came up to t...

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“Level Up” by Ricky Mae Sutphen

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Autumn foliage is evident wherever you look, and I got tired from the view. I fixed the strap of my bag and started walking to God knows where. I just walked and walked without a destination in mind. “Fire!” A woman shouted while pointing at something. I stopped in my tracks and saw that a house is on fire. My eyes widened from the sight. I hurriedly took my phone out to call the firetruck but stopped because a ray of Golden light shot up to the sky. “What the hell i...

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“Fall is on Fire” by Meghma Ghosh

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. My own house were I spend my whole childhood was burning as a huge campfire and the reason is just me... no one else but me. I ran down the lane to find the fire brigade. The firemen heard the incident and they agreed to help me. When I had come before my house with the firemens, the fire had spread into my neighbours house too. By seeing the conditions I fell down on the street; Fainted. When I opened my eyes in consciousness I was in a hospital, a nurse staring at me. She asked me som...

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“Safe and Sound” by A L Burn

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. They screamed back and forth across the night sky like a puce rainbow from hell as she teetered under the weight of the branch in her hands. I didn’t hesitate. Sprinting down the path, I hopped right over the splintering wooden gate and tackled her hysterical form to the ground. She just lay there choking on sobs as I leapt up and began furiously stomping on the flaming makeshift flare. The damp breath of autumn coating every inch of the dense forest thankfully stopped the whole area fr...

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“My Early Autumn Days” by Vanessa Carlson

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. From my place on the tan leather sectional where you had propped me up on so many pillows, I could see the yellows and golds shimmering from the cottonwoods we had in our backyard. The window over the farmhouse sink was open, allowing the breeze to catch the grey linen café curtains, turning my attention to the autumnal fireworks underway. I had always loved autumn, even when I was a little girl, because then autumn meant that school was returning and I no longer had to find ...

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“JUST A SPECK OF GREEN” by Claire Tennant

Submitted to Contest #63

Intro: By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Burnished gold, ember red, delicate brown and just a speck of green. My favourite tree, an enormous silky oak has surprised me again. I stand with a kind of reverence, as I go down memory lane. Whatever our problems, the oak tree is a constant reminder of strength and beauty. All my troubles seem to melt when I see her. She is back to her old ‘mother hen’ tricks, and I respond as of old, with adoration. I had grown up with that tree. In those early days, the gar...

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“The dancing flames” by Book Worm

Submitted to Contest #63

I have not stepped out of my apartment since late spring. The lockdown was certainly one of the reasons. At my age, as the advisory warned, it was risky to step out of doors. But I used the forced confinement to take a complete break from work. I hated the back biting, politics, and gossip in my workplace and could pretend that I was in a self-serviced apartment in a green resort if I shut myself in. I had a million plans for the extended break. I could write the book I had been planning to write on the interconnected world. I could begin th...

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“Fallen leaves ” by Abbie Maggz

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire. A vast array of reds and oranges lined our streets stretching for a few blocks as far as the eye could see. This was a strange sight in our small town as it had never occurred before. I had doing my assignments when I noticed that the trees outside our house looked bare, which was odd because they weren't the type to shed especially at this time of the year. On a normal day I wouldn't be bothered about it because with all the climate change I thought things were bound to work differently...

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“The Fight” by Peter Alexander James

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire, the warm colours whirled and scattered in the autumn breeze. Walking through them, I tried to catch one and as my hand closed, a gust of wind would pull them from my grasp. Shouts and cheers stole my attention, the boys had gathered in the schoolyard to watch the big fight. I approached the crowd; the smaller boys were at the back standing on their tippy toes to catch a glimpse of their champions. I tried to squeeze in for a closer look, but two boys turned. “Boys only!” “I just wanna w...

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“The True Believer” by David Dicaire

Submitted to Contest #63

The True Believer “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” This probably doesn’t sound right to you, so I guess I should start at the beginning. It was a brilliant fall day and the colours on the tree were changing already. I made a mental note to suggest to go and see them this weekend before the football game started. There was a certain excitement in the air. It was a few weeks before Halloween and the kids were already very thrilled. They had picked out their costumes a l...

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“Sam's Second Shot” by Tempest Wright

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The row of maples lit up the sky, smoke towering over the old town street. People were tripping over each other in panic. I stared at the chaos…and shut my eyes. There was heat, but it didn’t burn.I imagined myself running through the streets alongside the others trying to escape the inferno; I imagined myself running back inside, scrambling for the back door; I imagined myself, terrified, trying to find keys for my car in the lot. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. The decoys tho...

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“Law of the Phoenix” by Keston Paul

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Dark green had been transformed to bright orange. The sunlight enhanced its iridescence, creating the sparkle that flickered in tandem with the wind. I closed my eyes and inhaled. This was freedom. “Don’t hope to see you back anytime soon,” said the man behind me. A short, reluctant chuckle burst from my lips. “Same,” I replied. At that moment, a black Honda pulled into the gates and stopped just inside. I strode towards it, refusing to...

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$50

Prize money

907

Contest entries

0

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.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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