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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

“Autumn's Coffee Shop” by Reagan Weckerly

Submitted to Contest #63

It was early morning in Autumn's Coffee Shop and Autumn was preparing for opening day. Her coffee shop only opened in the fall an served almost every drink you could imagine. Her favorite was the pumpkin spice latte, despite the fact that she wasn't a huge fan of coffee. She could already smell the coffee in the air from the second she had walked in to open up. It was a strong smell, but she loved it. She had already gotten everything set up for when customers started pouring in. The coffee shop was open from the beginning of September to th...

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“The Date From Hell” by Angela Morrissey

Submitted to Contest #63

Kayla and Hans-Erik were seated by a waitress in the café nestled in the heart of Bendigo. Kayla was unaware of the quiet chatter of the nearby café patrons. She was purely focused on the man who sat in front of her. He was a six foot two, twenty-one year old who’d just arrived from Berlin. June her colleague from work had set her up on a blind date with him. He was to visit her school and pop into her German classes later in the week. ‘So, what would you recommend a German backpacker who has just arrived in Australia...

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“Seasons change, people do to” by Kaylin Rajah

Submitted to Contest #63

An old Toyota Corolla comes to a sputtering halt in a parking bay outside a slightly run-down strip mall. Jason glances over the lit up dashboard ignoring all warnings as he switches the car off, pulling the key from the ignition. "A simple oil change and plug replacement", he thinks while looking around for his wallet and phone. He opens the squeaky white driver's side door and makes his way as the early autumn of 2019 greets him with a gentle breeze.Jason's life has been in a state of disarray for a while now. Things hadn't been panning ou...

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“The Little Gingerbread Man” by Rachel Tait

Submitted to Contest #63

The warm glow of the coffee shop was unmistakable from across the darkened street. Obscured by commuters rushing to get home and out of the wet, windy Autumn evening, she could see it was quiet, the last few tables gradually emptying. After all it was 5:35pm, hardly the time for caffeine, and five minutes later than they’d arranged. She was late. Sarah had agreed that she would meet Paul after his fifth voicemail this week. They’re breakup had been horrendous and she really wanted closure. Hopefully, the air might have cleared between them...

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“Sex by the Fireplace” by Erin Pearl

Submitted to Contest #63

On my way home from work I walked toward Coffee Cot expecting a long line out the door. The first day of Autumn was last week and spiced pumpkin themed beverages are all the rage, with Coffee Cot being the most popular indie coffee café starting in the Obama administration. I usually pardon myself through a few people standing in a fifty-plus person line on the sidewalk and scoff at those wanting to wait an hour for a five-dollar chug. But on this day, I had a hankering for something warm in my belly and nutmeg on my lips. I will admit I enj...

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“Hidden Magic” by Oneirataxia Kalopsia

Submitted to Contest #63

A woman stood outside of a small brick coffee shop. She looked down at the folder clutched tight in her hands and took a deep breath before reaching a handout and pushing the glass door open. A small bell rang through the building as the door bumped it and a woman looked up from where she was sitting in the far corner of the shop. The woman waved to her and made her way over to the small table to sit down across from her colleague. "You finally found it," Pierce grinned, setting her laptop aside as she smiled at the newcomer. "It's so small...

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“Machu Piccu Gold” by Chris Wagner

Submitted to Contest #63

I had just begun my shift at the Lodestone Cafe when the pandemic hit. We'd just rolled out a new drink, Machu Picchu Pumpkin, for the fall season. I wasn't aware they grew pumpkin in Peru, but we've got smoothies made of stuff I didn't know existed, from places you could only reach on the back of a mountain goat, if you believed the advertising. Pretty average stuff, if you ask me. Other than an extra purplish tint, it tasted just like the regular pumpkin pie drinks we and our competitors often bring out this time of ...

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“THE BLISS OF AUTUMN” by Manya Seth

Submitted to Contest #63

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolour, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." - Stanley Horowitz Who doesn’t like the rich season of Autumn! The autumn leaves and the cool breeze make us feel fresh and dreamy. Altogether it’s a season filled with joy, happiness and bliss. The spooky, superstitious and scary Halloween, which everyone awaits also falls in this part of the year. Therefore most people are thrilled for the...

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“A day at the coffee shop” by Pinky R

Submitted to Contest #63

A beautiful girl come to the coffee shop sat next to our table. She wore a red laced one piece , she had a long curly hair, with a sling bag which was shining as bright as her. She looked like she was waiting for her friends. She grabbed her mobile and began to click pictures of her in the beautiful location. She has ordered a coffee but the waiter gave him a menu which was recent. The coffee shop added autumnal drinks to the menu. He was explaining her all the drinks. She looked interesting and as she was free she started a conversation wit...

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“The Gift of Happiness” by Parth Tyagi

Submitted to Contest #63

Opening the black gates of the open area inside the shopping complex, Shubhroto firmly held his belongings under his arms. There was hardly anyone in the complex yet, as it was merely 7.30 am. In the shopping complex where Shubhroto and his wife Swati used to run their coffee shop, most of the showrooms and shops would normally open much later. Shubhroto having retired from the army about a decade back, still followed an active regime. Although being in their late fifties, age has taken its toll on both of them. Swati taking heavy breat...

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“The Mug Shop ” by Hungara Gamelia

Submitted to Contest #63

Carmel FireSwirling DeathCherry SleepAnd Golden Flicker were just a few of the new autumn themed drinks, that Jace’s favorite coffee shop had recently added to their menu. He shook his head knowing exactly which one of the staff at ‘The Mug Shop’ had chosen the very unique drink names.He stared blearily at the barista in front of him, the teen wasn’t any older than Jace and looked about as happy as he did that he was awake at 5 o’clock in the morning, the sun wasn’t even up. The worker’s lip piercing and the subtle clinking of a chain were p...

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“Code Name: Okto Mocha” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #63

Perhaps it was because the mild-weathered day had been particularly uneventful; perhaps it was because my mind had been adrift as I peered into the painted Caffeine Addict window; maybe it was simply due to how foreign and intangible the object felt; but as the cold metal of the gun barrel came into contact with my back, I struggled to process the situation I found myself in, even as shivers of fright crept up my spine. The words he spoke felt distant and muted, as if they were echoes from another reality. “Listen carefully and keep quiet,...

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“Table for Four” by William Hargrove

Submitted to Contest #63

His pale, cold fingers were wrapped aimlessly around the steaming hot cup, despite the absurdity of the thought that it could warm his dead hands. The scarlet, viscous liquid frothed ferociously in the Styrofoam cup as steam poured out like noxious gas. Orville inhaled deeply, smelling the sweet scent of human blood. AB+, he thought to himself. Maybe AB-? He took another whiff. Definitely positive. He took a sip of the scalding liquid. As he lifted it to his lips, he could feel his gums stretch and move as a pair of perfectly white fangs for...

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“No Such Luck!” by Tedi Carey

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire! The Sheriff’s deputies were telling us to evacuate immediately! The fire surprised us all. When we went to bed it was still on the other side of the mountain. We thought that we’d have to evacuate in the morning...just not at three AM! I remember discussing the looming fire with my neighbors. Some were leaving as soon as they could load up their cars. But one of my neighbors was a fireman and he was telling us that we may not have to leave just yet. His boss was telling him that the fir...

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“A new Turning in life” by S Afrose

Submitted to Contest #63

A new Turning in life By the time I stepped outside The leaves were on fires I am surprised ! Am I absent in mind? Confuse!!!! Close the eyes… Then, again It is opening … The same scenario!!! No! It’s not an imagination The nature shows its supreme fascination To attract all For showing its outstanding performances... The story is now going to start… I am Albert, a so called human being. My life is not as usual as others. I belonged from a middle class family. The life always gives me very tough time. ...

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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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