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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

“Joan & John Met Apple Picking” by Debbie Ealer

Submitted to Contest #63

John and Joan met three years ago while apple picking. Every year they go back to the same orchard in the north Georgia mountains to celebrate their anniversary of meeting. This year would be different. This year John was going to propose to Joan. He rented a cabin in the woods, which overlooked the Blue Ridge Mountains and where they would stay when she said yes. Yes to her marrying him and spending the rest of her life with him as his wife. They had been dating since that first day at the orchard and were deeply in love. John planned the e...

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“Apple pie bliss” by Ashley Patterson

Submitted to Contest #63

The smell of apple cinnamon filled my nostrils as I climbed out of bed lazily. Heading to the bathroom I peeked in my sister's room to see if she was awake. Sleeping like a baby I proceeded to tiptoe in her room and mess with her. The wind whistled through her open window making my body shutter from the coolness. Finding a string on her dresser I dangled it on her face making her slap herself. Quickly becoming aware of what was going on she jumped up chasing me down the hallway. Finally washing up I made my way to the kitchen with the rest...

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“i go apple picking. ” by Meg White

Submitted to Contest #63

i go apple picking. he drives. because he always drives. i know the way that he drives as well as i know the roads behind my childhood home. the winding, long winded roads built for speed and sad songs that play on loop. the roads that i have spilled my heart to too many nights because they listen and learn the repetition of my shredded tires. the roads that memorized my first car crash, which stained their gravel with shrapnel and my parents’ hearts with disappointment. yes, these roads have known my patterns, my ...

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“Our Autumn Tradition” by Lindsay Williams

Submitted to Contest #63

It’s a beautiful fall day and my mom has decided it would be fun to go apple picking. When I was a little girl, it was my favorite time of year. Mom would bundle me up in my warm jacket and we would head to the orchard. My dad would sit me up on his shoulders and let me pick the ones high up in the trees. I felt so tall, my dad’s shoulders felt so strong. Mom always warned him I might fall, but I never did. Afte...

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“Friend Zoned” by Paige Winters

Submitted to Contest #63

My eyes skim the parking lot again, looking for that familiar 2001 Chevy. It’s painted bright purple and impossible to miss but I can’t find it anywhere. My phone buzzed with a text from Jean, saying she was stuck in traffic and would be here in ten. I texted her a thumbs-up emoji and sat down on a hay bale to wait. They were set up in lines all around the edges of the apple orchard, where Jean should have met me five minutes ago. We’ve been planning to come here for weeks but she’s been so busy lately that I haven’t seen her much. It’ll be ...

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“Most boys are GOOD” by Adyson Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #63

“Will you go for a romantic night to visit my family’s orchard with me?” I kept replaying it in my head. His deep sexy voice made me get butterflies in my stomach, I had to tell Sarah. I looked in my folder to find her schedule, “Okay, period 5 is free.” I whispered to myself. The day felt so long, I couldn’t contain my excitement, everyone said I needed to calm down. I was in fourth period, only one hour to go! “Ms. Allison Doyla, please see me in my office now!” My heart skipped a beat. I am a straight-a student, I have only missed a few d...

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“Apple Date” by Macey Camp

Submitted to Contest #63

Alec drove slowly down the road. Oak trees lined the evening lit road, their leaves turning a shade of brown as they gently fell, catching in the winds gust to splatter onto his pickup. "There!" Akari said with excitement, pointing to a street to the right. As Alec turned off onto the dirt road Akari oohed in excitement. Apple trees were everywhere. His excitement made Alec smile as he pulled to a stop in front of a farmhouse. "This is going to be so much fun!" As they got out an older female stepped out on the wrap-around po...

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“Apple Picking with a twist” by Shelby Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #63

Fall has finally arrived. The trees are starting to turn beautiful colors. Oranges, yellows and reds taking over for the green landscapes. The sky even seems to glow brighter. Then there is a refreshing crisp air taking away the heat of summer. Time to bring out the hoodies and light jackets. Turn off the A/C and let nature cool down the house for you with the windows open. The leaves crunch under your feet as you stroll along the sidewalk. Children raking the leaves together, getting the piles big enough to jump in. Its such a wonderfu...

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“Wine, Amber and Auburn ” by Tanisha Bhatia

Submitted to Contest #63

Friday The resplendent sky portrays the hues of my grandma’s golden-crusted pies topped by a pop of colour with glazed cherries. Life away from city has been nonchalant in the remote heights of the apple valley of Himachal (a culturally tasteful state in India). I step out of the wooden chalet, which has been accommodating me for the past three months. After a momentary gaze at the aureate ether, I see Oshi already on the terrace getting a whiff of her milky spiced tea, portraying herself as a vanilla damsel from the 1960s , whose leisure li...

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“A Stroll Through the Apple Orchard” by Dimitris Profer

Submitted to Contest #63

-I don’t know why we’re here, he said.-It calms me, came the response.-Sure, but we could really be doing anything else calming. Not… apple picking.-This is my orchard Jonathan. These are my trees. I like them. I also like apples, so I don’t understand your confusion. If I don’t tend to my own trees who would?-You are the king, I’m sure you can find someone to do this task for you.-Nonsense, this is for my own satisfaction. Besides, I want to test this technique the gardener suggested.-What do you mean?-Apple trees bear fruits once every two...

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“Apple in His Eye” by Esther 小寿司

Submitted to Contest #63

Today was the day where thousands of apples will fall from their mother branches. The wind knew. It was in the mid-September. The cold gusts bit against the hilltop small wooden house as fiercely as deepest winter, shaking the windows with their greetings and winding through the tiny living room with their warm regards. I put my hand on the window, an outline formed by steam appeared on it. It was cold. I looked outside for the view. Everything was as red as fire. Autumn has come so as the red treasure was waiting for someone to pick t...

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“Daughters of the Apple Orchard” by Bookmark Here

Submitted to Contest #63

It was a bitter joyful event to be able to walk among the apple trees with my mother and my daughter. My fingers tickled the aged dried leaves pausing every so often to whisper love to my sisters. I need to be careful of my growing belly as it barely fits between the rows of trees and I found myself constantly scratching and bumping the precious branches. The orchard was a maze and unless you knew your way around among the thousand apple trees it would easily disorientate anyone. As a woman of the island, we were only allowed to ent...

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“A rope, a couple, and a crow” by A. A. Thakre

Submitted to Contest #63

The storm and the rain had come crashing down the day before yesterday; and yesterday, the sun came with its fiery rays, setting everything ablaze; now today, it drizzled in the early morning, while the dark, thick clouds still loomed on the horizon as the day proceeded into the late morning. There was a little hope of seeing caressing rays, descending from heavens. The calm weather seemed to have gone for a spin, with no intention of returning. But no matter the weather, the calls of harvesting must be answered; and so, the farmers ran b...

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“Jack O'Lantern” by Hikmat A

Submitted to Contest #63

Achoo! Another sneeze wracks it’s way though my mask. I groan and turn back to the sanitation station, whipping off my mask, wiping my nose then scrubbing my hands ferociously, again, for the third time today. Lawrence pops his head in, his eyebrows creased with concern. “You sure you’re good to work today? You’ve been in here a bit too much. I got you if you’re sick.” I shake my head as I replace my mask. “I’m fine. You’ve seen my tests. It’s not corona, it’s just all the freakin’ pumpkin spice everyone’s been ordering t...

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“The Mansion, the apples, and the bodies” by Malak Bahy

Submitted to Contest #63

He was trying hard not to show. He was holding, so tightly, onto the superficial façade of his calm like his life was depending on it, which technically, he did feel like it was. The current view playing out before him, however, was pressing onto the cracks already threatening the facade. His wife, his dear dear wife, was currently pressed, so close, to a man that wasn’t him. They were both seated at a comfy booth, nestled deeply into the coffeeshop, that John had to be using his binoculars today. On other days where his treacherous wife...

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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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