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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

“I Found Something in the Blue Hills” by L Killorin

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Soft grey smoke curled under my feet, and the cracks and pops of the catching flames covered the sound of my footsteps. Fire licked at my ankles, but did not burn. “It’s smoky, I know,” he said hastily. He shoved his hands in the deep, paint-stained pockets of his cardigan. “I tried to leave the smoke out, but —“ “Emiel,” I interrupted. “It’s beautiful. I mean it. The smoke doesn’t burn at all.” To demonstrate, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There was smoke, but it didn’t catc...

9 comments 9
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“Apple of my eye ” by Radhika Diksha

Submitted to Contest #63

ARYAMANI'm on a wobbly ladder but I don't care. I have to pluck as many apples as possible, its a freaking competition. I see the other players ravishing the whole tree, the time is ticking. But I can't move cause I'm perplexed of her beauty. How her hair are reaching her shoulders, how her smile is sweet, her eyes like small pearls shining in this fog. Right now she's standing down with a basket in her hands gesturing me to pluck the apples, but I can't move I think I have fallen in love with her. AGAINJIYASince the time I have remembered t...

60 comments 60
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“Maple Corner” by Aubrey Maria ✌

Submitted to Contest #63

Happy tears burned down her cheeks as she put away a little note that was directly written for her. The words were like butter: smooth to read and caring like a healing balm to touch. When she looked inside, it was empty. “Just like she said,” she whispered to herself. …1 Month PriorRosie just met her college friend, Lena, at the Maple Corner for a cup of coffee. It had been a while since the two friends had finally set aside a time and brushed midterm finals away to meet one another. Rosie smiled to herself as she picked a table t...

8 comments 8
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“A Slow Burn” by Lina Oz

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.“What in the hell are you doing?”My brother jumped, turning to me, his smile wiped clean off his face after seeing the anger and shock on mine.“I––I was just––”“Get inside. Now.”I hurried to grab the hose from the side of the house, my fingers shaking as I fiddled with the nob to turn on the water. At the corner of my eye, I saw my brother run behind me, narrowly escaping the fire that was beginning to build in our backyard. Finally, I heard the water running. I yanked the hose forw...

13 comments 13
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“Rise of the Fall Menu” by Kal Zone

Submitted to Contest #63

Grim dawn had broken over the Java Jar Coffee Bar. It was never a kind day to be a cynic, Lenny the Latte thought, yet what choice did he have? The day had arrived, and they were coming. They were coming for his customers. They were coming for his caffeine. They were coming for his soul. But they weren’t coming for him. Lenny gazed out the Drive-Thru window, fixed wordlessly upon the autumn expanse. Chill winds blew through the trees, whose ardent verdure was seared with ochre. Soon the leaves would be engulfed, and in cinders fall and crumb...

7 comments 7
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“Life lit by the moon” by Luiza Marcus

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Everything was covered in ashes, smoke and threatening flames which were getting closer and closer to our city at a colossal speed. Flames, a lot of flames. Fire everywhere.I pulled the shutter and a cold breeze, which reminded me of a late autumn found its way into the room, into my lungs, ending its journey by giving me a severe headache. It stunned me. I dragged my feet towards the next room and I was welcomed by a dark and deplorable atmosphere. Worms were lurking between the dirty ...

27 comments 27
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“In the Process of Dying” by Julie Frederick

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #63

“I couldn’t possibly die on a Tuesday,” Ruth announced, with the flourish of a seasoned stage actress. She raised her cannulated hand to her forehead in a mock swoon. With her other hand she clutched the Pumpkin Spice Latte that I’d bought for her, strictly against doctor’s orders.“It had better be a Friday,” she continued. “That way you can drop by the morgue after work if you need to identify the body, then go out and get drunk to celebrate. And still have the weekend to recuperate.” She released her hold on the still untasted drink and ad...

8 comments 8
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“Montis Absentia Pt. VIII” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #63

1The wind whips against her face, cold and pure. Around her squawk her brothers and sisters, her friends and companions, her children. Somewhere in the flock is her mate — her companion of many years. Their youthful I-can’t-spend-a-minute-without-you intensity has faded, but their love has not diminished. If anything, the bond between them has grown more solid and stable.She flaps her wings, powerful and adept. Her trajectory controlled, her speed strong, her destination ingrained. She honks once, a cry of happiness and belonging. Some of he...

5 comments 5
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“Coffee and Combat Maze Runner FanFic” by Vanellope Von Schweetz 🍭

Submitted to Contest #63

Anne leaned on the counter as Chuck struggled to pick a kind of drink. Her mood grew darker as the line started building up.Finally when the line started getting impatient, Chuck had picked the hot cocoa with peppermint. After hours work of serving angry people with the need for coffee. For her break all she wanted to do was hang out with the best person...Aphrodite. She whipped out her phone remembering to get the corner of her phone fixed.MathPsycho: U want 2 come over?FandomRebel: sure where?MathPsycho: new jobFandomRebel: kAnne put her p...

16 comments 16
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“Launch Day” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #63

The aroma of black coffee seeped through the cracks of the doorway of The Sandhill Coffee House, piercing the early morning with the smooth, rich scent of roasted beans, and … hints of vanilla, spice, nuts, and Fall.It was an important day in York, Georgia – the day that the Sandhill Coffee House presented its seasonal line-up of new coffee blends.And people around the small town looked forward to the day – even the non-coffee drinkers. Not only did the coffee house launch its fall flavors of coffee … they launched new autumnal flavored hot ...

10 comments 10
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“An Apple Fritter Toast” by Maggie Deese

Submitted to Contest #63

The trees were a blur of orange, red, and yellow that burned bright against the dull, withering grass. London held a hand over her eyes to dim down the brightness of it all. The apple farm was packed—families and long-time friends gathering around for pictures and scrambling on top of one another to grab the ripest apples located at the top of the trees. London watched as a young girl hoisted herself onto her father’s shoulders and snatched a bright red apple dangling from a branch. She held it over her head like a trophy and the rest of the...

17 comments 17
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“Flames” by Krista Womack

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I knew my time at this cave had ended. The fire moved quickly through the mountains. I gathered my things and ran to escape the blistering heat. Once cleared from the flames, I needed to find cover before the invaders found me. A cave near the water would be safe from the fire, but they camped nearby. I snuck through the trees, peeking around each one watching for movement. I closed the distance to the lake to get a view of the camp before navigating around them. It was better to have t...

3 comments 3
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“When the Flames Speak” by Rebecca Lee

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire – literally and intentionally. Dad stood nearby with his rake, and my brother, Kelly, was on the other side of him, holding a hose. Their gazes were on the big pile of leaves we had worked all morning to gather. Smoke twirled from the center of the pile skyward, and it was a little mesmerizing. I wondered if the angels in Heaven got wind of smoke when folks burned leaves or trash. You know how annoying it is when your neighbors do it all the time – can you imagine what the smoke does t...

7 comments 7
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“Jarrod's Journey” by Mustang Patty

Submitted to Contest #63

As the sun rose over the mountain range to the east, it did little to warm the air. As he was known to his parents and sisters, Jarrod the Brave, tried to keep warm by holding his wings close to his body. He was the only one awake, and for once, it was quiet in the nest.His mind was still racing with the words of his parents the night before. Today, it would all come to light, but Jarrod hadn't slept well, despite knowing the day would be of great importance.When he and his sister were born in the spring, they all lived happily in the forest...

12 comments 12
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“Luna's autumn theory ” by Dibsysgsvn Dibwyshv

Submitted to Contest #63

Autumn in Canada is my favorite time of the year. How everything around us becomes beautiful and cooler, providing us a relief from the heat. The beautiful transformation of tree leaves in stunning shades of yellow, orange, red and brown blows my mind. Currently sitting in a coffee shop which have just introduced a new line of autumnal drinks, having a hot chocolate. Trying to make my sullen mood a little better. “Good evening.” A old lady nearly in her 70's stood in front if my table. “Good evening.” I said “Can I sit with you, if you don’t...

7 comments 7
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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!

Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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