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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#8: Off on an Adventure

Life is an adventure — especially when you read adventure books! Let's be honest, not many of us have gone on exciting and harrowing voyages across mighty seas. But we can when we read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Or we can go an epic journey through space just by flipping through the pages of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. A commute to work, a lazy Sunday afternoon, or a spare hour before bed can all become a grand adventure with the right book.

In case you haven't already guessed, this week's writing prompts all challenge you to write about adventure! And if you need a little extra inspiration, check out our list of the 100 best adventure books — and feel free to let me know what books you think are missing!

This week's prompts

Write a story about an adventure on the water.

Adventure – 36 stories

Write a story about an adventure in the desert.

Adventure – 23 stories

Write a story about an adventure in space.

Science Fiction – 28 stories

Write a story about an adventure on a shipwrecked island.

Adventure – 23 stories

Write a story about an adventure in a small town.

Adventure – 63 stories

Stories

“Salomar and the Bird” by Lenora Good

Submitted to Contest #8

Salomar Barak groaned. The groan pulled her into consciousness. She opened her eyes, surveyed her surroundings, and almost cried. The freighter, her freighter, her beautiful Flaming Salomardor lay scattered about her, broken into hundreds of pieces. Held upside down by the safety webbing of her captain's lounge, she looked over what remained of the cockpit.“Computer?”“Yes.”“You still work?” For a moment, Salomar dared to hope.“Not for long.”“What happened? Where are w...

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“When We Get to the City” by Charlie Noble

Submitted to Contest #8

I could feel my skin burning, but it felt so good. My eyes seared. Aggie looked ridiculous. She was wearing her wide straw hat and a shawl was wrapped around her head and face. Her eyes were hidden by her darkened spectacles. ‘Bobby, you’re burning.’ I danced away from her, spinning in the sand, relishing the glorious burn of the sun on my skin. ‘Aggie, the air,’ I said, ‘isn’t it the sweetest thing you’ve ever tasted?’ I took a comically big gulp of air, as if I had filled my cheeks with something delicious. She inched towards me....

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“The Chance” by Joanna White

Submitted to Contest #8

Jexx felt his hand being gripped as if his hand was the last lifeline left. He glanced at Avill, his wife and his eyes told her more than words from his mouth could. “Is this really it?” she asked him. “We’re really going to Earth?”He nodded. “We have no other choice. Our home… it’s gone. We can live in peace amongst the humans… stay hidden even. It’s for the best.”Avill bit her lip, which trembled slightly. Whether from fear or anxiety, Jexx could only guess. The Great War had finally taken its toll on their planet, just as he suspected it ...

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“The Ascent of Mount St Stephens” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #8

THE ASCENT OF MOUNT ST STEPHENS “You PROMISED, Auntie Deb!” Rowena insists. If there are words that are more poignant, more irresistible, and more manipulative than those, especially when they come from the mouth of a five year old, then I would like to know them. Or maybe I wouldn’t! Anyway, did I? Did I promise in so many words, or did I just mention? Something tells me that my niece Rowena, and my nephew Robert (they’re not actually brother and ...

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“Goin' Dry” by Ryan Lieb

Submitted to Contest #8

Ship’s Captain’s Journal, September the 25th, 1717: It’s been seven days since the tempest left us dead in the water. Sails are torn, oars broken. Me men took to lashin’ blankets and towels to the mast but nothing will catch wind. Had we some weavers on board, we might be able to stitch the sails up. Alas, we’re but a band of rotten pillagers and scallywags, not craftsmen! Even my first mate, Lena, claims to have never picked up a needle in her life. The men thought it was bad luck when she first came on board, but she’s proven to be a...

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“Owl Hollow” by Dakota Odom

Submitted to Contest #8

It was supposed to be the perfect vacation with me and my wife, Susanna. Something to get us away from the house...away from civilization. Up in the mountains, far from the tentacles of that soul sucking, hate filled shit-show we call New York City. We traveled south, to the smokey mountains of Tennessee, our destination being a log cabin that in a secluded clearing on the edge of a small lake. Along the way, my car, a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta, had decided to stop working. “Didn’t you check it before we left?” Susanna had asked. I tried t...

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“Drifting” by Joe Glocke

Submitted to Contest #8

I’ve been drifting through space for a long time. A few hundred years, maybe. I’ve come to think of it as an openness, an unknowable gap. In a moment, this will end.I was a young man, maybe in my early twenties, when the company assigned me to a system of telescopes orbiting Earth called the ASTRO-2. They monitored classified information which was never revealed to me. Its observatory required mission and payload specialists to control operations. I was paired with astronaut Devon Pine and together we were assigned a mission to upgrade its U...

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“What A View” by Josh Hagen

Submitted to Contest #8

Commander Lance Gilmore and Lieutenant Drew Adams touched down near the Sea of Serenity. Boosters kicked up clouds of lunar dust as they signaled Huston. It had been a very long trip and the astronauts were eager to set foot on Earth’s closest neighbor. Commander Gilmore signaled Earth, “Huston, this is Lunar Five. We have touch down.” “Copy Lunar Five. That’s great news. You’re clear to have a look around.” Houston signaled back. After a decade of budget finagling and technical leaps, man was once again traveling to the ...

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“Save the Turtles” by First Last

Submitted to Contest #8

Hannah and I made a plan to go to Las Vegas. Since we live in Los Angeles we decided to drive there since it will only be about 5 hours. Everything was going great until the car engine began to sputter. “Hey, Hannah what’s going on?” I asked. “I don’t know, let me stop for a second.” After Hannah pulled over, we got out of the car to find out the problem. Hannah popped the hood and a large trail of smoke bursts from the car. “Oh god, are you kidding me this is the worst place for us to be stuck in” I complained. “Now we’re probably gonna get...

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“Space Workers Unite!” by Philippe Berard

Submitted to Contest #8

SPACE NEWS BROADCAST CORP.8 PM GALACTIC NEWSBreaking News: Are the Koolman Industries Again in Violation of Space Workers Comp?Is this Another case of Space Labor Law blatant contravention?The anchorman goes on the air followed by hundred of millions of faithful audience members of the most popular space news agency.“:Dear Cast Readers,We know from the stories that came in large numbers, from Triton to Artemise, that recent cases of Space Labor Laws are culminating in a Space Class Action Lawsuit of extreme proportions.Let us introduce you t...

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“Island Gone” by Jill Siegler

Submitted to Contest #8

The soft waves caressed my hair and rocked my body in the coarse shell laden beach. I slowly rolled over and threw up. "OK , I'm breathing, that's good!" I don't remember much as I sat up and picked seaweed and bits of debris from my hair and now naked body. "Shit! Where are my clothes? " I was slightly bruised and ached. "Where the hell am I?" My head throbbed and my throat burned from the sea water. As I gathered my strength and looked around I was alone on a beach that was littered with debris. Cold and still shaky, I stood up and limped ...

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“Hymn of the Drexciya” by Theodore Child

Submitted to Contest #8

I put on my uniform and looked at the reflection staring back at me. I wore all white, a contrast to my dark skin, and I put my braids in a ponytail. Wearing my hair down is inappropriate according to school regulations. I tuck the cowlick behind my ear into a braid. The cowlick is a split hair that everyone in my family has somewhere on their heads, and though tucking it into my braids only temporarily hides it I still do it because it’s more comfortable to know other people can’t see it. The collar was itchy on my neck, so I scratched...

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“The Little Brown Snake” by Clint Bowman

Submitted to Contest #8

My canoe slid quietly through the swamp's waters. Bright green lily pads submerged themselves beneath its bow. As I passed a stand of black gums, a couple of red winged blackbirds seemed to be having a discussion over something. I am sure it was very important to them. I was trying, as best I could, to sneak up on a black bear. I had spotted it prowling along the bank of a nearby island here in the Okefenokee Swamp. With a little luck, I would be able to get a good photo of a foraging black bear as he ripped into an old rotted log...

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“JOHNNY TALKS TO SNAKES” by Eric Skinner

Submitted to Contest #8

A flat tire. What’s there to cause a flat tire? There’s nothing out here! Johnny looked at the left front of the car, and there was no denying it; the tire was flat. Grumbling obscenities, he walked back to the trunk. Thank God, there’s the spare. He searched for the stuff to change it with. There! What’s it called? A jack. He looked at the flimsy thing and wondered. He shrugged his eighteen-year-old shoulders and placed it under the left front quarter panel. What now? How woul...

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“Nuclear Radiation Agent Purple” by James Offenha

Submitted to Contest #8

This was an accident and I am not an astronaut. I’ve been duped. See, they needed scientists and I am a scientist. They needed physicists to help with the equations on properly getting spacecrafts into space and that’s my job. But during the encounters with the Riw people, nuclear radiation agent purple was released and all of the trained astronauts were killed and they needed astronauts, but not just any astronauts, astronauts familiar with the year of of training in terminating the space junk virus scientifically known ...

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$50

Prize money

173

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 27, 2019 EST

Won by Joshua G. J. Insole 🏆

Title: Astro Naught

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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