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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#83: Tropical Getaway

Sometimes we all need a break from our current circumstances. When the world feels gray and lifeless, thoughts of warm beaches and sunny skies can sound more appealing than ever.

 

Travel has been hard to come by for a while now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make an escape through our imaginations. So this week, let’s slather on the sunscreen, steal what daylight we can, and take our characters to the crystal beaches most of us can only imagine.

🥇 Winner

“Burn Damage” by Madalyn Meyers

Beth sauntered toward the sound of crashing water, the twinkling dance of a shoal marker providing promise that she was getting close. She felt the unfamiliar tickle of sand beneath her feet as the chilled grains molded together under the weight of each determined step. As if suddenly passing through a barrier, what had once looked like an endless ether of uninhabited space now abruptly registered as the reflective sur...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“The Lorelei” by Heather Mcquaid

“From her steep castle of sorrow and slateLorelei reigns over men and their fateThe river below, its faithless embraceRests her grave, and unquiet birthplace.”“What’s that from?” asks the skinny girl. “It’s a legend, the legend of Lorelei,” says Captain Plauz, keeping his keen eyes peeled on the perilous currents of the River Rhein as he pilots the paddleboat. “Just ahead is the watery grave of many sailors, littered with the flotsam and jets...

56 comments 56
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“Siren Songs and Lullabies” by Courtney C

Fish hook earrings glimmer, catching the meagre light. Maera’s long hair hangs heavy, reaching her navel. Slick as an eel, she glides and weaves in the water to evade her pursuer. She moves more out of instinct than forethought, just quick enough to stay ahead. Excitement sings in her veins, the high of the chase taking control of her actions. Pinwheeling in the water, she turns and holds out her arms to catch her sister. They sink to the bottom, sending silt upwards as they roll and tumble playfully. With difficulty, she pins...

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“Sea Foam” by Rachel Loughran

There was hardly a breath of wind on the beach, and the trees stood still and silent, knowing, as trees do, that something was coming. They’d guarded this shore long enough to know, and the older trees, the ones with centuries of sentry duty, hushed the young ones, the saplings, who wanted to whip their young limbs around, and dance under the stars. The ocean hushed them all in its own, inimitable way - the relentless me...

28 comments 28
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“A Fish Story” by Adam Schwartz

In my experience, talking fish can be real assholes. My daughter, Maggie, and I had been in St. Thomas for three days. I’d finally had enough sitting around the hotel pool, sipping ridiculously-colored drinks with tiny paper umbrellas. I figured there must be a decent fishing hole around here someplace.  My daughter barely looked up from the paperback she was reading poolside in one of the chaise lounge ...

9 comments 9
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“One Man's Trash” by Pamela Griner

There was no way for it to know for sure how long it had been in the sea, following the current, subject to the whims of wind and weather. It certainly felt seasick, but that would have been true after an hour or two. Still, there was enough variation in temperature and the movement of the sun and moon for it to understand that it had been months, at the very least. Months since it was violently flung into the sea, from the end of Enrique’s arm, which had been twisted behind his fully-torqued body, and accompanied by a feral scream to giv...

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“Made of the Sea and the Stars” by Vie Tan

Live. You gasp — air fills your lungs like glass, bringing you painful life and you cannot get enough of it. Once, twice, your lungs are filled most excruciatingly, but this pain is not allowed time to mellow into nothingness — darkness closes in again just as rapidly. Live. Again, you are thrusted up beyond the surface; the darkness remains, for you do ...

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This week's prompts:

Write about someone who goes to extreme lengths to get themselves to a tropical island.

Adventure – 96 stories

Start your story with someone emerging from the sea, and end it with them looking up at the stars.

General – 308 stories

Write about someone who’s lived on a tropical island their whole life and is leaving it for the very first time.

General – 93 stories

Write about someone who books a bargain vacation, only to be told when they arrive that they need to share a hotel suite with a stranger.

Dramatic – 161 stories

Write a fantasy story about water gods or spirits.

Fantasy – 255 stories

Stories

“Burn Damage” by Madalyn Meyers

Beth sauntered toward the sound of crashing water, the twinkling dance of a shoal marker providing promise that she was getting close. She felt the unfamiliar tickle of sand beneath her feet as the chilled grains molded together under the weight of each determined step. As if suddenly passing through a barrier, what had once looked like an endless ether of uninhabited space now abruptly registered as the reflective sur...

91 comments 91
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“Black and White” by Writer Maniac

He Black was all he could see under the water. Black was all he wanted to see for the rest of his life. Black like the feathers of a raven, black like the nail polish that she had thrown out of her window, black like the depths of his heart, the parts devoid of feeling.As he brought his arms down and pushed himself up, he wondered what would happen if he stopped pushing. His lips pulled at the thought of lying on the ground of the sea and becoming one with the black. Becoming black its...

145 comments 145
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“What’s Beyond Life?” by Euphorias Pink!🌸

My life will begin soon.The cold water rushed against my bare legs as I sat alone on the beach. The sky was turning a dark blue and the clouds were starting to make way for the moon. By this time, everyone was starting to pack up their things and head back towards their hut. When it was time for us to leave, I had told my Mother that I wanted to stay for a couple more minutes. A couple more minutes turned into hours and now, here I was: planning my escape from the island I once called home. 

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“Creation” by Zilla Babbitt

The sea tells me I am its mother. It hides and holds me tight and I remain buried beneath the salty, night-colored waves. I have lain this way since the universe and I were born and the great celestial clock first began to tick far beyond the reaches of eternity. The seas rush up against me, warming me, cooling me, covering me. I have never seen the sky. But then, I have only just awoken.The water moves across the lines against my face.&nbsp...

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“Ghost Ship” by Robert Grandstaff

Deep blue waves launched our sailboat higher as the storm darkened the skies in the southeast. My brother David and I woke this morning to heavy seas and high winds. We’d never seen so much lightning in our lives. We checked the radar and saw the hurricane had shifted overnight, looking for warmer water. With the storm headed right at us, we turned further west to go around the outside. The Caribbean was no longer a safe option, so we hoped for Bermuda or the outlying islands. All morning we struggled against the wind and waves, and our p...

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“Cut-Off Eyes” by Zilla Babbitt

It was six o’clock in the morning and my portrait had woken up. Usually I don’t let myself be taken in by the shriveled portrait-drawers on the streets of Abuja, but the drawer looked about my age, and so handsome, and I couldn’t help it. It was only two nairas, anyway. So I sat for him, while Mama bought rice and raw murre bird in street markets of Abuja, Nigeria, and let him sketch me.He was terrible at it. ...

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“Demetria’s Tale” by Litlover 📖

The morning breeze touches my face with the caressing stroke of a mother. My golden hair floats, lifted by the gale falling from the mountain Annaliese high above our camp. Above the highest peak, the wind sweeps down the rock faces until the mist shrouds it entirely. The great Annaliese shines above us all...The mountain seems to shift with the wind, swaying this way and that as if it were not solid and unmoving. I always smell the sun on her stony depths, feel the pull down to the center of the Earth. Her sister, the r...

154 comments 154
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“Underwater secrets” by Abigail Airuedomwinya

Little Mira doesn't hear her mother calling. The sun is orange like dying flames and the trees are bending and twisting towards the big house but Mira doesn't see or feel all this for she's underneath the water. With nothing but cold water around her, Mira holds her breath and counts to ten. She's learning, as she's been told, how to breathe underwater and still be alive.When her head bubbles up to the surface, she hears the sound of her mother screaming her name. It's high-pitched and dreamy and Mira giggles as she step...

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“A Curse of Water and Magic” by Nainika Gupta

I didn’t know the crown was cursed. Apparently, no one else did either. But now I am cursed, and all because of my curiosity. It sure did kill the cat, because now I am doomed. Unless I can make it to the top of our sacred mountain, Mirthazaer, and appease our water gods. I mean, honestly, make it a little easier, would you? But no, the gods of the water are picky about who wears the crown. Something that I, Carlytte Gryff, the heir to the throne, Crown Princess of Zyndrahr, fancy title after fancy title, yadda yadda yadda, sh...

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“A Whale of A Time” by Nainika Gupta

The sea is more than we see, for she gives us most of the oxygen in our lungs. She wraps her brine around every limb as a mother, only ever asking for our respect and loving care. The wind was the orchestral conductor of the sea, sending waves into their crescendos' all through the ballad that was the night. All about me was the perfume of the salty water and the fine spray that came as boldly as any viola flurry. It was as if life herself had entered the water and the energy was so great that this great pulse came upward to form a steady...

53 comments 53
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“The Gods in the Stars” by Deidra Lovegren

Seems like drowning oneself is harder than it looks. Embarrassing, really, as worried Bahamians attempt to haul me out of the Caribbean Sea into their rusty tugboat in response to the cruise ship’s clarion call.I feel my earlobes and note one of my diamond earrings is missing, lost to the depths. A treasure for a lucky scuba diver to find one day. The earrings had been an anniversary gift. And not worth much now, I mutter out loud. My rescuers look at me, but we cannot understand each ot...

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“Evelyn's Reasons Why You Shouldn't Travel to Anywhere Except the Store” by ⋆ timber ⋆

Note to Reeders: It took me a lottttttt of research about these things to do this story, so enjoyyyy! Hey, don't say I didn't warn ya. Volunteering at a Bolivian animal sanctuary I saw all kinds of monkey bites and scratches. It was common for backpackers to show off their fresh wounds at the end of each day. But no one had a story like this… The weekly volunteer party got ou...

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“Free” by Felicity Anne (inactive)

Trigger Warning: Abuse This story is dedicated to any and all victims of abuse, in any way, shape, or form. Be brave, we believe in you. ❤︎Echo gazes up at the mansion with her stony gray eyes, her now almost dry hair whipping in the cold breeze. She watches the candlelight in the uppermost room flicker, casting shadows that dance against the faded wallpaper. A child comes to the balcony doors and steps out. His thin nightdress flutters, an insufficient protection against the frosty night air. ...

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“An Hours Time ” by Chloe Hanna

The waves I had bolstered as best I could; whilst the havoc of the tide continued to reap, impaling me, over and over. I stayed writhing, enclosed by the brine. knocking against that intemperate current, fully determined in finding the vessel. Hark! She floats, bobbing gracefully, mast windborne, as if winged. I frantically swam towards that band of logs. At last, I emerged from the sea.As I became situated I noticed the deck had been scrubbed a flaxen blond. The chilled breeze seemed to saunter, se...

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“'Adieu'” by Asha Pillay

The crashing sound of waves against the rocks broke Andy's sleep. From the time his wife Molly expired twenty years ago, this was  routine, he didn't need any alarm to wake up.  Standing by the window he saw the crystal clear water and the pristine white beach bordered by coconut trees swaying gently. It was, indeed, "paradise". He would miss all this. His daughter Carla, would be here soon to take him away to England. He was eighty-six, and things ...

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$50

Prize money

1020

Submissions

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 05, 2021 EST

Won by Madalyn Meyers 🏆

Title: Burn Damage

Winning stories will be featured on our website and in our weekly newsletter. For more information, please consult our terms of use.

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