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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.

This week's prompts

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

Adventure – 91 stories

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

Fantasy – 277 stories

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

Dystopian – 83 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 – 148 stories

Write a fantasy story about water gods or spirits.

Fantasy – 227 stories

Stories

“I must get away now” by Carl Frye

Submitted to Contest #83

"Oh, this miserable life I lead" Deadlines, commitments, stress. I must find a way to escape if only for while to some deserted Island so I can feel the warm sensation of the sun on my back, the wind blowing gently upon my face, and the smell of a sea breeze entering my nostrils. I had heard about an island far away from the stress of city life. There are millions of acres, and one can pick their own acre, set up camp, or place their camper, or motorhome there. No rent, no for sale. A place that is free to live at. As I check my finances I d...

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“Water Creatures and Flints” by Sam Ackman

Submitted to Contest #83

The sun shone down, leaving a dazzling light show across the waves as they rolled her closer to the only bit of land visible in the wide expanse. Ness’s limbs seared as the ascend to the sandy shore returned her weight to her feet, wet cloak tugging her down. Turning back she saw the billowing black clouds rising up into the sky - a ship no more. A gurgle of a giggle escaped her as she soaked in her freedom, no longer a captive used for another's will. She crawled onto the shore, her limbs shaking, and lay down ...

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“The Mother of the Lost” by Jojo Potato

Submitted to Contest #83

Once, in the days before your father, and his mother, and many layers through your ancestral tree, the sea was a place to be feared. Mountainous waves rabid with frothing foam slammed into each other in a frenzy, grinding cliffs to dust and pulling creaking ships to the darkest trenches. Lightning scurried across the sky to dip into the salty spray, and fling itself back towards the heavy quilt of ominous cloud. The sea was feared by all mankind and overcome by none. Except me. I danced in the frantic crashing of waves, and...

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“Turtle Island” by Luna Eclipse

Submitted to Contest #83

I don’t remember climbing out of the sand. My brothers told me about how we hatched out of eggs and crawled towards the ocean, yet I can only take their word for it. All I have ever known is the ocean. My brothers meant everything to me, yet I am all alone now. How I wish they would join me. We would ride on each other's backs, and chase after the local fish. We grew up down there, deep below where I am now. I feel the waves upon my shell, calling out to me. Maybe my brothers are still down there, where we all grew up. I remember the fish sh...

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“Where You Long” by Weeping Rose

Submitted to Contest #83

TW: suicidal ideation It was all but a dream to some. But to me, every bit of it is vividly engraved to the back and ends of my mind. I remember your figure perfectly as the hands of the ocean brings you towards me. I remember the scorching sand burning through my skin as I ran towards you. The contrast of the warmth in your smile as the coolness of the water splashes through my clothes. I remember you. Every habit and manner you sport from the first day that we met. How you talk about your dreams like no one else does. ...

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“Bargain Hunter” by Debra Sue Brice

Submitted to Contest #83

It was three am. Another sleepless night in front of the television, the bluelight doing its best to lull me into a trance like state. I knew lying there, vulnerable to the persuasive infomercials was a bad idea, but I was at my wits end. It was as if my body only required 20 minutes of sleep, and my 20 minutes are long over. There was a shelf in my basement dedicated solely to all the As Seen On TV items I had purchased over the years from watching late night television. Yellow tinted glasses to help me see better at night, a portable sani...

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“Spring Break in Kansas” by Jerry Stewart

Submitted to Contest #83

Spring break kicked off like it did every year. Horny college kids arrived by the truckloads. Most of them were already drunk by the time they parked and checked into their condos. Our little Florida beach town was pretty laid back most of the year, but every March when the spring breakers descended, all hell broke loose.A lot of us locals grumbled and complained, but we all knew the town relied on the influx of money they brought in every year. A symbiotic relationship had formed over the years, and now we needed each other. They needed a p...

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“The Surface of Reality” by Cal Carson

Submitted to Contest #83

The ocean, Ezili discovers, is a metaphor for the world. On the surface and in the shallows-- gorgeous, brilliant, and glistening. The type of sea to inspire artists to set up easels in the white sand. Dive beneath the lapping shores, however, and you find an ugly, dangerous reality. Beneath the evening sun tinting the sands red, Ezili finishes her breathing exercises and pulls her woven bamboo fins over her feet. She wades into the shallows of the ocean, making sure she doesn’t ripple or splash the water...

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“Astray” by Stephanie Xu

Submitted to Contest #83

All I could remember was how warm the air was. That first touch of my fingertips against the surface of the water and I felt shaken by the warmth that embraced all my body. I remember inching my fingers slowly as I was hugged by the air. As I moved up from the depths of the cold ocean home, the heat twisted itself around my body like vines, and water droplets ornamented its leaves until there was no more. I was not used to this new feeling. My first time ever being out of the water, and all I could feel was this overwhelming heat that...

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“Survivor ” by Mikala Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #83

I lie there, motionless. Suddenly a strange sensation begins to overcome me. I feel as though I am surrounded by something, but by nothing all at once. My body seems to be floating while something gently tugs at my ankle. I open my eyes to find I’m submerged underwater. I am on the floor of the ocean, my body naturally pulling to the surface but that tug on my ankle keeps it from succeeding: a rope knotted to a cinder block holds me there. Panic sets in. How did I get here? How could this be possible? Who would do this to me? A stream of que...

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“Ora's Wish” by Robert Vucsko

Submitted to Contest #83

Ora’s Wish The Zemi began to take shape because of a prayer. This one had not taken any form or consciousness for more than two-millennia. The song which summoned it now was strong, and irresistible. The spirit took a direct path, up from 8000 meters of pressure and depth and cold, moving through the ocean like smoke blown on the wind. As the music got louder, the Zemi took a vague shape and scattered a school of mackerel. It began to see rich sea-life and sense the temperature of the water warming around it. The swell of...

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“The Decision” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #83

The legend of Goddess Lafatina was told to Eurdell by her great grandmother, Lucy, when she was eight years old and now at the age of 40 she was actually going to the ocean where Lafatina was actually “living” for millions of years. Goddess Lafatina was born millions of years ago in a tiny town called Sabrina. No one knew exactly where the town of Sabrina was. No one could find it on any maps in ancient times but that was the story. Lafatina was “gifted” she could see into the future. She would walk around the tiny town and feel and sense ...

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“When Stars Are Born” by Miss Tine

Submitted to Contest #83

"Did you know that the more people make wishes, the more stars there are in the galaxy? And when your wish is one of the stars that fell to earth, they said that your wish would come true. It might be absurd, but as a kid, I believed every word of that lie." ~ The moon glowed as the twinkling lights showered across the night sky. There, on the shore sat a lone man, thinking about that same lie. It was a make-believe fact that he gulped down his very being, making his stomach flip. He tried it every time but it never proves itself. Absu...

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“Fateful encounter” by Anes Nia

Submitted to Contest #83

My eyes open up slowly as I wake up, feeling dizzy and lightheaded; it was the voices I heard that woke me up, loud songs in an unfamiliar language that I haven't heard before in my life. Even though I traveled a lot, I haven't been this high up north before. I tilted my head to see where these sounds are coming from, just to realize I was sleeping in a raft, a small one at that, it barely holds the girl next to me, and me hanging at the very edge. A ship was coming towards us, different from the one we came in. The ship's crew throw a...

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“She” by Charlotte Bedford

Submitted to Contest #83

The seaweed, a leathery strap of skin, swayed softly against the vibrations of the charcoal water and the lapping waves cloaked each other as if to hide the truth. The moon’s light did not reflect off the surface of the body of water which surrounded the Siren Code Cove. The cove protruded 20 meters above the rolling waves and arched over like a shark beached on the shore. The jagged stalactites and stalagmites rimmed the edges of the great rock like the teeth of this ferocious beast which accompanied the roaring waves. The cove encircled th...

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$50

Prize money

826

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 05, 2021 EST

Won by Madalyn Meyers 🏆

Title: Burn Damage

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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