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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

“Of demon and man” by Matias Matias

Submitted to Contest #83

Part 1 - A Bloody Moon A tale of our most inner conflicts. The year of this tale is uncertain but the men still holstered guns to their hips and the women’s dresses were long and heavy. The mode of transport, at least for the wealthy, was the trusty carriage or horseback. Hard lollies and sweets were sold out of heavy glass jars and displayed by the windows of the main shops of the main streets, and the quiet town on the shores of the new nation was tranquil as the still waters which their town resided beside. But some time ago, in the tim...

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“Poseidon’s Daughter” by Claudia Anne

Submitted to Contest #83

Alex sat in the stillness of the sunset. His surfboard lay at his side, the bar of wax abandoned as he took in the flames licking the sky. The beach was deserted, not another soul in sight for miles.He thought he was daydreaming when he saw the waves drop back, curl back as if forming a path from the mid waves to the shore. A shadow fell forward on the bare strip of the ocean floor. She seemed to rise up, as if she was formed from the waves and began to walk her way out of the water. Alex was now sure he was dreaming. She… she was breathtaki...

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“Signalling the Stars” by Aym Less

Submitted to Contest #83

The waves toss and churn, spewing sprays of mist. I break the surface, managing one panicked gasp before water crashes down on my face. My vision is blurry, the salt stinging my eyes shut. My limbs flail wildly as I strain upwards but with every movement, the sea drags me back. Stay, it whispers. I gag on my own breath. Not yet. Displeased, the water chills, a current snaking around my limbs. Desperation is the only emotion my half-starved brain can muster and in a last-ditch effort, I go limp. The sea eagerly rips th...

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“The Little Boat” by Aria Belle

Submitted to Contest #83

"Someone came. Someone finally came!" I look out at the radiant sea, and the light, azure color of it fills my eyes. A boat. A small, flimsy, wooden boat was floating delicately towards us, almost looking like a toy you'd find a child playing with during bathtime. Hope begins to emerge inside of me, and I leap up and down, screaming, crying. The beauty of the water surrounding me often brought tears to my eyes, and I stared in awe whenever the waves lazily crawled onto the sand, selfishly clinging to it, only to be pulled away again and agai...

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“Matching Lockers” by Jarah E

Submitted to Contest #83

Her body thrashing around, Gianna struggled to keep afloat. This cannot be it. This can’t be where my life ends. Taking a deep breath, she dove down to free her ankle from the rock it was stuck underneath. The water was so foggy, so dark, she had to trust her hands and trust nothing was down in that water with her. After struggling for what felt like eternity, she heard a little pop and her ankle broke free from the rock. She yelped out in pain and water filled her lungs. “That’s the last thing I remember”, I said to the detective. “How co...

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“Mind Your Wishes” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #83

CW: death A shout from the crow’s nest, and then, they saw him come up from the sea foam. His head was all they could manage to see. Someone flung out the life tube, the white still there, the red faded from the sun. It was hard to see him bobbing up and down in the waves, while the rain still spattered the fishermen, and the boat rocked back and forth in the torrent. Lightning still flashed. It took everyone on the rope to pull him back to the fishing boat. He was weak and soaked through. He coughed a lot. The captain told everyone to put t...

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“From Sea to Sand” by Anushka Chandan

Submitted to Contest #83

THE COLD AIR bit my skin. I broke through the shield of sea water, gasping for air and tasted salt on my lips. I felt my stomach turn. How long had I been in the water, getting further and further away from the shore? My hands stretched out, my fingers longing to get a hold of the floating piece of wood in front of me. The tips of my fingers missed the wood by a centimeter, and I kicked my legs, trying to get closer. Salty sea water sprayed caroused my face as soon as my hand slapped the piece of wood, grabbing it and pulling it closer to ...

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“Stars Gone Dim” by Ellie Keierleber

Submitted to Contest #83

The girl rose slowly from dark water, sliding gracefully through it as though the current posed no resistance against her movements. It lapped gently against the shore, creating rivets in the course sand then smoothing it back out as it receded. She stepped, tender footed, onto the beach, her bare feet making soft imprints in the clay. Although she had only just surfaced from the sea, her white dress flowed freely around her ankles, and her hair, dark as a raven’s wing, cascaded down her back. Her soft, brown skin glowed in the heaven...

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“Mother ” by Emmanuelle Shemko

Submitted to Contest #83

Seaweed hugs my feet as I walk out of the ocean onto the black sand beach of Maui. My family, I see them at a picnic table, are unpacking the veggie sandwiches we bought for lunch at the hotel. My sister smiles and waves at me to come over. I grab my towel from the hot sand, shaking it as I run over to them. The air is cool on my skin as I dry off, and I quickly throw my sundress over top of my bikini, not caring if it gets wet. The water has made me hungry, and I devour my sandwich and a bag of chips immediately. Around me, the ...

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“Swimming With a Ghost” by Bray L

Submitted to Contest #83

I could feel the ghost of him next to me. He was swimming and yelling and laughing and splashing the rushing salt water up into my face. When I closed my eyes, avoiding the droplets of the salty sea, it was easy to feel his warm presence contrasting the chilling water. Though he wasn’t swimming with me. He wasn’t yelling and laughing by my side, despite how I ached for him to be. Knowing that his ghost was here, in the spot where we met, was not enough to lighten the heaviness of the urn under my left arm. It was not enough to prevent...

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“An Unexpected Long-lasting Love” by Brandy Swor

Submitted to Contest #83

Nights like these are what I live for now. Ever since I got out of the mercenary business I have been seeking reprieve. Here I found it, in the sounds of the sea. The smell of the saltwater is a dream and the sound of the ocean winds are a calming blanket to my tired ears. I sit here on occasion to escape the thoughts of yesterday. "Whoa, what is that?" I exclaim to myself. I'm usually here alone at this time of night. My vision was blurred and foggy, the moon the only light upon the horizon. I had to walk closer to the figure I saw em...

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“A shooting star” by Vanessa Queens

Submitted to Contest #83

The water was warm and crystal clear and Tim could easily see the sandy bottom. Schools of small fish swam about in a coordinated manner and sea shells could be seen scattered everywhere. When he had reached the shallows, he stood up. The sand was smooth under his feet. He slowly lifted his head and let out a whistle of surprise. The island, despite being in the middle of nowhere, looked totally awesome. Tim felt the waist bag he carried round his waist and breathed a sigh of relief. “Everything according to plan,” he though...

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“Ebb Tide ” by Katherine Marie

Submitted to Contest #83

TW: suicide I crawl at the inky surface: desperate, feral, like an animal trying to escape a trap. I manage to steal one small gasp before the waves return, shoving me against the jagged rocks that slowly tear apart my fragile body. I’m not sure what pulled me to the water tonight. Maybe it was the moon, pulling me toward the water just as it pulled the water toward me. It always seemed to do that. “You are a child of the high tide,” my mother told me, as she gently brushed the sand from my corn-silk hair. “You and I are ...

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“We aren’t Lost” by Estelle Hunter

Submitted to Contest #83

Tessa giggled with delight as the foamy waves of the ocean on the beach tickled her toes and covered the pearly white sand for a moment before sliding back down to the depths of the water. She loved it here. Things washed up on the shore normally, letting her find things that still worked; a few bands made of elastic, some half dried drawing sticks with different flowy colours, some with black in the centre. Pieces of cloth you could wear after you dried them, some round bouncy things. She didn’t knew what they were called, having almost no ...

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“A Sip of Home” by Samantha Young

Submitted to Contest #83

The light brown sand, already hot from the sun's rays, squish between my toes as I step off the pitch paved road and onto the beach. Ten feet from the shore-line is my brother, Jeremy, and my best friend, Brian, hunched over in a stooping position, waxing their boards. Hundreds of black birds, similar to vultures, fly through the air, going from one end of the beach to the other, and back again. The rush of the waves bring my eyes towards the ocean; Maracas Bay. The number one beach on the island, known for having the best surfing waves an...

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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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