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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

“SEA GODS BY ” by Alonzriah'a Washington

Submitted to Contest #83

POSEIDON At birth Poseidon was swallowed whole by his father Kronos (Cronus), but Zeus later enlisted the aid of the goddess Metis who fed the Titan a magical elixir causing him to disgorge the god. <<More>> During the War of the Titans, the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) crafted a magical trident for Poseidon, and together with his brothers Zeus and Hades he defeated the elder gods and imprisoned them in Tartaros. <<More>> Poseidon and his brothers drew lots for the division of the cosmos after the fall of the Titans, and won t...

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“Winter in Buffalo” by Paddy Josephs

Submitted to Contest #83

He was relying on this trip to save their listless marriage. He knew the gray and disconsolate December landscape of Buffalo, New York was only going to make their uphill battle of marital rejuvenation far more difficult. He wasn't sure if this trip was going to be too little, too late. However, he did know that staying in New York, where the weather was beginning to flirt with subzero wind chills and the sun's appearance became more and more fleeting with each passing day, was leading to a certain death to a once vivacious relationship.She ...

7 comments 7
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“Blood covered eyes” by Oasis Romem

Submitted to Contest #83

He almost died, but after 60 days alone in the Pacific Ocean, he saw land. “I’m saved" Daniel Floyd said as his raft slowly floated towards the island, and Daniel could be right, that’s the first time in two months he is seeing anything other than water.The raft finally arrived to the beach, and Daniel felt the sand, he cried and then fainted.He could hear someone walking towards him but couldn’t move.“I'LL BE OK BEVERLY, I PROMISE"“DON'T TRUST THE TREE PEOPLE, DON'T TRUST THEM.”He woke up dizzy, he’s been blindfolded, and someone is carryi...

5 comments 5
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“The Rise of King Triton” by Siobhan Mulalley

Submitted to Contest #83

The white horses thundered towards the shore pulling with them Poseidon God of the sea, in his mighty clam shell chariot. The sea was angry because Poseidon was angry. His sea spirits rode the backs of the dolphins in angry procession to meet the sea witch queen. She was sitting as always sitting on a rock formation, near the harbour of some unsuspecting town. Whose fishermen and sailors would head out to sea and be seduced by her sirens. Their ships would be forever consigned to the bottom of the sea with their souls. Poseidon wasn’t angr...

5 comments 5
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“Alone” by We All Feel Lost Inside

Submitted to Contest #83

Alone. All alone in this world. Aren’t we all? No. We aren’t. No one is. Sadness creeps up on us like a lurking shadow. No one can stop it. No matter how hard we try. No one is alone. Only me. Me only. If I had 1 wish, it would be to never be alone again.People brush past me. I’m a shadow in this world. Just a speck of nothing. They don’t know I cry myself to sleep every night. They don’t know I have no family. They don’t know I have nightmares where I can never get up. No one knows. No one.I wish I was not alone. I wish I had friends. I wis...

57 comments 57
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“Jokes on You, I'm an Immortal” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #83

As my head broke through the freezing sea water, salty drops dripped down my face as I gulped up the chilly night air. The only illumination on this cold February night was the breathtaking, lonely stars above, staring down at me as I looked up to meet their gaze. While I softly treaded water, only one thought ran through my mind: I can’t believe that son of a bitch actually pushed me in. Guess he was serious about that “trying to murder me” thing, huh? The growl of my boat’s engine grew faintly as my supposed “friend” left me to drown in t...

6 comments 6
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“vacation ” by Alonzriah'a Washington

Submitted to Contest #83

I now it not mine ok So hear it is Ever wondered what the person at the front desk is really thinking when checking you into a hotel? I spoke with half a dozen current and former hotel front desk staffers who shared their pet peeves, offered insider advice, and revealed how (and how not) to get an upgrade. Below are nine important things to know. Hotels Have Stuff Most Guests Don’t Think to Borrow You’ve probably hit up the hotel front desk for simple toiletry items you left at home, but Sarah Dandashy, who serves as concierge at the ...

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“The Merrow: An Irish Fable” by Jack O'Brien

Submitted to Contest #83

Liam looked out over the calm sea and prepared his nets for the day ahead; the skies looked promising except for some gray, low hanging clouds far out to sea. “Aye, let this be a good day,” he muttered, “My press is as empty as a scoundrel’s heart.” “Mother,” he looked skyward “could ye see fit to bring me a wee bit of good luck today?” He often spoke thus to his beloved mother who had sung to him as a boy and told wonderful stories of Irish folklore. He was particularly fond of those tales which spoke of the merrow and morgens, enchanted ...

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“The Sun Still Shines” by Zea Bowman

Submitted to Contest #83

She arose from the ocean.Sea foam bubbled and thrived around her, jumping like fish at her feet. The water itself parted to make way for her, and she bent down to pet it, smiling and revealing perfect white teeth. Her body was perfect in every way, shape, and form. Her platinum blonde hair was as waves of pure earth, sofly reflecting the light of the sun; each strand moving freely in an ocean born breeze, a compliment to her stillness. Her sun kissed skin shone in the sunlight, as if it sparkled. With eyes of river waters, in glossy ser...

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“Where the Sea Meets The Stars” by Doubra Akika

Submitted to Contest #83

Stuck in a world of our own, Humanity was always a world away, It was just the sea, my mother and me. I should have listened, The sea has destroyed us. They say water has memory. Imagine what a gigantic body of water could hold; the deception of sailors against their wives, the tears of a child from fear of the water, and even the smiles of a mother sharing a day on the beach with her daughter. I always was the observant one. All my life, I couldn’t help but notice the odd shapes of leaves when stepped on, the way water seemed to...

27 comments 27
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“Starfish Grotto” by Echo Sundar

Submitted to Contest #83

I thought I was dreaming at first. Though I was hallucinating. Because seriously how could that happen? I must have been reading too many stories about the Greek gods. In Stories about greek gods, it was normal for people to rise out from the sea. Aphrodite rose from the sea covered in light blue silk and all the gods begged for her hand. That happened in stories. Not in real life. Not in my life. But there she was literally rising from the sea.   I was sitting in a little alcove on the beach, a tiny little cave that took an unusu...

16 comments 16
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“Aitch Two Oh” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #83

It might have been the dehydration, but Innis wasn’t surprised when a shape swelled out of the ocean. The protrusion rose above the dingy’s inflated edge. The sunlight sparkled its way through the turquoise, diffracted a thousand different ways. At first, it was nothing but a smooth tendril, rounded and faceless. But as the seconds dripped by, features emerged from that liquid countenance. A nose. Two eyes. A mouth. Ears too. Locks of curled hair, which cascaded over a shoulder and spilled over a clamshell bra. All that same shade of aqu...

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“Paradise Stolen” by Kim Kline

Submitted to Contest #83

Staring out at Arenal Volcano from the picturesque resort she would call home for the next six days, Victoria knew she’d made the right decision. The idea of traveling alone to another country was intimidating at first, but after some encouragement from her family and friends back home in Philadelphia, she decided to embrace it. After all, it was either that or say goodbye to the thousands of dollars she and Michael had poured into the non-refundable vacation package. It wasn’t how she ever envisioned her honeymoon, but knowing what she knew...

9 comments 9
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“Where the Waters Take You” by Jay DMer

Submitted to Contest #83

Shoutout to Nainika for collabing with me:) Check her out: https://blog.reedsy.com/creativewritingprompts/author/nainika-gupta/***Ding ding.“Um, excuse me, sir? Ma’am? Hello? May I get anyone’s attention here? Ugh! This is terrible service!”I turn from the front desk and return back to where I started, the lobby. I take a seat and scroll through the procedures I was given for this vacation. After purchasing your Vacation Bargain Bundle Express, check your email. You’ll be sent a copy of your scheduled flight times and everything you nee...

3 comments 3
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“Made of the Sea and the Stars” by Vie Tan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #83

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 not open your eyes. Air — how do you know what air is — fills your body, and you are forced to breathe in and out — how do you know how to breathe — and this is a luxury. You slip ben...

4 comments 4
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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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