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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

“Is It Really Goodbye?” by SpaceHuman 🌌

Submitted to Contest #83

Splash. Splash. Thunk. I watch my little grey stone sink into the expanse of the lapis blue water. The sky is filled with the humming of the birds and I know they call to me. They tell me all is fine. But do I know that myself?I sigh and I pick up a lazurite sitting on the bank. Even the ground below tells me it will be alright. This piece is a keeper."Maiya!" A friendly voice calls from the scrambled bushes near the sand. The plants part, revealing a beautiful girl.I smile. "Hi Susuri. I'm gonna miss you." I hope my aquamarine eyes show it....

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“Water Bear, spit of the Indian Ocean ” by Amber Brownlee

Submitted to Contest #83

Every year on the night of the blood moon, my village and many others like it would take to the seas in hopes of seeing the Great water bear, spirt of the Indian Ocean. This year was especially momentous, for the first time I was old enough to join my brothers and father, my mother was very apprehensive about letting me go but my father wasn’t giving her much of a choice. For years I listen to the stories of the great water spirit who was said to bring good fortune to those who had the pleasure of laying eyes on her. Others, including my mot...

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“Sincerely, Mama and Papa” by Zahra Daya

Submitted to Contest #83

I brush a piece of seaweed from my neck, it grazes my cheek and reluctantly falls, withering back into the depths of the churning sea. The sea spews out more seaweed that clings to my ankles and sends goosebumps down my neck. I close my eyes, trying to block out the events of the past couple of hours. No. I try to force the thoughts out of my fragile mind, but they persist, wiggling through little apertures and bringing an orphic ambiance with it. Chaos. It was complete chaos and the only pocket of peace I held was the kiss on my f...

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“The Story Of Sea God” by Sudhanshu Shekhar

Submitted to Contest #83

Magic book of skin There was a sea. The name of the sea was Amme and it lives a sea god of the sea. Who was a powerful god of sea? And his name was Octarius. He was a god of luck and fate. And he had always a trident in his hand. Also that trident was not a simple trident but that was a magical trident. And there was a beautiful palace inside the sea Amme. The palace was full of everything needed in life. ...

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“IMPROMPTU GHOSTS” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #83

Monica was 32, tall, fairly good-looking with her shoulder length hair combed neatly and flowing down her shoulders. She had studied to be a vet and had become a competent animal surgeon. She lived in the third floor of a flat in a high rise apartment complex with an elderly live-in woman to help. Monica would be at the elevator exactly at 8 when a tall young man would come down from the sixth floor and pause at the third floor to pick her up. Though bald he was handsome and they became acquainted, and after a time love blossomed. When ...

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“The Red Killer” by Urvi Kulkarni

Submitted to Contest #83

The sun cast it glow on my patterned beige sundress making me look like a summer queen. I stared at myself in the mirror thinking about what I had signed up for. A bargain vacation. Phew. I was in desperate need of a break and the idea of a vacation was tempting. But being broke, I had to settle for a cheaper vacation with many conditions. One of which included me staying with a stranger.I contemplated all the things that could go wrong. Me ending up dead as a result of being paired with a serial killer or me ending up having a great time an...

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“Swashbuckling” by Angel Elle

Submitted to Contest #83

In the distance, past the harbor, if anyone had been keeping watch, there would have appeared the faintest of disturbances in the sea; a slight discrepancy from the soft, but pummeling waves crashing onto the rocks that lined it.There in the distance, Robert was clinging to the fated piece of driftwood that had spared his life. Exhausted by the events of the past day, his semiconscious mind was having difficulty grasping the scene of safety in front of him. At first, he had assumed it was a mere mirage, a frequent plague of his rec...

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“Talk to Me” by Scott Weedman

Submitted to Contest #83

Talk to Me She wakes and dread seeps back into her like a tide, cold and inescapable. Please talk to me, she thinks. Let it be today. Across the bedroom, the window sill glows blue-grey beneath the shudder, and the room is dark and cool and vaguely antiseptic smelling. She must have cleaned for him; he loves a clean place, or rather he loves watching her clean: naked cleaning, they call it. There’s also naked dinner, naked TV (though never during his gameshows, she’s tried), and on one memorable occasion, naked car washing. They lead to...

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“Room 704” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #83

Content warning: violence, murder Julie walked into the hotel she would be staying at and could barely suppress her glee. She was going on vacation. Between her job with copious hours and the expensiveness of airplane tickets and other travel needs, she never was able to go on vacation. But today, she was. Two weeks ago, she had been looking through her mail and had found a vacation package deal including a hotel room for a bargain. She adjusted her bag and went through the revolving door to the front desk. “Hi, I reserved a room under the n...

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“Sleeping mind with a wonderful soul ” by Sanjida Shanu🌿

Submitted to Contest #83

Emily puts her hand on Nebula's head and tells her to go to sleep on the bank of a river. The nebula felt a gentle cold air, a smile appeared on his face, and he fell asleep.Nebula is not a famous woman but she is a woman of great thinking power. She writes wonderfully and also draws pictures. She is the most peace-loving person in her family and is very self-centered. She has built a world around himself where her thoughts work like a ring. When she closes her eyes she feels an invisible galaxy around her and her fa...

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“Encantado” by Catherine Stevens

Submitted to Contest #83

The sensation of slightly rising and falling engulfed her, not unpleasant, just different. It was an undulating wave, like a melody of a lullaby coaxing her away from awareness. But something was trying to drag her back, a restlessness in her mind attempting to rouse her. The persistant unease crumbled the façade of tranquility, causing Vida to slowly open her eyes. Blue obscured her vision. Blinking, she tried to focus but reflections of light r...

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“From the Island in the Sea to the Stars in the Sky” by Cassia Savage

Submitted to Contest #83

The sky was dark with only stars to shine light on the island and the sea, and there was no sign of the dawn, for it had been weeks and still no sun appeared. The island - and the people called it Hidden; it was not more than a myth in their eyes - had solely a tower made of stone on it. The myth was that there was a princess in the tower, made of gold and light, and only a prince could save her. Over the many years of generations dating to the beginning of the myth, princes from kingdoms everywhere had attempted to save who they thought was...

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“Ripped” by Holly Fister

Submitted to Contest #83

If there was an art to looking sexy at the beach, Heather hadn’t mastered it. She imagined emerging from a calm sea with slick hair and a glistening body, hips swaying as she strode to shore. Instead, she stepped on a sharp shell and screeched like a parrot. An incoming wave hit the back of her knees as she hopped in pain, and she buckled. The roiling water crashed over her body and sent her tumbling toward shore with the churning sand, depositing her on the beach in a tangled mess of limbs and hair.“WIPEOUT!” Beau screamed next to her ear. ...

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“Drink.Die.Rain” by L.B Rinker

Submitted to Contest #83

Drink.Die.Rain My lips were cracking, burning, as I laid there in the hot sand in the middle of town. My head rested against the steps to the saloon, the plan had been to get something to drink, I prayed for water, but would have settled for whiskey, they didn’t have either. It hadn’t rained for months, the whole area was bone dry, even the reserves were tapped out. My horse, Delilah, who had already succumbed to dehydration, baked in the sun just a few feet away, she was starting the stink. I tried swatting the flies awa...

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“Two Gods” by Annette Lovewind

Submitted to Contest #83

A man emerged from the shores of the beach. Standing in the water a few feet from the shore. He had dark blue eyes, a blonde top that was shaved on the sides and he was wearing tropical leaf pattern shorts. A pair of sleek black sunglasses sat firmly on his face. The man stood and stared intently at the busy California street and watched the cars and people pass by. He was waiting for someone.A man gracefully emerged next to him. He didn’t trudge in the water instead he sort of lifted and slid into appearance with waves parting. He had brune...

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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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