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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

“Wet and Cold” by Parker McDaniel

Submitted to Contest #83

(THIS IS NOT GOING TO REPRESENT MĀHINA AND THEIR GOVERNMENT ACCURATELY THEY WERE USED FOR PLOT PURPOSES ONLY) Cold. All Auau could think was cold. How cold she was. Auau lives in Māhina, French Polynesia to her mom Ura and her dad Ahurei. Her mom was pregnant with Auau’s brother. But Auau knew that couldn’t deter her, she had to leave. Māhina was corrupt, in debt, and had low budget schools, Auau wanted to do things, good things. But she couldn’t, at least not here. Auau knew she had to go to America so she could go to a good high school, ...

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“TWILIGHT ” by Alonzriah'a Washington

Submitted to Contest #83

by DOUGLAS PENICK Part 1 Winter ice and slippers. Instability on the black driveway. Well, there’s a reason they call them slippers. Slippery bed slippers. She should be slipping into bed. Or, determined as she was, she should have put on the boots. Even with having to sit down and bend and the shortness of breath and the undignified tugging at slippery boot tops in the freezing hallway. Why did coldness make indignity worse? Well, it did. It does.Oh, she’d thought, she’d just run out for a second and get… what was it? S...

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“Operation: Escape” by Sid The Sloth

Submitted to Contest #83

***Just letting you guys know that if you see spelling mistakes when the children are counting, it's intentional :) *** Plan A: Threaten the children Roses are red Violets are blue I love my vacations And if you talk to me before I get one I will smack you Makenna looked over it with appreciation, before turning to four demons at her feet, aka, her children. They were staring up at her with adoring eyes, and although she loved them with all her heart, she wanted, no needed, this vacation. The past few years, she had been at the bec...

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“Mana of the Ancestors” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #83

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kali fumed, as she tried to connect her phone to the hotel’s guest Wi-Fi and pull up her reservation confirmation. Easter Island had unreliable cell service.“Miss Mana, we realize you have a reservation but there’s been a mistake. We're terribly sorry, but our hotel is overbooked, so the best we can offer is for you to share a suite with another guest. That guest has already been staying with us for three weeks, and he has graciously agreed to split the cost,” the desk clerk did his best to apologize.“He?” Kali...

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“Dear Asher” by Kat Sencen

Submitted to Contest #83

Dear Asher, I wish that you could be here with me. I wish you could see me get drowned by a wave and still emerge from the dark blue sea happily, getting back on my board. I wish we could laugh by the beach together, clinking tropical drinks and watching the kids build sand castles. I wish I didn’t feel so alone. I feel like eleven months after the accident I should still be mourning you, but I know you wouldn’t want that of me. I wish this trip wasn’t to ease the stress of everything for the kids. I wish this fun trip could be for a fun rea...

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“Saint Aidan and the Strömkarl” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #83

As the mournful sound of a violin floated across the water, Brigid turned to her sweetheart. “Will you hear that?” she asked him. Donal looked at her blankly. “Sure, and isn’t that the most lovely music!” she replied, letting go of his hand and following the haunting strain. Mist descended over the lake, a fine, grey, cobwebby thing that hid the shadowy figure with the violin. Thin, bony fingers clutched the bow and stroked the strings until they moaned; and as each note rose into the air, the wind grew colder until the lake began to fre...

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“Her Stars” by Maggie Hicklin

Submitted to Contest #83

It’s been years since I’ve seen the Earth’s crust, with it’s green rolling hills and soft-spoken mountains. I am more accustomed to the suffocating navy of the ocean than the golden rays of sunlight which used to bless the Earth in The Before. Humanity failed Mother Nature, and She in turn failed us. I have longed to emerge from the blanket of blackness that is the sea, and now I have to. I am dying. It’s painful to think of The Before. The days melted into weeks down here, and with that I lost my concept of time. Days mingled with ho...

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“Last to Sea” by Rita Gulick

Submitted to Contest #83

There was debris everywhere scattered along the white sands. Small waves splashed upon the broken boards and luggage floating along the shore. It was the dawn after the storm. Floating in the water with the wreckage of a good fishing boat, was a body. The waves washed it ashore and retreated just as quickly, leaving the man to bask in the morning sun. He coughed some water up and stayed where he was just feelingthe warmth of the sun on his face thinking this must be heaven. He slowly opened his eyes and glared against the brightness....

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“The West and Beyond Bar and Grill (1800 Words)” by Donald Zagardo

Submitted to Contest #83

Donald Zagardo &...

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“"Hey, that's MY room!"” by Somegenius Kid

Submitted to Contest #83

Ahhhh. Think of a paradise. Like Hawaii or to be more exact, Disneyworld. The happiest place on earth. Imagine you just booked a hotel suite for only $200 on Insta for Disneyworld! What a bargain you must think. Well if it's too good to be true, you shouldn’t buy it. That’s not what I did. I said, “What a bargain! I must buy it before it sells out!” DON’T ever be dumb like me. Well anyways, I bought it, I went there, I was all kind of hawaiian style. I get to the counter. “Hi! Umm. I booked a hotel here.” I say. “Ok!” The guy at the counter ...

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“Inn the Dark” by Anna Mosqueda

Submitted to Contest #83

"Help me up, Clayton," Lorelai says from below the boat. Because the ladder is broken, we have to get one of the guys to help us up from the water. "I think we should call it a day," I say as Lorelai is pulled out of the water and wraps a damp towel around herself. She'd pulled it off of River who, by the looks of it, put about a pea-sized amount of sunscreen on. "Yeah. My mom has ought to have called a couple of times by now. I left my phone at the inn," Reis says. "Alright, let's get goin' then." Clayton sits down and steers the boat...

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“Sunset Isle” by Pippin Took

Submitted to Contest #83

Lynn splashed in the tropical cove that was her home. Her shimmery blue green hair shone in the sun. It almost looked like water, her beautiful hair. It was down to her waist, and she usually had it down, with a waterfall braid curving around her head. Her ears were big and pointed. She was like an elf of the sea, except she was a water spirit, or a tele h’ai, which means “children of the sea”. She was beautiful. She was giggling to herself in the paradise of the tropical island in which she lived, called Sunset Isle. Only a fe...

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“A gift for Aqua” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #83

Jess carefully made her way down to the place where the ocean lapped upon the shore. The great basket of her mother’s flowers was a beautiful gift and she hoped it and the rainbow of color within would please the Goddess Aqua. Bare feet wet with the crystal clear sea, then shins, then finally thighs, Jess ventured forth to rest the basket upon the crest of the tiny waves and gave her offering a gentle shove. The basket’s bouquet was picked up by the ocean breeze and blown back toward Jess once more before the loaded wicker coasted away. For ...

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“1941” by Inkstained Introvert

Submitted to Contest #83

It will be December 7th when you hear the news. You’ll have been at the beach with your friends all day; it will be a Sunday, and on weekends, your mother allows you to do close to whatever you want. It will be almost dinnertime, and, realizing this, you’ll scramble out of the water and pull on your clothes without drying yourself, shouting a hurried goodbye to the handful of boys floating in the water, only their heads visible, mostly shining blonde crowns of hair with one ginger and one brunette. You’ll make your way along the narrow San F...

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“My Little Island” by Zoey Hailey

Submitted to Contest #83

I take one final glance at the large, golden orb of holy light standing alone in between the misty, cotton candy skies. She waves goodbye to the world before finally disappearing behind the wonders of the curious blue depths of the ocean, where she rests.I feel the soft, little particles of brown sand embracing my small, tanned feet like Earth's own giant blanket. I walk silently and gently over to her beautiful blue waters as they rush to the top of the shore, dampening my toes.I take one last whiff of the salty air that I can almost taste....

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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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