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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#86: Springtime Flowers

March 21st may be considered the first day of Spring by many, but Mother Nature doesn't always agree. Depending on where you live, the daffodils could be showing their sunny faces or still hibernating under frozen soil.

For me, it’s usually a mix. Here you can be wearing shorts one day and shoveling snow the next, but one thing is consistent: as soon as the weather warms up, I’m bursting outside to gulp down that fresh air and watch the world come back to life. This week, regardless of what the weather actually holds, let’s celebrate the season of rebirth and renewal. After all, in our imaginations the sun can always be shining and the birds can always be chirping!

This week's prompts

Set your story at a park during a spring festival.

Spring – 82 stories

Write about a character coming out of a long hibernation (either literal or metaphorical).

Spring – 158 stories

Write a fairy tale about someone who can communicate with woodland creatures.

Kids – 168 stories

Start your story with one character pointing out the first sign of spring to another.

Spring – 107 stories

Write a story where flowers play a central role.

Spring – 278 stories

Stories

“Decoding Botany ” by Julia Snyder

Submitted to Contest #86

I've never really been the type of person who liked flowers. Honestly, I was never the type of person who liked anything that could possibly insinuate romance. The color pink, cartoon hearts, rom-coms, love letters, etc etc. All of that ooey gooey goofy shit. And, I know, it's cliche for the child of a traumatic divorce to be a cynic, but cliches are cliches for a reason. When you watch two people lie to each other about loving one another for thirteen years, you tend to have an aversion to human connection. This is, however, besides the poi...

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“Lost” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #86

“Where is everybody?” “What do you mean?” “You are here, sitting in this booth, I can only assume there is a reason. The sign on the road says the Spring Fling was to take place here. The here, being designated by an arrow pointing in this direction. Did I miss something? Wrong day, time, city? “ “No, this is the right place. What were you expecting?” “I guess I was expecting there to be people, cars, noise, music, even clowns as they seem to be everywhere these days. But look, nothing, nada, grass, and an empty...

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“"What's A-hole In Chinese?"” by Lennox Ducksworth

Submitted to Contest #86

TW: drowning Bright was the word for it. All around Malcolm Chidike, the entire town of Newfield was in a red hue, like the earth itself was heating up with fire. In reality, it was just the lantern lights and droves of fireworks blasting in the night sky of the spring festival. He stared down at the armies of people, some in robes and masks, others in costumes parading all over the city. It almost made him forget about everything that happened just last year. From the Solar Flare to the appearance of superhumans, and to the rise of the firs...

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“The Flower Booth ” by Cheryl Lim

Submitted to Contest #86

"Hey, grandma. Could you tell me the story of how you and grandpa met?"I turned to look at Marco, my precious gem of a grandson and smiled."Are you not tired of hearing the story?" I chided him in jest, but he merely grinned and shook his head, his mop of unruly curls bouncing as he did. His mannerisms were so similar to those of Edward that I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips. Almost immediately, his face fell."Sorry, grandma," He murmured, looking away from me. “It’s probably a bad idea huh?”"Oh sugar, nothing you do can ever mak...

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“Small small bouquetSAY IT WITH FLOWERS” by Judith Veder

Submitted to Contest #86

Some small bouquets- SAY IT WITH FLOWERS Some years that dracaena margenata or dragon tree in my livingroom in the Bronx, New York, has stalks of flowers that come out at night to attract moths, and by morning, smell so heady and sweet, we need to open the windows. They are also very sticky. I’ve never seen the moths and that’s ok. What does that say? This plant is the descendent of the very first plant my now ex and I bought in the plant area in downtown New York in 1965 for $2.00 and carried on the subway all the way home...

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“Yellow-haired Stranger” by Lalisha Grubisic

Submitted to Contest #86

Hello there, yellow-haired stranger. You stand there with such curious poise. I wonder if you’ve ever seen me here too, But I wouldn't want to suffocate your yellow with all my shades of blue. It’s 5:06am, and Winter’s sun has come to kiss me good morning. I awake from my hibernation, still stuck on the same rattling bed in the same milk-coloured room. She beams through my little window, unaltered in her path of warmth and celebration. Her rays hug the ivory walls and tug at the places left shadowed by nurse’s cupboards and h...

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“MIROSES” by A P

Submitted to Contest #86

I was drowning in darkness. Black. All Black. Not even an utter movement while the whistling wind smeared against my cheek. Wedding bells, childhood cries, soul ripping screams alarmed my ears.The numbness in my brain made me question if I am still alive. Did I turn blind? Did I lose my way? all sorts of questions raided my mind. Phosphenes simultaneously curtained my eyes while rays of lime light flashed at me. White. A classic bouquet of white roses was held by my gloved hands.Walking further into the rays of light I could see roses again,...

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“False Spring” by Shari Tiedens

Submitted to Contest #86

Anastacia woke alone. It was cool and dark in the Den, the pods around her still and silent. That was wrong. Some should be out by now, aglow with pre-revival routines. Others should be awake. She should not be the first. Not if everything had gone as it should. Wake up, Canary, she thought, with a tight feeling inside. She unfolded from her sleep on unsteady legs, every inch of her trembling. An inquiry to the ship’s computer revealed the problem. A triggered perimeter alarm. But the numbers that should have told her where and when were a...

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“Grey” by Isabella Alves

Submitted to Contest #86

TW: abuse "Mama, Mama! Look at the flowers!" "Hold on darling, I'm coming!" Elly looked at the family as she sat on the park bench. The little boy was gripping onto his mother's pointer finger tightly as he led her to the wildflowers. Her heart ached. She wished her mother was here. She looked around. "What do you mean Mommy isn't coming? It's my birthday!" "I'm sorry sweetie, you know Mommy isn't feeling-" "Isn't feeling what?" Dad took a step back from me. His hands were shaking. "The date changed. It's now going to be five years." "Da...

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“His Companion” by Elliot G

Submitted to Contest #86

The sun was high in the sky, casting its warmth and gleaming rays onto the early-spring dew. A gentle breeze swayed the leaves tenderly as the birds sang melodically in the newly-blooming trees. Though small patches of muddied snow remained spotted about in the grassy hills of Lancashire, Nature seemed to finally be awakening after a long and frosty hibernation.Down by the stable, a small and sturdy wooden structure, two men stood side-by-side admiring the delightful scenery. “Look, sir!” Exclaimed the shorter one, running t...

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“Awakened” by Stormi Gales

Submitted to Contest #86

The sound of a door slamming echoed through the empty halls. A bright harsh light blinded her. She had not seen light in such a long time, she had almost forgotten what it was. She squinted, lifting her arms above her head to shield her throbbing eyes from the unforgiving shine. As she began to sit up, unfamiliar grey flowers that had grown along her slumbering form began to fall away before her. Through shadowed eyes she watched them whither, die, and dissolve into ashes around her. The sun shone brightly through the broken windows of her c...

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“To the girl I met in the woods” by Harriet Nightingale

Submitted to Contest #86

To the girl I met in the woods: Today marks the anniversary of the day you saved my life. Part of me wants to think Fate put us by the lakeside intentionally that day, but deep down I know the truth. Fate is cruel and cowardly and never supplies such kindness or sympathy. Meeting you was a coincidence. A soul-crushingly happy coincidence. But the thing about coincidences is they rarely happen twice and never play out the way you want. To be honest, I don't think I ever want to see you again. Your eight-year-old grin as you chased your German...

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“The resilience of spring flowers” by Ionel Rusanu

Submitted to Contest #86

Sveta was a good girl. Always has been. But for some weeks, an inexorable guilt engulfed her. It was her fault that her father, the pillar of the family, was in a hospital fighting for his life. She suspected, and for good reasons, that she was the reason he was infected with the new virus.She didn’t know where she got it. Maybe from the crowded marketplace where her mother sends her to buy the groceries. At first, she thought she had caught a cold from a trip she made in the woods at the edge of the town. Her mother sent her there to pick u...

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“Untamed” by Flower Queens Adventures

Submitted to Contest #86

Her gamertag was UntamedDaisy but everyone called her Untamed. She wore a Daisy pendant necklace because she believed its qualities,innocence, purity and newness, fit her perfectly. She wasn’t the best video gamer but she was one of a kind. “Asturd”, “ThatGuy3”, “ChocolateAsh”, and “PoppinCherreees”, were all her best friends, and yes she knew their real names but she rarely used them. Gamertags had their own type of anonymity and class. Her love seat was a dark navy blue seated directly in between a roundtable, stacked high with pizza boxes...

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“A Fresh Yellow Morning ” by Claire Brocksopp

Submitted to Contest #86

I took a seat, perching carefully next to a bald man in sunglasses. I could feel the early morning dew from the bench seeping its way through my jeans but I didn't really care too much. My focus was solely on my surroundings. The sky was clear and the air was fresh, burning against my cheeks and stinging my eyes. With each blink against the crisp morning came a new tear drop, trickling slowly down my cheek. Ironic really, that I was in the one place where crying was welcomed, yet the only tears present were created by the weather. I stared d...

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$50

Prize money

797

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 26, 2021 EST

Won by Scott Skinner 🏆

Title: Flowering Walrus

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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