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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

“Mine Be” by Cara H

Submitted to Contest #86

Mine Be Mystic Gallery “Let us have a little fun with this place, Yadira,” Nyarlathotep suggested to his daughter, spinning in a rapid pirouette, and trading his sharp royal blue ensemble for a zoot suit composed of wild patches of colors and patterns seamlessly woven together. “The good Princess Ondina wished for this gallery to be a place where visitors could leave their cares behind. As you have observed, each of these paintings is the gateway to a wonderful world, but none of these worlds is our world. Let us create a gateway to our very...

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“A Girl, A Stranger, and A Bouquet” by Asha Iyer

Submitted to Contest #86

Three months is equal to 92 days. It is a long period to spend waiting at the exit of a metro station, with a bouquet of red roses in hand and a silent appeal in the eyes. Each day was a fresh reminder of past rejections. Hope, in those days, was just a passing emotion that I momentarily experienced around 6.30 in the evening on weekdays.I am not new to rejections. It is such a natural part of my life that I now look upon acceptance with great suspicion. No one says ‘yes’ these days without a motive of self-interest. The first time I knew re...

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“Alone With The Flowers 🌺 ” by ʟɪʟᴍᴇᴏᴡ ᴍᴇᴏᴡ

Submitted to Contest #86

A sweet smell and aroma filled the air...what could it be? The aroma led 7 year old Lily to a garden, filled with various plants, some flowers included such as violets, daisies, roses, sunflowers, and tulips; but the fragrant smell was coming from the flower section of the garden, it seemed so exceptional that Lily thought she was dreaming. The nectar started having an impact. The sweetness looked like it was dancing around her as if it was a never ending blaze of inextinguishable fire; was this really a dream although it seemed so real?7 ye...

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“The Dahlias are alive, but She is not” by Kristian DeJesus

Submitted to Contest #86

Usually several souls at a time would populate the shop when the weather was foul. The day before, it was sunny, the first day of spring. The whole week in fact, had been sunny, and the forecast for the weekend was rain. The rain had come. Typically the signs of spring, along with rain meant an onslaught of customers. Yet, consumer behavior had become near unpredictable since the pandemic of 2020. What was once routine trends of business had become a graph of unpatterned spikes and plateaus. The mix of grey and rain made ...

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“The Winning Arrangement” by Bonnie Clarkson

Submitted to Contest #86

Weather cooperated with Richard’s plans for attending the state fair. No rain. Lots of sunshine, but not too hot. The people wore clothing colorful enough to be an entry of a florist’s design. He believed walking the fairgrounds to be more pleasurable than an ocean cruise. Richard, thirty-years-old and with brown hair, looked at his map. He noticed the university’s home and garden landscaping display on the map...

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“"The Man Who Lived in a Big City"” by Sofia Lugo

Submitted to Contest #86

Some time ago, there was a man who lived in a big city- he lived for his work where others work to live their lives. He was cold to people and did not have any friends of his own- he would prefer to be alone. Oh, but when he was young- he was kind, generous and open, something so foreign to him now. When 6 years-old, the boy lived with his grandmother- Every noon they would visit the beautiful garden full of flowers and different plants, in which he would pick flowers and arrange them for his Grandmother’s kitchen counter -as he knew she lo...

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“Petals” by Moon 🌙

Submitted to Contest #86

This story is just for fun, but feel free to read it if you would like!(I DO NOT want to win this contest, or any, it is just for fun 😜)~Petals~By Toca Fox"Bye boss! Have a great weekend!""Goodbye, Caroline! You as well!"The sun beats down on my skin as I leave the antique shop and look down at my Fitbit and scan the top of the screen to see the time 4:21pm. Perfect! Just in time to get back to the my apartment and get ready for my interview at 5. The clouds above me growl and whistle howls of wind as if telling me they are about to open up....

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“April Flowers” by Alanna Molzahn

Submitted to Contest #86

She liked the spring flowers the most – tulips, daffodils, bluebells. She didn’t find those too often. There were an abundance of roses and lilies, typical flowers for the dead. As she walked amongst the rows of gravestones, she wondered why more people didn’t bring wildflowers for their loved ones, or even plant them on top of the bodies. She had mixed feelings about the artificial flowers that some people left. On one hand, they could never die. But to Amina it seemed like a taunt for the dead: here is something that will never die, unlike...

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“The Names of the Rose” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #86

No le toquéis ya más, que así es la rosa(Don't touch it any more; that's what the rose is like.)Juan Ramón JiménezA Rose is a Rose is a Rose.Gertrude SteinThe lily has a smooth stalk,Will never hurt your hand;But the rose upon her briarIs lady of the land.Christina Georgina RosettiJe vois la vie en rose.(The world is rose-colored to me.)Édith PiafI am always being given horrendous assignments in this job. Maybe I should quit and get a different one, a better one, one that wouldn’t send me into mad mood swings all the time. Just when I had re...

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“Traded Daffodils for a Kingdom of Ash and Bone” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #86

The flowers aren’t as beautiful as everyone says they are. Sure, they’re beautiful, but after staring at them for so long I can’t think of them that way anymore. They’re just boring, and they’re all I ever see. My mother says I must stay in the garden, I’m safe here. I shouldn’t complain, it’s not a prison or anything. There is plenty of space and kind creatures that roam around. I’ve made friends with the dryads and nymphs, so I’m not lonely, I’m just bored. All I ever do is garden, and while this place is magnificent, onc...

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“The Flower Arch” by Brianna Stilwell

Submitted to Contest #86

Finally. Though the sun’s brilliant golden rays shone down on the city below, an occasionally bitter wind continued to rustle through the leaves. It was easy to find a patch of sunny warmth, but the disturbance of the frigid wind made jackets a necessity. Cora didn’t mind, though. From beneath the light beige of her thin spring jacket, the knee-length skirt of a sundress patterned with pink roses flared out. Her pink ballerina flats walked her daintily across the muddy grass, each step light and delicate, filled with purpose. Her arms were...

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“Blossoms” by Tera King

Submitted to Contest #86

The cherry blossoms floated gently down to kiss the water in a romantic dance of wind and sun. The Spring Festival was in full swing, and the town was packed with tourists and locals alike, drinking in the pink laden winds and the sun-kissed streets worn with years of foot traffic. The night was just as lively, as spring break was nearing its end. Students, adults, and others wished a time like this, full of reckless abandon and releasing of inhibition would last forever. Tonight, however, was quiet, silent. The night was falling rapid...

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“best friend, first love, both lost” by Carole Cobos

Submitted to Contest #86

Limp weeds crushed under rain boots. Chubby hands intertwined. Bright smiles. Rosy cheeks and noses. Squeals of laughter filling the air. That was the earlier memory of the Spring Festival he could recall. It was rainy. And that would be enough of an excuse for the vendors and money makers to ask for a ‘rain date’. But, never once, had Tailes delayed their Spring Festival, and being superstitious people by nature they refused to be the ones to start a trend of delayed events. In the muggy weather. The air was warm and h...

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“The Spring Power” by Aanika Gajendragad

Submitted to Contest #86

I smile when I look around me. The place is filled with bright flowers and children running around. They are enjoying themselves, as they should. They just finished their exams. I look over at my 5-year-old cousin, who’s trying to play with 12-year-olds. She’s copying everything they are doing, which makes me giggle. The place is decorated with lanterns. It feels good to be back in China. It’s a new year, finally. I’ve been waiting for this terrible year to get over. “Jenny!” Someone calls as I turn around. “Jennifer Wang, where have you bee...

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“SUCCESS HIBERNATION” by Gulnaaz Saif

Submitted to Contest #86

SUCCESS HIBERNATION “THE BOY FROM INDIAN SOIL SUCCESSFULLY BAGS THE RICHEST MAN OF WORLD TITLE.” “SAM SAXENA LAGS BEHIND GATES AND MUSK” “SAM SAXENA - A STORY FROM RICHES TO RAGS AND THEN TO RICHES” “INDIAN PRIDE ‘SAM’ HAS HONOURED THE NATION WITH DIAMOND CROWN” I read the newspaper headings standing on the top floor of Burj Khalifa, one of the most expensive hotels in the world. With Black coffee in one hand newspaper in the other, I looked out of the window of its lavish royal suite. People from across the world were hovering on the stre...

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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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