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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

“It's called Writer's Block” by Vanessa Queens

Submitted to Contest #86

He stared at the screen; the blank paper was staring back at him. The same feeling every night; a void of thoughts, of ideas. As if the world offered no stimuli to write.Since when was the world so predictable? Or so commonplace? Or so uninteresting? He couldn’t tell. His last book was a best seller. But that was it. After that, nothing. No inspiration, no motivation, call it whatever you like.“It went to your head,” a friend told him. No, no, that wasn’t true. Of course, he felt proud. But up to a point. He had self-control, self-discipline...

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“Toxicodendron radicans” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #86

TW: murder RE: FOIA REQUEST Our office will release evidence pertaining to Case No. AX002331 and Case No. AX002332 to Vicki Vale, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Please note as these investigations are ongoing, some information has been redacted. The requested files are attached to this email. -- Officer Roger DeCarlo - GCPD Major Crimes Unit - Public Liaison *** From the private log of Dr. Jason Woodrue - MARCH 19 - 11:06 PM Having returned from my meeting with General Sunderland, I am...

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“The Rabbit, the Fox, and the White Squirrel” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #86

The Blueridge National Forest in eastern West Virginia is a great place to go camping. At least that’s what the Taylor family thought while driving on an isolated back road. Brad Taylor’s Ford F-150 pickup truck could handle most roads, but he had to engage the four-wheel drive to make it through this one. The downpour from last night made the road muddy and slippery. Brad turned the wheel left to right to keep the truck centered in the road. He could hear the tires roar like a mighty lion as they spun. His daughter Sara was sliding bac...

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“The Endless Forest” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #86

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Jimmy. He didn't think he was anything special, but he was more special than he thought he was. He could do something no other person could do: he could really talk with animals. He didn't know how he'd gained the ability. It wasn't something he'd been born with. Maybe the accident he'd been in had made his head work differently than before. Whatever the reason, he looked forward to waking up and telling his parents about his newfound ability. How amazed they would be.----------“How is he, sir?” ...

144 comments 144

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“Our Red Roses ” by Malz Castell

Submitted to Contest #86

Do you remember the day of your first deployment? I clung to you, unwilling to let you go. All I could think about was what if you didn’t make it back, what if this was the last time I saw you, what if this was the last day that we were us and after that, it was just me. I told you through tears and sniffles what I was thinking about. You held me tighter and I wanted to stay like that forever, in your arms, the safest place in the world. You placed me down on the couch and walked over to the kitchen. I could hear you moving things aro...

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“The Life After” by Gip Roberts

Submitted to Contest #86

The last thing he remembers before waking up to...this was all the sensations disappearing. Clear up to that moment he'd been shivering, and it had become painful as his exhausted body had struggled to keep him awake.He looks back at the tracks leading to his car. No signs of melting, and now it's getting darker. Panic sparks again, but it never quite materializes as a full-blown feeling the way it had earlier.He recalls the temperature: The in-dash thermometer had shown seven below zero. That was at noon. It has to be even colder now.But he...

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“❝Operation Dandelions❞” by <inactive> .

Submitted to Contest #86

❝Operation Dandelions❞「TW : Blood, death」★ ☆ ★“Title of Documentary: Journey of Colony Founder BASK8The garden was one of the few safe places remaining on the moon, having been abandoned years ago. The reason why, was deeply enshrouded in rumors, and that was enough to keep any suspecting astronaut far away from this quiet little room of glass.”★ ☆ ★“HELLO!!!!IF ANYONE’S LISTENING TO THIS, PLEASE CALL MY INSURANCE. I’VE JUST HAD THE WORST TIME OF MY LIFE IN THIS FREAKING GREENHOUSE IN SPACE!!!”It’s a rather special building, actually, as the...

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“Troll in a Tree” by Christina Marie

Submitted to Contest #86

Harald was a troll who lived in a tree. This was quite unusual, as trolls usually dwelled deep in mountain caves or in the shadows of long wood bridges. But Harald always liked the trees. Even as a troll-child, when he was expected to carve rocks, break rocks, move rocks, eat rocks, he had instead gone into the forest to study trees, climb trees, talk to trees. Harald had only been three years old and half-a-foot high the first time he snuck from the caves. He remembered gazing up at the towering woods in wonder, astonished at how they str...

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“the sun - imagine that!” by Natalie Strawbridge

Submitted to Contest #86

I woke up early today. I woke up early, with my usual sense of dread, in my dark room. Another grey day. Caught in winter’s clutches. But then I glanced at my window, and I saw a sliver of yellow piercing through the grey. I always forget that the blinds keep out the light. I turned the rod and sure enough, the sun streamed in. The sun! Imagine that! I don’t bother to go outside in the winter, except for errands I simply can’t avoid. Some people love the winter. They go skiing, or snowshoeing, or whatever else. Every time I hear about a sk...

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“For Wildflowers Tell a Great Many Lies” by Sorin Bean

Submitted to Contest #86

The first time Ambrose heard the true meaning of his name, it had been the night of first snowfall. Leaves swaying louder than his spirling thoughts as a deafening cry sliced through shadows and echoed off the trees before snuffing itself in the wind. His curious mind stepped off a path he undoubtedly would never walk upon again. And so it was true, the boy had been warned not to succumb to the voices of the forest, but Ambrose was lonely, which he had often mistaken for bravery. Slashing down overgrown bushes with his sword he made his way ...

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“Daniel and Zachary Part 2” by Jasey Lovegood

Submitted to Contest #86

Daniel and Zachary Part 2DANIEL:“Look, Zach! Flower buds are starting to break open,” I nudge my boyfriend, and he scowls.“That means hay fever,” Right on cue, he sneezes. I laugh and take his hand as we walk down the boulevard. The trees provide shade as we stroll aimlessly without a particular destination. “I see the bakery, let’s go!” Zach announces and being the athlete he is, races down the street and into the bakery. When I arrive, I’m greeted by the sweet scent of fresh bread and melted chocolate.“Hello there, what can I get you?...

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“The Woman in 308” by Kim Kline

Submitted to Contest #86

The beat dropped in the quaint coffee shop. “Turn it up!” Maddy called over her shoulder as she took a break from wiping down tables to jump up and down with the rag twirling over her head. Closing time was Maddy’s favorite time. Especially when she was closing with her best friend, Kate. The persistent chatter of customers coming in and out finally quieted, she could turn off the practiced polite smile she wore throughout the day, and they could change the music from the standard smooth jazz station to whatever they were in the mood for. ...

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“The Sounds of Silence” by James Holgate

Submitted to Contest #86

As the sky turned ebony and the clouds loomed overhead, a disturbed grunt erupted from the floor. A quake in the ground and a crack in the dirt. A yell of triumph and a cry of agony. Ten timid twigs of the fleshy variety arose from the dirt, accompanied by a pale pair of arms and an overwhelmingly confused face. Soil is a surprisingly annoying material when one must claw through 6 feet worth of it with nothing but their bare hands… Oxygen never felt so good as Clay panted out of pure desperation, glaring daggers at the world that gave him ...

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“'Lil Shop of Dried Flowers” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #86

This story is inspired by and dedicated to my monstrous six foot plus cherry tomato plants to whom I like to say: STOP GROWING YOU’VE ALREADY REACHED THE CEILING.***Warnings mean nothing to you.Why? Because you’re fearless? Brave beyond comparison?No, you have no sense of consequences for your actions.This was the reason why you entered the ‘Lil Shop of Curiosities.It was a shabby shack with a little wooden “Come In. We’re Open” sign in the middle of the woods with knicks-knacks and what’s-thats? of every shape and size inside. And plants. O...

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“The Unserved” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #86

No flowers adorned the grave, and even the blades of grass had wilted and yellowed.Kemp read the name, his face the carved granite of a gargoyle. His mouth pinched tight together, the lips thin and pale. Back and forth his eyes flicked. Although he could glean in seconds what little information the epitaph shared.‘LEROY DICKINSON’ read the name. And beneath that: ‘1978 - 2016’. The etched sentence at the bottom of the stone reflected little of the man that had been. ‘May the turbulence of his life finally come to an end.’Kemp chewed his inne...

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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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