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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#90: Down to Earth

On April 22nd 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated in the US. More than 50 years later, this annual event unites millions across the globe, as we turn our attention towards climate action and building a safer home for ourselves and all life on Earth.

Earth Day provides an opportunity for each of us to reflect on our relationship with the planet — and what better way to do that than by writing about it? Whether you follow in the footsteps of the Romantics, who believed in the rehabilitating powers of nature, or the SFF giants whose dystopian novels have long forewarned the demise of Earth Prime, let’s join in the spirit of Earth Day and get closer to nature with this week’s prompts!

This week's prompts

Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through their connection to a particular tree.

Spring – 246 stories

Write a story in which an endangered species (of plant or animal) plays a central role.

Middle School – 94 stories

Set your story in a world living with the consequences of a climate apocalypse.

Science Fiction – 133 stories

Write about a community that worships Mother Nature.

Summer – 82 stories

Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery.

Spring – 258 stories

Stories

“one of the senses” by Inkstained Introvert

Submitted to Contest #90

the fair-skinned girl is crying again. she leans against you, your rough knots making rivets in her smooth forehead, her fast tears sliding down your bark and darkening a patch of dirt at your base. when at first she came running through the forest to you, of course you could sense that something was wrong, but you weren’t able to tell what. though as soon as she touched you--falling to her knees on the ground, lurching forward onto her torso, scraping the pads of her fingers against your uneven brown skin as her light hair became spattered ...

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“Sunflowers” by Gabby Grenier

Submitted to Contest #90

Today was hide and seek in the fields. Each day, we get an activity. They can be work or fun. I finally got a fun one after three days of work. I made my way to Reed's cottage. Along the way, I admired the blossoming trees and the chirping birds. It's like they were telling me it was spring. After a few minutes, I saw it. That dirt home with flowers and vines to decorate. The small garden os sunflowers in front. They were his favorite. My people worship mother nature above all. The beautiful and the ugly of it all. It is a tradition that onc...

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“Forbidden To Fall” by M Belle

Submitted to Contest #90

“The carriage gave a shock of a hustle and down she fell, right to the bottom of the ravine floor,” I couldn’t help a scowl as I looked over at my sister. She was on her hands and knees, scrubbing inside the Duchess’ fireplace. Her grey hair fell in a long sheath from the slightly peaked top of her head down to the floor. I watched the strands run a lover’s touch across the sooted bricks before swinging backward. “I knew you would be scowling,” Ben said, turning to look at me. She rose slowly from her bruised knees. In her hand she clen...

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“BRENHOMA” by Mfon Dick

Submitted to Contest #90

There once lived a happy family in the small village of Brenhoma, The Mr Okon's family. Mr Okon had a wife and six children. As said earlier, the family was a happy one. The reason for their constant happiness could be traced to their selfless love for each other and the fact that they believed in nature and worshipped her with all their lives. Mr Okon was a farmer who worked intensively on his farm with the aid of his wife and children. He had lived all his life on the farm. Though he wasn't an illiterate, he had a formal education, he de...

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“Endling” by Alice Parker

Submitted to Contest #90

“Do you know what an endling is, Captain?” the creature asked. “No. I haven’t heard that term before. What is an Endling?” the Captain entertained the question. “An endling is the last individual of an entire species.” He let that sink in. “That’s me. I am an endling.” “All species come to an end eventually. Either through an extinction event or evolution, when they become a new, different species. Nothing is stagnant. The universe is ever changing”, the Captain reasoned. “Yes, but how do you think I feel towards you, knowi...

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“Neighborhood Vacuuming ” by Flower Queens Adventures

Submitted to Contest #90

At first the dirty looks bothered her but she’s way more experienced at it now. She begins to slowly bend over and pick up a broken piece of plastic. Sometimes it’s better to have a system but other times she cleans as she pleases. Whenever she feels an excess of energy and her regular pastimes dont interest her, she bundles up, puts on two pairs of gloves and with a couple of trash bags she walks to the end of her neighborhood. Crosses the street and begins cleaning up the parallel neighborhood. We call them Grounders. They built this civi...

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“Things Like That Don't Happen In This Neighborhood.” by Konstantina Cheiladaki

Submitted to Contest #90

It was a fishing village as far back as she could remember. With waves crashing against the grey of the shore, their foam soaking people through. And little by little, every time the foam landed on them, they got a little of the Sea; until they became one, their minds liquid as Hers, an array of emotions only She could ever fathom.And oh, how they adored Her.She was the Mother that birthed them all, the divine blue of their quiet lives.It was a quiet village indeed, and as the grey and blue washed over them, nobody took more than they needed...

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“The Community Speeches” by Nico Isbell

Submitted to Contest #90

"Deep in the woods that lie beyond the city, over hills and mountains, there is a community of people that do not worship the normal gods that you would see in mythos or other religions. Instead, they worship one of the Earth. She accepts all ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations without blinking an eye. She is graceful and elegant while being forever wild. She has the skin of peaches, hair as soft as the moss that covers the rocks in the river, a voice that sounds like the water as it runs over that moss, and eyes that can pierce so...

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“Demon, Man and the Beast” by Amogh Bodhi

Submitted to Contest #90

*This story is based on current situation of Adivasi Tribal people in India – Amogh* I was travelling through the green forests, farms and amusing breezes to the Hemalkasa village in Gadchiroli district, by a private transport. This district has been declared as adivasi district, due to forty per cent population of adivasi tribe people in this district. The word ‘Adi-vasi’ means ‘original inhabitants’ as they are residing in Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. These people are honest and simple. The adivasi area has least cases of ...

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“SPEAKING TREE” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #90

Trees fulfil wants of men and other creatures with bark, branches, buds, flowers. foliage, greens, leaves, nuts, oils, roots, seeds, shadow, sweet smelling sap, timber, tender roots, toddy, twigs, wood and unripe fruit. A tree branch is the first choice of a human wanting to commit suicide by hanging in a public place or shelter for a brigand to escape from wild beasts. They also bring misery into human lives by falling on people taking shelter under them. Historians count the rings within barks to date the age of trees. One product of the t...

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“The Devil's Tree” by Hannah Rutledge

Submitted to Contest #90

THE DEVIL’S TREE “Your late.” Max said out of the corner of his mouth as Meter snuck into the pew next to him. “Oh yeah I’m sorry I overslept.” Meter sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Max winced. “On the holiest day of the year?” Max tried to inject as much p...

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“The Peepul Tree” by Ravi Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #90

The Peepul Tree Today again, I saw the old man sitting on the bench under my peepul tree. It was the third day since my return from my Kolkata PG, and every morning I had been coming down to the condominium park for my morning jog and yoga. And on each of these mornings, I had seen the old man sitting under this tree; he was always alone and in a pensive mood, and though I often thought that I’d sit beside him and talk to him, I could not muster enough courage. Why, I thought, should I intrude upon his thoughts? But today I suddenly found my...

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“The New Planet of Gibberzol” by Maira Finn

Submitted to Contest #90

I looked up at the smoggy Earth sky. It used to be bright blue, sometimes filled with puffy, white clouds, but not anymore. Global warming had changed all that. It was a good thing I wouldn't have to stay here much longer. The dirty fog was making it hard to breathe. I was helping my parents load up the spaceship so we could take off to live on a better planet. It would take some time to adjust to, but at least it wouldn't be as toxic as living here on Earth had become. "Addilyn, what are you doing?" Dad called. "This old planet ain't gettin...

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“The Laws Of Nature” by Rethabile Ntsane

Submitted to Contest #90

A researcher, George Greg, in the midst of his misdirection stumbled upon tribal people hunting a deer. He watched them from behind a big oak tree, it’s width hiding his slim frame. People in the lower regions of Lukika were known or rumored to be cannibals and so George fear for his life. He stood there as still I he could, lips pressed onto each other, eyes shut begging any deity above to make them leave as his heartbeat increased. The tribal people felt George’s presence by the scent of his fear. They, armed with bows and arrows, approach...

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“Mother's Garden” by Jenne Gentry

Submitted to Contest #90

Mother Nature is calling. Are you ready to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem? It's easier than you think. Paradise is possible. Come to Mother's Garden @ The Katsip Nature Center Earth Day, 2021 at 8:00 AM Rosalie folds the flyer in half and sets it back where she found it. The small Formica table in the break room on the fourth floor is always scattered with flyers and brochures on just about everything you can think of. This one, however, is out of the ordin...

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$50

Prize money

813

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 23, 2021 EST

Won by Nina Chyll 🏆

Title: The Tree Surgeon's Dictionary

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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