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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

“The Brave One” by Alex Auclair

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #90

CN: poaching Author’s Note: This fictional story was inspired by the very real women of The Akashinga. These female warriors protect the animals of Zimbabwe from poachers. Akashinga translates to “Brave Ones.” I have the deepest respect for these women and what they do. “If you so much as move a finger, I will kill you,” Tonderayi hissed. The man holding the gun froze. He thought this was his big payday; that killing the black rhino and sawing off its horn to be sold to the highest bidder would make him rich. He hadn’t heard the girl ...

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“Rooted” by H L McQuaid

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #90

Content warning: racial violence, violence against women On a fresh spring day, a girl in a deerskin dress pushes me into the dirt with her small brown hands, hiding me from the squirrels and deer and mice who savour the taste of acorns. A voice calls out, “Nokomis!” `Her footsteps pad softly away. *** A taproot burrows deep into the soil anchoring me to the earth. A green sprout reaches toward the sun. When I'm a sapling, buds grow and unfurl into leaves, which turn from green to yellow and red, falling in a fiery carpe...

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“Choose Wisely ” by Scott Skinner

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #90

Content warning: abuse I used to put my dirty socks on my brother’s pillow. I’d put them on top of the pillowcase so when he walked into our room he would see them lying there like dead fish. Then I got better, and to delay my gratification, I’d stuff them in the pillowcase. I’d always use my stinkiest socks - basketball practice, skatepark, rainy day - but my brother had a notoriously bad nose and never smelled them right away. Usually, a couple of days would go by while these foot condoms stewed in his pillowcase. He’d notice zits on his f...

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“The Tree of Life” by Nainika Gupta

Submitted to Contest #90

The tree, by all outward appearances, was completely normal. Gnarled olive branches intertwined with increasingly leafy foliage twisted up into the sky. The ancient and monumental trunk was engraved with the bark that told a hundred stories. In the spring, the buds of life blossomed hundred-fold upon the myriad of branches eagerly awaiting the companionship of the leaves and flowers. In the summer, its leafy branches would swish, inviting the weary passerby to sit beneath it and revel in the endless possibilities of life. In f...

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“Elysian” by 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚝 ~

Submitted to Contest #90

Once, there was a tree. That tree was a beautiful one; it had a dark oak trunk, and it was shiny with scented oil. The leaves were a dark purple, ranging from light lavender to the deepest violet of space, and the branches were the same, glossy oak as the trunk. The roots wove in and out of the universe, back and forth, forth and back so you couldn’t tell where it was anymore. It had a soul inside of it, of whom no one knows, but there was a soul that begged for companionship, to not be lonely anymore. It had laid there to rest so many years...

415 comments 415

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“'On my 75th birthday'” by Asha Pillay

Submitted to Contest #90

Troy had planted me on his fifth birthday, a gift from his parents. He came to live in this garden house, with his parents many summers ago. I grew up along with him. He nurtured me with love and care, with smiles and kisses, with lullabies and poems , very soon I grew into tall huge fig tree, with massive branches spreading far and wide.Troy and I were soul brothers, He would talk to me, play with me, and would even share his secrets with me.In college, he fell in love with a pret...

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“On The Surface” by 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕒 𝕁𝕒𝕕𝕖

Submitted to Contest #90

All I remember from April 7th, 2008, was the loud crash followed by the sounds of my mother screaming. All I remember was my dad getting my sister and I to a small jet that took us to who knows where. All I remember was running into the small bunker, being frightened and worried.In the year of 2008, we were already having climate change really bad. Terrorists had released a bad chemical into the air, causing the climate to change significantly. Places that were usually super hot, now had icebergs and snow that appeared overnight. Places that...

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“The Sacrifice” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #90

On a faraway planet in the land of Zellnoid, a peaceful civilization built a fully functional city around the tree of life - the Ishka tree. This tree has the power to bring back the dead, and for centuries the Zellnots have thrived and worshiped the tree. A great stone palace was built around the Ishka tree centuries ago to showcase and protect its incredible power.The Ishka tree stands proud and tall with its white bark and golden leaves spread across its thick twisting branches. A soft resplendent light pulsates in the center of the tree ...

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“Freaks” by Ari Berri

Submitted to Contest #90

ROW’S POV: “Shadow, sit down!” Stretch says. Shadow sticks his tongue out at her, laughing, before jogging down to the end of the train to where Chill is. Stretch’s arm shoots out, elongating in the air, and they grab the back of their boyfriend’s shirt before dragging him back to his seat. Soar, who is sitting by me, sighs, spinning her dagger on the seat. We’re on yet another train ride to go fight rebels for the government. The thirteen of us on the train have different gifts, like Stretch. They can stretch any part of them, even thei...

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“One Last Time” by Kylie Wallis

Submitted to Contest #90

Marcella Harvey sat on a bench at Holbrook Park Station, waiting for the train to arrive. She adjusted her glasses and continued reading her book, only glancing up every now and then, to check the time. The train was late, but that didn't bother her much. She was in no hurry to reach her final destination. However, the platform was now becoming rather full and some of the other passengers were getting impatient. Without a second thought, Marcella moved a bit further down the bench, so an older couple with two large suitcases, could have a...

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“White Light” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #90

I board the commuter train with heartfelt tears in my eyes. The taste of my husband’s salty lips still in my mouth, and the whiff of cherry blossom still in my nose from my daughter’s favorite lotion. It breaks my heart to say goodbye to them. I’m shaken to my very core as my heart aches with sadness. I must leave Boston for a very important business meeting in Cape Cod. Come back soon mommy - echoes through my mind as I find my seat. I smile as I sit down in a maroon colored seat. I had no idea that train seats would be so com...

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“Osun And Her People” by Olabisi Joshua

Submitted to Contest #90

In the rainy season of the year, the august visitors arrived safely for the Osun-Osogbo sacred grove festival, which was protected by Susanne Wenger. The hotels were crowdedly filled up with people of different backgrounds, colors and sizes. The street was bustled with the foreigners and indigenes who had prepared for the commencement of the festival the next day.Bayo turned on his radio to 104.5 FM radio station. “Attention! Attention!! Attention!!! This week is Osun-Osogbo festival, we invite the young and old; the youths are called to cel...

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“Seven Seeds” by Christina Marie

Submitted to Contest #90

Before Adam made love to his wife on the outskirts of paradise, Eve fell upon the cursed dust of their banishment and coughed up seven seeds that rooted in the flesh of the earth from which humankind was doomed to coax mortal sustenance. - Alexander King Alexander watched on with pride as his son stood in the sparring ring amongst a defeated circle of his peers, brandishing his wooden practice sword with mighty arrogance. At only ten years old, everyone could see the boy was destined to be the world’s fiercest warrior. For years, t...

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“Underneath Me She Dances” by Mary Rothery

Submitted to Contest #90

Alone, I have stood in this earth for many years. Life sparks and shoots around and within me as I stand. The sun sings to me of summer and my leaves rustle in reply. I am loved. I am young. I am hers and she is mine. She places me here as they guide her small hands, caressing me into life, her tiny reaching fingers stroking as she whispers to me of her bright life to come. Underneath me she dances, small feet in the snow. Laughter and light scatter as she twirls in my shadow. They look on with lined eyes and tired smiles. The air ta...

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“The Tiger's Soul” by Svara Narasiah

Submitted to Contest #90

"Just be very, very quiet," Susie tells me, "and we might spot him." She holds up her hand, signaling for me to stop, and crouches down behind a bush.I'm nearly bursting with excitement. I've been waiting for this day for goodness knows how long--five years? Six? It doesn't matter now. I'm here, in the rainforest.Looking for a tiger."Quietly, now," Susie says, as if she can hear my heart pounding. "We don't want to scare him off...""Are you sure he won't be the one doing the scaring?" I whisper.Susie smiles a small smile, her full attention ...

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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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