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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

“A Tree in the Garden” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #90

A TREE IN THE GARDENI sit on a bench in the garden behind the home where my great-grandparents once lived, a notebook and pen in my lap. At the center of the garden is a tree that my great-grandfather planted as a gift for my great-grandmother. Several decades later he passed away, but the tree remains: a tall, beautiful tree that symbolized my great-grandparents' eternal love for one another.In more than a hundred years the tree has grown from a sapling that would've been about half my height to a tall, beautiful tree reaching high into the...

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“Going to Job Corps” by Rose Tilly

Submitted to Contest #90

August 14, 2006, Ms. Otis picked us up but however, we were in a such a rush that I forgot the folder with my ID in it. A voice told Ann to get quarters. (By the way, this is our first train ride ever.) Ann asked,"why?" The voice did not answered. "Come on, the train will be leaving in two minutes" said Ms. Otis. It was about 6:58AM or maybe 7:58AM, I can not remember. We went into the car and Ms. Otis drove us to the train station. We hurried up on the rump and saw a man. Ms. Otis told him that we ...

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“The Weather Station” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #90

George Mosse acknowledged it was time to leave when he discovered his back garden fence had vanished. Today he’d sail back to the mainland and afterwards they’d demolish his home of thirty years. He wasn’t the first person to work on Muskeget Island, however he’d be its last human inhabitant. # George’s last morning started as normal. His radio-alarm woke him at six-thirty. A placid voice greeted him with the shipping forecast for the eastern seaboard. The reassuring tone never altered, regardless of the incoming weather. The pre...

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“Paul Junior ” by Rose Quartz

Submitted to Contest #90

It was a humid, sticky day in Ecuador. When I opened the door to the car, I felt overwhelming heat swallow all the energy in my body. My name is Paul, and today was my first day on the job. I was training to be a marine biologist, and I wanted to be a solo diver. I did not necessarily have the job yet, however, if I completed the task, I was guaranteed the job. It was only a matter of time before I figured out what that task was going to be. Suddenly, I was encountered by a tall man with no facial hair but still looked in his fif...

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“Saved by the sycamore ” by Veda Vivek💎

Submitted to Contest #90

The sycamore tree rose tall and proud from the soft, velvety grass. Its bark holds ancient secrets, its roots are more powerful than an average tree, its leaves pure and bright. The sycamore tree reaches for the heavens. The tree is the savior of many, a hero to countless lives.A young girl looked out the window from her room, gazing at the tree in her backyard. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, squinting at the sycamore. She heard the stories, yet she refused to believe them. She was about to open her bedroom door, her fingers grazing the...

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“Sweet, Painful Memories” by Sharon Peters

Submitted to Contest #90

*Sweet, Painful Memories* He was still, sinking deep into the leather black seat of the train, his emerald green eyes boring out the window, staring at nothingness as the moving train sped through, heading all the way to Detroit. The black circles and puffiness around the skin of his eyes attested to endless tears he had shed and the unbearable pain and sadness that murdered him.He pulled his tiresome gaze from the speeding scenery from outside the moving train.His unmoving gaze fell unto the round, yellow and portable Urn that st...

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“The Way Home” by Gabriella Pagan

Submitted to Contest #90

Even though the weatherman proclaimed it was to be a gorgeous, sunny day, the sky in the city was always a perpetual grey. This didn’t particularly surprise Kat - the sky was always inky from the constant factory smoke. The skyscrapers invaded the sky, made it less visible. It was constantly rainy and wet. The streets were full of worn garbage and sludge on the worst of the rainy days. People seldom interacted - most were constantly moving from point A to point B. By day, it was mostly office workers, city workers, and factory workers. By ni...

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“The Old Elm of Gorbio” by Shirley Medhurst

Submitted to Contest #90

Speaking to you from the peace and tranquillity of these my golden years, I would ask you to spare me a minute or two from your busy lives to listen to the ramblings of an old elm. I was planted here in the heart of my village in celebration of the Treaty of Utrecht some three hundred and eight years ago, although to be honest, I cannot remember much about that event, or any of my sapling years. In fact, I never really celebrated my birthdays at all until my third centennial, a truly momentous occasion I would like to tell you more abou...

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“Everything We Do Not Know aka Wild and Lawless” by Kendi Karimi

Submitted to Contest #90

I haven't seen one of those in a long time, thought the ant as it jetted back to its layer on the burning desert sand. It watched as a bonny boy with pale dark skin bent over a small puddle of water. It’s alone, thought the ant. Its journey back to its nest consisted of constantly looking for a broken dried-up branch to take shelter under for a few seconds. The ants had developed a special mucus which they excreted to cool themselves down whenever they went hunting for food. Under a makeshift shade, they would blow at their miniscule legs to...

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“Battle with the dark lord” by Maan Bhatia

Submitted to Contest #90

Ancient Legend Long ago the Dark Lord was the most supreme creature in the world until The Nameless Sorcerer was born. The community had soon realised that the sorcerer was more powerful than the Dark Lord. The community turned to the sorcerer and asked for help. The Nameless Sorcerer agreed but he could not stop the Dark Lord forever but he could seal him in a magic board game. But for that he needed to seal himself into items as well so he sealed himself into 5 elements Space, W...

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“Don't tickle me” by Barath Harish

Submitted to Contest #90

Joju- I opened my eyes after a good nap. Who is that? I could barely see anything. Is that Harish? But why he is taller and looking aged? And who are the other people? Why are they surrounding me? It took me a minute to realize that a cuckoo's nest was blocking my sight. I swayed my branch; the cuckoo flapped its wings; I hoist my branch; the cuckoo shrieked, I lowered my branch; the cuckoo cooed. Now it's clear. I perceived the four branched moving creatures who call themselves humans looking at me. There were ten of those creatures s...

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“A Rose by Any Other Name” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #90

Author's Note: To the best of my knowledge, the violet moss rose does not exist, but the Novalis novel “Die Blaue Blume” or “The Blue Flower” most certainly does! Jodie Marlowe grew up hating something that she wasn’t even sure existed, and that would most certainly have done her no harm. She knew that. But at times she hated the violet moss rose with a veritable passion, and thought she would have had no pangs or compunction about tearing one to pieces or trampling it underfoot. It was true the hatred came in waves and variants, and at ti...

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“SEEDING” by Kelsey Marlett

Submitted to Contest #90

Someone is unplugging the trees. I got the call this morning. The voice was smeared over the phone, ice black and crawling with static, someone is unplugging the trees, it’s serious, really serious, we need you out there, now. I am standing in a sea of dark metal. The trees go on for miles, following the arch and pull of the mountains, softly humming. Or they’re supposed to be humming. They’re supposed to be flickering light and turning their engines, drinking through their cords, giving us oxygen. But the trees surrounding me are dark. S...

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“I Warned Them” by Jay Luuu

Submitted to Contest #90

"Death is the solution to all problems. No man – no problems…" –––––––––––––––––––– The wind howls as the storm only grows, expressing its rage and anger for what we did to it. My windows and doors are boarded, of course. I’m no stranger to category seven storms. They’re as frequent now, normal as the rising of the tides. I pace around the living room, in a fit of nervousness. I tried to warn them… I said it over and over and over again. I pleaded dozens of times. But did they listen? Of course, not. Why would they listen to the only ...

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“Zippy” by Sachi Shah

Submitted to Contest #90

I have been called many names over the years.Before the poison seeped into the waters, the small children that played on the sandy shores named me ‘sea-dragon’.Although I was barely a hatchling in those days, I spent long hours propelling myself through the cool waters of the Pacific, imagining I was as marvellous and grand as the children believed I was.But then, the evil arrived.It travelled in great ships that threw out terrible devices which swallowed the entire ocean up whole.Once, when I accidentally swam into one of these nets, the Fi...

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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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