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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 Butterfly Monarch” by H F J Ballard

Submitted to Contest #90

The Butterfly Monarch Day 1 My body's been changing recently; now I'm king of the world. It's been a crazy morning. Somebody should really warn a fellow about this stuff. Let’s start from yesterday. Yesterday I was comfortably wrapped in a dangle-bed eagerly awaiting my radical transformation from a chubby-grubbly to a fully flighted flutterby. It was an exciting moment. I had been waiting in that tiny wrapping for eighteen days and I was certainly ready for my promised areal freedom. This is something of a rite of passage for my kind. W...

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“Tunnel Rats” by Rajesh Patel

Submitted to Contest #90

The year is 2131. Mankind has destroyed forests, jungles, oceans, and all type of natural habitats. All that in the name of capitalism. In a world where money talks, money walks, and money enslaves, we are primarily producing, consuming, producing, consuming… We have been working more and more to sustain this world economy where the demand never ceases to increase on matters that are not essential. We are working on average 48 hours a week. However, the cost of life keeps on increasing exponentially. Humans have no considerati...

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“Spaghetti and Meatballs” by M Y

Submitted to Contest #90

Sitting there, covered in spaghetti and meatballs, I reflected on my poor decisions. You must be wondering, how, and why did I end up in such a predicament!? Well, I will start from the very beginning. It all began when I turned two. Every two-year-old Amur leopard must go down to town and get some human food. All of us needed to do this to prove that we were worthy leopards. My best friend, Amara, was coming with me! I was only a day older than her but acted much more mature. The strange thing was that Amara did not think so. Anyway, we dec...

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“The Willow Tree” by Jess Mowdy

Submitted to Contest #90

It’s interesting how one life can be the intersection of many. Bright eyed and full of life, children are untouched by the dark clouds of sorrow. This was true of young Patty until her fifteenth year. The darkness held her for many months with no light to be seen. Friends and family gathered and prayed beside the lake where her heart played. On that spot they planted her Willow. All the love she had poured into that little tree and as she grew so did the tree. The Willow reached towards the sun as it watched over the family that would contin...

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“Adrenaline” by Keri Dyck

Submitted to Contest #90

Sam couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he read the notification on his phone. A shadow fell across him. He hurriedly turned it off, tucked it in his pocket, and glanced up. It was just a fellow passenger returning from the washroom. His heart pounded. Adrenaline. His head whirled with the possibilities. How was he going to do this one? Kidnapping, the text had said. Well, that was simple enough. Sam stood up, holding the headrest of the seat in front of him until his stiff muscles allowed his legs to straigh...

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“Silent Watcher” by Thistle Arellano

Submitted to Contest #90

The tree had been there for as long as anyone could remember. Wide branches stretching up toward the blue sky as it towered, watching over the lush verdure that stretched toward the horizons. Pertinent and persistent, it stood, immutable and unwavering. Tiny green buds sprouted from the tips of branches and twigs with the promise to blossom come spring. Many travelers wandered by, each leaving their own mark, and the tree watched them all. It didn’t remember the name of the man that was the first to find it, a day, long, long ago. Th...

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“A Tree's Century Renewal” by LM Konkel-Dixon

Submitted to Contest #90

*featuring characters from "Escaping the Fool Virus" and "A Spirit Set on Revenge" Aayan knocks gently on the trunk of the ancient tree before him. As a prince of the sea, his knowledge of things on land was limited, to say the least. This usually didn't bother him. But... he glances from his mother Kalena to her dear friend Iolana. The two wore identical expectant expressions. "So." He draws the word out. "This is what you wanted to show me?" Kalena takes hold of her son's hand and squeezes it gently. "Sweetie, I love you, and you're n...

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“A TRAIN SCENERY” by Opher 51 2022 REYES

Submitted to Contest #90

A year ago, I went to Multan via train throughout the late spring get-away. I significantly appreciated this rail line venture as I acquired some important encounters during it. A colleague of mine and I were going together to Multan. The train began from Lahore at 8 on a June morning. The sunrays were hitting our compartment straightforwardly, so we needed to put down the shades over the windows. Some way or another, the climate got overcast around early afternoon, and we drew up the shades for full light and for having a perspective on the...

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“Colour of the Seasons” by Faruk Kader

Submitted to Contest #90

Colour of the Season (1) The winter has begun from the 1st of June officially in Australia. I wonder, if the season does follow the calendar. It is safe to say, the season has its own subtle way to make transition. As I see in my suburb Ingleburn, far flung from Sydney city, the winter season is full on, its icy cold grip complete. But the season is not all about brute cold and unforgiving weather. It has its own elements to enchant on-lookers. The gradual change in colours of the season and in the mood of the sky with al...

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“Smoke the Hive” by S.D. Siegel

Submitted to Contest #90

Dust settled in thick moats on the river, running sluggish like honey. In a month, rain would stop diluting it and it would become the type of mud you could never pull your feet out of without losing a boot. Gwen and Fran rode a four-wheeler over a creaking wooden bridge, electric engine humming with effort. They were coming from the sun-stricken forest into the scrubland hauling dead wood back for tomorrow's smoke. Dirt kicked up behind the vehicle as they sped across the arid landscape. Over mounds of dry grass the only patches of green th...

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“The Rainbow Tree and the Lost Village” by Gina Brioso

Submitted to Contest #90

“The gods are parched. They need to feed.” His dark eyes wander over her face.Claire whimpers. She can feel the edge of the dagger brushing the side of her neck – blade awfully cold against her damp skin.She chokes at the ball of sob curling up in her throat.Tendrils of icy sweats trickle down her chin.Down to her jowls… And resting, finally, at the throbbing hollow in the middle. And her gut --- churning bitter bile that rises to her chest. And then the native holds the dagger up in the air. In a bat of an eyelash, she can fe...

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“ Everything is Poison, Everything is Medicine” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #90

“How beautiful!” Karen exclaimed, looking over the valley stretched before them. The sun topped distant mountains. Layers of mist still settled in the hollows. She looked at her children, Tim and Amy, straddling their bikes.“This is why I wanted to get out today. You can’t see this on a phone screen.”Tim nodded, though his expression betrayed doubt.“Looks like there’s a meadow there. Let’s ride down and check it out. Maybe picnic there.”Karen rode down the fire road trailed by eleven year-old Tim and seven year-old Amy. The girl wobbled a bi...

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“The Lives Under an Oak” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #90

The old oak tree was an unspoken (and often unthought-of) staple that made the view of the hill above the small town. It was unknown when it had sprouted, everyone just could tell it was old because of how massive it was. In actuality, the great oak had been planted in the autumn of 1848 buy a small blue jay when a seed had dropped off of a twig it was carrying to build a nest. From then on, the small seed took in nutrients and sprouted in early spring, and co...

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“Little Things ” by Isabelle Saadatmand

Submitted to Contest #90

“Sarah!” My mother managed to say through her coughing, though her words were muffled by the barrier. “Sarah I can’t breathe! Let me in!” She banged on the walls but the glass is too thick, too strong. I wanted to let her in, to save her, to save my little brother and my father and my best friend and my dog who we had just adopted from the shelter a few weeks back. Tears ran down my face as I pleaded with the others inside to open the door just one last time to let my mother in. The others were far off and ...

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“Tricky” by Wizard Oblivion

Submitted to Contest #90

Helga stared at her reflection in the pool of water on the pavement. She kept running her hand on her head and imagining her beautiful tresses, the ones she so adored. She then felt her stomach and the large cut underneath her T-shirt. Sighing, she walked away. Winona was looking out her window, every day she saw a girl peek through the fences and into her garden. She saw her again, doing the same little routine. Getting up on her tiptoes, peeking through the fence, and then sometimes even jumping with the help of it to get a better view. &n...

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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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