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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#99: Summer Solstice

In the Northern Hemisphere, June 21st is the ‘summer solstice’ — the longest day of the calendar year and, in astronomical terms, the beginning of summer. In my part of the world, this season evokes a plethora of scenes: sunbathing on river banks, al fresco dining with friends, and trips to the seaside, all punctuated by the heady scents of summertime — potent florals, sunscreen and food sizzling on the grill.

The solstice celebration has its roots in ancient Paganism — where people would gather at sites like Stonehenge and wear protective garlands of herbs and flowers to ward off the evil spirits who, according to Pagan folklore, walk the earth more freely at this time. From a spiritual standpoint, the solstice is all about embracing the sun and its awesome power. Whether you love basking in the sun or prefer to stay inside with the curtains drawn, I thought this week's prompts could be a way for us Reedsians to mark the advent of summer too. Happy writing!

This week's prompts

Begin your story with somebody watching the sunrise, or sunset.

Fluff – 275 stories

Write about the longest day of the year, or a day that never seems to end.

Summer – 99 stories

End your story with somebody stepping out into the sunshine.

Summer – 211 stories

Write a story about somebody reminiscing on an event that happened many summers ago.

Summer – 217 stories

Write a story about characters going on a summer road trip.

Summer – 104 stories

Stories

“Woke Up Free” by Simon Kigo

Submitted to Contest #99

Seb woke up to orange sun rays coming through a small opening of the tent. He slightly unzipped his sleeping bag and stretched to open the side of the tent. He sighed and smiled as he watched the rays reflecting off drops of water hanging onto the tips of the Andosols' leaves. This was good. He’d looked forward to for the last six months…..summer was here. Being out in nature away from people and in warm weather was paradise to him. He reached for his backpack and took out a waterproof folder holding his documents. He was looking for the pa...

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“Black Friday” by Sabrina Rose

Submitted to Contest #99

The sun was dipping below the palm tree dotted horizon of Rosecrans, fiery orange and red like the end of my cigarette. I tapped it the wall behind me and grabbed my 40oz taking a swig before my buddy Colin practically snatched it from my mouth. “Dude!” He took a swig and hand it back to me grinning. “’Bout to make a speech.” “Like a toast?” “Of sorts.” Then he kicked a beer crate center stage of the patio and swiped another beer off the nearby table and lift it to the air. “Hey!” My other buddy Lamar said. Must’v...

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“The last sunset ” by Ammolite Drawss

Submitted to Contest #99

Victoria had never truly appreciated the bright flurries of colour that stretched over the sky before it faded into darkness. It was only now that she gave sunsets a second thought, while laying on her deathbed in a room that smelt faintly of lavender salts, with tattered pictures hung up on the unadorned walls, which peeled with old, evanescent paint. The windows that surrounded her room were opened all the way, and the oddly-comforting, warm-toned sky was the only friend she had left. The windows gave her insight into the world outs...

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“Smell of Summer” by Aron Bartal

Submitted to Contest #99

The slow burn of the sun was densely pressuring the skin of Hayamo Chinami. The breeze from the ocean was making her able to stay on the roof of the world-famous Umibe no Soyokaze restaurant for now, but she knew it was time to go. Still an hour before opening she was already at the location ready for a busy day. As she looked at some of the early bird tourists and regular joggers, whom she made a few connections with over the years, she prepared herself mentally for the day ahead. Although the few familiar faces that were present got obscur...

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“My best friend, Ted” by Tolayo Ojo

Submitted to Contest #99

Hope. That is what I felt as I watched the sunrise. It wasn’t a lot and sometimes it was barely enough to keep me going, but it was enough to keep the fear of the inevitable at bay. I enjoyed the sunrise and looked forward to it every day. Staying up until the crack of dawn and steadying my breath as I watched the sunlight fill the sky was routine. It promised you a new day full of trivial excitements and endless possibilities. Watching the sunset was completely different. It was like watching all the newfound hope diminish as the air turned...

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“The Long Dark Before the Sun” by Adelaide Kirby

Submitted to Contest #99

It is the last time we’ll see the sun for 41 days. We watch it dip below the horizon as we string coloured glass beads to hang in the windows. These are our guardians during the long dark. My little sister whimpers on the bed and I scoop her into a cuddle. She asks when the wolves will come. My mother tells us stories of before the wolves, when the long dark was just cold and sunless, but survivable outside our huts. They used to light the paths with candles sheltered within jars and pushed into the snow to keep them upright. She told us t...

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“Clockwork ” by Sadie Black

Submitted to Contest #99

They knew the arrangement: three months exactly. Nothing more, nothing less. This is what they thought about whilst staring into the milky sunrise. The pale yellow of the 5AM sun mingled with the crisp white of the cotton clouds and blanketed the two in sorrow. Three months exactly. * June. The clock reads 6.34PM. Oh God! She blurts, dragging a limp plastic comb through her long, thick hair. He should know by now that when Mia says she will be ready on time, she is always almost certainly lying. She pats a light shimmering powder o...

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“Tints and Colors” by Gabrielle Galchen

Submitted to Contest #99

Per usual, I am listening to Linkin Park. I am listening to their 2003 hit song “Breaking the Habit,” which I initially assumed was about some catharctic break-through yet is apparently about suicide. The theme makes sense in hindsight, considering that lead singer and lyricist Chester Bennington killed himself in 2017. Just like any artist, he wrote about himself, predicted his own grim future in some sort of twisted self-fulfilling prophecy. The wind from the May clouds spews itself into my ears. My left-side earphone falls out. I...

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“The Same Ground” by Sam W

Submitted to Contest #99

Sunsets were shorter on this moon than on Gaína. Everything had moved too fast since he'd woken up, healed but weaker. Since he had told Jaya she would be better off without him. Jaya had crossed the doorway of his hospital room and left him alone on a planet he did not know the name of. He had made it to the Intergalactic Academy after three months of... three months of work. It had gone by like a blink, like a nightmare. He has no rights beyond the basic right to life. No right to the money in his pack, no right to the passage he bo...

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“A disease we don't even know we have” by Uma Coffey

Submitted to Contest #99

If one more person over fifty tells me to enjoy my youth (‘It’s the most exciting time of your entire life!’), I think I’ll tackle them. I don’t think that I’ll be able to stop myself physically tackling them. I don’t know if they’ve forgotten what youth is like, or whether what they’re saying is true, so I’m either just the only teenager ever not having the best time of my life, or the rest of my life is going to be even more boring and depressing than what I’m experiencing right now. And I can’t figure out which I prefer, ho...

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“The Day The Sun Rose the Highest...” by Lennox Ducksworth

Submitted to Contest #99

It was June 20th when it happened. Remember that day Heidi? It was another day like any other. Heard that a million times though right? Thinking about it now, I wish it was. I wish we would have just continued walking from the park to my house, where we would finish the rest of the afternoon watching old VHS tapes while eating trail mix. Too bad that never happened. Even worse than that day, the world changed. This was harder than I thought. My therapist advised me to come to talk to you as it would be helpful, therapeutic even. Yet the only...

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“The Play ” by Angel Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #99

Students came running the exit doors as soon as they heard the bell rang; signaling that their last class has finally ended. All too excited to have the best vacation of their lives. Yet, Sonya’s class still stuck in the theater room practicing for their full-length play. Their sweat dripping from all over their body as if they're melting with this hot weather. They even opened the enormous windows in the room hoping to get some fresh air but it did nothing in fact, the room got hotter. They ended up closing the windows. Most of th...

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“Open the Door!!!” by Aali Pant

Submitted to Contest #99

Life in the late twenties is a transition. Career starts taking shape; mood keeps swinging from being calm and meditative to an urge to go out for the late-night parties. One is too wise for the young Instagram-driven life coaches and too young for the experience-driven experts. In short, it is nothing less than going through puberty all over again, transformational, and occasionally painful. The pain this time is not the cramps or random body developments but that of a constant nudge of random people into your personal life. The life of Vib...

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“Valentine's Day, Sort of” by Eve Y

Submitted to Contest #99

“RINGGG!! RINGGG!!” I woke to the ballistic sounds of my alarm, rolling over in bed to smack the OFF button. “Macy!” my roommate yelled at me from across our compact dorm room, “How many times have I told you to get rid of that thing!” “If it wasn’t for that alarm Jenny, we’d have been expelled from campus a long time ago, and you know it.” I retorted as I sluggishly dragged myself out of bed. Jenny followed in suit. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” she said, folding her sheets neatly on her bed. “And yet you always fo...

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“A Days-Long Journey ” by SCOTT GEORGE

Submitted to Contest #99

The small alarm on Jerry's Perpetual Stopwatch let off a small chirping sound. The noise was so soft that it took Jerry a full minute to wake up, but, when he did, he quickly shut it off and removed his blindfold. A barrage of white sunlight immediately assaulted his vision, and Jerry had to blink and rub his eyes until he became accustomed to it. After two weeks on the road, he had gotten used to this procedure, but that didn't make it less annoying or uncomfortable. When his vision cleared, Jerry, as usual, found himself in the interior ...

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$50

Prize money

909

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 25, 2021 EST

Won by Tom Vandel 🏆

Title: The Men and the Lake

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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