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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

“FINDING THE LIGHT ” by Jane Merrow

Submitted to Contest #99

It lay there, in the grass, glinting in the bright sunshine. She bent down to pick it up. She squinted at it, looking at it through her tired old eyes. She turned it over....a pretty little thing - a heart shaped locket. Could it be silver? She hoped so, it certainly would help a bit. She turned over and there was writing on the back. She could just make out the words. Oh, if only she hadn't lost her glasses. It said "open me". Well that was strange, in her long experience, Victorian loc...

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“A Change of Heart” by Mira Echenim

Submitted to Contest #99

1. She was a young attractive woman with dark short hair and brown eyes. Named after her paternal grandmother whom she looked very much like, Lena was currently in need of drastic saving from a dilemma she got herself into exactly three months ago. As she stared at the window, contemplating what time the sun would set, she ticked June 21st on her pocket calendar signifying the end of another day of the torture she was in, torture she never dreamt she would find herself in. Still in her reverie, Lena heard the backdoor open and she knew...

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“Emerging Into Sunlight” by Lorena Sins

Submitted to Contest #99

“Emerging into Sunlight” by Lorena A. Sins Right foot. Left foot. He remembered the first time he had seen his beloved. She was wearing flowers: a wreath of them, resting on her light-brown hair, daisies that love the sun. Here and there the sun ran a golden finger down a strand, and the strand answered the sun’s caress with a golden gleam. “Because they love the sun,” she had laughed later, much later, when they lay, skin by skin, on his tunic, spread ou...

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“Day 1 To 7” by Jatin Zadoo

Submitted to Contest #99

Day 1-7 "Huh, not again," I said after losing my progress again in an online game. I have spent the previous Six days playing this Online Game. My parents always tell me to go out and play. I always tell them, " Go away, can't you see, I'm playing the game right now." This game, "The Adventures of MS" requires the player to play continuously, you can't save your progress in this game. But you can minimize the screen and pause the game. I downloaded this game last week and, On the First Day, I was about to finish the first adven...

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“LAST DROP” by Maria Korina Lopez

Submitted to Contest #99

Summer vacation will be start five days from now on. Pauline is excited for the summer because this is the only month that she can spend her time with her beloved Scott. Scott is from the province of La Union. Scott is a man with principle and he is discipline well and Pauline is a party goer person, however when he met Scott 5 years before summer, she changed into well prim and proper lady. Their love story is admirable and everyone’s envious of it but one day everything changed.“Pau, let’s go” her mother shouted and Pau ran as fast as she ...

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“don't make me go outside ” by Rachael Cameron

Submitted to Contest #99

The front door clicks. My sister has stopped calling goodbye. I creak onto my side, but the sparrows are back. Their chirps reverberate against my skull in the same way children yell into vacant caves. Have to shut the window. Blackout curtains aid the illusion of my endless night—less like I’m rotting in a cave, more like the sun is folklore. Of course, drawing the curtains shatters the illusion like spilled red wine on an alabaster carpet. I swallow the curse trapezing on my tongue. It’s not her fault. In the weeks, months, since I’ve n...

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“Cappuccinos and murders” by Reet Miglani

Submitted to Contest #99

“There you go buddy, all well” I bandage up the golden retriever and gently pet him. A man roughly in his 20s had come and dropped off Clifford, this beautiful golden retriever about an hour ago, but Daniel, the vet, also one of my friends, who was supposed to look at the dog was busy with an emergency gave me the job to do so. The dog hadn’t been injured too badly, so I was able to treat his wounds. I just came here occasionally, but had grown very attached to this clinic, and thus took care of every animal with a lot of love. I gently pick...

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“The Yellow Butterfly.” by A M

Submitted to Contest #99

Waking up on the soft ground, I sit up as my mind starts to wonder. "Where am I? How did I get here? It seems I'm all alone." Trapped in this never-ending dark forest. The shadows don't even want to come out and play. With no place to go, no place to hide, and no place to call home. "What do I do now?" As I walk, the tall overgrown grass scratches at my legs with every step I take. Bushes with enchanting roses block my path. Thorns too dangerously sharp to let me pass through safely. Large, thick, full trees stretch up high. Blocking out the...

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“The Sunbeam Apocalypse” by Abigail Jarcho

Submitted to Contest #99

Alicia faced the mirror, staring with squinted eyes. For a few moments, she stood still, her hands hanging at her sides, her fingers wriggling nervously. Buying time for herself, she pulled her hair out from it’s constraints very slowly, and fluffed it. A crease in her hair just above her ears spoke of the long night in a cheaply-done bun. But, while she fixed her hair, throwing this lock that way and tucking and untucking strands behind her ears, she paid much closer attention to her reflection, looking and looking as if to get an answer wr...

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“Freedom by Sunrise” by Violet Fox

Submitted to Contest #99

He died before the sun rose while I slept. The exhaustion had finally won. It had been tugging at my consciousness since I dragged him in through the door. I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, held in its embrace until the first tendrils of morning light worked their way into the room, draping themselves across the foot of the bed. I stirred, my limbs still heavy as I watched the light inch across the white blanket I had tucked around him in an attempt to make him comfortable. It felt like every other morning, except it...

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“Chasing Away the Darkess” by R Hurla

Submitted to Contest #99

I've never been good at waiting. Maybe that's why my parents named my little sister Patience- because I have none. Cramped into a three-by-five-meter loft with eight other people is one of the worst places for a fidgety, easily put-out thirteen-year-old, but if I think about it it's better than starving in a work camp or being shipped hundreds of miles cross-country, only to be thrown into a gas chamber upon arrival. "The Kolsekis are risking their lives to help us," Mama reminds me on a near-daily basis. "We need to be grateful for what w...

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“Hell and Back” by Timo A

Submitted to Contest #99

The hall clock in the center of the station chimes, marking the new hour. The clock reads 9:00 am, even though there is no sun in sight. In this realm, night and day are one and the same.“Next!” I shuffle to the front of the line.“Where to?” I am so occupied with leaving this hell hole that the thought of where I am going does not even cross my mind." Uh, heaven?” The ticket handler rolls his eyes.“The Asphodel Meadows. The train is coming now.” I take the ticket from his hand and make my way to where the train is supposed to arrive. I note ...

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“Owen's Dilemma ” by Meta M Griffin

Submitted to Contest #99

Owen thought about sitting under the tree with Bernice many summers ago. Even though they weren't romantically involved, he had a special relationship with her. She was his mentor and friend. Bernice had long honey blonde hair and was tall and thin. She had earned tenure at an early age and became the chair of the English Department before she was thirty. Owen trusted her more than anyone else on the faculty. He fantasized about kissing her and caressing her supple skin, but Bernice was married to a young lawyer. He came close to kissing...

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“The Beach Umbrella” by C Banubula

Submitted to Contest #99

“Do you remember, dear, the hot beaches of Portugal? The sun beating down on the rocks, torturing them. The sand was like a bed of coals and you had to jump up and run, like a rabbit making its escape.”“No,” I said, “I’ve never been to Portugal.”We were sitting together at a cafe in Midtown. This is the first time we met, or so I believed. She seemed to believe that we knew each other, that we were old lovers, and would not be convinced otherwise.“And that wind,” she continued, “that desert wind coming up from the Sahara! A dry air, like air...

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“"BLANK PAGE"” by Marnyn Paniel

Submitted to Contest #99

Children’s giggles, chit-chat, and laughs made me miss my childhood. As I am watching my grade eight students, at our annual school camp, I remembered my best friends and the things we did when we were young.“Teacher why are you smiling?” asked Ericka, one of my students as she was walking closer in my direction. I did not notice her approaching because I’m busy looking back at my adventurous memories.“Hi, Ericka! I am smiling because I remembered how happy I am when I was a child like your age playing with my friends.”“Your smile tells me t...

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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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