Start your story with a character walking through a desert landscape, when they stumble across something unexpected. “That shouldn’t be there,” they muse.

Posted in Dialogue on Oct 13, 2023

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✍️ 51 stories

“Terrier’s Shop Of Curiosities ” by Damien Exton

Submitted to Contest #220

He looked down at his feet. Are these my feet? I don’t recognise them at all, he thought to himself while absentmindedly massaging his left earlobe between thumb and forefinger. The world was a carpet of sand and dunes, which reflected the phosphorus sun into his naked blue eyes. His newly found feet temporarily bruised sand grains which caught in his hair but were invisible amongst it. I have sandy hair, he realised. How curious.He surveyed the vista through eyes which were being mithered by the golden fringe falling into his face. It ...

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“Oasis” by John Werner

Submitted to Contest #220

The wind stirred the crystalline grains into a swarm of stinging shards that bit his heels in the dead of the starlit night. It eddied and flowed in grand sweeping currents like a great churning sea beneath the soles of his cracked and bloodied feet. They embedded themselves in those jagged red canyons, breaching the surface of his flesh and driving deep into his core, searching relentlessly for bone.It had been days since he had felt anything other than pain. The blisters that swelled and burst beneath the mop of his once fine hair now left...

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“2099” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #220

2099 There was an eerie silence enveloping the unknown, decrepit building that had likely been ravaged by Millennial forces. It didn’t show on surface or satellite maps and shouldn’t be here. The aura remained, like the still before a storm, or the final moment as one waits to die. I can’t fathom being 150 years old. I feel better now than when I was 80. Science and technology have come a long way but it is exactly that technology, manipulate...

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“The Tent of Gehenna” by Rich Kopacz

Submitted to Contest #220

The Tent by Rich Kopacz “That shouldn’t be there,” Hadassah mused as she trudged slowly through the sand, her weary legs fighting the burn of ascending the steep incline. But th...

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“The Shimmering Light” by Stephanie STEVENS

Submitted to Contest #220

he shimmering grew in intensity as he alked across the desert and and came from a strange red and green coloured conical object. “ That shouldn’t be there,” he mused. “ It’s not a mirage. What the fuck is it?”The shimmering light seemed to beckon him on and he glided slowly towards it. His plane haf touched down nose first. While the plane’s nose was damaged, Jack was not hurt except for a cut on his forehead. He felt more shaken up than any other sensation. The light plane’s nose had dropped and the craft fell towards the Mojave deser...

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“The Doppelgangers” by Don Lubov

Submitted to Contest #220

The Doppelgangers The hot desert air is stifling. The temperature is triple-digits. Megan hurries across the twisted landscape as best she can. Her mouth feels like she just licked the top of a pool table. But, she is unexpectedly free, and must keep going. Moonlight will show her the way. Finding her bedroom door ajar, the keys to the outside door on a table, and nobody awake, is a godsend. She stumbles along through a desert landscape, just wanting to put distance between her and the institution. Slowing down to catch her breath, Meg...

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“Looking for Quiet” by Wake Lloire

Submitted to Contest #220

The sound of her kicking gravel was the only sound in the empty desert valley. It was hot but not unbearable. Intoxicatingly still. Quiet. She’d come to the outdoor museum to get away from the loud of the Las Vegas strip. Her friends had wanted her to be a part of their girls weekend out, but from the moment she’d set her sneakers on the sidewalk of that crowded distraction of a landscape, full of noise and chaos, she knew she wasn’t meant to be there. This thought shook her. She felt like the first woman to think that. Doesn’t everyone wa...

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“The Green Thing” by Zachery Miller

Submitted to Contest #220

“That shouldn’t be there,” Ben croaked through lips dry and cracked as the mud flats surrounding him. The dawn air was stagnant and carried with it a foul smell that Ben couldn’t place. At times it smelled of rotting flesh, others of truncated soil. Whatever it was, Ben was sick of it more than the neverending dead plains that housed him, and he already hated them more than he’d ever hated anything. The sky was bleak and the disturbed dust flew high, muting the newborn light and giving the rising sun a hazy quality. But amongst the various s...

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“Carpet” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #220

Bill shut his eyes, feeling pressured weight trying to move him. He smiled, turned his head away, He still felt the pressure and wondered who it could be. Bill opened his eyes to see sand. There was sand all about him and a slope was sliding to his side a bit. He was alone with a sun that was just overhead, now about to set. The quiet spoke to him with the hollowness of an empty world. He looked this way and that, feeling the heat of the day as his robes swirled with each jerked turning. A bare shimmer caught his eye, then it disappeared wi...

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“The Oasis of Eternal Serenity: A Place of Refuge.” by Aseret Franco

Submitted to Contest #220

Alex was a curious traveler, always seeking new adventures in the most unlikely places. On this particular day, as Alex wandered through the scorching desert, the heat waves dancing on the horizon, something caught his eye. As Alex trudged through the seemingly endless sand dunes, he stumbled upon a lush oasis nestled in the heart of the barren desert. Trees swayed gently, their leaves whispering secrets to the wind, while a crystal-clear pool sparkled invitingly in the sunlight. Birds chirped melodiously, creating a symphony of life in an o...

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“Guilt” by Andrew Herlan

Submitted to Contest #220

I left the diner. The sand of the surrounding desert spilled over the street. In the distance, saw a checkpoint. No fencing. Just an arm bar and guard box. “That shouldn’t be there,” I mused. Good enough place to start, though. “Hello.” The guard said to me. I didn’t know what to say. Sure the obvious is, “Hello.” But it didn’t occur to me. “Hello.” Well, then it did. “Where’re you going?” I pointed to the other side of the arm bar and the vast desert beyond. The guard twisted on his heels and surveyed the bleak terrain. Then twisted bac...

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“STOP! ” by Ruslan Starodubtsev

Submitted to Contest #220

This is a stop sign. John looked around, just to reassess the situation once again. He was still in the desert, not the fancy ones like in Africa, with majestic sand dunes, and scorching heat, but the one where the landscape is flat and lifeless. Rocky soil that even weeds won’t grow on. Lifeless land that even cockroaches avoided. The cold, almost freezing wind that was torturing him for days now. And yet, here it was—a stop sign in the middle of nowhere. -I must be going completely insane, - John mused, circling aro...

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“Tears In The Desert” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #220

“I did the right thing by walking away.”Being alone I obviously didn’t expect an answer, and I continued on with my one-sided conversation.“I mean what he said was totally out of line and he needs to apologize.”I stopped to catch my breath, the adrenaline from the argument wearing off leaving me exhausted. My feet were starting to ache; flip flops were no match for this harsh rocky terrain. Why didn’t I storm off in sneakers or better yet a good sturdy pair of boots? I didn’t plan my grand exit very practically.Adding insult t...

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“The Legacy of Sand and Stars” by Chris Terry

Submitted to Contest #220

Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter The relentless sun cast its fiery glow over the vast desert, scorching the earth beneath Rich's feet as he embarked on an ordinary walk that would soon become the catalyst for an extraordinary journey. It was a day of searing heat, with a cloudless sky stretching infinitely above him. He had ventured into the desert to escape the relentless chaos of his daily life, seeking solace among the dunes. The arid landscape stretched before him, and the sound of the desert wind filled the air. As Rich trudged along t...

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“The Delivery ” by Giulietta Villalobos

Submitted to Contest #220

The day the stranger blows into Anton's Pass, a dust storm is rolling across the desert. Dolores trudges through town, the neck of her poncho pulled high over her nose to fend off the sand already gathering in the air. Wren had tried to warn her against making the delivery until after the whole thing blew over, arms crossed in the doorway of the barn, looking up at Dolores with a pinch between her ginger brows. “Honestly, Dori,” Wren had said, “Shepherd will survive without a fresh shipment of tomatoes for a few more hours. God...

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Start your story with a character walking through a desert landscape, when they stumble across something unexpected. “That shouldn’t be there,” they muse.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 51 stories

“Terrier’s Shop Of Curiosities ” by Damien Exton

“Oasis” by John Werner

“2099” by David D'EttoreUser

“The Tent of Gehenna” by Rich Kopacz

“The Shimmering Light” by Stephanie STEVENS

“The Doppelgangers” by Don Lubov

“Looking for Quiet” by Wake Lloire

“The Green Thing” by Zachery Miller

“Carpet” by H.e. Ross

“The Oasis of Eternal Serenity: A Place of Refuge.” by Aseret Franco

“Guilt” by Andrew Herlan

“STOP! ” by Ruslan Starodubtsev

“Tears In The Desert” by Hannah Lynn

“The Legacy of Sand and Stars” by Chris Terry

“The Delivery ” by Giulietta Villalobos

🌟 Similar prompts

You arrive at a destination you promised an old friend you’d visit after they passed, only to find them there too.

As a child you’re helping your grandparent bake. When you’re sent to the pantry to fetch an ingredient, you discover something odd.

Begin your story with a protagonist taking shelter under a bridge during a thunderstorm. An animal scurries past which shouldn’t exist. Against their better judgment, they decide to follow it out.

You’re awakened from your nap by someone asking, “Are you hungry?”. You fell asleep somewhere else entirely.

Contest #220

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

129

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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