Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 12, 2024

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✍️ 38 stories

“The Mirage” by Jaymi McClusky

Submitted to Contest #233

It’s been 412 days since the rains last came. Everyone collected as much as possible, and for a while, water was plentiful. Now, the roads are dry and cracked, starved of moisture. Most of the reserves are gone. My canteen is running low, and my wallet even lower. Sweat beads up on my forehead then breaks loose of its hold, rolling gently down the side of my face, teasing me with its wetness.“How much farther?” Ciara asks. I look over at my 12-year-old sister and swallow down the annoyance that’s rising up my throat. She holds her hand up to...

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“The Hunger” by Hogan Burleigh

Submitted to Contest #233

How long has it been since manna fell from the heavens? Onora has lost count of the days. But it has been long enough for the hunger to return. The streets of Inghariad, once teeming with wealth and prosperity, now sit hollow and cursed, their golden cobblestones chipped and stained with blight. Onora moves like a ghost through the shadows, her feet light enough to make the barest whisper. Even the slightest touch placed too firmly, too carelessly, will betray her. There is no room for mistakes on foraging days. She knows this all too well....

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“If There are No Men on Mars Then I am Not a Man” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #233

I have not spoken to another human being in twenty-five years. I was at that time, the best astral projectionist on the planet, able to extend my consciousness an almost unlimited distance away from my physical body, and so I was chosen to search for extraterrestrial life, living or extinct, in a place where men cannot go. It was the most pressing question on the human mind and what fools we were, for as long as my body lies preserved unconscious in a lab I am unable to return to it. I canno...

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“King of Flames and Queen of Tides” by Nathaniel Stiles

Submitted to Contest #233

King of Flames and Queen of Tides By: Nathaniel Stiles The sun beat down on Micah’s head, driving him to seek shelter. A rocky ledge looked to be the best place of survival for him, so he loped over and settled down numbly. Heat radiated from the ground in visible waves, and Micah knew instinctively that the temperature would not fall anytime soon. Water. He needed water. How had this happened so fast? Just days ago, he had been sitting comfortably in his house, eating chips and drinking Gatorade. And then the Firestorm. Water, he ...

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“Water's Blessed” by Maddy Jensen

Submitted to Contest #233

This story contains mentions of death! My tears had all been used up as I stared out the window. They were all gone and I was left alone. I could no longer feel the pleasant rains of my sister or hear my father’s rippling rivers. It was quiet and there was no sign of the clouds I had so loved. My mother’s beautifully made clouds were now replaced with the scorching sun. I sat and watched as the people below slowly began to die from the heat and from thirst. The water in this land was gone now that my family was too. We were ...

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“A Thirst Not Easily Quenched” by Lex D

Submitted to Contest #233

Joyce could barely feel the bullet buried in her calf. In fact, it's gone from the worst damn feeling she’s ever felt to an icy soreness. Almost as if she just had a fall, but instead of an ugly bruise on the back of her calf, there was lead taking up space in her flesh. She wrapped the thing with torn fabric from her chemise two days ago. Was it two days ago? She couldn’t quite remember. The desert sun was beating her mind away.But it was two days ago, wasn’t it? She thought. Yes. Two days ago Baxter shot a bullet into her leg, rode ou...

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“An Alberta summer.” by Ehis Asibor

Submitted to Contest #233

Warning: This story contains multiple sensitive themes, such as sexual violence, mental health, substance abuse, physical violence, strong/ foul language, gore, and abuse. “Hell yeah! You brought the good stuff!” Bobby yelled as he scurried towards the open cargo bed of Randy’s truck. Bobby was a small man—a dwarf, if you insist—and so were his wife and their daughter Kennedy. McKinney, however, had not caught the strand of dwarfism; she had been deemed the lucky one after she had a growth spurt that made her slightly taller than her e...

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“The Masked Party” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #233

July 10th, 2040 (28 A.E.) Denver Somewhere in the city a grand themed party for the rich is taking place, and is quite, quite ridiculous… V's words dripped with a bitter irony as she adjusted her mask, its facade contrasting sharply with her sparkly black dress and the fiery red of her hair that complemented her pale, freckled skin. "Funny, to think, I was hoping for a ball but now these masks take the cake," she remarked, her voice tinged with a venomous edge as she observed the masked figures inside of the mansion in front of her. "The peo...

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“The Great Drying ” by Jorge Soto

Submitted to Contest #233

Rain poured, children played, women fell, and men cried. It had been 32 days of dry air and 32 nights of bone-powdered ground since the rain had ceased.In the first seven days of the drought, few heeded the warnings, and fewer cared to hear them. Cars drove from parking space to parking space, erupting spurts of gas as they bumbled angrily down their black trails. A policy of overuse had become commonplace among the modern community during its short, abundantly prosperous epoch. How could a resource so seemingly infinite become sparse? ...

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“Drought” by Sarah Anthony

Submitted to Contest #233

“It’s been almost a month since he left. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m doing ok, I just say yes. Truth is, I don’t really know how to answer.” He jotted some stuff down on his pad of paper, clearly he had some idea of what was wrong with me. I watched him move up his glasses, “do you think him leaving has made you feel relief at all? Or do you think it has just caused more grief?” he asked. I sighed heavily. “I don’t know,” I replied. The rest of my appointment was pretty dry, just Dr. Thomas trying to pull some sort of emotio...

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“''Nothing.''” by Ethan Urbano

Submitted to Contest #233

First Edition- Be warned that the following story contains potentially triggering content involving gore and psychological collapse, as well as family strife.‘’Nothing’’My mother warned me not to stray beyond the light of the pylons. With the crackling of her dry throat she barked, ‘’One step, and you’ll belong to The Shadows. The only way people will hear your voice again will be in the rustling of the leaves sent astray by the vicious winds and cruel nights.’’ But I was as curious as I was foolish, and I set out to see them for myself. The...

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“Shadows in the Scorched Fields” by Martin Marriott

Submitted to Contest #233

Caleb ran the tip of his parched tongue across his dry, cracked lips. His eyes squinted in the unrelenting sun as he scoured the distant land for what remained of his livestock. He tried to pull down the peak of his worn baseball cap further over his eyes so he could see. It was no use. He might as well have taken the damn thing off and tossed it away. But that would require energy—a waste of energy. And Caleb didn’t have energy to waste. He needed to muster all the strength he had to make his way back to the farmstead. Back to where Margo a...

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“Daughters of Drought” by Caitlin Van Buskirk

Submitted to Contest #233

It’s been 28 days since our last rain. I know because I’ve counted on my yellowed old calendar. I know because the last storm was something out of a dream. I almost thought it was a dream. It may as well be one now. This last rain, it was one of those storms that rolls in with hours of rumbling warnings, a show that starts like the orchestra of an opera warming up before the first act– a stroke of string that will inevitably send itself into an overture. I heard it first, echoing thunder, around five in the evening, then I smelt ...

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“The Last Shredder” by Casey Delano

Submitted to Contest #233

In the dark of night, before the sun rises, he who loves to shred rises from deep slumber. He laces on his snow boots. He grabs his toast to go. He pours the hot coffee into his traveling mug dented and scratched from many miles of carrying and dropping. A lonely soul, he drives up the long winding canyon roads. Cursing under his breath, the sun scalds his eyes as it crests over the ridgeline. Biting his lip he scours the morning sky, searching and searching for the blessed storm clouds. The sky is bare, blue, and unforgiving. He park...

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“"Whispers of Resilience"” by Karenina Deetlefs

Submitted to Contest #233

The story set in a small, drought-stricken rural town centers on Elias, an elderly man deeply affected by both the physical drought and his own emotional turmoil following his wife's death. His garden, which used to symbolize his inner energy and shared love, now reflects his soul's barren state. The community around him struggles with the environmental calamity, showcasing diverse human responses to hardship.Initially overwhelmed by his grief and the town's plight, Elias has a moment of realization. He understands that while he cannot chang...

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Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 38 stories

“The Mirage” by Jaymi McClusky

“The Hunger” by Hogan Burleigh

“If There are No Men on Mars Then I am Not a Man” by Len Rely

“King of Flames and Queen of Tides” by Nathaniel Stiles

“Water's Blessed” by Maddy Jensen

“A Thirst Not Easily Quenched” by Lex D

“An Alberta summer.” by Ehis Asibor

“The Masked Party” by A.J. Williams

“The Great Drying ” by Jorge Soto

“Drought” by Sarah Anthony

“''Nothing.''” by Ethan Urbano

“Shadows in the Scorched Fields” by Martin Marriott

“Daughters of Drought” by Caitlin Van Buskirk

“The Last Shredder” by Casey Delano

“"Whispers of Resilience"” by Karenina Deetlefs

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Contest #233

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

231

Contest entries

78

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: