Set your story during — or just before — a storm.

Posted in Dramatic on Jan 31, 2025

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✍️ 144 stories

“The Buffalo Stampede” by Todd Crickmer

Submitted to Contest #288

The Buffalo StampedeAn excerpt from the YA novel—Scout of the Oregon TrailAs the sun came up the third morning after our arrival at Fort Kearny, Mr. Lasiter had all the oxen yoked and the wagons lined up, ready to go. “It’s over two-hundred-seventy miles to Scott’s Bluff, and we have to do it in sixteen days to get there in order to stay on schedule,” Mr. Lasiter yelled from horseback. “And a hundred-sixty miles from here, we’ve got to ford the South Platte.” With that, he stood in his stirrups, raised his arm westward and shouted, “Wag...

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“Lost In Panama” by Maisie Sutton

Submitted to Contest #288

Trigger warning: references to suspected domestic violence (no specific details) The wind shifted, carrying punishing sheets of rain that sent the pendant lights crashing into each other. The palm trees swayed in the distance as a dull roar signaled the storm’s arrival. There was a collective gasp, turning to laughter, as we all were instantly drenched by the surprisingly warm rain. Moments earlier, we had been sitting around the mahogany bar under a thatched roof, sharing shots and conversation. Our group had the shared fortune of discover...

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“Eye of the Storm” by Marilyn Q

Submitted to Contest #288

Introduction: The Unyielding Storm Windridge always seemed excessively quiet—a town that appeared to be holding its breath in trepidation. Its cliffs, sharp and ominous, loomed like ancient sentinels over the churning sea, their secrets buried deep within. However, when the storms unleashed their wrath, an energy permeated the air that felt almost sentient. The locals locked themselves inside, barricaded against the howling winds and tumultuous waters. They pretended it was merely another storm, but Sarah Morris understood better. She could...

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“Storm Signs” by Elizabeth Rich

Submitted to Contest #288

The flies were flying lower, and the deer flies were flying lower, too. And they were biting. The air was heavy with humidity portending some serious weather. I always loved it in the hours before a storm. The silver maple leaves rustled in the wind enough to see their silvery undersides. Once the silver made its appearance, it was only a matter of time before the thunder, lightning, maybe straight line winds, would kick into gear. The damned flies. Unlike mosquitoes, flies' bites didn't itch--they just hurt. We sold our house and moved in w...

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“The Boatman” by Andrew Robertson

Submitted to Contest #288

The Boatman A dawn haze hung low over the Hooghly River, shrouding the lush countryside in a blanket of surreal calm. The imposing river, one of many Ganges tributaries, wove across the lowlands and flowed serenely toward the Bay of Bengal. A sonorous voice drifted across the water as a boatman, concealed within the morning mist, sang in Bhatiyali style. His song was one of devotion, love, or possibly loneliness, as he leisurely drifted downstream. On the bank of the river a man waited, scanning for the boatman. He fidgeted impatiently and ...

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“No Matter What” by Susy G-B

Submitted to Contest #288

My sweaty palms tremble as I unfold my speech one last time and internally recite the opening words. The paper is yellowed and brown at the creased seams, stained with coffee and salty teardrops. After all this time, I’m finally ready. Sally is standing with her small group of friends outside the science block, leaning against the red bricks with the sole of her right shoe pressed against it, her knee bent. She’s so effortlessly confident, showing her friends her new manicure, squealing about how perfectly the colour will match her prom dres...

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“Fear of Storms” by Ashley Lauren

Submitted to Contest #288

Cara had always hated storms, as long as she could remember. She was never entirely certain of why, but she had some ideas. A lot of people assumed that it had something to do with how loud it was, but she didn’t think that was it. She felt like there had to be something more than that, something that triggered the hatred of the storms. Her therapist said that maybe something traumatic happened that she didn’t remember, and that that was what had triggered it. And Cara thought there might be something to t...

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“The First Nor'Wester” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #288

The First Nor’Wester I wanted to know more. Being around sailors most of my life I wanted to know more. The oceans have scared me and brought me to the height of ecstasy and I still wanted to know more, so I started writing stories about others’ experiences as a way of life. Collecting and experiencing and mixing the both a lot. Here, on San Sebastian Island, there was an abundance of sea tales spilling from the sun cracked mouths of old time sailors. My column in the local magazine, Islands Chronicle, was about those who those who had ...

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“The Incident of Mars Hill ” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #288

In 1954, Chester Candler built a log cabin in a quiet little meadow at the foot of Mars Hill Mountain, Maine. His daughter and granddaughter live there today, although it has undergone many modern-day improvements. The homestead lies about six miles from the center of town.Madelyn Collins, a trim 39-year-old, is busy looking through the junk drawer for the keys to the truck. She stops when she hears the weather report come on the radio.“Well, folks, it looks like we’re in for a big one! The snowstorm that was beginning to...

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“Station 51 Winter Ball” by Misty Chadwell

Submitted to Contest #288

The first Saturday of February was the fire station "51" Winter ball at the town's fire hall. Two weeks left of getting everything planned and set. This was the first event that Cruz had been to since he first started the department. While trying to answer calls while being on duty, the local firemen volunteer try to decorate the hall. It's been slow and quiet kind of day for the town so far. Cruz and Herman have been the bestest friends since the day they met. Besides working at the Firestation, these two never spend tim...

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“Sea-Witch” by Sam Jacobsen

Submitted to Contest #288

Hence the storm came, and tore across the endless wastes of the sea. Green glass shattered, frothed, billowed at the seams. Guls cried along the growing winds, their voices going lost in that plutonic gloam. Waves the heights of mountains rose to block the setting sun—that great, orange sore upon the world. Its heat was yet irous, grown jealous of that blossoming cold which set upon encroaching night with the speed and wrath of a forlorn specter. ...

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“The Ride Not Taken” by VJ Hamilton

Submitted to Contest #288

The plan was to leave campus early, before the snow set in, while light still filled the sky. But Aidan had fallen into a rabbit hole of online references and blogs and comments-on-blogs while researching his essay on indigenous land claims in northern Canada. Just an undergrad essay for an optional class, but it had suddenly become make-or-break, the piece he would regard forever more as the point when he committed, the point when he actually took up the cause to work for justice for his people. The library closing-time signal had chim...

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“Pharos of Alexandria” by JAY JONES

Submitted to Contest #288

There it is again… I strain hard as I’d been doing each night since my awakening a week ago, trying to catch the music drifting in the sea breeze. A song without words, hauntingly familiar yet strange. A melody – no, it was more than that. It was an enchantment that no mortal man could resist. I knew the singers, or at least, I knew of them from my father, the noble Sostratus of Cnidus who had learnt of them from none other than my God-King, his Divine Majesty Ptolemy I Soter, may he rejoice forever among the Gods. As ever, I mourn my lost ...

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“The Storm is Coming One Way or Another” by Carolyn Petersen

Submitted to Contest #288

It was mid September and the leaves were just turning colors.This was my most favorite time of year I quess partly because that was my birthday month.It was also a time when the farm finally started giving up everything we had worked on over the summer. The garden was bursting with big juicy tomatoes and pumpkins, and a multitude of vegetables. It was a time to prepare for winter. My Mom would can the vegetables in Mason jars and prepare for the long cold winter to come.We lived on a farm in Western New York where the weather could be brutal...

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“O COME ALL YE FETE-FUL” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #288

“This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, Sister Agnes. Nobody in their right mind would think to organise a village fete in the middle of an English Autumn. Fetes are for the Summer”. Though she remained tight lipped, Sister Agnes, a novice nun, six months into her novitiate, agreed with this sentiment. Exactly! As far as she was concerned, Mother Superior, the head of the convent attached to St. Mary’s parish church, was most definitely not in her right mind. Father O’Hanlon, the parish priest, ostensibly, the pe...

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Set your story during — or just before — a storm.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 144 stories

“The Buffalo Stampede” by Todd Crickmer

“Lost In Panama” by Maisie Sutton

“Eye of the Storm” by Marilyn Q

“Storm Signs” by Elizabeth Rich

“The Boatman” by Andrew Robertson

“No Matter What” by Susy G-B

“Fear of Storms” by Ashley Lauren

“The First Nor'Wester” by H.e. Ross

“The Incident of Mars Hill ” by Ralph Aldrich

“Station 51 Winter Ball” by Misty Chadwell

“Sea-Witch” by Sam Jacobsen

“The Ride Not Taken” by VJ Hamilton

“Pharos of Alexandria” by JAY JONES

“The Storm is Coming One Way or Another” by Carolyn Petersen

“O COME ALL YE FETE-FUL” by Charles Corkery

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a breeze brushing against someone’s skin.

Write a story where the weather mirrors a character’s emotions.

Start or end your story with someone standing in the rain.

Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.

Contest #288

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

416

Contest entries

164

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: