Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Start your story with someone looking at a breathtaking view and getting emotional.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 4, 2022

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 64 stories

Silence

Winner of Contest #171 🏆

There is a peace at sunrise that surpasses all understanding. It's a renewal. A feeling that anything is possible. I’d like to say I drag myself from the comfort of my bed every day to enjoy sunrise’s splendor, but you wouldn’t believe me and I would be lying. What is true is I was there that day and so was she. There is a connection between sunrisers just because they are sunrisers. It’s a shared, yet unspoken, appreciation for things quiet and beautiful. That might explain why I was immediately drawn to her, but I know it wasn’t ...

380 likes 261 comments 261
Read story

Castles in the Clouds

Shortlisted for Contest #171 ⭐️

13 June 1886Standing at the edge of the lake’s still waters I stare out at the sublime mountains, still visible in the twilight, trying to ignore the commotion behind me. Ahead is peace and tranquillity, the calm of the water only briefly disturbed by the dance of a fly across the surface and sometimes the flip of a fish, pulling it down. If I keep my eyes fixed ahead and up, locked on the summits of those far-off lofty peaks, perhaps I can disappear from the disturbing present, into thin air, just as he has done.It is not to be. Search part...

52 likes 73 comments 73
Read story

The King's View

Shortlisted for Contest #171 ⭐️

                              The King’s View “I’m done with that view. Show me something else,” the King ordered. Dutifully the King’s courtiers unfurled a scroll which appeared in back of the large wooden window frame that stood in the middle of the room. “Not that one. Another!” The courtiers unraveled two more before the King settled on a scene depicting a grove of giant sequoia tree...

43 likes 46 comments 46
Read story

Callum's Cabin

Submitted to Contest #171

Brett gasped when they got to the top of the hill. He saw the entire valley, filled with stoic evergreens, severe rock formations, and the sparkling lake. And there in the sky, to welcome them, a vulture which he mistook for an eagle. He was so moved he immediately turned around and took a selfie.“Oh my god!” Brett said. “Isn’t this place amazing!?”Chuck swatted a mosquito, and then another one. He grabbed ahold of his shorts and jerked them around, and then buried his hands in them to better adjust his boxers. He grimaced at all the sweat, ...

36 likes 33 comments 33
Read story

Sunshine on the Ones I Love

Submitted to Contest #171

Red light of the rising sun caresses the cheeks of my two loves. Tina’s mouth lies open, cheek squished against her mother’s chest. Outside the window is a view that people remember forever. I’m watching the drooling beauties on my sofa.             Breath catches in my chest as happy tears smear dark lines on my sleeve. For all the darkness in the world, the sun sheds light upon happiness I never knew was possible.            &...

34 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

The Ballad of Major Tom

Submitted to Contest #171

“Good morning, Houston... A precursory check on readings, show all systems are nominal on this fine morning… Well, my body clock says it’s morning – even though, I’m encircling the Earth at seventeen and a half thousand miles per hour, I’ll probably see sixteen mornings before your day is done.” “…Copy, Major. We hear you loud and clear and congratulations on the inaugural deployment of FODOC, Space Force’s first Forward Operational Defending Orbital Command…” “…Hey Mac, why the formal greeting?” “Sorry Tom, orders… We have a developing situ...

29 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

Sunrise

Submitted to Contest #171

TW: swearing, abuse, violence, death, dark ominous tones.Where land meets its end, there is only water and sky, and it is enough to take my breath away as I slowly drive through the juniper trees towards the cliff’s edge, gravel crinkling loudly beneath my car.The sun is rising behind me, casting its light upon the ripples of the sleepless sea like twinkling stars dancing across its surface. The horizon is made clear by a blemishing pale blue sky and cotton candy pink streaks brushed across it like smeared paint, creating a stark contrast ag...

29 likes 25 comments 25
Read story

The Land of Fairytales: The Tooth Fairy Gets Lost

Submitted to Contest #171

THE LAND OF FAIRYTALES THE TOOTH FAIRY GETS LOST Easton stood on a rooftop and peered at what looked like a million little lights. He scratched his head. How had he landed at the wrong house again? Father would be so disappointed in him. Easton felt like a failure. He leaned back against the chimney and studied the map Father had given him during training. Jack’s first lost tooth was due at Pearl’s Refinery by sunrise, or the magic power needed to keep the Land of Fairytales alive would disappear. This was Easton’s first assignment as a...

26 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

The Habitual Shift

Submitted to Contest #171

There was nothing quite like a linoleum slab freshly spritzed with liquid gold. Mr. Mirrors Multi-Surface Faux-Laquer was Shirley’s munition of choice. It was perfect - projecting an iridescent, dewy pool of anti-bacterial goodness. And when applied at the hours of dawn, the creeping lean of Pacific mist shattered the disinfectant with perfect sun. It was delicious. Or at least she thought so. A double shift from Midnight to Midday was not a coveted one. The cruncher of working at a twenty-four-hour establishment meant great exhaus...

22 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

The Cottage

Submitted to Contest #171

The Cottage by KarLynn Erickson This is adapted and updated from a previous submission. Christine strolled to the screen door and paused before opening it. The slight squeaking sound made the edges of her mouth curl upward into a slight smile. She carried her sad mood with her all the way from the city, but the more time she spent at the cottage the better she felt. A single tear escaped her watery eyes as she looked up. The evergreen grove stood tall at attention in perfect rows like soldiers ready to march. Bursts ...

20 likes 7 comments 7
Read story

Torii

Submitted to Contest #171

If he had been able to cry without the wind creating these tears, it would be a pure moment of joy. The patch of gravel he stood on was quite wide and slippery, but he felt no fear. It was the other bodies around him that impressed him now, as did that view, and he could not move. It had taken him a long while to walk and beat the sun that touched the edge of the sky and blew away the darkness and strong shroud of clouds. There was the valley that he could see clearly now, and soon as he would make his way down the mountain. There was the pa...

19 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Law of Leary

Submitted to Contest #171

I parked my car in the gravel lot and walked toward the rusty “Scenic Overlook” sign. It was the same as I remembered. Though the stone wall of cemented stones looked like erosion had taken a toll on it. I rested my arms on it and leaned my head over the edge. Waves crashed far below, losing their never-ending battle against the massive boulders off the shore. I used to look at the view every morning on my run, but that was years ago. Back before Mrs. Leary. Back when I ran for myself. Back when I wasn’t running from anything.  I moved...

19 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Fire Eyes

Submitted to Contest #171

Fire Eyes - Chapter : Unknown After i had come round from my concussion, I just stared at these utopia-like surroundings. Azure blue sky permeated only by scudding cotton wool clouds. The sun, warm, pale yellow and shimmering as it began to recede. Readying to swap with the moonrise. It was hard to tell, from my vantage point, where exactly the plane had come down. I certainly did not know how on this earth i had survived, nor if anybody else did. What was certain was this, i was alive, and in a lot of pain and with the coming onset...

17 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

MARSHMALLOW SKIES

Submitted to Contest #171

Melody skipped down the pebbled pathway, stopping occasionally to collect a flower that caught her eye, anything she thought her mama would like. She was in the most beautiful botanical garden she’d ever seen. The colorful perfumed surroundings made her nose tickle in the most delightful way, and the hum of the busy bees buzzing about made her feel as though she were visiting in a fairy tale. It was all so perfect. She wore a white lace dress with a pink sash and a ribbon to match that was braided in her hair. The sh...

17 likes 13 comments 13
Read story

Only the Moon

Submitted to Contest #171

The moonlight cascaded onto the midnight hue along the ocean. Navies, blacks, royal blues with hints of white smiled at Noah in a blurry gleam. Tears slipped from his eye rims and danced along his jawline. He’d never witnessed a view so unique. “It’s only the moon,” he whispered to himself. Sand tickled between his right fingertips as his left arm wept at the wetness on his face. Though many survived the sun’s fading without explanation, no one knew how long lives would continue absent of its benefits to life. Noah overheard experiments un...

16 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about two solo travelers who keep bumping into each other in the most unexpected of places.

Romance – 21 stories

Write about a character who is trying to leave something or someone behind — only to realize they carry it with them.

Sad – 72 stories

Write a story where someone decides to take the long way home.

Adventure – 36 stories

Your character is about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. The story takes place during a long-haul flight, with an open return-date. What happens?

Adventure – 10 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel