Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.

Posted in Dramatic on Sep 30, 2024

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 106 stories

“One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi ” by Fi Riley

🏆 Winner of Contest #267

His visit wasn’t planned. Yet when she saw the car pull up, riding the cusp of a tempest, Eve was unsurprised. Headlights sweeping up her driveway in this remote, vast space they called home could have been reason for fear, panic or, at the very least, an unsettling unease. But looking up from the sink, where she stood carefully drying a crystal wine glass, seeing the lights, she immediately knew. Rafe was behind her in a second, all agitation and tension, hating surprises, hating things out of his control. ‘Who on earth can this be at...

54 comments 54

Read story

“Friday the 13th” by Jax Wilder

Submitted to Contest #267

The storm had been brewing all day, an ominous black sky that only got darker as the hours passed. Perfect for a Friday the 13th, especially one in October. Flynn and I had been working all day at Rewind Rentals, the shop busy with locals picking up horror films to fuel their spooky movie marathons. Upstairs, at the Rewind Theater, we'd been showing a lineup of old-school classics—Freddy Krueger, Halloween, even The Company of Wolves for the hardcore fans. I was setting up the projector in the small, cozy theater room, a bowl of popcorn rest...

39 comments 39

Read story

“Temporal Tempest” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #267

Nothing happens in town before 7:53am.Until then the good citizens wait, sip their second or third cup of coffee, tighten shoelaces one more time, slick down Skip’s cowlick yet again, frown at Bobby as he slurps the sugared milk from the bottom of his cereal bowl.At 7:53 Ciril Presicz, CPA and Town Treasurer, who is so accurate one could, and many do, set their watch by him, passes by the First Marrien Bank. Up until this moment, the clock, perched on the bank’s facade, has confidently announced that the current temperature is 73 degrees Fah...

43 comments 43

Read story

“The Nine of Diamonds” by Max Wightwick

Submitted to Contest #267

The Nine of Diamonds“Atlas had always suffered from chronic sadness,” spoke his mother, in earnest commiseration for whom she had, and would forevermore love, “and if…I had but been a better mother, I could...have…steered him away from all those corruptive, addictive drugs that so doomed Atlas,” blaming herself for no reason save sickly heartache. She paused to observe the benign faces in her funebrial milieu, which her distraught mind hallucinated her into bethinking to be menacing, leering, and despiteful. Her tristesse beset her to parano...

22 comments 22

Read story

“A Weathered Life” by Kritika RM

Submitted to Contest #267

A single text, just two letters - 'hi' - from an unknown number, left me feeling bewildered. The message was cryptic, but the familiarity of the sender's display picture stirred a mix of emotions within me. It was a name I thought I'd never see again, a name that belonged to my best friend, my confidant, the love of my life. Seven years of silence, and now, this abrupt reappearance. I hesitated for six hours before responding with a simple 'Tell me'. His response was immediate, a phone call that caught me off guard. His voice was curt, lacki...

3 comments 3

Read story

“Blue Tina” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #267

“That sounds a little fucking paranoid, you know that, right?”Wren frowned and, turning back to the bed, remembered why she’d probably let that pass. Melissa seemed unconcerned about Wren’s physical satisfaction, and so, paradoxically, there were no self-conscious fumblings, no insecurely showy moves doomed to failure, and utterly no hesitation in extracting the most out of the situation – a mutually beneficial selfishness. A flash of lightning illuminated Melissa’s contours like a private shoot, bringing their dual commonalities into focus....

15 comments 15

Read story

“Storms a brewin'” by Pete Gautchier

Submitted to Contest #267

Prompt: Write your story against the backdrop of a storm. Storms a brewin’ My joints really ache today more than the typical soreness I feel in my older age. A lot more than any other day. I think I may have slept like a pretzel twist. Then again, when the weather changes all holy hell breaks out in my body. From my bedroom window I checked the skies. Not a single cloud; the sun was brilliant and hot. To confirm my amateur weather interpretations, I listened to the radio forecast. The weatherman...

4 comments 4

Read story

“The Calm of the Storm” by Michael Irving

Submitted to Contest #267

The Calm of the StormBy Michael IrvingJuly 9, 2021“You will want to take shelter quickly. The rain and hail will hit any minute,” the officer yelled over the deep bass of the crackling thunder in the sky.He rushed to his car alongside his partner, signaled to indicate that he was entering traffic, then casually drove off as though this was another part of his day. If he let it get to him, then he would end up like me I suppose.The other driver I “met” that day put his hand on my shoulder in reassurance and asked, “Will you be okay?”I nodded ...

3 comments 3

Read story

“A Wall of Rain” by Kendra Sok

Submitted to Contest #267

A year ago today, through an ear-splitting roar of thunder, Joanie blew out twenty-four pink candles nestled in a red velvet cake with off-white cream cheese frosting. The same cake she had eaten for the previous twenty-three years, at the same table she had eaten every slice at, in the same house she always celebrated in. As she used every bit of air in her lungs to extinguish the mini bonfire, she defied tradition by not making a wish. Instead, she made an internal declaration. If things didn’t change in a year, I’m going to do some...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Oak and The Willow” by Shelley Delmage

Submitted to Contest #267

The Oak and The WillowBy Shelley Delmage Two little sprouts popped from the ground right about the same time one sunny spring morning. They’d wrestled and struggled through the dirt after breaking through the shell one day, and now they both stretched to the sky feeling sun on their moist green baby leaves. They felt a kinship with one another immediately, though it was clear from the start they were very different.The sprout with a strong stem and five broad green leaves spoke first. “I am a mighty oak.” His tiny voice said p...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Camille” by Thomas Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #267

Perry Dupree shot the driver of the laundry truck as soon as he exited the vehicle and offered to lend a hand. He was a devout Christian man named Elwood LaRoux from just down south in Saint Francisville, and he probably would have stopped to help even if the road hadn’t been blocked, but Perry shot him anyway.It was the morning of August 17th, 1969 and his car was stalled out right there diagonally across the middle of the Tunica Trace along a narrow bend and there was no getting the truck around it with a deep drainage ditch close on eithe...

9 comments 9

Read story

“An Ill Wind” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #267

The weather was a fickle beast in these parts. Wayward and cruel. At times, it would create a false sense of security. The sun would shine hard enough to warm the bones and clouds were a thing of distant past memories. But those cruel clouds could swoop in in a matter of minutes though. Carried on freezing winds. It were as though they lay in wait for unsuspecting walkers, intent on catching them unawares and mugging them of their lives. Soaking them, blinding them, draining them of their will to live. Only a fool would be out on the moors i...

6 comments 6

Read story

“Over My Dead Body” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #267

Wilkerson went about his business, such as it was which is to say not very much. Wilkerson’s days were like that now, had been for several years in fact. His business was puttering about, extending the mundane into the profound. Today it was changing a light bulb on the outside post. That involved finding an incandescent bulb, 60 watts. It was no easy task. He went to three hardware stores in three different towns. In the one that had some, way in the back, he bought six, the entire stock. They were made by GE, at least; an American co...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Gabriele” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #267

If walls could talk, oh but what tall tales they could tell. Well, strictly speaking, being a prominent wall in the quaint little Trattoria, or Ristorante Italiano, where I am housed definitely has its interesting facets. I mean, I’m an attractive sort of wall: a dusky rose stucco one with lots of elaborate, colorful Italian pottery adorning me. I don’t like to brag, but I’m probably the best looking wall within miles of Florence, and I take great pride in my appearance. Still, no one really seems to notice me, the perfectly poised...

4 comments 4

Read story

“Nightmare” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

Submitted to Contest #267

Imagination, the essential gift for anyone with magic in their blood, could turn against a witch if exhaustion fogged the brain so much that she utterly lost herself in the depths of sleep.And this nightmare made sense. The monstrous shadows jibbering at the base of the lighthouse tower, failing to gain entrance through the main door, crept and glided along the curving wall to attack the secret door which was nearly indistinguishable from outside, could well have travelled from beyond the seascape horizon.The muffled thuds and scrabble of cl...

2 comments 2

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with two characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret.

Short Story – 83 stories

Your character overhears something that changes their path.

Short Story – 38 stories

There’s been an accident — what happens next?

Short Story – 70 stories

Your character wants something very badly — will they get it?

Short Story – 60 stories

Contest #267

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Overcoming Obstacles with Writers Ink

$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

127

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 13, 2024 EST

Won by Fi Riley 🏆

Title: One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 106 stories

“One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi ” by Fi Riley

“Friday the 13th” by Jax Wilder

“Temporal Tempest” by Trudy Jas

“The Nine of Diamonds” by Max Wightwick

“A Weathered Life” by Kritika RM

“Blue Tina” by Martin Ross

“Storms a brewin'” by Pete Gautchier

“The Calm of the Storm” by Michael Irving

“A Wall of Rain” by Kendra Sok

“The Oak and The Willow” by Shelley Delmage

“Camille” by Thomas Wetzel

“An Ill Wind” by Jed Cope

“Over My Dead Body” by David Ader

“Gabriele” by Cindy Calder

“Nightmare” by Tempest Phoenix Smith

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with two characters who meet for the first time — and one of them has a secret.

Your character overhears something that changes their path.

There’s been an accident — what happens next?

Your character wants something very badly — will they get it?

Contest #267

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

127

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: