Start your story with it raining… anything but rain (e.g. flowers, cutlery, seashells, running shoes).

Posted in Fantasy on Feb 23, 2024

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✍️ 88 stories

“Fear of Fairies” by Kate R.

Submitted to Contest #239

The dark scared me as a kid, but not anymore. Nothing scares me much now, except fairies. Yes, I am afraid of fairies and for good reason. I saw them once before I believed in them. It was 1978. The sliver of baby-moon disappeared an hour ago. Hanging out on my sleeping bag on a platform in a secluded field of pot plants; I wasn’t smoking and hadn’t pruned that day. No THC on my fingers, just a light herbal scent in the air. Enjoying the stars, trying to name constellations, finding north - the tail star of the little bear, darkening ...

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“The Spawn of Zora” by Caleb Cave

Submitted to Contest #239

Once upon a time, when the world was still young, an island lay—embedded far off into the sea, its existence forgotten. The desolate land was nothing to behold compared to the rest of the world. Its ground cracked and ashy, doomed to be swallowed by the sea. However, something miraculous happened before fate could set its jaws upon it and sink it into the sea. It was said that a god had seen the potential of the land and revived it with a seed they embedded into the earth. As time passed, the island grew lush with life and vegetation. Creatu...

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“What L-O-V-E Looks Like” by Wendy Hamby

Submitted to Contest #239

“Don’t forget your bucket,” she called from the kitchen. Only 7:00 AM and she’d already gathered enough words for that reminder. “How does she do it?” he wondered as he shrugged on his heavy coat and slid his hands into his gloves. The gloves, slightly oversized and well worn in the palms and at the fingertips had been her gift to him.... how many years ago now? At least ten. He believed in making things last, in the value of taking care of everyday items. “They’ll see you through if you’re careful,” he often thought to himself. Now, though,...

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“Until Next Itch” by Sarah K

Submitted to Contest #239

I ran. I promised myself I’d be fast enough this time, but I wasn’t. It was raining ants again. My breath caught in my throat as fear washed over me. I sped up, the wind blowing hard with the smell of ants dancing on the air. Thunder rumbled hotly above me, making the hair on the back of my neck start to prick up. I cursed under my breath from the sidewalk where I was, feeling the sprinkle of the first couple of them in my hair and on my shoulders. I tried to shake them off as I kept running along, my house nearly in sight from here. It st...

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“Mourning Cherries” by Gillian Campbell

Submitted to Contest #239

Content Warning: Contains references to death, the passing of a loved one (grandmother), questioning religion (implied Christianity), brief mention of blood. Two weeks ago, I realized my emotions can control the weather. I was just getting back to school after my grandmother passed, so you can imagine I was having a hard time adjusting. I know – fifteen and still not really sure what death means to me or what it looks like in the real world. Anyway, I guess I was just feeling some sort of way about it during Statistics – I never could...

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“Tomato Soup” by Madeleine Fewster

Submitted to Contest #239

The radio issued a crackled weather warning on the day I left the cabin. I had almost wished that it would be a good enough excuse to stay, but this time I had to go home. Home was where my childhood seeped from wallpaper and my ancestors paved the streets. Home was not the cabin, no matter how much I might wish it to be. My four wheel drive rumbled over rocks that water had smoothed over time. By then, the sky had begun to drool hen's feathers. They floated down tentatively, as if they didn't really wish to fall. I drove tow...

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“The Song of a Mourning Dove” by Sophia Hyde

Submitted to Contest #239

The day the birds started falling was the day I quit my job. I heard a thump hit my window and watched as the bird slid down, as birds do. I felt sad for the bird but so was the way of the world and the way of glass windows. I pushed the bird from my mind and resumed filling out the day's crossword but then another thump, again and again and again. Birds hit the ground, the windows, the trees. I looked in horror as they poured and poured from the sky. The house sparrow's gray crown fell with him. The cooing of the mourning dove rose i...

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“Hollow as a Heart” by C. J. Peters

Submitted to Contest #239

Thunk, thunk, thunk of plastic against glass. A downpour of fake emeralds from the sky, no bigger than a child’s palm. They rattle the window, gather on the sill, filtering the harsh morning light into something glowy and soft and viridian, transforming the bedroom into an aquarium. Must be Tuesday, you think. The bed is warm, but you are awake, and you need to get ready for work. The rain beat your alarm clock. It goes off in two minutes, hardly worth waiting for, but you do, watching the rain fall. In two minutes, the harsh blare startles ...

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“Petals Touch” by Ashanti Bushnell

Submitted to Contest #239

Once again, I was up before my alarm. My ceiling was flaking, that cheap coat of paint didn’t last long. Sitting up I hugged my face with my palms, my tongue running over chapped lips. I sat there for a while, hugging myself as the heat turned on, a soft buzz filling the house. My feet found their way into my house shoes and my body managed to shuffle itself into the bathroom. I winced at my reflection, quickly splashing handfuls of water onto my skin. I redid my ponytail and brushed my teeth, making myself look at least a little bit ...

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“Scourge of the Ancients” by Joseph Hare

Submitted to Contest #239

The tapping of rain on the overhang’s roof was a melody of death, a cacophony of minuscule taps that indicated the world’s imminent demise. Who knew that the touch of a thistle could bring about a spreading plague? One that had infected the land of Indiria’s ancestry long before the genesis of civilization? Now, with the Scourge of the Ancients tapping the ceiling, the world quelled, and so did Fallon and her dragon Rhünor—the only dragon to have survived the Vortex Collision of Earth and Indiria. The rain of barbed, poisonous thorns had be...

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“Report: D 2.26.24 (The Desert Ice Dragon)” by Re La

Submitted to Contest #239

I wonder how sunlight once shimmered on the living oceans, before dust veiled the world. When the skies were clear blue and the sun a bright white light. Now the sun shines a dark golden brown light. As I gazed upward, pondering the alien concept of a blue sky, my eyes caught signs of scattered rain clouds and dark specks on the horizon, racing towards us on high-altitude winds. “Rain’s coming,” I told the group, pointing to the sky. Together, we sought refuge, finding solace within the skeletal remains of a deep-sea coral, a ridge large e...

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“Down” by Gideon Bleak

Submitted to Contest #239

The damn feathers were falling from the sky again, pure white and everywhere. Abby brushed one from her face and returned to massaging her sore shoulder. Jake had refused a place in his carseat and was pouring all of his two-year-old energy into his new favorite pastime. “3-2-1 blastoff!” he yelled. Abby sprang into her part of this game and pulled him from the air after a launch from the back door of her aging maroon SUV. He always gave himself to the wind, fully expecting someone to catch him. Any more countdowns and...

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“Body of God” by Jean Racines

Submitted to Contest #239

It was 10:42 pm when god fell from the sky. The night became bright, like midday, and for the longest of minutes, a dense silence washed upon the world as if the world was holding its breath. Delivered from the clouds, a bulk in the shape of a man tumbled across the air, towards the earth and into the side of a moist cliff. In the wake of his descend, streaks of black, and color, and shine were woven onto the sky, a river of weightless ink gravid with stars. At 10:57 pm, night had not yet returned and I found myself standing in the middl...

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“One a Penny, Two a Penny” by John Walsh

Submitted to Contest #239

“Hot cross buns have been falling out of the sky for the last four hours.” said Bruce, the head of the news division at Bakersfield’s local television station. “I’m looking for ideas on how we should cover this event.” “Actually, their temperature seems to be the same as the surrounding air, about forty degrees,” said Vince the fact checker. “Hardly, what anyone would ca...

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“Emancipation” by Susan Lamphier

Submitted to Contest #239

Upon the first evidence of the apocalypse, when scholars argued over toads vs. fur babies, and what did it all mean, many a Bible was thumbed and heads were scratched (fur and otherwise). The sudden drops (so to speak) and spatters (so to speak) of the first storm of domestic cats and dogs charmed the world. Until it was discovered how many fur babies can fall from the sky in a small village called Esperence, NY, just north of the Mohawk River, a town no bigger than a single block, with one signal light (flashing) and all t...

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Start your story with it raining… anything but rain (e.g. flowers, cutlery, seashells, running shoes).

Submissions are closed

✍️ 88 stories

“Fear of Fairies” by Kate R.

“The Spawn of Zora” by Caleb Cave

“What L-O-V-E Looks Like” by Wendy Hamby

“Until Next Itch” by Sarah K

“Mourning Cherries” by Gillian Campbell

“Tomato Soup” by Madeleine Fewster

“The Song of a Mourning Dove” by Sophia Hyde

“Hollow as a Heart” by C. J. Peters

“Petals Touch” by Ashanti Bushnell

“Scourge of the Ancients” by Joseph Hare

“Report: D 2.26.24 (The Desert Ice Dragon)” by Re La

“Down” by Gideon Bleak

“Body of God” by Jean Racines

“One a Penny, Two a Penny” by John Walsh

“Emancipation” by Susan Lamphier

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story where a regular household item becomes sentient.

Write a story where the laws of time and space begin to dissolve.

Write a story where your character is traveling a road that has no end.

Write a story about an artist whose work has magical properties.

Contest #239

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

510

Contest entries

132

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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