Write a Western-inspired story in a new genre or setting (e.g. a space western, fantasy western, etc.)

Posted in Fiction on Jun 23, 2023

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✍️ 78 stories

“The Ungentling” by Katy B

🏆 Winner of Contest #204

Bill’s disappeared upstairs with the little sickly girl but me I’m here to see the blind woman. I hear she did it on purpose, tore donkey tail out of the earth and smeared its milky sap directly in her eyes. It must of stung her hands and face bad and maybe left marks on her fingers. Near Santa Fe, men, women and children are always getting possessed of this sort of ecstasy and seem like taking pleasure in swallowing poison and fire and stepping on scorpions and suchlike. But it ain’t superstition like the government try to tell me in the la...

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“Fancy Ranch” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #204

Fancy RanchThe stalker couldn't believe his luck. Like a fragile black butterfly, his quest was sipping tea at the cafe having finished her morning errands. Finally alone!“Ah, My Dear, so nice to see you again. You look as lovely as ever even though you are still wearing that dreary black gown which doesn't fit your vibrant personality. Are you still mourning that long dead husband?” The man sat next to her without an invitation. “Allow me just a moment. You must grace my dinner table this evening. I insist. You will be the most mouth wateri...

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“A Few Credits More” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #204

Four miners point blasters my way–not the welcoming party I was hoping for. Jander told me not to come here, maybe I should have listened to that little guy. Standing in front of my trading ship, the Galactic Kakapo, I await their next move. A man behind a heavy cannon mounted on a mining truck eyes me closely. “You carrying Terra credits?” he asks. “On my ship.”“Good. Are you alone?” “I’m alone–” Their fingers move toward their triggers. “Except for this guy here.” I point down to a Jander VII drone at my feet.The miners stud...

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“Martian Navy Project Darwin” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #204

TW: Surgery and swearing. “Your legend precedes you, Thao.” Admiral Randal Jacques smiled the smile of a transparent sociopath. He waved his hand to the sturdy metal chair in front of his desk. “I’ve heard plenty about you as well,” she said with a similar show of teeth. “Good, then we don’t have to waste any more time with niceties. I want you to join me.” All hints of pleasantry were gone. He gave her the stare a butcher gives a slab of meat as they raise the knife. “For?” Her invitation had been vague. Be part of Mars’ future. A file la...

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“MEDESTO HAD TO DIE” by Susan Catucci

Submitted to Contest #204

“Wake up, Christo. We’re about to land.”Christobal stirred, though his eyelids barely moved.“Love, you’re exhausted. I hope this trip there will be time for you to rest.”“We will see, Jovana.” Christobal yawned and stretched.“Little Havana. Do you know how long it’s been?”“Almost to the minute, Cielo.”“Thirty years, Christo.”Jovana’s voice drifted, along with her thoughts. Her husband took her hand and brought her back.“Let us see how Little Havana has grown.” Christobal and Jovana were soon escorted out of thei...

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“Lady of the Black Irons” by Jamie Campbell

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #204

In the end, Man destroyed the heavens and the earth.Man said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. It fell from the heavens and rose in mighty plumes and consumed the earth in fire, and a great poison swept across land and sea.And on that final day, Man ended his work which he had made. Thus did Man destroy nearly every living thing that moveth, and shroud the earth from the firmament, so that day and night were as one.And when the age of silence had passed and the earth had shed its poison, the ancient abominations – which God di...

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“It Had Always Been Thus” by John Werner

Submitted to Contest #204

It had always been thus. The old sign hung upon the mortician’s door had been placed there so long ago that its weathered edges were rounded entirely and the lettering on its front needed constant darkening with soot and ash to keep it legible. The wind whipped through Graydon’s Gorge at an almost relentless pace and the townsfolk were happier for its protection. Tales around these parts say that Graydon himself was the first to set up shop at the mouth of the gorge and folks around here think that mighty peculiar, as it isn’t often that...

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“The White Mountains and the Silver Spear” by Carlton W. Gant III

Submitted to Contest #204

Felix was the only one of Nayundiie’s family who couldn’t smile as little Tlodihil drew his first breath and cried. A part of him knew he should be excited to welcome this infant into his life as his new baby brother, but he wasn't. He’d never spoken a word during the birth and slipped out when he was sure no one was looking. Nayundiie found him upon a high cliff side overlooking the Coyote village about an hour later, as he had many times before. They kept their gaze on the city of tents below, the old brave speaking first. “What troubles ...

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“The Human Element.” by Ken Cartisano

Submitted to Contest #204

1842.With an audible thud and a flash of light, he appeared, kneeling in the sand. He removed his blindfolds and opened his eyes and couldn’t see a thing. Was he blind? Did the machine malfunction? He held his hand up in front of his face, and could not see it until it was inches from his nose. His eyes were fine. No moon, no cities, no such thing as streetlights. They didn’t warn him that it would be this dark, yet they claimed they had thought of everything. Jim looked up—and saw the stars. There were so many. Billions. It was a breathtaki...

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“Western Prey” by KG Green

Submitted to Contest #204

The hot sun was high in the clear sky, casting a merciless heat over the vast desert expanse of the Wild West. There were cowboys, outlaws, and a relentless pursuit of manifest destiny in the 1860s. It was also a time when the unimaginable was about to become a harsh reality. In a blinding flash of light, a strange craft raced across the sky, heading directly for the Earth's surface. Unknown to the people below, a hunter from another planet had abruptly crash-landed in the middle of the desert. The smoke and dust plume that the explosion...

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“EVEN DROIDS HAVE FEELINGS” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #204

EVEN DROIDS HAVE FEELINGS Jasper White was a drifter. Always had been, trying his hand at most things without any luck -poker, mineral prospecting, ranching -always drifting from town to Texan town. Back then, in ’45, it seemed like most o’the bad men had chosen to hang out in the vast state o’ Texas and, if’n they didn’t get ya, the booze and diseases from poxed up whores, surely would. Yessir. But, somehow, ol’ Jasper just drifted through all that, flitting from place to place, avoiding any&nbs...

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“Costco Cowboy” by Quinn Neubert

Submitted to Contest #204

Costco Cowboy “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us, pardner,” Jeremy announces with all the authority he can muster.. “This isn’t a town,” responds Shelby, his babysitter. She’s glaring at the three-pound bag of Kirkland in-shell pistachios she has under one arm, her eyebrows pinched together. “This is a Costco.” It is, indeed, a Costco–– but it is so much more than that. It is wild, untamed terrains, vast deserts of deals, plateaus of palettes, and valleys of bountiful bargains, and Jeremy–– his Party City cowboy hat sitting ...

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“The Gunslinger of NeoDyne City” by Brendan Sanders

Submitted to Contest #204

The dusty streets of NeoDyne City hummed with an electric intensity as neon lights flickered and dust covered holographic advertisements painted the night in vibrant hues. In this sprawling metropolis, where advanced technology and lawlessness coexisted, there lived a lone gunslinger named Jake Steele. Clad in a trench coat, his eyes concealed behind a pair of augmented reality goggles, he was a relic of a bygone era—a cowboy in a world of artificial intelligence and cybernetic enhancements. Jake had witnessed the transformation of the West ...

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“Tomb of the Dusty Prisoner” by Dempsey Hyatt

Submitted to Contest #204

Kira had seen droughts on Tomb. He was immortal; he had seen rain, rivers, oceans, and lakes too, but now the planet only had dust to offer. That's how he knew the town was damned.Kira did not worry about the damned. As he sat on the porch of yet another saloon in yet another town along yet another dusty road, he thought,Why should I care about these walking dead, these people who suffer time as if it's a sickness?Perhaps there was a time when Kira would have felt superiority to humans, but no longer. Being a prisoner of endlessness made him...

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“Lamplight” by Troy Van Zandt

Submitted to Contest #204

The rider pulled back on the reins, and his mount came to a slow stop next to the stream. Across the water stood a dark, forlorn and utterly beaten down shack. Behind a dirty pane of glass burned the faint orange flame of a lamp. A light rain pelted the flat brim of his hat, and his horse’s ears twitched and moved about. He had been by this place only once before, and that was during the day. The trail was narrow, and the many low-hanging branches a constant bother. A series of minor calamities had put him behind sch...

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Ended on 23:59 - Jun 30, 2023 EST

Won by Katy B 🏆

Title: The Ungentling

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Write a Western-inspired story in a new genre or setting (e.g. a space western, fantasy western, etc.)

Submissions are closed

✍️ 78 stories

“The Ungentling” by Katy B

“Fancy Ranch” by Mary Bendickson

“A Few Credits More” by Scott Christenson

“Martian Navy Project Darwin” by Graham Kinross

“MEDESTO HAD TO DIE” by Susan Catucci

“Lady of the Black Irons” by Jamie Campbell

“It Had Always Been Thus” by John Werner

“The White Mountains and the Silver Spear” by Carlton W. Gant III

“The Human Element.” by Ken Cartisano

“Western Prey” by KG Green

“EVEN DROIDS HAVE FEELINGS” by Charles Corkery

“Costco Cowboy” by Quinn Neubert

“The Gunslinger of NeoDyne City” by Brendan Sanders

“Tomb of the Dusty Prisoner” by Dempsey Hyatt

“Lamplight” by Troy Van Zandt

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a stranger coming to town and shaking up the order of things.

Set your story in a desert town.

Write a story about someone undertaking a long, dangerous journey.

Write a story about someone seeking revenge for a past wrong.

Contest #204

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

300

Contest entries

94

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: