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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.

Posted in Mystery on Dec 4, 2019

Submissions are closed!

Sorry, we are no longer accepting submissions. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

✍️ 110 stories

“Little Red Riding Hood” by Heidi Hanson

I am used to the chemical smell in the air. We all are. We all have to be. It coats our throats and hurts when we breath, but we fight through it. There simply aren’t enough gas masks to go around. We don’t have a choice. We need food. We need wood to keep the furnaces going.  Without the precious logs that others bring in, we would all freeze to death in the only thing keeping us safe fro...

18 likes 10 comments 10
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“Forests of Bone” by Joshua Insole

1“You remember where to shoot ‘em?”“In the head! Always in the head!”“Good girl.” He tousled her blonde hair. It was short and cropped so that it couldn’t get caught on anything. Short hair also meant that nothing could grab it very easily, either. “Did you remember to do it?”A guilty silence. Her eyes looked shiftily from side to side. She didn’t know what he was talking about...

12 likes 5 comments 5
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“The Diamond Pond” by Renée Chatelain

My people fear the forest.  Why?  I don’t know. No one in the village or in my family has ever told me why. All they say is “do not venture past the forest’s edge,” or “your fate will meet you if you traverse the forest’s domain.” Sometimes they simply say “you will die if you dare enter the forest; do not...

6 likes 4 comments 4
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“The blue-haired witch” by Marte Van der linden

Grandma used to tell me all sorts of stories before she fell ill. She told me about the witch who lived far away in the deep dark woods and would grant wishes. But only if you completed the tasks she set you. If you failed, she would cook you and eat you.I loved listening to those stories. Once, when I was about six, I declared that I would go and find the witch and ask her to give me wings so I could fly. But grandma grabbed my shoulders with her bony fingers and shook me until my teeth rattled. “Never do that!” she said. S...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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“Feast of Anastenaia” by Zilla Babbitt

The village lay upon a great grassy steppe, where the winds swept down from the forest and the children heard noises at night, coming from the mountain.The rains were coming. The sky was filling with purple black clouds like a bruise waiting to hurt. The winds came down louder and stronger and the birds stopped singing. The villagers buttoned their windows up and stocked their shelves.On the last day before the rain, the sun came out from behind the c...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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“The Woods” by Kaitlynn Flint

11/21/19No matter how many times they warned us, there was still a nagging feeling to go into the woods. To ignore their pleas, and walk in the dark forest. My friends and I knew about the lost children and the dead bodies. There were times when even my gut told me to never go near those woods. But, that nagging thought-that voice- that desire

4 likes 8 comments 8
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“What Became of Red Riding Hood” by Destinee Amber

Don't go in the woodsThe words pounded against her skull as she ran, stumbling over a stray tree root as she went. Ahead of her, drawing closer by the second, the forest's edge loomed. Tree branches waved in the air, beckoning her. Behind her, shouts of the mob chasing her echoed. Don't go in the woodsVillagers knew the story well: those who entered the wood beyond the east edge of the village never returned. Less suspicious folks believed they had simply found a better settlement somewhere else. The...

4 likes 8 comments 8
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“Fearless” by Eva Korosec

There is a tale going around in my village, old as time itself. It appeared one night, like a cold brisk of air at the coming of winter, groaning with pain and hunger of a ferocious beast, a grand wolf, that occupies the deep nearby forests. They use it to scare children into obedience, but not even the bravest men and women take it lightly. Should you go out of your way, the wolf will catch you. Should you talk to a dark stranger, it is an evil wolf in disguise.I know this, because I am the wolf.Some may wonder what goes th...

3 likes 1 comment 1
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“The Man in the Woods” by Sarah Kreiger

She could feel him out there.   No, she couldn't see him, but he was out there in the woods, watching.   Standing out on her porch Macy stared out into those woods, holding her mug of tea tight in her hands. She was scanning the area where the trees lined up almost perfectly along her b...

3 likes 0 comments 0
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“Mango and Leif” by Natasha Arnold

An earthy aroma of hibiscus and chamomile filled Kodiak’s lungs. The insight civil servant observed the cafe and the peculiar characters within. Mango and Leif’s was a simple tea cafe, aligned in trinkets and an abundance of teacups. There was a quaint warmth within the walls, as if the whole room were a blanket.

3 likes 0 comments 0
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Contest #16

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Ended on 22:59 - Nov 22, 2019 EST

Won by Vivien leanne Saunders 🏆

Title: The Sackcloth Liar

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