Set your story on a warm summer evening with a full moon, when everything feels magnetic and your character’s about to meet someone important.

Posted in Romance on May 19, 2023

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✍️ 75 stories

“Dead Dog Summer” by Malina Göde

Submitted to Contest #199

Summer is sticky, like syrup. Even now, with the sun almost gone and the moon slowly taking its place, full and bright, there’s sweat running down the backs of your thighs, your neck, pooling together where the skin of your stomach meets once you sit down. Makes you feel like a kid again, all boney knees and frayed shorts, T-Shirts that are either too big or too small, always hand-me-downs from your brother and sisters. The location doesn't help. Been maybe ten years since you’d last been here, maybe longer, but you hadn't forgotten how to j...

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“Nimue's Chance” by Joanna Smart

Submitted to Contest #199

Jericho stumbled down the garden path, taking another pull from his flask and enjoying the burn of the whiskey. It was official, weddings were the worst. He pulled off his tie, cummerbund and jacket, discarding them on a bench as he walked past – not noticing that they fell to the ground. He was drunk and he knew it but he didn’t care. As long as he got away from the party, from her - no from them, that would be fine. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they were the reason for the drinking. The...

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“THE SONG OF THE CICADAS” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #199

It was the dog days of summer, the night was hot and humid, moist and sultry. The cicada bugs were droning in the trees, their endless rhythm as constant as the heat. Both relentless in their purpose. The sweat trickled down Clair’s spine, saturating her tank top, a constant stream of dampness pooling at the waistband of her shorts. She breathed in short gasping breaths. She lifted her water bottle to her face and reveled in the slight physical relief as the ice-cold bottle offered only a fragment of reprieve from the oppressiveness of the...

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“Supermoon” by Rachelle Tacosa

Submitted to Contest #199

Dedicated to the Virginia State Fair, in a year I can’t remember The State Fair comes back in waves. Waves like the taste of scalding funnel cakes covered with powdered sugar. Waves like those plastic cups of lemonade with green bendy straws. Waves like a looming ferris wheel, so tall, or like an empty area of picnic tables by the parking lot. It comes in waves that she wishes gave way to more. Waves that she tries to initiate by listening to the music she’d only hear in her dad’s car on the way ho...

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“Waking up to the moon” by Erica Inez

Submitted to Contest #199

He could have been in an accident, maybe someone’s died, hopefully his phone was stolen. Not one of these helpful thoughts does the trick. There’s no thought challenging that can get around the fact that my date, who I had for some reason pinned unreasonable hope onto, is not turning up.I can just imagine what Ellie will say. I’ll never live down the moon man who ghosted me.“What sort of a date is that?” she’d said, when I’d told her that he’d suggested we meet at the top of the cliff over the river to watch the moon.“A romantic one,” I’d sa...

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“Lingering glow” by Rose Nord

Submitted to Contest #199

The sun hovers over the horizon, in a state of descent or ascent, I cannot fully tell which. It never gets truly dark this time of year, but in the west, the full moon is starting to show its pale face, promising that the night is encroaching. Even as the glass walls struggle to contain the thumping music on the dance floor inside, a cool silence lays over the lake. It settles over me where I sit on the deck terrace, instilling in me a much-needed sense of clear-mindedness. I dangle my legs from the edge of the table on which I’m sitting, le...

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“Silver Fish” by Sophia Reimer

Submitted to Contest #199

A silver fish, lean and thin, slithered through the water in front of us, disappearing under its inky cover. The water lapped at our feet gently, retreating and leaving marks over the rocky sand. It was no picture-perfect ocean beach, but the lake still expanded as far as we could see that evening. The huckleberry sunset drifted through milky pinks and oranges, before exploding in a flame-colored, mahogany red tone that set an impressive final display before disappearing behind pilling clouds and silhouetting hills. Nothing had changed in ...

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“Nonno‘s Bench” by Luciana Ganshaw

Submitted to Contest #199

A warm breeze floated gently through the town, the sun was slowly setting, painting the sky with a universe’s worth of colors. The waves flowed calmly in the distance, making themselves nearly undetectable from town aside from the subtle sounds they sent through the streets, and the scent with which they aromatized the area. As the cherry on top, the moon was full, already illuminating anything in its path even though it was not yet at its peak. If nothing else, the evening looked perfect. However, the unfortunate truth is that looks can be ...

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“Dancing Straight Away” by Barbara McCloskey

Submitted to Contest #199

Dancing Straight Away By Barbara Celeste McCloskey I didn’t want to be there even though it was a lovely summer evening. I had been to these tired “Separated and Divorced” dances a few times in the past, and I always came away feeling worse than when I went in. It was depressing for me to see middle-aged people trying to relive their high school years. I was there only because I promised my friend that she could pick our activity after we enjoyed her birthday dinner. She chose the dance. &nbsp...

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“The Aqueduct” by Tara Malia

Submitted to Contest #199

What is inside my heart? Love, blood, passion, rushing through each ventricle, pouring life into my veins like the roadways of Florence, all enticing; yet, running every which way, causing many routes to be scenicly taken. Never straight, but seemingly, deceivingly indirect. Channeling, leading to another entryway into a new world - a new adventure. Each alleyway, unique in its own story, offered much in its nothingness, like the night I met Chaz, but the alley became a mountainside and the City was our olive grove.&n...

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“World's Greatest Scorekeeper” by James Oshea

Submitted to Contest #199

World’s Greatest Scorekeeper If life were a baseball game, the story I’m about to tell would begin somewhere in the third inning. The summer of 1977 to be more precise, and near the end of a challenging decade for my hometown team—the St. Louis Cardinals. The dismal times were hard on the average fan but not me, because that mediocre stretch of baseball was the reason I met my best friend, Jake. Jacob Elias Mitchell was an elderly gentleman back in 1977, and would’ve been easy to pick out of a crowd thanks to the bright white shock of hai...

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“Soundtrack to an Interlude” by Johanna Parry

Submitted to Contest #199

Soundtrack to an Interlude"Strangers in the night... la dum dee dum dee, Feelin’ not quite right, as we were dancing..."The tune carried me into that strange trance I sometimes get. I was once again making up the words as I mumbled along. Fortunately, the moon was full, sitting low on the horizon like the great pumpkin Charlie Brown waits for on Halloween.Only it's August and quite warm.I listened to the night for a moment. A lonely dog, barking in the distance. The quiet hum of faraway traffic. The low buzzing of a nearby park lantern. Cric...

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“Fireflies ” by Alli Lee

Submitted to Contest #199

Fireflies By: Alli Lee TW: Abuse The boundless mix of orange and pink in the sky swirl together like a beloved painting that hangs on a wall. I like to just sit watching the buttery clouds swallow up the sunset. I can hear the chipper crickets enjoying this sunset just as much as me. The ever-deepening horizon seemed to go on forever. Pengrove field, I just know was going to be my favorite place. I can lay back and know all the wheat and flowers will catch me. The best part is, when the night falls, the elegant moon lingers through all the...

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“Remembrances” by Steven Bonamo

Submitted to Contest #199

I'm thinking of writing about finding the love of my life... many years ago.... she's dead now but I still remember. It's torture when someone you love leaves the planet... I mean, if she were here on Earth you still always have the chance to meet again and carry on as friends.... but not as before... I've changed, she probably has changed, circumstances have changed, and time & place have changed.... so... it's almost impossible to carry on in the best of circumstances... sad really... it was a time to remember; a be...

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“What are the chances?” by Hope Savali

Submitted to Contest #199

Sheila Wilborne was supposed to meet Randall Welsh on a blind date that was set up by her grandmother of all people. This Randall was one of her grandmother’s old friend’s grandsons who just flew in from Europe. He was in town visiting family and was only here for a couple of weeks. That’s all the information Sheila was able to get out of her grandmother. She wasn’t the type to go on blind dates, however to appease her grandmother, she agreed anyway. So, now she was already at this fancy restaurant called Pattero’s Kitchen. She’s never ...

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Set your story on a warm summer evening with a full moon, when everything feels magnetic and your character’s about to meet someone important.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 75 stories

“Dead Dog Summer” by Malina Göde

“Nimue's Chance” by Joanna Smart

“THE SONG OF THE CICADAS” by Glenna Agnew

“Supermoon” by Rachelle Tacosa

“Waking up to the moon” by Erica Inez

“Lingering glow” by Rose Nord

“Silver Fish” by Sophia Reimer

“Nonno‘s Bench” by Luciana Ganshaw

“Dancing Straight Away” by Barbara McCloskey

“The Aqueduct” by Tara Malia

“World's Greatest Scorekeeper” by James Oshea

“Soundtrack to an Interlude” by Johanna Parry

“Fireflies ” by Alli Lee

“Remembrances” by Steven Bonamo

“What are the chances?” by Hope Savali

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character having a spiritual experience at a concert or a nightclub.

Your protagonist walks past an intriguing stranger, then turns around to take another look at them. The stranger turns around, too. Write about what happens next.

Write a story about someone who finds someone’s diary, and tries to reunite it with its owner. It’s up to you whether they read it or not!

Write a story about a character who returns home changed by someone they met on a trip.

Contest #199

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

255

Contest entries

143

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: