Set your story in a world living with the consequences of a climate apocalypse.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jul 10, 2021

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✍️ 134 stories

“Wingless” by Hope Terris Terris

Submitted to Contest #90

Wingless Mondo stays even after the waters have gone and returned and gone again. He ventures out, climbing through small crevices in the mounds of bou...

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“Earth Didn’t Wait” by Shayne S

Submitted to Contest #90

My mom used to tell me this story about her home planet, Earth. She told me all about this once magnificent planet, but when I looked out of my spaceship window, all I saw was a scary ball of flames that used to hold beautiful, green trees, vast oceans, and oxygen that seemed to last forever. The humans needed to eat for fuel, drink water to live, and oxygen to breathe. Mom said that Earth was home to many families, children went to school, and everyone was happy at one point. But one day, Earth changed. It wasn’t all of a sudden, but certa...

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“Labrador” by Tricia Shulist

Submitted to Contest #90

I stood at the side of the boat, watching the water skim by. Pops came up and stood beside me. We were silent for awhile, until he spoke without looking at me.“You know,” he said, looking out at the depths, “this water wasn’t always here. In my lifetime. This was land — good land, fertile land. We called it the breadbasket of America because it was where all the wheat, corn, and soybeans were grown. Now, not so much.” He sighed, sadly.“We talked about this in school.” I said. “North America used to be ...

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“Cloudspire” by Megan Paonessa

Submitted to Contest #90

Cloudspire “We’ve talked too long on this issue already,” my mother, the Governess, repeats to her assembly. Her mask emphasizes her keen, intelligent eyes, morphing around her expressions but never clouding those eyes of hers. At first, the masks were worn for survival, the air too full of pollution to breathe, but now they’ve become part of our very makeup, especially for those of us who were born inside the Cloudspire. Some Spireborn paint elaborate details and form decorations into their masks, identifying what family they come fr...

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“10 Minutes Past Midnight” by Emma McManus

Submitted to Contest #90

We were all warned. The Doomsday Clock is nearing midnight but I don’t think any of us really paid attention. The furthest it had been from midnight was in 1991; sitting at 17 minutes to midnight but it steadily declined after that. When we reached 2019, I think the Earth fought back. We had polluted Her for so long and we had given Her no choice but a global pandemic. Pandemic X, that’s what they called it. They had also warned us about that for since the Spanish Influenza in 1918 but with every new virus we continued to thi...

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“Narrator Loves mInEcRaFt” by Puhalenthi Ramesh Vidhya

Submitted to Contest #90

Ben is a very enthusiastic person, well, at least he used to be. He loved nature when he was younger. Going to the park every afternoon with his parents was always the highlight of the day. Playing on the colorful swings, see-saws, and slides made his day. But sadly, that may never happen again. The area that used the be the park is now a city dump. More factories are being built in the city, so the waste is dumped in the park. Just a few years ago, a climate crisis happened. The smoke from the factories left only specks of the ozone layer. ...

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“The Cost of Color” by Kees Chan

Submitted to Contest #90

I noticed a rose-colored slip stuck in my door, wondering who needed to leave a physical piece of message. After all, no one used mail these days. Communication had been streamlined to ocular portals, the transparent screens installed across one wall in the living room, and everyone was expected to carry their mini portal no matter what. Reaching for the slip, I jerked my hand back when its edge stabbed my hand. Ah—I forgot that the edges could be ‘sharp.’ It was not as if I knew nothing about the slip’s production. A brief unit of education...

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“Siren” by Eva Parker

Submitted to Contest #90

You’d think that if humans figured out gene mutation that they’d figure out how to live on a place like Mars. You’d be wrong. Water suffocated me in all corners. I thrashed hating the sensation against my skin. It was pouring in faster and faster. I banged my tiny hands against the glass wall screaming for help. Sickly tears streamed from my eyes as I took my last gulp of air. ~ ~ ~ “Tasi? Tasi!” I thrashed awake. The panic still clinging to me. Zale’s worried eyes were fixed on...

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“Moments” by Anna Tishchenko

Submitted to Contest #90

When we arrived in the forest, we did not expect to see what we saw. The trees, burnt, mangled and twisted, were being pushed aside by enormous mushrooms. Here the air seemed less murky but the soil beneath our boots felt spongy and porous. “Should we camp here?” Alex asked as he surveyed the scene before him. Mela, tired of walking, took off her sac and placed it gingerly on the ground. ...

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“Leave” by Taquindle Remington

Submitted to Contest #90

"Get out of here while you still have the chance," the tall man exclaimed through his helmet. The astronaut-like spacesuit stood out in the earth setting, but what didn't at this point? He abruptly walked away, disconnected the frequency attuned to his helmet, and retrieved to a deteriorated bench positioned near an abandoned building.40 minutes earlier "Alex, do you not see what I see?" The man cried out looking at the degraded, fallen apart city surrounding them. Animal carcasses laid strewn about, and sm...

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“The Occult” by Chia Qin

Submitted to Contest #90

“It’s still hard to believe that a nutrient block like this can give us the calories and other nutrients needed for a single day given how much we work” I lamented to Bennet, my tagged work partner as we chowed down our ‘lunch’, a tasteless brick the size of a fruit bar yet packed with the nutrients of three meals. Me and Ben had been friends since we were born, hell we were more than friends I guess. We worked together, ate together and even lived together in the same district. We were partners in this shitty world. Both of us wer...

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“The Last Trees” by Tatiana Olin

Submitted to Contest #90

It’s not her fault; she told me not to go. I’ve only seen pictures of trees and blue skies. All the screens in the hallways, projecting something that we’ve lost. I can’t stand it anymore - living underground in metal rooms and recycled air and only the stories of the elders to keep the memory of the time we lived above ground alive. It’s not her fault; she told me not to go. My mother, always with the worried look and the asthmatic cough we all have from breathing filtered air our whole lives. But I’m tired - I have to know. I have to ...

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“Thirst Forever” by Elizabeth Etzwiler

Submitted to Contest #90

Water? There’s no water? Why’s there no water? How are we supposed to go on living without water? All these questions kept swirling around as we were gathered at the local town church. At the time, I unfortunately, was the “Peacekeeper” I would call it since I had to handle the hard stuff like these questions. How can little old me the local town cop keep peace with no water for all these people? I know that a little town like Archabalm holding 75 people...

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“Secret Scientist” by Marvin McMurray

Submitted to Contest #90

Sand. Not dirt, grime, soil or the beach variety: desert...sand. Grieg tried to push him self up, but the boot in his back held him down. The taste of sand mixed with death added to his growing list of grievances against the substance on which he lay. He swore then and there that he was going to make the sand pay. "Eh b'ys I bet he's got lip jigs on him, search him." Replacing the boot were a dozen hands frantically slapping, poking, fingering every place a perceived pocket could be on his person. When the over eager swat team found not...

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“The Fall of Future” by Yuki LangShan

Submitted to Contest #90

A world where everything from nature had collapsed. No one remembers, realizes nature. Mother nature was forgotten entirely. ----- Year, 2964, the era of Science and Universe. Universal Era. Also known as, the age of calamity. There was a young man named, Sora. He had earned a scholarship in his early teens. Now, he is almost 16. However, our young dude is a perfect, charming, and stable person. He is not the person who dies from panic and loses hope because of loneliness. The world was divided into 3 parts; Zess, the only place that be...

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Set your story in a world living with the consequences of a climate apocalypse.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 134 stories

“Wingless” by Hope Terris Terris

“Earth Didn’t Wait” by Shayne S

“Labrador” by Tricia Shulist

“Cloudspire” by Megan Paonessa

“10 Minutes Past Midnight” by Emma McManus

“Narrator Loves mInEcRaFt” by Puhalenthi Ramesh Vidhya

“The Cost of Color” by Kees Chan

“Siren” by Eva Parker

“Moments” by Anna Tishchenko

“Leave” by Taquindle Remington

“The Occult” by Chia Qin

“The Last Trees” by Tatiana Olin

“Thirst Forever” by Elizabeth Etzwiler

“Secret Scientist” by Marvin McMurray

“The Fall of Future” by Yuki LangShan

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through their connection to a particular tree.

Write a story in which an endangered species (of plant or animal) plays a central role.

Write about a community that worships Mother Nature.

Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery.

Contest #90

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

814

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: