Set your story in the woods or on a campground.

Posted in Summer on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 82 stories

“The Forest in My Mind ” by Greta Bonati

Submitted to Contest #143

I feel so free. I am free. All it took was the first painful step. “I’m leaving you here, don’t follow me,” I cry, as my voice breaks. Sweat frames my face. Don’t ever come back. I look at her once more with disgust. Naive and fragile, that’s what she is. Foolish and scared. But most of all, I look at her with embarrassment because she is me. And I, her. Her flaws I can see, rippling through her face. Inscribed in her eyes. Pouring through her lips, cascading down, performing an aura around her. I look...

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“Nature's Nurture” by Julia Langton

Submitted to Contest #143

The cool morning breeze on my skin and the skittering of dried leaves blowing through the grass rouses me gently from a peaceful night’s sleep. I peel my eyes open and squint into the brightly risen sun, fighting the temptation to let my heavy lids carry me back into darkness. There is no need, however, for something else comes abruptly to shelter my face from the sun, the sudden change of lighting causing spots to dance in my view. I blink a few times to clear my vision, able then to meet the beady eyes peering curiously into my own. Not le...

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“Too Many Wrong Turns” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #143

Like a long, black curtain the pandemic of 2020-2021 had shrouded the area around Ocean City, Md.--and the celebration of the beauty of Maryland’s Eastern Shore--in a cloak of too-greatly-reduced activity for a time period way beyond what it should have. The announcement that the area finally would return to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy, therefore, blew like a breath of fresh ocean air across all of Delmarva. Those looking for opening up of yearly ...

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“Orders” by James Grasham

Submitted to Contest #143

Warning: This story contains an instance of strong language. The castle at Elvia sat on a small rise on the east edge of the city, with a good view over the approaching road from Teraditha. It guarded the east gate into the city, joining the high walls seamlessly by the work of master stonemasons. To the south, the clear sea glittered in the sunlight, giving the impression of summer despite the chill air. The road became busier as farmer’s drove animals to market, and tradesmen of the surrounding towns and villages headed for the city to s...

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“Beach Gravel” by Thomas Graham

Submitted to Contest #143

It must have been a mottle of sunlight that woke me. I lifted my head and looked around. The sun had just risen above the mountains on the other side of the fjord, and the light was fighting its way through the trees above me. The day before, from the water, the sides of the fjord had looked steep and inaccessible—just raw rock walls with the occasional stand of trees poking out of a rocky ledge. But I’d somehow found a hidden lair. My sleeping spot was nestled in a tiny inlet between sheer walls, on nearly flat ground next to a creek that e...

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“Campfire Confessions” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #143

There was always something freeing about being in the woods with nature surrounded by tall trees which looked like they reached to the heavens. I had taken many trips to the woods alone when I needed to think and reconnect with myself. My trips were usually taken after bad breakups, job endings, job beginnings, new beginnings and just because. My best friend, Reese, was going through some things that life throws at you all at once. She had to face a lot of hard balls coming at her all at once. In a time span of a few months her mom died sudd...

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“Silver-Barked Trees” by Lily Lu

Submitted to Contest #143

Isabel held herself close as she scanned the grayish trees surrounding them. They shoot into the sky like iron totems, and she imagined them caging her in like an animal. Their red leaves made them all the more unnatural. They looked like splatters of blood on the metal. “I don’t like it here,” Isabel whimpered and rubbed her arms, shivering. “I can’t believe the shuttle dropped us on the wrong side of the planet!” “That’s what we get for contracting the cheapest company, I guess.” ...

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“Storytime at Camp Nettlebottom” by Kai Achen

Submitted to Contest #143

"Infinitesimal stars shine down from the sky. They twinkle, and scintillate, and fizzle out, and die. They are already dead. We dance beneath their corpses." Counselor Jordan's story times were always the highlight of every summer at Camp Nettlebottom. Between the hot, humid days spent traipsing through the woods pretending to know which mushrooms are safe to eat and which ones will earn you a one way ticket to dysentery by way of needing to spend far more time than recommended in the latrines, and the endless prattling on of Counselor Moi...

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“Home” by Jordan Tope

Submitted to Contest #143

It had been a week since they arrived. Selena was lying on some fur pelts on the ground, looking up at the clouds. Vinicius, the name of the man who changed her, had made a small camp for them in one section of the woods. According to what he said, he had brought her to her new home, somewhere between New Zealand, Australia, and New Caledonia. She had tried to walk further inland. Only to be stopped by him telling her not just yet. Now she was waiting for him to return, from who knows where, and for maybe the 5th time that week. "Soon, Sel...

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“Whippoorwill Song” by Debra Koffski

Submitted to Contest #143

I'm kind of a suburb kind of girl so when my sister invited me to spend a week with her at her NC house in the woods in the country, I was hesitant. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister and I love going to parks but I'm not used to woods all around me. But I decided to go and brave it out.Her house and surrounding area is beautiful, trees on every feet of land, and tall. It seemed as if some were fifty feet tall or more. I've never personally measured a tree, so don't use me as an accurate indicator. Standing on her deck I could see birds an...

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““Boys in the Woods”: A Miller South Teens Short Story by Tori L. Day” by Tori L. Day

Submitted to Contest #143

The next morning, the boys were still asleep, yet something was different. Finn rolled over and stuck his hand out. He arched his eyebrows when we felt a blade of grass around his fingers. He opened his eyes and saw a dandelion in his face and closed them. Suddenly, his eyes popped open and he sat up and looked around. He let out a scream that woke the others. They jumped up and saw that they were in the middle of a forest. "What happened?? What is going on?!" Finn shouted. "Where's the hotel?" said Dylan. "Surprise!" yelled Mason. He ...

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“Safe Haven” by Madelyn Jones

Submitted to Contest #143

CW: Mention of drug use and swearing; The woods have always been my safe place. Something about them had always had the innate ability to calm me, to be able to soothe my fears and anxieties. Maybe it was the quiet swish of the wind in the trees, or the fact that they stretch out and out and out, farther than you think possible. In the woods, you’re alone, with nothing but silence to greet you. And I’ve come to treasure silence more than anything else. “Emma, go to your room,” she growls in a low, harsh voice. Dutifully, I do as I am told...

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“Treasure Hunt” by Jack Rabbits

Submitted to Contest #143

I didn’t think we’d find the treasure, but I agreed to the trip because he was my dad. The prospect of finding money did excite me. Of course it did: I was a barista, twenty-five years old, and living with three roommates. But I had no real expectations. I figured that if the obsessive retirees crowding the forums hadn’t found the thing yet, then my dad and I were pretty shit outta luck. No, what I wanted when I agreed to the trip was just to spend time with him. Dad had grown increasingly alien to me over the years, especial...

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“A WOODLAND ADVENTURE” by Jax Gooding

Submitted to Contest #143

“Do we have to take them with us?” grumbled Pipi Georgia as she watched Grandma Jax remove two high vis vests from the hall cupboard. “Yes Pipi Georgia we do,” replied Grandma Jax, before folding the vests and placing them by the front door. “But we’ll be riding in the woods, not on a road,” mumbled Pipi Georgia.“It’s riding anywhere Pipi Georgia so stop moaning, try thinking of this as an adventure,” sugges...

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“The Legacy of Sage” by Dragos Marcean

Submitted to Contest #143

Not even the birds, squirrels, nor deers had woken up so early in that morning as Leo did. The sun was barely doing it’s morning streches, and he had woken up his wife and eight-year-old daughter, put them in the car with their luggage and tent, and drove seventy kilometres to the forest. Their electric, quiet SUV didn't bother a fly. The dew layed on the barely reborn green leaves, and the half-bald trees swayed with the wind. Nature was steadily waking up after the winter slumber. It seemed she tapped the snooze button and turned to the ...

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Set your story in the woods or on a campground.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 82 stories

“The Forest in My Mind ” by Greta Bonati

“Nature's Nurture” by Julia Langton

“Too Many Wrong Turns” by Bob Faszczewski

“Orders” by James Grasham

“Beach Gravel” by Thomas Graham

“Campfire Confessions” by Marcia H.

“Silver-Barked Trees” by Lily Lu

“Storytime at Camp Nettlebottom” by Kai Achen

“Home” by Jordan Tope

“Whippoorwill Song” by Debra Koffski

““Boys in the Woods”: A Miller South Teens Short Story by Tori L. Day” by Tori L. Day

“Safe Haven” by Madelyn Jones

“Treasure Hunt” by Jack Rabbits

“A WOODLAND ADVENTURE” by Jax Gooding

“The Legacy of Sage” by Dragos Marcean

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who loves cloud gazing.

Start or end your story with a person buying a house plant.

Write about a trip to see a natural sight that’s usually only ever seen in photos.

Write a story involving a friendship between two different species.

Contest #143

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

139

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: