What was meant to be a great bonding vacation turns sour when an uninvited guest tags along.

Posted in Summer on Sep 1, 2023

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✍️ 43 stories

“There's Nothing There” by Genevieve Flintham

Submitted to Contest #214

The minotaur and the griffin are in my chest cavity again. They tore through the air and ripped a space between my ribs – and yes, there was nothing there – but their homing instincts overrode my force majeure. They’re huge. They purport to alleviate my pain, but the smell of sun cream and the hum of mosquitos is distracting enough. Cold sangria. A jug of it, set down on the table, tantalising the hairs in our nostrils. My sister’s a superb mixologist – is sangria a cocktail? – and she beams as if she’s just given birth. The jug drips crims...

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“The Healing Place” by Megan Dollar

Submitted to Contest #214

The invitation was cursory—a polite gesture to ensure their moral compass would be pointing directly towards “good enough”. Georgia knew this, of course, and yet it was surprisingly difficult for her to turn it down as she normally would. The family trip to Pentwater each summer was the source of Georgia’s most treasured memories before everything went wrong. So, when her eldest sister Denise extended the invitation (which wasn’t a true invitation) to join the family for a week in Pentwater, Georgia said yes. Her answer went unanswered, as m...

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“Just the Three of Us” by Michael Novak

Submitted to Contest #214

It was August in Washington, and it was hot. Not just any heat, but the evil cocktail of heat, humidity, and absolutely, positively no breeze anywhere that has plagued our nation’s capital for every year of its existence since the citizens of the young republic first began the project of draining a swamp along the Potomac River over 200 years ago. It was the kind the kind of heat where opening your window is like opening the door of a running oven, and anyone with any sense stays hermetically sealed inside their air-conditioned home for as l...

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“The Honeymoon” by Anastasia Martin

Submitted to Contest #214

Three different people had felt the need to tell me that their honeymoons had had hiccups and that I shouldn’t put too much pressure on the trip, so I really shouldn’t have been surprised when things went wrong. The wind caught my best friend’s beach umbrella in the Caribbean and blew it into her new husband’s face. He and his new black eye chased it into the ocean, where a jellyfish stung him; but the rogue beach umbrella did eventually make it home with them. My other friend and her husband crashed their rental car on their way to ret...

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“THE CALMING INFLUENCE OF TURQUOISE” by Glenna Agnew

Submitted to Contest #214

THE CALMING INFLUENCE OF TURQUOISE It was Labour Day, the last long weekend of the summer. All the kids would be back in school come Tuesday morning, dressed in their brand new back-to-school clothes and looking too cool for school. It was the last hurrah of the summer, time to break loose and have a wild time before buckling down to long months of hard labour. Is that why it's called Labour Day? Amy and I had gone up to the cottage for the weekend, three whole days of sitting in the sun, kicking back on the dock with the beverage of o...

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“Theo and the Girl Who Cried Rice” by Guinnevere Rose

Submitted to Contest #214

Theodore Hallows hated summer. He also hated vacations. How much more did he hate summer vacation. He’d been able to bale on the last few, but his mother was insistent that he join this year’s family trip to Hawaii before he left home to travel the world. From the airport, Theo helped his sister, Daffodil, carry her many, many suitcases. He didn’t question it when one seemed particularly heavy. To be fair, all her suitcases were heavy, most likely packed to ...

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“Me & Thee & She” by Barbara Nosek

Submitted to Contest #214

{Adult language}Well that lasted exactly two minutes. One mile.My beautiful dream becoming reality – now apparently over. This was going to be our chance to re-connect, away from our busy work lives, away from our community commitments, away from our household responsibilities. A romantic getaway, just the two of us in a cozy cabin, looking forward to ten days of all the fun places and scenic splendors of central Wisconsin. But then, oh so close to the freeway and freedom, it all started turning bad.On the side street that leads across the m...

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“Cabin Trip” by Patrick Davey

Submitted to Contest #214

“I’m so glad you survived,” she says, her voice fluctuating through the open car window. I guess that the unusual pitches are her attempts at concealing her emotions. She hops in.“Same.” I still can’t make the words come. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her and she won’t forgive me anyways, her promise notwithstanding. I drive away from her house.“You haven’t changed. You just got older.”“Yeah.”“I’ve changed. I’ve grown. I lived an entire life.” The bite of her words stung both of us. I pause at the stop sign, probably to the consternation...

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“Painted Grey Part 2” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #214

Author's note: I am utilizing the word "vacation" as more of a metaphor in this story, albeit one that involves bonds. "An automaton, Tholan! Imagine, an actual walking artifact of the last war of the world!" "Yes, Merchen, it's all amazing, but automatons are walking weapons! We need to assess this anomaly, and we either subdue or destroy it." "Destroy-ah!" Merchen caught himself before he heavily joined the dirt with a root that nearly tripped him. "Destroy an artifact? One that had soldiers quake with fear? We should report...

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“The Day I Met Kai ” by Kiyana Marie

Submitted to Contest #214

“Pass me another beer,” I shout to Claire. “You got it,” she opens up the blue cooler and grabs me a cold one. “Here you are,” she hands it to me and sits back down next to me in her pink camo folding chair. “Man, it is so great to have a nice long weekend in nature with just the girls, alcohol, and a time to create good memories without any boys here to ruin it,” Marcy comments as she walks down the porch steps of our small wooden cabin. “Ain’t that the truth,” Monica agrees as she swats away at the mosquitos attacking her. &n...

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“A Tiny Problem” by Sydney Crago

Submitted to Contest #214

My ears filled with the sound of the refrigerator thrumming as I rearranged the freshly purchased goods on its shelves. I let the chill travel up my arms, a welcome relief from the blazing heat of late July. The noise of the appliance and the game of grocery Tetris kept my from registering the sound of the car pulling up to the house. My mother, however, did hear the car. She marched past me, slapping her flip flops against the laminate floor as she made her way to the front door. “They’re here!” She squealed. I let the refrigerator door c...

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“saccharine.” by Eliysheba Yisrael

Submitted to Contest #214

My twin and I are all packed up for our trip to London, England. We've been planning this trip for what seem like forever! and now...it was finally happening. this will finally be a chance for our family to be together in one place. "Paris did you pack extra panties?" my twin sister London shouted. "yeah!" I said from across the hall of our house. I always pack extras of everything. My family even nicknamed me mom 2.o. because I was so careful about anything. My mom suddenly burst into my room. "sweet bean, I need to talk to you and your sis...

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“Left the 99” by Winnoa Bird

Submitted to Contest #214

Left the 99 I pressed my face up against the window with a joyous squeal as trees and neighborhoods blurred past me. My sister Bridget, just as overly excited, was hopping on her booster seat, grinning so hard you could see the missing space of her first tooth. “Alright you two!” my mom laughed from the passenger seat. “Settle down or you will be exhausted by the time we get to the airport to meet your Aunt Kim.” Uh oh! We cannot have that now! I used every ounce of self-control my 10-year-old body could muster and sat down. My sister...

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What was meant to be a great bonding vacation turns sour when an uninvited guest tags along.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 43 stories

“There's Nothing There” by Genevieve Flintham

“The Healing Place” by Megan Dollar

“Just the Three of Us” by Michael Novak

“The Honeymoon” by Anastasia Martin

“THE CALMING INFLUENCE OF TURQUOISE” by Glenna Agnew

“Theo and the Girl Who Cried Rice” by Guinnevere Rose

“Me & Thee & She” by Barbara Nosek

“Cabin Trip” by Patrick Davey

“Painted Grey Part 2” by Steffen Lettau

“The Day I Met Kai ” by Kiyana Marie

“A Tiny Problem” by Sydney Crago

“saccharine.” by Eliysheba Yisrael

“Left the 99” by Winnoa Bird

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story on the eve of the first day back at school.

Now, as an adult, your character looks back on this summer as the summer when they grew up.

Each year, your character's family goes on the most exotic vacations. Finally they discover why — their family are assassins.

It’s the last evening of your vacation and you’re watching the sunset with your friends/partner/family, wishing summer would never end. But just as the sun dips below the horizon, you notice it returning in reverse.

Contest #214

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

202

Contest entries

94

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: