Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write about a summer vacation gone wrong.

Posted in Summer on Aug 2, 2024

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 66 stories

ELIM CIVOLUDAR’S MEMOIRS: IT'S ALL ABOUT PENNY

Submitted to Contest #262

I am in the breathtaking Makarska, Croatia, drenched in the sun's golden rays. The air is thick with the scent of salt and sunscreen, and the scenery is teeming with beautiful tourists flaunting extra-mini bikinis. Their laughter mingles with the soothing sound of waves lapping against the shore. The heat wraps around me like a warm embrace, searing my skin as I sit here, writing a book in the cool shade of my terrace, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Penny. I've been in Makarska for four days, each hotter than the last. My closest encounter ...

7 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Dog

Submitted to Contest #262

The following contains physical abuse, sexual scenes, use of blood, and violence against an animal.Dog“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”— Timothy, 5:8I.Dad was a religious man. He grew up Christian and tried to raise a Christian son. He got me, Martin Williams II, a guy who could appreciate religion at a glance but never get into it. Which is why he repeats his mantra: “If you do right by the Lord, then the Lord will do right by you.”II.Bump...

7 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A Vacation in the Bermuda Triangle

Submitted to Contest #262

August 17th 2010.It all started like most summer vacations, everyone waiting for that day, to travel somewhere exotic and fun, free from school and work. My family had been planning this trip all year, not just your everyday beach vacation, but all the way to the Caribbean! We arrived at the airport, in record time for a family of six, and three of them girls no less, they can be quick when they want to be.Dad, my brother and I took up one row, while Mom and my sisters took up the row directly in front, my siblings and I getting somewhat bor...

7 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Blind and Hungry

M B

Submitted to Contest #262

This was supposed to be my summer vacation.  I was on leave god damnit!  It was a small little island in the Carribean. Never heard of the country before, but the brochures were pretty enticing so I took a chance and went. Now there I was: hiding in a cave along the shore with a cracked rib. I could hear the sound of my pursuer’s massive body pounding down the beach outside - It sounded like thunder. He was looking for me, and I knew when he found me, that was the end. It was one thing after the other.  Guess I should start th...

7 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Summer of Love

Submitted to Contest #262

The Summer sun beat down relentlessly upon the car roof, cooking it. Jenner shook his head at the shimmering air, not looking forward to climbing into an intensity of heat that his motor’s blowers had no chance of banishing. Huffing his annoyance at the sun and it’s tardy seasonal appearance, he started the engine and lowered the front windows. Still the radiating heat threatened to singe his eyebrows. It was barely ten a.m. “What’s the world coming to, eh?” he asked the car, patting its dash. His Audi was nigh on a museum piece. He didn’t e...

6 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Fractured Fairyland.

Submitted to Contest #262

Let's all sit down and practice our silent literacy, much desired skill. Open this magical tale, written with pixies on a keyboard these days. It is telling of impossible things, a story of love which is inherent in our human race. Our heroine today was known as Stacey S. Snow. Somehow, by flawed mischance and bad luck, she had wandered down some lane in the magically enchanted world that exists in Fractured Fairyland. She had been on her summer vacation, but her plans went astray, her happy holiday had gone all wrong.Down on her luck, seek...

6 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

SWEATING TO LOOK GOOD

Submitted to Contest #262

It's the beginning of summer and already the heat index is on over kill. Every New Years Eve, my resolution is to lose weight so that I can get into a swimsuit with confidents or at lease find a suit I can fit my large bottom in. If I could just move the fat around like take what's on my stomach and push it up to my breasts and not so much on the hips or thighs move that to my butt. Now summer is here, and I haven't lost a pound. Did I think I would, I find out every year that my diet starts tomorrow act runs out of time. Now summer is here,...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Bummer Summer

Submitted to Contest #262

Just keep running. My feet hit the ground, one after another, pounding into the rough soil beneath me. A searing pain shot through my leg as I slammed my foot down onto a rock. My legs momentarily gave way, but the fear that possessed me corrected my sense of balance. Just keep running. Please. I could still see her. In my mind. At the beginning of the summer, we'd been paired up as the head counselors of Cabin Dung Beetle. I fell fast. Faster than normal. The way her golden hair bounced as she ran, the way that her eyes crinkled when she ...

5 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

The worst f-ing vacation

Submitted to Contest #262

“This will be a great summer vacation. A few days camping in the wilderness, then we become tourists going to National Parks on the way home,” says Chris. Ava asks, “Mom, are we still going to see Yellowstone?” Chris turns in her front passenger seat to look at the twins. Replying to Ava, she says, “That is the plan. With our camping gear, we will do an overnight there as well. We have a campsite reservation, so we only have three days in the wilds.” The driver, John, adds, “We will be able to shoot in the wild part so you two can show off y...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

The Perfect Wave

Submitted to Contest #262

Tahiti: sunset-colored beaches, awesome waves, and swirling surfers. The holiday that anyone would look forward to. I could hear the waves and taste the ocean through the open window of my van. Sitting in the driver’s seat, I caught glimpses of the paradise of surfers through the palm trees and thatched huts. The van rumbled on, carving its way down the dirt road to the gaggle of surf boards floating in the turquois water. The sun beating down on a beach of tranquility. I looked behind me into the back of the van, eyeing the jumble of suit...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

I Stayed with an Old Woman in the Mountains

Submitted to Contest #262

I’ve had the same friends since high school, but as the years passed, it became more difficult to see them often. We used to live within ten minutes of each other; a nostalgic memory now that everyone had moved to various points around the country. To stay in each other’s lives, we decided to commit to meeting up somewhere each summer. I’ve never liked flying, but after last year, it has become a much more preferable option. The plan was to stay at a cabin in Maine, and instead of flying, I elected to take the two-day drive. Luckily, a famil...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Like a Fish

Submitted to Contest #262

LIKE A FISH ANN MARTIN You know I’m here, don’t you, Nanette? You know which one is me. Just a dim, green glow in the darkness; just the faintest ripple and plop. Shadows gliding, vague forms sliding. And you know which one is me.  They’ve turned out the lights and you’ve turned your head away from me. But you know I’m still here. And you know there’s nobody you can tell; nobody who will believe you. That’s the trouble with this place. It’s like one of those foreign art movies where you can’t tell the truth from the dreams and all...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Curving Roads

Submitted to Contest #262

The sun came up on July 1st to meet Bill standing proudly on his porch. It was finally time for the big trip. He was talking the family up to the cabin for four days of summer fun culminating in the massive fireworks show the national park put on every year. It was a long drive but he was ready. The cooler and all the luggage had been packed the night before. All this morning’s outfits had been laid out and the back up ones were in the diaper bag. The van had a full tank of gas, fresh oil change, and properly inflated tires. The first aid ki...

5 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Sticks and Stones

Submitted to Contest #262

“I don’t know how it all went wrong,” her voice trembled as she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears once again. A rush of emotions passed across her face. “It was just supposed to be a normal trip, it was going to be fun. I don’t, I don’t…” She broke down into great, heaving sobs. Her glasses slipped down her nose as she brought her hands up to try to regain some composure, wiping at the tears falling from her green eyes. She sat on a bench in the park her and Cassie had just been in, an officer sat beside her, notepad in hand. “Ma’am, ...

5 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Summer Vacation at Theo Lacy

Submitted to Contest #262

SUMMER VACATION AT THEO LACY My idea of the perfect summer vacation destination was not Theo Lacy Correctional Facility. I should be somewhere to get relief from the heat and boredom. Swimming pool. Beach resort. Even somewhere with air conditioning. My three-month stay is the result of local law enforcement finding a few roaches in my car's ash tray. The prosecutor kept continuing my trial until late May. When I was finally sentenced to three-months of county time, it was almost June. That meant I wouldn't be released until late August, eve...

5 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a heatwave announcement.

Summer – 34 stories

Write about a character who is allergic to heat.

Summer – 26 stories

Center your story around an unexpected summer fling.

Summer – 53 stories

Set your story during the hottest day of the year.

Summer – 85 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel