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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Start your story with the line, “By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” (Whether this is a literal fire is up to you.)

Posted in Teens on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 324 stories

“Fire” by Chelsea S D

Submitted to Contest #63

"By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire."Lucas looked at me in shock. "FIRE?!" he yelled, "She set the leaves on fire? She's three?! There's no way her laser powers have developed yet. Mallory's boys have laser powers and she told Samantha, who told my mother, who told me, that Asher and Blaze developed their laser abilities at four, and just how proud she was that they developed so early.""Well we can hardly gauge power development on the Flame family, now can we." I snorted at the memory of watching Mallory Carson spending ...

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“An Autumn Reunion” by Amy Shawley

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire, crimson and bright, as the sun burned my eyes. The beauty was breathtaking and I choked down my first gulps of freedom in weeks with thirsty lungs. Quarantine life. It certainly was not for me.  I don't think I have ever been stuck inside, unable to leave my room before, for two whole weeks. Even thinking the notion seemed impossible just a year ago. But this is the norm that is everyday life post coronavirus lockdown. And knowing I'm not alone, that I'm not the only one suffering...

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“Fallen Memories” by Jim Snyder

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I braced myself in the open door frame on the side of my garage, looking out into the backyard, barely remembering I was about to ask my wife to come inspect the nearly finished spice rack she had been asking for over the past few weeks. It was only the scent of slightly burned oaken sawdust rising from the flecks covering my arms and t-shirt that reminded me, or perhaps it was the smell of the burning oak leaves she was walking away from, heading back to the patio table.&nbsp...

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“Why Me?” by Felicity Edwards

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Not the smoke and ashes kind of fire but the seasonal one, I’m here on the deck in my rocking chair looking out over the forest. Summer melted away without my knowing and here we are in the Fall, which is so breathtakingly beautiful sitting here looking out over the surrounding forest. The leaves are all the colours of a fire from deep red to palest lemon mixed with a dash of bronze. “Dad, here is a blanket.” Sheena smiled and wrapped me up as if I was something precious. “Thank you, ...

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“MY LIFE SET ABLAZE” by Jahnavi Bandaru

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. My hands were trembling as I pulled my brother in to a tight embrace.  My grip tightened when I felt my brother's tears soak my shirt. I grabbed him by the shoulders when we pulled apart. “ I want you to go to the Picket's house and call the fire station immediately. I'm going to go find mom, ok?” I tried to memorize his face just in case it was the last time I ever saw him. “ Promise me that mom is going to be ok,” He croaked as he looked at me with those big glassy doe eyes. “ I…...

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“The Fire of Miss Moffat” by Lizzie Brown

Submitted to Contest #63

The Fire of Miss MoffatBy the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. A steady stream of burnt oranges and fiery reds; just the ticket to brighten my mood.I reflected on my sleepy surroundings. It must have been where Sleepford got its name with endless rows of trees enclosing the town, only there was a clearing where the branches were thinner, showing the pale patterned bark of the branches.I paused to take a peek at my reflection in a puddle amongst the leaves. I am still sixteen year old Will Kahn. I still have deep olive skin, s...

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“The Promise” by Adrian Solorio

Submitted to Contest #63

“By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.” Julie said to her daughter. "It was black, and that was all I could see." "Is that why daddy had to stay?" Julie hesitated for a moment. "Yes baby—daddy had to stay to—" she gripped the steering wheel and her vision clouded. She could see Peter’s face staring back at her and she shuddered at the thought. "He had to stay to help fight the fires, baby." They rode in silence except for the sound of the electric motor and the occasional thump of the tires over the highway re...

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“Aphid” by Matthew Eubanks

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Reds and golds everywhere. The most beautiful fall I had ever seen. It had been a week since I had been outdoors.Everything started with the algae on the roads. Do you remember that? Big clumps of that filmy moss everywhere. It shut down traffic. Nobody could explain what was causing it or where it came from. It would tear up your tires. They said it was safe but I always coughed around it. The President came on and said, we'll spray for it, we'll take care of it, and they came around w...

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“The Leaves Were on Fire” by Charly Woods

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I thought back to the vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow that would dance as the wind blew shifting everything in its wake. This wasn’t a new occurrence, so I continued on my way. I tuned out the different shades focusing on the ground that was littered with more pale tones of browns as the dead leaves continued to flow downward. The rapid movement of the wind made me huddle closer in my coat, and soon my vision began to slightly blur as my focus shifted from the sidewalk to the ...

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“Fall in love, Love in fall.” by Uddipona Baruah

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The beautiful orange had turned into a fiery red. Each memory hurt. The pain ran hauntingly from my skin to my veins to my every reason for living, tearing me apart from inside out. We had met during fall. My favourite season of all times. A season of change, a season that makes you happy even when you are bound to have all kinds of allergies. For me, fall had always been a poignant, self-loving season. It made me humble, more accepting. Just to experience the fall of all beautiful thin...

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“The Fire” by Reagan Weckerly

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside the leaves were on fire. The forest fire had taken off and there was only one way out. It was up. I ran as fast as I could to the fire department's helicopter, which was sitting nearby picking up people who were trapped in the fire. I was the last person on and just as we were taking off I saw a child in the distance running towards the helicopter. "Stop!" I yelled, "There's a kid in there, we have to get him out." "Sorry, there's no room and we have to leave now," said the pilot. I jumped from the helicopter. I...

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“Dancing Flames” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. It was a gorgeous, searing, multicolored dance of flames tiptoeing along the branches; the blaze instantly made me forget about the windowless grey walls I had been staring at for the past four years. The trees must have combusted from the rays of gold filtering through the cotton candy clouds in the midday sky, I thought. Distant glimmers from a river of honey caught my attention through the thin line of trunks, and I ran towards it in a haste lest the guards catch up with me. Surely...

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“The Murder of Mrs. Katie Hilliard” by Naomi Marsh

Submitted to Contest #63

"By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire", I read aloud four times over before I closed my notebook. "I need a break, Chance", I told my Pit Bull pup. "Let's go for a walk." He jumped up from his bed and spun circles as I got up to grab his leash. Chance was very well trained already and sat down at the door while I hooked his leash to his collar. He stayed sitting until I told him to come on after I opened the door. Chance stayed by my side the whole walk to the park, stopping when I did, and never strayed too far away....

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“The Kitchen Window” by Halle Brewer

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire as the colors of red, orange, and yellow, swirled and followed the gesture of the wind. The old crooked woman seems to rake it, but unfortunately, the winds are stronger, and made her bonnet fly out of her reach. It landed to my hand. I held the old worn out bonnet and gladly approached the woman. "Here you go, Mrs. Buckely," I said, as I handed her the bonnet. "Thank you dear, you have such a kind heart," She said in almost a whisper, might be because she has some problems in her sp...

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“The Ember In The Wind” by Grace Sigurdson

Submitted to Contest #63

"By the time I was outside, the leaves were on fire," Sapphire told her therapist. "Then what did you see?" Dr. Green said, nodding. "There was this little ball of fire, just, walking, er floating? around." Dr. Green went deep in thought about what to say to the doctors and Sapphire. She interrupted his thoughts when she got up and walked to the window. "Doctor, it's outside," She said calmly. The doctor got up and looked out the window. He saw nothing, but people were either running away from the middle of the road or staring at, nothing...

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