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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

“The Flames Inside Of Her” by Seren Wyatt

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I did this. This is why I’m supposed to control myself, but he makes me so uncomfortable. “ How do I fix this? “ I whisper to myself. I hear his footsteps through the house and before I know it, Theo’s slamming the door open. I turned around to look at him and his breath hitched. “ You see this? You did this to me! You fucking ruined my life! “ I screamed, all Theo did was laugh. He smirked at me, taking a few steps closer. He bent down and whispered into my ear. “ I don’t know what y...

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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 Inquisition” by Bronze Nova

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. However, the antithesis of the dark, stone church behind me protected me from the flames. I never thought that Our Lord, Eveynthy, was never in such cold buildings, but it felt as if even He was hiding from this inferno. “This is the might of the Lord of Creation, the molder of the six elements!” As the Head Magus exclaimed these words, I felt the pride in my chest rise with the screams in the forest. ‘But is this right?’ A small breeze kept whispering that one phrase into my mind. As t...

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“[Un]Knowing Autumn” by Sabrina Pfeiffer

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Standing on the rickety front porch of Reiner Hall, I could already see the top of the blaze from across the road, and down the open field in the center of campus. The annual Fall Fire Fest at Linfeld School was a tradition no one knew the true origin of. I like to imagine it was a wholesome gathering of students who enjoyed kicking off the season by coming together to enjoy a big bonfire together and catch up on each other’s summer happenings. If I close my eyes I can almost see the yo...

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“Magic in the Fire” by Double Stitch

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time the nurses got outside, the leaves were on fire. The residents of Mountain Rest Nursing home shuffled to their front porch rocking chairs before the sun rose every morning. And this warm, muggy October morning was no different. The majority of residents’ bones were fragile, worn with age, that they needed assistance to get in and out of these chairs. Every morning it was the same scene. The well watered trees were covered in the same green they were back in May and some time in November, all the summer leaves would turn brown a...

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“Growth” by Aujureé Forbes

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Albeit I should be wearing shoes and I probably should've raked them last night when the moon was up instead of the sun.  Oh well, now here I was under the Georgia morning sun raking up leaves that were left on the ground from our Autumn in the Summer party last night. The party was a last minute attempt to become more popular than my ex-bestfriend, Ashley. Ashley had tweeted 5 days ago that she'd be throwing a Winter in the Summer party and that she'd have real snow. Snow? In th...

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“She was wearing a yellow dress” by Sam Schneider

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. The warm orange glow that I felt on my face was something that I didn’t feel for a long time. The pressure that I felt was finally gone, and I felt like I could take my first real breath in hours.  Although I could very well imagine that people wouldn’t find this calming. The sight of these beautiful yellow leaves on fire looked sad, existing for no other reason than to exist. In my hand, I was still holding the letter that she wrote to me. The letter that I found on my pillow two ...

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“Hearts Don't Forget” by Grace Estano

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside Starbucks to try their pumpkin spice latte, the leaves were on fire. The leaves of the trees had turned to red and gold. The beauty and splendour before me was something I have seen only in postcards and brochures. My heart fluttered as I began clicking away, completely immersed in what I was doing when,,,oops! My step faltered. I had stumbled on a piece of rock."Aray!" I cried aloud, hoping nobody had heard or seen what happened or I would have been embarassed. But I was wrong. Somebody did see me."Are you all ...

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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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“New Autumn” by Sarah Porter

Submitted to Contest #63

CW: Mentions of suicide, anger management issues. By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I had only caught glimpses of the upcoming equinox during my six month stay at the Cedar Crest Residential Treatment Center: nurses shaking off wet umbrellas in the lobby, my psychiatrist meeting me with fallen green leaves stuck to his shoes. With no windows— that would be a hazard to us, after all— in the facility, these small clues of autumn were the only evidence of this literal change of scenery. My view, however, had not chan...

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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 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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“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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“The Autumnal Adventure” by Amna Ayub

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Everywhere around were myriads of red, yellow and brown leaves who looked forlorn and desolate. The sky was deep blue accompanied by snowy clouds and they seemed to me an invitation for a thrilling adventure. On the western side, red and orange colours were spread throughout the sky just like the colour of leaves I was surrounded by. It was evening time and the sun was about to set. This is the beauty of autumn that I have adored since my childhood. Autumn is my favourite time of the ye...

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“Seasons Change But So Do You” by Clare Coyle

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time we stepped outside, the trees were all on fire. The breeze snatched the amber leaves and waltzed them way up higher.Orange, red and crimson were all up in ablaze. A scrimmage of yellow shone beneath the gold sunrays. Naked branches poked up through the madness of the coloursHigh above us beautifully, one of natures truest wondersThe wind it sings its eire song through the maze of woods aloneAs it does in every season, through every milestoneAll around us autumns here, alive in its full glory.It is waiting right now...

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